She did what?

I am here today to make you all feel a little bit better about yourselves.

I'll be honest... My parenting skills? I am not winning any awards as the world's best mom. Just ask my less than perfect kids. I have almost no patience, and sometimes I find myself asking why I am so upset over something so little. In my defense, it is three against one...but this post is not about excuses. My husband and I? We don't always get along. In fact, we have to work very hard to make our marriage work. And there are days that it just doesn't. The kids? They are stinkers! They love to ignore me and stick out their tongues when they think I'm not looking. In honor of all of our imperfections, here's a list of things to make you all smile and say...I'm not the only one, or it could be worse, or maybe even...she did WHAT?





I get mad and yell at my kids. I'm trying harder, but it still happens. A lot.

I've realized that sometimes I'm yelling at my kids not to get their attention, but to get their dad's attention so he will realize that I am frustrated and need help.

I've let my babies cry so I could finish cleaning up the house.

A couple of weeks ago I was sick and my kids had brownies for breakfast and Popsicles for lunch.

After three days of being sick I broke down and took some Dayquil, even though I am still breastfeeding once a day. I did try Children's Tylenol first and it did nothing.

My girls were both potty trained young, but both still have accidents. I think they copy each other. If one has an accident, the other is not far behind.

Sadie was sitting on my lap watching a movie last fall when she fell asleep and peed on my lap. Jared thought it was so funny.

I laughed last time Sadie peed the bed because she was snuggling with her dad.

A few weeks ago we went to Arctic Circle and the girls used the bathroom. Before leaving I went in to change Brynlie's diaper and there was a toilet full of number 2. Just as I was loudly saying how gross some people are to not flush Kylie informs me that that was Sadie's. As least she wiped...

At our old house Jared had to screw down Kylie's vent in her room because she would pull it off and do her business in it.

Jennifer baby sat for me a while ago and said as she walked down the hall she noticed both of my girls in the bathroom. Going pee. At the same time. On the same toilet.

Sadie has fillings in her front teeth from too much sugar and apple juice and not enough brushing her teeth. Bad mommy...

I caught her chewing on tin foil the other day, on the front teeth. (I made you cringe, didn't I?)

All of my girls like to lick/suck on batteries. I found Brynlie licking a D battery that other day, and yes there is a little shock that they get when they do this. If you don't believe me, try it yourself. I did... Our old cell phones were always having problems because they'd get a hold of them and stick their tongues on the contacts. We have new phones now, with the contacts covered.

My kids don't have a bed time and stay up way too late. We are working on going to bed earlier since Kylie starts 1st grade in 4 weeks.

Sunday mornings at our house are rarely peaceful and happy. I usually do a lot of yelling.

I renewed my temple recommend last summer and haven't been to one session since. (I did go to a couple of sealings though.)

Last week we skipped church and went to Raging Waters. (Can I blame Jason for that one? It was his idea...to bad his ex didn't bother to show with his son TJ, which was the whole reason why we were going in the first place.)

I'm good at blaming others (see above).

I've googled ex-boyfriends.

I taught Kylie her first swear word. She clogged the toilet and it overflowed. She immediately repeated what I said.

I just yelled at Kylie to get out of the office because I am trying to type this blog and she won't stop whining.

I put my kids in time out and then I forget about them.

Sometimes when my kids are whining and fighting I hide when they come to tattle.

We eat way too much fast food and frozen food. Way. Too. Much.

This list could go on and on and on, but I've got to stop somewhere.

Hey Amanda...this one's for you!

Recipes

I despise eggs in pretty much every way, shape, and form. Scrambled, fried, poached, hard boiled...you name it, I hate it. I can appreciate what they do for baking, but that is about as far as I will go to give them any sort of credit. I wish I liked eggs, because it would make my life much easier to eat them, but I just can't. When my mom was pregnant with me she craved eggs and would quite often run home during her lunch (she was a school teacher) to make them. Once, while in a hurry, she burned them. She ate them anyway, and they made her sick and she didn't want eggs again during the pregnancy. I'm pretty sure that this is why I hate eggs. Growing up I hated when mom would cook eggs for breakfast and I especially hated the mornings that she cooked German pancakes. Everyone was so excited and fighting over the corners and I was in my room, trying to block the smell of eggs out. I swore that I would never, ever serve that dish in my house. Then a couple of weeks back I came across my friend Ramanda's blog post about their yummy weekend tradition of German pancakes and her recipe. While I still hate eggs, I love my husband and children and don't want to deprive them of a dish that so many people love. It looked super easy and so I thought that I would give it a shot. I made it Sunday night and they loved it so much that I had to buy eggs on Monday so that they could have it again the next day. I'm afraid that we I may have started something that I can't stop now... Anyway, I have started a new blog that has recipes from me and all my Merrell sisters and mom. I've posted the German pancake recipe on it if anyone else is interested in trying it out. If you have ever given me a recipe in the past don't be surprised if you see it show up on there. Yes Janica, those are your pumpkin bars on there.

Wedding Pictures

Okay, I get it. You want pictures. I guess some of you (newly married or with only 1 child left living at home to be specific) have a different idea of what soon means. To me, a mother of three GIRLS, who works full time and who has a spouse who works out of town, soon means sometime this month, or next. I guess I will have to be more specific next time. And some of you will just have to be more patient.

I am not one of those girls that dreamed about and planned every detail of her wedding long before the tiny detail of the groom was figured out. I've never been an overly sentimental, girly type. I don't enjoy most chick flicks, although I will gladly sit through one if it means getting out of the house with just the girls. And by girls, I mean ADULT girls. So when Jared and I were engaged it took me three months before I started planning anything. All credit goes to my parents for making my wedding a success. My dad took care of all of the decorating, including the cake, and my mom took care of all of the food and helped me with other small details. My mom's job was extra hard since we had a lot of friends and family coming in from out of town and I wanted to make sure that there was good food so that they would all stick around and not leave to go find something to eat. The colors of our wedding kept changing. We started with black, white, chrome (yes, Jared requested chrome. I called it silver, but whatever...) and green because I wanted lots of greenery at the outdoor wedding. I couldn't find any dresses for my two little sisters as flower girls so we ended up adding in navy blue, which was really totally random. I've never been a fan of that color. Looking back now, I realize just how young I was when I got married. Now, I would have tried much harder to make things match, and I wouldn't have had green and blue. It would have been purple! Who am I kidding...now I would just elope! The only other input I got from Jared (besides the chrome color) was he wanted it outdoors and he wanted the bikes to be included.

My dad got really creative and decorated each table with "chrome" motorcycle helmets.

Which made for lots of fun later on in the evening...

And I really loved what he did with the cake that I had picked out. I had no idea that he was going to do this and was quite impressed.

Before the ceremony...

Jared and his mom.

My Dad, walking me down the aisle.

This is Tawnie's dad Steve, performing the ceremony. He passed away 7 months later so it was really special that he was able to do this for us.

My hot (young!!) groom...



Our parents.

The guys...Jared's two older brothers Jason and Jeremy, and my brother, Vince. The morning after the wedding we stopped by to say good bye to Vince who was leaving that week for his mission in England.


The girls. My youngest sisters Sasha and Mickala were the flower girls and then the bridesmaids were my sister Kristi, Jared's sister Jennifer, and my other sister Annie.








Jason, Jared, their cousin Mindy, and Jeremy.
This was the aisle that the guests would walk through to get to the ceremony and reception. We had so many friends that rode out to Vernal for the wedding. I was SO jealous that they all had that fun ride out and I was already in Vernal the day before getting ready. The one in the front right hand side was Jared's.
More bikes that didn't fit in the front yard.

Some of our friends.



My wonderful grandparents, who I've never properly paid tribute to on my blog before. They are the best grandparents a kid could ask for. Just ask my many siblings and cousins who also blog. We were all extra lucky to be given such great grandparents.


I'm sure that they didn't mean to, but doesn't it look like they coordinated their outfits?

My youngest cousin, Mikey.
Guests eating at the reception.
My friend Chase's two little kids.

Tom Wilhelm, family friend and neighbor. I have many great memories of him and his family. His daughter Marlie reads this so I know she will enjoy this picture.
Tawnie with her 80's hair.
Here are a couple of pictures of Jared's two younger brothers, Justin and Jacob. Jeremy Jensen is in both of the pictures. Look how much they have grown!

Here's my sister Annie, Jeremy's sister Melanie, and their friend Jillyn.
And here is where the guys start to get restless. After all, they've been at a wedding for several hours now! Jeremy, while still in the line, decided to swallow a goldfish whole. (We had the fish on the tables in the decorations and also in a fountain.) After swallowing the fish, he chased it with the water in the little cup. What he didn't know was that the water had been chemically treated for the fish and it made him throw up. Yes, in our line. At least he went behind the trellis for this little stunt of his.This is Jason wrestling with Jacob. He conveniently split the crotch open on his tux and had to change after this.

Jared didn't want to be left out so here he is leaving our line...
tackling our friend Mikey...
and wrestling with him.
Now his croch is split open too. At the end of the night all but one tuxedoes had been split open. And the tuxedo company still let the South family rent tuxes the following month for Jeremy's wedding.

To the left of this picture you can see Jared's Grandpa Pedersen. He is such a kind and thoughtful man, always remembering to call us on our birthday's, anniversary's etc. When I started my blog he called and left me a message letting me know how much he enjoyed reading about our family.

The couple in the middle is Kim and Kendal. I honestly think that this was the first time that I met them, although they have become great friends of mine since. Jared and Kendal went to high school together.

Cutting the cake.


Riding off into the sunset together. Okay, not really. We went for a ride and then came back to meet up with all of our friends. Like I said, I'm not really into all of that "yucky love stuff". (What movie is that from?)

We had such a fun day, and it wouldn't have been possible without all of the love and support from all of our family and friends. And it wouldn't be possible today because we no longer have his bike...we have kids. Someday....