Day 6:

Did I say I didn't like "stuffed" animals? Well, I don't really get along that well with real animals either. And today was all about animals. Isabelle, Macie and I walked to the mechanic to pick up our car (it was a beautiful day for a walk), but it was about 2 miles, so I told Isabelle if she did it I would take her somewhere special. She did awesome- didn't complain once. So, I took her to a petting zoo that I read about in the paper. It was set up between the Kohl's and the Herbergers Department Store just down the road (I know random- life in suburbia). It was just in a tent and I was glad to be on the outside and let Isabelle and Mace feed the probably inhumanely treated goats, sheep, and donkey from behind the fence. But Ponsi noticed that you could go in the pen with the goats and the sheep and so I conceded to go in and figured I could get some cute pictures of the girls with the cute little goats. But these animals were crazy. I don't think they got fed except for the pellets that kids buy out of the dispenser things. And they know that when you come there, that is normally what you do. And I did. We gave out two rounds of gross pellet food, but apparently that is not good enough for the gluttonous little goats. This goat (with horns) comes up to me--looking at me with crazy eyes--bullying me to hand over food. And I didn't have any food left and by the look in his eyes he did not seem to believe me. Then the goat jumped up on me--it jumped on me!!!! I was freaking out. I grabbed Ronsi, who was a little freaked out herself by that point and then we had to drag Macie out who was just looooovvvvving being in the middle of the pen with the crazy goats. She was seriously so mad to be leaving. I will no longer visit petting zoos that let you in with the animals. I will only say hello from the outside.




Macie and her goats...she is so nuts!!!!



Isabelle also got to go on a pony ride at her Scooter's Carnival tonight (Tori was feeling anti-animal today--she must get that from me)

Day 5

1. Dropped Tori off at school
2. Dropped the Corolla off at the mechanic
3. Worked for Anna Worner & Associates
4. Got Subway (thanks again Phil and Sue) and brought it to Tori's school for lunch
5. Jump roped on the playground with Tori and her friends (I still got it baby) =)
6. Picked up some groceries--(Macie needed more milk, of course)
6. Talked to Jamie (and Eric sort of) on Skype
7. Folded some laundry
8. Picked Tori up from the bus
9. Chatted with a friend I have been wanting to catch up with
10. Took the girls to Bar Abilene in Uptown for dinner (kids eat free- our bill was $9.59 before tip and we had chips, salsa, mac & cheese, chicken strips, fries, hickory burger, onion rings, fresh fruit and 2 sundaes with cherries on top) AMAZING!
11. Stopped at Lower Penn Lake Park to look at the water and run down the hill Little House on the Prairie style (Tori's words- "That was so refreshing")
12. Watched American Idol with the girls
13. Voted for Jason (for Jamie), David Cook (for Tori), Syesha (for Isabelle), and Brooke (for me) Sorry David A--as Isabelle put it after the "America" song- "he is so- 'oh brother' ".
13. Put the girls to bed
14. Lost my temper (this is total access) cuz the girls were not going to bed easily
15. Said I was sorry and kissed them good night
16. Uploaded pictures and Updated the blog
17. Sweet Dreams. =)

See you tommorrow.

p.s. Can you see why having a normal dinner is so difficult...



...we should have never gotten Macie that gophone!

Tori in her Drama Club t-shirt (she refuses to wear her sweatshirt even though it is very chilly).

Day 4:

Mondays are about getting back into the routine of the week: work, school, drama club, laundry and all that good stuff. I find keeping routine to be one of the more difficult things to do when Jamie is out of town. I sort of flounder, especially when it comes to cooking and eating. So far we have done pretty well, so hopefully we can keep that up.

Macie finally talked into the microphone today so that Jamie could hear her. She normally justs stares amazed at the computer screen that somehow has her Daddy's voice (what an interesting world our kids are growing up in). But today she held the mic and said "Da-Da" and "Whazzat?", which is pretty much what she says all day anyway.

Shout out to my wonderful in-laws who sent us girls a "packadige" (that is miller language for package). They sent a rubbermaid container of M&M's (among other things) which prompted the quote of the day from Isabelle: "those M&Ms from Grandma changed my life". Who knew that little bags of candy coated chocolates could have such an impact. Anyway, thanks Phil and Sue...you spoil us.

FYI- only one munchkin entered my bed last night and I think she probably would have fallen back to sleep if I let her cry a bit longer, but truthfully I don't mind the company (as long as it is just one and as long as that one goes right to sleep, no kicking or stealing covers) =)

Sweet Dreams!

Day 3:

Whenever people go away on a big trip or adventure there is always a part of me that wants to go, to be where all the exciting action is, but being the homebody that I am there is always another side of it that I am so thankful for. Today, I was thankful for the fact that not only has Jamie been given a great opportunity to share the love of Jesus in Germany, but I have been given an equally great opportunity right where I am. Today I took a walk with the girls and stopped to talk to an elderly man walking a dog, who said he used to have 3 little girls running around his house before they all grew up and moved away....Today I had a conversation with one of my girls about a 17 year old that died in our community last week and how as she put it "17 is not very old"...Today I made tissue paper trees and flowers (so fun!)and interacted with 5 great kids about who made the trees and why Jesus was so great that people wanted to share Him with others...Today I sat with friends who have become family, sharing pizza and talking about life. It was a good day (well, except for when Isabelle got a sliver--we're not talking about that--let's just say if you live in a 25 mile radius of my house you probably heard her screaming as I tried to get it out). But anyway, I love the fact that the same God who ministered to my heart today, ministered to hearts in Germany, and in every other corner of the world for that matter. So, I hope you have great adventures in your life--near and far. And I hope you are inspired by the adventures of others as they carry out their God given callings. But I mostly hope that you have found great joy in your own calling and that this post finds you blooming with the love of Jesus wherever you have been planted.

On a side note, last night had 1 girl screaming with a nightmare, 1 girl claiming to be "lightheaded", and 1 girl demanding a drink which added up to a not-so-great night of sleep for me. Let us hope that 3 little munchkins sleep soundly this evening or they will have 1 grumpy mama in the morning.

Sweet Dreams!

Day 2:

Well, I woke up this morning (alongside 2 munchkins) with snow out my window. This is a personal record for the latest snowfall that I have seen, but it didn't damper my spirits. Now my sister-in-law texting me to tell me she was out in the sun catching some rays, that may have dampened my spirits a little, but she ended up getting burnt so there is some sweet justice. =) Anyway, I have a long list of spring cleaning to do--and I got a ton accomplished- I even pulled out the refrigerator to clean behind (Muy Macho- I know). A special thanks to Abby for taking the girls and their friends from church on a lunch outing to the Mall of America...they had a great time. =)

So, I tried to start our girl time off on a good note. I took the girls for donuts at a new to us bakery in Chaska--very good. And then I went for all the gusto and although, I am pretty much anti-stuffed animals, the girls added two more to their collection today. It is Webkinz Extravaganza Weekend (if you don't know, just think beanie babies with virtual lives--somebody is making millions). And the girls still had some money that they assured me they really, really, really wanted to spend on new Webkinz. So we now have a chihuahua named Cutie and a persian cat named Beautiful (they are in the pictures).

I did get to talk to Jamie this afternoon. Well, at first, I was talking and he was typing which was incredibly weird, but Yay for Eric who fixed that problem in a jiffy and we are no longer in radio silence. Now I just need to figure out this time difference thing and we will be golden.

The comment of the day:

"Mom, you are like a widow." (This made for a nice teaching conversation)





Macie really just wanted to read her book, but then I told her the picture was for Daddy and she perked right up.



Sweet Dreams!

(two posts today...read the other one first....please)

Day 1:

We all deal with our emotions in different ways. I have been mentally blocking out this trip for one reason or another. I do pretty good when Jamie goes out of town, but overseas seems to be a little more difficult for me. I am a cell phone user and although I do not always answer it or even know where it is, I can normally call and Jamie's voice is right there. This is not so with overseas travel. We have set up Skype, so we should be able to talk while he is away through the computer (that's amazing), but as of today he could hear me, but I could not hear him. So, hopefully Eric can figure that one out or we will be in what I am calling "radio silence" for the next ten days and that will be unfortunate.

Now the girls on the other hand have not given much thought to the trip until today. As we drove away from the airport I was holding back the huge lump in my throat and then I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Tori trying to hide behind the seat, tears flowing down her face. I heard her give a little sob--my lump now started flowing out my eyeballs--but then I had to laugh, because Tori looked at Isabelle who was happily singing a song and said, "You don't even miss him". So, that made Isabelle start to cry and argue "I do miss him, I'm just not crying, Tori said I don't miss him, but I do". Tori will sleep with his picture every night and Isabelle will probably draw him 100 pictures. Macie probably won't have any idea what is going on, but she will be really excited to see him when he comes home. We will all miss him, but we will just show it in different ways.

p.s. pictures tommorrow- I promise.

In today's world it is all about "total access". We get behind the scenes looks at everything from the homes of the rich and famous to how they make movies and tootsie rolls for crying out loud. So, I made an executive decision...brace yourself..this week we are going behind the scenes.

Background:
Jamie is in flight to Germany as I type. He and Eric Beavers are headed there for a book tour/ speaking trip with one of Consumed Ministries' authors- Rob Stearns. You can stay updated on all that is happening on their trip at Consumed's website (www.consumedministries.com). But I am here in good old Bloomington with the girlies and it is my sincere intent to give a daily update (hopefully with pictures) of all that is going on at home. "Why?" you may ask...well, one, I have had a good number of people express that they are praying for me this week (THANK YOU!!!!) and so I thought I would give you a more accurate picture of what you are praying for....and probably give you a few good laughs. Two, Jamie will not get to see our beautiful faces for the next 10 days, so this way he can keep caught up, too. And, three, I expect I am going to be bored, so....here we go...A behind the scenes look at the family behind the scene- Germany 2008.

Here are the girls are snuggly buggly for Friday night's showing of Enchanted--complete with popcorn and peanut butter m&m's.
I just love 'em!

I hear we may get some snow today...Maybe a song will cheer you up...

http://www.noggin.com/shows/spring.php

Believe in Spring! =)

Jamie's bowling league career was cut short when he broke his ankle playing basketball and could no longer hop on his release. (this is absolutely true)



The Miller fam went bowling for Family Friday Night...It was quite fun. We have never really gone bowling with the girls, but I got a coupon in the mail (of course). Tori had gone with us once when we went with the Alumni Department at BBC during Volunteers week, but that was many moons ago- she was about Macie's age at the time. This time, the girls actually bowled, so against Jamie's wishes we used bumpers. Isabelle was all over the bumpers (otherwise she may have scored a 4). Instead I think she scored an 80 and is now under the false assumption that she is a very good bowler. Oops. Tori, on the other hand didn't actually use the bumpers much at all--and she did pretty well. But Isabelle ended up beating her "technically", which made Tori not so happy and not so cooperative for my photo shoot. I, admittedly, may have used the bumper one time, not on purpose, it just happened. My puny little arm has a hard time staying straight after a few frames. =) Jamie, for the record, did not use the bumpers at all and he won--in case you thought I did. I am not ready to join a league or anything (Jamie may have said something about that---ay-yi-yi), but I do think we will go again sometime.

Did you note that Jamie has a different outfit on in some of the pictures? See the ones of him in his black "Go Bucks" shirt...well, that is our little Tori girl with him at the aforementioned PA bowling trip...Can you even believe it? Where has the time gone?