Miller Life

Valentine's Day

2012-02-15T12:50:00.001-08:00

I'm an Aunt now! Last week we got to meet Oliver (Jeremiah's brother, Sam and his wife Bethany's son) for the first time. It was nice to get some time to hold him and hang out with them. He is a solid fellow! (see my auntie badge on my shoulder:)

Anya opening her little pony from Grandma Martin on Valentines Day.

Our new dishwasher! Hurray! Jeremiah got it all installed last night so the last piece is in the kitchen and we will celebrate by using it tonight!

Winter time

2012-01-15T12:49:00.001-08:00

Enjoying some stale gingerbread, mm - mmmm!

Bowling on Saturday night!

Lots of fun!

Misc. Fun

2012-01-01T15:52:00.001-08:00

family photo at Hershey Chocolate World

mmmm, a house made of chocolate and candy!!

The boys were thrilled to have their picture taken with a REAL Nascar (Uncle Jourdan checked to make sure it was real:)

OUR Christmas present, fits very nicely, don't you think??:)

Christmas part II

2011-12-31T12:06:00.001-08:00

Christmas Day we spent the afternoon with Jeremiah's family.

Anya and Hans with Grandma Ginny

The whole gang and Bryan's hands!!

Anya and Zim (Earon's dog)

A baseball glove from Grandma Martin

We made Elizabeth happy:)

Anya trying on the new 'glubs'

2 football players! Guess what team?!? Three guesses and the first two don't count!

Ahhh! Dressed like a princess:)

Sisters!!!

Happy Christmas

2011-12-30T17:02:00.001-08:00

A few photos from Christmas morning at our house. We had a lovely holiday with family and friends.

Getting the stockings at 6 am sharp!

The delight of a little girl

Umm, showing off her new diaper bag

oh, ho ho! Legos!!!

Jeremiah and Anya assembling our Christmas present: a new table for the kitchen!

The completed Lego sets!

happiness is . . .

2011-12-12T13:19:00.001-08:00

Saturday was the Christmas festivities in our small town. We bundled up and went down to Main Street to watch the 15 minute Christmas parade of decorated fire engines. It was fun, but cold!!

Christmas picture, this is the best of about 8 tries!

I think I have Anya's "big girl" room ready now! It is fun to decorate in pinks and flowers!

What silly Millers! And what lovely morning sunshine!!

Christmas time at the Miller house!

2011-12-07T06:54:00.000-08:00

Our happy tree:)

The porch

Paper whites working on opening

The new plate in the kitchen

The kids helped make cookies, what an adventure!

Silly girl!!

October update

2011-10-31T12:48:00.001-07:00

The month of October has been busy and full. Here are some pictures of our family events.

Hans with his presents from Uncle Jourdan

Playing with toys and blowing out candles on the Saturday my family came to visit us.

Araci and the boys

Earon and Anya

Araci, an Elim student from Brazil, and me

Anya getting her nails painted

Hans opening gifts at our party

Our tractor cake:)

Spikes for church

Hans in the corn

Playing in the leaves with Becky and Pete

The boys in the jedi costume I made for Ethan for his Halloween party.

October

2011-10-09T04:13:00.001-07:00

We had a picnic lunch on one of the beautiful days this fall.

Picnic-ing at the Hunt Race on Saturday

Silly kids!

The boys got to ride ponies, Anya was worn out and headed home for a nap

The heavy horse race

Becky!

Finished kitchen!!

2011-09-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

The kitchen is finished! Hurray! It took four months, but it is most certainly worth it. There are a few decorating touches I want to add; like valances and some baskets on the shelves, but that will come in time. It is a most wonderful kitchen. The new lay out is just as nice as all the new cabinets and counter.

birthday movie

2011-09-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

Movies

2011-09-01T17:58:00.001-07:00

Anya is 2!

2011-09-01T17:42:00.001-07:00

Anya turned 2 on Monday. We had a good day and she had a good time. What a fun little girl!

opening presents from mom and dad and Grandma Martin in the morning

trying everything out: new jacket, new Pooh and new Olivia

the green cake!

"opening" the present the boys made and decorated for her. It is an airplane!

Had to try on the new clothes right away, and sit in the new rocker to open presents.

more new clothes!

this afternoon

2011-08-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

This was preluded by Ethan carefully dressing her in her costume and then giving her instructions as to what she was to do. I came into the porch to see her diligently and obediently whacking the screen door!! Keeps it interesting:)

August happenings

2011-08-24T17:39:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been a while. Blogger was giving me errors and I have been BUSY!

Anya enjoying her food at Sam and Bethany's baby shower

The cake I made for the shower

Explanation for following pictures. The Hamm side of Jeremiah's family has an annual kick ball game/reunion and each year it has a different theme. This years theme was 80's Prom or The Royal Wedding, hence the costumes:)

Anya loved her hat, the boys weren't so thrilled with theirs:)

Hans with his new best friend, Angelica, his second cousin

The whole crew

Becky and Anya

loveliness!

summer continued

2011-08-02T17:21:00.001-07:00

Ethan, our soccer player!

Ethan and teammates!

Miles, our neighbor's son

Hmm, focused on . . something:)

partners in crime: Evie, Hans and Anya

Anya "ta-dah"

Mmmm, happiness is a s'more:)

After effects of s'mores.

soaking in the rays

2011-07-24T12:43:00.001-07:00

Last week we went to visit my family and we all went down the beach for a couple of days. It was such a wonderful vacation!! I love the beach:)

There were daily battles with the Nerf guns

Checking out the beach for the first time

I don't think it is possible for kids to be on the beach and not get wet:)

Anya and Grandpa Phil

Sunset over the bay

building the "tub" and Ethan in his tub

on the boardwalk

"Can I have some?"

Jourdan and Elizabeth were swarmed by gulls when they walked across the boardwalk with their fries. Must be the gulls know how good they are too;)

more kitchen photos

2011-07-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

Work on the kitchen continues. Last weekend I painted the back splash yellow and I like it better than the white. I also started painting the trim. As the blue tape attests, I am not quite finished yet:) I want to try to finish that this week. We shall see.

sorry this is a bit dark, I will post a better one later, when everything is finished.

trim

2011-06-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest from the kitchen. Jeremiah got a good bit of the trim done on Saturday. It looks like it has leprosy because he put the wood putty on and didn't get to sand or paint it yet. It all looks so much nicer anyway though.

Just for some perspective:)

Ethan's a 1st grader!

2011-06-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ethan graduated from kindergarten yesterday. Everything went well and he did good. It is nice to be done with school for a while!

They sang some songs. The camera was misbehaving, so no other pictures from graduation:/

The graduate!

looking at the treats from his teacher

Ethan and Nathan

Ethan and Mr. Mix

oh the finishing touches!

2011-06-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

Yeah for toe kicks . .

. . and ceiling trim!

Here comes the sun . . .

2011-06-05T04:31:00.001-07:00

We painted yesterday! Yeah! We are very satisfies with the way it turned out. I want to use white and deep blue patterns for accents and any curtains. Kind of like the pattern on china plates.

"humble gold"

progress

2011-05-30T04:20:00.000-07:00

We are still working on the kitchen. This past week I got all of the stuff out of the boxes and washed it and put it away. The kitchen is really functional now. And there is space to spare in the cupboards!! The lay out works much better for cooking. We aren't going to put our table back in, the space is nice. We may get a smaller table or something later, but for now we will use the dining room.

Kitchen update

2011-05-22T18:03:00.001-07:00

New this weekend: hardware!! Yeah!! Love the bin pulls! And stuff in the cupboards, which you can't see, but is incredibly satisfactory:)

The fridge is in its spot and it fits perfectly!

Ethan is 6!

2011-05-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

Ethan turned 6 on Saturday. Thursday I searched the attic and basement and found the necessary things to whip up a batch of box mix cupcakes for his birthday treat for school. After that endeavor I was very thankful we has asked John and Ginny to host his party and that Becky had offered to bake a cake. Baking in a half completed kitchen is not easy!

Saturday morning they put all the new Lego sets together before breakfast!

Lego cake! Yeah Aunt Becky!

So eager to blow out those candles!

almost there

2011-05-20T02:53:00.001-07:00

The counters are in! And so is the sink! I can use my kitchen today:) I used the stove for the first time last night. It was very nice to cook food again, although I have been enjoying the 20 minute prep time for dinner these past couple of weeks. Today I will move back in. Tonight we will need to seal the counter tops, but I can use the kitchen today anyway. It is time to be settled back in again.

Happiness: cooking and baking again:)

steady eddie

2011-05-18T07:57:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah and Mike started installing the granite counter tops last night. They will finish tonight. The sink is still not hooked up:/ Soon though, very soon!

Anya loves sitting in this cupboard:)

onward . .

2011-05-17T07:09:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah cut the hole for the sink and I painted behind the cabinets. The sink is not hooked up yet, so we are still using the dining room for our kitchen.

Sabado

2011-05-15T16:15:00.001-07:00

Saturday was a odd jobs day. We are now at the point that there are about 20 things that need to be done before the kitchen is finished and all of them are 1/2 day projects. It will be another couple of weeks before all is said and done. Monday it will be back to work as normal. I am going to miss having Jeremiah around.

The plywood is in to support the countertops

The new microwave

The kids fort. It even has a stove pipe:)

Friday

2011-05-14T03:46:00.001-07:00

Cabinets!! What a lovely thing! They are all in and how very, very nice they look. A HUGE shout out to and gigantic Thank YOU to Megan Becker who designed our kitchen for us. We love it and it is great!

Now begins the time of little finishing jobs and there are a lot of them. All of them seem kind of annoying and piddling compared to the exciting things of this week, but they must all be done and they all have their good purpose.

Hans with his tree

side note: our porch is filled with cardboard. we can't really get in the front door right now:)

starting in the morning

three little minions

and here they are!

oooh! AAAHH!

Thursday

2011-05-13T11:29:00.001-07:00

Jeremiah finished the ceiling this morning and it looks great! Al came and he and Jeremiah put in the flooring. It looks good. The electrician came back and finished all of the wiring. So a lot of important things got finished, but not so visually dramatic:)

Tomorrow is the day for the cabinets. The boys are super excited about using the boxes to build forts. Ethan even informed his class mates that Thursday he would have a lot of boxes to share. He was a little disappointed when he got home and all the boxes were still closed.

We went out for dinner and it was the first time that it was actually less stressful to go out for dinner than to eat at home:) The kids did great and Denny's is awesome!

Al and Jeremiah pounding down the sub-floor.

new floor

Wednesday

2011-05-11T18:06:00.000-07:00

Not a lot of obvious changes today, but a lot of necessary things got done. Jeremiah mudded the walls and fixed some spots in the floor. He also moved the gas pipe for the stove. I got to help today:) I washed the ceiling and realized that it was a good thing to do cause I changed water four times. This evening Jeremiah mowed the lawn and I planted some more of our garden. Jeremiah also got paint for the ceiling and he is working on that right now. Tomorrow the floor will be installed so we want to have the ceiling painted before the floor is in.

The kids are having fun with the process. The all want "in" the kitchen, not just watching over the gate:) Ethan is constantly searching for little jobs or trash to throw in the dumpster when he is "in". Hans, on the other hand, is constantly finding new things to do, mostly dangerous, but all quite creative. We STILL can not turn our back on him. Anya does not get to go in, much to her disappointment.

Hans needed a pen in his ear like daddy

this is the view

And here is our make-shift kitchen in the dining room.

Tuesday

2011-05-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

More Progress! Yeah!!

View in the mud room

Earon, who was my hero, she helped so much!

new door to the mud room!

installing drywall

the hottie contractor;)

and now it looks like a room again!

Monday

2011-05-10T04:06:00.001-07:00

Oh me oh my, this project is feeling huge! Monday was the day for the electrician to come, and everything is almost done. He will be back for a little bit on Tuesday. John and Jeremiah did some framing and reinforcing and I think everything is ready for the drywall Tuesday.

One little crick in the system is that the kids all have colds. Argh!! They are stuffy and cranky by spells, not exactly the best week for it. Oh well, we will do this!

This is the new vent for the microwave above the stove. Nice:)

Saturday

2011-05-09T03:47:00.001-07:00

cutting the hole for the fridge to stick into mudroom

gutted!!

the sticky - outy for the fridge

The kids and Becky looking at the falls

Anya bean!

Hans trying appetizers at Earon's graduation dinner.

Friday

2011-05-06T17:36:00.001-07:00

Lots of fun today:) We start out with a picture of the roll off dumpster truck because Ethan was fascinated by it (he wanted a picture so he could make one out of legos!) and thought I should include it:) It was a busy day, the mason was working on the basement and the dumpster came and we emptied the kitchen into the dining room AND the cabinets were delivered. AHHHH!!!

Kitchen Friday AM with the appliances removed.

rest of the house as it looks packed with everything that has been shifted.

ta da!! There's those cabinets. The boys are already planning what they will do with all those boxes and mommy can even envision some pretty cool forts:) Hans REALLY wanted to climb on them. I left the room and in two minutes he was calling plaintively cause he was stuck: balanced on the top edge of the pellet stove door and the box next to it!! When I punished him he got more upset when I firmly informed him he would never climb on those boxes than from the actual punishment.

one of the 3 styles of floor under our present floor, any takers?

Jeremiah cleaning off that floor, all the way down to the hardwood.

ooh, aah! The beautiful ceiling that is revealed by taking off the drywall. We shall keep it and paint it and it shall be ours:)

Wednesday and Thursday

2011-05-05T17:32:00.001-07:00

If you want to see our kitchen in all of its original splendor and glory, check out this post.

more cabinets coming out after Earon and I emptied them on wed.

Last afternoon snack in the old kitchen

hmmm, our foundation in process. Everything is removed! The new will come tomorrow.

There it is! Hey, and what is that, sunshine?!?! WoW!

and so it begins . .

2011-05-03T12:11:00.000-07:00

Jeremiah started ripping out the cabinets this weekend. Now the fun begins!

Egg hunt

2011-05-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

Easter, etc.

2011-04-28T12:35:00.001-07:00

We had a great Easter weekend. It was nice to have some time off. We did our egg hunt inside this year.

crazy picture!

"normal" picture:)

oops, Anya a bit delayed on the crazy picture!

Sitting pretty. She loved her dress:)

Hans kneading the bread dough.

Living Room

2011-04-28T12:31:00.001-07:00

We got a couple of our chairs re-upholstered. They turned out really well. Now the living room is nicely co-ordinated. There are even matching pillows for the sofa! I may tweak some things here and there, but that will wait for when the kitchen is done.

This is a more accurate picture of the color of the left hand chair.

project

2011-04-28T12:29:00.001-07:00

This is my latest quilt project. I made an advent quilt for the kids for Christmas. I know it is a bit early, but I knew if I didn't work on it now I would not have it finished for Christmas.

baffled

2011-04-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

I went to the eye Dr. this morning for the third time this week. I am having trouble with my glasses. Last week I went because one of the lenses was cracking and I wanted a replacement before the warranty ran out. They recommended plastic lenses so I agreed and they ordered them. I went Tuesday night to have them installed. They didn't feel right, so the optician double checked everything and said all was good and wrote it off to the fact that I had my glasses off while they were changing them. Ok. All the rest of the evening I couldn't wear them. My eyes felt super tired whenever I had them on. Everything is clear, but distorted in a subtle way. Went back the next day they cut new lenses out of a different material, and it initially seemed better, but till I got home and wore them an hour, same problem. Went back today, same thing, we have the right prescription in them, there is nothing we can change. They tweaked the angle and it seemed better initially, but till later in the day, no go: flat surfaces all look like they are angling off to my left. It is really frustrating. They say everything is right and there is nothing more they can do. I am left with glasses that do not help me and I can not wear. What to do?!?? Fortunately I can do ok without glasses, but it feels like I will never get my glasses back and I am starting to miss them.

PS Really, I just needed to vent!

bad man

2011-03-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

Ha ha ha! He just cracks me up!

craftiness

2011-03-31T12:21:00.000-07:00

This is my latest project: new pillow covers from old feed bags.

March Misc.

2011-03-31T12:09:00.001-07:00

Life is going along well. We are eagerly hoping for spring. It is kind of frustrating when you wake up to snow though. Grrr! We are all well and happily busy. We ordered new cabinets and counter tops for our kitchen this week, so let the craziness begin!!

Anya and her new boots. She is at that stage where she will not stand still for the camera. She must come to me to see the picture right away!

All decked out for the EBI junior/senior banquet

Hans and Anya, my day time buddies:)

Yeah, we have that much fun at home during the day!

wedding

2011-03-03T12:11:00.001-08:00

Man! After two wedding posts I got FOUR adds for wedding stuff on my blog homepage!!

Earon's wedding III

2011-03-03T12:05:00.001-08:00

Holly, me and Becky

Me and Tony, Bryan's brother

The Miller family

bridal party

me and Earon

outside with the furs on!

pleasant, happy wedding!

Congrats Earon and Bryan!

Earon's wedding II

2011-03-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

The boys and Uncle Sam ringing the bell after the ceremony

Jeremiah and the random hand

Anya inspecting the pretty flowers

awww . . .

arrgh!

February 2011

2011-02-28T12:26:00.001-08:00

Hans as a robot

Ethan making a robot

The boys playing in the snow and building a tunnel with Jeremiah

Anya was delighted to go out and despised coming back in

:):)

The boys wanted to wear their fancy cloths for church. Indulge them while they request it, right?

Earon's wedding I

2011-02-24T12:40:00.001-08:00

There will be a bunch of wedding photos now, all courtesy of Bethany Miller Photography.

Getting make up instructions for Holly

Bifteck Hache a la Lyonnaise

2011-01-29T16:27:00.000-08:00

Ground beef with Onions and Herbs

After watching Julie & Julia I was curious about Julia Child, so I got several books out of the library, including Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Yes, yes. So this servant-less American cook with three children and a busy schedule decided that I must make at least one recipe out of this great cookbook, so bifteck hache it is. Otherwise known as glorified hamburgers which called for almost a full stick of butter, took three times as long to assemble and prepare, and made a whole counter full of dishes dirty. HOWEVER, they were quite tasty and the recipe was easy to understand and follow (Julia says the French eat hamburgers too!). We will make them again, albeit with a little less butter (like just 2 tbsp) and on the grill, the true American way:)

On to other news. Fanfare please, we got a new vacuum today. I am now the pleased owner of the upright I have wanted for a long time. I had two very willing helpers this evening; the kids love it! They are especially intrigued by the clear dust collector this bag-less vacuum has. Who knew dust swirling in the "windtunnel" would be so fascinating.

Last tidbit: We have begun the process of renovating our kitchen. Photos of the adventure will follow. I am in the phase of designing (with Megan Becker's help) and picking and pricing. I look at kitchen books until my head swims and I feel overwhelmed. Then I tell myself to hide them and come back to them in a couple of days. It works! Till I get back to them, the ideas have percolated and I can make two or three more decisions about what I like. We will definitely do some before and after photos, especially the insides of a couple of the cabinets. Oh yes, they are lovely:) Our cabinets were installed in the '50's and have not been touched since! What a treat to have such a project to work on:)

Legos

2011-01-18T16:20:00.001-08:00

The kids were playing with Legos this evening. Legos are such a wonderful toy. Anya wanted to be up at the table and part of the action too.

Anya fell down a couple of steps on Saturday and got those nasty cuts. We were afraid they would need stitches, but fortunately they didn't. She is happily oblivious of them and completely undaunted by the stairs.

This is a king's bed!

Christmas 2010

2011-01-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over and we had a great time. We were healthy and enjoyed a busy, but fun week. After Christmas we traveled to PA to celebrate Christmas with my family and then after a brief visit we returned to NY to be a part of Earon and Bryan's wedding. Now that all the celebrating is over is feels kind of odd to return to regular life. There are a lot of pictures in this post. There are no wedding pictures because I didn't take my camera. There was too much to keep track of and Bethany was the photographer, so I know I can get some really good pictures once she has everything processed:)

Ethan practicing Christmas Eve

Ethan as Joseph (these photos courtesy of Bethany)

He he, Hans took a chance to re-arrange the props:)

Christmas morning

Anya and her new girl toys:)

The Millers came later in the day on Christmas and we all enjoyed the rest of the day.

Pictures thanks to Bethany:)

Christmas morning part II at Grandma Martin's house.

december

2011-01-02T14:20:00.000-08:00

Ethan and Anya

Anya while Jeremiah plays piano

Anya playing dress-up

Hans helping with Christmas cookies

Anya was ready to help too!

the mall

2010-12-08T11:57:00.001-08:00

This morning we went to the mall. It was so nice to have some space to stroll around. I miss my walks now that it is bitterly cold out. The kids did good and Hans got to meet Santa, though he did not give him a hug or a kiss:) This morning he asked me if he could. I discouraged the kiss, but said a hug was probably ok:)

Such funny faces! I think Anya was a bit overwhelmed and just taking it all in. She didn't have much to say and I didn't even try to sit her on Santa's lapp:)

Hans

2010-12-07T06:41:00.001-08:00

Hans and I had a little fun this morning:)

kids

2010-12-01T11:40:00.001-08:00

Anya really enjoys the Christmas tree. Hans still does his own bit of touching and breaking, except he is much more sneaky. Anya, I can tell when Anya touches the tree even if I am in the kitchen: The bells ring, I am so thankful I got large jingle bells as tree ornaments oh so long ago. They act as a booby trap for toddlers!!

he he, so silly!

Anya, happy about her christmas cookie, and getting her picture taken:)

goodies like these require great focus to be enjoyed!!

Happiness

losing teeth and such

2010-11-18T16:09:00.001-08:00

Happy November and Happy Thanksgiving, if I don't post between now and then:)

Grandpa and Grandma Miller gave the boys this box. They have been happily playing with it the last couple of days. It is decorated fro Christmas in this picture:)

This is the Christmas tree Ethan made, complete with ornaments!

The boys and their box

Ethan lost his first baby tooth on Saturday. What a grown up boy!

Hans wanted to show his loose teeth too!

fall film

2010-11-09T17:41:00.000-08:00

This is a few pictures I did on film a while back. Bethany and I went exploring with our cameras back in September. We had a lot of fun. The local fox hunt was having their opening hunt, which made for some great picture ops.

WARNING: MANY PHOTOS:)

2010-11-04T12:03:00.001-07:00

A big thank you to Bethany Miller (our sister-in-law and the kids Aunt Bethany) who took our pictures a month ago! Wow! They turned out so well, as you can tell by how many I posted:) Please enjoy:)

It was a little difficult getting a proper smile from Hans

Ethan, on the other hand, did great:)

so did Anya!

ahhh, there we go Mr. Hans!

We will miss you Bethany and Sam!!

Love you lots!

Quilt

2010-11-01T13:31:00.001-07:00

My project over the last couple of months was to make a quilt for my friend and her newest baby. I didn't get it done on time (he was 3 months old when I gave it to her) but I had fun making it and she really appreciated it. I used this pattern on the Moda blog: http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/03/pinwheel-baby-quilt.html

fabric

piecing

quilting

finished!!

detail of quilting

New photos

2010-10-31T16:37:00.001-07:00

Just a few photos from the last couple of weeks.

Hans on the tractor he got fro his birthday from the Miller family.

Hans as Mr. Incredible for our church super hero party. Ethan wanted to be a construction man.

The boys showing their muscles!

Anya being sweet Anya!

It is Fall

2010-10-20T07:27:00.001-07:00

Yes, fall is lovely, but I find that I am still programmed for Virginia Beach seasons. It should be in the 70's - 80's until, oh, say, Thanksgiving. Right?? The colors here are lovely though, and today is a beautiful day and I intend to get out and enjoy it!

We visited my parents the other weekend and they took us to a cave nearby. We had a lot of fun. Ethan was disappointed that the "minerals" (large sparkly crystals) had all been removed from the cave:)

Anya and Daddy

We celebrated Hans' 3rd Birthday while we were there.

Anya is walking!!

She is a week shy of 14 months.

Jeremiah and the boys carved a pumpkin last night. They enjoyed watching:)

job well done

2010-09-21T17:10:00.000-07:00

Today I canned pears by myself. A little intimidating, but turned out well and I have gained another notch in my belt as a homemaker:)

While I was earning my notch, Hans was up to his usual, unattended mischief. After I put Anya to bed I heard her fussing more than normal. I went up to investigate. I looked for Hans and could not find him anywhere. I opened Anya's door and there they both were, in Anya's bed!! Anya had a big bruise on her head. Who knows how that got there; Hans doesn't and Anya can't talk!

Later I went to check on Hans in his room and it smelled refreshingly eucalyptus-ly. Hmmm. Sure enough, He got the Vicks off the dresser and applied it to his belly, "to make my bones grow!" LOL!!! I laugh as I steer him done the hall to get cleaned up or disciplined, whichever is necessary. Sometimes I question the fairness of punishing him for things that entertain me so much!! It certainly makes it more difficult to keep a straight face while explaining obedience:)

stairs

2010-09-16T06:12:00.001-07:00

Anya conquered the stairs yesterday! oh boy! I was upstairs with Hans and she came up to join us. I got the gate out right away:)

SHe loves wearing these goggles:)

First day of School!

2010-09-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

Today our 17 + year saga of kids in school begins! Ethan started kindergarten today. He was very excited and he did good. He went for one hour and he picked to have Jeremiah go with him. They rode the bus and got a tour of the school. I think he will do very well.

Hans trying to stay out of mischief at the bus stop!

early morning shenanigans

Hans being Harry Potter

*if you want an explanation I can give you one,

and No, we are not reading Harry Potter to our kids*

artsy-fartsy

2010-09-08T11:36:00.001-07:00

The light was just beautiful Saturday morning. There was a rainbow and it was so pretty I actually took a picture of it, which was breaking a personal standard. Rainbows are only stunning and beautiful in person, photos of them fall so far short, they just look cheesy.

park

2010-08-30T11:41:00.001-07:00

Last night we went to the park. We picked up food on the way and had a picnic. It was nice to go just as a family. There was a bluegrass band playing and it was a beautiful summer evening.

Anya and Daddy dancing to the music

Ethan and Hans dancing:)

Anya is 1!

2010-08-30T11:22:00.001-07:00

Anya's birthday was yesterday and she is officially one now! What a big girl. She is doing really good and growing well. We got to celebrate with my family when they were here last weekend and this past Friday we celebrated with the Miller's. So fun!

opening her new doll

Baby in the cradle! She loved rocking the cradle!

Hans likes the baby too:)

Mmm, cake!

Mmm, cake! (again)

opening presents!

Me and Hans!

The Fair

2010-08-26T17:40:00.001-07:00

Last week was the county fair. We got to go twice. It was fun and lovely weather. We are doing good; having adventures and miss adventures. Here are some photos from the last week or so.

Hans after his tumble off the patio

Hans riding the car

Carrots we picked from our garden, Ethan begged me everyday to pull a carrot, so finally we did and they were big enough for a meal!

We had to check out all of the tractors at the fair.

Elizabeth

Anya and her toy:)

Carrousel

a Day

2010-08-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Just some shots of the stuff we do on a normal summer day. I am loving summer!!

Ready for a walk!

Hans taking a picture of me with his camera (i forget the technical name he had for it:)

Ethan, marching in a parade, getting ready to throw "candy" to the people watching the parade.

Anya, 11 months old, crawling . . and cruising and climbing!

Watching something of interest outside

spying on me thru his marker

Mountains

2010-07-15T17:41:00.001-07:00

The bi-annual Martin family trip to the cabin has come and gone. It was so good to see everyone and actually have time to talk to people beyond the one paragraph synopsis of what happened in the last 3 months. I love my family! Every last blessed one of them! It is so wonderful to be a part of such a gracious, kind, fun loving group of people, where there are no spats, no people who avoid each other, and no ongoing feuds! All the children and grandchildren are here and accounted for, living godly, responsible lives. No rebels or divorces; such peace and unity. It is a rare thing for which I am very grateful. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for investing your prayers and lives on our behalf, we have you to thank for our rich heritage and happy family.

Jourdan and Anya

Matt, Danny, Ben and Alex

Ethan saying good-bye to the crayfish

Hans playing a mean round of croquet

Dad with his grandsons:)

All of the cousins!

Grandpa and Grandma Martin

"All because two people fell in love . . "

Oh the simple pleasures! Sack races!

chubby knees

2010-07-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Ethan made this bird house (credit to Daddy also) from a kit Mom gave him. It is now hanging out in the tree waiting for some birds:)

Anya is learning to walk and loves leading someone around for a while

Jeremiah and Anya

Those chubby arms and legs are just so cute, Anya's I mean;)

camp out!

2010-07-05T18:45:00.001-07:00

Friday Earon and Becky came to our house armed with a tent and sleeping bags. The boys and Jeremiah and the Aunts slept out in the back yard. Mom slept in the house because somebody had to stay in the house with Anya:) The boys had a grand time and only stayed up an extra hour watching the dark and the stars. They were up with the first rays of sunshine, because their sleep was not interrupted by how hard the ground was!

trying out the tent and new sleeping bags. The first time they zipped Hans in has bag, after he tried going in head first, he lay there perfectly still, happy to be all snugly:)

Jeremiah and pre-proposal Earon:)

Becky, Ethan, Jeremiah, and Hans

the scary face picture which the flash ruined

bed time! Doesn't he look sleepy??!

Anya's decorations

2010-07-01T12:28:00.000-07:00

I just finished some new decorations for Anya's room. I am really happy with how they turned out. I worked on them for a couple of months, here and there, a couple of afternoons a week. But first, a couple of pictures of the kids from last week:)

Jeremiah and Anya

the boys playing in the pool

Anya, before playing the pool. She loved sitting in the water and was un-phased by being splashed, which is a good thing!

Anya's room

I made these tags and decorated them

and then strung them on the ribbon.

Jeremiah's 30th Birthday

2010-06-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great time last weekend. Jeremiah's party went great and we had great weather for it. Thanks to everyone who came to help us celebrate. Here are a few photos.

Bryan, Earon and Anya

Becky and Ethan

Jeremiah opening his present from Grandma Hamm, it sings and the boys love it:/

Ethan, Hans and Al entertaining us all by making up songs for. It was hilarious!

June events

2010-06-17T11:31:00.001-07:00

We have been having fun and staying out of trouble. We get outside as much as the weather lets us. Last weekend we enjoyed the festival our town held. There were parades, music and fireworks. Today we went to see Ethan graduate from preschool. What fun:) John and Ginny joined us and we all went out for lunch afterwards. This coming weekend we will be celebrating Jeremiah's 30th birthday! Summer is great!

Hans and Anya in the wagon decorated for the kiddie parade

Ethan riding in the parade. He made the decorations himself and got a prize for originality.

Anya, 9 1/2 months old

Hans and Ethan making necklaces.

Preschool graduation!

Ethan getting his diploma

Jeremiah, Ethan, Grandpa John and Hans

Summer fun

2010-06-10T18:00:00.001-07:00

We just got back from a great trip to visit my family in PA. It is always so nice to go to Mom and Dad's house, especially in the summer. Ahhhh! It was a good, but busy, vacation. We got to be in on a couple of parties and see a lot of people.

Dad showing Ethan and Hans how to use the tools to take something apart and put it back together again!

"This is how you hold the wire cutters, Hans."

Dad and Anya:)

We celebrated Ethan's 5th birthday and Jourdan's 26th birthday.

Opening presents

Elizabeth graduates from high school this year, and we got to be there for the party!

Anya likes the party:)

Hans, Jeremiah, Anya and Dad

family at Elizabeth's party

My Grandpa and Grandma Martin

cousin

me and Anya

Ethan's birthday

2010-05-26T11:19:00.001-07:00

Here's our five year old!

. . . and this is the wheel . .

Happy Anya

sharing, ahhh!

the helmet and the butterfly net

Evie and Anya

MMmm, dirt cake with worms on top!

Happy kids

2010-05-23T11:27:00.001-07:00

Some of the latest and greatest of the kids (who are not all sleeping as they should be at the moment). Happy Sunday afternoon to you!

Ethan decorating his dirt cupcakes for his birthday treat at preschool

Hans after eating a dirt cupcake, ahem. Now he wants his picture taken every time he gets messy eating. What have we started?!?

a Miller wedding

2010-05-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Be prepared for A LOT of pictures:) This past weekend Jeremiah's brother, Sam, married Bethany Silver. It was a lovely wedding and they are a lovely, well matched couple. We had a great time. Jeremiah and the boys were all in the wedding.

Hans waiting for his food at the rehearsal dinner

mmm, applesauce!

Grandma putting on that offending bow tie

Sam helping Hans with his tux

Ethan and Grandma

my boys

Becky and Anya

brothers

pre-ceremony distractions

Grandma and the boys

right before the wedding started

Bethany and Ethan

all done!

Hans

(supply your own caption here)

Miller family

Bride and Groom

wiggly boy, full of chocolate

dancing with Aunt Earon

He informed us the next day that he likes dancing with the ladies!

May Day

2010-05-08T10:51:00.001-07:00

There is a regular tempest outside right now. It can't decide whether it wants to be sunny or a hurricane!! Life is going along well. I have recovered very well. I saw the surgeon a couple of weeks ago and he said everything looks good and I am healing very well. I may return to all of my normal activities. Of those normal activities, I have found that taking a walk, pushing the stroller up and down hills, does make me a bit sore:)

We are having fun and enjoying the spring weather. Western NY spring that is (there is snow in the forecast for tomorrow!) We have most of our garden planted and I am itching to get my hands back in the dirt of my flower beds.

Hans, the model:)

Anya!

Mmm, grass!

Grandpa Roger's birthday gathering

Becky and the boys playing croquet

Grandma Ginny and Anya

lately

2010-04-22T12:39:00.001-07:00

blogging with baby on lap = no good typing

anya and hans

dad, here is ethan with the castle he built

saturday morning

Anya - almost 8 months

2010-04-06T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hello! We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter. We took it easy and enjoyed time at home. I am still recovering and get tired out very easily. The pain medicine keeps me pain free so I am mostly comfortable. Everything is healing well. I got the staples and the drain out last week. It is very nice to be free of those things.

Earon and Becky came down Good Friday and helped the boys paint eggs and do an egg hunt. Sunday we rested in the morning and went to the Miller Easter family dinner in the afternoon. It was good to get out and amongst other people.

This week Jeremiah is back at work full time and we have friends and family coming to spend the day with me and help me out. I am not enough up to snuff to manage the house and the kids on my own. I am very thankful to be really and steadily recovering though. It is a great relief.

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and cards and notes, etc. It is so encouraging. I appreciate it all.

Anya, 7 months old and sitting

Hans helping with eggs

Anya and Daddy

Hans

Jeremiah, Earon, and Becky

"smell this one Becky . . "

Happy boy:)

brothers

there they are!

treasures

Ethan

Ethan and Hans Easter Sunday

Me and the kids Easter Sunday

The saga

2010-03-27T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hello friends and family. Thank you for all of your concern and prayers and messages. It has been so encouraging to know that so many people are thinking of us and praying for us. I think our saga is just about over. It looks like I will be going home tomorrow.

I will attempt to do some sort of a concise re-cap of the last three weeks. Once I got home from the first surgery I began recovering, but about mid week we noticed I was turning yellow. The Dr. had us come in on Thursday 11th for some tests. The tests showed that the bile from my liver was not flowing into my intestines as it should. He did surgery that afternoon to find out what was causing the problem. During surgery he didn't find any problems, so he put in a drain and finished my surgery. The next day tests showed that there were no blockages in the bile duct (he thought), so he sent me home again. I still had a drain in my side to let the built up bile out so I didn't get jaundiced again.

Tuesday I went in for another test that was to confirm that all was well, but instead it showed that there was no flow. The surgeon prescribed an endoscopic exam to find what was blocking that flow and put in a stint to keep the duct open.

The exam was scheduled at Highland Hospital in the city. The procedure showed that the duct was completely blocked by clamps that had been put on during the surgery. They were also suspicious that the duct had been cut during surgery as well. We opted to change to a specialist surgeon at Highland instead of returning to our original surgeon.

Further tests showed that surgery was necessary to either open or bypass the section of duct that was blocked. That was on Friday. The surgeon opted to keep me at the hospital over the weekend so it was easier for him to fit me into the surgical schedule at the beginning of the week. I pretty much had free range. I could walk around and go off the floor if I was with family. Jeremiah brought the kids in over the weekend and we all got to eat together and hang out in the cafeteria.

Surgery was on Tuesday and it lasted 4 hours. In the end they had to do a bypass because the duct had been cut and clamped. It went well and my recovery has gone well also. I am now on the verge of returning home to recover and get back to normal life. I hope this all is informative but not TMI:)

I thank you once again for all of your prayers. I really appreciate it. Jeremiah and the kids are doing great, My mom is coming up for the next couple of days to help us through the first few days of recovering. The surgeon says there should be about a 3 week recovery period. I now have an incision from my belly button to sternum in addition to the other holes. The long incision "connects" the dots of 3 of the previous smaller incisions!

surgery

2010-03-06T05:12:00.000-08:00

Surgery is now over and I can recover. Once I was there and all prepped for surgery the surgeon came in, felt my belly and said,

" Did I tell you you have a hernia?"

NO!!

"Well, I will check it out once I am inside."

Later, once they had begun the surgery they called Jeremiah in the waiting room (momentary heart attack for Jeremiah, until the nurse explained) to ask if it was ok to do both procedures since they were already inside. Um, yeah, ok.

So, now instead of having 3 incisions, I have 7 and a bit more restrictions during recovery. I am not supposed to bend or lift more than 2 lbs in each hand. What?!? So, we have some figuring to do. It looks like we will need some help here for a season.

For now I am drugged up and tired and a bit woozy, but thankful it is over and I am home and the recovery process has begun.

Thanks for all of your prayers.