It's not summer anymore!

But that doesn't mean we can't fondly remember it :) We are stuck inside today while a winter storm is hitting our area. I think we are supposed to get between 6-11 inches of snow. We rather enjoyed watching the goings on of the snowstorm through our big front window. I thought it would be fun to revisit some summer pics - quite a contrast!

This was a little caterpillar Juliana found. She grew very fond of him in the whole minute that she gazed lovingly at him and requested that he become her pet. We even looked up what he was and if I remember right he was called a cabbage looper and would eventually turn into a brown moth...that is unless a 3 year old catches you, puts you in a jar and then forgets to feed you. Sorry mister cabbage looper.

Evan and daddy playing "hut-ball". He can say an F sound, I think he just thought since you always say "hut, hut" that it is called "hut-ball".

brothers

Evan was playing peekaboo with Levi around the side of the chair after lunch. Whenever Levi sees the camera he gives me a fake smile that just looks incredibly goofy, so I didn't get quite capture the smiles that Evan was getting from his brother. Evan is growing into quite a big brother lately :)

Beauty Parlor

I'm going to try to start blogging more regularly again. No promises. Sometimes it may be just a picture, but I know for family even just pics will be appreciated :) I do hope to write more about the adoption at some point, but I'm a slow writer and something that takes time that I just don't seem to have on a normal day. So if you have any burning questions about adoption, you'd better just call or leave a comment and I will be sure to give you some thoughts.

These are from a lovely afternoon where we played beauty parlor after afternoon rest time. With all these boys around now it was fun to have some girl time before the boys woke up.

Outtakes

This is one cowboy who doesn't want to be tamed...

but maybe there IS a sweet spot for his dear mommy in that tough and rugged cowboy heart of his : ) See the surprised "get this on camera" face I have? Well, I wasn't expecting to get a smooch after picture #1. I didn't even have to ask and it totally made my day to get a little love from my Evan Justin - King of the Wild Frontier.

We're still here!

Levi is growing, growing! He has been cruising the furniture for awhile and is now working on standing up "all my by self" as Evan would say. We are finding that he has quite the personality and delights in making us laugh...usually it is by making VERY funny faces : ) He and Evan are certain to be quite the pair in the coming years!

Evan stole the show a bit this year with his manly moustache.

Juliana delighted in being a butterfly princess :)

Best buds

Juliana and Evan went outside to wait for Daddy to get home from work one evening and when I checked on them I found them sitting with their arms around each other like in the first picture. Naturally I RAN for my camera and the shots just got sillier as the photo shoot went on.

Evan-isms

• "Hootball" (say it like football, but with an H) - football
• "Yuh Yoo Mama" - Love you mama. At bedtimes, just for Evan, this is followed by a ceremonious "pblttt!" made by sticking your tongue out and blowing.
• Always eats his breakfast granola without milk
• "Yevi" - Levi
• "JooYAna" - He sometimes calls Juliana by her full name now instead of just Nana. This is usually when he is angry with her - ha ha!
• Spends about 50% of his time being "Mike Jodon" during which you must call him this...it is so stinkin' funny. Just today he perfected his slam dunk complete with hang on his small hoop after daddy added some reinforcement to the bottom.
• "Oh yair" - over there

Juliana Gems - she can say pretty much anything now, so my Juliana funnies are a bit more like stories rather than words. She is forever cracking us up with her one-liners. Apparently I need to write more of them down, because I couldn't remember many of the recent ones.

• Wants to be a Cowgirl Mommy when she grows up. I find this hilarious because Mommy knows ZERO about being a cowgirl and really doesn't desire to learn...though I have a great respect and admiration for real cowgirls :)
• Loves to go to the grocery store - just the two of us.
• We were all getting loaded up into the car when Craig said one of those famous parent one-liners "What do I look like? A _____" I can't remember what he said in particular, but it wasn't anything too crazy. All I remember is Juliana piping up, "Well, you sure don't look like an angry beaver."
• She is Evan's best cheerleader for our latest endevour of potty training Evan. It is fun to see her so excited about his successes. The Lord is gracious to begin growing a gentle and kind heart in our Juliana

Growing like a weed

Here's our handsome guy taking in one of the nearby county fairs.

These two are from our trip to the Children's museum for Juliana's birthday. There was a "babies only" play area where Levi and I spent some time. He didn't care much for the toys...just wanted to look at himself in the mirror :)

One of the MANY hugs Levi gets during a usual day. One of Evan and daddy's favorite pastimes is "nestling", better known as wrestling. Levi is always a spectator, of course, until he gets bigger. We have, however, been entertained to see Levi on occasion tackle Evan like he is trying to "nestle" like the big guys. Evan gets a kick out of it and so far has been very gentle with Levi...though he gives no mercy to his daddy!

Almost sitting up in this picture! Now Levi is sitting up and pulling himself up to a standing position. Just a few days ago he started saying "ba ba ba ba" instead of just "aaahhh". I had forgotten how fun it is to watch babies learn new things. It is a blessing to get to spend so much time with my kiddos!!!

Perfectly and wonderfully made

Juliana turned 4 this week! This little girl, handmade for our family, IS a beautiful gift from the Lord. We love that each year as Juliana grows and changes we get to learn much more about who she is and how the Lord imagined and created the sweet spirit that is our Juliana Grace.

It's not just ANY card...it is a princess card!

Super fun vintage clip-on earrings I found at an antique store here in town.

This was the present Evan picked out for Juliana - A monkey globe with sparkles inside that lights up and changes color. He and I had MUCH fun wrapping it and keeping it a secret. I guess it helps that we had no idea what to call it :)

My mother-in-law bought me some cake decorating goodies for my birthday this summer and I got to try them out for Juliana's cake. She was pretty excited about the finished "castle". For some reason she was super excited to get to eat the door.

County Fair

Rainy day

We LOVE warm rainy days at the Merrihew house :)

Had to catch this moment on film! After coming in and changing into dry clothes the kids were sharing a blanket for a warm snuggle. If I remember right they were also plotting together what they were going to do to daddy when he came in the door for lunch :)

lunch and fun at the park

Summer days

Lovin' the sprinklers!

Working hard to build a road in the sandbox.

Look at those handsome boys!

We are so enjoying getting to know this little boy, a gift from the Lord from all the way accross the world!

The problem with shorts

MO - OM! I seem to be having a little trouble walking today.

Check out those shorts.

Hahahahahahaha! It so wasn't ME who put them on as Evan got down from the breakfast table. And I certainly didn't get Levi up, make a bottle, and feed him all the while NOT noticing that Evan was running around with both legs in one leghole.

Okay, okay. It WAS me and I really did not notice it until like 10 minutes later. Life with "littles" is a lot of things, but it is NEVER boring!

My Birthday = Picture Extravaganza!

In case you couldn't tell, in lieu of birthday cake this year I opted for snow cones! Mine was strawberry mango. Evan's was cotton candy and Juliana and Brenda opted for cherry. Craig, believe it or not, went all out and got the "birthday party in your mouth" snow cone complete with the syrup flavors "cake batter" and "ice cream". I tasted it and they aren't kidding when they say it tastes like cake batter and ice cream. Hilarious!

What a fun day on my 29th! The Lord is kind to keep me in the sweet and challenging place of training up three little ones for the glory of the Lord. I am overwhelmed often yet satisfied that I am completely UNABLE to do this job...without His grace working in me and my family. Mmmm..this was an especially happy day!