Zander goes crazy for anything Yo Gabba Gabba. He's got a shirt, sweatshirt, sleeping bag, 2 blankets, giant pillow Brobee, small pillow Brobee, giant pillow Muno, Plex backpack, and DJ Lance Rock's boombox. Everytime we put on Netflix, he thinks we are going to watch his favorite show.

When I was stocking up on snacks for work at CVS Pharmacy, I found Yo Gabba beanie babies. Perfect pocket size to play with and take with us where ever we go. I originally bought one, but made another trip back to the store to buy the rest. I'm a sucker and knew he would absolutely love all of them. He was really excited when I gave them to him one at a time. The cute part was when he had all 5 and wanted to know about DJ Rock. Unfortunately they don't make him in beanie baby size.

High Five Friday

1. My new obsession is shopping at the thrift store. What better way to pack my closet full of cute things and stay on a budget! I'm not sure who is donating all of their Anne Taylor, H&M, and Limited clothes, but I'm happy to take them. I went this week in preparation for my trip to Florida and I bought the green Limited shirt below, another shirt, dress, and a shirt for Zander. I spent $12!

2. Devin went to Real Colors training with his work this week. It's based on the theory that there are 4 distinct personality types. Once you identify your strengths and the strengths of your coworkers, it is supposed to be easier to work with them considering you know their personality types. Devin found out that he is a blue/gold. Does this sound like him?

• Blue - peaceful, sincere, spiritual, subjective, sympathetic, insightful, caring, compassionate, personal, empathetic, romantic, humane, nice, poetic, sensitive, accepting, patient, giving, and true
• Gold - sensible, practical, organized, provider, parental, stable, thorough, punctual, dependable, painstaking, conservative, detailed, solid, hard-warking, consistent, structured, positive, predictable, and reliable.

We had a similar training at the Republic and I am 100% gold. I was certain Devin was more of an orange (described as generous, witty, spotanteous, competitor, performer, trouble-shooter, optimistic, eager, charming, courageous, independent, willing, reactive, fearless, excitable, enthusiastic, excitable, adaptable, easy-going, mechanical, compromising, persuasive, wild, fun and crazy). 

3. London sure knows how to put together the Closing Ceremonies. One Direction, the band formerly known as Oasis, George Michael, and the Spice Girls. It was like a huge concert! Great way to close the Olympic games. We'll be waiting for the 2016 games in Rio. 

4. To say it's been hot would be an understatement. It has been a blistering summer and it's around this time each year that I wish we lived somewhere else. Since I get off work early, Zander and I normally run errands, play at the park, or go swimming together. Lately our afternoon consists of coming straight home because of the heat. The thought of getting in and out of the car does not sound fun. This past week we actually did run a few errands, one which included a trip to Walmart where we admired some fish.

5. This is the sight I see each morning as I leave early for work. Definitely makes it tough to leave when I'd rather cuddle up with my two favorite people.

In the Merrill family, we always do something special for our birthdays. Normally it's dinner together at the restaurant of our choice. For Devin and Eddie's birthday, which falls within the same week in August, we decided on going to the lake. We went in the late afternoon and brought the fixins to barbeque carna asada for tacos.

High Five Friday

1. It sucks when you have to spend money on something you weren't planning for. When Devin got a flat tire last week, we realized that we needed new tires on the Outlook. $850 later, we got some new wheels.

2. Thanks to my pigment challenged hair, I get my hair dyed every 5 - 6 weeks. Lucky for me, my hairdresser lives in San Tan Valley so I get to combine the event with hanging out with the Powells. Zander had so much fun hanging out with his cousins (TT especially) and jumping on the trampoline. I loved catching up with Kylie who I used to see and talk to almost every day. It definitely made me miss living next to them.

3.We had a family date night this week and had dinner together at Costa Vida. Sweet pork....yum! We got to the restaurant just in time to watch a huge monsoon storm outside. 

4. I started watching How I Met Your Mother on Netflix a few months ago and finally got through seasons 1 - 6 this week. I don't know if this is an accomplishment or sign that I'm a couch potato. 24 episodes x 6 seasons x 22 minutes per episode = a lot of time watching tv when I could have been doing something more productive. We had to download season 7 so I'm frantically trying to catch up before the new season begins on tv this month. Love this show!

5. Devin saw the Bourne Legacy with his work today. They rented out the whole theater for his company. He loved it, especially since a majority of the film was in the Philippines and there was a lot of dialogue in Tagalog.

It's no secret that Devin loves electronics. Any one who walks in our house can see that this man loves Klipsch. He's molding Zander to be a future techy just like him.
It's a good thing that his work feeds his obsession. He's gotten a new lap top and new headphones over the past few weeks. I'm just grateful that it's them buying the new gadgets instead of me.

Devin's 28th Birthday

Devin is now 28! He started off the day with a flat tire and had to work, but we still got to celebrate his big day. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and Zander and I got him a new Fossil watch. 

High Five Friday

1. I love the Olympics! Swimming, beach volleyball, gymnastics. This week has been a great week to watch sports. Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian in history. The USA gymnastics team won gold for the first time since 1996. Misty and Kerri broke their consecutive set win streak at the Olympics, but still won all of their games. Two and a half weeks of events every two years just doesn’t seem like enough.

2. Devin had a little mishap with his car keys on Tuesday so I had to pick him up from work. It also meant that I had to take him to work the next morning which was ok by me. Since I work from 6am – 3pm and Devin works from 8am – 5pm, Devin takes care of Zander in the morning and drops him at the sitter. It also means that I don’t get to sleep in or participate in the normal morning routine. It was so nice to sleep in, get ready, drop Zander off, and drive into work together. It’s days like this that I wish I worked the normal hours.

3. One of my highlights each day is the 15 minutes in the car with Zander while I drive home from the sitters. We listen to music loudly and both sing our hearts out. I’ll even switch it over to the Yo Gabba Gabba station which gets Zander really excited. I’ll adjust my mirror to watch his facial expressions and hand gestures as he grooves to the music. One of his new favorite songs is “Call Me Maybe” which seems to come on every time we are in the car.  

4. The last few months at work have been tough. There has been a lot of changes which has led to some frustration and stress. Things have been picking up over this past month and our team ended July above our target goals. It was a huge accomplishment for the entire team.

5. I am addicted to Etsy and VeryJane.com. There are so many cute things that I want to buy. Aside from buying not one, but two lace baby bloomers when I don't even have a girl, I bought a cute necklace a few weeks ago. I've been checking the mail every day since and finally got it yesterday.