We were able to make a trip to the zoo with Daddy. We always enjoy it more when Daddy can come.

I was reminded yesterday of the necessity to start my day off in fellowship with the Lord. So often it seems as if I spend time in prayer, but reading the word slips out of my reach. I find too many things that distract me. As a result, my daily reading sometimes becomes every other day or maybe hit and miss. I have been convicted over and over, knowing that the only way to have an intimate relationship wtih Christ is to be in His word. So this morning, after getting my boy off to work, I crawled under my covers and instead of falling back to sleep, I opened the word of God and enjoyed some sweet fellowship.

I am glad that I did. By 6:30 this morning, we had ran out of water. I have learned to adjust our life around our water supply. I can't do 5 loads of laundry and run our dishwater 3 times a day and expect to have water left. Everyone has to make shorter showers and I can only do 2, maybe 3 loads of laundry. I try to make it with only 2 runs of the dishwasher. It is very difficult. But this morning, there was no water left after Mark showered, I ran one load of laundry and Jacob showered. Sam hopped in and as soon as he did, it ran out. There wasn't even water to brush teeth. I had the kids use bottled water for that part. It is now nearly 8:00 am and I still don't think we have any water. I turned the pump off, though....we might have some. I think maybe what happened is that our water recycled at a bad time. All that to say, I am thankful for having been renewed in His strength, through His word. Any other time, I might have broke down crying or been very angry. But this morning I was prepared to handle it.


Elizabeth is enjoying the chickens immensely. I catch her, often, with her head under the blanket and scooted as close to the cage as possible. She sits and stares at them for long stretches of time. I joined her one time and enjoyed every minute of watching her. She sat and told me all about them. The sweetest thing she said to me was "Mommy (with a huge smile), the chicks shake their bottoms and then poop comes out". Ok... maybe that doesn't sound very sweet... but you should have heard her voice, seen the animation in her eyes and body, and watched her excitement. It was adorable. Then she preceeded to tell me all their names (it changes every hour). Often the names have to do with something she is thinking about or seeing. For example: She named one of them "Pictury" because she saw a picture.


Well the kids are back to school. Erin and Sam really had a very sad Spring Break. Having had to take lifeguarding classes through a real wrench in it. Sam had a volleyball match Saturday, but he did not get to see much playing time. The coach has him in a center's position (I think). The problem is, you need to be tall for it. Sam is not tall, yet. His good friend is much taller. The coach told him that he needed his tall player against the team. That makes me very sad. Sam has the skill, just not the height. He was pretty defeated by the end. Jacob spent most of his break having to hang out with Elizabeth and Ri, so it wasn't much of a break for him either. Oh well, that is just how things go sometimes.

The girls and I are heading to visit a couple of campuses this week. Erin is visiting a college in New York and I am hoping to swing by Emily's college so that I can see it. We are pretty confident that she will be attending BBC, but neither Mark nor I have seen it. It is only a few hours from the campus Erin is visiting so we are attempting to work a visit to Em's in.

Yesterday we got our chickens. Yep, we are raising chickens. We picked them up yesterday. I have NO clue how to raise chickens, I guess I will learn quickly. I had to throw something together to put the chickens in until they are big enough to go into the chicken coop Mark made. It is pretty rough, but it works just fine. The little ones are so intrigued by the chicks.



The excitement in her eyes is worth it all.
His eyes just light up... which is good because the junk all over his face needs hidden somehow! He just put on "lipstick". It's chapstick and his lips really needed it, but he thinks it is lipstick. Funny how it is cute at this age. I couldn't resist posting this just because he is so excited about the chicks. It is one of those pictures that you want to throw away because of how grose the mouth and nose is though!


It is spring break and everyone is off doing something, except for Jacob. He is trapped in our home with Elizabeth and Ri and no car. Erin has taken Emily's car for lifeguarding classes all week long. Emily has taken my van to go to Salt Fork with her best friend. So, that leaves Jacob at home... trapped. We wanted to do something fun and creative. Jacob is wonderful at coming up with ideas. Before I knew it, he was building a putt-putt course. I was so proud of him. Here is a part of the course. Since the picture, he has gotten very, very creative!

Jacob is such a great big brother. He really loves being with the little ones. It thrills his heart when they want him. Yesterrday, it was just Jacob, Elizabeth and Ri. We made a trip to the zoo. Both of the kids wanted Jacob's attention.


Ri, acting like a prairie dog.
"The things they make me do for my brother and sister"


A few nights ago, Emily had a concert. I am not sure if you can spot her, but I wanted to post my girls activity :).
Remebmer how I said that Emily worked her tail off to decorate for Sam's birthday? Well.. this is a portion of the result. She did a great job. Very creative!

It's spring break for the kids. Emily and her best friend spent the night in the woods in a tent. They had to have been frozen!!! It was COLD! But... I figure Emily is 18 and Alex is 17...they are big enough to make that kind of decision. Plus, I do remember having some incredible times with my friends at that age. I am so glad that they did it. They kept our dog in the tent with them (our orders) so that they would be safe.




Erin and Sam aren't having much of a break. In fact, they are in class 8 hours a day all week long! That's longer then they are in school. They are both taking a lifeguarding course. On the bright side, their favorite Aunt lives 10 minutes away from the pool, so they are camping out with her and their Uncle most of the week.

Jacob spent the night with his Mamaw and Papaw, so He is being treated like a king. I am sure he has had a Monk/Pysch marathon and as much food as he wants.

Happy Birthday Sam

Oh he was just about as cute as they came.. with a personality to boot. I remember the spark in his life, his imagination, his love for exploring. Oh the stories this little boy could tell! I wish I could have just one day back in each of his years of life and truly sit and enjoy every minute of it!
Sam was truly our "cowboy Sam". He wore cowboy boots everywhere and pretended to be a cowboy any chance he could.

Luke was Sam's very first real friend. You know, the kind of friend that your little one longs to be with, play with, and talks about all the time. Not the kind of friends that Ri and Elizabeth have ... the kind that they really don't know their names, but they like playing with them when they see them. ... Nope.. Luke was his true best friend. And, he still is. In fact, he is down in our basement as we speak. Luke is the friend who invited Sam to go to Poland with him last year. Their friendship is incredible. It is the kind that will last through just about anything. This picture was taken when the took safety school, just before going to Kindergarten.

And today... my son turns fifteen! I can hardly believe he is 15 years old. He is such an incredible blessing. He still has a spark for life. He still has a competitive spirit, though he has learned to tame it and control it. He still can make me smile; even when I am madder then a hornet at him. I remember when we just built our house. He was 2 years old (almost 3). I was upstairs taking care of Jacob when I heard him pounding the door. I kept telling him to wait. In my mind, I figured he just wanted to go outside and explore. He kept on pounding. When I came down, I saw a hammer in his hand and divits pounded in our brand new door. I tried very hard to be serious and angry with him. I was mad. Our house was brand new. But that spark in his eyes and his little smile melted my heart and I had to turn so that he could not see my cracking up. To this day, that child can still make me laugh in the midst of my rampage... even when my anger is completely justified!

He is developing into quiet the young man. He brings us much joy! We are so thankful for our son.

Our day was pretty uneventful. Sam made the high school volleyball team. He has never played volleyball before, so we are very proud of him. He had a scrimmage this morning, so we went to it. He did a great job. Then the kids decorated (Emily worked her tail off to make it special). Erin made a cake for him last night. And Jacob tried to wait on Sam, he even cleaned his room for him. Erin took Sam to the Y to practice for the pretest for the lifeguarding course they are taking all next week. Emily then took him to get a special movie to watch tonight. Then the kids grabbed airsoft guns and headed out to the woods. We hid Sam's presents near an old abandonned house. Sam had to make his way there while the other 3 hid. They were going to be snipers. It was fun to watch Sam make his way through the woods. At the end, he captured Jacob and made him tell him where the presents were. It was very funny. After that, Sam had 2 of his very best friends over.

Little Abby is having some tough, tough days in the hospital. Her Daddy has come up with wonderful ways to make her smile. A few days ago, he asked for her blogging friends to send her pictures of themselves with purple tongues. Then he printed the pictures and posted them on her hospital walls. Today, he asked for pictures of people sending her kisses. So the little ones and I decided to join in on the fun.

Life in the Miller home hasn't changed much. I've just not had the energy to sit down and write. I'm not really sure why, I just haven;t. My mindset seems to have changed recently. I am much more focused on my walk with God and on my family. It seems that i have lost the longing and desires I once had to sit at the computer and create. I spent hours playing around with photos, never really doing anything with the end result except for storing it on my computer. I have started countless books, only to store them in the computer and never publish them. I guess I don't need tht outlet as much anymore. One day, when the kids are grown, I'll sit down and finish every last one of those silly books I started! There are a few that I have made Mark promise he will print if God takes me home. And... if God calls me home before I complete a couple of them, I want them printed anyway...even half done. They are keepsakes for the kids.

I don't plan on God taking me home anytime soon.... but I am not God and do not know His plans. I am only in His hands and wanting, with all my heart, to be used of Him. This season of my life is a strange one. I am very much in the thick of college hunting/planning. I am taking Erin to New York in a couple of weeks and then turning around and taking Emily to Tennessee. There are lots of decisions, lots of deadlines, and way too many emotions going on! And in the thick of preparing for college, I am attempting to teach the beginnings of "school" to two four year olds! What an extreme!! We have been working on the beginning parts of reading. I made some flash cards with index cards. They are very simple... just words on an index card. I also had a deck of sight words that I have interspersed with my home-made cards. That was fine for a few times, but now the two beg for the sight cards. I think it is becuase they are so much more colorful then the homemade ones. SO.... I sat down with the kids on my lap and we created a few flash cards. Here is a sample of our cards:



All I have to do is cut them and they will be finished. They are so excited about them! So, as we begin a new sound, we will print up a new flash card set. It should be lots of fun!

So.. what is new? Well... Sam is turning 15 on Saturday. He made the high school volleyball team. He's never played before, so it should be a fun season. He and Erin are taking lifeguarding classes all during Spring Break (not a fun Spring Break). If they pass, they should be able to have a good job for the summer. Erin is heavily trying to recruit girls for the high school soccer team. She came home with a list of 30 some girls who showed interest. She is meeting with a different girl every night to spend some one-on-one time helping them. She is excited. She was also asked to help with a traveling girls soccer team. Emily is working hard. She is in the thick of some heavy workload at school. Her senior project is due in a month. We have thrown 2 colleges at her recently, so she is a bit overwhelmed at the thought of visiting them and applying for them as well. Jacob is back into soccer. Right now, he seems to have the strep throat/tonsilitis back. His tonsils are incredibly hugh!! We have to go tomorrow to have them evaluated by the doctor again.

Well, that is the just of our homelife right now. I hope to add a few of the sweet things the little ones do. They sure do warm your heart!

I love to listen to the sweet voices of Elizabeth and Ri. This morning, they are in another room preparing to go "camping". They found lunch bags and began to load up with anything that was in their reach. Elizabeth has just suggested that Ri hurry up so that they can go camping. I think she is a little exasperated with his need to grab everything. She just told him that she was going and wasn't waiting any longer. They are headed up the stairs into their room where we have made a tent. I think their bags are loaded with toys, mustard, grapes, and who knows what else. Oh how precious those sounds are.

Yesterday, we went on a long hike in the woods. It wasn't far, just a long. The kids were so fun to watch. Elizabeth is definitely the adventourous one. Ri follows her, but often hesitates before attempting something a little more difficult. She was finding logs that were over our small creek (with a foot wide of water) and she would announce that she found a bridge. She then would look at Ri and say "Come on, Ri, lets cross the bridge". They would do it several times and then ask me to follow them, proudly bragging on me when I "accomplished" the task. Then Elizabeth spotted some "mountains" to climb. She would go to the very steepest part of it and announce that she was going to climb this mountain. I would act as if it was an impossible task and she would assure me that it was not. Half way up, she would encourage Ri to come. The first few times, he did it quite willingly, very proud of his achievement. Either he got tired or he realized how steep the "mountain" truly was, I don't know, but he stood at the top of the "mountain" and watched Elizabeth go down. He then asked her "are you sure it's ok?". She very quickly and assuredly told him "sure, ... come on down!". He then hesitated, looked at me and said "I need help, mom.". So I smiled and grabbed his hand and we both "conquered" the downhill climb as well as several more "mountains". It was a fun day.

Ri's favorite book is the book that I made of his journey home. He sought me out and asked me to find his pictures book so he could read it with Aunt Susan.

Garland put in many hours to make Emily her special cow cake.

On Saturday, Mamaw had a birthday party for Emily. Before we surprised her with her gift to California, she had her heart set on a family birthday party. She never wanted to let go of that, so Mamaw had one for her. It was wonderful. Every member of Mark's immediate family was there as well as 2 very, very dear friends, Garland and Joyce. Garland made a very special cake for Emily. I think he must have worked for hours on it. It was incredible. He and Joyce found out that she collects cows, so they made her a cow cake. Her favorite color is purple, so they used purple as the primary color. How precious! Then our little neice, Lydia, made a cake for Emily as well. She made it all by herself! It was incredible. Emily was sure blessed by the love that was shown her.

Yesterday, Jacob had an EEG done on his brain. During the last episode of strep, he had passed out again. The doctor wants to make sure there is no seizure activity going on. I expect the test will come back normal. He also is wearing a heart monitor to make sure his heart is functioning properly. Again, I think it will be normal as well.

Erin and Sam found out that they will be able to work at our community pool over the summer. They just have to get their lifeguard license... which is becoming an item of prayer. We had them scheduled for next week, but found out the 2 most important activities in band are both next week as well. They are not allowed to miss any classes and are not allowed to miss band. Needless to say, I am very unhappy with the band director at this point for not allowing them to miss. BUt my kids reminded me that this has been on the schedule all year. It is not fair for me to be mad at him. They are right, but I am in a tough spot since they HAVE to have their licenses and right now this is the only time they can get it.

The little ones are now beginning the early stages of reading. They have learned all the AT words: at, cat, sat, hat, pat, rat, bat, mat. I checked out Hooked on Phonics from the library and am very happy with it. So, with that said, I am off to do some phonics.