August 31st

are a cast free home...for now. Cael isn't even close to walking on his foot, which we knew to expect after being in a cast for three weeks. But several times he has tried to walk on it and he falls down screaming. A very painful cry, which breaks my heart. They said there still could be a fracture that is not completely healed. Hopefully a few days of adjustment is all it will take!

August 30th

We went out to dinner with Steve and his family for his birthday. I may or many not have gotten Cael dressed and forgot to put a diaper on him. Cael, who is not potty trained, may or may not have wet his pants in the middle of the restaurant. I may or may not have not taken any diapers because we were only going to be gone for two hours. It may or may not have been the stupidst thing I have ever done.

Here is a picture of his exactly where it happened. He is being silly and holding Steve's birthday card in front of his face and I am not sure why his legs looks so dirty...I promise my child is clean. Thank goodness my sister in law had a diaper Cael could wear, it not the night would not have turned out to be very funny.

Happy Birthday Babe...don't love this ride we are on together!!

August 28th

We went to Lincoln tonight to the Art Festival and Balloon Glow. We meet up the Clair's and had dinner at First Wok. It was very good and I even ate not one, but two crab rangoon. I am very proud of myself for doing it!

After dinner Steve, Cael and I went chasing the balloons. We went a few years ago and there were ton of balloons flying so we were a bit disappointed to see only six balloons in the air. We found a back road and stood on the side of the road as the balloons flew over. They would set off the their fire and wave at Cael every time. He loved it! It was really fun to see it through his eyes. We followed the last one and was able to be at their landing site (in the middle of a road). We got out and watched them pack up their balloon, then we all headed back to the glow. It was a great night and something we are planning on doing again next year...so all you Springfield friends need to plan on going with us!

August 25th

Cael and I made peanut butter cookies tonight. He is such a good helper and loves to be in the kitchen with me. His main job tonight was "forking" the cookies after I put them on the cookie sheet. He did a fabulous job and I am sure the delicious taste had everything to do with his "forking" job.

August 24th

This never happens around our house. We have been so busy lately and Cael has kept right up with us! He and Mr.Bear finally had enough.

I seriously love this kid!

August 23rd

Someone kindly reminded me that the last time I posted was July 4th. So I figured I would round the summer out with a bang. Steve started school today so our summer is officially over, that is a bummer. I am actually kind of excited to get back into a routine and bring some structure back to the Miller household, but we really will miss Daddy being home all day!

Tonight we hung out with some friends at a Hunger Game party. If you haven't read the books...do it now! They are fabulous and I can't wait to get my hands on the third and final book when it comes out tomorrow. Emily, our professional party planner, threw a great party. Costumes were encouraged but I was a party pooper and didn't dress up.

Here is Emily in her Glimmer outfit. If you don't know who Glimmer, is go to your public library pronto!

Thanks Emily or a great party!!

July 4th

Happy 4th!!

We had such a good time tonight with friends. In fact, it was one of the best nights I have had in a while. I laughed until I couldn't breath and almost wet my pants. We went downtown with the Southard's and Josh. We got there at 6pm to participate in the "free family entertainment"...that was a joke. We ended up making our own free entertainment. It started raining on us and ended up POURING, we were so wet. The boys packed up and were ready to go but us girls stood our ground and told them we wanted to say. We stood/played/laughed/danced in the rain for an hour or so. We ended up staying until the fireworks went off at 9:30 and it was well worth it. I am the first to admit I have never been impressed with Springfield fireworks. but they really did put on a good show this year. The best part of the night was Alyssa getting pooed on by a bird. As soon as the fireworks started going off thousands, and I really do mean thousands, of birds started flying right at us. People were ducking and screaming...it was fantastic. Alyssa and Josh got the brunt of the birds, Josh's shirt got pooped on and Alyssa got in the face and mouth. I seriously was laughing so hard I couldn't breath. Later she told me she couldn't understand why I was just laughing and not helping her....poor Alysaa.

A good night was had a by all. We all ready have our plans for next year in the works...this time they include umbrellas!

Our group minus Josh....where were you during this picture Josh???

This is an unedited picture of what it looked like at 7:30...it was slightly crazy!

The boys trying to stay dry after we talked them into staying!

July 2nd

For some reason my computer won't download my pics. It keeps telling me they are corrupted?? Frustrating! But at least I don't have any super important pictures. Hopefully I can figure it out tomorrow.

I went with some friends to see Eclipse tonight...I thought it was really good. I tend to forget what has already happened, I should have watched the first two again. It was a fun start to a packed weekend!

July 1st

Posting a picture late at night or first thing in the morning is really the same...isn't it? I had so many things to take a picture of today. We had family hair cuts today, I cheated on my friend Jenni (don't worry all you Jenni fans, I told her a while back I was going to have to). It was very hard to do and I hope she still loves me, my check book now loves me though. I saw a man on a crotch rocket that was so small he carried it around. It was the craziest thing ever. It seriously was the size of a toddlers toy. I tried really hard to get a picture of if but he started coming out of the gas station, and I didn't want to die.

We went to South Side's softball game last night and had a really good time. Lots of our friends are on the team and it was fun cheering them on, although I think we might get kicked out sooner or later. Several pictures for tonight...

For those of you who know Heather you need to ask her about her home run!

Justin asked me to go get him a drink which I gladly did because I was thirsty. Being a fan is hard work! Too bad for me my husband knocked our full cup over spilled all my beloved Diet Mountain Dew on the ground. Sigh.

Me, being me, was going to slid down on the bleachers and leave the mess. Jon, being Jon, jumped up and used a stick to cover the mess with dirt. Seriously...everyone needs a Jon in their lives, and not just to clean up their messes!

June 30th

Tonight was the first night of Baker's Babes, the plan is for the College/Young Adult gals to get together every Wednesday night for free pie and fellowship. I say free pie because we have a restaurant here in town who for the past year or so has offered free pie with the purchase of a menu item....until they decided to change it two weeks ago. Ugh. I wasn't very happy and I slightly let them know (no comments from you people who think I am rude to waitresses). Their menu still advertised the old deal and we thought about pressing the issue but I made the call to just let it be. So Baker's Square won't be graced by our appearance every Wednesday. We still will get together but have decided to change the location each week, starting with Starbucks next week. One thing was decided for sure tonight...Baker's Square can take away our free pie but they're not taking away our name, we're still the Baker's Babes!!

June 29th

Our friend Jon is on vacation this week and he was gracious enough to come spend four hours at our house today. Steve's bike hasn't work since last summer and Jon and Steve worked on it today. We have good news and bad news. They got it to run, but only if Jon was feeding it gas. They came up with some pretty creative ways to make it so Steve could ride, but needless to say it is still parked in our driveway. They did find the part they think needs to be replaced. I so hope they can get the part so Steve can get his bike up and running. AND I am so thankful for friends! Jon is seriously the nicest guy you could ever meet and we are so thankful he and Heather are a part of our lives!

June 28th

My camera was packed and then not charged the past two days, so sorry for no picture. I will make up for it tonight!

We had some great Audrey time tonight. And let me tell you, those two cracked Steve and I up all night. We went on a wagon ride (a favorite past time from camp this year) and they belly laughed the entire time at each other. I even caught them holding hands....three times.

When we got home we had a popsicle break, they may or may not have had two each. If they did have two, I most certainly would have been smart enough to give them the same color each time, so that it would look like they only had one in the pictures. But that would have been only IF I gave them two.

We came inside because the bugs were so bad and the kiddos kept themselves entertained with Cael hiding and Audrey finding him. The best part about it was that Cael hid in the same spot every time, and Audrey laughed so hard each time she found him. My favorite part about the night was all the snuggles, hugs and kisses I got from little Miss Audrey. I was afraid after spending so much time together at camp and then me leaving for 10 days that she would forget that we had become friends. No need to worry, she and I are friends forever....I hope.

June 25th

What I am NOT going to miss about Weiner. Can you guess what they are?

And what I AM going to miss about Weiner....

June 24th

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Cael helped my mom made my cake this morning then tonight she let him decorate it all by himself. I LOVED it! He also sang Happy Birthday to me about 20 times. Now talk about melting a momma's heart!!

Because it's my birthday I get to include two pictures. Mainly because I want to share a story with you.

Tonight was "Penny Night" at VBS. A big contest between the boys and the girls....and of course, the girls won, resulting in Kain getting a pie in his face! My dad went to the bank earlier this evening and the banker informed him that because of our penny night the bank was out of pennies!! He then went to the pick some things up at the grocery store in town and found out that they were out of pennies also. I LOVE IT!! I also love this little town!

How is it even possible that my baby is old enough for Vacation Bible School? Okay, well he isn't really old enough....it's for ages 3 and up. But hey, when your Pop Pop is the preacher you get special treatment.

BUT STILL...he is growing up way to fast for this momma!

June 22nd

I have two pictures today. Check out the bug bites on Caels arm. His entire body is covered, poor little guy. Something in my parents yard is biting him up. They aren't you normal bites that you get from these ginormous mosquitoes (or as Dad call them now that he is back in Weiner, sketters) buzzing around here. They aren't slowing him down, although he does want us to "scratch" him all the time.

We had another great night at VBS, 12 more kids tonight than last night. Not to shabby for this little town! This is one of my favorite kids, Rylan...I seriously want to pack him up and bring him home with me!

June 21st

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Now let's move on.

Beth was packing up to leave Thursday morning to head home after spending the week with us and it hit me that I should be going with her. So after about 10 minutes of deliberating and making some phone calls the decision was made and I was headed to Arkansas. We tried to surprise my parents but my dad ruined it for himself on Thursday and then my brother told my mom on Friday. My family is horrible at keeping secrets! But we have had a great time so far and yesterday was spent with almost the entire family (minus my hubby). We couldn't remember the last time Dad was with all his kids on Father's Day. So while I was missing Steve, it was so nice to spend the day with my Dad...the best Dad ever! :)

Tonight VBS started at Weiner and I am so excited to be here and be part of it! Everyone had such a good time and I am excited to see what the week brings. My camera died and I don't have my battery charger so I am borrowing my brothers Olympus. It's a much nicer camera than I have but proof that Canon is WAY better in the user friendly category. My goal tomorrow is to figure out how to use it...wish me luck.

Here is a picture of two of my favorite girls. They are in the pre-school group and ad.ori.able. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a picture of Cael enjoying his first VBS ever!

June 12, 2010

So I am cheating. But I had to post a picture so I could prove Daniel and BJ wrong. (although they are going to claim this doesn't count). Camp starts tomorrow so everything is packed and ready to go, including my cable to download pictures. If I were to post a picture from today it would be of our garage sale (that I made almost $350 at) or of my beautiful sister in law who is here to spend the week with us. She is going to be on Cael duty during camp....I am so excited she is here.

Here is a picture of my surprise cake that I made for Memorial Day. My first attempt did not turn out very well. This time it was a huge success and everyone loved it!

June 12,2010

Just for you Emily, thanks for the motivation!!!

Tonight we had our College/Young Adult ABF cookout. I knew going into it we would have a good time. Little did I know just how good of time we would have. On several occasions I was laughing so hard I could hardly breath. Four words; Cacaw, Cacaw and Silent Football. This is not even half of the group we could have. If everyone decides to show up to an event at the same time we are going to pack the house!

I am so blessed to have fellowship on a weekly basis with this group of people. I am their "teacher", but almost every week they teach me something. It was great to hang out outside of our normal time on Sunday Mornings.

Until next time...keep practicing your thwacks!!

May 16, 2010

Gesh, my poor plates. Steve and I registered for these dishes before we were married. I love, love, love them. They are red, green, yellow, big, chunky and very fun! Unfortunately they are slowly dwindling. 50% of them have little chips in them and now we are down a while plate. Before long, if you come over for dinner we might be serving you on paper plates.

May 15, 2010

Left my camera at the Southard's. And the worst part, I didn't take any pictures while I was there, so it wouldn't really even help to have it. FAIL

May 13, 2010

This is as symbol of my life right now.....CONSTRUCTION. That is the theme for camp this year, Under Construction. All I have been doing is working on camp and I am getting a whole done. I also am getting really excited about our week, we are going to have a blast!! (as always)

May 12, 2010

I had a heart burn attack tonight, I seriously thought I was going to die. I am in bed and absolutely wiped out from it. No picture tonight...sorry.

May 11, 2010

Here Cael is sporting his John Deer hat. We got from free from the John Deer store in Weiner, there are perks to living in a two of 700.

May 10, 2010

This picture represents my life right now. My camp stuff. This pile was twice as high this morning, I have made great progress! I went to Panera tonight to work without any distractions...it was a good plan but it didn't last long. I ran into several friends and spent a few hours visiting instead of working. That has become the pattern at Panera when I go to "work" so Steve told me tonight I have to start going to the library. Funny guy he is! If you ask me the fellowship was much more fun than what I needed to get done for camp.



(I love my sticker covered folder from Cael!)

May 9, 2010

We went to Mariah's for Mother's Day with the Miller family. Our reservation was for 1:30 and we didn't get seated until well after 2. It was pretty frustrating and you can tell by the picture that the kiddo's had almost hit their limit. They did SO well and were really good the whole time. Cael was asleep by the time we got home, he was one tired little man.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mom's out there. A special shout out to my Momma ...I LOVE YOU MOM!!!!

May 8, 2010

Pawnee's prom was tonight and because Steve is a class sponsor we get to join in on all the fun. Here are the students from one of Steve's math classes who wanted me to take a picture of them with "their favorite teacher". I love the impact he makes on these kids lives, it seriously makes my heart beat faster for him.

p.s. Yes he is wearing suspenders. And yes all the boys were jealous of him. I think it will be a trend at next years prom

p.s.s Kellie, see I really am in it to win it. I am up at midnight getting my picture posted. If you have this baby without us seeing at lest one prego picture I am going to be really sad.

May 7, 2010

We went to see baby Owen tonight. Cael and Wesley had fun playing together, Owen enjoyed eating and us adults enjoyed catching up! Wesley wouldn't join the other boys for a picture...ignore the food all over Cael's mouth, he enjoyed Wesley's whales a lot!

May 6, 2010

We went over to the Southard's tonight. Steve and Hero got to spend some good one on one time with eather other. That dog is a beast!

May 5, 2010

We have been spending so much time outside....I love this weather! Tonight we spent lots of time blowing bubbles. Cael would focus on one bubble and watch it until it floated away....

On another note, we went to a "new to us" playground tonight. The one by UIS, don't waste your time going. But it was fun trying out a new place to play. Steve and I decided we are starting a quest to find the top 20 playgrounds in and around Springfield. Let us know if you have any suggestions. Monday and Wednesday nights are playground nights, you should all come and join us on our quest!

May 3, 2010

I miss my friend.

April 17th-18th

I am declaring the past two days sick days. You don't want details.....I can give them to you if you would like, but I don't think you want them. My mom was hear to take care of me and clean up my messes!! I LOVE YOU MOM. We were suppose to leave first thing this morning to head to Weiner but we are not sure it's going to happen. I feel much better but now just feel like I have been run over by a mac truck. We are taking our time this morning cleaning the house and packing..hopefully we will be on the road soon. Check back tonight for a picture from today.

I made an angel food cake today, and we enjoyed Strawberry Shortcake for dessert tonight...yummy!!

April 15th

Grammie's here!!!

April 14th

I don't have a good picture to post today. I took a few of Cael and none of them really turned out, but because my picture a day friends are such bullies I HAVE to post one. So sorry this is a little blurry. Here Cael is cheering the American Idol contestants on.

April 13th

I just had to show you the little "buddy" they gave Cael before his surgery. Cael got to dress his buddy himself and the nurse used Buddy to explain what they were going to be doing. Notice Buddy even has an hospital wrist band. It was a really neat idea!

April 12th HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIM!!

**Sigh**

April 11th

****Kellie, I promise I posted this last night, but for some reason it didn't post. I am in it to win it....promise*****

I walked outside to find Cael's bear taking a nap on the deck. When I asked Cael what he was doing he looked at me and said "Mom, shhhhhh". I wish I could get a picture of him putting his finger in front of his mouth when he makes his shhh sound. It is so cute. The spit that flies everywhere is not so cute.

April 10

I have had a hard time updating this since Kylee died. I just feel guilty that I get to wake up every morning and make memories with my family while Matt and their babies will never have that chance with their mom/wife. I know, that's not how Kylee would want all of us to feel, but I can't help it. Not a hour goes by that my heart still doesn't ache for my friend and his kiddos. Please continue to pray for them...

Cael had surgery yesterday, nothing serious, but it wasn't exactly easy for this momma! He was such a trooper! He didn't cry one time and still hasn't, even though he has to be pretty sore. I just kept thinking about people who have little ones who are sick and in the hospital all the time. I could not imagine! I spent most of the day thanking God over and over for a healthy baby. And that I have the chance to make memories with him.

(These pictures are from yesturday....yes, I am breaking the rules)

He was pretty drugged up when I took this picture. The hospital did such a good job taking care of all of us!





Mom, Dad and Cael ready to go home. Cael was cracking us up, as you can see in this picture he was still pretty out of it. His legs wouldn't work and he was pretty confused about that, but other than that he didn't complain about one thing. I love my baby!!

March 17

Tonight my heart is hurting. I received a phone call that a friend from college died today due to complications from a pregnancy. She had a seizer yesterday morning and her husband took her to the hospital. As a result of preeclampsia they did an emergency c-section but Kylee ended up leaving this earth tonight. I simply do not know a person who loved people and God more than Kylee. She was radiant, inside and out. Kylee loved to love people, she loved to love Jesus and she loved to teach people about Jesus. She had an infectious spirit and I am a better person because Kylee was in my life....she made me want to be a better person.

Her husband Matt is by far one of my favorite people. Some of my favorite memories of college are the times I spent with him. We had some serious fun together! I simply can not imagine what he is going through right now. Please pray for Matt as he faces this life without his bride by his side, their new baby boy, and their three older children who's life will never be the same without their momma!

My sweet sweet friend - I second what someone wrote on your facebook tonight "You get the party started....we're on our way."

March 16

We went on a nice long walk today. Someone got a little tired and needed a lift.

March 15

So I am going to have to either start posting my picture earlier in the day or just get use to having to post some the next day. One day we will have two computers again (I hope!).

These shoes have been on my feet a lot lately. Steve and I started the Couch To 5k program last week. We are only a week in and the very little running I am doing is getting much easier. I am excited to see how well we do and how long it actually takes us to run a 5K.

March 14

Cael got to talk to Grammy and Pop Pop tonight, he loves talking on the phone to them and is constantly trying to get me to call them. Now, if only he would do more talking when we actually get them on the phone.