Early Christmas Present

I have fun news! I got an iphone for Christmas. My old phone was so old that it could not be charged with the wall oulet and the car charger cord was so messed up that I had to hold the cord in place to get it to charge. Maybe that is why I have been getting honked at so much. My one handed driving might have been a little too much for some people :)

You can not believe all the awesome features this thing has. They are HUGE to me since my cell phone was made in 1956. I am having so much fun playing with it. Maybe I'll actually use it and call someone.

The AWESOME Miller Children

Life has been crazy as you can tell with all the posts I did last month.

Abby had an awesome swim meet this past weekend. She came in first place on the 50 backstroke out of 18 other girls! I am so proud. The backstroke was my stroke growing up, but now she can do 50 faster than me!

Ben had his first pack meeting last week. He earned his first badge - Bobcat. Way to go Ben!

Emma lost two teeth in one week. Her other front tooth is loose, so she might be singing "All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".

That is all the time I have for now.

The Miller Children Have The Christmas Spirit!

Check out this link of my children and the dance moves they learned from Mike.

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1127995254

My Baby Is Eight!

I can not believe Ben turned eight and got baptized this month. I have not had a minute to even download the pictures and video on to my computer much less write a blog. I do have "A" minute right now. So here it goes :)

Grandma and Grandpa were able to fly out here from Utah to see Ben's baptism. It was great to have them in town and for them to be able to spend time with us. We had a big birthday party on Friday at a Laser Tag place. He invited a lot of children from school and church. I think Mike and the other adults may have had more fun. I heard a lot of smack going on :) Mike even threatned some of the seven year olds that they were "going DOWN!" in the next round.

On Saturday the 3rd (his birthday - he will always remember his baptism date) he had his baptism. It was a really sweet service. I was fine until the closing song, "I'm trying to be like Jesus". I was sitting right beside him and he started singing in his cute little voice and I just lost it. Missy Cummings said it was hard to conduct the song becasue so many people were crying, she did not know who to look at so she would not start to cry.

He is such a sweet little boy. He is always ready to give a hug and a kiss. I hope he stays this way.

O.K. It Totally "Sucked" Me In

I am currently lost in the world of vampires and werewolves, thanks to Emily. My sister-in-law Jenny told me about Stephenie Meyer last year and I just have not had time to read it. Emily gave me Twilight for my birthday and I am hooked. I LOVE IT! It is total drivel but it is so entertaining and fun to read. Thanks so much Emily. I had Barnes and Noble mail me the other two books over the weekend because our libraries have long holds on them.

Mom...I Think I Am A Vegetarian

Emma came up to me today and said, "Mom, I think I am, what is that word that sounds like veterinarian but it means you don't eat meat?" I said, "Vegetarian". "Yes, that's it. I think I am one of those but I still like to eat hot dogs, chicken nuggets, steak, ham and oh yeah chicken."

My Baby Is Ten!

Abby turned ten today. She had a big party with her friends on Saturday. We went to a pottery studio where the girls got to paint their choice of pottery. The studio is going to fire them and have them ready this week. We then went to our house and had pizza, presents, cake and games.



All in all it was a very good party. If it had been ten boys I think I would be singing a different tune.

One of Abby's presents from us was a little different, but she loved it. Abby's favorite thing to watch is the cooking channel. Her aspiration in life is to make the best cup of hot chocolate ever! The girl uses my 1/2 & 1/2 to make her different recipes. When I was at Sam's a couple of weeks ago, I saw a big box of 188 little packets of creamers so I got them for her and wrapped them up. Too Fun!!!!

Rachael Was Born Today!

I have a new niece! Missy had her fourth girl today. She weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces.
Missy and Tim named her Rachael Lorene Lucas.

Congratulations Lucas Family!!!!!

We Love You!

PTA = Pressure Tension Anxiety

I am really glad this weekend is over. I know I do it to myself but....nobody else was stepping up so I said I would do it. I really like the way our school system divides up the elementary schools. They have Primary schools for K-2 then Intermediate schools for grades 3-5. This way big fifth graders are not corrupting my little kindergartner on the bus. Since the schools are divided up this way there are two PTAs and I feel obligated to help in both.

Nobody was volunteering to be chairman over membership so I said I would do it. That entails a huge back to school picnic where people pay for a ticket and the price of membership is included. I was in charge of feeding and entertaining 800 people on Friday. Thank goodness we got 100% membership through this event and I do not have to do anything else the rest of the year.

On Saturday Ben had a soccer game at 12 and then Abby had a swim meet at 1:30. They did great. They both love what they are doing. Emma is loving ballet. I am really glad her lessons are only one day a week and they are in the afternoon. She will have one big recital in June. Last year she did soccer as well. That added more practises at night and more games on Saturdays. I am glad I am not doing that again. Sometimes I get frazzled with all the places I need to be, but then I think how grateful I am that I have strong, healthy children who are able to play sports. I am starting to cry even as I am writing this. I am truly blessed.

I am a mom...HELP!!!

This morning was a little bit more fun than normal. Emma took Ben's reading book to his soccer game last night. As she was getting out of the car with it I said, "Emma, you can not take that to the field, leave it in the car." She then put it on the seat in the car. Fast forward to this morning...Ben can not find his reading book anywhere. I hurried them out to the bus stop and asked my neighbor if she could watch them while I went and looked in the house for his book. Emma said she had brought it in last night from the car, but she could not remember where she put it.

I looked all over the house - under couches, under tables, on bookcases. I could not find it anywhere. I went out to the car to make sure she took it out last night - still no book. I went down to the bus stop to ask Ben if he was sure he did not have it in his back pack. I went back in to the house to search again. I looked under covers, under beds - I did find an opened, industrial sized bag of Life cereal under Abby's bed. I am glad we do not have ants. I guess that is one thing to be grateful for.

I looked in Ben's room and there on the floor was his science notebook, so I took that out to the bus stop. I asked to look in his backpack while I was putting his notebook in to make sure his reading book was not in there as well. The bus was pulling up to the spot and I had a thought..."Emma, let me look in your backpack." "No, mommy the bus is here. I have to get on."

"Emma, just let me look real quick." Sure enough there in her backpack was Ben's reading book. She was so happy to have "found" it. She proudly carried it up the stairs of the bus to Ben who had already boarded. His book is twice the size of her reading book. Didn't she feel the extra weight?

All of this took place in five minutes. I told Mike I was not going to work out today because I just had my workout for the day.

To Each His Own

I started reading "Peace Like A River" because Mike read it and put it near the top of his most favorite books of all time. Mike has read almost as many books as I have ( and I am an English major) so this was a big deal. I thought, "Wow, if he really liked it that much I am definitely going to read it". The story had a very male point of view. I can enjoy a vast array of books with many different points of view but this one did not grab me as much as it did Mike. I guess, to each his own.

I am now reading the cult phenomenon "Twilight". We will see if it "sucks" me in and captivates me like it has so many other people :)

One Man's Rocks are Another Man's Treasure

How many rocks does a seven year old boy need for his rock collection?

Last week was a very busy week. It was filled with cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning in preparation for my in-laws to come and stay at my house. They were not just going to come for a quick visit in the living room but they were going to stay in our house while Mike and I went to DC for Jenny (my sister) and David's sealing. Emily has always thought I am weird because every six months (each April and October or General Conference time) I scrub my walls and trim and repaint everything. So the time had come for the biannual cleaning of the walls and trim. I could not have Dave and Dea into my home looking like it did, so I spent all of last week scrubbing my house from top to bottom (literally). Among my awesome cleaning adventures was decluttering Ben's bookcase. He had at least six rocks, ten paper clips, five pennies, and on and on and on.

Well, all my tireless scrubbing was for not since Dave and Dea were not able to catch a flight with Jet Blue using their new family standby passes. I must say that so far I am not too impressed with Jet Blue. Free flying should be much more convenient. I hope they will be able to make it for Ben's baptism in November.

Mike and I did have a nice get away with the help of a dear friend who filled in at the last minute. Thank you so much Lisa - we owe you one!

While Emma was staying with Lisa she gave her an earful. During one of the their conversations, Lisa told her that she and Emma had a lot in common. They were both the youngest in their families and they both had an older brother and sister. They both went on for a while about the similarities and then Emma said, "Are you spoiled? I am spoiled! I bet you are spoiled too. My mommy says I am spoiled." Out of the mouths of babes!

We had a great time this weekend. Congratulations David and Jenny! I am so grateful I live close to a beautiful temple!

I Am Grateful For.....What Did You Mean By That?

Why is it sometimes that the best intentions seem to be construed as offensive?

Abby came up with the idea last night to say five things we are grateful for every morning at breakfast. I thought it was a great idea since some mornings the children are not too happy with each other!

This morning Abby started the tradition. She listed four things and the last one she said, "...and I am most grateful for my family." Ben heard, "I am mostly grateful for some of my family." "Well, who are you NOT grateful for? Is it me? Are you not grateful for ME?" I had to quickly explain what she said before I had WW III on my hands.

Little Emma decided she was next and I could not help but smile when she said restaurants and stores were two of her items she was grateful for. I had created a monster last year. She would come home from 1/2 day kindergarten at 11am and we would go out to run errands and while we were out we would have lunch. It got to the point where she was telling me which of my friends I should call to see if they wanted to have lunch with us.

Afterwards I thought about how some adults are quick to find offense when none was intended. I was one of those last week when Mike tried to offer me some parenting advice. I instantly got offended that how could he offer me advice when I spend way more hours parenting than he does. I know he meant it to try to help and I took it the wrong way. So the lesson for the day for me is to not take offense when none is intended.

Hatteras

Thanks to our friends the Ross family we got to do a last little bit of fun before school started this year. We got to go to their beach house in Hatteras, NC. We had a blast during Labor Day weekend.

Thank you so much Ross family!

My First Triathlon

I just wanted to pass on this link. Emily sent it to me and I laughed so hard.

It did remind me of my first triathlon. That is me somewhere in that mess.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3S0wu4Zbfk

Emma Asleep - why we should check our children before we go to sleep

I am learning how to put pictures on my blog. Here is Emma asleep where you can comment.

Over Three Hours For Less Than 200 Cubic Feet

Should I be concerned when it takes a grown man over three hours to clean an area less than 200 cubic feet?

Since April (read here "since a lot longer") I have been telling the children when you guys go to school in the fall I am going to get this car detailed. Since I have never had "the privilege" of getting my car detailed before, I called around to a few places. I got some estimates and asked them how long it would take. They all told me it would take about 3-4 hours. I thought there is no way I am going to sit somewhere (who knows what kind of bathrooms these places have) and wait for my car. Drum roll please....I found a mobile guy that would come to me.

He showed up at my house at 1:00pm and did not leave until 4:30. Should I have prefaced this with, I have three children and we live in the car on weeknights and weekends (sports and ballet)? As you can guess my car was GROSS. He even used a power washer for my floor mats! I should have taken before and after pictures.

I have now come to the conclusion that I will make this an annual tradition. After they have trashed my car during the summer and they go back to school in the fall I will get my car cleaned.

Yeah for annual traditions!

Everybody Else Is Doing It!

Well, like the title says I am feeling a little left out, so I have joined the blogging phenomenon. I called my good friend Emily who has been blogging for years to help me with my title. The first thing she said was that it has to have something with type A in it. I don't know what she was trying to imply.

Here is a definition of "Type A" I found: Type A personality, also known as the Type A Behavior Pattern, is a set of characteristics that includes being impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about one's status, highly competitive, hostile and aggressive, and incapable of relaxation. Type A individuals are often highly achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about the smallest of delays. Although they may exhibit some or all of these characteristics, it does not mean that people with the type A personality are incapable of showing love, affection or other types non-pessimistic behavior. Many are also capable of "couching" some of these behavior attributes with proper treatment and medication.

O.K. O.K. this definition fits me perfectly, but I am now wondering if "proper treatment" could be construed as shopping and "medication" as Diet Coke.