The Mergenthaler Family

I'm guessing you are too busy with your Christmas celebrating to read much about ours, but I'll share some pictures anyway. Rick was heavily involved in planning the ward Christmas party this year.  It turned out pretty good.  The primary children sang a song and, as usual, Ricky found a place right in front of the microphone.  Andrew and Makayla hid toward the back.  I was proud of Reyes for participating willingly in the song the young men sang.  I know this is a tough age for wanting to be in front of people, but I found myself slightly irritated by the "too cool" attitude of some of the boys.  The kids got to visit with Santa.  Sean's attitude toward Santa was the complete opposite of my expectations.  He LOVED him!  I was too busy running around with other things to get a picture of him, but Makayla did pretty good with the camera snapping a picture of Ricky and Reyes. The kids were so excited for their break from school....

One thing I love about being a parent is observing the different personalities of our children.  In our family, we have children who are social, shy, outgoing, intellectual, humorous, sensitive, quirky, organized, artistic, patient, excitable, and more.  Today, we will talk a little about Andrew. Over the past few months, Andrew has developed an extreme affection for his pajamas.  He doesn't really have a favorite pair--maybe spiderman, but he will wear any of them.  Today, for example, he is wearing a combination of two types of pajamas that Grandma Mergenthaler has made for the boys over the years. Last week, he wore his Spiderman pajamas for about 3 days before I insisted that they be washed: Andrew has always had an interesting taste in clothes, as you know from our "What Not to Wear Series."  Now, he doesn't bother with clothes--only pajamas will do. You can imagine that this presents a problem when we have to go anywhere.  I have to plan ahe...

Thanksgiving is behind us and we are speeding toward Christmas.  Our Thanksgiving celebrations began nearly a week before the holiday at Andrew's preschool.  Andrew's class had their own Thanksgiving feast.  It was very cute.  I was able to volunteer in his class that day.  It's so fun to be in the classroom with the kids.  I don't get to do it very often, so I was grateful for the opportunity. Andrew made this fancy hat . . .  This is me making meatballs.  (FUN!)  Andrew with his feast . . . On Tuesday, Ricky and Makayla had a concert at school.  Makayla wasn't that excited about it, but Ricky was really into it!  He had been waiting for weeks to be the star of the show.  He loves singing and music, but mostly I think he loves to be in front of a crowd.  There is a video of him singing toward the end of the post. The kids didn't have school on Wednesday.  Emily had a fever, so we didn't go anywhere (excep...

I emailed my mom this week with some family news.  Out of simplicity, I'll post it here for any of you who are interested in what we have been up to lately.  Maybe I'll even put a picture or two up. Hello! Things are going well here! Busy, but fun. We had our first official family council tonight and it was very interesting. Since last year, we have been trying to do individual interviews with the children on fast Sundays. Today, the day went to quick, so we decided to have a "family interview." We asked the kids what they thought we were doing well as a family and areas that we can improve. It is so fun to hear their different perspectives and to work through things together. The main points were: 1) Emily and Makayla need their privacy, so Ricky and Andrew are not to go in their room with the door is closed. If they are changing and they really do not want the boys walking in on them, they have to go to the bathroom to lock the door. 2) We are going to work on m...