Happy Birthday Sam

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY PRECIOUS SON! Wow - it is so hard to believe that 14 years ago, we gave birth to our first son. I remember the smile beaming on Mark's face as he walked into the delivery room holding a football for the son he had longed for. When Sam was born and placed in his layette, right beside him lay that football. It was very funny. He was so little, especially laying next to a football. But, there was something very mightly about our little man.

We had 5 names picked out, not knowing what we would name our son. Of all the names, none seemed appropriate. Mark had always loved the name Samuel, but I had not. The last name I wanted for our son was Sam. But, we had just finished studying the book of Samuel. After reading of the life of Samuel, I fell in love with the name. Mark and I both looked at this little guy and saw him as a Samuel. We pray that he will become a great man of God as Samuel was.

Well, our little guy is becoming a fine young man. He is so tender and sweet, yet all boy. He still loves exploring, only now his explorations tend to weaken my knees. I am no longer beside him, holding his hand so he won't fall or slip off an edge. Ugh, growing up is so hard (on mom). God has given Sam a quick humor and a smile that makes my heart melt. He usually knows when to say something and when to keep quiet, but best of all he is the ability to use his charm when I need it most. He has been given a bright mind and the sense to use it for the right things. He doesn't find it too difficult to make the right choices and is very bothered when he doesn't. He isn't girl crazy, but definitely has a strong interest in a few special young ladies... though they would have no clue. He is quiet and extremely respectful of the ones he has been interested in. Someday, he will make a very special young lady very happy. And one day, as you already know by how much he loves being with these 2 little ones at home... Sam is going to be a dream husband and father!

Well, my young son, we are very honored and humbled that God would give us the privlidge of raising you. You are such a delight and joy. I pray that you will draw neared to the Lord than you have ever known and that His fire will consume your inner most being. You are a true gift.






Switching the subject, we have the joy of watching a friend from church today. This little one shares the same heritage as our little ones. They are only 5 months apart. We hope they will grow up being friends. As we took our walk this morning, she reached over and grabbed Elizabeth's hand.


I couldn't resist taking a picture of them walking down the road. THere is something too sweet about little ones walking innocently holding hands.


Ri was asked to join in on the fun. .....



Check out the joy on his face!

I thought I would take a moment to share my thoughts about Ri. This weekend, I was able to attend my bible study. We spend an hour watching a video in which theauthor of the study delves into the study deeper. It is an hour well worth watching. This Saturday, the speaker was sharing her experience with her son. They had adopted him when he was 4 1/2 years old. She remembered times when she would pick her child up from whereever he had been and the teacher or adult would share with her the "trouble" this child had caused. She would cry and share with them that they were going through the same things at home and she was trying her hardest to help him change. SHe just didn't know what to do. THey were getting him all the help he needed, yet it was frustating and painful. About 6 months went by and a teacher was frustrated with her son. She remembers her back stiffening up when she heard the teacher share, she took a step forward and got in the teachers face and said "give him a chance" (or something to that effect). She walked out shaking with anger and went home and shared it with her husband who responded like this: "It sounds to me that you have become Michaels mommy". I wanted to cry. I wanted to just sit there and praise God because I knew what this speaker was saying.

You see, Ri has become my son. From the deepest part of me, Ri is now my boy. It hadn't been that way before. When he acted out, I responded like a caregiver. When he hurt someone, I was hurting because I didn't know what to do anymore. I was worn out and giving up. But God opened my eyes to my son, to the gift He had chosen to give to me. And now.... if someone were to talk about my son in ways he is undeserving of... look out.... because Mama Bear is by his side. There is something that has clicked with us. SOmething that is deep, something undescribable. Ri is my son, just as much my son as Sam and Jacob. I have given birth to him in a different way. It took much longer and the pain was much more intense... and it may not have been a physical birth, but it is a birth.

I praise God for my son. And I think Ri knows it. Before, I think Ri only looked to me as someone who told him no and corrected him and held him when he got hurt. I wasn't anything else. But now, my son holds me like I am his mommy. He needs me and I believe he wants me. Today, I was holding a little girl in my lap. I ran into a friend and was sitting holding her little girl. Ri yelled "No". Then he came over and started pushing on me and whining for me to put the girl down. He was making it very clear that he did not want me loving on someone elses child. That was for him. I can not tell you how good that felt.

My brother and his family sent Ri and Elizabeth a gift when my parents returned home from visiting them. The kids were so excited that they ripped open the package and discovered a box with "Frosty the snowman" on it. Little did they understand that the contents of the box contained the necessary "ingredients" to make "Frosty"...lacking the snow needed. It was an adorable kit to make a snowman; including a hat, scarf, buttons, "coal" for eyes, a plastic carrot for his nose and black "coal" for his mouth. Too cute. The only problem is that when you are 3 years old and see the picture on the box, it is quite confusing as to why there is no snowman in it. They immediately wanted a snowman built! At the moment, Elizabeth had been whiney and fussy ALL day long, had had no nap and was very insistent. She had been feeling pretty miserable for the past few days due to a cold and what I think was a stomach ache. Well, I looked outside and told them there was no snow left. Actually, there was some snow on the side of our house. I was really hoping they wouldn't see that. Nope... it didn't matter if there was snow or not - they BOTH wanted a snowman. I insisted there wasn't enough snow. But... I then felt guilty. So, I walked outside and checked to see if I could pack it together. Sure enough, I could. So..... I dragged Sam with me. He stood in flip flops and bare hands and just watched. Humph, some help he was! So I spent the next 10 minutes trying desparately to roll a snowball. It certainly wasn't perfect packing snow. I struggled, but managed to roll an OK size ball for the bottom. I struggled with the middle, so I simply made the middle it's head. TA DA... instant Frosty base so the kids could put Frosty together. I made Sam grab one and I grabbed the other (they were both barefoot and in short sleeves). We quickly placed all the pieces where they wanted them. I think Ri put Frosty's right arm in; cracked me up! Anyways, here is the Elizabeth and Ri's snowman (courtesy of Uncle Brent, Aunt AB, Eli and Faith)

coloring eggs

Here, Elizabeth is trying to discover what "secret message" is on the egg.
THis is Ri's favorite part of coloring eggs. I often find him peeling them and shoveling them into his mouth.
Just check those hands out!


Last year, when the coloring egg stuff went on sale, I bought quite a few simply because my kids like coloring eggs. I really hadn't done anything with them since I stocked up. But, with the change in our diet, we have been eating many hard boiled eggs. THe problem is, everyone was having a hard time determining which eggs were raw and which were hard boiled. So, I decided to color all the hard boiled eggs. Needless to say, Ri and Elizabeth are thrilled when it's time to color.

Today, I made "secret messages" on each egg. THey had a ball looking for their message. It is a great way to teach them ABC's or about the cross or their name or something like that. I used a white crayon on the egg without the kids knowing it. Just draw your image and place the egg back in the bowl so they have no idea you did it. It was fun to watch them.

Well, our YMCA has been so generous to Jacob. They are allowing him to run a concession stand during the soccer season and they have offered to sell his fund raising candy at their front desk. We dropped a box off on March 4 and yesterday they called to tell us it was empty and they needed more. AND... "Aunt Jennifer" has been the one who has been letting Jacob sell candy at the pizza shop. Emily came home with $30.00 from that. So... he has managed to raise $82 more for his trip. God has been so gracious!

As for everything at the Miller home, we are all well. I think the touch of some kind of bug has floated around for a little bit. Em stayed home the other day because of some stomach stuff. Erin and Mark both felt pretty bad and then I felt it some last night. But... nothing serious or too miserable for any of us. Elizabeth has a snoty nose again... but that is simply because she refuses to wear a shirt and pants around the house! Everytime I put it on, she has a fit or takes it off a few minutes later. I sit here, freezing, in a sweatshirt and layers, and she just runs around smiling and "warm". It is crazy to me!

Our very dear friends are in China right now adopting a almost 3 year old little girl. In fact, they will be home next week... just in time for her 3rd birthday. They adopted their daughter at the same time as we adopted Elizabeth. When we adopted Ri, they met us at the airport in California just to see us and welcome us back. We have built such a wonderful bond. I have followed their journey all week... loving every minute of it. I watched God answer some wonderful prayers that we have been lifting up for this little girl and her new family. It has been so cool. And.. I must admit, it is definitely tugging at my heart strings all over again. I DO have to stay away from following peoples journeys!! :)

Here is a picture of this precious little one.

She now has a forever family. Please keep her and her family in prayer. SHe makes their 4th child. All the kids are under 8 and Daddy is in the services and will be gone often. They have to move within a month of returning home due to his assignment.

Just for you, Uncle Paul.

Jacob and I worked hard on building Dumbo. Jacob cracks me up... he is always amazed at how we can take a lump of snow and make something out of it. It is so much fun to build with him.

After painting with the left over paint from the dragon, this was the result. Jacob informed me that I needed pink... but you do with what you got at the time :)

Elizabeth loved Dumbo.

I am still having troubles uploading pictures, but I will keep trying. This is our newest snow sculpture. It was a special request from Uncle Paul. He asked the kids to make an elephant, so when the great snowfall began to be "packing snow", we attempted to make an elephant. The snow was a little difficult to roll snowballs, but it was great packing. Jacob and I worked on making Dumbo. Sam helped finish him off. In the end, Elizabeth joined us for the fun. Needless to say, she was thrilled with Dumbo in her yard.

double digit snow!

I have been trying very hard to post several pictures from the big snowfall, but the server is giving me quite the time! As soon as I can, I will post more. We did enjoy a beautiful winter snowfall.... Mark determined that we had at least 12 inches of snow! I think we shoveled for hours. We enjoyed the family time. All activities for the weekend were cancelled; including 2 concerts and a soccer tournament. It was very nice. Our county was placed on a level 3 snow emergency which means you can be ticketed if you are found driving on the roads.

We went for a little walk in thewood this morning. It was beautiful with the ice dripping off the tree branches. Wow, God knows how to paint a gorgeous picture! Ri and Elizabeth both enjoyed exploring. Ri thought it was cool to throw sticks into the running creek. Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of climbing up the little hills. She figured the technique out all on her own. Ri, on the other hand, didn't exactly like the hill part. He stood squealling...."I sippin" (translation - HELP MOM!!!! I'm slipping!! HELP HELP HELP). He cracks me up. We then came in and had a tea party with homemade cookies, fresh oranges, and a made up pizza (bisquits, turkey, sauce, & swiss cheese). They love tea parties.. especially Ri. He takes his little cup and fills it over and over and over. I read them a book while they eat their snack and drink their "tea".

Well, Mark and I enjoyed listening to our girls last night. Emily had a choir concert. Mark took a picture of the choir with his phone, so I asked him to send it to me. I wish we had thought of taking a picture of Erin. Erin played in a band concert just after Emily's concert. Both the groups sounded beautiful. It was a joy to listen. The boys took care of the little ones. We figured 2 hours of sitting still listening to music might be a little hard on them.

Before I go any further, please, please do not feel like I am asking for donations or help with Jacob's (or Sam's) fundraising efforts. If God leads someone in that direction, then I will praise Him for it! I am sharing it with everyone simply because my blog is mainly a "journal" for my kids. I have published 2 books now with my entire blogs so that I have them to pass on for the kids. Each book is over 400 pages long. Someday, I would love to print a book for each child; but the books cost nearly $100.00 to print. That may be a long way down the road :). I am excited to watch Jacob try to reach his goal. I have shared the generosity of our friend and Mamaw and Papaw and Uncle Paul only to share with you how God has blessed us. I have every confidence that God has been providing through them. It excited me to see His provision, and so I was excited to write it all down. But.. as I have thought about it, it may come across to you as if I am pleading for donations for him.

I originally put to the side that if anyone wanted to help him by donating or hiring him, to contact us. I only put that up because of a friend who emailed me wanting to hire Jacob. I wasn't looking at that as a plea for donations, I guess I just thought that if others had work for him to do, they could let us know. At the time, it just made sense for me to use the word "donate" right along side in case someone desired to help him that way. But now I realize that it probably sounds to others like I am asking you to send him money. I am so sorry to have come across that way. His fundraising is completely in the hands of God. I believe it is a wonderful way for Jacob to see God working in his life. And as He works, I will share it with you... simply because it excites me.

There have been so many times in my life where I am in awe of how God works. This past weekend I spent some time with a family who is very precious to me. I hadn't seen them in over 3 years. God had brought us together many years ago. But distance has seemed to have separated us some. In the past year, my dear friend was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo serious surgery and intense chemo. Just after the first surgery, she discovered she was pregnant. She had to undergo chemo while pregnant. She delivered her son 3 months early. They nearly lost him due to an infection he had. The circumstances surrounding everything could have destroyed a family, yet God has taken this past year and restored them. As I sat and spent time with them, I felt the love of God through them in a way I just can't explain. It was obvious to me that this past year has been the best year of their lives; they would agree. God has taken something that most people fear and used it for his glory. SHe has since found out that she has a specific gene mutation that makes her extremely suseptable to cancer in her reproduction organs. She now must undergo some very serious surgery, serious enough it could take her life. She will be having that surgery in a couple of weeks, so if you would pray for her, I would appreciate it. She is looking forward to entering into the arms of Jesus, but has 4 children and a husband that love her and would choose for her to be with them longer. I praise God for what He has done in their lives through this past year. I pray that the surgery is a success and my dear friend will recover completely.

As I said, there are times when I am in awe of how God works. Last night, Mark walked inside with an envelope with Jacob's name on it. Jacob rarely gets mail or something written to him. He smiled and opened it and then stood smiling and saying thank you over and over. Someone who has never met Jacob had written him a card congratulating him on his being nominated to the World Leadership Forum. But that was not all. Jacob and I were blown away to see that $50.00 was with the note. I can not share with you how deeply I was touched by the gift for Jacob. He was ecstatic. For me, it was far deeper. This precious friend has touched our lives in very special ways to help us during the adoption of Elizabeth and then during the adoption of Ri. They were able to do something for us that no one else that we know could have done. I will forever be indebted to our friend for those precious gifts. But to have blessed Jacob through this generous gift just put me more in awe and brought me more to my knees to praise God. Thanks to this wonderful gift, Jacob is now at $428.15. He is so very, very excited! We start the concession stands at the end of this month. And, I recieved a wonderful email from someone I had never expected to hear from. It was such a beautiful surprise and an exciting thing for Jacob. They shared that they would like to help Jacob with his trip. They have a lot of sticks that have fallen through the winter months and need them picked up. THey wanted to "hire" Jacob. His response? "Sure".. with a smile to boot. So, when Spring comes, we will be making a trip to a friends' house so Jacob (and Sam if he would like) can pick up sticks and earn a little more towards his trip. And then, when we visited Mamaw and Papaw, Mamaw had bags of items for Jacob to see at his concession stand. SHe had bought coffee, swoops (candy), nerd ropes, big chunky cookie packs, and energy drinks. It was wonderful.


On a different note, the kids are in a preschool sponsored by the Early Intervention Program in our county. We are so thankful that they are able to attend. Both are beginning to blossom, socially. They ae asking if we want them kids to attend next year. It is offered 4 days a week during the school year. Right now, the answer is no. There isn't anyway that either would stay int eh classroom without me. But... maybe by next year. We will see. Here are some pictures from their classroom.









Jacob played his very last upward game. It is a bittersweet time. He has been playing in the upward league since 1st grade. 6th grade is the last year for kids to play. There isn't much opportunity for a child to play again unless they are good enough to play on a school team. For me, that makes me sad. There are so many kids who enjoy playing, but just aren't good enough to play on a school team. Anyway, this is a shot I took during his game.