Christmas Eve

Because our apartment is tiny and we weren’t going to be spending Christmas in California we did not take any of our Christmas stuff with us. Due to the lack of decorations we had felt somewhat disconnected from Christmas this year.  However, I didn’t want to let this year go by without giving the girls some of the magic that comes with this holiday. I don’t think I have many more years left before Raquel stops believing. I can already see her starting to lose a little bit of that sense of wonder and awe.  I almost didn’t make it, but tonight on Christmas Eve, we set up a tree in the living room. And placed 3 stockings on the bench.

I quickly realized that waiting till the last minute was not completely a bad idea.

When I told Raquel she needed to hurry and get ready for bed, she panicked because she had not told Santa what she wanted (we didn’t take her to the mall this year to see him) and he wasn’t going to bring her anything. I suggested she write him a letter.

She put her letter next to her stocking, set up the milk and cookies, and dashed for bed.

In retrospect, I may have a few more years left than previously thought.

A Quarter of the Way Through!

Mike successfully finished his first semester of PA school.  We took advantage of his 2 week break to visit my family for Christmas.  I must really love them; we left nice warm 78 degree weather in California and drove 10 hours to come to very very cold Utah. 

Since part of the family will be gone for Christmas Eve (the night we usually get together to celebrate), we had an early get-together yesterday.

The girls were very excited to see their cousins.  We took two of them home after the festivities for a sleep-over with Raquel.  Here they are on the drive home.

 Girls. Giggles. Crazy Faces. Squeals. Roars. Silliness. Friendship. Good Times.

  

Last Week...

It rained a ton!  This however, didn't stop the girls from going outside.

I gave Elena bangs.  I never cut bangs on Raquel when she was little.  I figured that at some point she was going to have to go through the "hair in you face" stage--that the baby is demonstrating so well in this picture--and I'd rather have her go through it when she was little and didn't care. 

But with Elena, I think bangs help frame her face rather well.  I might even go as far as saying that they give her some girlyness.

Mike told Raquel he'd give her 25 cents each time she washed the dishes.  She did them several times last week.  On Saturday when we were at Wal-Mart, she asked if we could stop by the toy section.  When we got there she started asking me how many quarters she needed to buy different toys.  I realized then, that she had brought the money she'd earned over the week...a little over a dollar.  After explaining that she was going to have to wash a ton more dishes before she earned enough money to buy any of those toys, she settled for a candy bar.  She was super excited to pay for it all on her own. Unfortunately, I think I may have destroyed any future efforts in washing dishes for the purpose of earning money to get a toy.

Speaking of dishes.  This is a common sight at our house.  I'm sure, if they could, these other two would pay me to let them wash the dishes.

I got some insight into why the baby's shirts are uncomprehensively soaked after eating...

Unlike me, she doesn't seem to have a problem with this.

Raquel learned about insects in her science class.  The girls made ants.

Here is Raquel's

and here is Elena's

Well, she got the 3 body parts, 6 legs, and 2 eyes part right.

Family Pictures

Yes. It has been over 2 years since our last family picture.  I am related to 2 great photographers and really have no excuse.  Knowing that we would be spending Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law's, who is an amazing photographer, we planned some time while we were there to have our pictures taken.  Here are a few of my favorites...

The Official 2009 Picture

 The Tribute to Raquel Picture (unlike the rest of us who are not paying attention).

The 'Walking' Picture.

and

The Baby Smiling Picture.

Thanks again Mindy!

Thanksgiving

A few firsts this Thanksgiving...

For the first time since being a Miller all 8 of the Miller siblings were together for Thanksgiving.

First time I had fried turkey. By far one of the juiciest turkeys I've ever had.

Finished product...

All of the grandkids sitting long enough to take a picture.

First time going swimming at the end of November.

We had a great time! Definitely a Thanksgiving to remember. Thanks Vance and Mindy for hosting and handling all the craziness with such ease.

Seven Years!!!

Seven years ago today it began. Looking back, it still feels like a dream. I've loved every minute of our life together. 7 years, 6 little feet, 5 moves, 4 cities, 3 achilles tendon repairs, 2 degrees, 1 degree in the making, and a whole lot of less hair (from the both of us) later—I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Thank you for making my life so amazing, Mike. I would marry you again and again!


(Note: Picture taken at our wedding luncheon. Thank you Rebeca for scanning and sending it to me. You're the best!)

Things I Missed...

I only work Friday and Saturday. And although it provides me with some sanity, I hate the fact that while I’m gone I miss out on some of my kids’ idiosyncrasies.

Here are a few of the things I missed out on this weekend while at work…


Elena cleaning up the living room…all by HERSELF.

I was very impressed!

Now we just need to work on the concept that cleaning up does not mean object transference...

...to another room.

Baby napping...

Sorry...Mike didn't realize the camera was in video mode...so I can't turn the image right side up.

Baby jamming...

And my favorite...

Raquel was playing outside with some of the kids in our complex. She came running in almost on the verge of tears and very distressed...

"Dad, there is a boy out there who says I'm his girlfriend!" Tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"That's alright...just act like you don't care."

"I know, but he is also telling the OTHER kids I'm his girlfriend!"

"Ok, then tell him he is too ugly to be your boyfriend...that any boyfriend of yours needs to have looks...along with muscles...not to mention, money...and a nice car."

She looked at him confused, furrowed her eyebrows, and went back outside.

When I came home that night and heard the story, I jokingly asked, "So, what's wrong with that? How come you didn't want him saying that?"

"BECAUSE! I don't like him." Then, in a superior-than-him sort of way she added, "AND...HE is only FIVE!!"

Home Schooling

If someone were to have told me one year ago that I would be home schooling my kids, I would have put money down towards the contrary. Not because I don’t agree with it, but because it requires patience, discipline, and dedication. Precisely the reasons why I never saw me doing this.

Well, shortly after we decided on an apartment, I began looking into the school Raquel would be attending. I quickly found out that the school was ranked at the bottom of her school district. Great! This did not help the apprehension I was already having about Raquel attending a public school in a big city like LA. I looked into other options. Private schools would require I work full time to cover tuition and charter schools…well, there were none in our area…but one…called CAVA.  California Virtual Academy.  A public California charter school done at home.  They provide all the material. Including lesson plans, computer, printer, and even an internet stipend.  So…after much thought I decided to give it a try.

We just finished our second month of school and to celebrate here are the Top 10 Things About Home Schooling (in no particular order).

1. Initiating school at any time of the day…which for us means 9:30 or 10:00am. (Those of you who know me--know--that this is reason enough for me to do this).

2. Starting school in our PJs (which in Elena’s case means her underwear).

3. No rushing to get kids ready in the morning and no need to then load them into the car.

4. Getting to read things like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle.

5. No homework, in the traditional meaning of the word. Once we are done with school for the day, we are done.

6. Science and art projects.

(This here is a anemometer--for those of you not smarter than a 1st grader--that is an instrument used to measure the speed of wind.)

7. Elena getting a lot of side-learning she wouldn’t get otherwise.

8. Going to places like Disneyland in the middle of the week.

9. Having time to make breakfast.  You know.  On the very rare occasion that I may want to give them something besides cereal. (What do you expect?  This is me home schooling, not Mike.)

10. Getting to witness the momentary spark of excitement in Raquel’s eyes when she understands a new concept.

Although challenging, we are having a lot of fun.  I don't know how long we'll do this, but we don't have intentions of quitting any time soon.  I did ask Raquel this morning if she wanted to go to school next year with other kids her age.  She paused, put her finger on her chin and said, "Mmm...maybe when I'm ten."

Not Far From the Truth

Pictures and dialogue by Raquel....

"This is Elena happy."

"This is me leaving."

"This is Elena mad, because I left."

"This is Elena and me happy, because I'm back."

I'm just glad that the third picture wasn't a depiction of ME when I'm mad.

Seriously though, these pictures depict what Raquel and Elena's everyday life is like...Raquel pokes and teases Elena...Elena blows up.

Here they are...moments before the blow-up stage.

Childhood Milestone

Yes, it's official.  Raquel lost her first tooth yesterday.  It had been wiggly for some time, but she was in no hurry to loose it until she learned that the tooth fairy really does exist.

You see, Mike loves messing with the girls.  They have learned that almost anything he says, that might be remotely odd, is usually not true.  This has by defalt turned me into the bearer of ALL truth.  Anytime anything far fetched comes out of Mike's mouth they automatically turn to me for validation.

So last week when Raquel told Mike her tooth was loose, this was the conversation that followed:

Mike:  Make sure you don't accidentally swallow it, or you won't get any money from the tooth fairy.
Raquel:  The tooth fairy is pretend, dad.
Mike:  How would you know?  You've never lost any teeth.
Raquel:  Did you get any money from the tooth fairy when you lost your teeth?
Mike:  No, because my teeth were yellow and ugly.  But you'll probably get some money for your tooth.  It doesn't look too bad.

This was starting to sound logical...so she looked at me and asked, "Is that true mom?  The tooth fairy is not pretend?"  I responded with, "Uh....when your tooth falls out, you will get money."

And that was all I needed to say.  She had since been doing everything in her power to get it out.  And yesterday it finally happened, she came running into the kitchen to show me this:

Pretty exciting!  This is after all a major childhood milestone.  It does make me a little bit sad though...she is no longer little, little.