SLEEPOVER with Psuedo-Sisters

Savannah has no sisters. But thankfully, she has the twins :) When she was just about 18 months old, I quit my full time job to stay home with the kiddies. I started doing some daycare to help out a bit. I began watching 2 tiny little girls named Maycie and Taylie. They live just down the street from us. From that point forward, the three of them have been inseparable. I only watched them for about a year or so after that, but they stayed thick as theives! They are in primary together. They play at recess together. They take gymnastics/dance/whatever together. We carpool wherever we take them. When their mom, Carole, or I take them anywhere, we often get asked if we have triplets. They do look a lot alike! We were recently told "You can tell they are related!" Um...nope, they aren't ;) But they might as well be.

I love those girls tons and tons! I love having them over. They are so sweet and loveable! I am so thankful Savannah has them to stand in as sisters when she doesn't have any of her own!

We recently had them sleep over for the first time and I took some pictures. We baked sugar cookies and decorated them with princess glitter and frosting. Maycie, who is missing her front teeth, said, "We are having a blatht!" It was so much fun- Thanks Carole for letting us steal them for the night!

Mason's 10th Birthday- October 30th 2009

10 years ago, my life became so much fuller and greater than ever before. After a long road, a few doctors, some pills, some shots, 1 miracle and a positive pregnancy test (not to mention 9 months of puking 10-15 times every single day), Mason Wade Miller made his debut, 3 weeks early. He weighed 6 lbs 15 oz and was 20 1/2 inches long. He was healthy as could be and insanely beautiful!

Mason was a light in my life from the very beginning. Our lives were pretty crazy and difficult at that time and he was the thing that made each day worth whatever struggles life brought. He was a very fussy baby, but since he was my first, I could afford to sit and hold him, cuddle him and love on him for hours on end. By the time he hit about 8 or 10 months, he had outgrown that and he bacame the most good natured child you've ever seen. To this day, he still is :)

He was smart from the start- at 2 years old, he would identify, "trapezoid, hexagon, pentagon..." One day when he was 2, I went out in the dining room in our apartment and he had a stray cat. He had gone outside, caught it, brought it inside, gotten the milk out of the fridge and a bowl out of the cupboard and poured a bowl of milk for the cat without spilling a drop. I still dont know how he knew cats liked milk (we hadnt ever had a cat since he was born) or how he poured the milk by himself. I took pictures since I thought it was so cute.

Mason was painfully shy when he was little. He preferred spending time with Grandma Miller (who he called Grandma Digger at the time since she had "diggers" out in front of her house) to just about anything else. Grandma watched him while I worked and Daddy went to college. They got lots of quality time together and he loved it.

I still remember "sha-show-yos" (marshmallows), one of my favorite words he used. He loved his little blankey, his kitty kitty and his ducky and watching Barney. He will kill me someday for posting that.

In school, he has always done very well. He loves science and math. He enjoys history now too. He gets great grades and all his teachers enjoy him.

At home, Mason is such a light in our house. He loves helping with the littler kids. He thinks Jaxon is hilarious and loves to play with him. Often when I go to put Jayden down for a nap, he will say, "No! I want to see him! I havent had enough time with him!" Mason and Savannah are best friends and closer than I ever would have expected. They are pretty inseparable and do almost everything together.

Mason is a huge help to me. He is sensitive and sweet. He is funny. I love his laugh and his jokes.

He love playing chess, especially with Grandpa Scott (my dad). He loves baseball, basketball and golf and is excited to start basketball again in January.

Mason had his 10th birthday this year. It's hard for me to realize he is over halfway grown! He is amazing. I am so grateful that he was sent to our family. I couldnt ask for a better son. Here are a few pictures from his birthday party at Leo's place.

Mason, I love you with all my heart and consider you such an incredible blessing to me and this family!

Love, Mom

Carving Pumpkins- October 2009

Another October post. Our family has a busy last week of October, with Mason's birthday the day before Halloween! We squeezed in time for some pumpkin carving. Mason decided he wanted to do a contest- Him and me against Daddy and Savannah. While we both did great, I have to give the prize to Dan and Savannah, who got creative and used a Pillsbury grands biscuit to paint a face on and stick in the mouth of their pumpkin (red paint added no less) to make it look like it ate someone's head. It was pretty funny. Until the next day when Jaxon went out on the porch and ate it, red paint and all :)

Times like these are priceless. We love our family time!

Carmeled Apples with my girls- Oct 2009

Back in October (yes, that's how far behind I am. Shame on me.) I had a girl's day at Tammy's house. We made carmeled apples (YUM) with all kinds of goodies. Now, I myself am no domestic goddess. Nope. *gasp, really?* yeah, no one is surprised by this revelation. Anyhoo... so of course someone else's carmel recipe was required, as was much brain power from Tammy, Torrie and Erica (who we called in a panic after butchering the first batch of carmel without her there).

The apples were *voices from the heavens* glorious! I gave some to my visiting teaching families and kept a few for my own family. I had a great time (as I always do when Im with these ladies!) and ate waaayyy too much sugar!

Thanks guys for a fun time- and trying to teach me a thing or two! Let's hope it sticks!

I'm here...

...with so much to report, but no time. I promise to come back soon to update! I have so much to say!