Anyone need a last minute Christmas gift idea?

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

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!!!!!

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!

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...

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!

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!

Preparing for a Buckeye Thanksgiving....







mmmmmm......Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

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

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?

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).

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.

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!

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!