I Remember When........

Ok, so I was looking through some of my old photos on my computer and I saw some cute ones that I just have to share with everyone!! They are so special and precious!! I can't believe how fast our little ones grow!! I wish I would have had digital photos of Hannah as a baby because the youngest I can go with her is 3yrs. So, if you want, take a trip down "memory lane" with me....

Hannah in January 2004, yes she's in short sleeves because we lived Texas!! Nice and warm there, almost all year round. I used to love putting her hair into little pony tails because she looked so cute!! And the pose she's doing in this one is a "Hannah original". She started doing it about this age and has yet to stop.

Pretty in "Orange". I loved that outfit!! I had to pin the shirt to the shorts or else the top turned into a belly shirt which doesn't happen in our house. She always looks so so good in the bright colors! She has such beautiful skin!!

This is Hannah dressing up like "mommy". I definitely took it as a compliment! And, yes, I ALWAYS carry around my maracas with me wherever I go!! You better believe it!! I just remember how proud she was and I also remember it took her quite a while to get her "mommy" outfit just right!! A masterpiece!!

Hannah and one of her many, many CareBears! She was obsessed with CareBears and to be quite honest, she still loves them! I just remember her doing her "CareBear Stare" at every fly, butterfly, ant, or any other creepy-crawly that would come her way. She believed whole-heartedly that the CareBear Stare would send them a packing! I remember one time, when she was quite young probably about 2-2 1/2 yrs., we were staying at a hotel and she was trying and trying to get up onto the bed. Well, she was just too little but I found it entertaining to watch her try. Then she got her little serious face on and went over and stood by the door. Then with all her might she poked out her belly, placed her hands on her belly, then with a loud voice yelled, "Care....Bear....Stare!!!" and then ran full-force towards the bed. I was somewhat taken back by it because like I said before, she usually only "stared" bugs, but I quickly reacted and when she tried to leap onto the bed (she was in no way going to make it) I grabbed onto the waist of her pants and helped the "CareBear Stare" out, just a little bit! I still get a good laugh when I envision it in my mind! She is just so creative and amazing to me!

Cute little Hannah on one of her Preschool Fieldtrips! She had a lot of fun at this pumpkin farm. I just can't believe she's now in 1st grade, when this photo feels like it was taken yesterday!! How does that happen?!?

Hannah and her brand new baby brother!! Gabe is 1 day old in this photo and this was the first chance Hannah had gotten to see and hold him. Don't they look adorable together?!?

Pure love...Pure bliss!! Hannah had waited so long for a baby brother when the time finally came, it was perfect, it was love at first site!!

Gabe was 8 days old in this photo. Isn't he cute!?! I can't even really remember him being this little. I am so thankful for photos because without them, I'd forget actually how little my children once were!!

Hannah and 12 day old Gabe, at Hannah's preschool graduation. I can't believe how little Gabers looks in that carseat!!

This is Gabe's first 4th of July photo. We had our friends out visiting us! Gabe's little shirt says "lil' firecracker" on it. And at the time I guess it really didn't fit his personality BUT it sure does now!! If you don't believe me, just watch him during church!! He's a crazy little man!!

This photo was taken July 29th when Grandpa Matthew was out from Florida for a visit. I just can't help but smile when I see this photo. I love Gabe's BIG eyes!!

This is a classic Gabe face. When he was little you could always tell when he was wondering or amazed at something because this is the look he'd get on his face. This time, if I remember right, he was interested in the camera. I think he was trying to figure out the flash!!

Gabe and his Hero, Da-Da! We had gone to a local corn maze and spent some time together as a family. I think Gabe's little hat is too cute!!

This is little Gabe on Halloween night, 2006. It was cold, as usual, and so we had to wrap him up in his stroller. You can probably hardly tell, but he was a football player and a cute on at that!!

Well, that's it for now but I'm sure I could have gone on forever!!! But I will spare you the endless photos that I have taken of my children. They are such a miracle in my life and I couldn't imagine one day without them!! How blessed I am! How truly blessed I am!!

Tooth Fairies & 72 hr Kits!!

Ok, so we have had an incomplete 72 hr kit in a very large tub stored out in the garage for several years now!!! I have recently sensed that I should put the items into back packs, update them, and complete the kits. I took the opportunity yesterday, (because I was bored, Hannah's at school now.....ALL DAY!!!) to pull out all of the stuff that we've stashed here or there, for the 72 hr kit, along with the huge incomplete tub from the garage. I was amazed at how much stuff we really had, though it wouldn't have done us any good in an emergency, since it was spread throughout the house, basement, and garage. I have spent the past two days doing a checklist and packing the items into the nifty new backpacks we ordered through our Stake. I am happy to say that we just need some light-weight clothing and a few other odds & ends and we will have a COMPLETE 72 HR KIT!!! YIPPEE!!!! We are going out tonight and getting the rest of the items, so if there's an emergency tomorrow, we will be SO ready for it!! This is a major accomplishment for me because I am always worried about there being an emergency and not being prepared. There, for sure, will be a major sense of peace that will come by having the kit finally complete!!

Hannah lost her 8th tooth 2 nights ago! She was bound and determined to get that tooth out. She was up in the bathroom just wiggling, tugging, and twisting away!! And, as I knew she would, she got it out!! She was so proud!! Her last tooth she lost last month, while on vacation. Our friend's family tooth fairy visited her but didn't take the tooth because their family's tooth fairy leaves the teeth for the kids. So, Hannah got to keep her last tooth. So with this one she left a note saying that she would not only like to keep this tooth but that she would like her other teeth back!! Seemed simple enough, right? Well, the tooth fairy forgot to come (which I'm sad to say has happened in that past. Good thing that last time, Greg had seen on the news that the Tooth Fairy was sick that night..........uuuuuummmmm........OK, whatever works!!) which made for a rather heart-breaking, attitude-filled, temper-tantruming morning!!! After some swift maneuvering on my part, she "miraculously" found her dollar bill mixed up in her comforter, while making her bed!! Shwoo, that was a close one!!! So the Miller family tooth fairy returned last night again and left all of Hannah's other teeth for her. Mission accomplished!!

Our Summer Vacation!

this is really old post. I'm thinking maybe since I never finished it and never posted it, it's stopping me from being able to upload my blog....we'll see!





I just thought I would do a quick post about our really fun vacation this summer. I will have to condense it quite a bit because the kids and I were gone for a month and a lot of pics are taken within a month. I will pick my favorites and share them with you.




Our vacation started in Tequesta, Florida where my father lives. We flew in and spent a few days with him before heading to Disney World. We mostly just hung out and enjoyed one-another's company. We did go to the beach so here's a few photos from that fun trip...

Daddy and son just hanging out in the water. This was Gabe's first time to the beach!

Hannah and Grandpa Matthew.

After hanging out in Tequesta, we headed to Disney World. Grandpa Matthew came with us for one day and then Grandma Lulu (JoAnn) came and spent the rest of the time with us. Our friends, the Hubniks, who live in Tomball, Texas, also met us at Disney. We had a lot of fun!! I think we were there about a week. Here are some highlights from that fun adventure.

Swimming at the pool.

Meeting the Characters

First Day of 1st Grade!!!

Hannah started 1st grade today!! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She was up bright and early this morning and already doing her chores before I crawled out of bed. I was just laying there and I could hear her sneaking around the house doing stuff. I was proud of her and I was happy that she was so excited to go to school. We walked to school and things went well. Gabe & I went over for her first lunch, in the lunchroom, and of course, took a picture. I really enjoyed putting her lunch bag together, this morning. That may sound weird but that is one of the things that I have been looking forward to with her starting school. When I picked her up from school, her first question was if she could go to her friend's house and play. So, I didn't get an "I missed you" or "I'm so happy to see you" or anything like that. But I could see excitement on her face so I agreed but it turned out that Alexcia's parents weren't home so Hannah didn't get to play. Maybe next time!

Here are some photos from the BIG day....

Hannah just before walking to school.

Hannah with her new teacher, Miss Chappell.

Hannah eating in the lunchroom, for the first time.

You've Got To Be Kidding Me!!!

So, today we went over to the school so that Hannah could meet her new teacher, Miss Chappell, and see which "track" she would be on. I was happy when I saw that she was on "B" track which meant she'd be going to school at 9:15 am instead of 8:15 am. So it started out great!! Then we went on the hunt to find her classroom which ended up being one of the portables (we have about 10, I think) that are located outside on the school grounds. I was a bit upset about that but felt some relief when we found out that by early next year they would have an actual classroom. They are adding onto the school and that's when the other rooms are projected to be finished. So, I let that go because I didn't want to stress about something that didn't need to be stressed about and I gave myself a pat on the back because that's hard for me to do!!! So, Hannah's teacher seemed nice enough and she ended up having several kids in her class that she knew. She even ended up with the girls she had pre-school with & carpooled with last year for Kindergarten. I was happy and she seemed happy so it was going to turn out to be a "happy" day, right?!?! That may have been the case until I asked Hannah's teacher when she would be going to lunch so that I could come eat with her sometime. I knew I wasn't going to like the answer when she hesitated before answering. When she finally told me that Hannah would be eating lunch at 10:45 am, I about died!!!!! "You've got to be kidding me!!!" I said, but she wasn't!!! I didn't know what to do! If she was going to school at 9:15 and then eats lunch not even 2 hours later, she's not even going to eat at all because she's not going to be hungry!!!! And then come 1 pm she's going to be starving!!!! Who runs these schools, anyway?!?! It's obvious that they don't have kids in 1st grade, that's for sure!! I, of course, was beside myself and didn't know what to do. I went and stood in the never-ending line at the office to see if there was anything I could do. When I finally got to inquire about the situation, all I pretty much got was "Sorry, there's nothing we can do" in a not-so-caring manner. I then went back to Hannah's teacher and asked if Hannah would be allowed to eat a snack during her 2nd recess. Her teacher already knew that there was going to be a problem so she had already alotted a period for "snack time" and was planning on giving the kids pretzel's, crackers, etc. I went on to say that I would like to send Hannah with something that's a little more filling and nutricious because she doesn't want to deal with Hannah when she has low-blood sugar! Her teacher was fearful that the other kids would feel bad and left out if some kids had something other than the pretzels, etc. So, I then encouraged her to inform the other mothers about the completely insane lunchtime and maybe they too, would like to send their child with something to eat, that isn't pure carbs. I did get her to agree with me and I will be sending Hannah with 2 snacks, one for lunch (because she won't really be hungry) and one for snacktime.

I swear, I should have just home schooled!!! That thought continues to cross my mind but I will try this out and see if I need to take control or not! Hannah's excited about her friends so I don't want to take that from her unless I feel it is for sure needed!!

Tomorrow is the first day of school and I will have photos to post so check back!!!

Shailee, My New Arrival, Major Disappointments & a CTR Cash Update

So, this weekend we went down to Price to see my neice, Shailee, sing at the local fair. It was great to see them because I haven't in over 4 months. Shailee did a wonderful job singing a Charlette Church song. She received tons of applause after her performance. I was so proud!! Here's a picture of her just after she performed, she was just beaming!! Isn't she beautiful?!?!

My new fridge arrived on time this past Wednesday, and I was so excited!! I have to say that I love it more now than I did at Bestbuy!! It is just so perfect for me. Those drawers on the bottom hold SO MUCH!! It is totally unbelievable!!! I had a "saying goodbye" luncheon for a friend of mine the day after my fridge arrived. I received many compliments on my family's new addition!! Now the one downfall of my obsessions delivery is that the salesman told me it came with the stuff to hook up the water/ice with, BUT it DIDN'T!! So, I went out today and purchased a "so-called" ice maker kit but I was totally clueless on how to get it together. I am usually really good at figuring stuff like that out but I couldn't. I think I may have purchased that wrong thing or something because it wasn't about to work the way it said it was suppose to!! Anyway, I put it back in the packaging and I will be returning that puppy first thing tomorrow. Then I will head out to Home Depot and walk around the isles like I'm totally clueless so that I nice male worker will come over and save me!! I will have the worker explain every step for me and maybe even make him write it down. But no matter what, I am going to have that thing up and running before Greg gets home from Denver (thurs). He will be so impressed that I did it all by myself that he won't care that I'm thinking that I need to get a new stove, dish washer, and microwave to match my shiny, new, stainless steel refrigerator with running water & ice!! :)

This past week, Hannah started her new dance class. She has been waiting for this to start since school ended. She had a hard time with the fact that she wouldn't have the same teacher this year in school and she had an even harder time when she realized that her teacher wasn't even going to be teaching anymore (she had a baby in July). She wasn't going to be able to see Mrs. Kamauu again. Devastation!! Well, we found out that Mrs. Kamauu was going to be teaching at a local dance academy, so of course, we quickly signed up and Hannah was thrilled!!! So, the day finally came and Hannah talked about how excited she was the whole way there. When we arrived I realized that Mrs. Kamauu wasn't there but I assumed that since she just had her baby, she had someone subbing for her. Well, I asked the dreadful question (if the lady was subbing for Mrs. Kamauu) and she informed us that she is the teacher of this class and that she would be Hannah's teacher for the year. Hannah about lost it!! I felt so bad for her!! I was so mad at the owner who insisted Mrs. Kamauu was teaching the dance class that I signed Hannah up for. Hannah cried quite a bit during the class but afterwards she decided that she would keep coming even though she was very disappointed and sad!!! I think she made a brave choice. Here she is just moments before the devastation hit!! Isn't she adorable!?!

Quick update on the CTR cash...........it's working WONDERFULLY!!!! In fact, Hannah was able to purchase her first item from "Miller's Market" this evening. She had gone back and forth between the tooth fairy, the Webkin, and the Peter Pan toys. Well, she ended up purchasing the Peter Pan toys for 3 CTR dollars!!! She was so excited and so proud!! She did a great job of saving her CTR cash. She didn't even once spend it on TV, or computer, or on an item that was less than $3. She was a little girl on a mission to get the item she wanted and I'm so proud and happy that we was able to succeed in doing so!!! Here's a photo of her with a couple of the Peter Pan figures....

Well, that's about it for now! TTFN!

"Family Emergencies, Old Friends, & Something Cool"

So this week has been filled with a bit of drama. We received a call informing us that my brother was in the hospital due to a minor heart attack. My brother is only 36 yrs old, so the news was very shocking! So the couple days following the phone call were filled with trips to airports & phone calls from relatives. Very stressful!! But it turns out that the Dr in the ER was incorrect because the testing stated that it actually wasn't a heart attack but some sort of digestion issue. I couldn't understand the medical "jargon" but the issue is obviously not as severe as a heart attack would have been. So, it was quite dramatic and emotional BUT it all turned out OK!!

After taking my mom to the airport (she was heading to Arizona) I decided to go to Kohl's to use my "Kohl's Cash" that I earned while shopping with Karie, in Texas! (Ok, we were just running to Wal Mart for a couple things but we chose to take "the scenic route", that's what we told Ken, which just so happened to take us to Kohl's.) Anyway, while shopping I ran into a friend from high school. It had easily been 7 or 8 years since I had seen her. It was funny how this "coincidence" happened on the day that I was cleaning my house (hair pulled back/no make-up on) and I had to leave just to run my mom to the airport!! You know me, I'm not too caught up in the "look my best every second of the day" scene but in this situation I really wish I could have looked at least presentable!! Anyway, I know that sounds vain but it's true.

Now for the EXCITING news!!!! I purchased a new refrigerator today!!! Ok, now to those of you who have a normal sized fridge, this may not seem like a big event but to those of us, with a teeny-tiny one, it's a BIG day!! I have been doing some research the past couple of days and I wanted to compare two that I had narrowed it down to. I went to Bestbuy to show Greg one of the refrigerators I was thinking about. I was talking with the sales associate who was explaining to me that they didn't have it out on display, when I noticed that Greg was looking at a very different looking fridge. I was curious, so I walked over to where he was. Let's just say that it took a whole 3 seconds for me to fall in love with that fridge!! Greg's eyes got HUGE because he knew I wasn't going to be happy with anything else. It's kind-of like the "ignorance is happiness" thing. If I wouldn't have known that fridge had existed, then I would've been perfectly happy with one of the other two I had been looking at BUT there was no turning back!! To make him smile, I turned to him and said, "Just like on Napoleon Dynamite, when the lady sees the bonus with the Tupperware set..........I WANT THAT!!" Greg laughed and I got my fridge!!! They are delivering it on Wednesday and I just can't wait!! I am so so excited!! Here's a couple of pictures of it.....



Notice the four-door feature. It's really cool because the bottom two drawers can be either a freezer or a refrigerator!!! Can you believe that?!?! I always have issues with too much produce and not enough space!! This way I can actually have the top-right side as a refrigerator and BOTH bottom drawers as refrigerators!!! Totally cool!!! We have a freezer out in our garage so cutting a little of the freezer space is just fine with me! I must say that the pictures don't do it justice, so you'll all just have to take a trip to my house to come see my new, amazing fridge!!! When you arrive, I'll be hanging out in the kitchen, just staring at my new "golden calf" :)

Oh, one more thing, if it were up to Greg we would have came home having purchased a refrigerator that had a built in TV on the front of it. And not only that, it had another screen where you could store all your recipes, family pictures, or if you want you could access the local weather on it!!! Hello!?!?! When did the manufacturers of refrigerators decide to target the MEN market?!? Totally unbelievable!!