Halloween Festivities Galore!

Whew!  I love October, but it is also such a super busy month that sometimes I struggle to keep up! 

 

Jonathan is away traveling on business (which really is the typical this year) and the kids and I have been bouncing from one activity to the next!  Between birthday parties and Halloween, we are having a blast and staying extra busy!

 

 

Friday night was the annual Rock Springs Elementary Fall Festival.  This year our Girl Scout trooped sponsored a trunk and passed out candy.  The girls were each supposed to take 30 minute shifts, but Katelynn couldn't seem to get enough of it.  She stayed the entire time at the trunk even when I took the boys around to play in the bounce houses.

 

 Katelynn running our trunk games while Autumn passed out the candy. 

 Later in the night, Katelynn and Ryan (and sometimes Justin) sold hair ties and rainbow loom bracelets to support the Family Committee of the PTO.

 And Katelynn and Emily selling too!

 

 

 

The next night Katelynn had a birthday party to attend so I took the boys up for round two of trunk or treating at Denver United Methodist Church.

 

And one last celebration before actual trick or treating... Ryan's school Halloween parade, trick or treating, and party!  Here he is with his class on the rounds for trick or treating.

Happy 8th Birthday, Katelynn!

EIGHT YEARS?  Really?  This (not-so) little girl is growing up so fast.  I just can't handle it.  What happened to my tiny little newborn baby girl that gave me the title of mommy?  It has been an amazing, challenging, exciting, and FAST eight years!!

 
This year Katelynn wanted a horse birthday party.  We really lucked out with some nice weather.  It literally started raining and storming minutes after her party ended!  We had about 15 kids total for her party, and they had a blast.  They got to ride the horses, brush them, give them snacks, tour the barn, and paint horseshoes. 

 

Katelynn requested a simple cake this year with just a horse on it.  So... she got simple but I still made sure to give myself some struggles as I made my own frosting and cake this year!  Normally I always use Wilton frosting, but I am trying to convert our family to avoid processed foods and dyes so I naturally colored the brown and pink frosting.  It turned out pretty good for my first time but the heat really melted the frosting a lot and it looked awful by the time it was time to eat it.  Good thing it still tasted good.. and I got a good picture beforehand.

 

The birthday girl got to pick which horse she wanted to ride.  She chose to ride Black Beauty.

 Make a wish, big girl!

 

I would say it was another successful party!  Now lets hope it takes a long time to get to age 9.  This is going all too fast!

Run for the ROCK!

Since I have slacked on blogging since before our move to Denver, I haven't gotten to brag nearly enough about how awesome our new elementary school is.  Obviously, I did lots of research and my goal with moving was to get the kids in a great school, and thankfully we succeeded.  We have such a great community that supports our school.  Our main fundraiser each year is the school fun run and boy is it a big deal!  The weather was perfect today for the 2014 Run for the Rock fun run!

This was Katelynn's second year participating and Justin's first.  The classes pick themes and make banners that they run through.  Justin's class was "Gates Gators" and Katelynn's class was "Bisson's Bobcats".  And since I'm such a crafty nerd, we made Ryan a very special shirt to cheer on his brother and sister.

(The sign was courtesy of another mom in Justin's class.)

 

 

 

Surgery Day for Justin

Most of you are probably unaware that Justin has been having some urology problems.  When it first began, I assumed he just had similar problems to what Katelynn has.  We had been told years ago that the boys could have some of the same issues as she does since it is hereditary.  I kept my eye on him, but from experience knew that even though he wasn't fully emptying his bladder, it wasn't a huge issue unless he began having accidents or developed an infection.  Shortly before school started, he started using the bathroom six to eight times an hour.  He never had accident, but I knew at that point,  it was time to take him to the urologist.  To my surprise, his issues were in no way related to his big sister's.  He was diagnosed with a "boy" problem:  meatal stenosis.  The condition exhibits some of the same complications Katelynn has (not fully emptying the bladder), but the good (and bad) news was that it could be surgically repaired.  I was very excited that it is not a condition he would have to live through for years, but the mommy side of me couldn't get passed the fear of anesthesia.  He had never been put under before, and with his cardiology condition of VSD, I was scared.  I, of course, couldn't express my fears to him and with Justin's fear of changes and new things anyway, I knew I had to stay strong for him.

I was pretty proud of Justin.  He got a little scared a few days before and started expressing his fears at bedtime, but for the most part he was doing a really good job of not stressing about it.  We spent a lot of time talking to him about what to expect and making a big deal about how lucky he was going to be to eat all the popsicles he wanted after surgery. 

The morning of surgery he stayed strong until they brought us back to the preoperative area and then the tears began.  The surgery center staff did their best to make him comfortable.  They drew his name on the sheets with crayon (Grandpa Carney drew the car for him.) and offered to let him draw anything he wanted, they let him watch DVD's, gave him cars, brought his surgical mask for him to decorate.... but all he wanted to do was be held.  My poor baby was so scared and truth be told, so was I.

 

 

We managed to have a surgery day where the surgeon ended up getting a complicated case and was running really far behind.  We sat in preop for over three hours.  It was a very LONG wait.  When it was finally time to give Justin his versed and take him back to the OR, he didn't want to take the medication.  It took a lot of convincing to get him to take it.  Once he took it, he was finally much more calm and they were able to wheel him away from me without him screaming and crying.

 

The entire surgery took less than ten minutes.  Thank goodness.  It didn't take him very long to come out of the anesthesia either, and then I was able to breath much easier knowing that was done.  Justin was in really good spirits afterwards and was already eating a popsicle when they brought me back to the postoperative room.  Daddy wasn't able to be home for his surgery so we took this picture when it was all over and we were ready to go home so he knew that Justin was doing well:

 

 

I am not going to lie.  What I SHOULD have been fearing instead of the surgery was the healing.  It was a VERY LONG few days with my stubborn little boy.  He was up all the first night fighting going to the bathroom and fighting taking the pain medications.  It's all about the unknown for him.  Once we were able to get him to realize that going potty wouldn't hurt too much, then he would go but it took all night to get to that point.  Any new thing was an obstacle.  Finally today (3 days later), he is back to school and fingers crossed we are going to be able to put this behind us! 

 

For all of you that did know about this, thank you for all the prayers.  We needed them and are so thankful that Justin's surgery was successful and he is healing well!

A Little After-School Fun!

Ryan and I were at Target the other day scouring the clearance racks (only one of my favorite things to do!) and found a fun little sprinkler for cheap.  While we mostly enjoy the pool and the lake, I thought why not add this to our water activities?  It is still super hot here in NC (And no, I'm not complaining... I love that my kids can still have some summer-ish fun after school.  Our neighborhood pool is even open until October.  I know that makes you all up there in Michigan convinced you just need to finally move down here, right??  Hint, hint!) so we pulled it out and set it up after school today. 

 The playground slide started getting wet so they used it as a water slide for a while. until it got so wet they were falling on their rears into a puddle and I decided we didn't need to have so much fun that we tore up our grass.

 I love this action shot of the three of them.. ready to run!

It made for a fun way to pass the time until dinner.  Have I mentioned how much I hate that dinner arrives so quickly after my kids come home?  I miss having them all day long!

And off goes the littlest Miller!

 

Years from now when we look at this picture, we will think how cute and happy Ryan looked to go to preschool for the very first time.  Don't let his smile fool you.  I am honestly still in shock that we got a picture that is so cute.  The tears started at bedtime the night before school.  While Ryan is not the best sleeper, he is not nearly as bad as he was last night.  He woke up a few hours after going to bed still crying about going to school and stayed awake crying for a full two hours.  When he woke up in the morning, I was smiling and in a chipper mood.  All I said was, "Good Morning, Buddy!  What would you like to have for breakfast?" and the tears started.  They lasted all through getting ready upstairs and finally at breakfast we got him to calm down.. until we buckled him in the car and then he sniffled all the way to school.  He cried and had to be pried out of my arms by his teacher.  I have to admit that I did pretty darn well.  Last year when this happened with Justin, I was crying right there in the room with Justin, but I held it together today.  I think Jonathan was a little more taken back than I was considering this was his first hands-on experience of having to walk away from our child screaming for us.  We received a call probably four minutes after leaving that he was fine though and he smiled and said he had a great day today when we picked him up!

 

 

UPDATES: 

 

Day Two:  No tears getting ready for school or driving to school!  He even walked into school on his own but once it was time to walk into the classroom he wanted me to pick him up and started crying softly.  We talked him through it and each gave him hugs and were able to get him to walk in with his teacher.  While she talked to him, we snuck out.  This is a pretty big improvement!

 



Day Three:  Ryan walked into school today with no hesitation, found his letter "R" apple, and walked right into class without even giving me a kiss or saying goodbye.  He just jumped right into his routine without even looking back!  I am proud.. and sad all at once.  But mostly proud and excited for his experiences he will get this year with his peers and my time to get some things done on my own!  Here's to a fresh new school year (and hopes that after his 4-day break he still continues to have such an easy drop-off as today!)

New School Year. New Routine. Lots of FIRSTS!

This school year is a pretty big one in the Miller household.  All the kids are heading to school this year!!   Katelynn is starting 2nd grade, Justin will be a big KINDERGARTENER, and Ryan is taking the big step of attending his first year of preschool.  That seems crazy to me.  I have spent my entire "career" as a mom with at least one child home with me 24 hours a day.  This is the first time in 8 years that I will have 12 hours a week to myself.  Is that not crazy or what? 

Each of my kids got their very own day to start their first day of school for the year.  Katelynn went back to school on Monday, August 25th with the majority of students around the Charlotte area.  She was ready.  Summer was fun, but she was ready for the constant interaction and socialization with her peers (and probably a little break from her brothers).  Monday was an easy day for me as the mom.  It's never easy for me to say goodbye to summer and send them off to school, but it was much easier with my little girl who was super excited!

This is Katelynn's 2nd year at our new school since the move.  We LOVE Rock Springs Elementary and are so happy we were able to make it possible for our kids to attend there.  Katelynn only knew a few kids that are in her class, but the huge bonus was that her best friend from last year was in class with her again this year so she was happy as pie.  I think this is going to be a great year for her!



Justin started his first day of school two days later on Wednesday, August 27th.  I was a pretty nervous mama.  For those of you that know Justin well, you know that he is our child that really struggles with changes.  He does not like surprises and likes to be prepared for everything before he conquers it for the first time.  Last year was a rough start when he started a new preschool where he didn't know anyone and where Katelynn hadn't attended.  I thought since he was familiar with Rock Springs that he wouldn't have a very hard time with the start of kindergarten.  His big sister would be there, and he knew quite a few kids that would be starting kindergarten there as well.  I started questioning how well he would do when he started crying about going weeks before school started.  I realized then that while he knew the building, his fears were still there because we couldn't prepare him with his classroom surroundings or even knew who his teacher would be.  Once we found out who his teacher was, the kids that would be in his class, and had visited the classroom, he started to calm down some and actually opened up to the idea of the new adventure he was about to take on.  By the time all the kids in the neighborhood came home that first day of school, he had decided he was ready to go.  I still thought we may have some struggles when the time came, but he made me so proud that morning of drop-off.  He didn't shed a single tear and actually seemed rather unphased by us leaving him there. 

What Justin was most excited about was the idea of getting to ride the school bus home from school (I drive them in the mornings because the bus comes way too early.).  He got off the bus with a big smile on his face and was ready for his next school day!  He still says (three days later..) that his favorite part of kindergarten is riding the bus!  :)

And now for the third and final child to start school tomorrow.  Have I mentioned yet what a HUGE deal this is?  My last ever baby will be going to school.  I think that might mean that I can't call him a baby outside of the house anymore.  :)  Ryan is a bit nervous about school and has already shed some tears about going.  It's that mommy-leaving part that is the problem.  When we went to his orientation last week, he walked into the building like he owned the place and was no stranger to going right over to the play dough and starting to play.  He is more social, but he is having a hard time thinking about me leaving his side each week.  Fingers crossed it goes better than I am expecting it to!

It's a WINTER Wonderland Out There!

Holy Moly!  It has been so beautiful watching these mounds of snow fall.   I still can't believe it snowed and snowed and snowed.  We have made some great family memories playing outside today.  The kids could hardly wait to get out there this morning when it was still coming down hard, and looking at the pictures now and realizing how fast it disappears down here, I am so glad we got out there to enjoy the snow while it was still falling!

A snowball so large, it knocked Justin over!!  Ha,ha

Our goal when we went outside was to build a snowman, but Jonathan suggested an igloo or fort and the big kids gave up on the snowman idea.  Only Ryan built a snowman and his main concern was the grapes for the eyes and mouth more than actually forming the balls for the snowman!

We are not exactly sure of how much snow we got.  Katelynn measured it around 8+ inches with her measuring stick.   Regardless of how much we got, poor Ryan had trouble walking in it without falling!

My foot is under that snow somewhere! 

The first huge snowballs together for the beginning of a fort!

Yesterday it didn't stick to the trees.  It was so gorgeous falling down and covering all the trees!

The roads were covered in snow.  Jonathan tried going off to get a decent ride in without the kids and came back rather quickly.  He could barely see from the snow coming down and kept getting stuck.  So, off the kids went to try out sledding again with a lot more snow!

Ryan was content just having mommy get an exercise by pulling him all around.

 Both Ryan and the big kids got a ton of snow piled up in the sleds from being pulled between ruts.  We had to keep emptying the sleds!  At one point, Jonathan pulled two sled with the four wheeler and Ryan and I rode in one.  Ryan opted to get on the four wheeler halfway through because we were getting so covered in snow!

Our family snow picture!!

 

 

 

 

Only in North Carolina does it snow like crazy all morning long and then by afternoon the sun is out and you actually got hot wearing a jacket if you were working hard enough.  Jonathan and Justin took advantage of the warm temperatures and shoveled the driveway! 

Ryan and I got out a pool tube and started sledding with that.  It was super fun, but Katelynn and Justin took it over rather quickly.  It got a hole in it after probably two turns of them riding it in and we had to give up!

But it lasted long enough to knock Katelynn over going super fast down the hill!

By afternoon, our fort was coming along nicely!

And by late afternoon, the kids thought they were such pros at sledding that they needed to up the adventure and become snowboarders!

 

It was a great day full of snow fun!  We lost power for about an hour or two, but we spent the time outdoors anyway so it worked out fine!  For the most part (except for about two hours in the afternoon when the whining was increasing), we haven't even gotten cabin fever!