NaUgHtY~StInKiNg~RoTtEn

Ask me what I made for dinner...Go ahead!......

Thanks for asking!! I made crock pot mac and cheese, slow cooked for almost 5 hours, pork chops on the grill (thanks Dan) salad smothered in yummy roma tomatoes and some corn. So we're sitting down to eat. Briar takes a few bites and disappears. I ask everyone. Did you see where briar went? No one knows. So I call for her a few times...no answer. Naturally I excuse myself from the table to go find her. Where do ya figure she went.....

Well Look at that! she's right here






(little holla to Sarah and her pickle ExTrEmE pringles)

Apparently the Oreos were more appetizing that my big yummy dinner.

Did she get in trouble? Nope This is the extent of her punishment.

"The Look" It's all I've got when I just can't get mad.

~Cydney Dawn Merkley~

Heather arrived at the Showlow Medical center Early in the morning. Not sure how she always pulls off the pretty, super early in the am or just having a baby, but it happens. =o)






Ok ~ ShE iS jUsT sO pInK



Big brother Rylin

Big brother Tristin

We are all so excited that Cydney is finally here.

~!!~It's a GIRL~!!~

After having 6 boys, My wonderful sister finally got her girl. These were sent form Chad's cell phone. I'll post better ones within the next few days.




~*Cydney Dawn Merkley*~

OH YA!

Anyone else excited for school to start??!!

Prescott or BUST!!

We had another fun weekend. We loaded up and went to Prescott





My brother Danny and his family and sis Ann and her fam went up to a cabin. Other than the air conditioner not working in the cabin it was a lot of fun. We arrived, unloaded the van and what is the first thing I did? Come on now, anyone that knows me can answer this question. Dan took a picture and commented...."it took you 2.2 seconds to find the diet dp in the house" Sigh...I'm such an addict!

We stayed up late playing games and eating junk. The kids all stayed up till about 1am. It really was a blast!



Manda fell asleep first... So of course we were able to take pictures of her odd sleeping habits. She stayed this way for over an hour. SHE'S SO CUTE. I love my Nieces!

Life has changed so much it seems. I was in the kitchen the next morning and realized, even though I still feel like I'm 18, I must be getting old cuz I look up from making some cereal and see my brother sitting at the table reading and realize, DUDE YOUR GETTING OLD! (sorry Danny) Gotta love this guy. He's my Favorite.

The kids went climbing. What a fun backyard huh! Tanner and Dallin got stung by wasps but other than that, it was just tadpole hunting and climbing...a boys paradise.

I'm sending a shout out to my Totally Rockin Brother and Sis. Thanks for inviting us. It is always fun to hang. I love my family so much.

~PIC OF THE DAY~

We got home from Prescott and unloaded the van. We were literally home 10 minutes and this is what I find. I think she wanted to go swimming. What do you think?

~MEMORY LANE~

Here are the directions:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. This is one that makes a moderated blog a perk.

Ideas Please!!!

OK, So I know its summer time and I'm used to my kids eating at school, but I'm dying here! My kids eat breakfast and are STARVING, not just hungry but "I don't have any strength because your STARVING me" hungry by 10:30am. Every Day I'm getting more and more frustrated that I can't keep them on a better schedule as far as eating goes and they are eating me out of house and home. They eat breakfast at 7am and are hungry for lunch by 10 or 10:30, which makes them want to eat again around 2 and dinner no later than 5. Its easy for me to tell the older kids to eat an apple or plum or something to tide them over, but when I have Briar screaming at me because she's starving! It breaks my heart. I'm out of ideas. Keeping groceries in my house has become such a chore. I know, I know... y'all are sitting there thinking....."first she hatches 7 kidletts THEN she complains about it".... I'm really not, I just need some advice and or ideas.

And secondly, I'm out of ideas for dinner. For 14 years we've rotated between several of the same dinners. PLEASE HELP!! Anyone who reads this and doesn't mind PLEASE post one of your favorite EASY dinners or lunches and recipes, I will LOVE YA for it!!

My Weekend in Numbers

7- The weeks it's been since Dan-Da-Man broke his neck

1- Date Night. Thanks for hanging with us Homies...Da Whettens

6.5- The hours of yard work done Saturday

YAY It's finally green~!~

6- The loads of laundry done

∞ - The number of loads I have left

3- The times we vacuumed this weekend

1- Trailer unloaded of camping equipment

1- Quad, FINALLY unloaded from the trailer

5- Things crossed off the "To Do" list

116.91- Reminders why we don't take the kids out to dinner very often

579.31- Reasons why I'm Hating SRP today

~ The best part, look at the envelope. HAHA "Your New Improved SRP Bill Inside"......Can I have the less improved one back....please!?!

3- Naughty kids during sacrament meeting

1- The number of those Naughty kids taken home early

103.5- Briar's Temp (no wonder she was so naughty)

7- kids playing in the rain

4- The number of outfits Briar has changed into today. You can tell she's not feeling well, its usually at least 6

Checkin her bad self out!

1- Crazy wonderful Weekend

Little Bit O Catch up

This is a shoutout to my Home slice, RHONDA! She texted me this am and told me to update the blog. Love yas girly, we're thinking about you guys and keeping you in our prayers...... So here goes...

We had a super fun 4th, Danny and Shannon and fam along with Ann and her kidos came over for a partay, Tan also invited some friends, Aaron his #1 sidekick, Dallin, Bryce, Trent & Nick. Thanks for coming y'all, we had a lot of fun. So ya, we're officially the parents of a teenager. WOOT!





We're also sending a shoutout to Heaven...G'pa Oakes, Happy Birthday to you

~*~Yay for Em...she lost yet another tooth, that's 3 now and she looks so funny



So I started feeling sick on the 4th, Dan was sick last week....I guess he kissed me too much cuz I got it. So this is my life today


Oh My.....thats just not pretty



But i'm all set up. The meds (thank heavens) The phone, thermomitor and cell phone, BRING IT ON WORLD I'M READY!

So does anyone wonder what the crazy wonderful looks like when mom is in bed sick? Well wonder no more..........

This is the first thing I see....SO CUTE....how could such sweet innocent children do this.....

and this.....the bins those toys should be in




.....sigh


I'm sorry....is that cereal? Ya I might have yelled a little at this point. So all together (and I counted) 8 ceiling fans and lights were on, No wonder I had a 400 dollar electric bill. Totally out of control. Needless to say I stayed up for a bit to make sure it got cleaned up.

I'm going back to bed now...

And my pic of the day......


um.....ok

Its rare when I'm speechless, but I am. Nuf said