Lil' Pumpkins

This had to be one of the best Halloweens to date. 

If you don't have kids, I gotta tell ya...they make any holiday ten times better.

Owen really got into painting his first pumpkin ever!

Bethany is an old pro at painting pumpkins, as this is her second year at it.  This year, she had a couple *ahem* issues. The problem was she'll paint the pumpkin, then she decided to wipe it clean after a while and start fresh.  After about, oh I don't know, a million times cleaning off her pumpkin, she finally settled on an abstract color display.

On Halloween, we met Jenny, Danie and Bryan up at the mall to trick-or-treat.  The Newtons totally showed up our family as they were ALL dressed up for the holiday.  Aren't they a smashing group?

Bethany and Owen had a great time at the mall.  Well, Bethany had a great time. Owen wimped out half-way through.  We are thinking that he got himself all worked up because of the kabillion people there and all the scary costumes.  He was just not feeling it & cried & cried.  But when Bethany fell asleep in car on the way home...Owen couldn't stop pointing and laughing at her. That definitely cheered the lil' guy (well, that and the pretzel snack we got at the mall before we left).

Before we trick-or-treated around the neighborhod, we tried to get a classic shot of the lil' ones.   Getting the lil' boogers to sit pretty and pose for me was a little challenge.  When posing the kids outside, I learned you need to move all distracting objects out of the way.    The pumpkin....ya...that will be a prime example of a distracting object...

But eventually, we got a great shot of our lil' Tinkerbell and

one of our lil' SpongeBob.



Bee's Advice

Have a problem? Well, I have the perfect girl to help you out...

Upon noticing a  lovely  Scooby Doo band-aid on my leg the following conversation took place:

B: Momma! What happened? (points to band-aid on my leg).
M: I was bleeding, so I put a band-aid on it.
B: What did you do?
M:  I hurt myself in the shower.  (I fell victim to my razor, again)
B: Momma, never take a shower again, okay? Then you'll won't bweed.

Luckily, for you all I won't follow her "wise" advise!

So Sorry...

Mr. Mischief!?!?!

Yup, you read that shirt right.

And, boy isn't that such a fitting title for the kid that has some sort of 6th sense telling him when the gate was left open.

So, since we officially have an Mr. Mischief on our hands, I want to officially apologize to all of you out there.  I want to say sorry to the people in the stores watching his lil' fits when he wants to run wild....but is slowly being broken like a wild horse.

 Sorry to you restaurant patrons as we try to entertain a overly loud and vocal Mr. Mischief while waiting for our food to arrive.

Sorry to you homeowners as you notice Mr. Mischief decided to help you out and decorated your walls w/ only the most modern art styles.

But really...how can you be mad at this lil' mischievous face for too long....

Step aside Dora...

Dear Dora,

Hola!  I just wanted to let you know that it is time.  Dora, it is time for you to step aside...
there is a NEW EXPLORER in town

She comes complete with her map & her own monkey-like side-kick.

This new explorer isn't afraid of traveling ahead, looking out for all the crazy villians out there.

Nope. She certainly wouldn't be afraid of a pile of wood...

Now Dora, there is no need to feel threatened by this one. He gets so distracted by simple leaves.

 

and still needs his Momma to drag him about...



But Dora...that other lil' girl...she's gunning for your job! Watch Out!

Day @ Daniel's Farm

I am behind; so, so behind. Forgive me.  Ahem, moving on...

Two weeks ago we went to Daniel's Farm with Jenny, Daniel and Baby Bryan.  I am pretty sure that Bethany still thinks Daniel's Farm belongs to Daniel. But it doesn't. Well, at least not a Daniel that we know. 

The kids had a blast. I took a million (or close to it) pictures.  I clustered a bunch of them together. Click on them and it should become larger...

Daniel's Farm is such a hoot. There is so much to do there. If you are in the region, I totally recommend you load up the family and truck it on over to Daniel's Farm.  Plus, the weekend we went they had a benefit for Children's Hospital. With all the support Children's Hospital provided us during Owen's surgery, why wouldn't we go to an event to support them?

Here is a peek at what Daniel's Farm had to offer us:  They had: mazes, animals, wagons, trains, tractors...

They also had those things you poke your head through, gigantic-bumpy slides, and awesome tire swings.

They had Corn Pits. This was all of our first experience with corn pits. Man, corn pits ROCK! Owen could of and would've stayed in it forever!

At the very end the kiddos picked out their own pumpkins.  Picking out a perfect Pumpkin is a pretty painstakingly difficulty task.  Let the Milles kids help you out some.

So to find a perfect pumpkin, it is no easy task. It is serious business.

First off, your pumpkin must be comfortable.  Be sure to test it out!

You have to be patient and willing to scour the lands hay bales for the best pumpkin available.



It helpful to bring a second opinion with you to help judge your potential pick of the day.

Once you think you got it. Get super excited. No, I mean SUPER-D-DUPER excited and run on over to show your Momma.

She'll insist on taking your picture with your produce. Just get over it and smile already.

Now you are ready to really start enjoying all of your autumnal celebrations!

When...

When one bath isn't enough....

sometimes...

 you gotta handle matters...

yourself...

Missing Daddy

Last week I experienced something that was one of the tougher aspects of parenting....

that is being a single-working-momma.

That is tough on so many different levels.  Perhaps, if I have the typical husband, it would be no problem. 

But Cory ain't no ordinary husband.   Typically, I do kid-duty in the evenings and cook dinner. Meanwhile, Cory does house/laundry/dishes duty.   It really does take two to tango take care of this house.

But last week, I was flying solo. That is tough stuff. I don't know how those other mommas with regularly traveling hubbies do it.   I am still wiped out from the constant motion and lack of sleep I accumulated while trying to maintain the house, entertain the kids and keep up with my grading/planning.

The kiddos did great without their daddy.  Perhaps the cutest moment occurred when we played a message from Cory. They couldn't contain their excitement hearing their daddy's voice.

I bet Bethany played the message a good dozen times before she accidentally erased it for good. 

The part I was worried most about handling without Cory was getting us ready and out the door on time. Man, I am a jerk.  I am such a pain to get up.  And he is a patient, patient person when it comes to getting my tushie out of that bed.  I am reluctant to admit this, but we totally managed to get out of the house, not only one time, but a few minutes early.  Now, if Cory finds out that I am capable of being responsible and getting myself out of bed, who knows what will happen. So lets keep that between us.

I am just so grateful to have such a wonderful husband  I knew it is cheesy but, really, absence does make the heart grow founder.  Think about it. Cory and I work in the same building. We drive to and from work together. We do everything together.  Sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got until he is gone and conferencing it up with all the Educational Gurus in Atlanta.  But having him gone and taking with him all the things that he does for us...makes me appreciate him so much more. I really don't know what I would do if I had a typical husband that just lounges around watching sports ignorant when it comes to things like how to operate the dishwasher.

I am just so grateful that we happened to meet in whatever class it was that one fateful day, oh so many years ago.

these kids are...

 a lil' crazy,

book-reading,

backward pants wearing,

table-sitting,

Elmo-loving,

brother-sitting,

supervising,

friend-helping,

loving, lil' people.

Driveway Bible Basics

What could she be doing? It looks as if she is coloring blue, lots and lots of blue.

What's that she just drew? That couldn't be a penguin, could it?



Ah...I am beginning to see now....

She and her awesome Mama are drawing some Bible stories. 

What an awesome lil' girl, who requests to draw an Apple Tree.
Then that branches out (pun intended) to become the story of Adam and Eve....complete with an extra long "bad" snake that goes all the way down the drive way.

Once Adam and Eve's story met her satisfaction, she wanted Noah represented.

Then it was her favorite lil' Bible Baby....Moses!

The only thing cooler than drawing the Bible stories with her were hearing her renditions of the stories. She loves to point out at how mad God was at Adam and Eve. Then she talks about how the snake was a bad guy.  According to Bethany, the snake was such a bad guy that he didn't belong on Noah's boat. Yeah...bet you didn't know that one.  But man, I can't blame her for excluding snakes.  Just think at how much better the world would be without snakes.  Noah should've totally left them behind!

Bethany Takes on the Pledges

Bethany is certainly learning a lot in preschool. The other night she grabs Owen's bible and start saying the Pledge to the Bible. Then she segways into the Pledge of Alligiance. It turns out she knows these two and there is the Pledge to the Christian Flag, which she doesn't quite have down.  Really after looking up the words, who can blame her.  I had no clue she was learning these pledges. She knew them better than some of my students.  I was pretty impress at just how much information this little brain of hers can store.  I decided to capture the pledges Bethany-style.



Man, did that put a smile on your face? She is just too adorable. You gotta love the way she says "Indivisible."

Seriously. She. Is. Adorable.

Don't Cha

Don't cha wish a quick snuggle with your blankie would make your troubles go away?  

It always seems to work for him....perhaps we all need to give it a try!

I love my kids!

I just love who these two wee ones are becoming.  They are such little people. Not the Little People who pop in and out so conveniently in their plastic cars.  But these guys are real people, just the miniature variety.

Bethany is such a smart cookie. She loves her school and loves learning. She has such a great memory.  She is a bit shy; while she likes to try new activities and do new things, she is still a little hesitant at first.  I have noticed a new lil aspect to her personality emerging. She is a little instigator.  While she isn't a terrible risk taker, she does not mind, at all encouraging lil' Owen's inappropriate behavior. 

Owen is a bit different from the rest of us. A side from the obvious physical difference of the ear-to-ear scar, I am thinking that Owen is becoming a little social butterfly.  I think he missed the Memo saying we are people that typically keep to ourselves.  Seriously, think about it,  Cory is pretty reserved and a homebody. I am pretty reserved and not too terribly social. Bethany is demonstrating behaviors that sort of align to Cory's and my reservations toward being too overly social at various activities and events. But this Owen.  He is different.  The person he is becoming is a lil socialite.   He doesn't mine grabbing someone else's hand at church and showing them around or going up to a person he's met only once and asking for "up". 

Who is this kid?

I am not quite sure exactly who he will become......but I am loving watching these become the little people that they were meant to be.