The Mergenthaler Family

December is busy. We have had a few items of news/events, but I have been working so hard at buying, wrapping, stuffing, and stamping that I haven't had much motivation to share any news. So, here's a quick whirlwind: Coralville Luminaria Every year the Coralville community puts on an event called the Lighting of the Luminaria . I guess it is a worldwide tradition, but what do I know? Essentially, the streets are lined with candles . . . that's an easy way to put it. Feel free to skip over the following longer explanation: Community block captains get supplies (sand, bags, candles) and rally their neighbors for a bag filling party. Everybody gets together and makes a bunch of bags with sand and candles in them. When it gets dark, you light them. Then, you drive around the community to see the Christmas lights. Remember last year when our house looked so nice with Christmas lights? Also, remember when I had to chisel the lights out after Christmas because they had f...

Our first real snow for the year was a BIG one. The kids were released from school yesterday two hours early in anticipation of the "blizzard." They were thrilled as there was just enough snow on the ground at that point to sled down the hill and build a fort. School was also cancelled today. Once again, the kids were ecstatic. After breakfast, Rick headed outside to clear the driveway and sidewalks. The temperature this morning was 20 degrees with a wind chill of -6. I tried to convince the kids to hold off playing outside until the wind and snow stopped, but they just couldn't wait. So, they bundled up and braved the elements in anticipation of sledding down the hill in our side yard. They lasted for about an hour--not bad, especially since I was only out there about 5 minutes before I was complaining that my hands were going to freeze off. It's a good thing they went out to play when they did because the temperature continued to drop while the wind and snow continu...

Rick promised the kids that when he finished his PhD, we would go to Disneyland or Disney World. Well, it has taken a year and half to get there, but we finally went. We had a great time on our trip. It was our first visit to Florida (for everybody except for Rick and his parents) and we have already planned a return trip for Makayla and the baby's birthdays in 2011. Rather than boring you with a travel log or uploading 150 pictures for your viewing torture, I'm just going to share some of the highlights from each of the kids. Makayla and Andrew said and did some funny things while we were there, so if you can make it through the "blah, blah, blah," to the silly stories, you'll get a few laughs. Emily was probably our most cautious tourist, but she still had a great time and managed to try a few things she was afraid of. She was nice enough to go through Minnie's house with Makayla even though she didn't really want to wait in the line. We got a pic...

Andrew has been out of his cast for 11 days. Last night, he finally discovered his legs were strong enough to walk without support. I filmed him this morning. He was still a little unsure, but managed to waddle over to me. By bed time, he was getting around pretty well. We have enjoyed watching him learn these things things over again. He's already back to getting into trouble--climbing into the snack cabinet, standing on the table, and putting his little fingerprints all over the house. That's good, I guess.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for November. It was 74 and sunny. That's just what I need before I hunker down for winter winds and snow. Because the weather was so nice, we spent most of the day playing before we finally got to the actual yard work. This left me helping Rick to rake leaves in the backyard as the sun was going down. I sent Rick in the house to order pizza. I was happily raking, enjoying the warm evening and quiet (the kids were in the house playing) when I looked up to see a buck running right at me! My first thought was, "AAAaaaaghhh! What is he doing?" So, I stood behind the wheelbarrow, held up my rake and yelled, "Don't you see me?" He slowed down within 15 feet and changed his course to the woods. He walked toward the edge of the woods and then just stood and stared at me. Let me tell you, it was creepy. He was the biggest buck I had seen since we have moved here (probably because I saw him up so close and also because he was...

Tomorrow is Andrew's one-week post-cast anniversary. I have had intentions to post the story of the big cast-removal day, but now that we can get out and go places, I am taking full advantage. On Wednesday morning, I took the older children to school and headed to the hospital with Andrew for his 9 a.m. appointment. On the way, Andrew was suddenly anxious. He was saying things like, "I'm not getting my cast off today . . . not yet. My leg is still broken. I don't want to get my cast off." Over and over, no matter what I said to convince him this was a good thing, his response was, "Not yet." Once we got checked in, Andrew was sent for yet another X-ray. After all the X-rays he has had, I'm surprised he doesn't glow in the dark! After the X-ray, they determined his femur appeared healed and he have the cast removed. So, we were sent back to the cast room. We waited there for nearly an hour while the nurses worked to remove or apply casts to other ...

Ricky was looking forward to his Kindergarten Oktoberfest last Thursday. They were going to have a lot of fun activities including making scarecrows and carving pumpkins. When Ricky woke up on Thursday morning with a fever, he cried big tears. He would have done anything to go to school for the party. He even woke up me up several times during the night before to tell me, "I don't think I'm sick. My head only hurts a little bit . . . I'm all better now because my throat only hurts sometimes." I was also sad that he wasn't feeling well because I was looking forward to spending some time in his classroom getting to know his classmates and their parents. I had even managed to find somebody to stay home with Andrew during the activities. But, being a mom has taught me over and over . . . and over, that plans change and being flexible is much better than getting upset over things you just can't change. I had an idea that morning that helped the both of us...