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!

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!






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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...

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

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)

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.

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. :)

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?

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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