Sam found a turtle just after he got off lifeguarding and I was taking him to band. He made me turn around to get it (so it wouldn't be run over). We took it and released it at the creek. The little ones loved it. After the release, I convinced Jaoob to take a few pictures for me (practice for senior picture that I am going to be taking soon). Elizabeth was reluctant at first then really got into it. Ri did as well.

Erin made the paper again. It is always fun to see the girls on the team make the paper. Here is the link for her picture. http://www.mountvernonnews.com/local/09/08/26/image-gallery (she is the last picture, so click the arrow on the left to get there quick)

It has been awhile, but a few weeks ago we took the kids (minus Erin and Emily) to Kings Island. It is always fun to see the excitement in the kids eyes as they ride the rides. They were both big enough to ride an "big kids" roller coaster (well... big for them!).





(a little tuckered out)

I thought I would share a sample of Erin and Sam's schedule. This week it went like this:
Monday - In early for an officer's meeting (left at 6:30am). School until 2:30, Erin had practice at 2:45 - 5:15/30. Sam had to be at the field by 4:00 for his game at 5:30, so he stayed after school. Erin came to Sam's game. Sam had to stay for the varsity game and Erin wanted to stay. They left at 9:15 but we had no water, so they went to my parents and showered. They walked in the door near 10:00pm and finished up homework.
Tuesday - In early for another officers' meeting (left at 6:30). School until 2:30. Sam had practice after school until 5:30. Erin had to be at the field by 4:00 for her game, so she just stayed after school. Sam joined us at the game, after practice. We all stayed until Erin's game was over (9:15 or so). Then we headed to my parents for the kids to shower (still no water). Got home 10:25.
Wednesday - In early for another meeting (6:30 again). School until 2:30. Erin had practice after school until 5:30. Sam had to catch a bus at 4:00 for an away game, so he stayed after school. Erin then went with a friend to grab something to eat before heading to church at 7:00. Sam go home at 7:45 and went to church where both had a SALT team meeting (leadership). They didn't pull into our drive until 9:15/30 (we finally had water for them to shower here).
Thursday: another meeting, so in early. School until 2:30. Both had soccer practice until 5:30. Then they had marching band practice from 6:00 - 9:00. They pulled into our house around 9:35. Finished homework and showered.
Friday: (today's schedule). They got to sleep in (until next Friday when FCA begins). School until 2:30. Soccer until 5:30, at 6:00 they have to be at the football field preparing for marching band. They won't be done until close to 10:00.

Don't you all wish you were teens again and able to keep that kind of pace?????!!

Finally, please pray for Emily. She LOVES school so I am not requesting prayer for homesickness or anything like that. She just needs prayer. Lots of new things in her life. One specific is that she begins work study soon and she is a little overwhelmed with the idea of all the homework she is experiencing and fitting in work.

Jacob is enjoying the time we have here at home. I see some real joy in him. That is worth more then words can say.

Emily and Bethany met at Skyview Baptist Ranch several years ago. They have become quite close friends. Bethany is the one who asked Emily to join her when she went to Baptist Bible College on a college visit. Emily had never heard of BBC before then.
Emily knew right away that BBC was where God wanted her to go. BEthany was not planning to come to BBC, but God worked things out and Emily was thrilled to hear that Bethany was coming as well.
Both girls were so excited that the other was coming. They decided to become roommates. Bethany is a wonderful young lady who loves the Lord with all of her heart. We are so thankful for her steadfastness and her love for Emily. She and Emily are very good for each other.
Yes, I am actually very thankful for texting! She is so sweet to send me one daily (and more).
I LOVE this shot!

Playing in the rain before Em left.... a wonderful memory! I miss my girl....<








Hey, I'm finally able to post pictures. Hold on tight, I have been requested to post several.

I have officially paid for the extra photo storage, so I should be good to go later today. It takes 24 hours; but I ordered it yesterday morning.

Emily's classes went well, though she only had 2. Today she has the other 4 classes. She is really growing up. It is amazing me. I love waking up in the morning with a new text from my little girl (one she texts at 1:00 am - oh the college life!). I believe she will be addicted to coffee in no time!

Erin played her first game of the season last night. Unfortunately, they lost. The first half was incredilby fun to watch. It was very intense. Erin scored the only goal for our team. But it wasn't enough. It is a very young team (several freshman).

Elizabeth and Ri really enjoy going to the games. They play the whole time. It is fun to watch them.

We began homeschooling yesterday, though most of the day was spent getting ready for the year. We planned out Jacob's entire year's schedule. We hope to really get into the swing of it today.

We are still without water. It seems par for the course in our life. I can't count the number of times I have posted that we are out of water. We know for sure that we need to replace the pump, what we do not know is wheter there is any additional water available. We are facing a decision to risk spending a great deal of money to have soemone dig deeper and never really hit water. So I am asking for prayer. We need wisdom as to how much money to spend and whether to have someone dig. If we dig deeper and it is a much deeper, then the pump we need to buy is different then the pump we need to buy if we choose not to dig. My biggest prayer, right now, is that we have an abundance of water available!

Emily starts classes today. She has found new friends and has at least one in each of her classes. Sam played a game last night. When we left the game, they were leading 8-0. Erin plays tonight. I always enjoy going to their games.

Elizabeth and Ri are truly best of friends. They will play for hours. Their imaginations amaze me. I don't ever remember the others playing "pretend" so often. Elizabeth's favorite choice of toys is a stuffed animal. Often the animal is small in size (kind of like a beanie baby), though she has a few favorite medium size animals. Ri still favors puzzles and drawing/coloring.

My message to Emily - baby girl, I am praying for an incredible day. I can't wait to hear about your classes. I love you. You are on my mind constantly, though I am praising God that you are where you are!

I have thought about the faithfulness of God recently. I wish I would think of it more often. But, sometimes life grabs hold of me and I forget. This weekend was an incredible one and one in which it would be hard to not remember God's faithfulness. We have prayed for months about BBC and Emily attending it. Neither Mark nor I had seen it nor had we known anything about it before Emily had her heart set on it. So all we could do is pray. I also had been praying about the transition for Em; that us leaving her there would not be too hard on her. God went far beyond anything I had ever dreamed of asking.

I was sharing with a good friend about my emotions and thoughts of our moment of having to say goodbye; knowing that I would be leaving my little girl at a place 7 1/2 hours away... not knowing when I would see her next. I imagined that Emily and I would both be sobbing and that I would be in tears quite often and probably at times I least expected it. But God had given us such an incredible peace that Emily was where He wanted her to be that the last emotion I felt was sadness. I am so excited for her! It is time for Emily to have the focus on her instead of her focusing on helping out around here. I want her to experience life to it's fullest. I want her to have time without 2 little ones at her feet and without constantly trying to make my life easier. I want her to have this time for HER! And she is just bubbling. I think that she had no idea the burden that she felt at home, trying to make my life easier. She took the eldest role very seriously. She felt responsibility to fill in the gaps in my life. I love her for that, but I want the focus on her and for her to grow without the burdens of younger children. Oh how I am excited for my little girl! I can't wait to watch God's plan unfold.

As for the rest of our life, we are experiencing lots of challenges; but I am reminded of God's faithfulness. When we arrived home, we faced the challenge of our well. We have NO water and haven't had any since we left. We run out of water nearly daily, though until Friday morning when we left, it had been a few weeks since we had run out. We were rather surprised that it ran out so quickly that morning but we never thought about it because we loaded up into the van and left. On Sunday, I was a tad bit irritable. Mark gave me a look that lovingly made me realize how irritable I was being. I smiled and gave him a hug saying "This weekend has been tough, I didn't need to come home to no water". He smiled and held me and simply said "yes you did". I knew what he meant. It made me laugh. I told him "Ok, but I didn't want it".

He is right, you know. Romans 8:28 says And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So I know that I must need this and that God will work it out for my good. I am choosing to rejoice even though at times I really, really want my water back and I know that we are facing the high possibility of having to dig a deeper well and replace a pump.

Erin has received some good news from one of the colleges that her heart has been set on. She is in a situation of having 3 different colleges offer her a scholarship. It is a nice problem to have. She needs to spend time in prayer so that she can choose the right college (not necessarily the dream college, but the one that God would have her to be). It is difficult not to make decisions based on finances; especially during this day and age. But having left Emily at BBC, I am even more convinced that finances are not the determining factor!

She was selected as one of the captains of her soccer team. She and one of her best friends are co-captains. It is neat to see them as the leaders. They both deserve that honor. I think I have mentioned this before, but I felt compelled to mention it again. As school begins, she has some tough responsibilities. She is taking 2 (maybe 3) AP classes (college level) with no study hall. She is a section leader in the marching band, captain of the varsity soccer team, President of the Senior class, President of student council, vice-president of the National Honor Society, Senior Mentor, Dare ambassador, Big Buddy, a member of the debate team, and a member of FCA. I think I hit it all, but who knows with Erin. She is hoping that these accomplishments will help her gain some scholarships for college. Despite receiving very nice soccer scholarships, there is still a nice balance; especially if she were to choose a christian school.

Sam has an incredibly hard schedule as well. He is taking a block class of chemistry and biology. It is very tough to do. He is also taking honors geometry and honors English and Spanish III. He has no study halls. He is playing on the JV soccer team and in the marching band. He is also still guarding at our pool (until Sept 7). With soccer and Marching band, neither Sam nor Erin will be able to get home until 9:00 or later at night. It is very crazy!

Jacob is very excited about homeschool. We will begin some today. He is very intersted in the stock market right now, so we are planning to do some "mock investing". He was very intrigued by some abstract art work at the fair this year. So he has scupted a man out of chicken wire. It really is amazing. He is now paper macheing it. Once it is completed, he will put news articles/ magazine ads/ etc on it to represent that what we read shapes us. It is an amazing concept. I am really excited about it.

Well, I am planning on breaking down today and purchasing more space on the web. I just have to actually do it. Hopefully we will be posting pictures by tonight.

Emily - I love you, baby! Have a great day at school. Enjoy your last "free" day. I will be praying for an incredible beginning of classes.

We are finally home. We left without a tear shed. I think that is amazing. Emily absolutely loves BBC. I got a text last night at 12:20 am. It read like this: I LOVE IT HERE! tHIS IS BEYOND AMAZING! :) Both Mark and I were at peace by the time we had left her that night. We knew that she was where she needed to be. The college is equipping the kids with far more then an education; there is an eternal focus. But getting that message in the middle of the night was more then I could have asked for. It made leaving her today much easier. As soon as I can, I will post pictuers of her dorm room, she and her roommate, and the campus.

Elizabeth and Ri did a wonderful job staying with Mamaw. Not a tear was shed on that end either. In fact, when I called them this morning, neither wanted to talk. I was thrilled to know how much they didn't miss me. It would have been just too emotional for me to be leaving Emily and to have 2 little ones screaming for me 8 hours away.

It was a hard trip home. We hit probably 10 spots of construction. It caused us to add an extra hour or more onto the trip. When we pulled in, we discovered that we are out of water. THis time, I think it is a permanent thing. We don't know if the pump is gone or the well is dry or what.... but it isn't good and it won't be cheap.

It has been a hard weekend. We praise God for Emily's roommate, dorm parents, and the girls in her dorm. We were so comfortable with everyone we met. She is in for an incredible experience; I just know it. And I am trying very hard to praise God for the lack of water and the bill that we are facing to get water. God has not forgotten us. He is so faithful. I will praise Him for the good and the bad. Both are in His control and both are for my good.

We are here! Emily is all moved in. The trip was an adventure, only because we traveled through many miles of an intense downpour. Pennsylvania highways are under much construction (to the dismay of my husband). But we made it safely. We pulled in with the rain pouring, only to be greeted by at least 6 people. They all stood with arms open to unload us. It was incredible. A very nice gentleman came with an umbrella and welcomed us to campus. We realized later that it was the president of the college. Amazing! Mark and I are so at peace. There is not a doubt in our mind that this is where Emily belongs.

Emily has informed me that I have update on a day to day basis while she is away. Evidently, The Miller's Adventures is her home page. SHe wants to wake up every day and see what's going on at home. So... beginning next week, for my 1000's of followers (but mainly for my little girl), I will be updating daily. AND... I will break down and buy more storage for my pictures.

WE leave in 2 days. It is very hard to believe. I am sitting in a room filled with the color green (bright lime green). There is a corner piled with things for us to take. It is a constant reminder to me that my baby is grown up and moving on. I'm very excited for her thoguh. And... she is actually excited as well. We ordered books the other night. She could only get 4 of the 7 that we know of; and that is for only 3 classes. The grand total, for 4 books, was $233.00. Yikes. I knew books were expensive, but it was very hard to stomach that cost. Seeing a book for $104.00 (used) sort of blew my mind.

Jacob will not be attending public school this year. We are homeschooling him. There are lots of reasons as to why, none of which I really need to post. But one of his pet peeves is my posting. I don't take the time to check the spelling and often I am typing faster then I should. Sometimes I catch it and just don't correct it. Sometimes I just don't catch it, but most of the time, I honestly do know the correct spelling. Spelling is one of my stronger suits (though Jacob would argue intensely). So, I might make one of his assignments to correct my post everyday. :)

Erin and Sam are in full swing soccer mode (and band). The have had a very buys summer with very little down time. It is hard to believe they go back to school Friday. Both have very intense classes on top of a very hard season of marching band and soccer.

Yesterday, I received a very funny email. It said this:

You have several (probably 1,000s) people out here who can't get by without an update. With that in mind, I think you should institute a subscription plan. All you need is a PayPal account and your off and running.

I laughed when I read it. I laughed for 2 reasons... first, I knew who was sending it and I love him dearly... but knowing who it was just cracked me up. And second.... the "probably 1,000's" made me laugh out loud; not just a little smile or giggle :)

So... I will be doing something soon to make sure I update more regularly. I am not sure when I will do something about the pictures. I will and Mark tells me I don't have much choice...but I will wait just a little bit until I break down and open an actual account. It isn't expensive at all; especially considering all the pictures I post and knowing that I will never actually "lose" these pictures even if my computer crashes. But for now, until I actually push that silly button stating that I will pay for the service, you are stuck with a wordy post. Sorry.

Emotions are becoming quite high around here. Emily called me last night on her way home in a moment of panic about leaving next week. I answered the phone and all I heard was sobs on the other end. My first thought was that she had been in an accident and someone was hurt very badly (that's a mom thing, I think). Then I heard a little tiny voice saying "Mommy, I don't want to go". My heart broke for my little girl. It is suddenly hitting her. She sobbed for a long time and I listened with a hole in my heart. I know this is all normal; especially for a little girl who is more a "mama's girl" and a homebody. But hearing her fears and knowing the feelings she was having made this mama heartsick. After a long period of tears and talking, she was fine. She will be fine. She will be homesick and she will have nights of tears, but she is ready and she wants to go.

I melted down a few nights ago; actually, melted down is not really the word I should use. I think the better word is that I became a lunatic and realized that my responses to my daughter were so crazy simply because I am feeling the sadness of my little girl moving on.


Sam just asked Ri to tell him a joke. Ri responded with "Banana pants, that's a funny joke". Elizabeth loves to tell jokes too. Today she asked me "How many TV buttons does a raccoon eat?" the answer? 12

Ri: "how many pickles does a horse eat?" the answer? 10

Elizabeth: "how many cows does a pig eat? the answer? 13

Elizabeth: "I have a joke that is the funniest thing ever" "BANANA COOKIES!" then she breaks out with a huge smile and begins laughing out loud.

And thus you have experienced the comedy of a 4 year old. I hope you thought they were just as funny as Daddy and I.

Well, I have to go. I will post more later.

I just received an email from a dear friend who was concerned about Erin. She sweetly reminded me that I have not updated the blog for some time now. One reasons is that it seems we have reached our maximum use of uploading pictures. I now have to decide what to do. I just haven't figured out my next step. Blogging without pictures just doesn't seem like a good option for me!

As for Erin, she did fine at the camp. She never got sick (which, in my opinion, is certainly a God thing). She is so run down that I thought for sure she would come home very sick. She didn't, she just came home exhausted. She was awarded the highest award at camp. It was an honor. I wish I could tell you the name of it, but I just can't remember.

Last week, Sam and Erin both had grueling weeks. They had band camp from 7:00am - 3:00 everyday and then Senior Lead soccer from 5-8:00pm. Then on Friday, the entire girls soccer team spent the night at our house (beginning at 10:30pm.). It has been long time since I have pulled an all-nighter... but Friday was one of those times. Actually, I managed to be able to close my eyes on the couch for 1/2 hour.

I have promised Elizabeth that I would snuggle with her, so I must sign off. I will fill everyone in more later.