Monday, December 29, 2014

the day we spent all the money.

It's not like we were sitting there on the eve of December 28th like, "Hey...we just spent a boat load on Christmas presents for everyone...let's shell out hundreds of dollars more. Shall we?"

But it seemed to happen that way.

It began with our septic system. Every time (and I mean EVERY time) we did a load of laundry, the downstairs toilet would back up and overflow. We made do for awhile by stuffing old towels all around the toilet, but when I went down to check on it the other day and saw several unmentionables in the toilet that had come back up, we knew it was time to call someone.

So this morning, the Septic Sucking Man came to suck the system. He then told us that our field system is shot...not entirely sure what that means other than a LOT of stuff has to be replaced. And that it's going to cost of thousands of dollars. Cool. But today we merely had a bill worth a couple hundred for the septic sucking.

While Ty was home with the Septic Sucking Man, I was at the vet with Abby. She was past due for some shots and stuff, and I also wanted to get her vision checked out. We knew she had cataracts and that her vision was getting a lot worse lately, and I wanted to get a gauge on exactly how well she could see.

The answer to that is, not well. She can't see at all out of her right eye, and can see maybe 10% out of her left eye (and that's mainly shadows and changes in light.) Since she's getting older, they also wanted to do a whole bunch of other Old Dog tests. So today she had:
A Pet Exam with Vaccination
Oral Bordetela Vaccine
Leptospirosis Vaccine
Rabies Vaccine
Triamcinolone with Keto & Enrofloxacin (fancy ear infection medicine)
Labs

 All this to say, I was sent home with another bill for a couple hundred dollars. And two tubes. One for a poop sample. And one for a pee sample. Cool.

After THAT we took my car to the dealership to be serviced. When we left a family get together last night, I couldn't shift into drive. When we finally got it into drive, then we couldn't shift into reverse. And so on and so forth. We finally got it home but needed to take it in to get it looked at. I just got off the phone with the Kia Mechanic Guy. He told me that there were 5 open recalls on my car and they took care of all those 5 things (which fixed the problem we were having.) BUT...

I have a license plate light out.
Power Steering fluid needs flushed and replaced.
Brake fluid needs flushed and replaced.
The cabin air filter is bad. (Perhaps that's why there's a thick layer of dust on everything.)
Tires need aligned.

I know exactly what it's going to cost. Another bill worth several hundred dollars. I told him we'd get back to him, because I'm just not sure all those things MUST be fixed today. I'm waiting to get a hold of Ty before I make any important decisions. You know, important decisions like either replace the license plate light today or buy toilet paper tomorrow.

And speaking of toilet paper, my husband is now limiting how many squares I can use, because of our broken septic stuff. What a day!

xoxo, wife.


Monday, December 22, 2014

xmas cards 2014

OMG it's finally Christmas Break! I love my job and my kiddos beyond measure, but we were ALL ready for a break. I intend to spend the next two weeks soaking up time with family, relaxing, getting ahead on some work, and recharging my battery before heading back to the classroom in January.

Before I head out to grab some last minute items for Food Prep Day tomorrow, here are some outtakes of our 2014 Christmas card pictures.




Merry Christmas from the Miller's!

xoxo, wife.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

my day was made.

I love my job. Love it. Especially this year. I have some amazing little kiddos who make me smile and impress me with their eagerness to learn every day.

But I'll be honest. Sometimes (especially Mondays...) I find myself driving to school wishing I had an office job. There are days where I'd like to just sit in a cubicle and keep to myself. There are times I don't really feel like being an enthusiastic goofball ALL day in order to get 5 year olds excited about place value.

I was having one of those days last week.

The weather was dreary, I knew I'd be at work LATE that night, and Christmas Break was still too far away to seem real. I was sitting at my computer getting some last minute stuff ready before the day started. One of my former students (from my very first class, and now in 3rd grade) came in to say good morning.

"Oh and guess what, Mrs. Miller! You remember that essay contest the school is doing? The one where we write about someone who inspires us? Well I wrote about you!"

"You did?" I said.

"Yeah. You've always been my favorite teacher ever. And I wanted to write about you. I hope I get picked to go up on stage and read it."

And she did. Yesterday morning, my former student was chosen to read her essay in front of the entire school.


And instantly, that feeling of wanting to sit in a cubicle by myself all day vanished. I realized that this is exactly why I do what I do. Not to be recognized in front of the school. But to make an impact. Even if I never heard her essay...even if she never wrote the essay. To have made an impact in her life is why I'm a teacher. Sure, reading and writing are important (and they are my favorite things to teach in kindergarten.) But even more important than that is that my students know my "heart is so full of love" for them. Because it is. And they need to know it. My day was made by this little girl.

I will undoubtedly have days when I wish I could work quietly by myself all day. But I now have this essay hanging on the wall by my desk to remind me that even though my day may be loud, hectic, and exhausting...I'm here to make a difference. And that's my mission.

xoxo, Mrs. Miller

Sunday, October 26, 2014

bentlee's 2nd birthday.

Yesterday my mother-in-law and I headed out to my godson Bentlee's 2nd birthday party.

It was a baseball themed party, complete with a hot dog machine, popcorn machine, and baseball pinata!

Unfortunately, when you're only two, you don't typically break the pinata...especially with a nerf bat haha!

But you still get a lot of candy when it does break.

Sometimes when you turn two, it can be very scary when a bunch of people start singing "Happy Birthday" to you. And you might sit back in your chair with a very unsure look on your face.

But as soon as the singing is over, you're ready to blow out those candles!


When you're two, you're expected to eat with a fork...unlike last year, when you just got to stuff your face by using your hands.


But sometimes that's hard to do and you get frosting all over. And using napkins doesn't come until you turn three, so it's still socially appropriate for you to lick frosting off your arm.

Happy Birthday Bentlee! I can't wait to see how much your grow and change in this next year!

xoxo, God-momma

Monday, October 13, 2014

i am capable of keeping a baby alive.

Sometimes I think people assume I'm not domestic enough to do certain things.
Like cook a fancy meal from scratch.
Like produce the perfect stain remover from household ingredients.
Like have my house in tip-top shape every day.

And maybe they're right. (Actually they probably are right, about that stuff at least.)

But one thing I CAN do, is keep another human alive. Especially little humans.
If you actually take time to think about it...that's kind of what I do for a living. Keep little humans alive. 22 of them to be exact.

And while those little humans aren't babies, I knew I could keep my 5 month-old nephew alive for a few hours the other day while my in-laws took my other nephew and niece out for some early-Halloween fun.

 Fun fact: I took a babysitting class at the hospital when I was 12. I passed with flying colors.

Case in point:

Bonding time. Watching Notre Dame and talking about life and stuff.

Playtime.

It may not look like he's still alive...but I promise he is.

Time spent building self-esteem by telling the baby how cute he is.

Manners lesson: how to fold our hands politely.

Naked anatomy lesson: how to find your toes and eat them. 

We even had some animal bonding time, where cat and kid played together in perfect harmony.

I fed the baby human. And then changed the baby human's diaper after that food promptly went right through him.

Friendship time.

And then he fell asleep for another few minutes before everyone returned.

During my 6ish hour stint as babysitter:

His mom called to check up on me.
My husband checked up on me.
And my father-in-law checked up on me.

In my forever quest to become more domestic, I hope I proved to the world that I can, in fact, take care of a baby for a few hours. He came away alive, fed, changed, entertained, and unharmed. (And I think he loves me more now than he did before. I think I'm his favorite aunt!)

xoxo, aunt lisa

Saturday, October 11, 2014

miller family pictures 2014

Recently it was brought to attention that the last Miller Family Picture was taken like 9 or 10 years ago. Way before me or any of the kids were around. So we decided to make some updates. Last night we headed out to Bonneyville Mill to get some good shots. There were probably about 300, but the following are some of the best ones. Enjoy!



I think this is my favorite picture from the day.




This captures Jason and Tara's personalities to a tee. Always funny...but usually inappropriate haha!













We love these kids!

Lydia's stubborn personality was captured perfectly here. There was a moment when most of us were unsure of whether or not she would cooperate...but she did :)









I'm so glad we got to do this. The pictures turned out really nicely, and we had a fun time. (We also got quite a few laughs out of some of the outtakes!)