Party Tonight at our old church

Look at those bruises...yikes!


I don't know how to do these in order and it drives me nuts. I keep deleting them etc...o.k. so, here's all the pictures backwards....last thing we did tonight was go out to dinner. There was a promise of free food, but it was actually free Dominos cheese pizza and it tasted almost as bad as ChuckECheese pizza (which isn't even real) and you could just have 1 piece for each adult, so we ended up just having a munch.
Chase loves to eat and here he is eating the container of ketchup after he was done with his fries and burger.
HE LOVES TO DIP

Our favorite place, IN/OUT burger!!! oh my so yummy.

We met another Indy, so I had to take their picture...they were both pretty embarrassed...but I figured I better get those types of pictures now, just in case they stop letting me later.
Skye was so cute...after he won a game, he'd just pick out 1 piece of candy...you can tell I never give him any, he didn't hardly even want it. He wanted those Drops Candy..those chewy fruit drops...
Chase is IN LOVE with any type of basketball game...so here he is trying his hand at bball.

Is this the first time I've given Chase candy? I think it is...can't remember if I've given him candy yet..
Indiana Jones and the very smudged and almost gone beard.
Flipping over and over on the slide.
We had a nice night and felt really good about supporting the church and going to a fall festival/party instead of celebrating Halloween.

Two down, 999,999,999 to go!

Well, I feel sort of selfish as I totally forgot to put in the 40 days of life prayer requests!! It just slipped my mind. Sorry everyone...don't forget to go to pray!

O.k. I'm serious about us all lifting one another up in prayer! Guess what? Jen's living situation has changed and a manager took a chance on Jen and trusted her and is now renting an apartment to Jen that is nice enough and Jen can afford! She'll be able to do it with just working 2 days a week and grandma is going to take the kids, so no childcare center! Please keep praying for this transition for Jen and for the "ex" and the boys adjustment..that's no small issue. This is a miracle...can't go into all the details about all the 'whys' but it truly is a miracle!!! Thank you Lord for building my faith.

Hmmm, never seen this cool mail vehicle before!


These are out of order...after the game of flag football eating pears.

Chase watching big brother...at one point he said "yeah!"

If you'd like to look closely, you will notice clean, trimmed fingernails! what?~! That's a miracle!
Social Studies making flag project.
Cutting....we HATE cutting.

Reading

He is pretty bouncy in this one, sorry!! I tried to download the next one, but it was too big and I don't know how to do a zip yet. So, at least you get to see him actually reading it! Yipee!

One prayer answered...1,000,000,000 to go

Camera has been found. Check.

In prayer

I'm deeply moved by this whole political campaign. I don't have time to go into it, but I feel like the lines been drawn and because this is my blog and I hope I won't steer people away from the gospel I'm opposed to Obama. My three basic reasons are 1. The whole taxes discussion 2. The whole mortgage discussion (you know how If eel about integrity) and 3. The whole abortion thing

Secondly, I need you to pray for 3 very specific things today, all of which my heart is breaking for (to the point I have labored breathing): 1. Sister Noel is homeless, husbandless and has kids who she isn't accounting for. 2. My other sister Lori has been given some very difficult situations and actions and she needs prayer for grace, specifically in dealing with her 3 children under 3..that right there is just hard and her hubby's job is up in the air, beyond other things. 3. My friend Jen is also husbandless (not due to her own desires) has 3 kids under 3 and has a very temporary, dangerous living situation.

I need God to do a miracle. I know you can pray and so I want you to.
Other things that I'm praying for today as I cannot carry all of them:

1. Our work situation
2. Our condo ...some unsafe things are always going on, but are surfacing...pray for repentance, changed hearts and that I will not complain but rather serve these people.
3. My parents..they have 2 kids that are struggling right now and that makes me sad for them
4. Our economy
5. Me and Alan's alone time and his work schedule
6. Me missing my friends and that time together AND my camera has gone missing...
7. My oldest child's behaviour...really going through it right with him and what does honor and obedience and kindnesss and responsibility look like
8. My weight...I will be adding in my exercise as I think school is finally settled down..
9. My church and some people there..our relationships with the families we know that we will keep serving and loving and growing.
10. My missionary friends who need more support and prayer.
11. How to spend Thanksgiving.

O.k much love and thanks for reading the hard stuff with me.

Most Encouraging

Right now is the fact that Skye can read. He isn't finished knowing/memorizing all the sounds, but he can read about 200+ words and it's so wonderful. I just never thought I would pull this off..well, it's not all me, and we all know that!! His schooling is going well, really well. He just loves to read and right now isn't slowing down. He is learning a lot about history and today we made and colored three flags that used to be made and flown before the Congress chose which one was to be THE flag. He's getting WW2 mixed up and the early days of George Washington, but for some reason loves George Washington so I have to say, "no, not the time of the Japanese, the time of George" and he says "oh yah."
We had a huge hard sensory day today. Somedays I'm just not sure how to do this. I stopped at several points, held him, rubbed his body/back and prayed and talked to him about my struggles as a momma etc..but it seemed that he'd spin right out of control again.
Part of the problem is that he's bored/lonely and part of the problem is that he needs to be outside. You know what I'm going to pray for next...we need a yard. So, I'm still praying for how this is all going to work out.
I've been cooking a ton this week and trying to just serve Alan in that way. He loves home cooked meals. We got some fresh basil from our friend's yard and I used it to make stuffed/baked manicotti tonight. I put sausage and basil, onions and then all the cheeses...Skye took one bite and said, "this is disgusting" all the while throwing himself about and crying and spitting...lovely babe! Just lovely. We then pretended that we were at someones house and tried to make a lesson out of it. I just wasn't up for one more discipline today. I worry about him not eating enough and so I gave in and ended up giving him a peanut butter sandwich as I didn't want him waking me at 2am demanding some food. Hmm, not sure if that was the best thing.
We all have colds and so it's something I'm praying leaves fast.
Alan still is looking for a job. He worked last weekend after 2 straight weeks of more than 65 hours..eek.
O.k. I'm beginning to ramble and fall asleep. I supposedly have a couple friend dates tomorrow and I hope they work out as I could use some more adult conversation. (is it that obvious?)

Recipe Ideas for Tgiving.

If you like a specific recipe and have about 20 minutes to type it to me, then please do! Hee..I know it's sort of a pain to type it, but I would really love it. or send it to my email at miller.lisa.a@cox.net because I need to spruce things up a bit and look forward to something new this season and I think recipes hit the spot.

I have a crazy day and need to do school and some things for the weekend that I had already committed to, but I don't want to have anything scheduled for this weekend as we need a break and time just to spend with the 4 of us. (aren't we a teeny family?)

I've been trying to get pictures printed of the boys when they were born so I can start getting caught up on their albums for scrapping. Juli took some amazing ones of Chase and so I have to get those, but the only Wlagreens by my house isn't and so I had to go deep into the bowels of the ghetto (I'm just on the skin, not deep in the bowels) and when I got there with my two children who I was afraid they might get shot or abducted any second-----guess? O.k. whoever guesses, gets a prize (ooooo, I'm spicy today) YES!!! YOU OVER THERE!! YOU GUESSED IT!!! They didn't have the pictures ready. I LOVE it when I get to move towards character development. A big smile spreads across my face and I say with everything in me, "GOODIE!"

So, with most sarcasm aside, I will hopefully be sitting around this weekend, scrapping for some moments, at least. Hubby doesn't like staying up late anyways so maybe after everyone goes to bed I can scrap!

Love you and keep praying for my sis Lori, please.

Thanks

for the instant grat on encouragement. You guys are great. I decided that today was going to be a simple day. I tried to wake up before everyone else (kids) but I turned off my alarm as I was so exhausted from tears for fears last night. At 6am Skye came in all excited to start our day. "Hi momma! How are you? You're my best mom." So, I responded with, "buddy, you know momma needs to ask you to forgive me for bein harsh with ya yesterday and today we're going to just relax." He says, " I totally forgive you mom."
We played tick/tack/toe (w?) with our sounds and that's all the school we did (we skipped our classes). We took baths, cleaned up his room (which he hates the process but loves it being clean) we listened to books on tape, we made cowboy cookies together, did chaulk outside and other cardboard , ate each meal sitting down talking and I even opened a new movie of Caillou and let them watch most of it. We really needed a day like that. I think 7 1/2 weeks straight of school with no break days, for a kindergardener and a new teaching momma was too much.
Well, that's all she wrote as Skye is doing buddy time with BigAl and I only had 5 minutes to post a thank you.

Hard day and Grief

Today was a very hard day for me. I read people's blogs and I try and stay encouraged, but today was a hard one. Alan hasn't spent with the boys much (78 hour work week last week and so far he's been gone both nights this week) and I'm really just mourning the lack of time we have together as a family because he has to work 2 jobs. Some people say that I need to be more cheerful and I really struggle with that... I just want a calmer schedule and I really think it's time to move in that direction. We're talking and praying about options, but if we try and sell our house now, we will probably lose upwards of 35%. We can't do that.
The other reason that I have such a hard time is because I'm really wanting some more family nearby.It's really hard to keep pressing on with few friends who try to love my boys the way I do. They have kids of their own and husbands and schedules and it's just not the same as grandma or sis. Then I end up getting really weary and impatient and if Skye has a day like he had today (up at 5 and wouldn't for the life of him, take a nap) I'm just not enjoying them like I want to.
Saturday a maid comes to clean my house and I've felt so guilty about it for so long. But the reality of it is that we just don't spend much time as a family and I don't want to be cleaning on sat and Sunday. I want to be sitting on the floor watching the drool roll out of Chase's mouth as he's focusing on his ball. And I want to sit and read with Skye for hours. Or ride bikes along side him. I feel like school has made both of us grow up too fast and I want our free time back.

Then I foolishly looked at a blog of a woman who had lost her baby in a car wreck. I just can't shake the fact of losing my other boy. I know that I wouldn't have had Chase and all that, but I still sometimes just mourn the other ones.

And then I kick myself for not being patient with the two perfect ones I have. OH my...I'm a mess...and since Skye was up since 5, my reading and prayer time was gone.
So, let's pretend like I get to do today over tomorrow. Let's go to Seaworld and the beach and forget about chores and eating balanced meals and discipline and focus.

Pumpkin Patch pics

Mike showing Skye how to surf on the cotton seed.

Chase eating it.
Aubrie, Rylie, Cynthia, Skye and Chase (with Alan's holding up help)
Working dairy farm...sooo cool.


If you are on FACEBOOK, then these will be repeats. But I thought I'd post them anyways..staying true to the blog.

POPSICLE

Quick check in

How I'm feeling lately. Haven't been able to have much process time. Alan has been working a ton, as in like 16 hour days and I think I just go into "operation Millerthyme" when that happens. I just enjoy his company so much and hate that he has to work this much. Speaking of work, we are looking seriously for another job. It has to pay more than his both jobs combined for us to move and then there's the house. I really want Alan to be doing something he LOVES. He's just been plugging away out here for 5+ years working like this and I see him slowly fading away.
You know how much I want a yard and some more space for us. I'm really content with my home, but I would really love a bigger house. (I thought my 1300 square foot house in Charlotte was small!!) And I really need to live next to family or dear friends. I feel torn about this a lot. Is it wrong for me to want these things? I just imagine growing old together in a place that has space to be creative and where imagination can flourish. Then I think of these African families who completely do without.
I've also been pondering the fact that I really don't take time for myself..how do I fit this in with a husband who has to work so much..and more specifically exercise. And that, as well as things like scrapbooking and little fun trips. Anyways...I think I might need to re-evaluate my time. I cut out t.v. and I just can't seem to be finding that extra time.
I've also still been internally REALLY processing friendships. I can't say more than that, as to not offend, but I'm finding that I've pulled back on "trying" so hard to keep friends going, and believe it or not, have once again, found that my true friends are contacting me. I've recently had a woman out here in SoCal want to meet and talk with me...part of me is wondering "am I the mentee?" but then when we meet, it's so natural and God filled and heart reviving that I'm just grateful.
Homeschooling has been going great. It's not the schooling part that's hard, it's the other stuff. I went about looking for help with housekeeping, as I don't want to do that on the weekend when I can spend time with BigAl. But do you know how much these people make an hour? Almost more than Alan and most of the time they don't have an MBA! What? It's just crazy. And they have so many rules about what they will and won't clean. I refuse to spend $80 every other week (or more) on that..so I've tried to step up the cleaning at night times and such.
Skye has had some really hard days lately. I still haven't figured out what makes a really hard "sensory" day. We'll wake up and it will be crazy hard from the beginning of the moment the day starts. And then there's days like today when I actually get on here and type and he wants to watch Kipper the Dog, or some other video. I know my attitude plays a lot into it, but as he gets older, it's getting harder and harder to physically handle him..like when he does "lose" it, it's a god thing I don't hae 6 other children to handle. I know one of the problems is that he has no "outside" to just go and be "still". Now with Chase's naps and our homeschool requirements, I know that sometimes we just have to drop everything and go to Seaworld or something. But that's not possible. It's also hard in an education environment because he LOOKS like all the other kids, but things set him off...like having to sit in a classroom and pay attention for an hour. Phew..literally impossible for him at times. Overall he loves school and is doing beautifully. No favorite subjects yet, but I try and switch things up a lot so he doesn't really know exactly what's coming..I mean, we do the "same" core things every day, but then switch it up.
Well, Skye just finished his video and says, "o.k. momma, time for reading" so there you go..must go. Much love.

Long Awaited Air Show

This is a very important shot..the man in this picture is the man that circles above us (eye in the sky) in the police helicopter. We see him above us (because of our neighborhood and their flight patters, as we're in between 2 airports) every day...isn't this cool that Alan and Skye met him? So, when you pray for our neighborhood, you can now pray for him too.


They went up to the elite deck and looked down..fun opportunity.
Spinning the propeller. Skye calls it the "pre pelar"
Notice the people resting on the wings. Also notice our sky. It is cloudy! Very rare here!



Posing for momma.

"i" 's

It's very hot and we're in need of creative ways to do our sounds, so I was given this idea by the Lord I think..it was a good one...paint and bathtub..who doesn't want to do that kind of school?

One more thing

It's gotten really bad over here again with safety and comfort stuff (in our condo complex). We are moving towards better things, but here's a list of info/prayer requests:

1. That the petition to move the access card application process would be approved and it would come back here to Alan doing it on the property.
2. We have 4 foreclosed units and some scary and unhealthy people living in these units as they are basically getting a 'free' ride while the bank turns things over. The name Karen Charles comes up again and we need to pray against her and her tenants.
3. New board members is a sigh of relief, but will probably be bumpy, as people come on board, get overwhelmed, get negative...you know the cycle. Pray for good ideas, fresh change and that our president Jen, would step down. She is not good for this board..or maybe should I say, she is selfish and self serving..pray God's will be done.
4. Daytime activity would cease. So much daytime activity that's negative, because they've been giving access cards to basically anyone. This makes me very nervous and I just want to run away sometimes.
5. That the hiring of a new property manager would be quick and efficient.
6. And because this is my private blog, I can always pray for us to move near those we hold dear and a yard for my boys.

2 Movies that I watched

I never recommend movies anymore, as I got in trouble oh too many times...so now I just say what movies I'm watching and suggest you watch them too. Max Lucado's 316 is great..very refreshing. And then P.S. I love you. Eh-hem, just get ready to cry. I really did like this movie and it made me even more grateful for what I have.