Saturday, January 31, 2009

just a quick one....

thanks for the advice! its so hard knowing that I'll hopefully have the chair for the next 20 years!!
I've got to play around with the swatches some more this weekend and then I'll decide.
and I know there are lots more readers out there.. so c'mon, just put your two cents in... its super easy.. just hit 'comment' ... LOL !

So we spent the day inside today.. didn't have a car, b/c Andrew's was in the shop (again) for the 3rd time in two months. ugh.
so he took mine, which was fine, b/c I wanted a lazy, catch up on cleaning and scrapbooking day =)
It looks like we'll be replacing his car instead of the jetta before baby tres arrives. ahhh. the joys of car shopping!

so I made a cake tonight for a little dude's 2nd bday part tomorrow. I'll post a picture later of the scary dinasaur.. lol.

Tomorrow morning Andrew and Brigham are going to 'pancakes with pops' at school. The girls are going to hang out, and maybe hit a few stores while they're gone.
Then tomorrow night I am going out for a much needed Girls Night. dinner and a movie. I can't wait. Though we haven't decided on either yet, but I am sure they will both be fabulous!

Oh, my gosh, I almost forgot.... Lost.....? anyone? is it getting crazy weird or what?
seriously, I would love to be a fly on the wall in the writer's office. its the most amazing show. ever.
so are there any Losties out there? leave me a comment if you are addicted too!!
and the soup recipes will be out soon, still waiting on a couple more.. and if you didn't join yet, post a comment w/ your email addy, and I'll send you the info.
ok. think thats it. night!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

decorating dilemma

and I need your help bloggers!!
but first here is a picture of the four of us at dinner Saturday night. It was one of the best nights out we've had in a long time! We sat there for 3.5 hours before somebody looked at their watch and realized we probably should be heading on. The meal was fabulous. The girls both got the prime rib special and the guys also got some $40 best cut off the bone steak special. The preggo's decided against a spirit, though it was mighty tempting. So our boys drank our share too.. .lol.
As the conversation covered a wide range of topics.. a few times one of us would say "I sure hope no one is listening to us!!". we all got dessert and of course mine was the worst of them all. they had been kidding me all night that whatever the server suggested as her favorite, was what I chose. I was a total sucker.

the bread pudding was not fabulous. but I picked at it anyway.
*****
ok, so now on to my decorating dilemma..... My mom is getting me a new lazy boy chair for my birthday, and while picking the style of chair was a sinch.... the fabric of choice.. not so much.

this is the living room from the entry way

and then from behind the couch looking out



and from the fireplace looking out.. notice the couch of an eggplant color variety.





view standing in the living room , looking into the dining room




and sitting on the couch looking into the dining room from a different angle.

so we have the jewel tones going on for sure. the kitchen which you can't see, but the dining room sort of has the same flair is a 'french country' kind of look.
meaning reddish accents, big ol' french clock , and lots of roosters tossed around.
As we think about a potential move in the near future, I am leaning towards similar colors, but with more of an eclectic style with rustic, and antique pieces mixed in with our traditional stuff.
you'll notice that our current chair is a lovely poop brown color. does not go with the rest of the room. but hey, it was given to us by a guy I used to work with at the hotel. We've had it for almost 5 years, and he had it for about 20 years before that. so , um, its time to for it to find another home.


here are the fabric swatches that I have been stressing over. I do have 2 favorites, but would love your input.
#1



#2





#3



#4




#5





Ok, so let me know which one you think works best!!
thanks =)





Saturday, January 24, 2009

a week of celebratory eating!

ok, so its no surprise that I like my birthday. well, I don't really like that the numbers keep getting higher, but I do like getting to celebrate with family and friends.
A huge thank you to all of you that emailed, called and sent cards! I definately felt the love! =)
for some reason, this years celebration lasted several days.. and included lots of eating . I am pretty glad that I am eating for two, b/c otherwise, I probably would have gained 15 lbs!!! LOL
My dad came up from Indianapolis to take me out to eat and spend the afternoon hanging out . We went to Olive Garden. for some reason, even though its like the oldest , most typical chain restaurant, I crave it. And we never go there because it always has insanely long waits - no matter what night we try. So for lunch, we went.. and got set up in a nice big cozy table in the corner. Perfect for kids. I got the soup, salad and bread stick deal. It was so yummy. I tried two of their soups and of course ate all I could of the fantabulous salad. Of course, b/c it was my birthday, I had to splurge on the black tie tuxedo mouse cake. but I am pretty sure that one 4 year old boy and a one year old girl ate the most of it!! LOL
We had a great time hanging out at home, and my dad surprised me with several new prego outfits and a mega pampering package from a local spa. Thanks dad!!

*****

On, Wednesday, I had to co hostess a meeting for my PEO chapter, and afterwards, my mom asked if we wanted to go grab lunch. I was hesitant, b/c I knew we'd be going out the next day.. but she insisted, ( a little grandkid withdrawal) and so we went to this little neighborhood place. I ordered a salad and a gyro. the place is run by Greek people, and they make the most incredible gyros. The problem is that with the space in my belly being in competition with a little person rolling around, I seem to get full really fast. And so I ate the salad, and took the entire gyro home!
Thursday (my actual BDAY), I went furniture shopping with my mom in the morning. I am really close to narrowing my decision for our new chair. Maybe I'll request the help of my bloggin' friends....
so afterwards, I picked up Brig and we went to my all time favorite Mexican restaurant. And I know some of you are saying, "well, I thought you loved Little Mexico two?".
well, I do. But this place was my first love. Used to go there all the time growing up. and thru college, my roommates and I would go all the time. My husband hates it. like with a passion hates it. so I never, ever get to go there.
And so we drove clear to the other side of town, to Pepe's. And I ordered the thing I have ordered for the last 10-12 years!! Enchillada suizas.. two beef, one chicken. and it was heaven.
(of course I took half of it home, though!!)
And Brigham was excited b/c I got sung to and had to wear a 'french ' hat.( he got his countries mixed up)and we got to share some fried ice cream. Yumm.
*******
Andrew was wanting to celebrate on Thursday, but he had a big project he had to present that day, so he came home from work.. got the kids dinner and then went and picked my up a chicken wrap from a little cafe close by.
And after the kids got to bed, we curled up to watch LOST. yeah, we had to wait a day.. because I signed us up for a marriage class that meets until 9pm on Wed nights. um, yeah.. not a very respectful wife thing to do. I was really sorry, and he agreed that he'll just download the episodes, and for the next 2 months, he will suffer thru the chatter at work, and avoid all podcasts until after he's seen it. He told me he was putting our time to work on our marriage first. and so we basically get two date nights out of it a week. bonus =).
I'll post later about the class we're taking. I think its going to be awesome! Oh, and I am going to try and post a recap LOSt post on Wednesdays, before the new epis, in case anyone wants to chat. this season, is already making me mad. so many unanswered questions! ugh! i love the suspense though, and hate that we have to wait a whole week!!
*****
Andrew took the day off work on Friday. He got up with the kids. I got to sleep in. I was supposed to have a photo shoot , but it was cancelled. A friend called that morning and I stayed in bed until 11am chatting with her for nearly over an hour!!
He changed all the dirty diapers. He cleaned the bathrooms. He emptied the dishwasher. And he vacuumed the living room . He and Brigham went to pick up my 'surprise cake' from my favorite local bakery and brought home lunch. I took a nap and he played with the kids.. and changed another horrible poopy diaper!
and then he took the kids to the store to get the fixings to make my birthday dinner.
Brigham helped with the sauce and the meatballs. would you look at the size of those things? LOL and we had salad and fresh green beans and garlic bread. Of course I could only eat half of the meal.. but it was still great, and even more delicious because my two handsome men created it for me! =)


and I had a little help making my wish !
Andrew cleaned up the kitchen and got the kids to bed, and we were going to watch a movie, but I fell asleep! So I was in bed by around 10pm!! getting older, takes it out of ya.. lol !
*******
and tonight we were invited to go to dinner with our close friends Greg and Kelli. Her bday is just 3 days before mine, and for the last three years we've celebrated together. Actually, this is the couple/family, that we have done New year's Eve, 4th of July, Halloween, Labor Day or Memorial day or both, and our husbands and kids birthday celebrations with for the last three years!!
We always have so much fun hanging out! So, they asked us to go to this great upscale steak and fish place. I am looking forward to an evening without kids!
Both of us girls are pregnant again, and we both have become lax on watching the 'no-no's' of pregnancy, so I'll see if we can convince each other to a glass of wine tonight.
and then I think I'll go back to saltines and water for awhile.. LOL !

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

a count down......

3.5 hours until the premier of LOST!!!!!!!
and
5.5 hours until its my BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
kinda excited about both =)....

Monday, January 19, 2009

the drama.... for real !

seriously.
I just was having a long talk with my husband tonight after dinner about all the ridiculous drama that we had to deal with over the last year. He keeps reminding me that I was just playing with bad people... but seriously!
I am like the girl on the bachelor tonight that started puking, b/c of all the drama going on in that crazy house!

I am thinking I should only have male friends from now on... b/c as my husband pointed out as he so lovingly (suffered) through 12 girls fighting for one man under one room, that Guys Hate drama.
I actually think its because of their lack of brain cells some of the time, that they just forget what they heard, or whatever. But seriously, when did you last overhear a group of men sitting around coffee 'gossiping' about their so called friends.

Yep, I think that's why I would get along better with guys. I would rather puke than sit around at Starbucks talking about people. Though once you're married, it seems to be sort of a ta bu thing to go hang with another guy.
Though I did go to lunch several weeks ago, with my best friend from college.. who is a guy! And it was awesome. So refreshing.
and so I think I am done watching the Bachelor. if its all petty drama, and back stabbing... its lost the entertainment factor for me. I think I get to emotional about it all, and really feel bad for the girls.. same with True Beauty..... its stirring up on there too! I really feel bad for the girl everyone hates.
Like an old friend just posted on face book today... mean girls really do suck. really , really bad.
ok, I am done.

and just a reminder, check out my post below and sign up for the recipe swap or there's
NO SOUP FOR YOU!!
(ok, couldn't resist the Seinfeld quote)

Friday, January 16, 2009

SOUP and SCRAPPING!

While I haven't really been scrapping much lately, I did finally clean off my scrap table last night, and find a pile of about 10 pages that were half done!!
I have a scrap night planned for tonight,so I thought I might as well, see if I could find my mojo again, and put the finishing touches on these pages! So here are some of them.
As you know, I am a totally random scrapper. I hope to change that in 2009. Like I want to actually organize my pictures into the empty creative memories storage boxes I have. AND I actually want to put my finished pages into the albums. Poor Brigham only has 3 albums filled and Tatum has just her first year packed. these are both really making me want summer to be here now.

not sure why this came out so bright! not my favorite, but I wanted to get down this little song, daddy started singing to Brig at jammie time!





obviously I am a year behind on both the Halloween and the homecoming. my goal is to at least scrap those same 2008 events tonight!

ETA: I am totally bummed to hear that my favorite scrapping magazine with many of my fellow scrappy friends as their creative geniuses, is going to be no more.
You can read about Simple Scrapbooks here.

I have a serious problem in taking way too many pictures at way too many events. Any of you scrappers out there have tips on how to stay current? I finally got all my files on the computer organized, but when I look at each folder by month for the last year, I am completely overwhelmed by the hundreds of pictures from things we do. I think my problem is that the inner scrapper in me thinks that everyplace we go , and everything we do, should end up on a scrapbook page! thus, the never ending, never happening scrapbook pages. LOL !!
so send your hints my way!!
*****************
moving on to
SOUP!!!!
the last two days have been ridiculously cold here in Indiana. like if you open the front door, your snot sticks to your face kinda cold.
I seriously laughed out loud when the weatherman said the high would be -14.
I again have reminded Andrew that this will be the last IN winter I suffer through!
so since even when you crank up the heat to an insane , going to pay out the butt for it, temperature like 78 degrees. ....
its still to dang cold to want to defrost yourself off the couch to make any kind of in depth meal.
so I thought since much of the Midwest is as miserable as we are, that SOUP could be the answer to get us through the winter months.
the problem, is that I don't have many good recipes for soup.
this is where you come in, fellow blog readers...
I am going to have a SOUP SWAP!
If you're interested, leave me a comment with your email address. (and your name, if I don't know you).
By Tuesday of next week, I will send out the information on how to do this recipe soup swap!
and fyi... "open a can of Campbell's " doesn't count!
By next weekend , I will compile a list of all the recipes and get them out to you on Monday the 26th. It will be just in time to get us through February!
YOU know you want some quick and yummy.. (and don't forget soup makes a lot and you can freeze it, (or just sit it out on your back porch ) for when you don't want to take time to cook dinner!
This will be fun!!


Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Here's to Brigham...

He's the Helper of the Day!! He will help us with our work, he will help us with our play, Here's to Brigham, he's the helper of the day!! Hooray!
I had one very excited little boy this morning. Today was not only helper of the day, it was also his 1/2 birthday celebration at school!
So I made these yummy cupcake cones.
very much kid approved!! lol

After preK, I let him choose where to go to lunch, since we were kinda celebrating his bday.
We went to Arby's. It worked out well, though most of my lunch dates are with other moms, so I wasn't quite sure how to handle some of the maneuvers and preparations, solo.
Luckily, the place wasn't crowded and they must have some senior citizen discount, b/c the place was filled with grandparents. They probably thought I was the worst mom, for leaving them attended while I ordered , and got up and down to get stuff. But they were always within eye sight, and one particular grandma had quite the conversation with Brigham.
Imagine that?!!

and here is our 1/2 birthday boy after dinner, having the very last cupcake for dessert!
not sure he really deserved it, b/c we had some 'issues' both leaving preschool and leaving gymnastics today.
I seriously walked in the house, tonight(thankfully to a sweet husband, who had dinner nearly on the table) and handed off a stinky little girl, and told Andrew if I could drink right now, I desperately needed the sweet taste of a raspberry smirnoff and sprite.
We are having major problems, getting this energetic 4 1/2 year old, to listen, follow directions, and have a positive attitude, when it is time to leave somewhere...
(school, chic fil et, gymnastics, play date.. church.. whatever).
any suggestions out there?
or any suggestions for a non alcoholic treatment to cut the edge for a frustrated mama??





Well, I am off to watch American Idol. This winter has gotten me holed up at night and tuned in to trash.
Mondays are the Bachelor, though Andrew was home last night, and wouldn't go for it.. I don't blame him.
He did suffer thru True Beauty with me. When I saw the previews, I thought, what another ridiculous reality show. But I saw it last week.. and was kinda hooked. I like the spin on it, and it is amazing to see how rude and stuck up some of them are!
Quite frankly, I can't believe some of them got picked thinking they are any bit of beautiful. maybe for the ratings.. you always have to have those ones that will bring the drama.
ugh.
but I admit, it is entertaining, and I know I am losing brain cells every Monday night..

I have a photo session tomorrow morning, with a very pregant mama. actually since Friday, we've been waiting for a phone call that she was in the hospital... its that close.
but I do hope we can do it, she is really wanting some maternity pictures.



































































































Saturday, January 10, 2009

just a bit of chatter

Well , we made it thru the first week of adjusting to the routine. getting up and out the door, running here and there.
Brigham's gymnastics class went well on Tuesday. Last year we just did a half hour and this one is for an entire hour. I could tell a big difference in his listening and following directions than he had displayed last year.. also, he and his little girl friend, spent quite a bit of time running off the mats and back to us moms on the side lines.. now with the babies, we sit upstairs, so they can't come running to us.. lol.
the babies did fine with all the toys.. despite the grossness of them.
On Thursday Brig's preK class was learning about the letter 'P' so they got to wear their pajamas, and they had pancakes for snack. Brigham proudly wore his new frog footie jammies, that Santa brought him. Its so funny how just changing the dress of the kids, threw their hyperactivity through the roof!
I am still getting the rest of the Christmas clutter put away. It always makes me sad, since, it seems like I just put it up, but boy , does it bring me such visual peace to have it gone.. ahhhhh.
I actually keep my greenery and berries up throughout the winter months.. seems to go well with my Valentine Decor(yes , I have decorations for heart day!)
Yesterday we had a great lunch with one of Brigham's preschool friends. Her mom and I became quite good friends last year when Gabby and Brig were both in preschool together. They were not church goers, and visited our new church a few times this summer and they have been regular attenders for the last 6 months or so. pretty cool. The mom works, so we usually try and get the kids together a couple Friday's a month when my friend has off.
Anyway.. we went to Chic Fil Et, and guess it was the place to be! We ended up seeing two other good friends of ours, and 4 other people that we know from preschool. Shows, that we are in a small town.. there are like two choices of places to go with kids.. that or McD's..(and its pretty dirty) So this is pretty nice, now b/c Tatum can go play in the play area with the big kids, and I don't have to entertain her the whole time...
you moms can relate that going on play dates, or lunch dates with kids, is not the best environment for good adult conversation right?
My husband doesn't get it. He has always thought that a stay at home mom's life is just fun and games. I keep asking him to switch places with me. He won't go for it.
Though I am getting the itch to go back to work again.... hmmmmm.
Last night Andrew and I had a much needed date night out. The kids spent the night at grandma's house, so we had the whole evening.
We went to eat at this new place that the moms on my LDS message board had been raving about all week. One of their members actually just opened up the "Hawaiian Hut" on Tuesday.
I have to say it was pretty fabulous. The atmosphere was really cool. Just the tropical paradise escape I needed from the gray bitter cold we've been having lately.
The place was packed and we did see several familiar people from the LDS church. It was very fun. Andrew ordered the macadamia nut crusted chicken w/ coconut dipping sauce and I had the terriakyi chicken.
Each plate came with amazing brown rice, and loads of fresh pineapple. YUMMMM.
We ordered crab rangoon also, that actually beats our favorite from the Chinese restaurant...lol.
So if you are a local... then I highly recommend trying this place out. The prices were very reasonable too.
Our plan afterwards was to go furniture shopping, but the store was closed at 8pm! So we ended up going to the mall for a few returns, and then we went to Starbucks , where we sat on comfy chairs, sipped on wonderful goodness and actually had uninterrupted conversation!

We've had some nasty weather come our way, so we stayed put and basically watched Monk and Food Network all day today!! We did run out to Lazy Boy, where I found 'THE' chair for our living room. I am kinda in the re-decorating mood lately... and with the latest Pottery Barn catalog arriving on my doorstep this week, I am wanting to get a move on it. Have I mentioned that I don't have patience?
ok, so I finished editing the pics from Christmas, and am feeling really lame for it being nearly the middle of January, and I haven't shared them yet... and now I am posting this on Andrew's mac, and for some reason I can't pull off the pics from my pc.
so you'll have to wait.. again. I promise they'll make you smile =).

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

back to the ol' grind

and we were a bit rusty at it...

yep. 30 minutes late for Brig's preK class.

Andrew didn't set the alarm for me(he says he didn't know there was school today) and my other high pitched alarm slept in.

Actually she always does. Over the 2 1/2 week break we were all spoiled (cept the hubby who has to be at work at 7:30. YUCK.) Brigham quietly got himself up and out to the couch for cartoons around 8:30am and my high pitched , very repatitous alarm clock woke me reguarly between 9am and 9:30am.

What a luxery! and I totally know that I am spoiled.. and that God definately gave me the perfect children. Ones who do NOT wake with loads of energy before the sun peaks.

I know that this pattern will not last forever, but for now I am loving it.

I got a little sloppy last semester with the nap schedule, and they ended up overlapping = one kid was always awake = I never got my nap.. LOL.
So we're starting the new year, with them both going down at the same time. I know I am still incredibly blessed that they both take a good 2 hour nap.

So Brig starts gymnastics lessons tonight. He is taking them again with his best friend Hannah. Should be interesting, last year we had the babies with us, and they started out sitting well, in their carriers, then moved to crawling(but we could still keep them on our laps), then Carter started walking and did not want to sit still, and by the middle of March, Tatum had started to become more interested in 'getting away' then sitting still.
They have an upstairs viewing area with a bunch of toys, so hopefully the kids will be entertained long enough.
I am really hoping that Brigham keeps interest in his class. He for sure needs to get all his energy out to make for a calmer evening for all of us =)

Well, I am off to make a meat loaf for dinner, and another one for my brother.. its his bday today, and for a guy who doen's need anything... I say food is the best thing for a bachelor.. LOL !

still working on getting pics edited to post here, and then I got sucked in by Facebook and all the 'pictures from the past' , that people are posting, so I figured, I'd go thru some of my 'oldies but goodies'
.. all you FB friends better watch out... those memories will be brought back in a flash, as soon as I can get them all scanned in!

you have been warned.. LOL !

Friday, January 02, 2009

WELCOME 2009!!!

and good riddance to 2008.
seriously, despite my blog title... this last year was probably the worst year I have ever experienced.
the sad part is that the awfulness of events, not only affected me, but my husband and children too.
I didn't go into any of it on the blog as we were enduring it, b/c that's not the way I roll. Don't like drama. Don't like gossip. Hate to be 'pitied' and don't like to be the center of attention.
Won't go into details, b/c I don't really know who all reads this blog...
lets just say we were completely blindsided and stabbed in the back from people whom we thought were friends.
The kicker was that thru this nearly 9 month situation that ensued, we unfortunately, saw too much hypocrisy, malicious acts, and self righteous and unforgiving behavior coming from men and woman who claim to be followers of Christ.
Deliberate actions taken by these people severed any trust that we had in the relationships. And while Andrew and I repeatedly sought for communication, reconciliation and forgiveness.. the others just pushed for judgement and punishment.
Thank goodness, that during this time, we were attending a series of fantastic sermons at our own church, that spoke directly to what we were experiencing. We were soaking up scripture that only, God could have put in our path, knowing just what we needed.
We felt the power of prayer as others prayed hard for us, (though they didn't know any details of the situation).
It was only through God given strength , that our family was able to endure such anguish and 'bull shit', with out anger or resentment towards those who were afflicting such pain on us.
As we continued to seek God for guidance, we were able to understand why all this was occurring, and have a sense of peace in our hearts. (though not in our minds, as we were forced to deal with new drama , nearly every week!)
We still pray for these people involved(unfortunately, the other parties, made this situation public to many) and hope that they will too feel a sense of peace and forgiving hearts.
Unforgiving can be such a stronghold, that can eat away at one's happiness.
Andrew and I are so very thankful that we have a God who shows grace. This experience was certainly one, in which we were able to extend that grace towards others.
While we have left the door open nearly six months ago to these couples for reconciliation, only God knows the future and what is best for our family.
And so with that, the Miller family is anxiously awaiting to see what things God has planned for our family in 2009.
Most importantly, we want our home to be filled with joy. (thus the stamp on the right of my blog!!)
I hope each of you experience joy in your families as well!
******************
and FYI.. I am still editing the million Christmas morning pictures, and a newborn shoot that I had on the 20th. will share soon!
oh, and some pretty cute ones from New Year's Eve too, (I tried to post ones from last year's celebration, since we were with the same people again.. though it would be fun to see how the babies had grown)....will get to those too.!.

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