Evelyn's Birthday Party

As you should see in your email, Evelyn's birthday party has been set for 4:00 on Sunday, December 28th. 

Rachel Xmas

Things to add to my list-

A CD player for my classroom
Homemade CD's of "cool" music that doesn't have swearing
Decks of playing cards for my classroom

Finally! (Wes' Christmas List)

(Items subject to change. Your mileage may vary.)

Toys:

Deathstroke Action Figure (I'm actively searching this out. If I find it, I'll take it off the list)

DVDs:

The Office Seasons 1-4

Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition (or any MST3K collection will do)

Video Games:

Super Paper Mario

The Force Unleashed

Animal Crossing: City Folk

deBlob

Warioland: Shake It

Clothing:

Jeans (40 x 32)

Books:

"Lies of Locke Lamorra" or "Red Seas Under Red Skies" by Scott Lynch in Hardback

"Essetial Defenders" Volumes 1-4 by Roy Thomas, Gerry Ordway, et al

"Savage Sword of Conan" Volumes 1-4 by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, et al.

Board Games:

Twilight Imperium 3

Battle Cry

Race for the Galaxy

Domaine

Memoir '44 Air Pack

Memoir '44 Mediterranean Theater

Memoir '44 Eastern Front

Memoir '44 Pacific Theater.

Memoir '44 Winter/Desert Board

Gift Cards:

iTunes

WiiPoints

Things You Can't Afford:

Blu-Ray disc player (Sure, why not?)

Finally...

Ok, no fainting. I am finally going to post a few things for Johanna and I for Christmas.

Johanna:
doll - I will look and be more specific if I see something good
stool for helping in the kitchen- something tall enough that she can be helping at counter level
Jay-Jay the jet plane movies (we already have Forever Friends and You Are Special)
Elmo movies or doll
music lessons at the art center
gymnastic lessons at the YMCA

Rachel:
gift certificate to Kohls for work clothes
gift certificates to teaching stores
"Set" cards for my classroom - it's a pattern-type card game
a math game called 21 for my classroom (I think it's 21)
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales- by Jon Scieszka: can find on amazon

Brian John Miller's Christmas 2008 wish list

Ok folks, sorry this took so long. Here is a brief list, but rest assured I'll update later after I buy all this stuff fpr myself, DAD!
1. I would like to complete my Laurel and Hardy collection. I'll have to sort through what I have at home and let you'ins know who I have. Or I could just call the person who has my name and let them know. So who has my name???
2. Some Blue Ray movies like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid or other that I will list after I think about it after awhile.
3. Maybe a gift card to Old Navy or Gap. Preferably Old Navy.
4. Maybe some books. I'll have to look around and figure out what books.
That's all for now folks.
5. UPDATE: Season three and four of The Office.
6. ANOTHER MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR UPDATE: "Seinfeld Scene It" game.

Dad's 2008 xmas list

1walking/sporting shorts with pockets.
2the kind of work shirt I like.
3gift certificate to cracker barrelllllll.
4a picture of the family
5stuff
6a trip to cancun
7a biking buddy to ride to Waxhaw with me
8a turkey

Claire's List

anything Hannah Montana

clothes - size 8 and up

shoes - size 3

Carrie's Christmas list 2008

Carrie Christmas List 2008

- German bearded re-blooming irises (Blue, white,purple, and/or yellow)

-"America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On the Money," by Steve and Annette Economides (this is a book)

- Betsy-Tacy books (by Maud Hart Lovelace); I have the first four; I still need: Heaven to Betsy; Betsy in Spite of Herself; Betsy Was a Junior; Betsy and Joe; Betsy and the Great World; Betsy's Wedding

- Vicky Bliss books by Elizabeth Peters. I have the first three; I still need: Trojan Gold; Night Train to Memphis; Laughter of Dead Kings

- Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer. I have the fourth one; I still need the first 3: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse.

- DVDs: The Chronicles of Narnia 2; Spider-Man 3; Shrek 3; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Mike's Xmas list

1. Chocolate & peanut butter of the month club
2. #11 pool ball
3. pool cue sticks
4. pool table cover
5. end table(s) (need two, but one is still great)
6. all purpose sport cleat (used is OK)

Mom's List

Clothing suitable for office wear, size XL.

Evelyn's List

toddler/ educational toys

shoes size 3 or bigger

socks

James's Christmas List

clothes - 3T or bigger (he wears 3T now)

shoes - size 9 or bigger

underwear with cool characters

tractor/backhoe/construction stuff

baseball stuff

Margaret's 2008 Christmas List

*"Love and Logic Teacherisms" - a book about discipline in the classroom

*"Love and Logicisms" - a book about teaching kids responsibility

*School clothes - particularly skirts and short sleeve blouses, but any clothes are great

*Dress shoes that are really sneakers (Skechers makes shoes that are dressy enough for work but are really comfortable) in black

*Young Adult novels

*Manipulatives for a math classroom, e.g. dice, counters, blocks, etc. (check out educational websites)

*Help finishing our house projects

*Gift Cards to Wal-Mart, Target, or clothing stores

*Pantry cabinet (like Mom and Dad's metal one but wood, old/used/antique is great!)

don't be confused

the last post by mom is indeed NOT this year's xmas list for her. that was posted in november of 2007, which is pretty much the last time anyone posted on here. so you're not off the hook, mom, you still have to post another list! :)

Tessie's UPDATED 2008 xmas list

in no particular order:

1. Takuya Kimura J-dramas on DVD. They can be bought online, probably most easily on Ebay. Titles include "Hero", "Engine" and many more!

2. digital photo frame

3. wireless mouse for my laptop (i already have several mousepads, so that's not needed)

4. Chinese cookbooks. I found 3 specifically at Barnes and Noble that would be awesome for me. I know nothing about even the basics of Chinese cooking, and these would be helpful and/or entertaining:

-- Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey Through China. By Jen Lin-Liu
--Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China. By Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
--Wok Cooking Made Easy: Delicious Meals in Minutes. Published by Periplus, ISBN 079460496X

(I already have a bamboo steamer, a wok with utensils, and a rice cooker, so i think i just need a few ingredients and some knowledge!)

5. An iPod of some sort. I hear there's a new version coming out next week (September), so prices should be falling a lot.

helloooo

oh, i didn't see you there.

Mom's Christmas List

I am having a hard time posting on the family blog, so will pass along my Christmas wish list here. I only have three items:
1. a purse. I would like an Ameribag type (sort of like a backpack or knapsack with one wide strap, made of microfiber or tapestry). It does not need to be an actual Ameribag---a knock-off is fine. OR a hobo style bag, something with a wide strap that goes over the shoulder, but short enough that the bag fits up under the arm.

2. An old work table or butcher's block for the cabin. It can be a worktable like one finds in a garage, with at least one drawer under the tabletop, suitable for replacing the top with butcher block, or a real butcher's block. No more than 36" wide. This will go against the wall in the kitchen, with a stove beside it.

3. CDs by Selah, Alan Hall, Casting Crowns, or anything else you think I would like. LCT, for example.

Mom

Claire's Spelling Test

Claire wanted to let everyone know that she got her first 100% on a spelling test. There are 2 sections to the test: spelling 10 new words and 2 review words for a total of 12 points. The other section is "sentence dictation" - the teacher reads a sentence and the students have to spell all the words correctly and make sure to puntuate correctly. There are 2 sentences in this section for a total of 16 points. Claire got 12/12 and 16/16. She was so excited!

Wesley's Christmas List

My Christmas list can be found here, or by clicking on my Christmas list link on the right.

Mike's list

Fireplace Tool Set (the thing with the stand and has a poker and grippy thingy and a couple other things)
Nice Jeans (2 pairs needed) size 31 x 30
Vitamins/Drugs from the Healthline Store (please call or email Margaret for details on what to buy)
Rocking Chair for Evelyn's room
Tires for the truck
Bedliner for truck

At last...

This is actually Carrie, not Wes. Most of you have probably heard by now - Wes landed a full-time job!!!! This is an exciting opportunity that will finally allow him to actually use some of the college courses that he took, lo these many years ago.

He'll be working for our friend Dave Wilson at the TV station WSFJ, which you can read more about here. His official title is "Production Assistant"; this means he'll do editing (so that, in that infamous episode of "Little House on the Prarie" in which Mary finds out she's blind and drops the F-bomb, instead she says "beep!") He'll also run the master controls part time.

The TV station is right across the street from my office, so Wes and I will be venturing into the wonderful new world of car-pooling.

He starts tomorrow (Monday the 12th), so that is a big huge pre-Christmas blessing for us.

For your viewing pleasure....

Hey, Rachel here. I though the masses that check this blog would maybe like some new pics of the still youngest member of the Miller clan. All but the box one were taken today (the box one is less than a week old). Sorry for the red eye. I don't know how to take it out yet. Brian needs to show me!

C-Section

I sent out emails, but just to make sure everyone knows: My c-section and Evelyn's birth is now scheduled for December 28th at 12:20pm. This is moved up a week from the previously scheduled day. Evelyn and I will be in the hospital until Monday afternoon or evening.

Tessie's xmas list

Please note that I have changed the spelling of my name. Some people in the family spell it "Tessy", others "Tessie". I've debated this for a while and finally decided on "Tessie", although if you want to make an argument for the other one, I'm listening. Anyway, here's what I can think of, not necessarily in order:

1. Victor Martinez shirt (size medium? not sure, have to check)
2. DVDs: any of our family favorites on DVD, Indiana Jones trilogy (maybe wait until the 4th one's out?) Finding Neverland, Little Mermaid
3. either/both of the two new Michael Crichton novels (State of Fear and I can't remember the newest one)
4. a new backpack/carrying case, one that looks more professional and has a long strap. not the traditional backpack kind. should have a place for a laptop, and the more pockets, the better.

Dad's xmas list

Dad claims he doesn't have access to this website, so he asked me to post this for him. I guess this means whoever's name he has, he can't see your wish list, so tough luck for you! he probably would have just given you his toenail clippings anyway.

Dad:

1. An IPOD.

2. Northwestern Huskies lined rain coat. I can give more detail if needed.

3. Jewel cds. (Alice in Wonderland)

4. A tribe World Series ring.

5. Well hoodah poster.

James' Christmas List

tractors
backhoe
excavator
basically any toy machinery that typical boys like to play with
bike helmet (he has a bike)
clothes 2T and up

Oooooo so scary!

Here is Johanna in her costume. I will take more when we go trick or treating at the nursing home with my great grandma!

Johanna's Christmas List

Johanna wanted me to ask if her name could be added to the list of Christmas Lists at the bottom of the page. Thanks!!

Jammies size 12-18 months. We still need some more warm ones for winter. We currently have two spring type jammie sets, and two winter jammies. I prefer one piece fleece ones for winter, or anything that looks warm! For warmer weather, I like two piece sets cuz they make for easy diaper checks!!
bath toys
blocks
any great learning and development toys for one year olds

Rachel's Christmas List

Here goes-
Gilmore Girls (I need and want all the seasons except 4 & 5)
Gift certificates for clothes and accessories for student teaching (gap, target preferred)
Books- Math Doesn't Suck by Danica McKeller
gift certificate to education innovations (online)
Writing tablet that can hook up to apples, IBMs, and maybe even a Smartboard
Fun Math and Science things for teaching (i.e. Magic Sand- look it up if curious!)
I also have a huge list of books that I eventually want for my classroom I will type them up and post them at some point, soon.

Claire's Christmas List

Hannah Montana guitar - they have them at Toys R Us for about $30
guitar lesson book to go with guitar
"Hannah Montana" stuff for bedroom: posters, sheets/comforter set, or any other decor
clothes - size 8 - preferably "Hannah Montana"
SpiderMan 3 on DVD

ultrasound pics

Ihad to get another ultrasound on Friday and here are the pictures. One is a face shot - you can see one eye (the other is towards the bottom above the "MOM" and kinda blacked out) her nose and mouth. The other picture is a profile of her head.

Margaret's Wish List

Bible - preferably Life Application or similar - needs a good concordance
A handy-man to come help us with a few remodeling projects
A rocking chair for Evelyn's room
DVDs: Chicago, Ella Enchanted, The Holiday
A couple Mary Kay products - Beth is having a party on Dec. 5th so if you want to know what I want, please email her and order from her party so she gets credit

Claire's first game

Claire had her first game today. She looked good, but the team lost 4 to 1. Claire had our team's lone goal! Hopefully she'll keep up the good work.

The newest addition (for a few more months!)

Here are some pretty recent pictures of Johanna for comparison! They are within the last month or so. We have taken some very recent ones, but don't have them on the computer yet. I can't get over how much James looks like that picture of Margaret! ~Rachel

A surprising photo

This photo amazed me when I pulled it out of the storage container. If you look past the blue marker scribbles, I think you will see an amazing resemblance to James. I guess he is not "100% Bowman" after all. This is James's Mommy at 14 months of age.

Carrie and Brian

Carrie is three; Brian is one. They are wearing the corduroy outifts I made them for Christmas. Brian finally has some teeth.

Another adorable Miller baby

I think this is the only one who doesn't look like Johanna. This, of course, is Aunt Tessie at six months.

Aunt Carrie

Isn't she a little cutie? And another strong resemblance to Johanna.

Johanna's twin?

I was very surprised when I pulled this photo out. This picture is dated April, 1983---but if it wasn't for the darker eyes, I would swear it was taken in August of 2007.

Johanna's Daddy

No, Johanna, you are not looking in a mirror. This is your Daddy when he was just your age.

Good news and hopefully good news

Our good news is - Wes got a job!!! It is a temp job with a company called Excell (sp?), but it's doing stuff he likes, and it's long-term temp. Located at Polaris - conveniently close to both the gym, and looming-closer-LCT rehearsals. Wes is happy and I am ecstatic.

Over the weekend, Ernie was horribly sick with his 4th urinary tract obstruction of the year. This is a problem that costs us $600-$800 every time we take him in to the vet, and this weekend was the worst he had ever been. We thought were going to have to put him to sleep Sunday morning, but he ended up passing the obstruction himself.

The hopefully good news is (restrain yourself, Dad), that there may be a procedure the vet can do that will help out. He (Ernie, not the vet) is scheduled for X Rays in a couple of weeks to see what can be done.

Hi

Nobody's said anything in nearly a month.

HI.

Clare's softball

I emailed everyone with Claire's softball schedule. I know June is busy and with the games on Tuesday and Thursday it might make it hard to get to, but Claire loves having people come watch her play. Especially cause she can show off how she does her arm farts when she is on the bench.

Lizzie has earned her keep

Most of you know that Lizzie is currently staying with us. Yesterday she sniffed out a nest of rabbit kits and killed all 5 of them in about 10 minutes flat. (The kits were about 3 weeks old, I would guess, so not too speedy yet, but still....)

I was a leeeetle bit sad, because they were just reaching the cute bunny stage, but 5 cute bunnies right now translates into 25 more bunnies in just a few months, and no green beans in our garden at all this summer, so I got over my empathy pretty quickly!

Now I'm just wondering where the doe was, and if Lizzie can tackle something that big.

Good girl, Lizzie!!!

It's time!

Wes and I are excited to start our foster care/adoption classes on April 30th. They will run every Monday and Wednesday night through the end of May. Then, there's a sixth-month process during which we complete a home study (that's where the state comes to check that we are not dangerous criminals), then a few months longer for our children to actually be placed with us!

We are not certain at this point if we want to foster or foster-to-adopt, but at this time are leaning toward the latter. Once we become licensed foster parents, we have to take a continuing education course every year to remain licensed.

So, our paper pregnancy begins.

Anyone else been sick this week?

James was really sick Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. I stayed home from school to take care of him and by about 2 in the afternoon, Claire was throwing up too. They both seemed to be over it by Wednesday night so I went to school Thursday, but the sitter called during first period and said James wouldn't stop puking. So I came back home. By Thursday night, I was the one bolting to the bathroom. I stayed home Friday and was better by the afternoon. It seems to pass through the system fast, but man is it painful to the gut.

Brian/Johanna

The photo on left is Brian at age two months. Johanna's face is rounder, but otherwise I think the resemblance is pretty strong.

My 2 beauties

This may be my all-time favorite picture.

Johanna's dedication at church

We are going to have Johanna dedicated at church on Sunday the 29th of April. We would like the whole family to be there so consider this an informal invitation.

Princess pictorial units

Ok, ok. To everyone named Carrie, hold onto your panties (while "accidentally" snapping photos of them.) Here are some recent Johanna pictures.

I'll take "Things that are wrong but funny" for $200, Alex

http://borowitzreport.com/archive_rpt.asp?rec=6704&srch=

Supreme Court Gives Gore’s Oscar to Bush
Stunning Reversal for Former Veep

Just days after former Vice President Al Gore received an Academy Award for his global warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” the United States Supreme Court handed Mr. Gore a stunning reversal, stripping him of his Oscar and awarding it to President George W. Bush instead.

For Mr. Gore, who basked in the adulation of his Hollywood audience Sunday night, the high court’s decision to give his Oscar to President Bush was a cruel twist of fate, to say the least.

But in a 5-4 decision handed down Tuesday morning, the justices made it clear that they had taken the unprecedented step of stripping Mr. Gore of his Oscar because President Bush deserved it more.

“It is true that Al Gore has done a lot of talking about global warming,” wrote Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority. “But President Bush has actually helped create global warming.”

In another setback for the former vice president, a group of scientists meeting in Oslo, Norway today said that Mr. Gore was growing at an unsustainable rate.

“The polar ice caps may be shrinking, but Al Gore is clearly expanding,” said Dr. Hiroshi Kyosuke of the University of Tokyo.

The scientists concluded that if Mr. Gore continues to expand at his current rate, he could cause the earth to spin off its axis by 2010, sending it hurtling into the sun.

“Here’s an inconvenient truth,” Dr. Kyosuke added. “Al’s got to stay away from those carbs.”

Elsewhere, after foreigners received a record number of Academy Award nominations, CNN anchor Lou Dobbs proposed building a 12-foot high fence around the Kodak Theater.

August 1991

I include this photo simply because it is one of my all-time favorites. Carrie made this portrait of her baby sister as she was preparing to depart for her first year of college.

A Christmas present

Remember this? Ipper shot up a whole roll of film trying to get one good photo that we could frame and give to Dad for Christmas. We finally got one, but this isn't it. Margaret is about a month old here, and Carrie (9, going on 10) and Brian (5, going on 6) are just adorable. As for me...well, this photo is proof that I once was young and slender. Also that I wore very big glasses.

Steph at 3 months

Steph at 3 months. Nothing more need be said.

Hello! Who are you?

Steph comes home from the hospital and is introduced to big sister Margaret. Aren't they sweet?

Margaret at three days old

"What's this in my bed?"

Brian-three days old

Brian at three days old, eyeing his father suspiciously.

Carrie & Dad

Carrie at one month old. Dad and Johanna had this very same conversation last night.

Daddy & Daughter

Anyone see any resemblance here? Brian is one month old in the photo at left.

As I went through old photos, it was very depressing to realize what a lousy photographer I was (am?). There are numerous shots of you kids as babies, featuring acres of sofa, wall, window, floor, etc. with a blurry little image in the center that appears to be a baby, but it's too small to tell. Very difficult to make out distinguishing features.

I Can Read Your Mind

I saw this on a David Blaine special, and I think I've figured out how to do it, so I want to try it out on everyone.

I want you to think of a number between 1 and 50. It can be any number between 1 and 50, but both digits must be different odd numbers.

Have you thought of a number? Okay, concentrate on that number.

I've got it. I know what number you're thinking of. I'll post it in the comments section.

We Now Return You to Your Regularly Scheduled Blog

Okay, hearing all the problems people have been having, I think I've figured it all out. You may or may not know that Blogger is owned by Google, and Blogger has been going through an upgrade for the past few months. In addition to upgrading the entire Blogger system to a kind of "Blogger 2.0," one of the upgrades was to merge Blogger and Google accounts, so you only need one account/password to sign in to either account. Unfortnately, I didn't realize that I had to upgrade our blog before any of the other changes could take place. So Blogger was asking for Google sign-ins, but then wouldn't allow them.

With the new Blogger 2.0, you'll notice a couple other changes. Most importantly, you can now add labels for your posts, so it'll be able to find a post about a particular topic. For example, I'm going to file this post under "Admin."

Long-story short--I think I've fixed the problem. You should be able to post again normally now, by loggging in with your Google account information. If anyone continues to have problems, please ask me directly to look into it.

Put the pictures on the blog and no one gets hurt

I demand pictures and updates on the newest doings of our newest niece. Inquiring minds want to know what fun new trick she has learned (where "trick" is a broad term that can encompass everything from learning to suck her thumb, to getting her first cold, to peeing on someone other than herself, etc.)

What we're up to

We have a meeting next week with our contractor to lock down the final details and determine a start date for our latest home renovation project: a carriage house/workshop (for our horseless carriages and our work and our shop ;-), a mudroom breezeway connecting this to the kitchen, moving the back door around to the west side of the house, installing some windows in its place on the N side, and framing/roughing in a master bath addition off our closet (which will become a walk-through closet).

Mr. Bun John has also said that he can install a much-needed new asphalt roof for us on the second story, plus shingle the carriage house (I am calling it that because the word "garage" is like fingernails on a blackboard to me - unless someone else can come up with a better name - but the design is like an old carriage house) roof, plus shingle the master bath addition.

We will be doing all the electrical work, plumbing beyond the rough-in, rock, mud, tiling, and finish carpentry work ourselves on all these things. Plus (don't know if this will be this year or not) building a deck-with-pergola/patio combination off the back of the carriage house, replacing remaining east kitchen windows with french doors as access, dividing the existing first-floor bath into two rooms and turning one into an office and refinishing the other as a 3/4 bath, and turning my existing "office" in the kitchen into a pantry area.

Then of course we'll need to remodel our closet and bedroom to go with the new master bath.

And when all that's done, that'll leave only the Bowman guest bedroom as the last remaining existing room to remodel!

Then of course there's the fact that at some point we want to finish off the attic and turn it into a small en-suite plus a box room.

And oh yeah, the contractor's project may include a potting shed/greenhouse/mower storage area, depending on how much home equity loan money we have left when we're done (and how much of our sanity....)

Yeah.... Looking at this list, this isn't all going to get anywhere near done this year, but for sure the new garage, mud room, and framing for the master bath, and the roofing.

Just thought you might like to know that eventually we'll have covered parking. Too late for winter of 2006-2007, but ooh, next year will be grand.

Update on Claire

We saw the Dr. on Monday and here is what we think: She was running high all afternoon and evening on Saturday and we couldn't get her sugar down. I changed her port and this fixed the BG. The problem is that her body was getting used to being high so the rapid drop in her blood sugar made her feel hypoglycemic, even though she wasn't. When she hit 98, her body reacted like it was bottoming out. We don't need to do any further testing and she has been fine since Sunday.

Don't be alarmed but...

Claire had to go to the ER very early this morning. She woke up at about 2am and said she had a very bad dream, and then after that she was very disoriented and confused. Mike checked her blood sugar and she was 98 which is pretty decent but he was worried she might drop more so he gave her a banana and a small bolus for it. Then he laid down with her to help her sleep. About an hour later he came and got me and said she was still very confused. She kept flinging her arms and legs around, kinda like when you are trying to go to sleep but can't quite get comfortable and your frustrated. She also had her eyes open the whole time, but was very out of it. I checked her BG and she was down to 69. I suspended her pump and tried to get her to eat some glucose tablets or drink some pop, but she refused to open her mouth. I would ask her to eat it and she would nod but then get mad when I tried to put it in her mouth. She would start crying for no reason and then stop suddenly and look around like she had no idea what was happening. We asked her questions like what her name is or who we are and she would either just shrug or say I don't know. He blood sugar after about 10 minutes of this was at 89 so she was coming up rapidly just with the pump suspended. We realized that the whole thign was probably unrelated to her diabetes, but something was still terribly wrong. I called the nurse-on-call and explained what was happening and she said she really couldn't figure out what was wrong and we should take her in to be checked. By the time we got to the ER her BG was up to 108. They did a CT scan and lots of blood tests and a urine test. The CT was fine, blood all good, but she has a slight UT infection. The DR. is unsure if this has anything to do with anything, but he said sometimes infections can cause wierd problems. We were there for about 3 hours before she finally came around and could answer all of our questions. There is also the possibility that she was just in a very deep sleep, but he said it should't take hours to come out of it like that.

Anyway, we were realeased and told to make an appointement with the pediatrician tomorrow and he will probably have her go to Akron Childrens to have an EEG and some other more extensive tests done. She has had to do this once before about 2 years ago. Eveything was normal then, but you just never know.

If anyone has heard of something lke this before and can give us some insightt please do. I don't know what is worse, to have all the tests come back normal and still have no idea what is wrong, or to have something come back irregular but at least know where to start fixing it.

Cheerleading

Claire was a Husky Cheerleader last night at the basketball game. She did so well! I was a proud mom. They did 3 different cheers and then a dance. The dance was a bit harder for her as there were a lot of moves to remember and they only had 3 practices to learn all the cheers and dance, but she was awesome on the cheers. There were probably between 50 and 75 little girls out there on the gym floor. It was so cute.

Our big news

I'd like to share our big news, which is that we have a new niece! Her name is Johanna Eden Miller, and she was born on 2/2. I think she was 8 lbs, 1 oz. and 20.5" long.

She was very opiniated and gassy and cute, so she fit right in with the rest of the family.

I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew about this.

claire

I called mom yesterday midmorning and was surprised when Claire answered the phone. She had a snow day. After I talked to her for a bit, I asked to talk to Grandma, and she said "okay hold on." A few seconds later, Claire comes back on the phone and, in a deeper voice says "Hey, I'm grandma. What do you want?" I chatted with her for a bit and she said things like "You need to come home immediately!" Her voice kept getting deeper, and I said "You know, I'm starting to think this is actually grandpa, not grandma." And she goes into the lowest voice possible and says "OY. That's because this IS grandpa. What do you want?" ......the conversation continued for a bit.
I was impressed with her improvisational skills. :)

Oh, and last night, Holly told me that about 6am I screamed and threw the covers off, got out of bed and stood there in the middle of the room. She asked if I was okay and I said "Yeah, I think so." Then I got back into bed and went to sleep. I don't remember any of this.

i had a dream too

except mine was more em-bare-assing. long story short, i kept trying to get dressed after a shower, but random people i didn't even know kept walking into the room, so i'd leave and go into another room to change. every time i walked into the other room, the people would stare because my butt was hanging out the back of the towel, which was flapping happily in a slight breeze. (the towel was flapping, not my butt...well, maybe a little of both.) (i thought i should "claire-ify" that for y'all.)

I have a dream

Last night I dreamt that I was standing around talking to Brian and Rachel, and Rachel said, "My cervix feels funny," and boom! There arrived the baby 2 seconds later! Only instead of Johanna, the baby was a boy.

Medical Report

I had my first post-op doctor's visit on Wednesday. Nothing much to say, except incisions are healing up nicely, and it is now legal for me to do the things I have been doing for the last several days; e.g. slipping my arm out of the sling to get dressed, taking a shower (now I am allowed to get the incisions wet) and sleeping in my own bed. I now have a new fashion accessory---a big black dorky brace covering my forearm, wrist and hand. I go back on Jan. 31st and at that point, if all is well, I begin PT.

Long Term Sub Job

I will be subbing full time starting about mid-March at Hillsdale Middle School. This will go through the end of the school year. An 8th grade Math and Language Arts teacher is having a baby and going on maternity leave. I was called and asked if I would be interested and I interviewed with the principal, the departing teacher, and another 8th grade teacher today. It looks great and I am very excited. The drive is only 15 minutes (about 10 miles) and I can still continue to work at NW's after school program. I really hope this goes well and that it will help me gain a job next year.

Back from the dead

Since no one has posted on here in a month, I thought I'd say hi.

Lessee. Wes' dad had another heart attack right after Christmas (this is number 5, 6, or 7, depending on whose count you believe). The good news is that he is home and feels fine. The bad news is that he lost another 20% of his heart (he had already yet lost a third in previous heart attacks). Plus the fact that he lost more means that he has a blocked artery, but they can't do an angioplasty or even another heart cath because his health overall is so poor. So please pray about that.

Thanks to Brian and Dad, we now have new, non-leaking, functional water lines in the entire house (except the downstairs bath, which we held off on until we remodel that). That was an unexpected hitch in the holiday week, but something that was on our long-term to do list, plus I finally got a hose for my flower beds out of it, so we're happy.

We're still remodelling the upstairs bathroom, and will be for a while yet since these other events took up a lot of time that we weren't expecting, but we sealed the plaster on the cement board and put on the first code of paint yesterday. Next up: installing the floor heating system and tiling the floor.

Wes is making good progress on his new book (yay), and I am back at the office (boo). Baxter, Bert and Ernie are all still fat and stupid and cuddly, so life is as it should be.

Rachie's Christmas list

Electronic label maker
Cheap package of earrings from a store like Claire's (silver in color)
$
New Bible (the Message version)

Claire and James Lists

Claire:
clothes - pants size 7 shirts size 7 or 8

James:
clothes - 18 months for winter or spring
curtains for the 2 windows in his room

108th Birthday is the Last

Mike's Great-Grandma, Martha Bowman, died Saturday night. She had had a stroke earlier in the week, was in the hospital for a couple days, and then moved to a nursing home for a couple days where she died. She turned 108 at the beginning of November.

Brian's list

This all I got for now:
DVDs:
Seinfeld 8 and 9
Chariots of Fire
(I'm sure more will be added, but this is all I could think of for now)
Gift certificates for Gap, Structure
bowflex selecttech dumbells

Steph's xmas list

I think this is all I can think of for now. So in no particular order:

DVDs
Muppets From Outer Space
Looney Tunes Golden Collection series VOLUME ONE (NOW ONLY 1/2 PRICE!!)

a new watch (silver only, no stretchy bands, with a clear, white or blue face, preferably square in shape. no really intricate weavy designs.)

a Browns shirt
a Shin-Soo Choo shirt
(t-shirts or long sleeves, size M)

dressy tops
fashionable shoes
asian-style tops or clothing (there was some stuff i really liked at a store in the Easton Mall, called Forever 21, or something like that. i'd probably like almost anything from that store, and it's got great prices. i even have a picture of one of the shirts i liked, but i'd need larger sizes in the asian-style, it's all just so small!)

a good book to read

Dad's Christmas List

1. Light weight hooded rain jacket for carrying on bike and wearing when needed.
2. G.P.S. Tracking device. Suitable for carrying or mounting on a bike.
3. Biking shorts and shirts.
4. Bike odometer that has
a. distance 1
b. distance 2
c. odometer
d. clock
e. current speed
f. average speed
g. maximum speed
h. trip time
i. riding time
5. Wrap around biking sunglasses
a. keep sun out of eyes
b. keep bugs out of eyes
c. keep wind out of eyes so my eyes don’t dry out and I lose my contacts.

Sleepy

Ever have that thing where you're at work, and you think you're working, and then you realize that you're so sleepy you've spent the last five minutes refreshing an IE Window and not actually doing anything?

Working A Lot!

I have been subbing like crazy. Over the course of the last 2 week pay period at NW, I worked 9 of 10 days (23rd - 3rd, had Friday the 4th off). This 2 week period I will work all 10. I subbed at NW High on Monday and will do the rest of this week and all of next week at Black River Middle for a math teacher. His wife just had a baby this morning and he is taking off 2 weeks to stay home. Just thought I would let everyone know my life up until T-Day vacation :)

Margaret's Christmas List

Dockers "Metro Pants"

Books:
Ella Enchanted
anything by Avi
anything by Gary Paulsen
The Opal Deception, by Eoin Colfer
The Supernaturalist, by Eoin Colfer
anything by Walter Dean Myers (except Slam!)
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series
anything by Meg Cabot
fun with math books (for the classroom) (Like Math Curse, Sir Cumference and the Sword in the Cone, etc.)

DVDs:
Billy Madison
Ella Enchanted
Chicago

Wall decor for the living room
An Ipper Collens original painting

Notice to All Orlando-Bound Travelers

Keep two things in mind when you pack for Orlando:
1)There are a washer and dryer in our house, so you will be able to wash and re-wear items of clothing.
2) There is a heated swimming pool attached to the house, so bring your suit.

To those flying: Dad and I will be driving down, leaving either Friday night or early Saturday morning, so let us know if there is anything you want us to take down for you. Keep in mind, though, that we will be bringing Mike & Margaret and kiddles back with us, so space will be an issue on the return trip.

Dad and I received a Trip-Tik from AAA with several maps and tourist-type books. You are welcome to borrow them (briefly) or come over and look at them.

Mom's Christmas list

My wish list is very simple---anything you can get at fleamarkets or yard sales for the cabin:
dishes
silverware
cooking utensils
pots & pans (we will eventually get a stove)
games, toys
old books
jigsaw puzzles
old-fashioned hinges and doorknobs
blankets, quilts

ADDED 11/3/06: photo studio portraits of all of you (individually or together).

Carrie's Christmas list 2007

Carrie Christmas List 2007

-Calligraphy family tree back to great-great grandparents on both Smith and Miller sides, on parchment paper

- Countertop composter and replacement filters (in cobalt blue) http://www.nextag.com/norob/PtitleSeller.jsp?nxtg=9d880a240503-C4D5B7A8AC3B9BCC&chnl=main&tag=537010697&ctx=D3pmQjpiUjWJeXDiusIAeVcpLm7FaLTOY9JPtUZnGPqU2fLxG5PvfkqHYPfrg3%2Ft6e%2BwphqQR2v%2F%0A%2BJXkQNI8WNahGfa0tf9jj2irxnj7PG4AJJ3Ikbj50W7zi7h3HdS9&ptitle=526352780

- German bearded re-blooming irises (Blue, white,purple, and/or yellow)

- LOST Seasons 1,3 on DVD

-"America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On the Money," by Steve and Annette Economides (this is a book)

- Betsy-Tacy books (by Maud Hart Lovelace); I have the first four; I still need: Heaven to Betsy; Betsy in Spite of Herself; Betsy Was a Junior; Betsy and Joe; Betsy and the Great World; Betsy's Wedding

- DVDs: Little Mermaid; The Chronicles of Narnia; Spider-Man 3; Shrek 3

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Okay... it's midway through October. Time to pull out those Christmas lists and post them here.

There are two ways you can create your Christmas list. Both are fairly easy.

1) Just make the list as you would any other post here.
2) If you have an account with Amazon or Froogle, create a Wish List (I'll let you visit those sites to figure out how they work). Once you've created a list, either send me the link or post it directly to the blog. (If you have items that cannot be purchased or are generic, it would be better to create your list seperately and post it here).

Once you've posted the list or I've received the link, I'll put it in the Wish List section in the sidebar to the right. Right now there are question marks by everyone's name. Once somebody submits a list or link to me, I'll replace the question mark with "(UPDATED)".

If you need to make any additions or changes, just make the changes to your original post or off-site list, and those changes will be made automatically to the link on this page.

And that's it. When your secret Santa (or whomever) wants to find out what you're hoping for, they can simply click on the link and see what you have on your list. For example, when you click on my name over there, you'll be taken to a small list I created in Froogle.com, including an iPod, a TiVo (which I don't really need, but it's cool) and a set of Superman action figures (ditto). Please keep in mind the list is over a year and a half old, and these items will be removed or changed soon. I just want to be certain that the link works for everyone.

Pretty simple, huh? E-mail directly with any questions.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

New E-bay seller!

Well, we finally bit the bullet and put our precious but unused musical instruments up for sale---two saxes and a flute. It makes us very sad, but they were just worth too much money to hang on to for sentiment's sake (sort of like Carrie's & Wes's decision to let the barn go). Not only that, but it was sad to see them sitting unused. They were created to make beautiful music, and I hope whoever buys them will do that.

View them here, here and here.

Good-bye, Barn

On Thursday we got the final estimate on what it would take to get our barn into usable condition. The answer: $80,000.

Believe it or not, this was actually an answer to prayer, because this made it patently clear that we couldn't afford it and shouldn't go ahead with the project (this put it $30,000 over budget). If it had been just a little bit over budget that would have been a tough decision.

The same afternoon, I talked to Moose and she had the number of the guy who de-constructed Mike's grandpa's barn. He's from North Carolina (the barn guy, not Mike's grandpa), but when I called him it so happened that he was still in Ohio.

The next day he and one of his partners came to look at our barn. He poked around for a while, then came in to the house and told us, "Well, it's an awfully big job, and we couldn't get to it for a while."

So we were sad for a few minutes, until the guy said, "Could you possibly wait 3-4 weeks for us to get to it?"

Umm, yeah. We've waited 4 years. I think we can wait 3-4 weeks.

This guy works for salvage, so it's free to do the de-construction. He also asked us if we could do open burning, and we said yes, there's a big burn area 50 feet from the barn.

He said, "Great, we'll just burn any unsalvageable scrap for you as we go, so then you don't have a huge pile at the end."

So -- they work for free, and they clean up after themselves. Yeah, we're pretty happy about that.

Also, now we have our home equity loan to play with on the house!!!! We are accepting ideas at this point. ;-)

We're sad to lose this piece of history from the property, but happy that it will it get a new home as another barn or recycled into other useful things, and very happy that we can get some larger projects done on the house now.

First in line: a garage (that's gair-ahhj to anyone who's been in Australia or NA this year).

"...Frageelay."

I never even knew A Christmas Story was filmed in Cleveland, but evidently we can make a pilgrimage to the house starting in November.

What's the difference between the Yankees and a Haunted House?

Answer: A haunted house has bats.

(I have to credit Wes with that one.)

Claire scored a goal

I forgot to post last week that Claire scored a goal in her game. She almost scored one today but it got blocked. She really seems to be enjoying it - a lot more than softball. I think she just needs something where she's up moving the whole time.

We've met Taylor...

...and she is a great kid. We've gotten to spend a Friday evening and a Saturday afternoon with her now.

The first time we met her, we went out to dinner and she talked non-stop the entire time. She is the oldest of 6 kids, is in the 4th grade, is very smart, and volunteers at her school reading to the smaller kids.

She looks SO much like Dan and Bob. Dan has finally met her, although I guess "hi" was about as far as they got.

This past Saturday we were at Wes' parents' house; all 3 Smith grandkids were together, and Taylor hardly said anything. I guess Kayli and Christian talking a mile a minute was a little much to compete with. But the 3 of them seem to get along very well. Shockingly, well, actually, considering all the circumstances.

Taylor wanted to learn to crochet, which made Kayli want to learn, so Mary was very excited to teach the two of them. They were doing quite well working on a blanket.

We hope to have her up to visit someday soon. It is hard to catch up on 10 missing years all at once, but she is definitely worth it.

Goodbye Oliver

We had almost ten years with him. He wasn't the cutest, wasn't the smartest, wasn't the bravest, but we all loved him. And I know how much dad loved his little "surprises". We won't be able to hear his toenails clicking on the kitchen floor anymore, but soon dad's will grow long enough to fill that void. We watched him grow from a shaking, quaking, underfed little puppy into a plump, white-bearded old man. He didn't care to be around little children all that much when they were awake and moving, but once asleep he wouldn't leave their side, intent on standing guard over them. He was always so happy to see us when we got home from work or came over to visit, and he always had a sixth sense about when we were about to get into a vehicle and he had a fighting chance of going along.
Think of how old you were and what your life was like when we got Oliver. I was in fifth grade, Mr. Kline's class, I looked like a boy and wore flannel fairly often. In our family photo that year, I wore a flannel dress that looked more like a nightgown and I was mortified because instead of buttons it had bra hooks to fasten it together. For some reason, the day mom got Oliver, I came in the front door of the house when I got home. Mom took me into the dining room and introduced me to this shivering little black dog that peed all over itself with fear when I tried to get him out of his cage. We tried to make him sleep in his cage that night, but he cried until I let him into my room, and then he scratched at the door until he was allowed to go into mom and dad's room, where he finally went to sleep. I guess he was attached to mom right from the start. The last time I saw Oliver, he was in the back of mom and dad's big monster van. They helped me unload my stuff at OU, I kissed mom and dad goodbye, and I petted Oliver and gave him a kiss before they drove away. So at least I got to say goodbye.
I'm trying to think now. That food and water dish he had, the water dish was all chewed up. Did he do that when he was a puppy, or did Toby do that before him? We've had that dish for a very very long time.
Anyway, goodbye Oliver, no dog could ever replace Toby, and no dog will ever replace you. I'm glad I didn't cut your toenails at the vet's visit just last month, because I wouldn't want that to have been one of your last memories of being with me. Although you were mad enough when I took you home and gave you a bath. Have fun in doggie heaven, and eat all of Mike's steaks that you like.

Sorry, I tried to put a couple photos on here, but I can't get them to load.

name dropping

Ok, we are letting everyone know that when our daughter is born she will be welcomed into the world as..................... Johanna Eden Miller.

I could not figure out to add text to the photos, so I had to do it this way.
In the second set of pics you see a turkey leg hovering above her. That is her left arm with her hand next to her face. Maybe she's picking her nose. ------- ---- Miller stop that right now!

...have some more sllloooppppy joes....

Say hello to granddaughter/niece #2 (Miller side anyway)

• 

Good News/Bad News

Hasbro has officially updated the Monopoly game with modern properties across America and new playing pieces.

THE GOOD NEWS:
Jacobs Field is one of the properties you can buy or sell.

THE BAD NEWS:
It replaces Mediterranean Avenue.

Special Holiday Guest

Steph is mentoring a student from Hong Kong this quarter. Her name is Angel, and she speaks English very well. She is eager to experience all things American while she is in the U.S. Would anyone object to taking her along to Orlando in November?

Claire's soccer

Claire is playing soccer this year. I was waiting to receive a schedule and then I was going to post all of her games here, but I have yet to get one from the coach. Anyway, she has a game every Saturday through mid to late October. They are either 10 am or 11:30 am. If anyone wants to come feel free. They are at the fields behind the elementary - just like softball was.