The Mergenthaler Family

I read some advice about journaling that I am hoping to apply to this blog and to my handwritten journal too. The advice is to write less than you want to write.  The reasoning behind the advice is that a person may write less often because they have so much they want to write about that they are overwhelmed and don't know where to start or finish and so they avoid writing at all. This is definitely my problem lately. I feel so busy that when I have a chance to write, it's usually only a few minutes and I'm afraid I won't be able to finish a coherent thought. So, instead, I'm going to try to just write a little more often--or put some pictures up here and there with the understanding that something is better than nothing.  Today, it's about Brooklyn.  Brooklyn walked the boys to school like this a couple of weeks ago. Saggy diaper, messy hair, horribly mismatched outfit (pajamas) with her jacket on top of her little backpack. But, at least she wasn't shirtle...

This is a testament to our difficult summer. The largest plant in my garden is that giant thistle. Those yellow things in the background were supposed to be cucumbers. They taste like it, but I didn't plant yellow cucumbers. We got only a handful of cherry tomatoes.  We have way more weeds than useful plants, and this was the first year in seven that we didn't get raspberries--not because the plants didn't produce but because wasps/yellow jackets ate them.  The strawberry plants were accidentally murdered by a helpful person who dumped pounds of dirt on them in the spring.  The only item in our yard that was a success was the golden delicious apple tree. We had a lot of tasty apples this year. We also had some zucchini, but I don't eat zucchini and I didn't get out there to pick it until they were ginormous. Rick always wants me to plant zucchini, but it overtakes the garden and he doesn't actually eat it. We are approaching the end of October and I am afraid I ...

Can we go back to summer?  Or forget about school and stay home and dress like birds?  Poor Sean. 

It's been a crazy week. Good in so many ways, but worrisome and stressful and downright exasperating in others.  I want to write about how we welcomed our newest baby boy into the world and his story, but first I should write about why I have the time to do that--I'm confined to a bed in the hospital for 24 hours. Yay! ---- No, not yay, but here's a cute picture to admire before I get on with the story.  I was admitted to the hospital last night to be treated for postpartum preeclampsia.  Here's a good link with information about the condition.  http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/postpartum-preeclampsia/basics/definition/con-20035395 Here's what happened-- I was feeling pretty good and proud of myself for not needing to take the Percocet I have been prescribed for pain after the C section. Emily drove me and Gavin to the Dr for his weight check and jaundice check. He was doing better and I was glad.  We went home for lunch and I started getting a...

Summer is hard and fun. It's busy and exciting and exhausting.  Ricky asked me this today.  So,  I'm in my room pretending to take a nap while the kids watch a little TV. Usually I fall right asleep. Ricky knows our summer schedule pretty well.  Being pregnant with our 7th baby wears me out, but I think keeping everybody engaged in good things and not fighting might be even more difficult than just the exhaustion of being pregnant. We spend our mornings being active with swimming lessons, chores, basketball practice, math practice, piano practice, reading, grocery shopping, etc. By the time we finish making and cleaning up lunch, I find myself barely getting Brooklyn down for an afternoon nap before I want to crash on my bed and rest. The boys count on this TV time each day and I guess it's OK.  For some reason today, I'm not asleep and I have a moment on my own to share a little of what our summer has been like up until now aside from the Colorado trip.  H...

We had a great trip to Colorado and felt very blessed to be able to go after thinking we might be stuck at home for the summer.  We haven't experienced a road trip as a family that equated to more than 7 hours of driving in a very long time, so I was nervous about how the kids would do.  They must have been a little nervous too considering our horrible recent experiences of fighting and throwing up for just our short 2-5 hour drives. Our anxiety made for very good preparation. The kids helped plan activities to keep themselves busy and I was better about planning snacks. We also made sure each section of the car had access to a garbage bag.  The kids did very well with a little fighting, mess, and silliness. I had expected a lot worse considering we have no empty seats in our car and, therefore, no way to get away from each other.  Our first day of driving took us to a hotel in Denver (12 hours). The next day, we drove 6 more hours to the Belts house in Durango....