tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131127362024-03-14T11:03:48.582-04:00Mind Your MillersThe Blog of Lucas & Kim Millerldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.comBlogger633125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-48934871324568744312014-12-24T21:28:00.000-05:002014-12-26T21:30:53.887-05:00'Twas the Night before Christmas at the Miller's<div style="text-align: center;">
'Twas the night before Christmas,</div>
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When all through the house</div>
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The germs were multiplying,</div>
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faster than we could douse;</div>
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Though the flu mist was given</div>
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to the children with care,</div>
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In hopes of healthy holidays</div>
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we never had a pray'r;</div>
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The children were propped up</div>
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all snug in recliners,</div>
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In hopes the position</div>
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would help them breath finer;</div>
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Lucas in his Hillsdale shirt,</div>
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I in sweatpants from gap</div>
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Had just settled down</div>
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for the briefest of nap,</div>
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When out of the monitor</div>
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there arose such a clatter,</div>
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I sprang from my bed</div>
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to see what was the matter.</div>
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Away to the twins room</div>
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I flew like a flash,</div>
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To find both the twinners</div>
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beginning to thrash.</div>
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The Christmas lights shining</div>
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on the humidifier mist</div>
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Gave a luster to the</div>
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feverish heads that I kissed,</div>
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When what to my worried</div>
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ear should I hear</div>
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But them coughing a cough</div>
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sounding very severe,</div>
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With a mother's intuition</div>
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so ready and quick,</div>
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I knew in a moment</div>
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how to tend to the sick.</div>
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More rapid than eagles</div>
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to the medicine cabinet I came,</div>
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to gather my remedies,</div>
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I know them by name:</div>
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Now Delsym! Now Hyland's!</div>
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Now Ibuprofen! Now Zarbee's!</div>
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On Vapo Rub! On Tylenol!</div>
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On Halls and Honey!</div>
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To the aid of the Twinners!</div>
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To their aid with my haul!</div>
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To dash away symptoms! </div>
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Dash away one and all!</div>
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As dry leaves that in</div>
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the wild wind fly,</div>
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I stumbled, hit an obstacle,</div>
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and stubbed my toe with a cry;</div>
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Yet to the twins room</div>
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with great speed I flew,</div>
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With arms full of remedies,</div>
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for my babies two.</div>
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And then, in a twinkling,</div>
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I measured each dose</div>
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rubbing on soothing vapor</div>
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and wiping away all things gross.</div>
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As I drew back my head,</div>
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and was turning around,</div>
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I heard one more cough,</div>
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and turned back at the sound.</div>
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They were in Christmas jammies,</div>
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with cute penguin feet,</div>
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the humid air caused their hair</div>
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to curl up tight and neat;</div>
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their favorite stuffed toys</div>
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were snuggled under their chins,</div>
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and they looked like </div>
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the most angelic twins.</div>
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Yet signs of fevers</div>
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were making me wary!</div>
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Their cheeks were like roses,</div>
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flushed bright as a cherry!</div>
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Their droll little mouths</div>
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drawn up like a bow,</div>
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revealing baby teeth (and 2 grown up)</div>
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as white as the snow;</div>
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the stem of thermometer</div>
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placed gently 'neath tongue,</div>
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validated my fear of fevers</div>
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when brightly it rung.</div>
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I put wet washcloths on forehead,</div>
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and VapoRub on belly,</div>
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which made them scream with hate</div>
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for mentholated jelly.</div>
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I soothed them to sleep,</div>
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set glasses of water on a near shelf,</div>
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and smiled as I left them,</div>
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quite proud of myself;</div>
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A wink of my eye</div>
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and a twist of my head;</div>
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Soon sleeping on the couch</div>
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my new Christmas Eve bed.</div>
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Awakened many times</div>
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I went straight to my work,</div>
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calming coughs, soothing symptoms,</div>
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not a thing would I shirk,</div>
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even spraying saline mist</div>
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inside of their nose,</div>
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which made them scream,</div>
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and washed out things that were gross;</div>
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Then sprang back to the couch,</div>
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to sleep a small mite,</div>
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until coughs called me back</div>
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through the un-silent night.</div>
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But it was worth it when they called,</div>
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whenever I walked out of sight,</div>
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"I can't wait for Christmas, Mommy!</div>
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I love you! Night, night!"</div>
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<br /></div>
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In case you hadn't guessed, Influenza has taken over our house (despite our best efforts at prevention!). Even worse, we've given the germs as our gift to the family who came to celebrate in our home (causing them to leave early and us to cancel our plans to visit all far away family...not only are we sorry for the unfortunate gift, we are sorry for the loss of time...). Not our best Christmas ever, but still with plenty of moments that lived up to the anticipation.</div>
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Merry Christmas to all!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-63896954793162610022014-11-22T20:19:00.004-05:002014-11-22T20:19:56.567-05:00Our Month of Thankfulness: Week 3<div style="text-align: center;">
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The third week of November was our first week with all of us healthy. You may notice the thankful list seems especially long (as does this post). I think all of us feeling better had a lot to do with that!</div>
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This week, our favorite toy store was having a special Princess Day. We needed to do some Christmas shopping anyway, so we decided to go. We made the mistake of mentioning it to the kids a couple days before (not really thinking of it as the completely monumental event that it was), and they could talk of nothing else for days. Allie was constantly asking if it was princess day yet.</div>
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<b><i>Before we left. It has been cold here, so they wrapped up in matching scarves. Allie's is to keep her warm, Ryan's is to represent the fire he breathes!</i></b></div>
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See, part of the event was meeting Elsa & Anna. Lucas and I mentioned it offhand - never even thinking that our children were confident they were meeting the REAL Elsa & Anna. Had we spent even a second thinking about it from their point of view, we would not have talked about it so casually! They were balls of excitement from the moment they woke up. As you can probably tell from the pictures! They were dressed and ready to go an hour early. Since it was princess day, but Ryan did NOT want to dress up as a princess, he decided to be a dragon...because every princess needs a dragon. It made me think of <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-day-of-2-adventures.html" target="_blank">Fairy Tale Day</a> at the Toy Store a while back...which also made us miss the Beauties - who would have totally met us at this event and loved it!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0t1fNvNrz7stegVuCpkfukMLhIQh32MOX-T4tPwOZbN4RoxZlG0SDxUa_rr4Tmg9ubBpYjwPvgMNNnazbcaOr1vUB38c14fuKLlj6ESCVa8zqtts5yH76ToQj8nZm9bM9FuC/s1600/DSC_2221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0t1fNvNrz7stegVuCpkfukMLhIQh32MOX-T4tPwOZbN4RoxZlG0SDxUa_rr4Tmg9ubBpYjwPvgMNNnazbcaOr1vUB38c14fuKLlj6ESCVa8zqtts5yH76ToQj8nZm9bM9FuC/s1600/DSC_2221.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
When we got to the store, we had to park in a neighboring parking lot and there was a line to get inside. It was completely overwhelming. It also turned out that the princesses there were young teenagers (I think potentially relatives of staff members). The girls did a fantastic job, but they also seemed a bit overwhelmed and didn't quite sell it. Allie confided to me in the bathroom later that she knew they weren't the real Elsa & Anna...and then whispered that the girl dressed as Elsa didn't even have any frozen powers. They still carried celebrity status, however, and the kids enjoyed the opportunities to get their pictures with them. I would call the day a success!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSgRHP8zuYpYYH4YI3ryNQROYQOWlsi0ccXcSmYWJ2qrcpmAjx4FFsny1I1l17QlDlKiGdl5fEcw4uWC2DXNuYgIaqXjL5bJz3YvwAXlMQmIe0ofGh1CWzHCcsnFjJIa0E_TK/s1600/DSC_2225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiSgRHP8zuYpYYH4YI3ryNQROYQOWlsi0ccXcSmYWJ2qrcpmAjx4FFsny1I1l17QlDlKiGdl5fEcw4uWC2DXNuYgIaqXjL5bJz3YvwAXlMQmIe0ofGh1CWzHCcsnFjJIa0E_TK/s1600/DSC_2225.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
We are THANKFUL for:<br />
<b><i>Allie & Anna</i></b></div>
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- Bumby (Bumble's nickname)</div>
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- Daddy's Pancakes (<i>we did this family meeting on Saturday morning just after eating Daddy's pancakes for breakfast - he makes gluten free ones for me!</i>)</div>
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- My Brother (<i>Allie's</i>)</div>
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- Daddy</div>
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- Coffee (<i>Lucas' thankful...for how it changes me...for the better!</i>)</div>
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- Allie (<i>Ryan's</i>)<br />
<b><i>Allie & Elsa</i></b><br />
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- tv/video games (<i>I will confess that this is my least favorite thankful. They have become obsessed lately with Lucas' Nintendo - specifically Mario and the Ninja Turtles games - and Mario Kart on the Wii. I have to ration their time - through tv tokens they earn - and we have some battles throughout the week...specifically when Ryan tells me he has nothing to do if I don't let him play. What?! But there are moments we have a lot of fun together with it. So I can be thankful for those...</i>)</div>
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- Fun game nights (<i>This week we played games together a lot - with a marathon game night on Friday where we played 3 different board games. So. Much. Fun!</i>).<br />
<b><i>Ryan with Sorcerer's Apprentice Mickey - the first time we saw him, Ryan kind of wanted to talk to him, but chickened out at the last minute and we ducked down another aisle. The second time he told Ryan his costume was awesome and asked for a high five - which Ryan shyly gave. Finally, Ryan mentioned he wanted a picture with him, and we caught up with him again. Shy but determined. I love this little guy!</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMInUhtfyzkOqIX_caJ9CeJ1ElUYimebMjRmNegUqGm1tgURF6K6h3p9d35vwqRiEKryv_3WjadE3FH2v4X1KNwhY8QsBEb1CH9xXa4ZfZ0tYeErSFMHhOZ2KhsmRLl_14fkZ/s1600/thprincessday01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxMInUhtfyzkOqIX_caJ9CeJ1ElUYimebMjRmNegUqGm1tgURF6K6h3p9d35vwqRiEKryv_3WjadE3FH2v4X1KNwhY8QsBEb1CH9xXa4ZfZ0tYeErSFMHhOZ2KhsmRLl_14fkZ/s1600/thprincessday01.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
- Our Family</div>
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- Daddy's hard work (<i>We got snow over the past week - which, combined with the salt, made <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2014/10/changes-for-mommy.html" target="_blank">my job</a> so much more difficult...and physical...and exhausting. I mopped so much, and even spent some time scrubbing floors on my hands and knees! Now, we needed to clean at home to get ready for Thanksgiving guests, but it was the last thing I wanted to do when I got home. Lucas' did the lion's share, and I was so thankful!</i>)<br />
<b><i>They had a princess parade where Mickey and the princess all went around the perimeter of the store and any princesses in the crowd could join them. Allie did - and loved it! We offered to let Ryan, but he said no...and then told me later he wished he had gone...but he did get to sit on my shoulders and watch the parade from above the crowd.</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30BY3c9TpChtfO4a_b4WVPeVYWroq2huMX0tgrervQEjKAAOpHDSB7-PCIHYNzbzqMhrKzir1Qz9AKgcZL0ftdWtbQa7J8MiPPxUL165LzVGqfCghSgtRh8Fqvja83TfDnPcF/s1600/thprincessday05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj30BY3c9TpChtfO4a_b4WVPeVYWroq2huMX0tgrervQEjKAAOpHDSB7-PCIHYNzbzqMhrKzir1Qz9AKgcZL0ftdWtbQa7J8MiPPxUL165LzVGqfCghSgtRh8Fqvja83TfDnPcF/s1600/thprincessday05.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
- Nutra Rinse (<i>I realize this makes no sense to most people, but this is the mop rinse aid that we use when the floors are covered with salt. Granted, I didn't know about it for the first couple of bad days, and I was at my wits end mopping and re-mopping to try to get the floors to look nice! Then I asked the other custodians - who are so used to just switching with the seasons without thinking that they forgot I wouldn't know - and it made a HUGE difference. I have never been so thankful for a specific cleaning solution before!</i>)</div>
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- God</div>
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- The whole world (<i>In case we accidentally forget something important...</i>)<br />
<b><i>They also were demo-ing their educational toys, and the boy showing of these invited Ryan to get inside. He wouldn't without Allie, so here are the both of them getting ready to race to see who gets out first!</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdcymQIgdTzMkLA_9oVtEPjCwNDjfB_eYUhPj4UaP2RXSwIrr-S675iK0K_39aMql6j9Y_mS-OPjC_wikykBMuszvITsVj1-9sQXsu8WBU6tETBgZMtQEX7-sujC7_bdPJFfc/s1600/thprincessday06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqdcymQIgdTzMkLA_9oVtEPjCwNDjfB_eYUhPj4UaP2RXSwIrr-S675iK0K_39aMql6j9Y_mS-OPjC_wikykBMuszvITsVj1-9sQXsu8WBU6tETBgZMtQEX7-sujC7_bdPJFfc/s1600/thprincessday06.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
- Evan (<i>He's come up twice now, so you might be wondering who he is. He is one of their classmates, and has become a best friend. Apparently, he and Ryan have decided they are brothers and he is going to marry Allie someday!</i>)</div>
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- My house (<i>the colder it gets outside, and the cleaner it gets inside, the more thankful we are for the home we love!</i>)<br />
<b><i>The whole gang (Minus Mulan). Ryan, Anna, Olaf, Merida, Elsa, and Allie (who is just a teensy bit excited if you couldn't tell...).</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJuGSuLKwXN-01KZFvJ9vcB92TxS5KKwvBRf23PWX69-5ngZ6o8ov3LpD79-utAHXXaWy7j7UN82iKKjyWpFLpKkdU-9CEN90LBDoNT6-HjXUucUs3jwchkkfofW3FdpN30sNB/s1600/thprincessday02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJuGSuLKwXN-01KZFvJ9vcB92TxS5KKwvBRf23PWX69-5ngZ6o8ov3LpD79-utAHXXaWy7j7UN82iKKjyWpFLpKkdU-9CEN90LBDoNT6-HjXUucUs3jwchkkfofW3FdpN30sNB/s1600/thprincessday02.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
At our family meeting, we talked about ways we can show our gratitude all the time - especially in the next few days as we approach Thanksgiving. I'm hopeful that we will be filled with an attitude of gratitude and excited to see in what ways it may come out in my children!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-64446410164482599742014-11-14T18:04:00.000-05:002014-11-20T18:07:10.911-05:00Our Month of Thankfulness: Week 2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Somehow, the only pictures I took recently were on my phone (and some of these pictures were taken after the second week of November). I guess I'm thankful for phones that take pictures so that I always have a camera with me...even if it doesn't take pictures that are that great!</div>
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I was sick for a good chunk of this week, so we didn't do all that much. In fact, I pretty much just went to work, and did the bare necessities at home, and slept. You'll see that reflected in our thankfuls.</div>
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<b><i>On Mondays, one of their friends from school comes over. We decided to try out a new park. This awesome jeep was at the park, and the kids wanted their picture on the top!</i></b> </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeWR4MdBGAklFEWbj6qUmPZMYjSyaCYz91ObGJ1vpLPw5crnnHCOOW1Q3r74GsfWUOeZc37qQB0DVGF037kt5hKJEUS1GbU4xPVX4hGsKV_lrL_aHrmBeNiw1bQ2m3XTZAp2t/s1600/parkfun02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeWR4MdBGAklFEWbj6qUmPZMYjSyaCYz91ObGJ1vpLPw5crnnHCOOW1Q3r74GsfWUOeZc37qQB0DVGF037kt5hKJEUS1GbU4xPVX4hGsKV_lrL_aHrmBeNiw1bQ2m3XTZAp2t/s1600/parkfun02.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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- Healthy Mommy!</div>
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- Friends at school (Especially Evan)</div>
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- My brother (<i>Allie's thankful)</i></div>
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- My sister (<i>Ryan's thankful)</i></div>
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- Time with Allie & Ryan (<i>Lucas and the kids had lots of time to hang out while I was sick - the one upside).</i></div>
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- My Family</div>
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- Warm, cozy house (<i>It has been cold here, y'all)</i></div>
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- God & His creation (<i>This one was the kids, but it made me so happy)</i></div>
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<i><b>Then Allie wanted her picture alone at the top.</b></i></div>
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKesc929Tr5cTlQF2uh7XiFXDndaOERkNN69fEC6K970Wmd4QOiDkdlYolQwz9kSi5aESWhH-kmgrvi7a3V4hzNv-W584_rk3At9v1Xa8AVUH0RLX9kNsfj34frr2w3fxE5KEZ/s1600/parkfun01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKesc929Tr5cTlQF2uh7XiFXDndaOERkNN69fEC6K970Wmd4QOiDkdlYolQwz9kSi5aESWhH-kmgrvi7a3V4hzNv-W584_rk3At9v1Xa8AVUH0RLX9kNsfj34frr2w3fxE5KEZ/s1600/parkfun01.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></i></div>
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Another thing for which I am thankful is having a job that allows me to capture things like this:</div>
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0isx9eUBWUv5xjB2BdgAueAZ_zpAFjzcqLEz76jQgpKJBuHRJVMl1zeU_HDi7vveC1adorh7OwDxjZJKmMmN00P0qQxSqTW1-GlZphyuB19QFGU7EbaGbBlOPWHMmWCzp8MCl/s1600/magna+tiles+boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0isx9eUBWUv5xjB2BdgAueAZ_zpAFjzcqLEz76jQgpKJBuHRJVMl1zeU_HDi7vveC1adorh7OwDxjZJKmMmN00P0qQxSqTW1-GlZphyuB19QFGU7EbaGbBlOPWHMmWCzp8MCl/s1600/magna+tiles+boat.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></i></div>
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The kindergarten teacher called me in one morning. Allie has been really loving the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magna-Tiles%C2%AE-Clear-Colors-Piece-Set/dp/B0093LSWIE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1416523706&sr=8-2&keywords=magna+tiles" target="_blank">magna tiles </a>when they have indoor playtime. On this particular day, she spent the whole playtime building a boat. The teacher kept it intact for me to see, and then encouraged me to get my phone to take a picture. She even let me take one with Allie once she got back to class. The teacher said, "I think it looks a lot<a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/kiddie-parade.html" target="_blank"> like a freighter</a>." She was shocked when I told her that <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2012/07/work-cation-adventure.html" target="_blank">it probably was</a> since <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2011/10/poppys-boat.html" target="_blank">Poppy sailed on them </a>for many years. The teacher thought that made it even more cool! I can't tell you how much I love getting to be a part of these little moments firsthand!</div>
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<i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7elE3CC88671by3zKXyeDTfmDPqAtGe5TBrOVVrTLdN3Hall1hCx-XXIwcu_Smx_ftqvVPdtsbJ6PIbxW8qgQC3LZg2TspYY6HGuxvI7JpuDFgs12LdAgwv0c_jo11T9rU4w/s1600/magna+tiles+boat+allie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS7elE3CC88671by3zKXyeDTfmDPqAtGe5TBrOVVrTLdN3Hall1hCx-XXIwcu_Smx_ftqvVPdtsbJ6PIbxW8qgQC3LZg2TspYY6HGuxvI7JpuDFgs12LdAgwv0c_jo11T9rU4w/s1600/magna+tiles+boat+allie.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></i></div>
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The month is speeding by. I can't believe half of it is gone already! It will be Thanksgiving before we know it...</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-26839610575338111472014-11-07T21:49:00.000-05:002014-11-19T21:49:47.826-05:00A Month of Thankfulness: The First Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
November snuck up on me. In fact, mentally, I think I'm still in September. So, I will confess, I did not get my act together to do our usual <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2012/12/from-thanks.html" target="_blank">Thankful Tree</a>. Wah, wah. But I cannot let my month of Thankfulness pass by. It is one of my <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013_11_01_archive.html" target="_blank">favorite times of the year</a>!</div>
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Recently, I read a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Happy-Families-Bruce-Feiler/dp/0349402221/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1416449157&sr=1-2&keywords=secrets+of+happy+families" target="_blank">The Secrets of Happy Families</a>*. I loved it. I made Lucas read it. He agreed that there were some great ideas. One of our favorite ideas was a weekly family meeting - which we started this fall. I could spend paragraphs telling you how much we love family meeting and all of the wonderful things that have come out of family meetings that have changed our family for the better. But that isn't what this is about. This is about how we added time in our November family meetings to share (and write down to be displayed in the dining room) the things for which we are thankful from the previous week. There is no limit. Everyone has to say at least one. It has been a great way to end our time.</div>
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<b><i>Attempting to get a picture with my children to send to the donors of my college scholarship who also donated money to the twins' school - enough that the Lower School is named after the donors - to thank them for the generosity.</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3REFY6sqyGJ3NO6yPl_O28tz7GOY2A_SkdkYbcrUGaHQaD9mIJMujRjYtVZ07eOfOkt2ns2YHuZluR_tM3MfRuSKQLfrHU1n5IcaYSw2DDUDE2gKpJ1DuFlZTpaKLq2ES7Bzr/s1600/DSC_2156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3REFY6sqyGJ3NO6yPl_O28tz7GOY2A_SkdkYbcrUGaHQaD9mIJMujRjYtVZ07eOfOkt2ns2YHuZluR_tM3MfRuSKQLfrHU1n5IcaYSw2DDUDE2gKpJ1DuFlZTpaKLq2ES7Bzr/s1600/DSC_2156.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Here - along with pictures taken from the first week of November - are all of the things for which our family is thankful from our first week.</div>
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<b><i>Sometimes no one is looking...</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2n535dIobyj7-dxPpbUEQJTkWVb3_8eMR_YH0orN2kyJnjUIdzBy3YcxC5ht3UBkbeTFjO02OYVYmY9V-FU5TH7MzfOaVotAoAqz4HPv-EVxVFc5n1l3N5VefuDGuCQKFgMUN/s1600/DSC_2160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2n535dIobyj7-dxPpbUEQJTkWVb3_8eMR_YH0orN2kyJnjUIdzBy3YcxC5ht3UBkbeTFjO02OYVYmY9V-FU5TH7MzfOaVotAoAqz4HPv-EVxVFc5n1l3N5VefuDGuCQKFgMUN/s1600/DSC_2160.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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We are thankful for:</div>
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Mommy & Daddy</div>
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Allie & Ryan</div>
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Bumble</div>
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Sharky</div>
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That we are a forgiving family (<i>many of the items covered in our family meeting regarded or required forgiveness)</i></div>
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The Bowsers</div>
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Art Supplies</div>
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My Family</div>
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School</div>
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Church Family</div>
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My Job</div>
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Students/Friends</div>
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Game Night & Brownie Sundaes (<i>we always end family meeting time by playing a game together...we try to also have some sort of special treat - this night that treat was brownie sundaes).</i></div>
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<i><b>Sometimes Mommy is the only one who isn't looking...</b></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5K5SaNsNnjmokVCNBfkw4Q5UK1TFzAoIPw8HpEd3BXd5wGb1lmm2DrQJWVDfmK2bB20gz4I6UTU2sd0lVSqU6tdRoqrRJ8EoD31gC9eVUEtCsCkmw8yqesG9XeYe6Y95hloqO/s1600/DSC_2169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5K5SaNsNnjmokVCNBfkw4Q5UK1TFzAoIPw8HpEd3BXd5wGb1lmm2DrQJWVDfmK2bB20gz4I6UTU2sd0lVSqU6tdRoqrRJ8EoD31gC9eVUEtCsCkmw8yqesG9XeYe6Y95hloqO/s1600/DSC_2169.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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Can I add that I'm thankful for family meetings? I'm thankful for the time we spend laughing together and problem solving together and playing together.</div>
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<b><i>Finally, a keeper.</i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYV5Lb01ZaqVLvPQMDGGreUABM-re6cJMWzNqqcvkAYaRvM_xBS_rEbwHsBEFIwgUguV_bsuF61O49ztyH7v1a4UVHphVMWPLx8OGXPUQiAEw-vZb6KZoZKksBHmg1vmkFAXK/s1600/DSC_2174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWYV5Lb01ZaqVLvPQMDGGreUABM-re6cJMWzNqqcvkAYaRvM_xBS_rEbwHsBEFIwgUguV_bsuF61O49ztyH7v1a4UVHphVMWPLx8OGXPUQiAEw-vZb6KZoZKksBHmg1vmkFAXK/s1600/DSC_2174.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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We might not be taking a daily account of our blessings for which we are thankful, but hopefully our weekly list will still help us practice having an attitude of gratitude.</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>* I should mention that I was in no way asked to or paid for recommending or endorsing this book in any way. I just really liked it and have found it to be beneficial for our family, so I thought I would share!</i></span></div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-14689898591972730102014-10-31T10:10:00.000-04:002014-11-08T14:29:51.061-05:00Halloween<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/10/halloween.html" target="_blank">Once again</a>, deciding on costumes for Halloween was a challenge...</div>
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Actually, the first thing Allie said she wanted to be was a pink, sparkly princess, and the first thing Ryan said he wanted to be was Spider Man, but the costumes they wanted were crazy expensive - especially considering they had changed their minds within days of deciding on those costumes! We went through a plethora of ideas - a ladybug and a ghost, a fairy and a dragon, Mario and Princess Peach, Wild Kratts. So many costume ideas. I finally suggested that if they picked a costume out of our existing costume box, we could put the money I set aside toward Christmas...and more Christmas presents. It was a pretty immediate decision to be Iron Man and Cinderella (which we already owned).</div>
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But then we went shopping for canned goods (for the <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2014/10/october.html" target="_blank">aforementioned competition</a>). We walked into the grocery store, and immediately saw their Halloween costumes! On sale for 40% off! And there just happened to be a sparkly, pink princess dress and a Spider Man in their size! $10 per costume seemed like a bargain to get the costume of their dreams!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpNwXLez2Grz6e9PWieCp6v1wdM4AEu1t08JQSy-RDqa7mN_CK_8fsBI8FgScKdOYxt2bT8pZYSHtravEWdGChWcQbync2XLeTIxstqwKa-qFzjo2p_Ls-5EmuGD6pCLKupvICQ/s1600/DSC_2151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpNwXLez2Grz6e9PWieCp6v1wdM4AEu1t08JQSy-RDqa7mN_CK_8fsBI8FgScKdOYxt2bT8pZYSHtravEWdGChWcQbync2XLeTIxstqwKa-qFzjo2p_Ls-5EmuGD6pCLKupvICQ/s1600/DSC_2151.JPG" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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The lesson I learned was: Always stick with their FIRST costume suggestion!</div>
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It seems to always be the one we come back to in the end. I could save myself so much time and energy!</div>
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For a fun special treat, Nana was able to join us for Halloween this year! We went to her house a <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2012/10/halloween.html" target="_blank">couple years back</a>, but this is the first time it worked for her to travel to be with grandkids (gotta love a weekend Halloween). I don't know if the kids were more excited about getting candy, or showing off their costumes to Nana. Halloween should totally be added to the list of holidays that should be shared with family.</div>
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Halloween day ended up being the worst weather we've had yet - freezing rain and snow showers, biting cold wind, frigid temperatures. I told them they were going to be "Nordic" Spider Man and princess. Instead of going house to house, or waiting in line for the trunk or treat, we decided to go to the local college campus where they were having trick or treating in the dorms! We knew that trick or treating at the rooms of college students wouldn't be the traditional experience, but we also knew that we could minimize our time outside and spend some significant chunks of time actually trick or treating indoors - so we tried it. It. Was. Awesome. The college students dressed up (which the kids LOVED) - many of them as princesses or super heroes (which they loved even more!). The time indoors was exactly the solace from the storm we hoped. And it turns out that college students buy good candy - like the really good stuff - and they are very generous. Also, Lucas and I got to take them to our old dorms - ah, the memories!</div>
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<b><i>Trick or treating at my old room!!!</i></b></div>
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All in all, we had a Halloween that fulfilled all their hopes and dreams.</div>
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<b><i>Save me, Spider Man!</i></b></div>
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Now on to Thanksgiving!</div>
ldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-5332267898899247832014-10-27T09:37:00.000-04:002014-11-08T09:53:44.749-05:00October<div style="text-align: center;">
I'm not sure how it happened. Perhaps not having a computer on which I can immediately download, view, edit, and enjoy pictures leads to me taking fewer pictures? All I know is that October is...empty...In fact, I didn't take a single picture (not even on my phone!) until the last weekend. What?!</div>
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I planned to take some family pictures for a friend, and Lucas and the kids tagged along. They helped me pick some spots and get my lighting adjusted ahead of time.</div>
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<b><i>I love catching them when they aren't look - Allie lounging in the leaves.</i></b></div>
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I needed a posed picture, and Daddy jumped in to help I kind of love the (relatively candid) result.</div>
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Then, of course, Ryan want a posed picture with Daddy and the football. I love how perfectly posed Ryan is...and Lucas has no clue what is going on!</div>
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Finally, a snapshot - from the top of the hill - of my favorite people playing football below.</div>
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The day before was a casual dress day at school. The kids can wear absolutely anything (well...nothing revealing or inappropriate, but my kids don't have anything like that in their wardrobe, so there isn't any worry). Their choice (without hesitation) - Husker gear! The 7th grade teacher is also from Nebraska (which means he is also a Husker fan). When he sees the kids he says, "Go Big Red!" and, as Ryan said, "We like that!" Another one of the great influences that make me so happy with our school of choice!</div>
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So, since U of M was playing MI State on Saturday, we all dressed in our Michigan gear. We also replaced our US flag for the first time with a very special Michigan flag. Recently, we lost one of our newly graduated youth group members in a tragic accident. His mom, a State fan, gifted his beloved Michigan flag to us earlier in the week. We raised the flag in honor and memory of him.</div>
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Of course, all of this fun was immediately followed by the twins getting sick. It was short-lived, but the kiddos and I spent what was supposed to be an exceptionally busy Sunday at home resting and getting better. Even though the twins almost never take naps anymore, I insisted they lay down. They asked if they could snuggle together, and I agreed (anything to force a few minutes of rest!). A little while later, I realized that it had been completely silent in their room for a long time. I went in to check and found them like this...</div>
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LOVE.</div>
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The last week was full of competitions at their school. One being a canned food drive for a local food bank - the 2 classes with the most canned goods winning a casual day (no uniform) or an ice cream party. The other being a fundraiser competition where classes were competing to sell the most (also to win a casual day). This competition had a daily update of class standings, and an opportunity for the kindergarten class (1/3 the size of the other classes) to win! We sold our hearts out, and made it to 1st place just before the final weekend!</div>
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In the end, kindergarten not only won the fundraiser competition (woohoo!), but they came in second for the canned food drive competition (which happened, I think, because the kids had no clue they were 2 competitions and kept going home saying, "We are in second place, we need more canned food!" The kindergarten class kept coming in with BAGS of canned goods!). Considering that no one in the school can remember the kindergarten ever winning (the poor teacher!), this was a HUGE upset. Gotta love a good underdog story :)</div>
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Since I can, I've decided to divide October into 2 posts! We'll let Halloween have its moment to shine.</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-7647415779706639622014-09-30T13:12:00.000-04:002014-10-26T13:12:22.400-04:00September<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Apparently, I'm going to pretty much stick with that whole "one post a month" thing. Maybe I'll get a little better. Not having a computer makes a huge difference in my time online though. As in, almost never. In fact, most weeks I get on once or twice to check my e-mail...and that is it. It is nice, but also difficult to stay in touch in an online world!</div>
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Once again, our church had their <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/carnival.html" target="_blank">annual carnival</a>. Once again, drenching Daddy was the twins' favorite thing. They both got him. In fact, watch the video the local newspaper took of Ryan soaking him <a href="http://www.hillsdale.net/section?template=videodetail&vid=3773583873001&vidtitle=Carnival%20fun" target="_blank">here</a>!</div>
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There were other activities, of course</div>
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Just like <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2014/08/july.html" target="_blank">at camping</a>, Allie took part in the greatest bonding activity in the world of girls - doing each other's hair (in this case, spraying in streaks of the same color temporary hair spray).</div>
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In the meantime, Ryan and the guys did some simulated fire truck driving.</div>
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Lucas and I attended the annual Charity Ball hosted by the collegiate music honorary of which I was a member and of which now I am an advisor. And somehow, our babysitter managed to take a picture of the two of us that I don't hate (I try to post pictures of myself on occasion...but I never love them. But this one is ok...)!</div>
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The kids look forward all year to the <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-have-we-been.html" target="_blank">County Fair</a>. <br />
<b><i>A picture for Nebraska Grandpa!</i></b></div>
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This year we spent the least amount of time at the fair, but the longest amount of time ever riding the rides...I guess we know what is important!</div>
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Did I mention Papa & Gigi were here? They came in for the week in order to be here for Grandparents' Day at school. </div>
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Nana & Poppy also joined us for Grandparents' Day at the school.</div>
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(<i>Photo credit goes to Nana. I didn't take any pictures since I was actually working the event!)</i></div>
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While they were here, we took the opportunity to get a picture of our divided family.</div>
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Sometimes we might fight</div>
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(<i>although not well...look at their faces! We couldn't even pretend to be angry at each other!)</i></div>
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But we always love each other.</div>
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And that was our September! </div>
ldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-89183512933154383382014-09-15T14:36:00.000-04:002014-10-26T15:21:05.867-04:00Changes for Mommy<div style="text-align: center;">
I hate change.</div>
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I always have. I revel in routine. I feel safe in sameness. I excel when I know what to expect. </div>
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While I love a good adventure (especially one I have carefully planned!), it is the things that take life as I know it and turn it into something completely different that make me really uncomfortable.</div>
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Knowing this, having my children in a new school every day (even though it is only for a half day) is plenty of change for me. However, I not only anticipated but sought out another change to accompany their going to school. A job.</div>
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When I said in the previous post that we thought this school was out of our reach, it was because this wonderful school comes at a cost - a cost higher than the average rural pastor's budget. When I said God closed one door and widely opened another, I was referring to our International adoption journey. For 3 years we saved every single extra penny in a separate account to go toward our adoption. When the door closed (solidly, and more than once) on our adoption process, we knew that we would love to put the money we saved toward an incredible education for the twins. At the time, applications for their school had been due months earlier - parent interviews had already happened, kindergarten readiness had already been assessed, spots were already filled. Lucas called to see if we could get on a waiting list, and the Headmaster told him, "I've just been praying for God to send me 2 students for the kindergarten class. You are an answer to prayer." There were 2 unexpected openings! Between the financial aid we received from the school and the money we saved, we were able to confidently fill those spaces. Suddenly, the impossible was possible!</div>
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We knew, however, that we would only get one (fabulous) year if we didn't have extra income to put toward their tuition in future years. Thus we decided I would work while they are in school.</div>
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Growing up, I met many moms who took jobs at schools (both private high school and college) to provide their children with the best education possible. Whether it was to receive a discount in tuition, or (especially in the case of colleges) to get tuition free, or even just to help cover the cost, I saw many sacrificing for the sake of education. My mom was one of these women. I've said many times, "I would happily clean toilets to give my children an exceptional education." So, I eagerly jumped into the job search - never anticipating how literally I would be able to live that dream.</div>
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You see, the perfect job that I found, and for which I was hired, is that of school custodian.</div>
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Now, I will actually almost never be asked to clean the toilets (there are two other custodians who are charged with that task), but I am the custodian responsible for cleanups during flu season (thank God I was blessed with a strong stomach). Mostly, I'm responsible for spot cleaning (keeping the floors from being dusty or muddy and keeping the windows sparkling).</div>
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Here is the amazing thing - at the beginning of the job search I told Lucas that I wanted a job that would allow me to always be home when the twins are home. It seemed a waste to seek out half-day kindergarten if I wasn't home with them during the other half of the day. It also seemed a waste to have to pay for childcare on the days they have off that I might not. And my summers, and summer road trips, are practically sacred - I was not ready to give them up. I couldn't imagine finding something that would meet all that criteria. Then a friend sent me the posting for this job - the hours are almost exactly the same hours they are in school (I drop them off, head in to start my day, and finish with 30 minutes to spare before their day is done) only on the days that school is in session (any day they have off, I have off). It couldn't be more perfect.</div>
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Someone asked me recently, "Do you ever think to yourself, 'This is what I ended up doing with my college education?!'" My answer was, "Not really." It might not have been the job I dreamed of having all my life, but I love my hours so much. After the first week of school, the twins had a 4 day weekend. And I had it with them! I love being at their school. I love seeing them randomly through my day. I love getting to know their teachers and getting frequent updates on their progress. I love being a part of the education that is happening there - even if it is through keeping their classrooms dust-free. Before I started, I thought I would probably just do this for a year, and then try to find something with more hours (and, when being vain, about getting something more fitting with my degree and desires). Two weeks in, and I'm confident I am not letting this job go unless something with similarly amazing hours presents itself! The time I get with my children is worth its weight in gold.</div>
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This has been a good change. There is no sacrifice in time with my children, and I have something productive to keep me busy while they are in school. Not only that, but I'm actively contributing toward the fantastic education I know they are receiving (because I get to see it in action every day)! I am truly content in this change in a way I rarely experience. </div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-58754046635633368562014-09-08T13:35:00.000-04:002014-09-09T07:13:32.780-04:00First Day of School<div style="text-align: center;">
It happened so quickly. We celebrated their <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/first-day-of-school.html" target="_blank">first day of preschool</a>. It seemed the whole year stretched before us in a long, but wonderful, procession of activities and events. And then we blinked, and suddenly found ourselves at the first day of kindergarten. All of those activities and events couldn't have passed so quickly, could they? We couldn't possibly be here already, could we? Is every year going to go this quickly?<br />
<b><i>Hamming it up for Daddy.</i></b></div>
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We took a long time trying to decide which school the twins would attend this fall. With a myriad of options - all of them both spectacular yet maybe not what I wanted - I was in agony for months. The school they are attending was not even an option for most of that time because we thought it was way out of our reach. Then suddenly, God closed one door and opened wide the door to this school. From that point on, every step leading up to this day has been a huge blessing. </div>
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One of my favorite things about this school is that they have half day kindergarten (a rarity these days). With the years flying by so quickly, I want to savor every minute. I treasure these half days.</div>
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Another favorite thing is that everything is God infused. They pray in the mornings. They have chapel once a week. They pray before they eat snack in the classroom! There is comfort in sending my children to a place where they are surrounded by prayer.</div>
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Character is also very important at this school. I love that they are not only learning letters and numbers, but that they are hearing about what it means to be a person of character. That teachers are talking to them about using their talents to the glory of God. That they are surrounded by other students who understand that learning lots of things is nice, but establishing habits of virtue is utmost. Words like <i>responsibility, honesty, trustworthy</i>, and so on are spoken regularly. I appreciate most that I see it modeled not only in the teachers, but in the older kids at the school.<br />
<b><i>In their dress uniform that they wear on chapel days. I cannot get enough of them in these uniforms. So adorable!</i></b></div>
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There was no hesitation the first day. Just excitement. Even I couldn't cry seeing how eager they were to start the adventure of kindergarten. We stood around the flagpole for Opening Ceremony the first day (yes, they do an Opening Ceremony every day -they raise the flag, recite the pledge of allegiance, sing a patriotic song, and pray. Another thing I love.). The parents stood on one side, the kids arranged in their classes on the other, and listened to the Headmaster talk about the upcoming year. It was overwhelming, in a wonderful way. Their enthusiasm at the end of the day was, if possible, even stronger than at the beginning. Every day they have jumped out of bed (earlier than I would like) excited for another day. Both weekends Ryan has cried because he wanted to go to school, and didn't want a weekend. <br />
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Music class is amazing. Recess is awesome. Art is incredible. Gym is fantastic. Their teacher is the most wonderful teacher in the world. The adjectives are flying around our house, and every single one is extremely positive.<br />
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It is going to be a good year. It is going to go too quickly. We will be back here before we know it (certainly faster than I would like) celebrating the first day of First Grade. Until then, we will savor every moment as best we can. </div>
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<i>* It wasn't until I looked at these pictures, that I realized the reason I have been have problems with blurry pictures is because the auto focus broke in my favorite (and newest) lens. I can manually focus, but had been trusting the auto focus when taking these pictures (and they often look sharp when showing up small on my camera). My heart is a little broken that so many pictures of this momentous day are blurry, but at least we got a few that are usable...</i></div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-24218060716490440972014-08-31T08:53:00.000-04:002014-09-07T19:10:37.636-04:00The End of Summer<div style="text-align: center;">
This summer flew by so fast. It felt like it was the last day of school and we were packing up for our first road trip of the summer, and the next thing we knew it was August and we were frantically trying to squeeze in our final summer plans/get ready for school! Where did the summer go?</div>
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The beginning of August was a bit of a blur. It was mostly spent trying to get ready for VBS. The preparations were filled with setbacks and pitfalls. One of the biggest being a church tragedy that took many of us out of the VBS mood. The other being my parents having all sorts of crazy health problems that kept them from coming to help with VBS, and me having VBS which kept me from being able to go and help them. Then there were the usual crazy stressful moments of pulling VBS together - last minute volunteer losses, technological failures, falling/failing decorations, etc. Truthfully, this VBS will forever be marked in my mind as the one where nothing went right. It will also be marked in my mind as the one full of some of the biggest blessings I have experienced in my Childrens' Ministry career. Perhaps the biggest being Nana & Poppy packing up and heading down to help. It doesn't matter how old you get, the presence of parents makes it feel like everything is going to be okay!<br />
<b><i>Nana at the Registration table.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Ryan carrying the torch during game time.</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Allie and her group leader hamming it up during closing.</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Me (and Lucas behind me) getting pies in the face.</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Twinners hamming it up during a group picture.</i></b><br />
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After VBS, it was a mad rush to get the twins ready for school. We did our best to sneak in a few last-minute adventures.<br />
<b><i>Papa & Gigi gave the Twinners a Highlights magazine subscription for Christmas last year. They LOVE it, and are excited when it comes every month. The August magazine had instructions for building a car out of the exact same blocks we happen to have! They built a car, turned it into a truck, and even fashioned seatbelts for safety!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>While decorating for VBS, I noticed Allie had a missing tooth! It ended up falling out before the week was over (literally just falling out). In the midst of the chaos I was sewing a Tooth Fairy pillow, discussing Tooth Fairy rates with Lucas, and mourning the literal loss of my baby's last bit of babyhood. She, however, is thrilled. The other bottom tooth fell out a couple days later. Actually, she was scared to let me pull it, and decided to defer until after breakfast...but after breakfast the tooth was gone! She had accidentally swallowed it with her cereal...</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Our library had a summer reading program. The kids kept track of their reading, and earned prizes for various hour milestones earned. Every hour after 12, they got an entry slip into a raffle for this giant, inflatable dinosaur. From the moment he saw it, Ryan was a boy consumed. He was convinced he would win that dinosaur, and he read zealously to accomplish that goal (which was wonderful!). I was only half surprised when we got the call from the library that Ryan had won. The twinners were 2 of only 7 children who made it past the 12 hour goal!</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Allie wanted her picture with Rex as well...and in an effort to "keep it real," I'm actually posting the picture. I could not stop her from pretending to pick the dinosaur's nose...</i></b></div>
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<b><i>A friend threw a super hero birthday party for her son. We missed the party (because we were busy movie Uncle Nic & Aunt Ariel back to Michigan!), but she brought over the homemade capes and super hero masks she had for party favors. Amazing. The kids have been playing super hero ever since.</i></b><br />
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<b><i>We managed to squeeze in an evening on a nearby lake with friends from church. Lucas rode the tube (slowly...for tubing) with the kids. </i></b><br />
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<b><i> I enjoyed riding in the boat with whichever twin wasn't tubing.</i></b><br />
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<b><i>They kept wanting to go faster than I was comfortable. I have littler daredevils. Allie was asking why I was nervous, and I said, "Wouldn't you be nervous if your greatest earthly treasure was being dragged behind a boat?" It took about a second for her to say, "Oh, I understand now. I would be scared too."</i></b><br />
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Then it was the first day of school. The first day of school will be its own post (because it feels big enough to warrant that).</div>
ldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-17226756197409055432014-07-31T20:53:00.000-04:002014-08-31T19:01:47.701-04:00July<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The very beginning of July, we set out for a repeat of <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/camping.html" target="_blank">last year's hit camping trip</a> with our good friends. It was an awesome time of fun and relaxation with people we love.</div>
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Sometimes we had so much fun, we got a little exhausted.</div>
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One couple has a teenage (or close to teenage) daughter. While I'm sure it is sometimes difficult to be surrounded by little kids for an entire week, she often jumped in to entertain them. One way was through, what I called, "C's game time." She started many an impromptu game. Pictured below are the kids playing "Telephone" at her direction.</div>
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One of our children (we're almost positive it is Ryan, but our memories are fuzzy already) had a tendency to just change the word or phrase to whatever they wanted it to be. So the game had a tendency to stop here...</div>
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We were there over the 4th of July, and the campground had a bike parade in the morning in which the kids could participate. First we went and decorated the bikes with all kinds of streamers and beaded necklaces and flags and pinwheels.</div>
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They were so thrilled with their beautiful creations.</div>
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Many of the kids in our group also added streamers to their helmets. Ryan STILL has his streamers on his. Not just patriotic on the 4th :)</div>
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Then we rode all through the campground. The kids rang the bells on their bicycles, and waved. They had a blast and are still telling people about being in the parade.</div>
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After the parade, we had some downtime at the campground. C had promised the girls that if they slept really well, she would braid their hair for the 4th. Allie's head popped off the pillow that morning and the first words out of her mouth were, "I slept all night! I'm going to get my hair braided!" C kept her promise, and here she is with the three girls and their matching hair - one of the most sacred bonds of girlhood.</div>
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For fireworks, we went to Mackinaw City. Now, I'm not 100% sure where or when Ryan's fascination with Mackinac Bridge started, but by the time we went camping he was completely obsessed. He had been drawing the bridge and building it with blocks and constantly asking to see pictures. He somehow knew all of these random facts about the bridge (things I didn't even know, and had to check to see if they were true - they all were true). He was desperate to drive over the bridge. Since we were so close, we took the opportunity and drove over. He was in heaven. Until he realized that we were driving back right away (to meet up with our group before the fireworks) rather than waiting to drive over at night. He cried because he wouldn't get to see the rainbow lights. Someday, little guy.</div>
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Once back we found a spot where we could see 3 sets of fireworks. Ironically, we could see the fireworks from far away the best, and the fireworks closest to us were behind a water tower. Oops. Perhaps we should have stayed across the bridge for the fireworks...</div>
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<b><i>The whole gang. I even <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/camping-adventures-abroad.html" target="_blank">got to be</a> in this year's picture!</i></b></div>
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We got home and had about a week before we set off for the summer's most epic roadtrip. The trip started earlier than we anticipated as one of my great aunts passed away, and we left early to make it for the funeral. I was so thankful that we were already planning to head that way so I could not only attend the funeral, but see all of the extended family that had traveled from near and far - family I would never have seen otherwise. After a few whirlwind days in Nebraska we left for Texas. The purpose of the trip was to attend <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2009/10/loralees-wedding-part-2.html" target="_blank">Aunt Rosey's</a> wedding. Since it was in Houston, and Ryan continues to be astronaut crazy, we decided to take the opportunity to visit the Space Center. For their birthday, Papa gave the twinners lunch with an astronaut at the Space Center. So we got to meet a real, live astronaut (he's walked in space, people!). Turns out he has a set of boy/girl twins as well!<br />
<a href="http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/chiao.html" target="_blank"><b><i>Our astronaut.</i></b></a></div>
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We took the tram tour and got to see some places around the massive Space Center (there is the museum, and then an entire NASA campus - literally designed to be like a college campus to give a sense of community). We also got to see various space vehicles.</div>
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During our slightly more than 48 hours in Texas we also managed to meet up with several college friends and dance the night away at the wedding</div>
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and hamming it up in the photo booth.</div>
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The next thing we knew, we were back on the road to Nebraska for a one day stay-over before driving back to Michigan. We pretty much didn't want to get back in the van for days.</div>
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We spent the rest of the month having adventures at home. Like spending time with our neighbor going to a local town festival to enjoy free carnival games, bouncy castles, and snacks.</div>
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<b><i>Cotton Candy!</i></b></div>
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Having water fights (which mostly turned into "Try to Soak Lucas" time.</div>
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Setting up a water slide in our fort.</div>
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We also got to have a cousin sleepover with the Beauties. Literally the first event of the sleepover was a Cousin Concert on the piano (the twins proceeded to pull out our bin of instruments - there was much music and dancing throughout the rest of the evening!).</div>
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The next day, I took the Twinners and Beauties to the zoo to meet up with our cousin who was working there as a Junior Zookeeper this summer! <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2011/08/imitating-uncle-duck.html" target="_blank">Uncle Duck</a> took him every day, so we got to spend our time at the zoo with him, and then meet up with cousin R during his breaks.</div>
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<b><i>We spotted R in action!</i></b></div>
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We saw all kinds of great animals, but the favorite part of the day (that they are still talking about) was riding the train. Amazing things about this train: music played inside their train car as they drove, they got to sit in their own car, and they got to ride without any grown ups (it went in a relatively small circle and Uncle Duck and I were happy to sit in the shade and just watch).</div>
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My favorite of the zoo's exhibits is the Wings Down Under exhibit where they can feed the birds. D was the only of the Beauties who wanted to go in, and the 3 cousins who went in were super into feeding the birds. So much so that I couldn't get them to leave! They were shoving empty sticks at birds in hopes they would be tricked into coming closer (many were...).</div>
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At the very end of our day, one of the zookeepers who was working with R invited us to go behind-the-scenes to meet the zoo's baby moose, Willow. The barn was dark, and I was busy trying to keep D from smothering the moose with hugs, so I wasn't able to get pictures. But it was a pretty cool experience.</div>
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<b><i>Our group at the zoo.</i></b></div>
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The last day of July we squeezed in one final evening with the cousins. First was kids' night at Texas Roadhouse (face painting, prizes, and a giant armadillo walking around - oh my!)</div>
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And then one final evening playing with the cousins in their driveway. These 4 will never ride together in this driveway again (if you didn't gather, the Beauties are moving far away. We're really, really sad).</div>
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Another month full of amazing and bittersweet moments. We ended July feeling completely unprepared for the month ahead and the giant milestone it would contain...</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-5315370005151755232014-06-30T23:15:00.000-04:002014-07-26T12:53:14.505-04:00June<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Literally the day after we got back from NE, less than 24 hours after we drove into our driveway, we were repacked and on our way to the <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2010/08/work-cation-fun-at-lake-house.html" target="_blank">Lake House </a>up North. We were looking forward to this week away, if nothing else to replace some of the <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-lake-house.html" target="_blank">negative memories from last year</a>. However, we walked into the house to find it exceptionally sauna-like. After some investigating, I found this:</div>
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I'm not sure if you can tell that the rug is floating, but it was. Their whole basement was full of scalding hot water. After figuring out the problem and stopping the water (with the help of a neighbor), Lucas and I were up to the wee hours of the morning attempting to clean out their basement. We dried out all of the standing water, left some fans to dry it all out more, and went up to take showers before crawling into bed...only to discover that, in the process of turning off the scalding hot water flowing out of their pipes, we had turned off the hot water heater. Long story short, neither we nor the homeowners could figure out how to turn the water heater back on. So there were no hot showers during our week there (we boiled water to add to the cold to do baths for the twins). We also had let a million mosquitoes into the house in the process of removing their soaked carpet, and while we slept the mosquitoes bit us like crazy. So 48 hours after arrival we left for a short trip to Nana & Poppy's tired, needing baths, covered in mosquito bites, and wondering if the lake house was rejecting us, yet again.</div>
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At Nana's we met up with ALL the cousins! And got a few pictures of the whole gang together.</div>
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We were there to celebrate H's birthday.</div>
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They had light-up balloons and I took the kids all to the basement to get some fun pictures in the dark.</div>
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We ended up spending a couple days at Nana & Poppy's hanging out with the cousins before we went back to the Lake House. It was exactly what was needed to reset the trip. When we returned, the mosquitoes had all died, the basement was still dry, and we were well-rested and ready to try again. The rest of our time there was practically perfect. It would have been perfectly perfect if there had been hot water.</div>
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<b><i>We went into town one morning and saw a parade of these. They drove on the railroad. They were amazing. Does anyone know what they are?</i></b></div>
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We took the kids to the park to get our <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-lake-house.html" target="_blank">annual pictures</a>. They were somewhat less cooperative this year...These were the best I could get!</div>
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In addition to our usual swimming, hiking, and playing we did a few extra things this year. Like fishing.</div>
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We caught tons of fish. Even I caught one! Next year, the twins want to have a night where we eat what we catch.</div>
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We also had a bonfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.</div>
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A few days after we returned, Ryan had surgery to put tubes in his ears and remove his adenoids. Since the fall, I had been noticing that he wasn't hearing things. It never was a problem at school since everything they did with teachers was one-on-one and everything else was independent. The teachers told me he had remarkable focus and was never distracted by noisy students in other parts of the classroom. Then I realized it was because he didn't hear them! After months of doctor appointments and treatment for an incessant ear infection, we were referred to an ENT, who immediately confirmed that 1) he DID have marked hearing impairment in both ears 2) his ears were full of fluid but it wasn't infected 3) his adenoids needed to be removed (he had been snoring, loudly). We got it on the books, and showed up for the surgery bright and early.</div>
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<b><i>Seeing him in his surgery gown, with his hospital bracelet, in the hospital bed almost makes me cry every time.</i></b></div>
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He was very brave. Just as they were taking us back, they were also wheeling a screaming toddler to the O.R. The sight was a little jarring, and when we were alone in the bathroom (changing into the hospital gown), he started to cry because he was scared. This, of course, made me cry. We stayed in there and I held him until he had calmed down. After that, he didn't cry again. I might have. Something about watching them wheel my baby away just made me choke up. I waited until he couldn't see me though. If you asked him now, it was an amazing adventure that was kind of fun. Maybe because he got all kinds of cool get well presents.</div>
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<b><i>The "recovery" set up in our living room. A cozy place to rest, unlimited Popsicles, and a constant source of fluids.</i></b></div>
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Once it was over (the surgery went perfectly), I was looking forward to the recovery. They said he would recover quickly, but I was still imagining a few days of snuggling and watching movies. Instead I got about an hour before he was begging to be up and playing. I never really got him to snuggle with me again, and people who stopped by all remarked that he looked as though nothing had happened.</div>
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Which was great because it wasn't long before we were off again. This time to Chicago!</div>
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While we were there, we went with my family (my entire family except Lucas) to the Brookfield Zoo.</div>
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My brother and his wife know one of the dolphin trainers there, so it was a must to see the dolphin show. Sadly, their friend didn't do the show we saw, but we were able to go back and visit with him after his show. My kids thought that was pretty amazing. Allie is also obsessed with the fact that one of the dolphins was also named Allie.</div>
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While in Chicago, we also had a ball (dance) at Nic & Ariel's apartment. I wish I had videos - especially of the new hit dance "The Dolphin!" </div>
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The main reason we went was for Ariel's grad school graduation. My children are fairly convinced that a graduation and wedding are pretty much the same thing...maybe because of the number of pictures we took...</div>
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We spent the rest of June resting up and getting ready for the rest of our summer travels in July!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-19860225575771618792014-05-31T19:10:00.000-04:002014-07-12T19:11:26.265-04:00May<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In May I took a lot more pictures. Partially because there were more special events that prompted me. Partly because all of the events prompted me to charge my camera battery/remember to bring my camera places.</div>
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Having learned about the Leaning Tower of Pisa in school, they decided to make one of their own with couch cushions and throw pillows!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxltDP50AUXjMOcCMqoMMatrKVOXmdhuuwQLUXA92CRvIeYqVjlScrEa1OWc2NtXe7mHLZR00IHHF06VzOYd8DaKKmgBELJEI5w8ikAd_A1NtWtxBxpltUrsfzVxmV4f4G9ctRQ/s1600/Photo0536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggxltDP50AUXjMOcCMqoMMatrKVOXmdhuuwQLUXA92CRvIeYqVjlScrEa1OWc2NtXe7mHLZR00IHHF06VzOYd8DaKKmgBELJEI5w8ikAd_A1NtWtxBxpltUrsfzVxmV4f4G9ctRQ/s1600/Photo0536.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Have I mentioned that, at the twins' preschool, they also have a bit of a farm? They have a barn, 7 sheep (more now because the sheep had babies - 2 of whom the kids got to go out and see minutes after they had been born), some goats, chickens, ducks. It is amazing. AMAZING. I love their preschool. Anyway...at the end of the year they had these special sheep days. They got to actively participate in the process from shearing the sheep to knitting with the yarn - washing and drying the wool, carding the wool, spinning it into yarn (with a real spinning wheel), the whole process. It was awesome. And I got to go and take pictures. Here is the only picture I got of the twinners outside with the preschool director explaining to them how to wash the wool (the barn and pasture are behind them).</div>
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We had to celebrate our last day of carpooling with C. He has traveled with us to and from preschool many a day this past year - and <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-have-we-been.html" target="_blank">spent many an afternoon</a> in town with us when we had to wait for Lucas. He has become the twinners' best friend, practically family, and we are sad to not spend so many days with him. Our last afternoon together was spent eating pizza at a nearby park and going out for special ice cream.</div>
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Sadly, May meant their last day of school. Remember the <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/first-day-of-school.html" target="_blank">first day</a>? It went so fast. Sigh.</div>
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They were in a super hammy mood when we were taking these pictures. Partly because they were all excited about the end of school picnic. Partly because they were all excited about the road trip we were starting the minute we left the end of school picnic. Mostly because they didn't realize the last day of school meant no more school. They were pretty bummed when they realized that. They loved their preschool too.</div>
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As previously mentioned, we (the twins and I) literally left for Nebraska from their school parking lot. We spent the night with a cousin in Iowa, and then met up with my parents at the <a href="http://www.sasmuseum.com/" target="_blank">Strategic Air & Space Museum</a></div>
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We had a blast looking at all of the different air and space craft they have there - even though my weary road-travelers started to fade at the end (we knew they were tired when Allie suddenly wanted to watch the same WWII movie over and over and over...just because she could sit on the bench and not move!).</div>
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The only way to get Allie to, kind of, look normal was for me to hold her. It's a goofy picture age, my friends.</div>
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Doesn't it look real? I think I might have it framed for his astronaut graduation someday (or whatever the astronaut equivalent is of a graduation).</div>
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We also had many other fun adventures at Papa & Gigi's. </div>
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Like making chocolate chip cookies with Gigi,</div>
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Flying kites with Papa,</div>
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Getting the most amazing face painting dinosaurs at Uncle Matt's church (yes, at church!)</div>
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Going to a nearby dinosaur museum. The dinosaur museum also had the most amazing mirror maze I have ever been inside. I literally ran into a mirror more than once. Once we conquered it once, we went through dozens of times. It was amazing. But, somehow I didn't remember to send the picture of the maze from my mom's phone...so you'll just have to imagine.</div>
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Visiting Papa's work and driving their newest giant vehicle.</div>
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with uncle Matt!</div>
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Visiting the park I played in as a kid, but with brand new (absolutely awesome) playground equipment. For the record, the infamous <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/05/fun-in-nebraska-part-3.html" target="_blank">Hike & Bike</a> was one of the fundraisers behind this new park. It was great to see and enjoy the community's gain from my pain :)</div>
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<b><i>Allie and I in the view from the top.</i></b></div>
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Papa and Gigi bravely climbed to the top (I was up there for about 5 seconds before I found an excuse to go down). They took a picture to commemorate the moment.</div>
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And ending our days with story times with Papa.</div>
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As you can see, our May was bittersweet - the end of our time at a school that we LOVED, but filled with so many adventures. And it was just the beginning of a summer full of adventures!</div>
ldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-78109145868392420472014-04-30T17:46:00.000-04:002014-07-12T17:46:34.537-04:00April<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
In April, I once again forgot to teach my children about the wonders of April Fool's Day. I miss that holiday every year, and I could do so much with it! However, in the very beginning of April (according to the date stamp on the picture), the children put together a wedding parade for one of their stuffed animals. Can you tell what they used as a model of organization for the parade? I was most impressed that the colors are in the correct order. I taught them ROY G BIV early on...</div>
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With April came Easter, and our annual egg dying party at the church...which means Allie's traditional dyed hands...</div>
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It also means the annual egg hunt at the nearby campground, and we were joined again this year by the Beauties! Love our time with the cousins.</div>
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<b><i>Ryan and the ladies.</i></b></div>
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Being 5, our kids were moved up to the next oldest group for the egg hunt...which means way more cut-throat. Which also means that I didn't get a single picture of the hunting because I was too busy trying to keep track of my children in the mob. But I did manage to capture the kids combing through the loot.</div>
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They also had an egg hunt at our house with Nana!</div>
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Easter morning, I managed to get the traditional picture together (which I completely forgot last year, so score 1 for this year's picture taking!). Yes, my children are wearing light-up sandals with their beautiful Easter finery. It went like this. I needed sandals for Allie and the light-up princess sandals matched beautifully (except for the lights...). But I couldn't just get Allie awesome light-up sandals and Ryan nothing, so I decided to get them both light-up sandals (Cars for him) for their Easter baskets. And then prepared myself for the inevitable, "If Allie is wearing hers, why can't I wear mine?" And I decided he could. Because he's a kid. And what is more important, that he be picture perfect with no tacky, light-up, character shoes on Easter, or that he head to Easter service with joy in his heart because he is proudly wearing his new favorite thing on earth? Granted, the joy is NOT reflected in the pictures...</div>
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And the traditional egg hunt. I like this action shot of Allie.</div>
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Meanwhile, Ryan seems content to hang back and let others get the eggs...</div>
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Also, in April we upgraded the twins to larger bikes. Finally able to pedal comfortably again, going for bike rides became a new favorite activity. We would go to nearby trails (where I didn't have to worry about cars or intersections), and had made it up to riding 5 miles...then it warmed up and my children melt in the heat. Suddenly, we could only make it 1/2 mile before we would hear "I'm so hot! I'm so tired! Are we almost done?" in the whiniest voices. So much for making it up to 100 miles (their initial goal).</div>
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We also made the goal of ditching the training wheels by the end of the summer...a goal that, as I write this with more than half of our summer gone, has not yet been achieved...</div>
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And these are all the pictures I took in April. I told you this would go fast! I'm sure many other amazing things happened, but without pictures as memory prompts, I have temporarily forgotten them! Oh, well...on to May!</div>
ldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-80790309683148452982014-03-31T18:53:00.000-04:002014-07-13T08:22:17.462-04:00March<div style="text-align: center;">
For lack of a better idea when it comes to updating, I decided to just go a month at a time and post the pictures (and events) from that month. I didn't take a ton of pictures, so this should go fairly quickly. And when I say I didn't take a ton of pictures, I really, REALLY didn't take a ton of pictures! Prepare to be shocked.</div>
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The first picture of March is actually from February. The first weekend of February, Lucas and I left the twins for only the third time since they were born. They spent the weekend with Nana and Poppy while we chaperoned/led the annual youth retreat. At the end of the weekend we spent a couple days with Nana and Poppy, during which we were joined by the cousins. Here are the Twinners and the Beauties getting a pony ride from Lucas (with Poppy and Jack in the background). This is the ONLY picture I took in February...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0b4a5e2xhtEAE1e6chKhIN4_s4beUHmah_sSGtBwwkLuqytZS6JAJqRWm0ReRsymd_vxSP-C9QLCMnktAY3z_QZir95YLe1AC8iWAiGge9nH3njWJHAWS7dYktsIPqLgbur2-A/s1600/DSC_0915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy0b4a5e2xhtEAE1e6chKhIN4_s4beUHmah_sSGtBwwkLuqytZS6JAJqRWm0ReRsymd_vxSP-C9QLCMnktAY3z_QZir95YLe1AC8iWAiGge9nH3njWJHAWS7dYktsIPqLgbur2-A/s1600/DSC_0915.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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In March we celebrated the twins 5th birthday! You would think this would be a time when I took a ton of pictures. You would be wrong. I was really focused on enjoying them and celebrating with them and ended up taking almost none. Basically, the bigger they get, the less I get to hold them, so I spent their birthday days holding them rather than a camera. Here are the few I did manage to take:</div>
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Their preschool does a really great celebration where the kids get to be a special part of circle time. Not only do they get to be line leader and hold the flag for the flag raising and all the other special things (that the twins divided for their special day...because their twins and that is what twins do), but they get a special moment to show some pictures and talk about where they were born and growing up (the twins showed off a few items from their NICU days). Then each kid asks them a question (things like "What is your favorite color?" or "What is your favorite food?") Finally, they each get a turn to hold the globe and walk around the circle (in the middle of which is the sun) as many times as years they are old (to represent how many times the earth has gone around the sun in their lifetime) while the teach plays music and tells a little description about each year of their life. It is beautiful.</div>
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<b><i>Ryan walking around the circle.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie walking around the circle.</i></b></div>
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We asked the twins if they wanted a party with friends or a night with just us at a hotel. They picked the night with us at a hotel. We found a great deal at a hotel with an indoor water park. It was a blast. We should make it an annual thing. Everything about our overnight trip was perfect - the water park, the hotel, the bedtime story in the lobby, the food, EVERYTHING. Lucas and I were a little exhausted at the end though. The kids discovered that you didn't have to ride a tube through the lazy river, you could run with the current. We spent a good hour running through the lazy river - completely defeating the purpose of the name!</div>
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We still had a party with family though. Initially, when asked about a theme, Ryan picked dinosaurs and Allie picked dolphins. I figured, cool, I can make that work. After putting together the perfect dinosaur and dolphin outfits (Ryan's pants have T-Rex footprint patches on the knees and his shirt - made by me - has a T-Rex on the front. Allie's dress is a dolphin print - made from fabric I purchased in Uganda and have been waiting to use for the perfect project), and roughly 5 days before the party, the twins told me they would rather have a dragon party. I didn't have much time to pull it together, but with a green and orange theme, I managed to give them the dragon party of their dreams (thankfully, they dream small). However, there weren't very many pictures of the party that didn't have an un-flattering view of a party guest in the background, so this is the only picture I have from the party:</div>
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<b><i>They did LOVE their presents!</i></b></div>
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On their actual birthday, we had a quiet celebration. We gave them their presents from us (fishing poles, clothes, and gum - since I once offhandedly answered the question "When can we have gum?" with the answer, "When you're 5," not knowing they would not only remember, but look forward expectantly to the age of 5 specifically for the gum), took them out to Chinese, and took them to our favorite toy store to pick out a few things with their birthday money. Ryan fulfilled his dream of getting a Dinoco Lightning McQueen and Buzz Lightyear by buying them for himself - along with some really cool astronaut toy sets. Allie picked out many art kits - like a jewelry making kit - as well as a princess toy. They were thrilled.</div>
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Another birthday adventure (thanks to Nana & Poppy) was going to Disney on Ice! It was truly a magical event. Too bad I forgot to charge my camera batteries... I made the mistake of asking Allie if she wanted to keep practicing her ice skating so she could be one of the princesses someday and she gave me this strange look and said, "Mommy, I can't be the princesses. They are themselves. I can only be one of the extra skaters." My children 100% believed those were the actual characters skating in front of them. Thankfully, for Ryan, it wasn't only princesses. Buzz and the Toy Story gang made an appearance at the end. The look on Ryan's face was priceless. Too bad I didn't get a picture...</div>
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<b><i>For the record, the lady told Allie to pose like that...</i></b></div>
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Finally, in March, we left the twins for the 4th time ever in their lives (and the longest) to go to VA for the wedding of my college roommate. It was a wonderful few days with my best friends from college. I love these girls, and get to see them way too little. It was my own magical weekend. And a Joy to celebrate my roomie and her wonderful new husband!</div>
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<b><i>Me and the girls!</i></b></div>
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<i>Photo credit goes to her talented photographer...whose name I cannot find!</i><br />
Other than a really low key spring break for the twins (because we had just returned from VA), that was our March! Shall we place bets on how long it takes for me to get to April...</div>
ldmillerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01631848294363449249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-2521395499185670142014-03-06T18:57:00.000-05:002014-04-02T18:58:08.996-04:00A Change of Plans<div style="text-align: center;">
The last few months have been kind of eventful when it comes to our adoption journey.<br />
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A lot of people don't know this, but in October, our monthly update from our agency included a notice that there were waiting sibling groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They were asking if anyone would be willing to adopt 2 or more children and switch countries. After some talking, we let our case worker know we would be interested. A week later we were matched with 2 girls. Sisters. A baby and a toddler. We loved them from the moment we knew about them.<br />
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I could tell you about the first time I saw their picture, and how they took my breath away. I could tell you about how amazingly happy we were. I could tell you about the plans and dreams that filled every free moment. But instead, I will make a long story short by saying that 2 weeks after we were matched, and the exact same day that our referral was made official, the DRC (essentially) closed.<br />
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I don't know quite how to describe the following months. I don't know how to describe losing daughters I never met, or held, or could even legally call mine. The worst part was not feeling like I had a right to mourn - or even feel - their loss. All I will say is that, if you know someone going through the adoption process and at any point something falls through, give them a hug - acknowledge their loss and affirm their grief. It means so much. <br />
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We switched all of our paperwork back to Uganda and decided to just wait for a while. For once, the wait was a relief. We needed time to recover. <br />
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In the meantime, the length of time families have to spend in-country (the biggest factor in our decision to switch to the DRC - which had a much shorter time in-country required) jumped up to 10+ weeks...and it is highly probable that the length of time will only increase as we wait. We've been talking and talking each month about when we would reach the breaking point where we say this just isn't feasible anymore - and between the heartbreak of having a country close on us and the reality that we don't have that kind of time to spend overseas, we both realized that we had reached that point.<br />
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In the meantime, over the past 6 months (maybe longer) we've been feeling our hearts drawn more and more toward foster care and the need for foster families. After a lot of talking, praying, and gathering of information we've decided to start the process of becoming a foster family in our community.<br />
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It wasn't a decision we made lightly. It isn't something we think will be easy. We know that not every child who enters our home will stay, and that no child that enters our home is truly "ours" unless a judge makes a lot of other rulings to make them so. We also know that providing a loving, stable environment for the children who enter our home - for whatever time they are there - is worth it. We are excited to move forward in answering the call we feel to care for the most vulnerable in our community.<br />
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I thought it would be hard to walk away from my dream of adopting from Uganda. I thought I would feel torn or grieve the loss of that hope and expectation for our family. I have been surprised by the peace that has accompanied this decision. Even while talking with our case worker from the Uganda program (to officially withdraw from the program, and from their agency - which cannot license us for foster care), I felt enthusiastic and confident in this direction for our family. It has been surprising, but also a relief. The peace feels like confirmation that this is where we are called for now.<br />
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We still have a heart for orphans around the world, and are talking about tangible ways (other than adoption) in which we can answer the call we feel to care for them. One of the ways is financially. See, we've already had some fundraisers for our adoption, but foster care is significantly less expensive than international adoption (they are literally opposite ends of the financial spectrum). We've decided to contact those who donated large amounts to offer a refund. However, there is some we can't return (either because we didn't keep track of smaller donations and therefore don't know amounts, or because the donation was through items to sell at yard sales, or because it was through the purchase of an item). This money we are planning to donate to <a href="http://unadopted.org/" target="_blank">(un)adopted</a> - a ministry of our adoption agency that seeks to provide better care and education for orphans and at-risk children in their own country. See the work they are doing in Uganda <a href="http://unadopted.org/uganda/" target="_blank">here</a>. This way, the money that was given to help orphans in other countries will still be used for that purpose - just in a different way than we originally anticipated.<br />
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We have started the process of becoming a foster family. It turns out that we pretty much have to redo everything we have already done - paperwork, education, home study, even fingerprints! We've already accomplished a lot - getting enrolled, fingerprints, classes, our first home study and a LOT of paperwork. We will keep you posted on our progress. For now, thank you all for your prayers and support through the last couple of years. It means more to us than we can express.<br />
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p.s. After we had made the decision and started the process, I was looking up some recipes in a favorite food blog, and discovered that she and her husband had been through a very similar adoption journey. <a href="http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/olgastips/our-new-adventure-begins/" target="_blank">Her post</a> describes perfectly our heart and what we feel as we move forward - MUCH better than what I have just written! Read <a href="http://www.olgasflavorfactory.com/olgastips/our-new-adventure-begins/" target="_blank">HERE</a>.<br />
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<b>**UPDATE**</b><br />
Since I wrote this post, we hit a bump in the road (or, considering the weather this winter, "gigantic pot hole" might be more appropriate!). The twins turned 5, and one of the rules is that siblings of opposite genders may not share a room after they turn 5 - even our biological children. Our licensing agent asked if we could be granted a waiver since ours are twins, but we were denied. The twins very emphatically do NOT want to be in separate rooms (wouldn't you know, just within the last few months nightmares and intense fear of the dark have become a huge problem - they have no desire to be alone at night. In fact, I think they wish there were more than 2 of them in that room!), and we very emphatically do not want to push anything that we know would be traumatic for them. We are hoping to write a letter to appeal our case, but, other than that, our only option is to just wait until they are ready to separate and try starting the process again then. The thought of waiting - especially for another undefined, but probably lengthy amount of time - is excruciating. We've already waited so long! We were most likely a few weeks away from our license, and the twins have started asking daily when brothers and sisters will come to live with us. We were all SO ready, and so excited. This has been tough news to absorb. Please pray for wisdom and patience as we move forward.</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-41637303651712974672014-02-01T18:45:00.000-05:002014-04-02T18:46:13.488-04:00Baby It's COLD Outside!<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>**My apologies for the lack of posting. First we all got REALLY sick...for a full month (they tested us for Pertussis...it was that bad). Then my computer broke, and Lucas' is not as readily available as I would like. But, I mentioned that there were a few partially written posts...and there were! So I'm going to finish and post them (be advised, they were written in January) while I try to desperately write an update post and birthday posts. **</b><br />
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The last few years, I have practically lamented the lack of snow. If I wanted a green (brown) winter, I wouldn't be living in Michigan. This year, however, we seem to be getting the weather we should have gotten the past few years - all rolled into 1 month! I'm not complaining about the snow. I LOVE all the snow. It looks like the perfect Winter Wonderland! I love it! I am complaining about the cold.</div>
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<b><i>We pulled out our <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/03/everyday-adventures.html" target="_blank">science kit</a> and did some "snow painting" - which is just a winter-themed way to learn more about color mixing :)</i></b></div>
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It has been beyond cold here the last few weeks. Not just single digits. Not just slightly negative temperatures. We're talking wind chills of -30...for many days in a row. We're talking schools haven't had a full week of school since coming back from break because they cannot open in the frigid temperatures (and when I say, "haven't had a full week" I mean "have only had 9 days of school in 4 weeks."). Granted, the twins have only actually missed 3 days of school since going back - partly because they only go 3 days a week (so some of the cancelled days weren't their days to be their anyway), and partly because their preschool director is Canadian and has been the only school open in the county 3 times already. </div>
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<b><i>I decided to bring in some snow in which they could play, but just making mini-snowmen was not enough. We decided to get out the hair dryer and melt them!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>I'm counting this as a science lesson about various stages of water.</i></b></div>
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However, on these days, we still find ourselves at home...looking wistfully at the pristine snow outside just waiting for us to play. But it is just too cold.</div>
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<b><i>We kind of loved melting the snowmen.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>In fact they made and melted roughly a dozen!</i></b></div>
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That cabin fever would set in was only a matter of fact, and I've been doing my best to hold it off. But we can only play so many games, bake so many muffins, and watch so much tv before going insane. For the 4th week of temperature-induced snow days, I had to get a little more creative (thank God for Pinterest...).</div>
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I still have a few more activities in my pocket for future snow days - because it is still January in Michigan...we have a lot of winter left and we do not expect it to get any better!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-88681283365833280642014-01-25T14:32:00.000-05:002014-01-25T17:08:57.284-05:00Snapshot<div style="text-align: center;">
The good news is that, so far, I have 3 posts started and waiting in the queue. The bad news is that I hadn't finished any of them. However, grandparents were starting to comment on the lack of posting, so I figured I would quickly finish one and get it out. It might end up a bit scattered, but at least it has new pictures, right? Here is a bit of a snapshot of our lives right now.</div>
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<b><i>Making muffins wearing their new aprons from Aunt Darleen!</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie's apron is made from on of Little G's. It makes her feel so special to wear it. Also, I may have let Ryan think his was made from one of Little G's too...because he was very upset at the possibility that his wasn't!</i></b></div>
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The big discussion every day is about what they want to be when they grow up, how they have to prepare, etc. Allie pretty much wants to be everything she can possibly think of...</div>
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Allie:</span></i></b><br />
Basketball Player (and football, baseball, and soccer - <i>not all at the same school though...for as many years and colleges she wants to go to, this is gonna get expensive...</i>)<br />
Artist (<i>she literally spends hours every day honing her various artistic talents. Our house is overflowing with her art...)</i><br />
Farmer<br />
Chef<br />
Truck Driver<br />
Ambulance Driver<br />
Bus Driver (<i>she got a bit stuck in driver mode)</i><br />
Super Hero (<i>conversation about her being a super hero. Ryan: You can't be a super hero. You can't fly. Me: Not all super heroes fly. In fact, I can think of a lot that don't fly. Allie: Yeah. I'll be a different kind of super hero. Probably one that runs really fast.) Note: she practices being a super hero by saving bugs, <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/11/kids-say.html" target="_blank">and worms</a>. The other day our church rented a gym for the afternoon and Allie spent at least 50% of her time there rescuing lady bugs from being squashed.</i><br />
Picture Taker (<i>just like me!)</i><br />
Ballerina<br />
Dance Teacher (<i>Lucas told her the other day that she was such a great dancer, she could probably teach a class. She really took that to heart and keeps asking when she can start teaching. I worry, should we ever put her in a dance class, how this will play out for her teacher...)</i><br />
Pilot<br />
Scuba Diver <i>(For some reason, she is convinced there are no girl scuba divers and that she will be the first. I tried to tell her otherwise, but she could not be convinced)</i><br />
Astronaut (<i>with Ryan and one of their best friends from preschool. They are all so determined that I can actually see it happening someday...and it brings a tear to my eye to think of 3 preschool friends all grown up and blasting off into space together)</i><br />
Fire Fighter<br />
Fairy (<i>Obviously)</i><br />
Writer<br />
In a Band (maybe the singer, maybe the drummer, maybe both!) (<i>She and Ryan have talked about starting up a band now...he'll play guitar and piano)</i><br />
Jewelry maker<br />
In the circus <i>(She has so many amazing tricks!)</i><br />
Hunter<br />
Mommy<br />
Someone that Loves (<i>My favorite)</i><br />
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<i><b>Covered in flour, she looks the part of a chef...</b></i></div>
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Ryan tends to be a little (lot) more focused. He knows what he wants to be and very little steers him away from that. Except the fact that he's confident Allie will need some supervision in her life and he should maybe stick by her.</div>
<b><i><span style="font-size: large;">Ryan:</span></i></b><br />
Astronaut <i>(Oh, the planning for this! He has thought through getting his college degree and then astronaut training and has his career trajectory planned...and he had me do a little research to make sure that his plan was mostly accurate!)</i><br />
Race Car Driver <i>(When he retires from being an astronaut. Because apparently you cannot be an astronaut forever, but you are never too old to drive a race car...)</i><br />
Scuba Diver (Allie's Dive Buddy) (<i>One of our church friends is a diver and they have learned from him that you always need a dive buddy.)</i><br />
Wants to be a lot of the same things as Allie...because she will need a buddy.<br />
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<b><i>Trying out the new tubes!</i></b></div>
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They are back at school after the (extra long) Christmas break. Everything there continues to go well. Allie is drawn to anything artistic, and the stacks of art projects (of various mediums) she brings home each day are a testament to that love. We also have 2 art stations set up at home - one in the dining room the other in the basement.<br />
<b><i>They wanted to play at the park too.</i></b></div>
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Ryan loves baking, but currently he is on a reading kick. Just after the break he graduated from the beginners drawers to the pink shelves. This marks a big step in the learning-to-read process. Currently, he is reading small books with short words (Sam and cat. Sam sat on cat. Sad cat. Sad Sam., etc.), and he is eating it all up. Withing days of making it to the pink shelves, he had gone through the first 4 levels (drawers? I don't know all of the lingo).<br />
<b><i>Apparently, sledding in the snow is super fun.</i></b></div>
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Their current favorite book is "Bowser's Take Over" - written and illustrated by Daddy.<br />
<b><i>Sledding with Daddy!</i></b></div>
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One of their favorite past-times is making up stories. I frequently hear, "Once upon a time..." and then they finish with an adventure or a story about their day.<br />
<b><i>Sledding with Mommy!</i></b></div>
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They got ice skates for Christmas and it was finally warm enough to go out and use them (we've had a lot of sub-zero temps since Christmas). They found ice skating to be much more difficult than they anticipated. I was surprised how well they did the first time out - spending most of the time without even holding onto us. I was most thankful for the helmets. I couldn't count the number of times they bounced off the ice, but each time I was thankful it wasn't the helmet and not their bare head!<br />
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I should also mention that they had knee pads, elbow pads, and wrist guards on under their snow gear. We were prepared for LOTS of falling!<br />
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All the safety gear also made me feel better about their safety sledding the biggest hill they've ever been down later :)<br />
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Also, exciting update, they have grown out of their egg allergy! We tested it this past week, and there was no reaction! They are excited to try all of the new things that they were never able to eat before. Turns out scrambled eggs isn't their favorite, but they are pretty excited about the prospect of french toast. If only we hadn't scrambled all the eggs...<br />
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And that is a brief snapshot of our lives right now! I will do my best to finish the other 2 posts sometime in the near future...or at least before starting (and not finishing) any more posts!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-21180914847375199102013-12-31T22:51:00.000-05:002014-01-11T22:53:37.889-05:00Top 10 of 2013<div style="text-align: center;">
I feel ashamed. I really do. I usually do our annual Top 10 of the previous year on New Year's Eve (once I think I did it on New Year's Day, but dated it so that it at least looked like New Year's Eve*...). This year we are almost 2 weeks into the new year and no Top 10 post. I almost decided not to do it at all. I just couldn't find the time to go through every post, and write down my favorites, and cut out all but 10, and then rate them in the order of my favorite. But I found myself with some "free" time tonight (read: I was tired and I didn't want to clean or exercise), so I decided to do the Top 10 post, but do it differently. This year it isn't MY personal Top 10, it is the Top 10 posts based on how many times they were viewed.</div>
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That's right. Blogger tells me how often you** click on and read each post. </div>
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So here are the Top 10 most viewed posts of 2013 (click on the underlined, highlighted portion to go to each post):</div>
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10. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-greatest-show-on-earth.html" target="_blank">The Greatest Show on Earth</a> - Our trip to the Big Top with Poppy, Nana, & the Beauties.</div>
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9. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/11/another-week-of-thankfulness.html" target="_blank">Another Week of Thankfulness</a> - The most recent of the bunch and part of our 30 Days of Thankfulness. Some of my favorite memories of the year!</div>
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8. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-snapshot.html" target="_blank">April Snapshot</a> - I love the snapshots too! And you've gotta love a post that ends with both of them crying...</div>
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7. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-showers.html" target="_blank">April Showers</a> - A kind of random assortment of activities and interesting things that kept us busy during a very rainy April.</div>
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6. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/03/cousin-sleepover.html" target="_blank">Cousin Sleepover</a> - Truly one of my favorite weekends of the year. I had so much fun with these 4 kiddos!</div>
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5. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/10/bits-of-tid-preschool-edition.html" target="_blank">Bits of Tid: Preschool Edition</a> - I love this one too. Especially the videos of them reading. They've been making even more books lately, and it is so much fun. Is anyone else obsessed with how amazing it is to watch a child learn to read?!</div>
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4. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/where-have-we-been.html" target="_blank">Where Have We Been?</a> - This should probably be the title of all my recent posts <i>*hangs head in shame* </i>Now that Lucas doesn't have his class, we haven't been staying in-town each week. I sort of miss our afternoon adventures!</div>
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3. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-mama-slippers-story-of-love.html" target="_blank">The Mama & The Slipper: A Story of Love & Temporary Insanity</a> - Ah, the lengths a mother will go to (and the temporary insanity that it my cause) to make their children's dreams a reality! Funny story, I was in the preschool to take pictures and discovered that Allie wasn't wearing her slippers anymore! Apparently, they are allowed to just wear their socks, and she liked skipping the step of putting the slippers on, so she just went without. After all that work...</div>
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2. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/camping.html" target="_blank">Camping </a>- This was definitely at the top of our list too. Allie and Ryan started reminiscing in the van just a few days ago about our camping trip. Allie told me all of the details of the "Bear Hunt," and Ryan talked about going fishing (and not catching any fish...wah, wah). And I love, love, love the video of Allie singing her "Bike Ride" song. True story - we went a lot more bike rides, and she sang the song at some point on almost every single one!</div>
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1. <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-lake-house.html" target="_blank">The Lake House</a> - Truthfully, I'm not sure what happened here. a normal post gets between 13-20 views. The high posts were in the 50-60 range. A few posts got near the 100 view range because I posted the link on facebook. But this post got 453 views. Over 300 more than the #2 post. I can't help but wonder if something went wrong here (or if we somehow ended up in the top of the google search results for bee allergies...or something worse...). Honestly, we look back on this week as one of the most traumatic of the year. But there were so many blessings. Finding out that Allie was allergic to bees when we were there to take action and had lots of Benadryl on hand. Having friends in the medical profession who answer their texts right away - and amazing technology that lets the confidently diagnose from miles, and hours, away. A fun night together at a hotel (not something we do often). School shopping with the kiddos to kill time (they got to pick out the clothes - and those pieces are still their favorites!) A wonderful time at the end of the week with Uncle Duck & Aunt Debbie. A wonderful reminder for the year to come that in the midst of life's most stressful moments, there are still some amazing silver linings!</div>
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Finally, to keep up with the (newer) tradition of including some photos (and to try to atone for taking SO long to get up the Top 10 post), here are some photos of the twins on New Year's Eve.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVJ1G03yOxWn2zgxVailywp2Id2AD4vfT2yeqjBimzEzSwli51pGIiFqQ1UnpsrpYGdOUxfUTFmhyphenhyphenfUm16oaUkg0w3tHU9YSB5gq4pNNpqd38V1DQdPwH4Idkc7ZL7JPg5y9I/s1600/DSC_0197+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAVJ1G03yOxWn2zgxVailywp2Id2AD4vfT2yeqjBimzEzSwli51pGIiFqQ1UnpsrpYGdOUxfUTFmhyphenhyphenfUm16oaUkg0w3tHU9YSB5gq4pNNpqd38V1DQdPwH4Idkc7ZL7JPg5y9I/s1600/DSC_0197+copy.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lucas bought a New Year's Eve party kit at a garage sale this past summer for $0.50. I thought it was a silly purchase at the time, but when he pulled it out and I saw the hats, cups, plates, napkins, beaded necklaces, and party blowers all still in plastic wrapping I agreed it was a great idea!</div>
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The kids loved the party blowers, but they had to stop with them once the cousins arrived because the youngest Beauty was already sleeping.</div>
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The "older" cousins got a special movie night in the twins' room - complete with a special cozy spot to snuggle in and special snacks! The hope was that they would fall asleep watching the movie. They didn't. While they did not get to stay up to ring in the new year, they did get to stay up much closer than I would have normally allowed. The perks of a cousin sleepover!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZTKMakUWtBxTBWBBgS_SOuS2PTcH2jpqu2xHobsgwF76tmxwplbdK9pNUKz6tdl_FPiR6rvmWpPWoD73YlYB6KPMq0CshGZNF00O9HQKwh4z1fEc9id8Ewom5PNLfgjQjLLr/s1600/DSC_0207+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZTKMakUWtBxTBWBBgS_SOuS2PTcH2jpqu2xHobsgwF76tmxwplbdK9pNUKz6tdl_FPiR6rvmWpPWoD73YlYB6KPMq0CshGZNF00O9HQKwh4z1fEc9id8Ewom5PNLfgjQjLLr/s1600/DSC_0207+copy.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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My favorite thing about this post is that I look back and really see how amazing the past year has been. It makes me excited for a new year full of new experiences, adventures, and memories. Here's to an amazing 2014!</div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">* I'm totally going to date this post so that it looks like it was posted on December 31st too! My OCD just can't allow me to have this post in a NEW YEAR when it has been the closing post of every other year...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">**It doesn't tell me how often you personally click on each post...just how many times someone somewhere has clicked on each post. No worries. I'm not spying and/or keeping track!</span></div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-63808459351624388742013-12-30T11:31:00.000-05:002014-01-09T11:31:41.743-05:00A Miller Christmas Carol<div style="text-align: center;">
Oops. Somehow I missed documenting all of Christmas. It was a busy December...So, here it is in short form with Christmas Carol Titles:<br />
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<b><i>"See Amid the Winter's Snow"</i></b><br />
<i>We drove 2 hours to see live reindeer and all Allie wanted to do was make snow angels (we didn't have any snow near us yet)</i><br />
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<b><i>"The Friendly Beasts"</i></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGcnvZG__Puck6HOzS6xsrdVEK_9L1hwpJhql5yVolB4gyO37EyrKTG-uK-Nw9SyryDsKrErrKyGhCEKiMy2U8eb1RJNEKOSZMAWChvoFWJVKp5IpJ9TrAQkUMlu1gyKzhgVo/s1600/visiting+reindeer+%252814%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGcnvZG__Puck6HOzS6xsrdVEK_9L1hwpJhql5yVolB4gyO37EyrKTG-uK-Nw9SyryDsKrErrKyGhCEKiMy2U8eb1RJNEKOSZMAWChvoFWJVKp5IpJ9TrAQkUMlu1gyKzhgVo/s1600/visiting+reindeer+%252814%2529.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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Everyone got a chance to pet "Prancer."</div>
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<b><i>"5 Little Christmas Trees"</i></b></div>
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<i>The twins School program. Ignore the crazy eyes. Taking pictures from far away and needing the flash means really strange red-eye corrections...</i></div>
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<span style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><b><i>"Les Anges dans nos campagnes"</i></b></span><br />
<i>Since their school director is Canadian, several of the songs were in french.</i><br />
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<b><i>"Jolly Old Saint Nicholas"</i></b></div>
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<b><i>"Christmas Train"</i></b><br />
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<b><i>"Do You Hear What I Hear?"</i></b><br />
<i>Waiting for the Puppet Show.</i><br />
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<i>As usual, not sure about the (friendly) in the puppet show.</i><br />
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<b><i>"Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer"</i></b><br />
<i>The church Christmas Program "Christmas Around the World."</i><br />
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<b><i>"Oh Christmas Tree"</i></b><br />
<i>Ryan essentially sang a solo.</i><br />
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<b><i>"Santa Lucia"</i></b><br />
<i>Following the lead of the older girls, Allie sang so quietly no one could hear.</i><br />
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<b><i>"Joy to the World!"</i></b><br />
<i>I love my little carolers!</i><br />
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"It's Christmas Day"<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_iGQYhRzyZuwE6k3z1HckP4kIipvA5FwsbexJi9eAbfE4yfNkUuP7e44a4cXBjlkZ2Phl_urOO_buS_neTD6j46qiqY3fTfK2NIdkwZQXXvo_S-fjezkZ4QG0BktbcVOOBB5C/s1600/christmas+day+%25282%2529+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_iGQYhRzyZuwE6k3z1HckP4kIipvA5FwsbexJi9eAbfE4yfNkUuP7e44a4cXBjlkZ2Phl_urOO_buS_neTD6j46qiqY3fTfK2NIdkwZQXXvo_S-fjezkZ4QG0BktbcVOOBB5C/s1600/christmas+day+%25282%2529+copy.jpg" height="320" width="229" /></a><br />
<b><i>"Christmas Present"</i></b><br />
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<b><i>"We Three Kings"</i></b><br />
<i>Or 2 Super Heroes and a Princess...</i><br />
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<b><i>"Silent Night"</i></b><br />
<i>While the adults finished dinner, the twins snuggled on the couch with their new Curious George book and read together for longer than we all expected!</i><br />
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Our Christmas was wonderful. Full of more stories and adventures than I could even recount (like the night when we housed 13 people and 1 dog due to an ice storm that knocked out the power at Lucas' brother's). One of the best I can remember. We hope yours were all the same, and here's to a few more posts in the new Year!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-49658285111243165622013-12-08T15:02:00.001-05:002013-12-08T15:02:21.374-05:00Clearing the Card<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
The memory card, that is. As promised, here are some of the pictures from our Thanksgiving and Post-Thanksgiving Adventures</div>
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<b><i>Ryan making the Apple Pie. He did most of the work for the apple pie filling (and some of the crust).</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Cousins!</i></b></div>
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<i>(Watching Curious George while the grown up watch football/cook).</i></div>
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Getting our tree.</div>
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<b><i>The wagon ride out to the lot with the trees we wanted...which ended up being far from the lot with the trees we wanted...but Ryan's favorite part nonetheless.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie found this stick and called it her "reindeer costume." I was unable to get a picture the rest of the day without her holding that in front of her face.</i></b></div>
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Not wanting to squash their eagerness to help, I sorted all of the breakable ornaments out and let them decorate with the rest. Completely squashing my natural inclination to control (and thereby squash their eagerness), I let them decorate as they wanted with minimal input.</div>
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They even got to use the step stool so they could reach more of the tree (since, thankfully, the majority of our ornaments are relatively unbreakable).</div>
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And a few outtakes from our attempt at a classic "Picture in Front of the Tree"</div>
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The "Don't-Mess-With-Our-Tree" look. Serious and Menacing.</div>
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"The Stinker"</div>
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<i>Note: He is not doing what it might look like in this picture. He was sort of dancing around, and she was making pretend mustaches with her finger...and then we ended up with this gem where he lifted his leg while her finger was still up by her nose...</i></div>
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December came on fast and furious. We've been doing our best to pare down and say no to anything that causes undue stress...but we've still been crazy busy. I will certainly do my best to post, but first I have to remember to take my camera with me (which I haven't done for any of our December adventures yet...)!</div>
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<br />Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-56628880964340081712013-12-01T17:05:00.000-05:002013-12-01T17:05:27.215-05:00From Thanks...<div style="text-align: center;">
And with a blink...it's all over. How could the month have gone that quickly?</div>
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We left our month of Thankfulness with a little hesitation. Of course, the month that is to come is one of our favorite of the entire year. But we all seemed to enjoy documenting our gratitude. I'm thinking Thanksgiving in June might need to become a real thing...</div>
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<b><i>Twinner photography.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie trying to capture the moving bus.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Ryan captures the front of a pickup.</i></b></div>
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<b>November 22:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Mommy. </i>Seriously, for all of the kisses I gave him every time he said me, and for as much as he claims to hate kisses, one would think he might have stopped saying me. But he didn't. Love that boy.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Ryan. </i>Apparently, she loves him too :)</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Productivity. </i>Not only was the holiday officially a week away, but the next day we were having this big fundraising carnival/festival for the twins preschool. And since our church has one, and I have lots of experience, I volunteered to help...more than I anticipated actually. I had a lot of things to cross off my list, and (with a lot of help from Lucas who kept the kiddos occupied) I was able to finish them all!</div>
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<b><i>Mailboxes:</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie is taken with a grouping...</i></b></div>
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<b><i>...while this one captures Ryan's attention.</i></b></div>
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<b>November 23:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>My Treats.</i> The prize bags at the Preschool Festival were awesome. Filled with lots of treats - both candy and some cool little toys! My kiddos were thrilled for sure.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Ryan. </i>She's consistent.</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>An Awesome Fall Festival. </i>The girl who organized it was amazing and organized and things went so smoothly. Lots of people came. Everyone had fun. Setup and cleanup were a breeze. And we raised more money than we had hoped! Way more! More than double what we were hoping to raise!</div>
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<b><i>My picture of them taking a picture. It shouldn't come as a surprise that they love taking pictures of each other taking pictures...</i></b></div>
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<b>November 24:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Mommy. </i>I was beat out by treats the night before, but apparently they only hold their appeal for so long :)</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Mickey Gummies. </i>These are their gummy vitamins. They had just finished a jar of Monsters U Gummy Vitamins, and picked out new Mickey Mouse gummies. Opening a new jar of gummies is very exciting.</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Worship Service. </i>I lead the Children's Church program at our church. It only happens every other week because otherwise I would never get to be in the worship service. With the twins being sick the last Sunday I was supposed to have "off," and us adding an impromptu CC the time before that I was supposed to be "off," it had been a while since I had been able to be in church for the entire service. I love getting to sing all of the songs, hear the sermon, and be part of the special time of welcoming new members! I LOVE doing the Children's Ministry, but sometimes it feels good to be part of the grown up worship service!</div>
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<b><i>The pictures they captured while I was taking their picture...</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Ryan</i></b></div>
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<b>November 25:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Mommy. </i>On this night he told me that he would be thankful for me every night for the rest of the month. Aw.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Racey & Mickey Mouse. </i>Our fish. The twins have been trying to teach them "tricks." They are convinced their fish listen. I think the fish just tend to do the same thing when they think they are going to be fed...which is any time someone comes near their tank...</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Baking. </i>Now, a smart person would use their last full day before company arrives to clean...I chose to use it making a gigantic mess. I was a bread baking fiend and pumped 11 loaves out (some to give to the teachers at the preschool, some to freeze for later). In my defense, at the time I was making the bread I didn't know for sure that company was arriving the next day...but even if it had I would have probably still done the same thing!</div>
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<b><i>They were obsessed with pictures of the inside of mailboxes (the part for the papers, I did not let them open the neighbors' actual mailboxes!)</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Allie</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Ryan.</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Once I saw these pictures large and on our screen, I was completely freaked out by the giant nest in the back corner. I'm thankful it was cold enough that we didn't disturb any stinging creatures!</i></b></div>
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<b>November 26:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Nana & Poppy. </i>Nana & Poppy arrived today.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Nana & Poppy. </i>We were all very excited.</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Nana & Poppy. </i> They weren't sure until that very morning that they were going to make it down that day, but it ended up working out! They came down early so they could catch the twins' swim lessons. It was fun to have the "surprise" extra day with them!</div>
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<b><i>Allie was obsessed with getting parts of signs.</i></b></div>
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<b>November 27:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Pie I Made. </i>I'm glad he is proud of his accomplishments. And he did do the majority of the work for the apple pie we made for the next day. But has anyone else noticed that I lost my place?</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Nana & Poppy. </i>Another great day with the grandparents!</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Fun & Productive Day. </i>We went shopping and picked up some Christmas gifts. We went shopping and picked up some much needed items to fix some things in our house. We went to the library and returned our (soon to be overdue) books and picked up the books we needed to round out our Book Advent Calendar. We cooked up a storm and put together all of the main dishes for the next day so that all I needed to do was pop them into the oven when the time came. And we played games and enjoyed some fun time with Nana & Poppy. Such a good day!</div>
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<b><i>Ryan was focused on the construction site and all ofthe vehicles!</i></b></div>
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<b>November 28:</b></div>
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<b>THANKSGIVING DAY!</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Thanksgiving. </i>He loved it all - the family visiting, the fun playing with cousins, the Curious George movie we got from the library for the cousins to watch when the grown ups were all busy, the food, the desserts...EVERYTHING.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Thankful Tree. </i>She loves our fun activity to record our thankfuls, and seemed to really get that it all centered around the holiday. It was so fun that it really all tied together for her this year!</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Time with family. </i>My brother, his wife, and a friend of their from Spain stopped in for a bit. Nana & Poppy were there, of course. And Lucas' brother, his wife, and their 2 girls came for the day. I enjoyed the time with all of them. I loved hanging out and watching football. I loved catching up on each other's lives. I loved cooking - for them and with them. I loved hearing the kids laugh together (and even scream together - as long as they were screams of delight). I loved it all. By 6:30, everyone was gone and I walked through my empty, clean house and thought, "It went to fast." It never feels like enough time...I wonder if it ever will...</div>
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<b><i>Allie trying to get a picture of nature.</i></b></div>
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<b>November 29:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Tractor Ride. </i>We went to pick out our Christmas tree and the farm where we go takes you out to the field to get your tree in a wagon pulled by a tractor. This was Ryan's favorite part. Unfortunately, they took us to the wrong place and where we wanted to be was so close to the main building that we didn't get to ride it back. Thankfully, we didn't realize it in the beginning and got the ride at all!</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Cinderella. </i>My theory is that she was trying to think of something and turned to see the Cinderella magnet on the fridge. Perhaps it is her Cinderella doll that she sometimes sleeps with at night. Regardless, she loves Cinderella. </div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Tree Trimming. </i>I think this might have been the least stressful tree year ever. I'm not sure what made the difference. We got the tree and set it up. I strung the lights and it went quickly. Then I let the twins hang up all the ornaments that weren't breakable. I even let them use the step stool so they could cover more of the tree. I only decorated the top 1/3 of the tree (with the breakable ornaments). Maybe that's why. Then, even though it was already bedtime, we put on our fireplace dvd (it makes me SO sad that the twins will never remember when we lived in the house that had a REAL fireplace) and made hot chocolate (with lots of yummy add-ins because we had marshmallows and whip cream left over from Thanksgiving and candy canes that were from Nana). We drank our hot chocolate in front of the "fire" with only our tree lights lighting the room. The perfect start to the Christmas season!</div>
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<b style="text-align: center;">November 30:</b></div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Mommy & Daddy.</i> Aw.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>My Family. </i>Another Aw!</div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Ryan & Allie. </i>I don't know if it was because we were charting the month through our thankfuls, or if it was because the holidays are upon us, or if it was because of our busy schedule, but the month flew by. Faster than believable. And I found myself thinking, "It's gone. An entire month gone." Those moments when I become so aware of how quickly time is passing are so bittersweet. They remind me to stop. To savor. To really enjoy every moment. But they remind me that so many moments are gone, and the rest will go by more quickly than I want. I am so thankful for Ryan and Allie. For all of the joy, laughter, adventure, and love they bring to every day. Being their mommy is amazing, and I am thankful for every single moment.</div>
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And thus ends our month of Thankfulness. Hopefully, our attitude of gratitude will extend far into the month of December.</div>
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<i>Note: I do have pictures of many of the events and adventures mentioned above, but, due to our busy schedule of late, they are still in my camera. So I will post them later. And more of Allie's pictures are featured than Ryan's because Ryan - thinking he was "sending" pictures to all of his friends, deleted most of the pictures he took...</i></div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-23934833952959136002013-11-22T19:54:00.002-05:002013-11-22T19:54:50.171-05:00Settling Into an Attitude of Gratitude<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>November 14</b></div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Preschooler Praise. </i>Thursday was full of so many amazing moments for which I am thankful. But two completely stand out. The first was actually the last of the day. We were reading our Bible at bedtime when Ryan asked, "Does this have the story where Jesus dies?" I told him it was and asked if he feels sad when Jesus dies. He nodded, and we launched into a talk about why Jesus died, and how much He loves us, and how He didn't stay dead, and how he "killed" death so that all of us can live eternally with Him. We talked about what Heaven might be like (Allie is sure there will be lots of yummy bacon), and if we will miss our life on Earth when we are there. I was amazed by their insight, and the deep things they think about, and the big things that they totally get. But my favorite moment of the day? Allie was sitting at the piano, I was making dinner at the stove. She says, "Mommy, I wrote a song. Would you like to hear?" Of course! She starts gently tinkling the keys and singing about Jesus, and how much He loves us, and how He gives her every good thing (like Mommy and Daddy). Cooking with original Preschooler Praise in the background - best part of my day!</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Mrs. Ann. </i>We had a church meeting at our house. One of the women was here for the meeting as the twins were doing their thankfuls. We recently were at her house for dinner, and I think she became one of their favorite people. So Allie was thankful for her, and she was honored.</div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>The Number 8. </i>Honestly, I was completely thrown. As I wrote it on his little handprint, I nonchalantly asked, "Why the number 8?" He responded, "Because it is SO amazing!" Still confused, but wanting to understand, I asked, "What, specifically, makes it amazing?" He answered, "It is 2 circles on top of each other! Isn't that amazing!" Yes! How did I not see it before? Thank you, God, for the enthusiasm of a preschooler that opens my eyes to the amazing-ness of a number!<br />
<b><i>Ryan's School Picture</i></b><br />
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<b>November 15</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>My Husband. </i>It was a rough week. It started with the kids being sick (and me getting sleepless nights as a result). And then I got slammed with a migraine that I couldn't completely shake, but I had to take pictures at the preschools and we had meetings at our house almost every night. By Friday, I was sort of shot. And Friday is my day with the kids. My one day where we have no other commitments. Usually, we try to clean a little in the morning and then bake or do craft projects or go on a local adventure in the afternoon - simple, fun things together. On this day, I was so drained from the week that we didn't do anything special (except watch a movie...or two...because that was all I could handle). Then Lucas came home and made dinner and took care of bedtime and cleaned up. Being rescued by a knight in shining armor sure looks different after you have kids...<br />
<b><i>Allie & </i></b><i style="font-weight: bold;">Ryan: </i>I KNOW we did the thankful hands this day, but later I could not find them anywhere on the tree! And I cannot remember what they said. Boo. If/when I find them, I will update.<br />
<b><i>Allie's School Picture</i></b><br />
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<b>November 16</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>A Clean Craft Room. </i>If you've been to my house, you probably haven't seen my craft room. When I create, things tend to get scattered...everywhere... And, since I'm not naturally crafty, once I'm finished I'm SO finished with the whole project that I walk away...and never clean it up. It doesn't take many projects for my craft room to become a disaster, and then I cease to create because the room is too messy for me to find the things I need. Saturday morning, I settled into the new project I have taken over for Lucas - the bills. I was deep in a sea of receipts, statements, and bills that I was sorting, paying, and filing. Lucas comes in and says, "It makes me smile to know that you are doing something I hate and I'm doing something you hate." Lucas was downstairs cleaning and organizing my craft room! He needed some help later, but it looks so amazing. I can't wait to create!<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Ryan. </i>She loves her brother. So much. For school pictures, they had to say what they wanted to be when they grew up. Ryan said "Astronaut." Ever since, he and Allie have been discussing what that separation will be like when he is in Space, how much they will miss each other, and how they will make it until he comes home.<br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>Baby Lightning. </i>Yet another member of his Lightning McQueen "family" for which he is thankful. This happened to be one that he had lost and found again while cleaning his room. So perhaps he is also thankful for Mommy making him clean up?<br />
<b><i>When I Grow Up I Want To Be...</i></b><br />
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<b>November 17</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>Food and Nourishment for my family. </i>So basic, but I am truly thankful for our "daily bread." We went grocery shopping, and I had been working on using up what was in our freezer and pantry so things were getting pretty low. Our budget it relatively small, and we had to restock a lot of items, but we worked it and really stretched it for all it was worth. Once home, I was amazed at, and grateful for, the bounty before me. We not only had food, but truly nourishing food - an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, protein laden meat and cheese, and even organic snacks for the kids - rather than some of the inexpensive yet nourishment-lacking foods that I know fill the pantries of far more families than I would like to admit. Families whose budgets are far less than ours and who truly cannot afford anything more. And then I thought of the many people who barely have enough to keep them going. I've read that 45% of the world's population live on $2 a day or less. We had friends who spent a year in the Philippines and spent a couple weeks living on $2 a day - like the majority of their neighbors. On their blog, they showed pictures of their meager meals and talked about the things they gave up in order to just buy the food they needed for the day. It brought the numbers to life, and left me thinking of the people living in those circumstances often. Yet, here we are, having enough to not only buying food for our family, but for the youth group that eats here on Sunday evenings...and for church potluck...and to host family for the holidays. In a society where it is so easy to be convinced that we don't have much, it is wonderful to be reminded how abundantly we are truly blessed.<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Ryan. </i>Lucas wanted to have a "no repeats" rule. But I like seeing the recurring gratitude they have for people/things. I especially love seeing her recurring gratitude for her brother.<br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>California Zephyr. </i>The train we rode on our <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2012/08/all-aboard.html" target="_blank">train trip to Nebraska</a>. It might seem out of the blue, but they have been begging to take another train trip lately. Clearly, riding the CZ is on his mind!<br />
<b><i>When I Grow Up I Want To Be...</i></b><br />
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<b>November 18</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>Kitchen Time with the Twins. </i>The twins LOVE helping in the kitchen. Partly because of the awesome new skills they have been learning at preschool. Partly because of the fun new cleaning products we got from Norwex. Partly because of the time they get to spend doing "Grown Up" things. On this particular day, we made pumpkin muffins (and then they got to clean up with a new Norwex rag that we love). They helped me scrub dishes (after going to the store to get a second scrubby brush because they were fighting over who got to use the one to scrub). They helped me chop onions (NOT my idea. They used the Slap Chop, not knives. And they got to chew gum for the first time ever - breaking the Mommy-made "No Gum Until You Are 5" rule - because it keeps the onions from making your eyes water. For the record, it really, truly works!). And they helped me make the sides for dinner. Pretty much, anything I was doing, they wanted to help. They are getting really good at these things too.<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Mommy. </i>So sweet. I melt. The night before, Ryan had an accident in bed and I rocked him while Lucas changed the sheets. After he was in bed, we started hearing funny squeaks. It was Allie. She wanted to rock and snuggle with Mommy a little too. I, of course, didn't turn her down. All too soon, rocking them will be just a memory.<br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>Bumble. </i>His favorite friend. Today he also asked me if Bumble was going to be in Heaven because he wasn't sure if he would like Heaven without Bumble. Later, I told Lucas that Bumble is our family's Velveteen Rabbit:<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.' </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;">'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?' </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><i>'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.” - </i>The Velveteen Rabbit</span><br />
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<b>November 19</b></div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Shared Interest. </i>My children have had cameras for a while. But the batteries ran out and we put them on a shelf until we bought new batteries, and the we forgot. My children rediscovered them and begged for me to change the batteries. I did, and immediately they wanted to go and take pictures. The next thing I knew, we were outside taking pictures. And then we were going on a walk to take pictures. I loved seeing what caught their eye, and their pictures were really interesting. I also loved the opportunity to play with my new lens (my Christmas present - early so I could use it for a project). I love it. And I love my mini-photographers.<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Ryan. </i>Okay, this time she might have said Ryan because she was hoping he would say he was thankful for her in return. Did he?<br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>Ruffster. </i>He did not. Instead, he went with Ruffster the Super Dog. Lightning McQueen's pet dog who apparently also has super powers. Allie fully understood his choice...<br />
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<b>November 20</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>Fast Photo Editing. </i>I took the pictures for the twins' preschool. I needed to edit and I knew that if I could just download a few preset actions, it would go a lot faster. But I have never been successful at downloading actions. After hours (seriously HOURS) of searching online, attempting one way and then another, and getting frustrated and walking away only to return shortly after to try again, I finally found instructions for my (old) version of Windows combined with my (old) version of PSE. Actions successfully downloaded! Lightning fast editing followed. Of course, now to put all of those pictures together into the directory and then e-mail them to all of the parents...<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Kelsey. </i>We were babysitting for a friend, and Allie adored having the little girl follow her around for the evening. <br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>Racey & Mickey Mouse. </i>Our fish. In case you are wondering about Mickey Mouse, Gracie passed away early in the fall. We were sad about the loss, but after an appropriate mourning period, we took Ryan to get a new fish. He picked a gorgeous, blue fish that he named Mickey Mouse. So far, so good. All fish are healthy. And Ryan is thankful for that and them tonight!<br />
<b><i>Allie's Picture</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Ryan's Picture</i></b><br />
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<b>November 21</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>A Good, Long Walk. </i>Without going into a really long story - our adoption process has been antagonizing lately...or for about a month....or 2. And most of the time, even though it has been an emotional roller coaster, I'm doing pretty well. But every now and then something brings it all to the forefront. Often, it is nothing even outwardly related to adoption, but it triggers an emotional response that I cannot control. On this particular day, it was a brief conversation with their preschool teacher about changing their schedule next semester, if we are interested. I managed to get out of the preschool without crying, but then the tears overflowed. Even though it was cold (and raining a little) I knew I needed a good, long walk. I went to a local park that has a fabulous walking trail, and walked several miles. Sometimes crying (thankfully, because of the rain, I was mostly alone on the trail), sometimes praying, sometimes just reminding myself that it is okay to be emotional. It was what I needed. I left feeling peaceful, invigorated, uplifted, and ready to rationally face the decision presented. So, today I'm thankful for the time that preschool gives me for exercise, prayer, and contemplation and the needed peace that time brought me.<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Little Kids. </i>We've been doing a pre-Christmas purge - going through the toys and pulling some out to either 1) store for potential future siblings 2) sell 3) donate. The stuffed animals we are donating to an organization that cleans them and then gives them to children undergoing traumatic situations. Allie has been thinking a lot about these little kids. This may have been more of a prayer than a thankful...<br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>Trains. </i>Both at home and at school. Today, I picked him up just before he had completed putting together their train set. Apparently, the one at school is bigger than ours at home. I love my train-obsessed little man.</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-67155085821689205992013-11-15T11:32:00.000-05:002013-11-15T11:32:00.176-05:00Kids Say...<div style="text-align: center;">
I have the most amazing, and often strange, conversations with the twins these days. Most of the things out of their mouths are pure comedic gold. Sometimes, if I remember, I jot them down or text them to myself. Most, I forget, and they are golden nuggets of conversation destined to be forgotten forever. Here are a few of my favorites:</div>
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Upon hearing a loud, awful scraping sound.</div>
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<b>Allie:</b> That's awful! That sound tastes horrible!</div>
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<b>Me:</b> Tastes? Sounds have taste?</div>
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<b>Allie: </b> Yes.</div>
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<b>Me: </b>How did that sound taste?</div>
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<b>Allie:</b> Middle-size.</div>
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<b>Ryan:</b> Mom! I just saw a woman who traveled to the city!</div>
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<b>Me: </b>What city?</div>
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<b>Ryan:</b> The Iowa City.</div>
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<b>Me:</b> How do you know that is where she traveled?</div>
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<b>Ryan:</b> I saw it on her purse.</div>
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My fortune in a fortune cookie said I would receive great care and comfort in old age.</div>
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<b>Me: </b> How wonderful! This means you will take good care of me when I'm old!</div>
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<b>Allie: </b> Yes. I snuggle with you all the time.</div>
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<b>Me: </b>Yes, but this says you will snuggle with me when I'm old!</div>
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<b>Allie:</b> I know. That's why I snuggle with you. You are already old.<br />
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<b>Ryan: </b>I am a prince. Allie, you are a princess. You will always be my princess and I will always be your prince.<br />
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<b>Daddy: </b>How far do you guys think you can run?<br />
<b>Allie: </b>All the way.<br />
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Upon hanging up the stuffed letter of his name (room decor that had fallen down):<br />
<b>Ryan: </b>I hanged it up by myself! Now it looks great AND I know who I am!<br />
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Upon moving a worm from the sidewalk to the grass.<br />
<b>Allie: </b>I helped it get to its home! I saved it! I'm like a super hero!<br />
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Ryan on music:<br />
"I like this song. It sounds happy."<br />
"I like this song. It sounds like dancing."<br />
"I don't like this song. It makes me feel angry."<br />
Or, for his most favorite songs, "Get ready to dance."<br />
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<b>Ryan: </b>Mommy, it makes me really angry that I didn't get to go to your wedding.</div>
<b>Me: </b>I'm sorry, but you weren't born yet.<br />
<b>Ryan: </b>Yes, I was! I was just sitting in the car being angry that you didn't take me inside.<br />
<b>Allie: </b>And I was in the car juggling.</div>
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<b>Confession: </b><i>I have had this post for a while. I have been slowly collecting and building it for several weeks. I am interrupting the Thankful posts to sneak in this post so I don't completely forget to post it!</i></div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13112736.post-50703913674296996502013-11-13T21:45:00.001-05:002013-11-13T21:45:33.005-05:00Another Week of Thankfulness<div style="text-align: center;">
This month is flying by too quickly. I keep seeing Christmas decorations hanging or hearing carols on the radio. I'm dragging my feet and holding onto my month of thankfulness for all I'm worth.</div>
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<b>November 8</b></div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Surprise Story Time. </i>We went to preschool, on a day that was not our normal day, for Dads and Donuts - a special morning where the dads were invited to a special circle time, donuts and cider, and to spend some time in the classroom participating in their kid's favorite preschool activities. It was amazing (I was acting as photographer, so I got to be a fly on the wall). After, Lucas was meeting up with a friend and fellow preschool dad for breakfast. The twins and I needed to fill the time and I figured we would just go to the town's (amazing) library. When we got there we found out it was story time and were invited to stay. It turned out to not be just any story time but critter day. A local gentleman brought in all of his animals for the kids to see, touch, and learn about. It was awesome. Even better, completely unplanned several of our friends showed up too! Best surprise turnout of the morning ever.</div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>New Mama Bear. </i>Ever since the twins learned to do buttons, they are obsessed with clothes that button, especially pajamas. But pajamas with buttons are more difficult to find than one would think. Gigi found some that are not only adorable and button up but that came with toys that have matching pajamas. Since Ryan's has a little bear peeking out of the pocket (that he named "Baby Bear") the Teddy Bear had to be named "Mama Bear." He loves Mama Bear (and her peek-a-boo baby).</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>New Baby Doll, Heart. </i>Allie's new baby doll is the one that came with her set of pajamas. The heart I cannot explain. I was actually busy hosting a Norwex party during bedtime and Lucas did the thankful hands.<br />
<b><i>In their new jammies. For some reason, Allie took the doll's jammies off...</i></b> </div>
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<b>November 9</b></div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Winning the Rivalry. </i>I haven't talked much about <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2012/09/its-hap-happiest-season-of-all.html" target="_blank">football this year</a>. Partly because our teams have not had stellar seasons. Partly because <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2009/11/our-wonderful-weekend.html" target="_blank">our children</a>, for the first season ever, <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2010/09/ebony-ivoryerummaize-scarlet.html" target="_blank">have taken sides </a>and s<a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-most-wonderful-time-of-year.html" target="_blank">upport their teams fervently</a>. We have actually watched more football as a family, but the lines are clearly drawn, we watch and cheer as a house divided, and the youngest family members take it VERY seriously. We have been anticipating the <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2011/11/filling-void.html" target="_blank">MI vs. NE</a> game with some trepidation. With neither of our teams playing well, the outcome was completely unpredictable. My team won (I believe that is <a href="http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-last-few-days.html" target="_blank">2 out of 3</a>, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong)! And I am thankful. But it also made my son cry...and that made it slightly less fun. That's what you get for siding with Daddy...<br />
<b><i>Cheering for their teams. You have to listen for Ryan as he runs in and out of the picture because...</i></b><br />
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<b><i>...this is what happened when I tried to keep them in the picture together...</i></b><br />
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Daddy. </i>Even though he encouraged him to root for a losing team...</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Daddy. </i>In all seriousness, they have an amazing Dad who does so much for them. Including bedtime that evening. We are all thankful for him!<br />
<b><i>Eating Donuts with Daddy.</i></b><br />
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<b>November 10</b></div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Visiting Friends. </i>Truthfully, this was a rough day. The twins had been developing a cough, and the night before I had spent most of the night up with Ryan...and I got pee'd on twice. I was completely exhausted, and the kids were both "sick" in that they were stuffed and had coughs but it somehow had no effect on their energy level. Since Sunday is kind of a busy day for Lucas, I was home all day with no energy and hyper yet cranky (because they didn't feel well) kids. But the day was topped off with the arrival of friends from up north. It was so fun to stay up talking and hang out with them. </div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>Allie. </i>Such a good brother.</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Poppy has no more work! </i>He's off the boat and Allie is so relieved. At prayer time, she prayed for everyone on Poppy's boat - who are surely lonely without him.<br />
<b><i>Giving Daddy the presents they made.</i></b></div>
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<b>November 11</b></div>
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<i><b>Me: </b>Sleep. </i>After the night I had Saturday, and staying up late with friends on Sunday, I was dragging by Monday. Lucas, who technically had the day off, stayed home a little longer from lunch and let me nap on the couch. I definitely appreciated the extra sleep!</div>
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<i><b>Ryan: </b>New Pajamas. </i>These are the pajamas from Gigi again. In fact, after the first night they wore them, they begged me to wash them so they could wear them again...which they did the next night. And 2 nights later he is wearing them again!</div>
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<i><b>Allie: </b>Ryan. </i>They love each other so much!<br />
<b><i>I was taking pictures when I suddenly turn to see Lucas blindfolded! It is an activity where they have to match items based on touch. Leave it to Allie to test Daddy!</i></b><br />
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<b><i>Ok, I know this picture is sideways. I literally did everything I could to turn it. In my pictures folder and editing program it is upright, but no matter which way I turn it, when I upload it to the blog it is sideways. I like it though...so you'll just have to turn your head...</i></b><br />
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<b>November 12</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>My Pediatrician's Office. </i>I loved our pediatrician in MA. His whole office. A lot. I thought I would never find a pediatrician and staff that I loved as much. Every time I have to call our pediatrician's office I am so thankful I found them. The staff are wonderful and helpful. Our pediatrician is amazing. They never make me feel like I'm an overly obsessive parent, they always listen to me, and they make an effort to really connect with my kids. Can you tell we had to visit the pediatrician? The kids had lingering colds/coughs that hadn't gotten terrible, but had gone on for longer than I was comfortable. We know so many people that have battled colds that turned into bronchitis that turned into pneumonia that turned into laryngitis. I wanted to make sure we weren't heading into that cycle. It turns out they have secondary sinus infections. The doctor affirmed that once it gets to be over a week, it is a good idea to bring them in even if their symptoms don't seem to get worse. She told me that what I had been doing in the meantime definitely prevented ear infections. Most importantly, the nurse remembered the twins' favorite game of counting the numbers to find our exam room and started it (I usually prompt the game) even though we haven't been there in months!<br />
<b><i>Ryan &</i></b><b style="font-style: italic;">Allie: </b>We forgot. Honestly, I'm impressed we made it this far into November before we forgot a night!<br />
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<b>November 13</b><br />
<i><b>Me: </b>Picture Day. </i>Our preschool asks for parent volunteers to take the school pictures and put together the directory each year. Since I love taking pictures, I volunteered. Today was picture day and I got rare access to the day-to-day workings of the preschool. I loved every minute. I love seeing the way things run. Everything I see makes me love our preschool even more. Such an incredible learning environment. I also loved getting to finally put faces to the names the twins throw around each day. I'm always hearing that they played with so-and-so or a new shirt is super cool because so-and-so at school has the same one. Now I actually know who these kids are! And I LOVED interacting with preschoolers during the picture taking - the cheesy smiles, the funny things they say, their excitement over a visitor in the classroom. They provided many smiles that lasted throughout the day.<br />
<i><b>Ryan: </b>Caleb. </i>A new best friend who got to come over for the afternoon. He and Ryan spent the whole time playing with the train table. They were in little boy heaven. Except for when Allie crashed her toys into their trains...because she was feeling left out...<br />
<i><b>Allie: </b>Mommy. </i>Sweet girl. Melts my heart.<br />
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And even though I'm about a day short of a week, I'm posting...because if I wait it will be another several days!</div>
Kimhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07950607352892972779noreply@blogger.com1