Bringing a little California to Ohio

With the Thomas cousins being 'older and wiser',

they tend to pave the way for the Merkel boys.

We like this, it works pretty well.

The tide turned a bit this last visit in May

when the California boys brought their Apple products to Ohio.

It was very cute to see Charlie & Max with their Apple itouch's

showing their 'older and wiser' cousins the way they work:)

Cody & Max

Jaedon & Max

Daddy & Max...

even Daddy has a thing or two to learn apparantly...

Charlie is also quite the pro at his itouch,

I just didn't get it documented in photo.

I should say as a disclaimer.

We would never buy a 5 year old and 2 year old their OWN itouches...

but with Jeff's company Admob doing most of their business with Apple

both itouches have been gifts from the company.

And we LOVE them for their simple, light design.

Great for traveling and taking on the go.

Much cheaper than any game boy or DVD player you can buy

in that you just download new games and videos from itunes.

Okay, enough of a plug for Apple.

IKEA!!

It has always been a fun destination for us.

With the play area for Charlie

and the very kid friendly eating area for both boys...

it's a big hit on those...

'what in the world do we do today' days.

Best part we now live one mile from Ikea:)

View from my iphone...

life is very busy these days. with very good things and very daily things.

here are some photos of our life. from my phone...which seems to be the way of capturing my two 'yahoos' these days...

In & Out Burger!

One of the first things we located when we moved to Palo Alto...

Taking 'Leo' for a walk....

poor Leo, he must be dizzy being upside down and all.

The boys sitting in (and smushing)

our new strawberry patch in our backyard...

Max's first real haircut....

Charlie had to go 'first' to show Max that it didn't hurt.

Love big brothers for stuff like this!

Cutting off the curls.

Brave boy.

Brave Mama.

Sweet Max with a big boy haircut.

Charlie's birthday cupcake with his speech therpist Amy...

or as Charlie says...Amy who teaches me my 'L's".

We love Amy!

Charlie stopping to smell the tulips on our walk.

A run around at the Stanford Oval.

So fun to be so close to campus to pop over to play!

New bike helmet for Max!

World Cup...England vs US!

Max checking out the score on the iphone.

We're starting them young:)

You two are what made me a mother....

photo from Thanksgiving Day on the beach

It's what went through my head most of the day on Mother's Day. And it made our rainy, windy, 'no huge special plans' kind of Mother's Day very meaningful for me. I enjoyed the craziness a little more, enjoyed Charlie's endless, running hugs & kisses (that can be a little painful at times) and just savored in the feeling of being a mom to my two boys.

No photos to show for the day.

But I did get breakfast in bed (dry toast, fruit and coffee, accompanied by cute cards from Jeff & Charlie)

A nap uninterrupted

A solo trip to Target

A new hummingbird feeder to enjoy with the boys.

It was a nice, relaxing day.

Happy 5th Birthday to Charlie!

You hold such a special place in my heart.

You are more like me than anyone I know.

And that works to our benefit and detriment every day of our lives.

You made me a Mom.

It has been my best and hardest journey of my life.

You are a lovely little big boy with a sweet sweet spirit.

I can't wait to spend the next 5 years with you..

and beyond.

Happy 5th Birthday Charlie!

It's been such a big month since I posted last. Life is settling down ever so slightly. We're taking the good with the bad. Both have been pretty evident these past few weeks. Here's some of the highlights...

*We love our new home. It has just enough added space here and there. more cabinets in the kitchen, an eating nook with lovely sunlight, an extra bathroom...and best of all a larger backyard and gated brick driveway. We're in small house heaven:)

*We're getting to know our new neighborhood. There is a little downtown to walk to, a train station stop along the way and an enclosed park to play at. It doesn't have the 'Baby Einstein' charm of Burlingame. But we're still able to walk to Mollie Stone's for grocherys, the bagel shop for bagels and most importantly have a safe park within walking distance for getting our 'afternoon crazy's' worked out.

*I'm finding people to be so warm and friendly. Really welcoming and helpful. We've already made two friends in the two days we've ventured to the park. You know the kind of friends who are pulling their phones out to exchange contact details so we can get together again. SOO nice! And best of all, Charlie has made two new friends (JT & Sonia...and the girl is his favorite!! love that) who will be entering kindergarten in the fall as well.

*Our nanny disappeared on us, and then with a crazy twist that still leaves me shakey to think about, reappeared on my doorstep 10 days later. It's been such a hard emotional betrayel and feeling of abadonment. I look at Charlie & Max daily, even with all their craziness and toughness...and am AMAZED that someone could walk away from them. What a loss for our nanny and for us.

*My first baby Charlie is turning 5 in one week. I've been kissing his neck, smelling his head and snuggling a little more every night. Do other mom's out there do the same thing?

*I have photos to post. Jeff's been in Singapore all week and he knows where the power cord is.

*My job- although it does cause stress in light of our nanny leaving us- does provide still such wonderful perspective. I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work on such a part time basis and doing something that I love to do. and a job that brings such eternal and daily perspective into my life.

we're onto a better and new week....with hopefully some photos of our new life coming soon!

on the move....

I had this post all planned in my head.

photos of stacks of boxes,....you know.... with the sun shining in... cute writing on the boxes, saying 'Kitchen stuff", "Boys books"....maybe an empty box with two cute boys inside.

We put our kitchen table out to the trash today....somewhere along the way two little monkeys have shredded our table and I gave up (they WON!)...along with the HUGE, 'box of a tv', that we stored in Chicago while we lived in London, then lugged across the country from Chicago to CA, planning to return for refund....since it was under warrenty when it broke....FIVE years ago.

yea, it went in the trash today.

I had plans of lots of photos and cutsy blog posts...

but I can't find my camera anywhere and I'm emotionally tired from trying to find it.

We're on the move. excited, sad and hoping this will be our 'second to last' move in many many years.

See you on the other side. Hopefully I'll find my camera and show you a bit of our new life in Palo Alto. Here we come, ready or not!

M & M's

Who doesn't love some yummy M&M's....

these were of the cute cuddly boy variety though.

It was the Mulder & Merkel sleep over:)

Charlie, Judah, Max & Levi.

and that's 5, 4, 3, 2 years if you're wondering.

What a foursome these guys are!

The first of many (we hope) sleep overs.

Great times...these boys are chips off the old block.

Jeff & Chad have never passed up an opportunity to

take a day time adventure into an over night bonding fest!

Glad to see the little guys are up for the late night fun as well!

Happy 2nd Birthday Max!

Your favorites at Two....

Sheepy

Rocket (from Little Einsteins)

Singing 'Hello to Max'

( and hello to the blanket, Daddy's truck,

and anything else your eye catches sight of)

Frozen Mickey Mouse Chicken Fingers...

they are precooked but Max likes them cold and frozen.

(Gross! but makes an easy snack on the go)

Playing firetruck and big red bus with Charlie

'I do it' is one of your favorite phrases.

Favorite bed time song "I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy down in my heart"

Playing...."Outside?, Outside?"

Snuggling during tv time (Mommy's favorite!)

We love you so much Max! Happy 2nd Birthday!

Every Mom wonders....

How this little guy....

is now this little guy.

It's been a great two years. We love you Sweet Max.

And our paths cross again...

We have shared so many life adventures with the Mulders

over our 15 plus year friendship.

And their sabbatical stay 'over the hill' in Santa Cruz for 5 weeks

has been such a fun bonus to our life.

Now...if we can just convince them to stay....

I think it's very fitting....

that Charlie has a new love of making cards for people.

If you are sick...having a sad day...Charlie wants to make you a card.

If its a holiday or he misses you...Charlie wants to make you a card.

They are the sweetest cards in the whole world.

They say things like

"I love you all day long."

"I hope you have a nice house"

"I love your hugs"

and they are always signed 'Dear, Charlie'.

We've tried to explain that its really suppose to say 'Love, Charlie'

but he is adament it should say 'Dear, Charlie'.

The letter writing and card making is fitting

as its one of the things I love best about Jeff

and a huge part of how we fell in love.

Letter writing and card writing.

In the olden days before emails:)

One college day long ago,

when Jeff was working the front desk of our dorm,

I came to pick up my mail.

Jeff asked "Did you get any fun mail today?"

I said "Not today"

(and secretly thought what a cute boy that is

who's asking me about my mail)

The next day, Jeff left a little note in my mailbox.

Sadly I didn't save it,

not knowing it was the first note from my husband.

I do remember that it said something like this.

Hi!

Here's some fun mail.

love, Jeff

I guess we know where Charlie gets his writing skills from.

Two sweet boys writing their way into others hearts.

How lucky I am to have them both for my Valentine.

It's ALL about the good moments....

One of the most helpful things that Jeff & I are learning

while parenting these two

crazy monkey of boys we have....

is to savor and soak up the GOOD moments....

the moments of caring and sweetness between them....

It really melts a heart

And eases a thousand worries of...

'will they EVER be friends?'

Because....

watch out for the NEXT moment....

the crazy monkey's are BACK!

You can take them out of Taylor U....

But you can't the Taylor U out of them.....

We have a good time at these crazy parties.

But we're still a bit of the wall flowers.

At least we have each other.

And Jeff's stories to keep us entertained...

Fun times at the Admob Holiday Party....

We Merkels head to the beach....

The Merkel men...

minus an ornary 4 year old who refused to slow down long enough

The Merkel girls...

Grammie & Grandpa Merkel...

enjoying the quiet and the view together.

I love this one of Max

with Grammie & Grandpa Merkel in the background.

Such a great way for this Merkel family to spend time together.

Romping on the beach!