It's been too long!

I had these photos uploaded and ready to go all summer long, and now summer is coming to a close!  This picture of Lucia is from early summer- May or June I think.

Oma and Simon enjoying some time a Meijer Gardens

Lucia "helping me make frosting

Simon looking very cute, his hair is so much longer now!

Oma and Arlo at her surprise 60th b-day party we had back in May!

Ethan and Auntie Cecca

Family shot!

Grandpa, Oma, and Simon at Oma's party.  

I really need to get caught up here, it's been a busy summer and it's about to get busier with school just around the corner!!

Bruiser

Lucia had her first black eye a few weeks ago.  She and Ethan were doing headstands in the living room when we heard a crash followed by hard crying coming from Lucia.  Lucia's pretty tough, so we know it's bad when she does the crying without breathing.  Apparently, Ethan's was coming down from his headstand and kicked his sister in the face- on accident.  The top picture is the day it happened and the bottom one is a few days later- they don't really do it justice- it was a pretty impressive black eye!.  Ethan felt really bad about hurting his sister and kept asking her if she was okay.  

She's pretty tough though!

Easter

What a beautiful spring day we had for Easter this year.  I tried to get a  nice picture of the kids after church- but poor Simon was pretty tired and cried when we sat him with Ethan and Lucia

all better after daddy picked him up!

We headed over to Dan and Bonnie's house for Easter dinner and an egg hunt for the kids.  Look at that crazy kids table!

Simon and Grandma Sue

Blowing raspberries at each other

Lucia found and egg!

Ethan did too!

It was a lovely Easter, beautiful weather and great family time!

There she goes!

Lucia is getting the hang of a two-wheeler.  She can ride very well, braking is another story.  She will usually ditch her bike in the grass, or put her feet down to slow down.  We have been going up to the school near our house to practice braking in the parking lot- I usually need to give her a little push to start her off and I'll tell her "okay- remember to peddle backwards to stop- when I yell brake- I want you to peddle backwards."  Lucia will say "okay, okay, I'll practice"- but as soon as I push her off- she yells something along the lines of "see you later" or "I don't want to brake now!" as she speeds away!

I love daddy/daughter pictures- so cute!

Mid-April

Mr. Merrick standing up in his pack n' play- soon he will be walking!

Baby Arlo- he sure is sweet

Ivana and Freida turned three and two in mid-April.  Nick and Sunny had a little party for them at their place.  

Lucia, Simon, and Freida enjoying the new pool!

I love all three of their expressions in this picture!

A walk at Aman Park

Oma joined us for a walk at Aman park a little while ago.  I love this park.

Lucia gathering her treasures

I love the familiarity of this park- like this tree- I've been walking by this tree for 30 years (or close to it!) 

Trying to take a family picture (minus Jim).  Right before this picture- Lucia stepped in a large puddle/pond and soaked her boots- see her pouring water out of her boot!  She had to finish the walk with soaking wet feet- good thing she didn't seem to mind too much!

Oma with Ethan and Lucia (and Zero).  What a lovely walk.

Too cute

Ethan teaching Lucia how to read- what a good big brother!

Simon has been crawling all over the place since the end of March- I love his crooked smile!

showing mamma how he can clap

Lovely Lucia posing for me at Meijer Gardens

I love this picture of the three of them

"would this be a good picture if I stand like this?"

Mr. Merrick enjoying the sculptures

Ethan and Lucia running around the empty amphitheater.  

Zero

It's no secret that I have had a love/dislike relationship with Zero over the years.  He has chewed up his fair share of our stuff over the years.  I love how he waits until I'm indisposed (nursing Simon) to go into the kitchen and look for things to chew/eat.  I must say "go see what Zero is chewing up" at least five times a day!  Anyway- over the past year and a half, he has had this growing lump on his left side.  At his vet appointment last year we were told that it was just a fatty tumor and nothing to worry about- unless it started to interfere with his range of motion.  So- since that vet appointment, his lump continued to grow.  Then we started to worry that maybe it was something more than just a fatty deposit.  He was also losing hair on his tail and nose.  I kept putting off making another vet appointment, but finally did it.  The vet still believed that the lump was a fatty deposit and wanted to remove it the day of his appointment.  He also suspected that the reason he was losing his hair on his tail was due to a thyroid problem- which a blood test confirmed- so now Zero has to take thyroid medicine for the rest of his life.  Anyway- even though he annoys me and chews up our stuff- I'm glad that he is going to be okay.  

"Who, me?"

Oh- here's a picture of the fatty deposits the vet took out of Zero.  They asked me if I wanted to see them- of course!  I brought them home thinking Jim would want to see them too (I was wrong).  The kids thought they were pretty cool- Lucia asked if I was going to "cook them up so we can eat them."  They did resemble raw chicken breast!

Late March

I took Lucia for her first hair cut around mid-March.  It has been about a year since Ethan cut her hair and it has finally grown out.  I was debating bangs- but decided on just a trim to even out the bottom.  She was pretty excited to go get it cut!

However, during the actual cut- she was very serious.  She would hardly answer the hairdressers questions and had a very grumpy look on her face the entire time!

She was much happier when it was over!

Lucia having fun with Simon by putting buckets on his head- but sisters sure are fun!

Auntie Cecca and Uncle Jarrod showing the kids how grapes can transform ones face into super, creepy faces

Bree and Ethan giving it a try . . 

what a handsome guy!

Mr. Merrick started crawling the last few days of March- he's a baby on the go now!

Early March

We enjoyed a nice visit with Grandma Ginny . . . 

Ethan and Lucia had a lot of fun helping Grandma Ginny made cookies and ice cream!

Lucia and I went to Nick and Sunny's on Fat Tuesday for paczkis.  Nick went to Sandy's Donuts at 6am to get an assortment of paczkis- they were good!  Ivana sure did love them :-)

Oma spending some time with baby Arlo

Auntie Cecca reading a story to her nieces- so cute!

Around mid-March a nasty bug his our house.  Ethan was the first to get it and was wiped out for 3 days or so!  I got it next, but was only out of commission for one day- thankfully Jim stayed home from work that day to take care of the kids since I wasn't able to!  Lucia and Simon also got the bug- poor Simon had diarrhea for about 5 days.  Jim was the last one to get it- after working all week it hit him early Saturday morning- not the best timing!