My Daughter's First Day of School

Dear World, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a new dress with big blue eyes and a happy laugh that ripples all day long and a head of light brown hair that bounces in the sun when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.

She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to school.

Now she'll learn to stand in lines and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school bells and she'll learn to giggle and gossip and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy across the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.

Now she'll worry about those important things like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her dolls.

Today when that school bell rings for the first time she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group with all its privileges and its disadvantages too. She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud or kiss dogs or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.

Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.

So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl in a new dress with big blue eyes and a head of light brown hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.

I trust you'll treat her well.

catching up...

I KNEW I wouldn't keep up with this blog like I thought I would. Let's see, where do I begin...June 4th was my last day to keep babies. I am SUPER happy to be employed by Little Saints & Scholars now. I can't wait until preschool officially starts in September. Garrison finished 2nd grade and was promoted to 3rd grade. He received several awards at the end of the year and I was very proud of him. He had perfect attendance, outstanding citizenship, awards for library and computer and then best of all he made the A honor roll! So proud to be his mama. Charley and Garrison both took swimming lessons this summer. Garrison already knew how to swim but learned many more techniques. I wasn't sure how Charley would do but I'm proud to say she finally caught on and is swimming like a fish. We have been swimming a lot this summer so they don't forget what they learned. My mom spent a couple of weeks in the hospital and finally after many tests and cutting her open they finally diagnosed her with Crohn's. She is still recovering and apparently has a long road ahead of her. Garrison turned 8 on July 30 and we took him to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate. We all had a wonderful time. It's a really awesome place. This week we are spending our evenings at VBS. This is Charley's first time to be able to go and she loves it. They both had a great time last night. The bad news is Matt has planned a camping trip for us and we will leave on Wednesday so they won't be there the whole week.

Ok, I promise I will *try* to keep up with this more regularly. I'll also try to post some new summer pics soon.

dancing queen

You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen....

Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine...

Charley had her first dance recital on Saturday night. She was indeed a dancing queen. It was comical to see all of the little ones dance or not dance or lose their tap shoes or play with their dress. They all did really well though. We have a lot of friends that take dance with Ms. Gailyn so we were able to see them perform as well. We weren't able to take pictures during the recital but so I didn't get Charley in action. Here she in during rehearsal in her tap and ballet costumes.

big, floppy and fall-ie....

Just a quick tidbit of funniness...tonight my friend Susan and I took Charley, Kendall and Jackson to see "Hannah Montana The Movie". It turned out pretty good actually. On our way home Charley was begging to sleep in my bed so I finally told her she could when we got home. She was in her room putting on her pj's and I in my room putting on my pj's when she came through the door and just laughed. I said what? She said "mom, will my boobs be like that when I get big?" Not able to hold back my chuckle I said "like what?" She just had this look on her face with a crinkled nose and said "big, floppy and fallie". I seriously thought I was going to laugh myself to death right there. I don't know what goes through their heads but kids DO say the darndest things. I wanted to tell her that my boobs weren't quite so "big, floppy and fallie" until her and her brother came along but that's a conversation for another day. I'll remind her of this when she has her first baby. Gotta love 'em.

I'm out for now, gotta get up early in the morning for Charley's dance pictures. Hair, make-up and two costumes...oh my!

long time no post....

I know, I know. It's been a LONG time since I've posted. Our spring break trip was loads of fun and the weather was wonderful. Charley made a new friend and was really sad when she left two days before we left. This is Charley and her new "camping bff" Kyla.I swear Charley makes making friends look SO super easy. She just walks up to any given girl and they are instant best friends. Kyla lives all the way in Canyon, TX which is almost seven hours from Wylie. So we'll have this memory to cherish.

Garrison did a lot of bike riding with some boys that he met and was really bummed out that there was a burn ban in effect and we couldn't build a fire for him to play in. Although he did find something else to do to pass the time that he has never really done before....he mastered tree climbing 101 even wearing flip flops.
Of course Charley couldn't let him be the tree climbing expert without having some kind of assistance from her....
Our first stop was Dinosaur Valley State Park where our friends Sam, Lisa, Zach and Emily met us.




Before they got there Matt and Charley carefully mapped out our route...
















while Garrison widdled a stick...

and I took pictures.




















This water was C-O-L-D but it didn't phase them.












Zachary and Garrison lookin' tough, Charley and Emily protecting each other from that big dino behind them.



From Dinosaur Valley we went to another campground to visit our friends, the Hawkins and the Davis'. We had an enjoyable evening with them but had to get back to our campground before the gate closed at 10:00 and we were locked out for the night. And trust me, we made it JUST in time. We also went to Fossil Rim Wildlife Park where everyone else decided to visit that very same day. It's a drive thru safari type park where you get to feed the animals from your car. We saw many animals but Charley's favorite were the goats that she got to pet and brush. She tried kissing them and wanted to bring one home with us. Garrison didn't really feel the same way about goats as his sister.

Matt did find humor in this poor guy with a target plastered on his backside.

We left Lake Whitney on Wednesday and headed for Dublin to the Dr. Pepper Bottling Company where we were going to take a tour but it was spring break and they were packed and the next tour was three hours later. So we bought our DP paraphernalia and headed to Brownwood State Park. This is where Charley met Kyla, the tree climbing commenced and we just relaxed. We happened to be there when they had a carnival so of course we spent $1345 (so it seemed) riding a few rides and playing a few games but the kids again had a blast and that is priceless. One day we decided to walk a trail that was only like 3/4 of a mile but Charley wasn't having it from the get go. I threatened her and told her that the next time I heard her cry or whine that I was going to make her sit down and we would pick her up on our way out of the trail.

Do you seriously think she stopped? NO.

Do you seriously think that I made her sit and walked away. YES.

Garrison, being the concerned big brother, got her hand and walked with her. It was, at the same time, the funniest thing ever and the sweetest thing ever. He was whispering to her to stop crying and that he would hold her hand and walk with her.

But before we knew it, it was Sunday and was time to head home

and this is how we felt about it....

We did have a great time and can't wait for our next camping trip.

spring break here we come!!!!

We are off for our spring break camping trip. We are going to Dinosaur Valley, Fossil Rim Wildlife Park and the Dr. Pepper bottling company in Dublin and won't be back until next Sunday.

Hope you all have a great spring break!!

yet another busy weekend...then it's gone!

We had another somewhat busy weekend. On Thursday night we went to our friends the Blythe's house to play. Brooke and Charley play so well together and they say they are best friends. Melissa wasn't home so I took it upon myself to take care of the twins for her instead of letting Brandon try. We had pizza and I gave the boys a bath. I love those boys! I'm glad the Blythe's had twins and not the Miller's.

Here are Charley and Brookie~if you look closely you can see only about a third of the mess they made.

On Friday night Garrison, Charley and I went to our friends the Nalley's house and had dinner with them. Mitch grilled steaks and Susan made twice baked potatoes among other veggies that the Miller's don't even think about touching. I'm certain they were yummy though. Garrison spent the night with Jackson and I realized that was his first official sleep over with a friend. He has stayed with family but never a friend. On Saturday Charley and I went prom dress shopping with Kristin and Aunt Corina. Oh what fun! I think we were only at Whatchamacallit's for a couple of hours but it seemed like oh about a....month! Dress after dress Kris tried on and finally found her match. I can't believe this is her senior prom we were shopping for. Ugh! I did acquire a little blister on my thumb from zipping and unzipping about 538 dresses. That's just a rough estimate of how many dresses she tried on. Whew! By the way, I pray that Charley's taste changes before we go prom dress shopping for her. She kept picking out the most hideous dresses EVER! If it had flowers on it, she wanted Kristin to try it on. On Saturday night we were supposed to go to the 10th anniversary party for the church we attend but ended up not making it. We were going to be late so we just decided to not go at all instead of missing half of it. My friend Charlotte called and asked if I wanted to go out with the girls and I said why not! So we first went to a "girly party"and then to the Ranch House. You'll never believe that I'm not 21 anymore and apparently I can't drink margaritas like I did when I was 21. So my Sunday was spent not feeling all that great from those margaritas that my good friend Brad kept feeding me. I did see a lot of old friends though. We had a fun night. Sunday night Garrison and I went to the "Wylie Motor Speedway" to race slot cars at our friends, Liz and Todd's race track. It was a little get together for Todd, he was baptized at church yesterday. James made a YUMMY sopapilla cheesecake. I could have seriously eaten every. single. bite of the entire cake. Good job James!

Yet another weekend has passed and our weeds have gone unpicked. UGH!!!!

The time change has not faired well in the Miller house. It was 10:15 last night when I realized that the kids tv's were still on and they were still wide awake. It took forever for them to go to sleep last night.

Have a great Monday!

Interview with Garrison & Charley about mom

Interview with Garrison, age 7 1/2 yrs old

1. What is something mom always says to you? not to mess with things
2. What makes mom happy? doing things she wants me to do
3. What makes mom sad? I don't listen
4. How does your mom make you laugh? tickle me
5. What was your mom like as a child? had brown hair and brown eyes like you do now
6. How old is your mom? 33
7. How tall is your mom? 7 and 2 quarters
8.What is her favorite thing to do? go shopping!!
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? watch kids
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? be a model (don't I wish!)
11. What is your mom really good at? kissing (WOW!)
12. What is your mom not very good at? nothing (he's already a man with all the right answers)
13. What does your mom do for her job? watch kids
14. What's your mom's favorite food? mashed potatoes and steak
15. What makes you proud of your mom? buying me stuff
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Sponge Bob
17. What do you and your mom do together? go shopping (with quite a flustered look on his face as he answers!)
18. How are you and your mom the same? blue jeans
19. How are you and your mom different? oh that's easy, brown eyes and blue eyes
20. How do you know your mom loves you? because you are awesome
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Cheddar's

Interview with Charley, age 4 1/2 years old

1. What is something mom always says to you? put Sadie up
2. What makes mom happy? kissing
3. What makes mom sad? getting my chart signed
4. How does your mom make you laugh? toot (what!!?? not me!)
5. What was your mom like as a child? liked to go to the store (so I started early!!)
6. How old is your mom? 10
7. How tall is your mom? 7 inches
8.What is her favorite thing to do? SHOP!
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? go to the movies
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? because you were going to a show at Mavericks
11. What is your mom really good at? taking us somewhere, like you try to but you didn't
12. What is your mom not very good at? drawing trees (I don't recall ever drawing a tree...?)
13. What does your mom do for her job? you work
14. What's your mom's favorite food? corn
15. What makes you proud of your mom? letting me stay out when the other kids have to come in
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Dora
17. What do you and your mom do together? we shop 'til we drop then crawl (I'm teaching her WELL!!!)
18. How are you and your mom the same? because I got my hair cut, our hair is the same
19. How are you and your mom different? because you're bigger (as she pushes my fat roll)
20. How do you know your mom loves you? because you kiss me
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? shopping (with an evil laugh)

stay tuned for the interviews about dad...

a busy weekend...

This weekend was busy for us. On Saturday I did a lot of running around trying to figure out a way to make the Washington Monument on a cake for Garrison's Blue and Gold Banquet. After looking at every.little.thing at Michael's I finally found what I was going to use. Whew, then I had to get back home and make the cake and decorate it. I know, I know, nothing like waiting 'til the last minute. Here is my attempt at the Washington Monument. I thought I did a pretty good job if I might say so myself.

Of course we didn't win the cake contest but we had a lot of compliments. My cub scout has now earned his Wolf Badge and is ready to move on to do the things he needs to do to earn his Bear Badge. On Sunday Charley went to see her cousin Paige at her cheerleading competition with Uncle Chip and Grandma Barbie. She had a lot of fun and it made her want to cheer that much more. We took Garrison to see Paul Blart: Mall Cop while Charley was gone, it was pretty funny.

Yesterday morning before church we were still laying in bed and Garrison said he was stronger than me. So I told him "it's on buck-o". We arm wrestled and had thumb wars and he finally told me I was "telligence"'. I said WHAT!? He said "you are telligence and I am telligent". I said what does that mean? He said "telligence means weak and telligent means strong". He's such a goof ball, I have no idea where he comes up with these things.

Happy Birthday Nannie!

Yesterday was my mom's 60th birthday. I hope you had a wonderful birthday mom. Words can never express how much I love you. You have always been there for me and help me in any way possible. If you had to give me the shirt off your back and your last dollar, you would indeed. I love you for this and for many other reasons that go unsaid. We love you! Happy 60th birthday!

Welcome!

So this is my first blog and I'm still trying to figure it all out. I have tried for so many years to keep a journal or diary for my kids and it happens for a day or two and then I don't have the time to sit and actually write. I thought this would be an easy way to keep up with the funny things they say or do and our special occasions. Wonder how long I can keep it up. We'll see.

Yesterday Charley got in the truck from school and has this bizzare look on her face and said "Mom today we learned about stash Thursday" and said it as if she was questioning it. It was so funny, I immediately knew what she meant and said "you mean Ash Wednesday"? She said "yeah, how do you know?" A friend asked what Charley had given up for Lent and I told her I think she gave up being good at school because she got in trouble for the first time. When I saw her chart had a sad face and said Chaaaarrrrrleeeyyyyy, she turned on the tears and my heart melted. It wasn't just crying, it was screaming sobbing with huge crocodile tears. Yes my four year old already knows how to put on a show. When Garrison found out he was SO relieved that the pressure had been taken off of him and started asking her why she got in trouble and trying to tell her that she shouldn't have been naughty and then in turn said "Garrison it's none of your business". Matt and I just look at each other, laugh quietly and shake our heads.