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!

We got our snow fix....

We headed to Lake Tahoe with Jeff's family for a 3 day stay. It was great fun for the boys to romp in the snow. Jeff, Charlie & I had a day of skiing. Charlie did great in ski school. He may have loved the hot chocolate snack the best:) Max was not too sure of the snow but had plenty of 'helpers' to get him around.

Another beach bum on our hands...

Merry Christmas!

Charlie was a hoot when he woke up this morning. First off he wanted to head back to his room and put Baby Jesus on our advent calender, then off to get some cereal for breakfast.

NO THOUGHT at all of Santa. We asked Charlie "Who do you think came last night?"

Grammie and Grandpa are here!!!.

"NOOO....who else do you think came?" ......No answer from Charlie.

"Charlie, what did we do last night after church?" (you know the cookies, the reindeer food,) ...Blank look from Charlie.

The kid had no idea that Santa was actually going to come.

We had to usher him into the living room to show him the half eaten cookies and the full stockings before he got excited.

Silly boy. We will just appreciate that he's most excited about his Grandparents coming and Baby Jesus' big day:)

Here's Charlie checking out the half eaten cookies and carrots.

Checking out the stockings.

Looking to see if the reindeer food is gone.

Check out Max swiping another cookie.

Legos for Charlie & Max were the big present this year.

Merry Christmas!

Hope it was a magical day of family and friends.

Happy Christmas Eve!

We had a relaxing day of walking into town for breakfast,

enjoying the sunshine and a little last minute shopping.

All dressed for Christmas Eve service. Handsome boy.

Call us crazy but we did attempt to get a shot of the boys

before we headed to Christmas Eve service. .

Seriously...this was the best we got. AND it made us late for church.

Back at home, after the Merkel Christmas Eve meal

of chili and hot dogs.

We started a first attempt at some of our own family traditions.

A new book for everyone to open.

Lighting our Christmas pyramid.

Cookies, carrots and.... water. We ran out of milk.

Max borrowing the chocolate off of one of Santa's cookies.

He put it back though when he was finished.

Fun to see Charlie getting a kick out of his little brother.

Sprinkling reindeer food on the sidewalk.

And off to bed....asleep for the big morning!

Rice Night....

What a cool idea for a way to teach kids about how other kids are living....

I can't wait to try this at home.

First Christmas.....

Is it already finished?! Sigh. Mimi & Pop Pop's visit went so quick. It was so much fun to have them here in the days leading up to Christmas to help us get in the festive mood.

Charlie & Max practicing for the big night of photos

in matching jammies for Christmas Eve.

Clearly we need the practice.

A trip to the San Fran Zoo

Some quiet moments for Max to play

while Pop Pop and Charlie were crossing things off their list....

like the donut shop, In & Out Burger

and watching Willy Wonka at the candy shop in town.

Decorating gingerbread houses...

With some extra hands around the house,

Mommy actually had time to take some cute shots of Max.

We're going to enjoy a couple of quieter days as a family.

and look forward to the whole Merkel clan arriving on Christmas night!

Rainy days are here to stay....

We've been trying to chase away the rainy day blues

of ear infections and colds...

with some good 'ol puddle splashing!!

Max's first puddle splashing lesson.

He was a quick learner with his big brother showing the way!

Max was checking out the rain dripping from the roof.

Cute little butt:) couldn't resist~

Here's to the rainy season in N CA!!! Bring it on...

we're ready with our macs & wellies!

Love is fickle when you're four...

Charlie is sick and lovable tonight...

dealing with double ear infections and a perforated ear drum...

"Mommy, I love you so SOOO much when I'm sick and when I'm not sick I just love you a little"

Hey... a girl will take what she can get.

sweet lovable boy.

That Mom....

Are you that Mom??

Well I'm This Mom and I'm pretty much okay with it....

who makes it a game to vacuum together as a family?

who has a time limit for how long her sons are allowed to cry (like 2 minutes tops)

who is so particular about things being in there place but CAN NOT manage to keep my refrigerator organized and cleaned?

who is surrounded by boys and secretly (well not now) wants some little bit of a girl in her life

who easily gets all the clothes cleaned but can't manage to fold them and put them away?

who will sit beside her husband with our laptops on our laps and feel its spending quality time together? for the record we do share what we're looking at and email back and forth. So sad.

who rarely let my first born cry in the morning for longer than 30 minutes. And sweet Max complains for about an hour before anyone goes to get him....for the record that 'hour' is usually between 5:30 ish and 6:30 ish....No one, even Sweet Max, needs to be tended to at 5:30 in the morning!!

who has an obsession with Trader Joe's and all their cute packaging....sucker!!!

who wakes up sleepless and makes lists or plans my dream kitchen until 4am

who loves my blog and so appreciates the oh....five of you dedicated souls who follow it!!

God is good....

We've almost made it.

It's been a week of all weeks.

I let our nanny go.

Charlie's teacher called because of 'issues' at school.

Confronted a friend with some concerns.

Max had a stomach bug with projectile vomiting (too much info)

I stubbed my toe. YES... its a big deal when you can't walk as a mom of two little ones.

We have no clean clothes in our drawers, just in baskets and the dryer. seriously....Charlie keeps telling me...'Mommy I have no socks. I say, Go find them in the basket, Sweetie."

Did the Holiday parade and Holiday train two nights in a row without Daddy in tow....Thank you Goodrichs for taking care of us on Sat night at the Holiday train!!

I had a week of so many moments like...

Charlie's favorite new book is the coloring book I mistakenly brought home from work about when a Daddy is sick with cancer. Charlie is very fascinated by it. Reading this coloring book gave me perspective this week. Life is short. We are blessed. Jeff is absent because of a trip, nothing more. Helps me to keep it all in check.

I asked family and some friends to pray.

Felt the prayers and was able to hug my boys a little extra and sing a few extra songs at bedtime.

Found a new nanny.

Was able to talk with Jeff on his Malaysia beach and be excited he was having an adventure of diving with sharks.....

I find an amazing respect for single moms each time Jeff travels. and am so blessed to be part of a 'team' in this adventurous stage of life with little ones.

2 days and counting....

When Daddy's away....

We go for 5:30ish drives to look at Christmas lights. and get fast food for dinner. Wendy's on Sunday night. Costco hotdogs tonight.

It's going to be a long 10 days.

Charlie and I both are missing Jeff so much. I haven't even tried to talk Charlie out of it this time. Just agreeing with him each time that 'YES, I miss Daddy SO much too.'

Max still thinks Daddy's 'home' because his 'truck' is parked outside. Sweet boy.

Hopefully the sparkly Christmas lights will keep us happy each night.

Our version of a Turkey Trot race....

We just chased Max around the beach all morning.

That was enough of a work out for me.

Check out Max's joyful face.

He was in heaven running and being chased.

Jeff makes the chasing look so peaceful and relaxing somehow.

Here's another Merkel boy in total heaven. He's a beach bum for sure.

Thankful for my boys.

Thankful for our Thanksgiving romp on the beach.