it's a girls world

2011-11-30T20:40:00.000-06:00

As the last moments of November slip away, I had to share something that just makes my heart melt into thanksgiving. Family is a high value to Jamie and me, so that means for us that we are rarely home in Minnesota over the holidays, but rather we hit to the road to spend time with family. This Thanksgiving we were in good ol' Iowa with my family and we had a wonderful time. Even more so, the kids had a wonderful time and that makes my heart super happy (to borrow a quote from Kailan). I am so thankful for precious cousin bonding and for the genuine love all the kids feel for each other. We have much to be thankful for.

Let the Advent season begin!

2011-09-12T15:57:00.000-05:00

Deep Breath. :)

Last week was the start of school, the start of 2 girls in soccer, and the start of a new part-time work-from-home job for me. I think it took a little longer than usual to find our school groove, but I think I am finally finding my stride. So a little delayed, but not too bad- the first day of school post. :)

The first day of school was not nearly as highly anticipated as in years past. I think they were both a little nervous because we missed the back to school picnic and they were completely dependent on Jamie to tell them who their teachers were and what friends were in their classes (he got the teachers down, but the friends piece was pretty much a total loss).

One last sister group hug...

3rd grade

5th grade

Last year, we found ourselves running frantically to the bus stop to make it in time, so this year I was more than ahead of schedule for our pick-up. We arrived about 5 minutes early and waited patiently. I snapped all the usual pictures and waited for the bus to come over the horizon to get that final shot of them loading the bus. So we wait and wait. And twenty minutes later, Jamie has abandoned the wait and wished the girls well on their first day. I begin to get a little antsy and concede that maybe somehow I had missed the bus or messed up the time and we head back to the house so I could drive them. No worries- we would just regroup and take the loading the bus picture on day 2 of school. They arrived to school on time and thus begins the 2011-2012 school year. One week in and they are doing great. I am excited to see how they will learn and grow this year.

A 3rd and a 5th grader--how did that happen? I remember when Tori walked down this sidewalk as a kindergartner....sigh.

(Note: I did not miss the bus. The bus finally passed our house about 25 minutes after our scheduled pick up, but there was no way the girls (or I) could have waited that one out).

2011-09-04T15:32:00.001-05:00

It is almost more than one mama can bear. I mean really--look at these little cleats!

And wait for it.....

Look at that little soccer player- I think she is pretty much the cutest little thing on two legs.

Her soccer team name is the Minnows, and I can't say I know a lot about minnows, but the name just seems to fit.

Saturday morning was Macie's first game and the whole family walked down to the soccer field to cheer her on. Big sister Tori helped Macie get warmed up for the game and her coach led them in a few warm up drills before they lined up to play. The team they were playing against was the Missiles, and I am going to say that unfortunately for the Minnows, that name pretty much fit, too. The whistle blew and the two forwards from the Missiles dash down the field and kick the ball in the goal before Macie's Minnow team had time to stop smiling at their parents on the sidelines.

The whole game went about that way. One little girl on Macie's team had a little breakaway, but tripped over her feet and gave the ball back to the striking Missiles. And Macie took off one time with the ball, but sadly she was headed in the wrong direction. Thankfully, she was having fun and still had a smile on her face as she ran around the field, completely oblivious to the fact they were probably losing 8 or so to nothing.

Near the end of the game, Macie took her turn as goalie. She had a grossly oversized tie-dye shirt on and Jamie showed her how to be down in ready position. Sure enough the Missiles had a breakaway and kicked the ball at the goal. Macie reached down with her hands and stopped it. We cheered like crazy. She looked over to smile- you know that half nervous, half happy smile- and put the ball back down on the ground. The little boy on the Missile team took advantage of her kind gesture and kicked it in the goal. Macie was still half smiling at us on the sidelines. Oops. They line back up again and we tell Macie to get ready. Jamie instructs her from the sidelines that if someone kicks it at the goal and she stops it, she needs to hold on to it and not let go until they tell her to. She is down and ready and once again along comes another Missile breakaway. A pretty decent sized little boy heads right for my little Mace standing in a ready position in the goal. Macie moves forward and grabs the ball as the little boy goes to strike. She holds on to it just like her Daddy told her and the boy lands right on top of her. We cheer wildly. She stands up, holding on to the ball- this time 15% smiling (because we are cheering) and 85% ready to burst into tears. I can see them start to well up in her eyes and she moves her tongue along the inside of her lip like she always does when she is fighting back tears. Her coach, who is an incredibly sweet man, leans over and gives her a shoulder hug and tells her what a great job she did. She looks over at us on the sidelines. We keep cheering. She is completely unsure as to what just happened. My heart is somewhere in my throat at that point and I am pulling my hat down to hide the tears that are welling up in my own eyes. I stand eagerly at the sidelines with Jamie firmly speaking in my hearing, "Don't you even think of going out there- You leave her be. Don't even think about it. Don't baby her."

So, I wait like a good girl by the sidelines and watch as my little soccer goalie gives the other team high fives and retrieves her snack. I give her a big hug, tell her how proud I am of her, and pull her home in the wagon. She tells me she had fun.

I am not sure I will endure the season without overflowing and exploding with love for this child. She captures my heart over and over again with her little ways. I never realized just how hard it is to be a soccer mom. :)

2011-07-27T10:31:00.001-05:00

The girls can't think of a whole lot of good reasons to leave Grandma and Papa's house and come home. As they get older, they are less and less convinced that living at Grandma's house all the time would not be a good idea. I will not ask for her opinions on that matter; she is probably still sleeping to recover from their visit last week. :)

And while I sometimes wonder why we are not a little closer to family myself, I have found coming home to have one particular benefit when it comes to the girls. In Ohio, it is cousin central. There is a cousin to match each of my girls and then some. They literally disappear into cousin world (with some occasional Grandma and Papa time) and then reappear as we load the van to go home. They do not spend a whole lot of time playing together in Ohio because there are way too many other people to play with, BUT when they come home, it is like they are reacquainting with an old friend. For at least a few days after we return, I do not hear that they are bored or that they want to go somewhere; they are normally lost somewhere in their rooms or outside playing make believe together.

This particular return from Ohio has brought on a new, be it somewhat frightening, new game of "salon". Tori is the salon owner and the other two are her willing patrons. This is a double win for me as it kept them occupied and it also got them to wash, condition, and brush their hair. And if you would have seen Macie's hair when we got home you would know how much of a win that is. :)

So, they visited the salon, then had a photo shoot, a dance party, and a concert.

So, imagine away little girls. I am so glad that God gave you so many wonderful cousins and friends in Ohio- people that you truly love and enjoy spending time with. But I am also so thankful that God gave you each other to play and enjoy life with right here at home.

2011-07-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

And then there were 2....

Tori left this morning for camp. It is her first time going and it is the first time she and Isabelle will be separated for more than a sleepover night. Macie fell asleep on Tori's lap last night and the three of them attempted to all sleep in the same single bed until poor Mace got bumped (or fell) to the floor. They don't always act like they love each other, but what is most true is they are the best of friends and I kind of love that.

Being the firstborn, Tori is typically experiencing things in life first. After she went to school the first time she immediately came home and played school with Isabelle, teaching her all about what was to come. I can already guess that "camp" is going to be the next new world of make believe when she returns; another adventure that Tori will teach them all about (if Ponsi and Mace can survive each other this week without their mother hen).

2011-06-27T11:11:00.000-05:00

Remodel underway! We bought our house almost 5 years ago and as with most people we had a list of things we wanted to do with it. The list has been ever-changing as life shifts and re-shifts our priorities.
Having 3 growing daughters in the house and having had our church meet in our home for the past four years, a second bathroom has always been high on my list. Jamie has gone back and forth (depending on how much the girls have been invading his bathroom time), and it seems the time has come for us to add the bathroom.

On Saturday, Jamie, Dan, and Jamie's new favorite toy, the jackhammer, broke up the concrete in our current laundry room. According to our wonderful plumber Richard, our pipes look like artwork so we are well on our way to bathroom #2.

Here are some before shots:

2011-06-24T10:20:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was the day of Penny's birth. Jamie had told me he would much rather celebrate the day she was born and her beautiful life than honor the day that she passed away.

So, my sweet niece and nephew came up with the idea for the kids to attach a picture or a letter to a balloon and release the balloons into the air at 7:23 EST, the time of Penny's birth. While I was at work, the girls worked on their notes and when I came home there on the table was each's girls note, individually decorated and sealed up with care. The first sign of trouble came when I asked the girls what they did and Isabelle informed me that she and Macie had put actual pennies in their letters. I told them we may have to lose the pennies if we wanted the balloons to actually fly, but we would see.

Macie and Isabelle came with me to the party store to pick out their balloons. Macie picked a smiley face balloon and Isabelle picked a lavender balloon. I picked out a lime green balloon with polka-dots for Tori and bought two extra just in case. We got the balloons safely home and inside the house. I went outside to get something out of the van and I heard a big pop. The girls assured me they did not touch it, it just popped. Down to 4. We attached our letters and got them ready to go.

We had a BBQ with some college kids happening at the house, so around 6:20 central time we snuck away to the front yard to release the balloons. I had attached two balloons to Isabelle's card, hoping the extra helium would carry the pennies. On the way out the door, one popped- down to three.

The initial plan was to go to the wide open soccer field down the street from us, but it was soccer mania down there, so we just decided to stay in our front yard. Tori said a sweet prayer thanking God for her Aunt Penny and then we told them to let them go.

Isabelle's went right to the ground- time to lose the penny and try again. It still didn't work, so we unattached the letter and then let the balloon go. One balloon up in the air.

I took off Macie's note because it seemed it was going to follow the same course as Isabelle's balloon. Macie let hers go. It got stuck in the tree. Thankfully, a gust of wind released it from the branch and off it went. Two balloons up in the air.

Tori let hers go and the balloon took off with the letter attached. Perfect. But, a gust of wind took it right into the other tree in our yard, and it was not going anywhere. We watched the other two balloons disappear into the sky and then I looked to see the tears welling in Tori's eyes as her balloon and letter just hung there in the tree. This was not quite the picturesque take off I had been envisioning. Jamie and I knew there was no way that Tori was not releasing a balloon into the air; time to get creative. So, with a swiffer mop, two jump ropes, a brief stint of me standing on top of the van, and some sheer determination we finally got the balloon loose. It started to take off only to get stuck again in the tree, way too high for me to reach this time. I intended to go get another balloon at the store, when a gust of wind took it away into the atmosphere. Finally, three balloons up in the air.

We told the girls the Aunt Penny would have found the whole scene quite comical. She operated well in chaos and always found a reason to smile. We think of her often and are so thankful for the life that we were able to share with her.

A little side note: When Tori's balloon finally released, Isabelle came over to tell me she had prayed that Tori's would release without popping. And it did. God is good. :)

2011-06-15T22:25:00.000-05:00

The school year ended last week in a mad flurry of field trips, special days, awards assemblies, talent shows, and some sad goodbyes to our great teachers, Ms. Oyanagi and Ms. Zipoy. We will miss them!!!!
Jamie and I always try to do something to celebrate the end of year with the girls. This year we decided to surprise them with a dinner outing to one of the great ~~tourist traps~~ family restaurants in the cities, the Rainforest Cafe in the Mall of America. The girls have asked several times to go there and we have never conceded, so we knew they would be excited. We gave them a million guesses and they didn't figure it out until we were pulling into the Mall of America parking lot. All their years of waiting seemed to be worth it as they were smiling the whole time we were there and they told me even the hallway to the bathroom was amazing. Tori and Isabelle gladly posed for a picture with Cha Cha the red-eyed tree frog, which I gladly took since they are not always willing photography subjects these days. Macie did not pose with Cha Cha the tree frog as she is in the terrified-of-dressed-up-creatures stage and was not at all interested in being any where in the remote vicinity of Cha Cha. She did give him a high five as we were leaving but then immediately fell into a nervous puddle of tears on Jamie's shoulder. Awww....the trauma of being 4 1/2.
Apart from Macie's phobia it was a great first night to summer and hopefully just the beginning of our summer adventures. It will take me a few days to get used to them being home all day, eating all day, asking what they can do all day, etc. But as Jamie loves to remind me they will not be around forever to enjoy the summer with, so enjoy it we will. Adventure on!

2011-05-30T22:16:00.000-05:00

When I was in 6th grade for Memorial Day, my teacher asked us to share stories about family members who served in the military. My grandfather served in World War II and I was eager to share a story that he had told me when I was a little girl. I was in first grade and my grandparents had come to visit us in Iowa. My sister and I were playing outside and we noticed a scar my grandfather had on his foot. When we asked him about it, he told us he got that scar from a bayonet while fighting in the war. I thought that was amazing and never ever forgot it, so it was the obvious story I chose to share when I had the opportunity.

I spent the majority of my life believing this to be true without even thinking twice about it. I don't remember when exactly it came up, but Jamie heard about it, and was quick to point out to me that they did not use bayonets in World War II. I had not even thought to consider this fact- when grandpa told me it was a bayonet scar I just believed him. So, I told my grandfather that I had shared his story with my 6th grade class. He got a pretty good chuckle out of it. He told me the scar was actually from an axe. Still pretty impressive I think. :)

A special thank you to my grandpa and the many other men and women who have faithfully served our country in war time and peace. Happy Memorial Day!

2011-05-24T22:04:00.001-05:00

With the warmer weather finally making its way into Minnesota and the gas prices making their way sky high again, the girls and I have once again hit to the streets. The girls are normally zooming along on their scooters, and they still ride them on occasion, but this year they have promoted to bike riding. Thanks to Papa and MumMum the girls are riding in style on their very own unique-to-them bikes.

Macie sports a princess bike with a princess bag on the front to hold all her treasures. She has a princess helmet, and excitement of all excitements for Mace, the helmet came with a princess bell that she steadily rings as she pedals along. Macie isn't quite confident enough to go really fast yet. She likes a slow, steady ride and she likes me to hold on to the front of the bike if we go down an incline of any sort.

Ponsi has a medium sized bike that says "Pretty in Pink". She likes to stand up when she rides for some reason and her helmet has a big pink flower on it. Before the girls had helmets we only let them ride in the driveway and Isabelle was always the one we caught riding in the grass and she never knew how she got there. I recommend if you ever see her coming down a sidewalk near you, that you steer yourself out of the way. She is a fully capable rider, she just doesn't normally ride in a straight line. On the way home from Tori's soccer game the other night, Jamie let me know he will not be teaching Ponsi how to drive. :)

Tori is loving life on her new, big time, 10 speed. She has a very sporty, gender-neutral helmet with splashes of lime green, her new favorite color. I don't really know how she likes to ride her bike because she normally takes it on independent ventures. She rides it down the road to her soccer practices and games and absolutely loves the freedom of wheels that take her where she needs to go all by herself. I can imagine she is going to be begging for her driver's license/permit the day she is able to get one.

I absolutely love this time of year. I am going to have to get some wheels of my own so I can keep up with them. Enjoy your day!

!

2011-05-08T16:24:00.000-05:00

Being a mom is one of the greatest gifts in my life. I enter each new Mother's Day with a bigger sense of the true privilege, honor, and huge responsibility it is to be a mom. I try to spend time, on this day especially, to thank God for the three beautiful and unique girls that God has given me to mother. And I also praise Him for my own mom and what she has meant and continues to mean to me in life.

But on this day, my heart is also reminded of the many that ache on this day. I wish I knew the whens, the whys, and the hows for each situation, but I don't. So I entrust each friend to my Heavenly Father who is intimately aware of every hurting heart and holds all things in His hand. He is the only one that I have ever known to bring beauty of ashes and I ask in faith for Him to continue His work. I pray great comfort and peace for those who have lost their moms or those moms that have lost their children. And I pray for sustained strength for those that long to be mothers, asking for the Spirit to intercede where my words fall terribly short.

Blessings to God on this day for his amazing gifts. May we never, ever take them for granted or forget from where they come.

Happy Mother's Day...

2011-05-06T07:34:00.003-05:00

You can never be too sure in Minnesota, but I think, just maybe, Spring is here. :)

2011-02-12T08:36:00.003-06:00

In the course of my lifetime I have written hundreds of journal entries. All of them are precious to me, but some of them are more precious than others. The following excerpt is from one of my most precious entries and I have gone back and forth in recent days about even sharing it publicly. For those of you who knew Penny, I hope you are encouraged today to remember her godly life and all that she has taught us.

Journal entry- January 31, 2010:

I said goodbye to Penny tonight. I have been in Columbus with Jamie and his family. The doctor told us Friday that these are her final days. The time here has been bittersweet and I will write more about it later. But apart from your supernatural intervention I have shared my last earthly conversation with my dear sister-in-law and I don't want to forget it.

I knew she was so tired so her putting forth the energy to converse with me meant so much. I told her I was going to say "goodnight" and she said "you are trying to make this easy". I started to cry and assured her there was nothing easy about it. She smiled "I know". We shared how we never thought we would be here. I reminded her of our first conversation post diagnosis and how she shared Psalm 71 with me. She didn't even want to choose a diet because she wanted YOU alone to get the glory. She has brought much glory to you in this journey. I told her how proud I was and how amazing she was to walk this trial so gracefully. She rolled her eyes and I stopped her and said, "Penny, you have been amazing". And she said, "God has been good to me- God has been good". What an amazing woman!
She told me her mind can't really fathom it. That she has tried to picture what it will be like to see Jesus' face for the first time, but she can't. Then she trailed off and lost her train of thought.
I would sure love a miracle, God. We just looked at each other and she apologized that she was too pooped to cry, but I could feel the love for me in her eyes. What a gift she is!

In loving memory of Penny Hoffman (June 23, 1970 - February 12, 2011)

2011-02-02T09:02:00.008-06:00

Remember when this was the most fascinating discovery...

I used to see how many reflections I could see of myself in the dressing room at the store. Macie just discovered this fun little trick in our bathroom. She calls them her "little Macie friends" and sometimes she asks me to say hello to them.
The 4 year old mind and imagination are downright fascinating and I love to see them at work.

2011-01-25T15:51:00.011-06:00

Our family has always been competitive. Very competitive. I realize people may find this odd and even unhealthy, but we don't. I grew up in a very competitive family (my dad used to do this winners dance around us when we lost at a board game-it was obnoxious) and Jamie's family was the same. A friend of our family was mortified the first time he played the girls in Sorry and they informed him that nobody wins second place, but rather second place is considered "first loser". Don't worry, the girls are fine. When we are not playing some sort of competitive game we strive to be incredibly affirming. :)

Anyway, in the early days of playing games with your children it does not require a whole lot to beat them. I can sort of pay attention when I am playing Princess Memory with Macie and still pull off a pretty easy victory. This is true of the games that require a certain measure of skill or memory. As Tori and Isabelle have gotten older they have managed to win a good number of games like Rack-o, Sorry, or Skip-Bo, where skill is involved, but also a good amount of luck. We have good competition but it is known that Mom and Dad still rule the roost in the family game world. But this past weekend I began to sense a change and I don't really like where it is headed.

Isabelle was out on a date with her pal Heather, so Tori, Macie and I took the opportunity to spend some quality girl time together. We headed to Caribou, got our respective drinks, and sat down to play some Rummy. Now, I admit I am not a great card player. I did not grow up playing traditional card games and there is definite skill in playing and knowing what has been played and what can yet be played and what the odds are, etc. I do not have this skill set, nor have I attempted to develop it very much. This defiiency has not seemed to deter me from remaining competitive in family card games with the girls (I rarely, if ever beat Jamie, but I have conceded this for sake of my own sanity). However, Friday night I appeared incredibly deficient. Tori's many hours of playing cards has seemed to pay off. I first thought I was the victim of her lucky draws, but after she beat me 6 straight times, I realized that I was losing to a superior player. Blah- shot to the ego. I did not intend to stay at Caribou that long, but Macie was lost in her own imaginary play world at the table next to us, so I determined to stay there until I could beat the little twerp. I finally beat her in the 7th game. It did not make me feel so great about myself to have a 1-6 record against my 9 year old, but at least I finally won once and could walk out with some measure of dignity.

We went home and she beat me three times at wii tennis. It was not my night so I just sent her off to bed feeling like my competitive days at the top of the Miller family game world had come to an end. I did not imagine this would happen to me at the young age of 34.

Saturday night the girls wanted us all to play wii bowling. After my dreadful showing the night before I was reluctant to compete again and not excited to be the token bad player in the competition (you know, the one who is playing but who nobody really pays attention to because there game has no real impact on who wins-sad). However, I determined in my mind that is was good to participate in the all family activity, so I gave it a try. Let's just say sweet redemption. I bowled a wii career high 237 and beat my entire family (including Jamie- even better). Somehow, I even strung together 6 straight strikes at one point in my bowling game. I did not gloat, as that would be bad sportsmanship, but I couldn't contain the joy of being restored to a position of worthy competitor. I almost thought to hang up the controller and go out on top, but the competitive side of me gained some hope that I still may have some game in me yet.

All that to say, I have a new rival. She is about 4 foot 7 inches tall. She is only 9 and looks like a sweet young girl, but don't be fooled. She is out for blood and will do whatever it takes to beat you. She has no mercy, even if you are her kind and loving mother. I suppose I am partially responsible for this, but I am going to place most of the blame on Jamie, maybe even Grandma Sue. :) Look out baby girl! Mama's back!

p.s. Now before you think I am the only one who needs to watch my back in the family game world- ask Jamie who beat him two games straight in wii tennis. The girls couldn't go to bed the other night until he beat her. Oy vey! The next few years are going to get interesting. :)

2011-01-21T12:26:00.009-06:00

There is something about January that beckons me to a fresh start. I realize we are 21 days in already and whatever start I am referring to is seemingly late, but I have good reasons. I have been organizing thanks to a few, wonderful Christmas gifts from my family:

Of course, there is the new calendar. Dad takes great pride in choosing each of us girls a calendar to suit us for the year. Mine is called "Faithful Moments", and after the passing of Penny in 2010 it is a good and necessary thing to focus on God's "faithful moments" in my life. January's calendar picture has the following verse: "May our Lord Jesus Christ and God our Father comfort your hearts . May they make you strong in every good thing you do and say" (I Thessalonians 2:16-17). Perfect.

As a stocking stuffer (my personal favorite kind of gift), my little sister Em got me this great sticky note book. It has great prints and is from a fun store in Des Moines in the East Village called Porch Light. At first I wasn't sure why they put all the sticky notes in a book together, but now I think it is sheer brilliance. I will no longer lose my sticky notes. Perfect.

Most of my organizing has been at home in the family room where my new desk is. :) It is simple and tucked away in the corner where our chest used to be. I found some fun accessories and of course, hung some pictures of the girlies to inspire me while I work on things. I have been helping Jamie with some Consumed Publishing ventures so this is a great and hopefully productive space for me. My previous computer desk was in the basement and I find that to be a little, well, uninspiring. ;) Thanks Phil and Sue and Mom for contributing to my "home office". It's perfect.

And last, but definitely not least, I have this new little toy from Jamie- my new ipad. He really came out of nowhere with this gift and I was in complete shock and disbelief when I opened it. As sweet as the ipad is, the story as to how Jamie was able to get if for me touched me probably more as God definitely worked out some details for it to happen. Apart from being a fascinating little piece of technology, the ipad allows me to take my music, my pictures, and my writings with me. I have missed this over the past couple year, especially when the weather is nice and I want to be outside listening to the girls play while I work. ipad- perfect.

So, there you go. A fresh, more organized start to 2011 thanks to some new gadgets and gifts from family. I make no promises to be planning meals a month, a week, or even a day in advance. And I am sure I will still forget things I need at the grocery store, but at least for now, I feel more organized which is really half the battle, right?

2011-01-01T19:41:00.006-06:00

Christmas Eve my sister Leah threw out that she was really excited about one of my gifts this year. She also gave me a bit of a riddle saying it was a gift I could not keep. Random. We opened all the gifts for our family and there was the one box left, wrapped in simple brown paper. I opened and saw a sight I had not seen in years....Baby Skates.
When I was young I had wanted Baby Skates so badly. She was a doll that you could wind up and she roller-skated across hard surfaces. I know...it is life changing. She didn't even need batteries.
The story goes that the Christmas I wanted Baby Skates my mom and dad had me open every other present and held my most coveted gift back. I opened what I thought to be my last present and much to my disappointment it was a pair of Disney roller skates. You may see where my parents were going with the roller skates, but I was upset and apparently not good at hiding it. I cried and complained that I really wanted Baby Skates (I am not proud of this behavior and am pretty sure I would take all my girls' gifts back if they acted that way). But my obviously gracious parents consoled me and revealed to me that indeed they had bought me Baby Skates and they had gotten me my own roller skates so the two of us could roller skate together. Oops. Baby Skates and I roller skated the day away in the kitchen and lived happily ever after...until she got thrown away or something because I have no idea what ever became of her.
So this year Leah learned somehow that her neighbor had a Baby Skates doll in the original box. She had contemplated selling it to Leah but didn't think she could part with it (I am sure you can understand why). She was gracious enough to let Leah borrow it so we could relive some Stafford family Christmas lore. It is not my proudest Christmas moment but funny nonetheless. I was a much more gracious recipient this year and even gave it back without crying.
I hope you made some memories this holiday season and maybe even reflected on some old ones. Blessings in the New Year!

2010-12-01T11:00:00.003-06:00

It is that time of year when you can blink and time has passed just as quickly as it came. I love the holidays and all that comes with them. Thanksgiving was a wonderful time to thank God for all His gifts in our lives and now Christmastime is here to share with more family and friends through gatherings, gifts, songs, cards, and cookies..don't forget the cookies. Today is December 1st. The first day you can open that piece of chocolate behind the window of your $1.99 Advent Calendar from Walgreens. (Side note: the girls really wanted those calendars this year, so I went to buy some yesterday, but the only available Advent calendars had Santa all over them. I don't hate Santa, but I just couldn't buy a Santa Advent calendar. (Disclaimer: feel no guilt if you have Santa Advent calendars. I think no less of anyone who has affection for Santa- I, personally, just couldn't do it) :)

Anyway, the thought of "God with us" has come to be such a precious thing to me each Christmas season. The Advent of Christ really warms my heart and soul and mind. Regardless of the circumstances of your life, the thought of Jesus coming down from Heaven should bring you great joy. If you haven't heard the song "Hallelujah (light has come)" from the Barlow Girls' Christmas album, you should. I love it.

Hallelujah
We've been found
A child is born
To save us now...Jesus
Hallelujah
light has come
A Savior who will set us free
A Promise for those who believe

Blessed Advent. May the presence of your Savior find its way into all of your life this wonderful holiday season.

2010-11-15T09:10:00.007-06:00

Good Day Minnesota! I had intended on driving down to Iowa on Saturday to see my new nephew, but we woke up to several inches of white fun so our plans were changed.

After all our winter fun we lost power and had to quickly make arrangements to watch the Buckeye game at Chuck's house (we do have our priorities straight). We were out of power for about 22 hours and spent the night all five of us cozy in front of the fire. The girls thought it was awesome as I let them roast hot dogs for dinner. Jamie, who got up faithfully every hour to add more logs and stoke the fire did not find it as enchanting. Good day Minnesota....we shall see what this week brings us.

2010-10-31T18:35:00.003-05:00

I feel like we have been celebrating Halloween forever, with all the school parties and a community outreach with our church, but tonight is the official night and my little ladybug, cowgirl, and buckeye football player are off trick or treating. I am manning my usual station, hoping for lots of cute little bumble bees and princesses to knock on my door. I have only seen three, but one was an incredibly cute yoda with a homemade knit hat. Happy Halloween!

2010-10-19T08:57:00.009-05:00

I was thinking all day yesterday that I needed to post something for Macie on her birthday. I never really found the words...

So, the girls just "love" that I sing all kinds of goofy songs around the house to remind them of things or wake them up or whatever. Well, I made up a corny little song about them- so here is Macie's verse in honor of her 4th birthday.

There is a litte Mace I know
And she can't grasp the power she holds
To light a room with just her smile
Contagious joy out running wild
Huggie bugs and Tootsie toes
Loving on poor puppy's nose
Helping Mama's garden grow
Precious baby girl, my precious baby girl

Jamie loves to remind me that I was ready to stop at two daughters before we got pregnant with Macie. What a tragedy that would have been. The best word I come up with is Joy. I really wasn't too sad on her birthday. I never cried or got depressed. At one moment tears welled up a little bit watching her ride the balloon ride with Jamie at the MOA, but not for sadness, just because I am so very blessed. She is a gift.

2010-10-15T08:53:00.006-05:00

Macie turns 4 on Monday. I find that incredibly depressing.

2010-10-01T12:14:00.007-05:00

September is past and we are in the swing of school and soccer, although Isabelle is still a little sleepy on school mornings. :)

And with the girls at school Macie and I have a lot of time to ourselves, so we have been busy doing important stuff like perfecting our airplane skills...

and working on our pizza making(she has some potential if she will stop eating all the cheese!).

Listen! the wind is rising,
and the air is wild with leaves,
We have had our summer evenings,
now for October eves!

—Humbert Wolfe

2010-09-13T16:27:00.006-05:00

The steady rhythm of school makes the freedom of the weekend so much more beautiful in the fall...
The girls and I scored free paddleboating at Hyland Lake Preserve during the Target Book Festival. I got full-time pedaling duty, Tori and Isabelle took turns, and the Mace steered the boat.

2010-09-07T10:24:00.011-05:00

Well, it is awful quiet at my house which can only mean one thing..school is back in session!

We were up and ready at the house in plenty of time. Tori had to make a last minute outfit change because the weather was a little chillier and windier than we originally anticipated. Isabelle woke up excited to open her special package from her teacher. We were showered, fed, and packed but somehow got a little behind in getting out the door. As we started down the street we saw the tippy top of the bus about a block away from our stop and we knew we had to book it. So, on the first day of school, in their beautiful new school outfits with their supply-filled backpacks and perfectly packed new tin lunch boxes, the girls and I ran to the bus stop (so much for their perfectly combed hair).

Thankfully, it is the first day of school and people must have been taking pictures or something because the bus delayed at that stop for just enough time for us to get to our stop and snap a quick picture. It seems the girls are not the only ones that have to get used to an earlier routine. :)

Have a great year girls!!!

I asked Macie how she felt about the girls being gone at school, but she didn't answer. She was too busy texting her friends that she and puppy once again rule the roost! ;)

2010-09-05T10:37:00.010-05:00

I surprised her!
Jamie was at a baseball game so I told the girls we would go for dinner. Abegail was playing at a house that just happened to be on our way. ;) The girls, of course, noticed when I steered off the regular path so I told them I had to pick something up (I was just bursting inside at this moment as you can imagine). I had expected Abegail would be playing outside but she wasn't, so I told Tori to come with me so she could help me pick up my something. She assumed I had bought an item off Craigslist. So when she heard a voice say "Hi, Tori" she sort of waved and said "Who is that?.....Abegail?". And then the big what-in-the-world-is-going-on smile came over her face and she looked at me and ran over and gave me a hug before going in to reunite with her friend. There was chatting and giggling almost instantaneously. ***sigh***.

They sat alone at dinner so they could catch up on some chatting. My heart was so happy watching them talk I had to sneak over and snag a picture. :)

I had a grand idea to take them to the American Girl Bistro for dessert, but when we got there it was closing. That was disappointing. My apologies to Sue, Abegail's mother, for the American Girl Store visit. Sue and I had always stayed strong together staving off the girls constant requests for American Girl dolls. We had even both bought them the Target version a Christmas or two ago to appease some of their longings. But Jamie gave in and we bought Tori one for her birthday this year and I thought Abegail had got one, too. Oops. (Sue she may have said to me, "Now that Tori has one, my mom will have to buy me one"). My deepest apologies. :)

Most of their night was spent in their tent. I would love to hear all that they talked and giggled about inside those blanket walls but that would take the joy and mystery out of preteen girlhood. Of course I asked Tori what they talked about this morning and she gave me the staple pre-teen answer, "Nothing really".

Thanking the Lord today for sweet friendships that cross miles. Their style may change and their topics of conversation may, too, but their hearts will be forever bound by first grade, Mr. Suzuki, soccer, and hand jives. We love you Abegail!

2010-09-03T21:50:00.003-05:00

Tori thought the highlight of the last weekend before school starting was going to be watching the premiere of Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, but little does she know that tomorrow she is going to have a surprise sleepover with her BFF Abegail. Abegail moved to D.C. a year ago and Tori has never really recovered. :( She is going to freak out and I can't wait!

Praise the Lord that Abegail's dad is a crazy Twins fan and is coming in to watch them play in their new stadium!

Pics to follow....:)

2010-08-20T08:37:00.004-05:00

Today doesn't feel any different than most other summer Fridays, but today is a special day. More than 2 years ago God started to plant in my heart a desire to write a book. Not just a book to write a book, but a book that I hoped God could use to help people connect with Him in their everyday lives through the practice of journaling. It has been a long two years and I have experienced a lot of excitement and come against some discouragement in the process. There were days I wondered if the book would ever be complete. But God is good and all things happen in His time and today Wide Eyed releases officially!!!!!

So tonight I will celebrate with friends and family what God has done and what we pray He will do through Wide Eyed. It is going to be a good day. :)

2010-08-11T21:47:00.003-05:00

I intended to write earlier this week about my disgusting run in with a decapitated bunny, but days quickly pass and the next new adventure hits, so I will have to save that story for a rainy day. :) (I know you are so curious...)

But anyway, tomorrow the Miller family will take off on their first ever family camping adventure. The girls are pumped. The mom is semi-intrigued. And, well, the dad is not so pumped (it will be his third such outdoorsy adventure this summer- that is a lot for a city boy and its supposed to be like 90 bajillion degrees, record hot temperatures, blah, blah, blah tomorrow). But moving on...

Tonight we set the tent up in the backyard so we could seal the seams. We have had the tent since Christmas and intended to do this earlier in the summer, but just didn't get around to it. So, I made my first ever trip to REI to buy the sealant earlier today and after dinner and a quick trip to the chiropractor we began our tent preparation.

The tent set-up was pretty okay. We shouldn't have a problem setting her up tomorrow. But the sealant part...well, all I am going to say is that I had a minor mishap when I was trying to puncture the seal and open the sealant. And all I can tell you is that my hands would have probably stayed pretty dry and watersealed if I happened to get stuck in a torrential downpour, which may have been an okay thing, except that they were also so sticky that when I just had to go to the bathroom (because you always end up just having to go to the bathroom at the most inopportune times) the toilet paper was sticking to my hands and I had to strategically use my elbows to remove it. I couldn't even hug the girls goodnight for fear I would not be able to release them from my clutches. Oops.

So, my hands have now soaked in multiple solutions and I think they are going to survive, eventually. But I am not so sure about my odds of surviving this adventure since we haven't even driven a mile outside of suburbia and I have already had my first camping mishap. Uffdah! There are some things about me that will never be Minnesotan I guess...

2010-08-03T07:26:00.005-05:00

This is my 3rd year of planting a vegetable garden in our backyard. It has been a wonderful experience and I have enjoyed many yummy veggies from our hard work. But Jamie awoke me from my peaceful slumber this morning to show me something in my garden that falls way beyond my realm of gardening knowledge:
There was a deer eating the leaves of my luscious tomato plant!

I wanted to scare him away, but I also wanted a picture. So as quickly as my first thing in the morning body works I located my camera and snapped a shot through the foggy door. The deer knew that we were there. My first thing in the morning body does not move that fast especially when my just woke up brain is trying to remember where the camera is. So the deer had looked over at us a couple times--it was not going anywhere until we made some sort of effort to scare it away. Jamie asked if I wanted to take a picture with the door open so it was clearer. He said he would open it slowly and I could snap it quick. Then he warned me that it would probably freak me out when the thing took off. I got in position, took the quick picture and then started making noise to scare the stupid thing away. It looked up and literally sauntered across the yard and slowly leaped over the neighbor's fence. I think it would have let me come out there and pet it. I should have taken a picture of it just moseying across my yard, but with each slow step the deer was infuriating me (and I was still operating with my just woke up brain).

So, I don't know if it will come back. I haven't done much reading on deer invading your garden and their tendency to return. I hate the bunnies that attempt to come and I tell my neighbor to sick her cat on them. So now what in the world do I do with Bambi?

2010-07-29T14:26:00.008-05:00

Then followed that beautiful season... Summer....
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2010-06-23T09:52:00.003-05:00

I knew this day was coming and I have been dreading it. I knew I would log on facebook and see her name- Penny Hoffman born June 23, 1970. And I knew this was going to be a very difficult day for many who knew and loved her. So, part of me doesn't want to say anything, but the bigger part of me wants to say something in honor of her beautiful life.

I was reading the paper this Sunday and I came across a story written by Harlan Coben about his father. He said he was writing an uplifting Father's day story. He wrote how his father had passed away when he was 10, I think, and he was talking about how seeing a picture of him and his dad made him break down into sobbing tears. I really resonated with some of the words that he wrote and so I want to share them with you but in reference to Penny:

Wait. Didn't I say this wasn't a sad story? So here is the uplifting part: It's okay to feel this pain. In fact, when you have been as lucky as I was in the sister-in-law department, it would be an outrage not to cry. You can't have an up without a down, a right without a left, a back without a front- or a happy without a sad. This is the price you pay for having a great friend/ sister-in-law. You get the wonder, the joy, the tender moments- and you get the tears at the end, too. My sister-in-law, Penny is worth the tears.

Happy Birthday Penny. We love and miss you. Thank you for all the sweet memories.

2010-06-11T16:25:00.007-05:00

It has been an exciting last month with Poetry Parties, Drama Club presentations, Awards Assembly, Field trips, and all kinds of other fun activities to close out the year. Here are some random pics from some of the festivities:

BUT NOW...

No more classrooms
No more books
No more teacher's dirty looks-

SCHOOL'S OUT! (finally, and don't they look smarter)

Way to go girls! We are so proud of you.

2010-06-02T15:29:00.006-05:00

We took a walk last night around our neighborhood. We do this pretty frequently. The older girls usually fly ahead on their scooters, Macie rides her scooter for about half a block and then she retires to the wagon, and Jamie and I bring up the rear. We have tried several different routes around our house, but we always seem to end up on one particular route because of the "big hill". In the beginning I used to warn them when we got close, but I never really give the girls a warning about the hill anymore. They are very careful and I have seen them go down it unscathed at least 50 to 100 times. But sometimes I guess you can just sense that there is going to be trouble as a parent. And the girls were being extra competitive last night so Jamie told them as they headed for the hill, "Don't race down the hill. You could get hurt".

Now normally I can see the girls go down the hill, but Macie decided she wanted to start riding her scooter again, so we were getting her situated and fell a little behind. Then sure enough I hear Isabelle's cry--which may or may not mean anything is wrong. And then sure enough Isabelle is walking up the hill without her scooter- stil crying and looking a little scraped up. I picked up my pace to meet her and between tears she exclaims, "We both fell on our scooters and Tori is bleeding". I didn't hear Tori so I started to run with the wagon to where she was. She was at the bottom of the hill with dirt on her legs, shirt, shorts, hands--everywhere. Her big toe was covered in blood and obviously torn up pretty bad. She wasn't crying but looked upset. She tried to blame the fall on the mud at the bottom of the hill, but admitted to Jamie that she and Isabelle were racing down the hill when they fell. I am pretty sure they heard an "I told you so" along with some other choice words of instruction and I am pretty sure their scooters are in time out, too.

We finished our walk home and as soon as we entered the sanctuary of the house, the tears began to flow and flow and flow. It took me about 20 minutes to get them to trust me enough to clean all their wounds and get band-aids on them. Tori had a minor scrape on her elbow, her knee, her shoulder, and her hip along with the toe injury. She claimed she was only going to be able to take cold showers and she was not going to be able to sleep last night. Her pain was unbearable until thankfully Grandma called and apparently a talk with Grandma heals a multitude of wounds. :) Isabelle did not nearly get it as bad, but almost her entire chin was scraped up so her wounds were a little more obvious to the naked eye. This morning she was trying to walk around with her hand over her face and finally realized that probably wasn't a feasible solution for a 7 hour school day.

We are calling it "The Scooter Accident of 2010". I think they learned their lesson. But if not I will keep reminding them what happened the last time they didn't listen to their parents--that should get me at least a day or two of good behavior. :)

2010-05-31T20:03:00.004-05:00

I hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day. Thank you to those who have served or who are serving our country.

2010-05-07T14:09:00.005-05:00

Every year the first grade classes at Washburn perform "The Three Piggy Opera". It is a highlight of their year. Isabelle was the mother pig this year. She did an awesome job on her solo- unfortunately she was just a wee bit quiet so you couldn't really hear her. Of course I knew every word so it sounded clear as day to me. :) I am so super proud of her! Great job Ponsi and all the other 1st graders in Ms. Hindt's class. You were awesome!!!!

Isabelle and her friends

The big, bad wolf (he was so cute!)

And my sweet mama pig passing out programs.

***For the listening pleasure of Grandma's and Grandpa's..If you are very quiet you can faintly hear a little ponsi voice. Isn't she precious????:

2010-04-26T13:47:00.002-05:00

A conversation with Macie:

Me: Macie, did you put something in the EZ Bake Oven?

Macie(smiles cutely, but ignores the question)

Me: Macie, tell mommy the truth.

Macie: I don't know the truth.

‘Normal day,
let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you,
love you,
bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by
in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may,
for it may not always be so.
One day I shall dig my nails into the earth,
or bury my face in the pillow,
or stretch myself taut,
or raise my hands to the sky and want,
more than all the world, your return.
~Mary Jean Iron

NOTE: Special thanks to Becky, my blogging friend extraordinaire, for the pic and poem. Thanks Becky!

2010-04-08T19:26:00.010-05:00

Against my strongest manipulations to keep Macie my baby, she, like the other two, is quickly moving towards independence. She loves to tell me "I can do it all by myself" and I love to tell her "sometimes you need a mama".

You can get the milk out all by yourself
And you can put the lid on all by yourself
But you don't know how to pour and you can't twist the lid tight so it doesn't spill
So sometimes you need a mama

You can put your panties on all by yourself.
And you can put your pants on all by yourself
But you can't get your shirt on and sometimes both your legs get stuck in the same hole
So sometimes you need a mama

You can climb the playground all by yourself
And you can go down the slide all by yourself
But you can't push yourself really high on the swing or give yourself an underdog
So sometimes you need a mama

You can go potty all by yourself
And you can flush the potty all by yourself ( I am in big trouble if I try to help with that one)
But at times you need help, well, you know, cleaning up
So sometimes you need a mama

You can read books all by yourself
And you can play tea party all by yourself
You can ride your scooter all by yourself
And you can sing songs all by yourself
But doing it all by yourself is not always the most fun
So sometimes, sweet Mace, you still need a mama

And I can promise you-mama still needs you too.

2010-03-27T08:44:00.020-05:00

It was my intention to post everyday from Germany. Apparently that did not happen. :( But Jamie is posting some trip updates on the Consumed website. He has written some summaries on our different ventures and then Eric, Lisa, and I will also have some thoughts maybe even a video from our perspectives posted there as well in the upcoming days. I recommend you check it out! Now for the more trivial thoughts follow here...:)

Apart from precious memories, you always bring home some sort of trinket from your travels. I am not a huge chocolate person, but we did bring home chocolate, and apparently not enough because I seem to really like German chocolate, especially the children's chocolate. Yum....anyway...I digress. :) So.....I brought home the most wonderful of treasures this trip and it did not even cost me one euro. Tuesday evening Rob made dinner for all of us at the house where he stays and the German family that lives there joined us for the evening. The dinner was delicious, the company outstanding, the memories everlasting, and the cup I used to drink out of way too much fun.
When our host Ulla told us to help ourselves to a cup from her cabinets, Lisa quickly spotted and retrieved two adorable boot shaped glass cups for she and I. Rob told us that the kids love those cups and normally fight over who gets to use them. I guess Lisa and I won the fight that night. :) Ulla told us there was a trick to drinking from the cups because if you do it the wrong way it will spill on you. So she showed us to drink with the tip of the boot pointing towards your mouth. Now, Rob told us that if we drank from it the other way it would make a fun noise. We did not believe Rob. We had been warned that he may try to trick us with cultural nuances and that we should always get verification from a reliable source if he told us to do something (sorry, Rob, it is true). I am not sure if we got a verification or if Rob's persistence made us believe him, but Lisa and I turned our boot cups around and drank with the boot tip pointing out. Sure enough it makes this "glub, glub" sound and the liquid bubbles up and tickles your nose. I realize I should be too old to be amused by these things, but every time I did it (and I did it over and over again) it would make me smile, maybe even giggle a little. At one point, I had even shed a few tears over something sad and in an effort to cheer myself up I took a gulp from my boot cup and I did feel much better. After a long evening of eating, laughing, looking at pictures, and drinking out of my boot cup, Thomas (Ulla's husband) went back to the cupboard and brought me out my very own boot cup to take home. It has three little musketeers on it and I love it. I couldn't wait to get it home and share it with the girls and also find its perfect spot in my kitchen so I could be often reminded of my new friends in Dorsten, Germany.
This was on Tuesday and we had a lot more miles to travel before I returned home to Minnesota. With every new repack of our luggage I was most strategic about the boot cup. It would have been okay to forget shoes or even my favorite pair of jeans, but I was not leaving Germany without my new boot treasure. For most of our time in Germany my boot cup rode in the side compartment of the back door of our rental car. It was tucked away and safe from the millions of water bottles, streusel wrappers and other stuff we had collected in travel. But Sunday night at the hotel in Cologne I was making my final and most crucial repack for our return to the states. My initial thought was to wrap it in one of Jamie's sweatshirts in our checked luggage. I carefully surrounded it by gray Nike cotton and gave a hopeful prayer that it would remain intact during the flights. Lisa saw my decision and quickly voiced her concerns to me and highly recommended I carry it on. I agreed and wrapped it in my backpack where I could keep a closer eye on it.
My only concern with carrying it on was all the new TSA regulations. I would be devastated if they took my boot cup from me at the security checkpoint, as if my dear boot cup could be used for some sort of terrorist activity. When Jamie and I came to the ticket counter at the Dusseldorf airport the ticket agent went down the necessary list of questions about the security of our luggage and right after he asked me if I had anything dangerous, like a pocket knife or something like that in my carry on, I asked him if it was okay to carry on a glass boot cup. He looked at me sort of funny and chuckled a little as I used my hands to explain what I was talking about (Jamie was so glad to be traveling with me at this point). The ticket agent didn't think it would be a problem. Whew. So me and my boot cup made it safely home and it is now proudly displayed above my sink. The girls did enjoy their first gulp and I love looking at it and remembering my special time in Germany and the wonderful and warm people who gave me the most magnificent of traveling trinkets.

2010-03-01T12:47:00.004-06:00

Instead of just watching the icicles grow outside our house...
...we chose to enjoy the beautiful, sunny weekend and embraced another winter sport:

(that is not me laughing in the background) ;)
Tori ice skating- Take 2:

Not too bad for it being her 1st time out this year and only her 3rd time ever.
And Isabelle, too:

Thanks Marissa for asking us to go and a special thank you for letting the girls hold onto you so they didn't fall. :)

2010-02-23T08:11:00.003-06:00

My Dearest Tori,
This has been a different and difficult year. You have had to face some things as an eight year old that I am struggling to understand as a thirty-three year old. Yet you continue to amaze me with your beauty- inside and out. Today on your 9th birthday, instead of a clever story or summary of your year, I offer a prayer for you in loving memory of your Aunt Penny. I am saddened your time with her was so short. You cannot fully understand the amazing, godly example you were given in her, but I pray you come to see her legacy more and more as God grows you day by day.

I pray you will always greet whomever you meet with a smile.

I pray others will feel instantly comfortable around you and be able to share their heart, knowing you genuinely care.

I pray you will never seek the treasures of this earth yet always be generous with the treasure God gives you.

I pray you will pursue God's plan for your life, wherever it takes you, near or far.

I pray you will use all the gifts and abilities God has given you to love Him and love people.

I pray, as beautiful as you are on the outside, that you will pursue the true beauty of a godly character.

And finally I pray you will always affirm the faithfulness and goodness of God, despite the most difficult of circumstances. And that just as your Aunt Penny your faithful life would lead many to a deeper knowledge of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

Dear Father, I commit Tori to you and I thank you for the past 9 years of her life. I don't take one day for granted--even on those days she is exceptionally sassy.

I love you Tori! Happy Birthday!

2010-01-21T21:20:00.004-06:00

All I can say is they were pretending to be on a spa day in Vegas. I have no idea where they come up with these things. And it should also be noted they only had water to drink for dinner:

They are singing Laurie Berkner's "I'm so glad you're my family". It is on Nick Jr. Too cute. They sure do make life entertaining.

2010-01-18T10:45:00.002-06:00

We did something we weren't supposed to yesterday. Not really, but Tori said it was awesome because it felt like it. We went to the nature center and ran around on the frozen pond. They were nervous to go at first. They made me take the first steps out on the ice and wanted us to stay close together. But once they realized it was safe, they had the best time sliding, chasing and playing with each other.

2010-01-15T14:27:00.009-06:00

I confess I do not love winter. I have been known to hibernate through certain months and not leave the house for days at a time. Yes, it is pathetic and true. But lately, and maybe it is from breathing in too much Minnesota air- I have been struck by the beauty of this season. One sight in particular this week captured my mind and it has not soon been forgotten:
I was headed out to Chaska to catch up on some work at my job. It was a relatively warm day for January in Minnesota and the roads were not slippery, wet or slushy so my eyes were free to take in the scenery around me. There are several trees that line the way from Bloomington to Chaska and that day I saw them as I have never seen them before. Winter trees are interesting to me. They are all naked and exposed-their dark trunks a stark contrast to the white snow. There are even these trees over by the girls school that are painfully crooked. They seem life like to me--old people trees with arthritis or something. Anyway, the other day the trees on the way to Chaska had their usual dark trunks but the branches were a pure white. They looked as if they were encapsulated by crystal and it was breathtaking. Against the beautiful blue sky that day it was all I could do not to stare. I had never seen the trees like that and I told myself I would bring a camera the next time I drove that way to take a picture. Then, for some odd reason I watched the local news that night. I never watch the news. But I learned from my local meteorologist, Belinda Jensen, that we had experienced a winter inversion that day. She even had a picture of my trees on the screen that one of the viewers had taken. I looked for the picture they had on the newscast, but I couldn't find it, so here is a link to one I found online....it is obviously not in Minnesota, but you get the idea--GORGEOUS!

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/tree-during-winter-inversion-david-sidwell.html

So this sight got me thinking. In many ways our souls can have seasons of winter-a little colder and darker than some of the other seasons of life. Some days it may make us want to hibernate. But to hibernate completely would be to miss the beauty in this season. Even in the barrenness of winter, God is at work creating beautiful masterpieces our eyes have never seen before. And when we see them we should share them. Because something is always more beautiful when you can share it with a friend.

I still do not love winter. But so much of our perspective and attitude hinges on what we choose to see. I am choosing to see beauty in winter. And I am choosing to see God in winter and He is more beautiful than anything my eyes could ever imagine.

2009-12-11T22:02:00.004-06:00

She is a big sister and a little sister. She is creative and crazy. She loves to love and is an amazing hugger. She is currently toothless. She is a good friend. She can be quiet and loud...very loud. She loves animals and anything tiny. She is confident.

She lives in her own little world most of the time. She looks like her mommy and has her daddy wrapped around her finger. She loves basketball but hates soccer. She laughs uncontrollably at times for no reason at all. She likes to color and create. She loves the little things. She really loves M&M's...a little too much. She is 7 today and we couldn't imagine life without her.

Happy birthday Ponsi!

p.s. pictures courtesy of sentimental soul photography (aka my sister Leah) :)

2009-12-08T21:09:00.003-06:00

I know...a very rare double day post. But this is worth it:

Every child God creates is so very unique, but some just break every possible conceivable mold. Jamie is watching a loud, action movie with a friend tonight and it is well, loud. The girls were complaining about the volume as I put them to bed and I just told them to bury their heads in their pillow or wear some headphones. I just went in to check on them and this is how I found Isabelle....

Apparently, there were no headphones or earmuffs readily available so she made her own with two styrofoam cups and some post-it notes. You gotta love that kid!

2009-12-08T20:08:00.002-06:00

Activity Advent Calendar: Day 5- Shopping for thoughtful gifts

A beautiful tradition of Christmas is sharing gifts with people we love. Our kids exchange names with their cousins in Ohio and Tori was expressing to me earlier in the season how she wanted to pick her OWN gifts for her cousin. Admittedly, I am a bit of a control freak and like to have a say in what they are choosing, but I am learning to (big breath)...let go. ;) This Saturday as part of our Activity Advent Calendar we embarked on a new adventure and visited the Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis to shop for our cousins. They were having a Craft-O-Rama with all kinds of vendors selling homemade crafts and gifts. The first challenge in shopping with children, or maybe with shopping in general, is fighting the desire to look for one's self. As the girls and I shuffled through the very crowded fair, they were all too eager to choose trinkets for themselves and a little less eager to shop for cousins. Shopping for ourselves would not have communicated the message I was hoping to get across this day. :( But then, and I love when this happens, Tori spotted the perfect little treasure for her cousin Mikayla. She showed it to me waiting for my thumbs up or thumbs down on her find. Now, it is nothing spectacular, and I can't tell you what it is exactly, but Mikayla will like it. And in that instant, our time at the Craft-O-Rama became far more enjoyable and the much more valuable lesson was learned. Once the girls had tasted success in finding something thoughtful for another person, they became eager to find more things for the other people on their list. Truly it is far better to give than to receive. Merry Christmas!

p.s. Most of our Advent days we have been reading books or baking for someone....today we started building our own Nativity...stay tuned. :)

2009-12-02T18:07:00.006-06:00

Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.
Christians believe that the season of Advent serves a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for the second coming of Christ.--from Wikipedia

I don't know about you, but I could use a little Advent spirit this year. I never grew up using an Advent calendar. (I would have been all about it because I love candy) But I never really had even heard the word until we moved to MN and our church recognized the 4 weeks of Advent with candles on the stage. Advent...expectant waiting as we celebrate that Christ has come and is coming. What is not to love about that?
So, last year my friend Tara told me she was going to do an activity advent calendar with her kids....hmmmm...this is good stuff I thought. I told her to blog about it so I could steal all her ideas, but she did not cooperate. :) So this year I am navigating it on my own. Christmas is one of Jamie and I's favorite times of the year. We love soaking in every moment of the season with decorations, christmas treats, festive music, sharing gifts and time with friends and family and this year I will be finding one small thing to do every day to celebrate this wonderful season with the girls. I pray you find your own ways this year to soak in the hope, joy, love and peace that the Advent of our Savior brings. Happy Advent!

Day 1: Miller Activity Advent Calendar- Gingerbread House--this is way harder than it looks. My mom normally does it with them and probably should in the future, since my roof totally cracked and caved in and I had to use paper to save it. :(

p.s. don't expect pictures of every day...that would be a Christmas miracle! :)

2009-11-19T20:24:00.003-06:00

grandma and papa came to town this past weekend. i am pretty sure they played close to 100 games of quiddler, skip-bo and racko. we love when they come to visit. it means a lot of love for the girls, a lot of good conversations and laughter, and a lot of yummy food (we are talking about phil, here). thanks phil and sue for traveling out to see us. we love you so much!

macie just fell in love with this mickey mouse stool in an antique store in stillwater. she could have sat there forever reading old golden books.

2009-11-11T18:44:00.003-06:00

Macie had a gift card to Target for her birthday. I wanted her to get some more wood food for her kitchen. She wanted to be like Daddy. Daddy wins. :(

2009-11-02T17:16:00.006-06:00

Yes, Macie did eventually wake up and she did humor me with a little ballerina skirt to go with her ballerina shirt. She really perked up after our neighbor Joe gave her a Kool-Aid drink and she got to see Jasper, Shannah and Randy. What a booger..but awful cute. :) Can you see from that last picture what I am dealing with here????

2009-10-31T18:54:00.005-05:00

Happy Halloween! I am manning my usual post in the entryway with my silver bowl of candy awaiting trick or treaters. But, alas, I have only had two, and they were friends who were coming to trick or treat with the girls so, they don't count. Bad news for me, but good news for you that I have time to post some halloween pics.

You may be wondering where Macie is in all these pictures. I, too, was eagerly anticipating how cute she was going to be in her costume this year. However, much to my chagrin and definitely not due to my lack of persuading, her official position on Halloween this year is she is NOT participating and she is NOT dressing up. She is upstairs sleeping right now. She did tell Isabelle, however, that she will let Isabelle share her candy with her and sad thing--sweet Isabelle agreed. Nice.

Happy Halloween.

2009-10-28T20:09:00.006-05:00

(This is a long overdue post since Jamie said I would post it as a follow up to his blog and I never did...oopsie) :)

Family Friday night started as a ploy to divert the girls attention from something they were not going to get to do (I don't remember what, but I do remember we went for some ice cream special at Culvers for the first one) and it has become one of our favorite family occurrences. Admittedly, Jamie has come up with the most creative Family Friday nights and Chopped has to be one of his best. The girls and I love watching The Food Network together and we have managed to suck Jamie in for one of the shows. He explained Chopped on his blog, but basically chefs compete in an appetizer, entree and dessert round to create dishes from a mystery basket of ingredients. We decided to have our own version of the competition. Tori and Isabelle competed in a dessert round. Jamie and Macie were the designated judges and I was the kitchen helper (they are only 8 and 6). We all headed to the grocery store (always a fun excursion) and Jamie and I strategically picked some ingredients for the girls to use. At home we filled their "mystery baskets" (aka lunch bags) with the special ingredients for their desserts. Their ingredients were E.L. Fudge cookies, a roll of biscuits and marshmallows. I use biscuits to make monkey bread and homemade doughnuts, both of which they help me with, so I was hoping that would trigger some ideas in their minds. They had 20 minutes to complete their desserts. At the end of the time the girls threw up their hands, just like they do on t.v. :) Tori was laughing so hard as she did her presentation to Jamie she could not even get any words out.

Tori made a biscuit stuffed with melted marshmallow, chopped E.L. Fudge Cookie. She served it with a ball of peanut butter mixed with more E.L. Fudge cookies.

Isabelle made a deep fried doughnut stuffed with marshmallow, peanut butter, chopped E.L. Fudge cookies and jelly and topped with syrup.

Jamie got the pleasure of eating both desserts. He wimped out on a decision and made them co-winners-lame ;). He gave Isabelle the award for creativity and Tori the award for taste. We decided for future Chopped Championships we should not give them so many sweet ingredients, as eating their desserts completely would have made us very sick.

2009-10-24T15:13:00.014-05:00

Macie turned 3 last weekend. Unfortunately for her she had to ride in her car seat for 12 hours on our way home from South Carolina, but she didn't seem to mind. She watched The Berenstein Bears over and over and over again while chomping down pretty much an entire box of Cocoa Puffs. :)

I am a little late, but it is never too late for some birthday love. Macie entered our family 3 years ago and I cannot even imagine life without her. She was very much a bundle of joy and has continued to be that every single day since then. Jamie told me yesterday that I am one of the luckiest people in the world because I get to hang out with her all day and experience her little world. I can't argue with him. I am pretty blessed. I love this age and all the personality that comes with it. One of my favorite things to do is to watch or listen to her play or interact with her best friend, Puppy. Puppy has been with Macie since day one, thanks to the Petersons, and it did not take long for them to become the best of friends.

In the early days, puppy did have some competition for Macie's affection. Jamie tried very hard to manipulate who would claim the role of Macie's most prized possession (he would put her arm around her Buckeye bear every night while she was sleeping), but over time Puppy came out as her closest pal. Puppy has been there every night and every nap as Macie has laid down to go to sleep. It is not an option for her to go to sleep without him. I remember trying to pass off a similar color bear to Macie one night, after I had been searching for puppy way too long with no luck, but she would have nothing to do with it. I eventually found him and she contentedly went to bed. Puppy has offered his ear for her to rub and even his own nose for her to suck on so that she could drift into sleep. I eventually had to remove his nose as it was a choking hazard for Mace, but they have remained the best of friends.

In recent days, Puppy has taken on more of a real life role in Macie's life. He is no longer just her sleeping companion, but he has become her baby that we hold or rock or her support as she tries to go potty and as you can see from the pics below he is her #1 playmate almost anywhere we go. I am a huge fan of the book the Velveteen Rabbit and Puppy has nearly joined the ranks of a real animal. :)

So Happy Belated Birthday Macie and Puppy. Macie I wish for you that you continue to bring joy, laughter and life to all the people that you meet and that you continue to grow into the amazing little girl God has created you to be. And Puppy I wish you another year of love from Macie, which hopefully does not include anymore lost body parts. :(

"In good times....

and bad times...

I'll be on your side forevermore...

That's what friends are for"

2009-09-14T10:44:00.002-05:00

It must be some sort of rite of passage for 2 year olds. And since Macie will only be two for about another month she had to make sure and get it in. While Jamie and I were cleaning up last night from our church gathering, Macie scribbled on the wall. She has been coloring for some time now, even using markers, and has never once scribbled on anything but the paper. And she knew right when I found her that she had done something wrong (amazing how they just know, huh?). Macie is not a terrible two year old, she is actually very good and has a very tender heart, so she was devastated when I sent her to her room. Hopefully, she will not plan on doing it again or any other strange two year old rites of passage (like throwing things in the toilet). Good thing two year olds are so darn cute!

FYI- Most of it came off with some scrubbing, but does anyone have any wisdom on getting black sharpie off the wall? :)

2009-09-04T10:24:00.011-05:00

There is just one more story I have to share from Adventureland. My sister Leah (an amazing up and coming photographer) took some pictures and posted them on facebook. Looking at them, she so perfectly captured my dear Tori in a classic life moment that I have to fill you in.

Tori is well aware that I am not quite the most daring of riders at amusement parks. She loves to give me grief about it when we have visited Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America and she is quick to point out that she has ridden certain rides and I am too big of a chicken. She was up to her usual taunting as we entered Adventureland--challenging me to ride some of the more adventurous rides there. I, of course, am not affected by these remarks. I am a 33 year old woman who feels no peer pressure to love rides. The second ride we came upon after The Galleon was the Splash Down. I have never seen a ride like it before, but you basically get whipped around and around while water sprays up at you (sounds fun, huh?). Well, Tori was the only one who wanted to go. She was acting very tough and macho convincing her cousin Mackenzie to ride with her. Mack conceded and off they went. I took a quick jaunt on the teacups with Macie and then came back to watch Tori. I will let the pictures show her experience....

For a split second I felt a little bad for laughing as hard as I was (I was in tears). The look of horror on her face when she thought the ride was over and then would realize it was just getting ready to gear up and whip them around again was priceless. It was a good humbling moment for her and now I have the pictures to prove it. That was her only moment of fear the rest of the day. I wasn't there to see it, but she did end up riding the Space Shot later that night, which I don't think I could have even watched her do. She is much braver than me, but even the mighty have moments of fear. ;)

2009-08-31T22:38:00.006-05:00

We are in the last week before school starts and our summer has been full of adventures. Soon the girls will be in first and third grades, which at times seems unbelievable, and then at other times they seem to age right before my eyes. Take for instance, Isabelle, who Jamie affectionately calls "Little Gretchen" sometimes. He calls her that because if you didn't know she looks and often acts much like me (I know, lucky girl) :) But last weekend she surprised me by acting quite opposite of me and growing up in a 60 second galleon ride.

Last weekend we were down in Iowa for a "best of Iowa" weekend, with Iowa pork chops, Iowa sweet corn, The Iowa State Fair, the Des Moines Farmers Market and Adventureland (good times, good times). Adventureland is a small amusement park I grew up going to in the summer. Now Isabelle's typical m.o. with rides is cautious. Tori hits all the big thrills and Ponsi normally stays with me and Macie on the more tame attractions. So we entered the park and after hitting the token train and carousel rides we headed for the main portion of the park. The first ride you come upon is The Galleon. I hate The Galleon. It is one of those pirate ships that swings back and forth going higher and higher each time--your stomach butterflies and the worst part for me is as you go up you look down at the ride motor that would grind you into pieces should that lame little lap bar unexpectedly release (it could happen). Well, Isabelle took off following Tori and her cousins Mack and Gage toward the Galleon. I elected to stay with Macie and just watch. ;) An acquaintance from high school was standing watching her kids on the Galleon, too, so we started chatting. I told her I couldn't believe Isabelle was going to ride it, how she must not have seen it before she decided to go, and that she usually is a big chicken like me. As the words are coming out of my mouth, I turn and look at Isabelle and there she is huge smile (minus one front tooth) and arms raised high- not one ounce of fear on her face. Where in the world this sudden bravery came is a surprise to me. But she continued to hit every thrill ride the park had to offer, even riding in the front row of the roller coasters. I rode with her once on the Tornado. My hands were double clenched around the lame lap bar and she was smiling, laughing and being thrown from one side to the other with each turn. Oh well.

So my "little Gretchen" grew past me that day and became "little Gretchen and then some" I guess. I imagine she will continue to do things I would never dream of and discover a life all her own. Watch out first grade--here she comes.

2009-08-01T08:34:00.001-05:00

My Mom and Dad got me the most wonderful gift for my birthday. At first glance, you would think it was just a decoration for the house- a nice sign with a quaint saying. But for me, it is so much more than that. The sign says, "Come gather at our table" and I hung it (well, my mom hung it) right above our dining room table. I love having my family around the table. I love to hold hands and pray over dinner or Saturday morning monkey bread. But I also love inviting others to share around the table. When you sit at our table you take a seat in our lives. I can't "pretty up" my family around the table. I mean I love them, but sometimes watching the girls eat isn't the most pleasant thing to see (we are working on it). And I can't hide if my meal flops...like when I forgot to put yeast in the pizza dough...that was gross (Thanks Chuck for being so gracious and coming back). But I can offer good conversation, maybe some good food, possibly some laughter or tears, and a whole world of other things just from joining at the table. You should try it. :)

Anyway, when I look at the sign it makes me smile and it makes me grateful for the wonderful people who I have come to know as they have come and gathered at our table.

p.s. I would put a picture up but I am having computer issues hence photo posting issues...bummer. Maybe you will just have to come over and see it. :)

2009-07-08T18:54:00.005-05:00

My laundry is done (for now), my refrigerator and cabinets once again have food in them (for now), and the girls are playing happily outside with a friend (for now). :) We have settled back into the wonderful routine of summer in Minnesota after having been gone for a long time. We saw a lot of wonderful people on our travels, but we also had our own little 3 day getaway to Washington D.C. We had a great time touring all over our nation's capital and we unexpectedly took a day trip to Annapolis, MD and absolutely fell in love with this beautiful city. Happy Summer!

2009-06-29T08:42:00.007-05:00

I am out of touch with my internet world, and I have to admit it is not the worst thing in the world. We are in the midst of a 3 week adventure in the "east" and we have been privileged to chat, :) and LOL in person with some dear friends as opposed to through computer screens or text messages.

2009-06-08T16:35:00.003-05:00

Shame on me for not posting sooner, but I wanted to be sure they didn't fire me after my first week. :)

God opened up a job opportunity with some chiropractors from my church. I am helping out in their office about 10 hours a week. It seems like it is going to work with our schedule and I am really thankful for the opportunity.

As always, God knew what I needed, when I needed it and He is faithful. Thanks to those who were praying!

I know you were hoping for a picture of me on my first day back to work, but you had to know there was a fat chance of that happening. :) Isn't Mace a cutie pie? This is her first adventure with an ice cream cone...I think she likes it.

2009-05-29T11:23:00.006-05:00

Maybe a future teacher and her first student...

School is out in 8 days. Tori has created a summer plan and it is not what you are thinking-she has mapped out a learning plan to help Isabelle prepare for 1st grade and to challenge herself for 3rd. Seriously.

The Lesson Plan :)

Art Class

Yesterday she came home, had her snack and grabbed Isabelle to go downstairs for "homeschool". I was encouraging them to stop studying and go outside and play. :)

2009-05-25T17:29:00.005-05:00

We made our 3rd annual Memorial Day visit to the National Cemetery here in Minneapolis. Every year something different strikes me and brings me to tears thinking of the sacrifice men and women and their families have made on behalf of this great country. Today as we exited the car a man played a trumpet salute over the grave of a friend, family member or fellow soldier and then saluted their gravestone. The sound pierced the sky and brought me to a halt. I would have loved to take a picture to capture the moment, but I didn't want to violate its sacredness. Thank you to the many men and women that have served and those who serve us now and grace and strength to their families who have sacrificed so much.

As we left I prayed for peace and praised God for a day when death and war would be no more. May your kingdom come, Father.

2009-05-08T14:19:00.005-05:00

We love Bloomington Schools! Tori was one of the student mc's at her school assembly yesterday. Her school was given the Minnesota School of Excellence certification for being, well, excellent (Actually, I was pretty impressed...They said there are around 1000 public schools in Minnesota and only around 60 that have earned the "Minnesota School of Excellence" status). Anyway, Tori worked very hard to have her lines memorized and she did a great job speaking up loudly and full of expression. She was very nervous/ excited all week about it. Whoever was working with the kids did a great job pumping the kids up for their role in the program. Tori misunderstood that the Governor was coming (it was actually the Mayor) and she thought maybe even President Obama might stop by. ;) I love that she loves her school and that she is so proud of it. I love that she is confident enough to speak in front of others...she definitely did not get her confidence to speak in front of people from me. Congratulations Tori and all the rest of the Washburn Bears!!!

2009-05-05T14:15:00.003-05:00

This one is for Becky. I can't keep up with the weekly picture posting, but I told her I would this week. ;) The category is hats. Check out some great pictures of dedicated photography bloggers here.

2009-05-02T19:54:00.011-05:00

Some things you know when you marry a man. I knew Jamie played basketball and football. I knew he was a good card player, that he could sing, that he could dance. But then there are those new treasures that you learn about them along the way...like today, when I discovered Jamie is a mad kiter. He tagged along with the girls and I to one of my free community event adventures--Bloomington Kite Day. I am pretty sure he was mocking me and all the random things I have him do on the way there (blah, blah, blah--I know he loves them), but then we got the kites. They were giving away free kites to everyone there and then you just found a spot in the field and started to fly it. Jamie had his little plastic kite up higher than any other kite there. He swooped it away from a close collision with a tree branch and he successfully untangled his kite string from a neighboring flyer whose kite had wandered into his airspace. He even stepped in and saved it from tanking to the ground when he momentarily handed the controls over to Macie--granted he knocked Mace over in the process, but the kite did not crash.

The girls really enjoyed the kites, too. Tori was so excited about her new kite she did not want to risk breaking it by flying it too high, so she released it about two to three feet away from herself. Jamie told her the kite was depressed because it wanted to be free, but there was no way she would release it to his high-flying antics. Isabelle wanted a kite, but did not want to fly it. She didn't mind if someone else flew it but was in a mild panic watching Jamie unwind her kite to its last inch of string. Macie was enamored with the kite and wanted to fly it and didn't seem to want any help holding on to the string.

As for me, I am admittedly not a good kite flier. I don't know why--I just am not. Jamie handed his high flying kite over to me, so he and Macie could go get some more kites and, well, you can look at the pictures and see what happened.....Lucky for me, I have Jamie. :)

p.s. Jamie doesn't remember ever flying a kite before...Miller family, can this be true or is he just forgetful in his old age?????

2009-04-24T14:33:00.006-05:00

For the past two years, I have been contracted by a recruiting firm to do some computer work. I have worked from my home part-time and have really enjoyed it and think I got pretty good at it. The job was such a gift from God and came at the perfect time through my friend Woody two years ago. Two weeks ago, I was told the company was shutting down and was no longer in need of my services. This was a huge bummer for me :(. BUT...at the same time, I am trusting that just as God brought me my old job, He will bring me another one at the right place and at just the right time.

My recruiter Isabelle and her buddy Anna :)

In the meantime, Isabelle has been brainstorming some job opportunities for me. Her initial idea was either the gas station or McDonald's. These opportunities had nothing to do with me or my skill set, but rather she thought these jobs would entitle her to free candy and chicken mcnuggets. I told her I would think about it. Later that week, she decided she didn't think either of those were a good fit, because she didn't think Macie could come with me to the gas station or to McDonalds. Her new idea was that I would write children's books and Macie and I would drive around town and deliver them to stores. She was very excited about this idea, so although I have been called a "dream squasher" at times, I decided now was not a good time to squash a dream. I told her I would try to be a children's author, but I didn't know how successful I would be. She seemed to find that answer acceptable. And then her final idea was that I just take over the company that I had been working for from my old boss. I told her I didn't think mommy had the experience, time or money to do that, but I appreciated her confidence in me. She hasn't had any new ideas this week. I will keep you posted.

Thankfully for me, the weather has been BEAUTIFUL, so I have not been inside twiddling my thumbs and losing my mind staring at facebook waiting for statuses to change (I wouldn't actually do that, but I am just saying). I have actually been pretty productive catching up on some journaling, taking long walks with the girls, cleaning up the yard and getting ready for year 2 of my gardening experiment (I doubled the garden's size from last year!). We shall see what God has in store next...Enjoy the day you have been given!

2009-04-19T09:33:00.007-05:00

One of the more difficult things we have had to explain to the girls is why we live away from family. Jamie and I have never lived by family during our almost 12 year marriage. The girls love living in Minnesota, but anytime we are with family in Ohio or Iowa, they get a little sad. At young ages, they have learned the lesson that obeying God is the most important thing, no matter where that lands you. Last time we left Iowa, Tori said, "Why did God choose us out of all the families to live away?" (all our cousins, grandparents, Aunts and Uncles all live by each other). Poor thing.

So, I tell them they are doubly blessed, because we don't just have Ohio family and Iowa family, but we have Minnesota family and Pennsylvania family, too.

And our Minnesota family came through in a big way this week. The past two years my mom or Jamie's mom has been able to come to Grandparent's Day at school, but this year nobody was going to be here. Tori came home from school frantic on Tuesday that it was Grandparent's Day and it was Isabelle's first Grandparent's Day and she had to have someone to go with her. She told me she needed to call Randy and Shannah immediately to ask if one of them could come...

"Grandpa" Randy saves the day!!! :)

Living away from family is not the easiest thing, but I am so thankful and blessed for the family God has given us every place that we have lived.

2009-04-09T09:09:00.002-05:00

I love the moon. Sometimes it just stops and mesmerizes me.

2009-03-26T20:32:00.007-05:00

"OH DEAR! WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?"

It has been a while since my last post. I don't need an excuse, but I am giving you one as a little insight into my world. As Trip Manager of the Miller household (this is an official role I have--I can explain it another time). But as Trip Manager it takes me about a week to prepare for an Ohio trip (I like making trip lists). And then we were there in Ohio for about a week. And then upon return it takes a few days to recover from all the festivities. So I am giving myself an excused absence from blogging.

At any rate, we spent time in Ohio with our wonderful family. It is a trying time currently for the Miller family, and so it was really good to be together.
I sum up my Ohio trip as Beauty in Chaos. Beauty in watching 14 grandchildren, with totally different personalities and ages spanning from 7 months to 16 years, find the greatest of joy in playing with each other. The big ones gladly helping the little ones and the little ones looking up to the example of the big ones. Beauty in childlike faith as demonstrated by the humbling generosity of some special nephews. Beauty in the love of a Father and Mother sharing "big news" and giving all of us a special time away. Beauty in a brother-in-law removing 40 viruses from my darn computer (Thank you, Tim). Beauty in relaxing around a fire, a family style dinner from Bob Evans, a family picture shoot, a scrunched meal at Tony's Coneys. The beauty of Father/ Daughter moments. The beauty of a 3 year olds singing one line of a song over and over again that echoed truth to my soul. And most of all the beauty of my sweet sister-in-law, whose grace, strength and faith inspire me and whose face reflects the very presence of her Saviour.

2009-03-04T08:36:00.005-06:00

Confession #1: I have a few quirks. I know, it is surprising, but true. One of my more alarming quirks to people I meet is my absolute refusal to put milk (or any other liquid substance) in my cereal. I eat it plain, right as it comes out of the box in all its crunchy, glorious self. The thought of milk sogging it all up...yuk!

Confession #2: I may have influenced the girls to carry on my quirks. I don't think I did it on purpose. My original intent in not giving them milk in their cereal was to avoid the mess that a two year old with a spoon, milk and cereal could create. I don't like messy. I am not the fun mom that gets excited to jump in puddles or make mudcakes or play with sand. SIDENOTE: The theme for this weeks I Heart Faces photo contest is "messy". I got nothing. I have let the girls get dirty, but since I am not a big fan, I am not inclined to take their pictures when they are. :)

Anyway, back to the cereal. Jamie let Macie try his the other day (The other girls just scream with disgust if he even suggests they put milk in their cereal). But, the Mace...she liked it. And Jamie instructed me that I was to give her cereal and put milk in it. So yesterday, for the first time ever as a mom...I gave my two year old a bowl of cereal with milk and a spoon. Surprisingly, it wasn't too messy and she ate pretty much the whole bowl. I guess I will have to influence Macie with one of my other quirks. :)

2009-02-27T20:50:00.004-06:00

Deep conversations with Ponsi....

Isabelle: Mom, do you think Heaven is up or down?
Me: Probably up...I think most people probably think it is up.
Isabelle: Yeah, me too. It is way up above the skies into outer space. (short pause) Do our bodies just disappear up there when we die?
Me: Well, no this body stays here, but you will get a new heavenly body.
Isabelle: Maybe my new body will be brown.
Me: I kind of think you will still be peach, but who knows, maybe you will be brown.
Isabelle: Some people say there will be a new heaven and a new earth.
Me: Yes, that is true. I guess we just don't know if it will be here or a new earth completely. It isn't always clear. We just know we will be with God.
Isabelle: Well, I hope Washburn (this is her school) is on the new earth because I really like Washburn.

2009-02-23T14:36:00.009-06:00

This week's category is Black and White. I know some people don't really like B&W, but it is my favorite. Check out some of the other entries here.

2009-02-23T08:52:00.001-06:00

Main Entry: 1trans·form
Pronunciation: \tran(t)s-ˈfȯrm\
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French transformer, from Latin transformare, from trans- + formare to form, from forma form
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1 a: to change in composition or structure b: to change the outward form or appearance of c: to change in character or condition

As a parent, you get a front row seat to the beauty of transformation in the lives of your children. And as the mother of Victoria Kathryn, my show has been nothing short of breathtaking. I have watched my little girl turn from Tori to Victoria and back to Tori again. I have watched her change from a cute bald baby to a stunning long haired little girl. And most importantly I have watched a semi-terrible two and three year old (cute, but terrible) turn into a tenderhearted and ever maturing eight year old. I am proud of her for so many reasons and blessed by her in so many ways I cannot begin to write then down. Thanks Tori for loving deeply, for having a compassionate and giving heart, for being a good friend, for being the best big sister on the planet to Isabelle and Macie, for playing out your role in our church community, and for continuing to move forward in figuring out what it means for you to be a follower of Jesus. I love you and wish you the very best birthday ever!

2009-02-16T15:27:00.004-06:00

The theme this week is wonder...most of those moments are captured in my minds eye and not by my camera, but I thought this one was cute. Check out some other "wonder" photos here.

2009-02-15T09:23:00.016-06:00

It is one of those blessing upon blessing days for me. I mean I already have my perfect valentine in Jamie and then just like Halloween, kids bring more fun and excitement into the simple pleasures of Valentine's Day. It is amazing how a little piece of paper with a popular cartoon character on it can just make your day. Or even better a homemade paper one--complete with stickers. Or for me- a pack of Strawberry Creme Peeps from my Mom and Dad and mmmmmmmm....I am pretty happy.

Anyway, we had a great day- from our heart shaped pancake breakfast to watching Horton Hears a Who with our heart shaped sugar cookie treats at night.

And it's true...I broke tradition. We did not have heart shaped pizza last night for Valentine's Day. My in-laws sent money for a Valentine adventure so we went on a speed trip to the Como Zoo(they closed at 4...seriously!?!?!) and out to Cossettas--I didn't hear anyone complaining. ;)

2009-02-09T08:50:00.003-06:00

This week's theme is silly. I would have liked to branch out to put pics of one of the other girls this week, but when it comes to silly in our house, there really is only one girl that wins that contest hands down every time.

Enter your own picture. Details here.

2009-02-06T11:23:00.006-06:00

DUM, DA, DUM....It's Muffins with Mom today!!!! Woohoo! I woke the girls up by flashing their light on and off and singing its Muffins with Mom day...they love when I wake them up. And it was Isabelle's first ever time you know. She was very excited. She has been asking me questions, like "Where do they get all the muffins?", "Do you think they make them in the cafeteria and then bring them to the moms?", and "Do they not have breakfast because they have Muffins with Mom?"--Important stuff to know as you venture to your first ever M.W.M. experience. The excitement of this day was multiplied because if they brought in a dollar for Pennies for Patients they got to wear their pajamas...And Macie and I were helping out in Isabelle's classroom today. Muffins, Mom, Pajamas, Macie....does it get any better? Don't even think about bringing up Donuts with Dad...it's my day today.

2009-02-04T09:06:00.003-06:00

Here is the link to the Buttercream Fondant Recipe....

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Rolled-Buttercream-Fondant/Detail.aspx

And I am totally making cupcakes today. It is a friend of mine's birthday tomorrow and I am pretty sure she NEEDS them....I will just keep a few of the extras, you know, for the girls. :)

2009-02-02T08:36:00.003-06:00

I love cake! And I don't like that whipped frosting--I like the sugary sweet buttercream stuff found at weddings and graduations. Since Jamie was out of town this weekend, I spent way too much time on allrecipes.com and found a fun looking buttercream fondant recipe that I thought I could handle. I think fondant normally just looks good, but doesn't really taste that good, but this recipe claimed to taste good as well. So this is my maiden voyage with buttercream fondant...

Attempt #1: You only get one chance to cover the cake--oops! My fondant did not patch together well...sorry Chuck, I hope it tasted better than it looked. ;)

Attempt #2: Looking good and mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....yummmy!

Unfortunately for me, the cake is all gone this morning....Valentine's Day cupcakes anyone????

2009-01-30T14:39:00.009-06:00

Allen Iverson(for my mother-in-law who loves the Pistons, but is not an A.I.fan)

Rasheed Wallace

If you know our family at all, you know that I have jumped in hard core as an Ohio State Buckeye Football fan. We love the Buckeyes and follow them through all the emotional ups and downs that they take us on. Now Jamie also has some other teams that he has followed since childhood, none that I think he cherishes like the beloved Buckeyes, but there are others--none of which I have ever felt connected to. One of those teams is the Detroit Pistons and Wednesday night he and I went to see them play the Timberwolves. While I am not a hard core fan, I did wear my blue hooded sweatshirt, which totally matched Jamie's red hooded sweatshirt (he was LOVING that) and I did cheer quietly (so as not to be obnoxious and irritate the MN fans). I would not be that nice if it were the Buckeyes playing the Gophers....

BTW..Detroit won--Go Pistons! Thanks Nicole for the tickets!

2009-01-28T16:03:00.006-06:00

My friend, Becky, has come up with another way to creatively post on your blog....go here for details.

JOY

Isabelle has one of those smiles that just lights up her whole face...she can also cry and bring down her whole countenance...BUT on this day she was full of life and joy.

2009-01-19T21:32:00.018-06:00

I strayed away from my usual tendency to hibernate through the winter today. The girls and I bundled up and went sledding with our friend Marissa. I either did a great job at bundling up or I was working up a good sweat climbing back up the hill, because I was not cold in the least. The girls had a great time even though Marissa ran Isabelle over with her sled (she claims it was an accident) and once Macie landed face first in the snow. Macie was screaming bloody murder when we left because she wanted to "try again" and Marissa told me I was torturing her because I was laughing at her and taking pictures...she will look back and laugh when she is older. :) Now all we need to do is conquer ice skating and the Winter Festival and we will be true Minnesota Winter Princesses.

2009-01-15T19:54:00.002-06:00

Click here to link to my friend Sue and her husband Scott's blog. She is a reporter for the local morning news. She does not like the cold and she has been out there in it this week reporting on how cold it is here...It made me laugh. Sorry, Sue. I have made her promise repeatedly that no matter how much she hates the cold- moving is not an option. Right, Sue?

2009-01-14T14:10:00.006-06:00

Saying goodbye is not an easy thing for some of the members of our house, namely our oldest daughter Tori. We brace ourselves for the gut-wrenching, body-convulsing tears, actually they are more of a wail, that accompany each goodbye from Grandma's house, saying goodbye to friends moving away or the last day of school. But Sunday I found myself wiping the tears for a more unusual goodbye. Macie recently promoted to her "big girl" bed and with that step up we have done a little redecorating (pictures will follow- I am not quite done). Anyway, Jamie decided to sell his bowflex so Mace could have full use of her room space. A nice gentleman came over Sunday to disassemble and haul it away. And while they took each piece out to the van, Tori cried on my shoulder about how she couldn't believe we were selling the bowflex and how much she was going to miss it.

I wasn't incredibly compassionate considering I had no idea why she cared since she never used the bowflex and I had never heard her aspire to use it. And then she preceded to tell me she was sad because if the bowflex was gone she would no longer be able to count Jamie's reps or sit in there while he did his workout. And then somehow, in a strange way, her tears seemed warranted. It has been said of Tori that she loves deeply and I will never argue with you there--it seems even a muscle building, piece of work-out equipment is not exempt.

2009-01-05T10:29:00.021-06:00

My friend Becky recommended I do my "Top ten photos of 2008". Well, I don't know if these are my top ten (okay, fine, top 13--I have quite a few photos) but these ones seemed to strike a chord with me as I looked back on the year 2008.

New friends who have become familiar and comfortable friends...even if they weren't in our same class at school ;)

New fish- who no one takes care of now but me and who no one seems to care about until we go away and someone else has to watch them...

New adventures, especially Isabelle starting kindergarten and lots of little ones in between...

Old friends coming to visit and visiting old friends....

Special time spent with the Miller and Stafford side of the family...

My church--we have had a lot of goodbyes this year which hasn't been super fun, but these are the people who live life with me and help me look more like Jesus. I am blessed.

Oh, and last but not least, the everyday faces that make my world go 'round. They make 2008 and every year amazing.

GO BUCKS! BEAT TEXAS TONIGHT!!!

Happy 2009 Everyone!

2008-12-23T08:59:00.001-06:00

Anyone need a last minute Christmas gift idea?

2008-12-21T12:19:00.005-06:00

I was tagged and my assignment from Heidi was to post the 6th picture from the 6th picture folder on my computer and give you a little background. Like Heidi, my 6th folder only had 4 pictures, so I am just posting all of them.

What you are seeing is from February 4, 2008. It was not a special outing or a special day, just a glimpse into the usual to me, but unusual to most, regular happenings in our house with 3 girls in the middle of a long Minnesota winter when creativity is running wild. I think the girls were playing horse and I am not sure what Macie was exactly..she may have been a disobedient horse who needed to get back into the stable or just an innocent bystander. But as you can see she plays right along with the big girls and apart from the apparent risks she takes to her own life, she seems to have a pretty good time. I would also like to note that Tori is NOT wearing her own pajamas, and I was apparently not in the mood to fight that battle, so excuse the extra snugness on her boo-tay. And the last note, unfortunately for you, what you don't get from the pictures is the sound of hearty laughter and uncontrollable giggles that accompany the games the girls play--it is one of the sweetest sounds in all my life and one I hope echoes through our house a long time.

Thanks for tagging Heidi...I always enjoy a stroll down memory lane.

I am also a rule follower...so I will tag 4 more people:

1. Tara Chapman (just cuz...I know you are a sucker for these games)
2. Amy Johnson Samo (it has been waaaayyyy too long since your last post)
3. Becky Leatherman Adams (because you love stuff like this and take great pictures)
4. Amy DeMaranville Bottomly (an excuse to see a cute picture of Silas)

Oh and Jamie wanted me to tag Eric, because HE SAID all you do is post pictures anyway....

Your instructions:
1. Find your sixth picture folder and in that folder, the sixth picture
2. Post it on your blog with some of the background of the picture
3. Tag four others and leave a comment on their blog to let them know they've been tagged

2008-12-13T14:06:00.010-06:00

Our house is pretty quiet these last few days. The girls are still here in all of their girl glory, but last week we had some special Ohio visitors (Jamie's sister and fam) and our house was full--There were 4 adults and 7 kids age 7 and under. ;) We had a great time showing them our MN world and it was great to get some quality time with all of them.

Dustin tackled several of our house "safety violations"....

The two toddler terrors took turns taking treats off each others trays...

Isabelle and Kaylee played and played and played...

We took down at least five of the 6 pack and a pounds from Taco Johns...Dustin is quite obsessed.

My girl Lydia (who calls me "mom") She is crazy, but cute...

Aunt Penny spared me a week of helping Tori with homework....Thank you!

And Carter...well, the picture just says it all...

I spent lots of time loving on my new nephew, Abraham James (he and I even snuck in a nap by the light of the Christmas tree with Christmas music serenading us) mmmm...Christmas heaven!!!!

WE LOVE OUR COUSINS!!!!!

2008-12-11T08:53:00.006-06:00

I for Imagination--I have found few children that can rival the creative mind that my Ponsi has...she even has her own Ponsi World where she goes and plays with a family of giraffes and a family of bunnies.

S for Smile--Ponsi has a sweet and contagious smile with one precious little dimple that makes her whole face light up.

A for Animals--So far, Isabelle has not found much interest in sports, but she is in love with animals. One of the highlights of her year this year was taking classes at the nature center and learning all about little animals and nature. Right now, she wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up.

B for Bears--Ponsi finally got her turn and is a Washburn Elementary Bear. She had been living vicariously through Tori for two years and is so excited to share with us her very own school adventures.

E for Endorphins--It is Ponsi's job in our house to be the Endorphin raiser (I am not really sure the real science behind it) But...if you are low on endorphins, Ponsi knows it is her job to give you one of her famous hugs and that makes everything a little better.

L for Little Gretchen--I love all my daughters equally, but I do love that there is one who looks and acts a lot like me when I was a little girl. It is our special bond together and makes her quite the soft spot for her Daddy.

L for la, la, la--Okay, the acrostic may be a stretch, but the "la" represents Ponsi's love for singing. It is not uncommon for me to find her with her microphone putting on a concert on her bed/ stage. She sings the way she lives--uninhibited, perfectly confident and comfortable in who she is.

E for Endearing--Everyone loves Ponsi and often people feel the need to just pick her up. I don't know if it is her petite size or that smile or that laugh or what, but she endears herself to people almost immediately. I should know...she endeared herself to me instantaneously 6 years ago today and she becomes more dear to me with each passing day.

Happy Birthday Ponsi! I love you!

2008-12-10T16:32:00.004-06:00

I wrote a Psalm/poem recently and Jamie posted it on the Consumed Website....he has a very strict policy about double posting so I am not allowed to post it here, but if you want to read it, you can click here. There is also a great Christmas poem (written by Rob Stearns) there as well if you are in the mood to read something new on the holiday season.

I hope you are enjoying your December...

2008-12-04T09:31:00.005-06:00

These were some of those "warm your heart" moments. I got to spend almost an entire day with my very dear friend Tara while we were in Ohio. Ronsi and her daughter Rory were like two peas in a pod...we just know they would be BFF's if they lived closer to each other and her son Jake, well, I just love that kid!

2008-12-01T11:06:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was a long day...We drove (well, Jamie drove and I trip managed--which is totally a blog for another day) but we were in the car for 13 and a half hours through snow, sleet, slush, rain and an obscene amount of Thanksgiving holiday traffic. When we finally arrived home we were tired, freezing (because we had turned our heat down while we were gone) and a little sad to be away from family in Ohio.

We normally set up the Christmas tree when we get home and we considered waiting until today, but knowing it is a short season we pushed through and carried on with our usual tradition. Jamie and I started the traditional assembling of our little tree we bought our first Christmas together 12 years ago from Rave Garden Center in Clarks Summit, PA. Jamie and Tori hung the lights as we listened to Gene Autry's Christmas Cowboy CD and Isabelle and I unwrapped all the precious ornaments that we have collected over the years. I even started to well up as I unwrapped the little globe ornament given to us by our first landlords--it has a picture of "the cave"--Jamie and I's first apartment. And then as we turned off all the lights and the girls counted down for the first official lighting of the 2008 Miller Family Christmas tree, I took a deep breath and thought to myself...

All is well, All is well
Let their be peace on earth
Christ has come, go and tell
That He is in the manger
Sing Hal-le, Hal-le-lu-jah

Merry Christmas Season to all of you...I hope you find the time to soak every blessed moment in and to share the wonderful gift of Jesus with the world around you!

2008-11-27T10:27:00.009-06:00

Preparing for a Buckeye Thanksgiving....

mmmmmm......Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

2008-11-21T10:20:00.003-06:00

Happy Friday! I hope this post finds you dancing....

2008-11-14T15:26:00.004-06:00

My friend told me 10 days was too long without a post. So sorry. I have actually had a post "brewing" but I have been mulling it over because I have to choose my words very carefully. Intrigued?

There is a mystery to me in the world of parenting. Try as I may to break the image, somehow it always seems that Dad is fun--Mom is a big, meanie head. Now maybe that is just me, and the rest of the moms in the world are totally winning the popularity contest with their children, but for me that is not the case. Which brings me to the happenings of this past week. I have had a never-ending, never-profitable-for-me battle with the two older girls over their stuff and their disgustingly messy room. I have tried buying organizational tubs, I have tried sneaking in behind their backs and throwing their "must keep forever" craft projects away (now you stop thinking I am a meanie---you have no idea how many projects they do--seriously), I have tried completely redecorating their room and trying to make it a special place they just want to keep clean and I have threatened them and taken their fish away, because we all know fish do not like to live in a messy room, and these are just a few of my many tactics.

Well, Jamie, my wonderful and amazing husband (this is where I have to choose my words carefully) decided that he was going to help--I think I may have actually told him that I was waving the white flag. Anyway,so a week ago Tuesday he told the girls they were going to have "Organization Class". I was headed off to Women's Prayer, so I just caught the beginning (just enough time to snap a few pictures and get a good chuckle over the hilariousness of the whole scene). He had the girls get all dressed up in their school gear (backpacks, folders, lunch boxes, coats and all that jazz) and go out in the garage and reenact how they come home from school. He assigned them both a locker, a coat hook and a backpack hook. He instructed them on the proper way to enter the house, remove your shoes (on both wet and dry days) and place them nicely on the mat (side by side--in a pair), and then he had them sort through their papers and hang everything else up in its proper place and put all their school related stuff in their "lockers". I think they did this twice, just to be sure they got it all down Now if I did this...let's be honest...first of all, they wouldn't do it. Second, if they did they would be frowning at me the entire time. Instead, they were laughing, smiling, telling me how excited they were that they had mastered the school part and that they were getting ready to go learn about the room part. I think Isabelle even proclaimed that she loved organization class. Jamie had them clean almost their whole room that night and I am pretty sure they didn't even complain once. Seriously, what kind of magic potion was he using?

Now the true test for me is if it worked...we are only a week and a half into the process, but I must say the entryway has been immaculate and their room, well, there has not been one thing on the floor. And if they do forget Jamie just says, "okay, time for locker inspection" and they jump, they JUMP, happily down to be sure that fun daddy does not find their papers and backpacks a mess. Jamie is quite proud (as he should be) and has informed me that similar to the Republican party this past election, I have been relieved of my duties in this area. Lovely ;).

Please note...that although this is a mystery to me, I do not feel unloved or disrespected in my house...I just find it entertaining. I will say, that I have taught Macie the obnoxious, but effective, Barney clean up song and I have tried to clearly show her that only blocks should go in the blocks basket and only little people in the other basket and so I am hoping, really hoping for a neat freak. There is nothing wrong with a little O.C.D., right?

2008-11-03T21:35:00.003-06:00

The bank by my house was reporting 79 degrees today. The lady at the grocery store thought that it was a record high for today. Record or not...today was glorious. And my favorite tree in our yard is the most amazing of colors right now. It is normally a deep purple but an amber color has filled it in so only the edges are purple. The girls and I love it and Isabelle is anxious for its leaves to fall so she can keep them as her treasure. And Macie is enjoying bonus time with her new wagon (Thank you Mum-Mum and Papa).

2008-10-31T22:47:00.018-05:00

Our traditional Halloween dinner- Jack O'Lantern Pizza from Papa Murphy's

Poncahontas (or "Ponsi"hontas as Jamie was cleverly calling her)

Dorothy and Todo (just for Tara)

And our baby butterfly....(she would only take pictures if I let her have the bubbles)

Macie's first time "hitting the pavement"....

Pastor Gary and Mary stopped over to see the Pocahontas costume (Mary made it for their little girl who wore it about 10-12 yrs ago so they were waxing nostalgic...)

Our usual stopover to see the Petersons and visit our favorite dog Jasper

"open dis, Peez"

Happy Halloween.

2008-10-28T19:37:00.017-05:00

The twins are finally here!!!!! Dan and Heidi have two beautiful daughters and are very proud parents. Aren't they just a beautiful family! The girls and I have been to the hospital twice and I can hardly wait to see those precious girls again. Here are some pictures of the little darlings....(some of them I swiped from Dan and Heidi)

Anna Joan (right) and Evelyn Sonja Shearer (left) (Anna was 5lb 13 oz and Evelyn was 7 lbs.)

Seriously, can you even stand it--oooohhhh, I could just squeeze them!!!!!

As for my crew, Jamie is baby-crazy. He told me he is heading up to the hospital tomorrow and he said he is going to hold both of them at the same time. Tori is a professional as you can see and Isabelle is following close behind (she needs a little help with keeping the heads up but she is getting there). Isabelle feels a special attachment to Anna because we told her that she weighed the exact same as Anna when she was born. Isabelle said she is the cutest thing she has ever seen. And I just love soaking it all in. Dan and Heidi are going to be great parents and have just begun to experience the overwhelming joy that is before them.

My friend Chuck is supposed to be posting more pictures tonight, so check them out!

2008-10-19T21:33:00.003-05:00

So, it's a day late, but the sentiment is still the same...
The transformation from 1 to 2 is one of my absolute favorites. This year we saw a lot of Macie's personality emerge, her hair started to emerge a little more and our love for her simply exploded. She brings so much joy and life and fun into our home that I absolutely could not imagine life without her. Happy Birthday Mace!