Merritt Memories

When my kids are off track, things are interesting. And hard. I don't want anyone to think that I don't enjoy having my children around because I do. They make life, like I said, interesting. In one day I will have nagged, plead, screamed, cried... and ironically laughed. Did I say in one day? Oh. Well, I meant one hour. Then it repeats over and over during the day. Trying to keep kids entertained is hard work. It gets trickier the older I get, the older my kids get. I can't even begin to count how many times I hear, "Mom, I'm bored. What can I do?" I think to myself, "How can you be bored? You're a kid. I don't remember being bored as a kid." But what I really say is, "Well, what would you like to do?" They follow it up with the old famous, "I don't know." Can I just tell you how much I hate that phrase? It accompanies EVERYTHING! "Who made this mess?" "I don't know." "Why did you ...

All my boys were able to attend the General Priesthood Session of Conference this year. I can't believe how old my boys are getting! This is the conversation as I was trying to take a picture: Me: "Boys, stand here and wait for Dad." Ryan:" Mom! Do we really have to take a picture?" Aaron: "Just wait and see. Dad won't let her take one." Dustin walks outside. Boys: "Dad, Mom wants us to take a picture." (most whiniest voice possible) Dustin: "Boys turn around and humor your mother." And I got my picture!

Grace turned ten! I promised her 2 years ago when she turned 10, she could finally have a slumber party. She never forgot that promise. She was so excited! That excitement faded, however, as one by one each mother called to let me know their family doesn't do sleepovers. After a little talking too, she was happy again. We made the most of her late night birthday party, and 2 girls were allowed to stay the night. That made her happy! sleeping bag race making a wish Grace is turning into such a beautiful young lady. She is such a big help around the house and with her sisters. I am amazed at her ability to be obedient. She is ten and never misses a night reading her scriptures and having her personal prayers. I can ask her to do something and she does it. She reminds me so much of her dad. She is very dependable and responsible. I am so grateful for her! Happy Birthday, Grace!

The month of September always sneaks up on me. I'm sure it's because of the summer rush. I'm always happy to see it, September that is, though it brings with it more busyness in the Merritt household. In this month we celebrate 3 birthdays. Not 1, not 2, but 3 !!! If I was a mom who threw my kids a friend birthday party every year, holy cow! No time, no money. Good thing I'm not that mom. It's not because I don't want to. If I had the means, and let's be honest, the ENERGY , I totally would. After recovering from school shopping, the idea of throwing a huge birthday party with screaming, wound-up kids doesn't thrill me. So, I do it every other year. And I like that. This year was an off year for Becca. She was so sad not being able to have a friend party, so we did this to cheer her up: Her own personal photo shoot. Who doesn't like feeling like a super model? And it was fun! She chose to bring cookies for her class to celebrate. Sugar cookies in the...

My kids are in year-round school. This has its advantages, but definitely comes with some disadvantages. One {dis}advantage is the short summers. We have three weeks before the next school year starts. I try to cram a lot into those weeks, hoping it's a successful summer. My plan usually includes two outings a week and then lots of park days. Our park days were few because of the crazy weather pattern this year. Our Summer actually felt like Spring. It would've been really nice if it had not been for the amount of rain we got. I'm not complaining, I know others were lacking in water, but when you're trying to fill the {long} days of Summer, it can be a little frustrating. We were able to do some fun stuff though. Our outings included: bowling, the movies, the library, and swimming. We went swimming every Friday and we would do one of the other activities on another day of the week. I always forgot my camera, so I have no pictures. We did however have two really fun trip...

I wanted to blog this on the Friday, but I ran out of hours in my day. I didn't want to forget what happened and how I felt though, so just pretend with me! :) Today has been a trying day for me. Dustin has been gone all week for SWAT training, so I have been really stressed. I have not felt good all week. Ryan has been the number one priority on my mind. He has been acting like a teenager lately. No surprise because he is one, but surprising to me because he has always been a good kid. He is a good kid, just annoyed by his family, I guess. Doesn't want to be with us much. It kind of hurts my feelings. I think we're a pretty cool family. He told his friend, Nathan, today that we embarrass him. Not sure how. I guess it is something I will have to get used to. I'm sick and tired of feeling yucky. I have had neck and back pain for way too long. I finally have an appointment to get checked out. Hopefully it is not too serious. It seems it gets really bad when I sta...

I have said before that I love quotes. I love them so much at one point my collection started taking over my half of the bedroom (yes, our room is equally divided). I think I love them so much because I am not an eloquent speaker. My thoughts get all jumbled in my head and they never come out of my mouth right. So, when I hear something so well spoken, I save it! One of my favorite quotes sits over our heads at the dinner table. "Be true to who you are and the family name you bear." ~ Gordon B Hinckley ~ It sits there so we see it everyday. We will continue to see it until we move. My thought in doing this was by reading it everyday, which we do, we might think twice before we choose to do something that goes against our family standards. When I first put it up there, it was the first thing out of my kids' mouths every morning and they would say it out loud at dinner time. I never told them they had to read it, they just did. Now, I just see them mouth the word...