Tabitha is a TV Star!

Tabitha's 2 seconds of fame!
(remember to pause the music in the green box further down the page on the right side)

We had a great time on Saturday at the Maroon vs. White Spring Game at Virginia Tech! We of course arrived 2 hours before kick off so that we could get in the first row. Being so close definitely was exciting for the kiddos. They received a lot of attention from the Roanoke Times and News 13! Towards the end of the game the camera man walked up to our section right in front of Tabitha. As soon as she saw that camera she turned her head away! We might want to think about crossing off TV and Movie Star from her future career list! Well, the camera guy wasn't about to budge ( I guess he as filmed a few kids in his day). It took all of our convincing to get her to even look in his general direction. It "appears" as if she is intently watching the game but really she is falling for the "is that the Hokie Bird over there?" trick.

The photographer from the Roanoke Times did come up to us and ask everyone's names since he took some pictures of the kids in their "hats". They were wearing custom hats made by Granny out of the posters that we gathered up when we entered the stadium. It was quite hot sitting out there in the sun and I am not sure everyone would have survived if it hadn't been for the poster hats and programs that everyone was wearing on their heads. Thanks Granny and Grandad for braving the weather with us!

The Spring Game has turned into a pretty big production! There were old players there, potential recruits and players who have already signed.

Macho Harris was there.

Can you believe that this kid is only a 17 year old junior in high school! He is a future Hokie football player!

Here is a group of past Hokies. Most of which are playing in the NFL or CFL (I hope I got that right). Then there was the actual game. Here are some pictures of that.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy Birthday Great-Grandpa Thompson!

Happy Birthday Great-Grandpa Thompson! We hope you have a great day. Enjoy the video above! Just push pause on the music in the green box down below before you watch it.

Cascades Waterfall Walk Up

Cascades Waterfall Walk Down

A Hike to Cascades Waterfall

Last weekend was so nice that we decided to bring the kids on a hike. Well, not just any hike, but a 4 mile hike up a mountain to see a waterfall. We were totally prepared for it to turn bad quickly. We had water, snacks, band-aids, pull-ups and everything else you could need for a 3 or 6 year old emergency. I had expected that about half way up they would both refuse to move another step and we would be stuck on the mountain forever.

Despite my fears, both of them did extremely well. We took the long way up, through paths of stone that winded next to the stream. There was staircase after staircase of stone steps which both of the kids enjoyed going up and down. We made our way calmly and slowly trying to conserve the kids energy.

At the top we stopped for a while and enjoyed Cascades waterfall. We all had our snack and took some pictures. Then we began the journey down. There was a little more whining on this part of the trip but nonetheless they did just fine. Tabitha had to be carried for about 15 minutes (but only because she has Daddy wrapped around her little pinky) and Ethan had a little mishap with loosing his beloved rock that had been with him for all of an hour and 20 minutes. Has anyone else ever noticed how difficult it is to find a specific rock among millions of other rocks.

So, after about 4 hours of walking (2 up and 2 down) we all made it back to the car safely with no broken bones or bear sightings! What mountain shall we climb next?

Miller Family Snow Day

Here are some pictures of our last snow storm. The kids had a great time playing in the snow, building a two faced snow man and having a snowball fight with Daddy. Yay snow! For whatever reason the pictures lost some quality during the upload. Sorry about that!

Yes! We finally had a REAL snowstorm!

I will get some pictures posted soon of the fun in the snow with the kids. For now, watch this time lapse cam of the drillfield at Tech. It shows the snow coming and going this weekend. Be sure to look for the snowball fight that passes through and the huge snowman that the students built in the middle of the drillfield. The snowman gets knocked down in the end by the Corp.

They are saying some parts of the county got 12 inches. I guess that is what explains Ethan not having school for two days!

Here is the link for the video of the snow:
http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/webcam-snow.php

Happy Birthday PopPop!

Today you are 91! We are so blessed to have you in our lives and we treasure all the time we get to spend together. We hope your day is filled with family, fun and some really good food!

We Love You PopPop!

What was happening on February 24th in 1918?

• As of 2/24/2009 10:05:47 AM EST
  
• You are 91 years old.
  
• You are 1,092 months old.
  
• You are 4,748 weeks old.
  
• You are 33,238 days old.
  
• You are 797,722 hours old.
  
• You are 47,863,325 minutes old.
  
• You are 2,871,799,547 seconds old.
  
• Your date of conception was on or about 3 June 1917 which was a Sunday.
  
• You were born on a Sunday under the astrological sign Pisces.
  
• Celebrities who share your birthday:
  Billy Zane (1966)
  Kristin Davis (1965)
  Eddie Murray (1956)
  Steven Jobs (1955)
  Alain Prost (1955)
  Edward James Olmos (1947)
  Joe Lieberman (1942)
  James Farentino (1938)
  Michel Legrand (1932)
  Abe Vigoda (1921)
  Chester W. Nimitz (1885)
  Enrico Caruso (1873)
  
• The moon's phase on the day you were born was waxing gibbous.
  
• In 1918 the US population was approximately 91,972,266 people, 31.0 persons per square mile.
  
• In 1918, a gallon of milk sold for $.55, a loaf of bread sold for $.10, a new car sold for $500.00, a gallon of gas sold for $.08, and a new house sold for $4,821.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 82.20. (In 2009, a gallon of milk sold for $3.87, a loaf of bread sold for $1.40, a new car sold for $24,125.00, a gallon of gas sold for $1.86, and a new house sold for $183.300. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was about 8,635.42.)
  
• The average wage earner in 1918 made $1,144.00 per year, compared to $34,327.44 today.
  
• Back in 1918, the popular songs were: Bagdad performed by Harold Atteridge; Hinky Dinky Parlay Voo performed by Edward Rowland; How Can You Tell sung by Ned Wayburn; as well as I'll Say She Does by Al Jolson. Also topping the musical charts: JA-DA by Bob Carleton; K-K-K-Kayt by Geoffery O'Hara; Oh! Frenchy by Sam Ehrlich; and the ever popular Sometime by Rida Johnson Young.
  
• A separation of church and state is established by the new Bolshevik government in Russia. In other news, a method of producing motion pictures in color is developed by Leon Forest Douglas. The "New York Times" starts home delivery for subscribers. A.F.L. President Samuel Gompers promises labor's support for the war effort. The first American made warplanes begin carrying out missions on the Western Front.
  
• In the world of baseball, the Boston Red Sox defeat Chicago four games to two win the World Series. United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing declares baseball a "nonessential" occupation to the country. A horse named Exterminator, ridden by W. Knapp, pulls ahead of the pack to win the Kentucky Derby. The Mare Island Marines soundly defeat Camp Lewis Army 19-7 in the Rose Bowl.

***For the video below please mute the music on the right hand side of the page. You also might want to turn your volume on your computer up, it might be hard to hear.***

It's PopPop's Birthday!

Happy 91st Birthday PopPop! We hope you have a wonderful day!

Tabitha's Ribbon Week

Here is a video of Tabitha's gymnastics class and the ribbon week ceremony they do once every few months. This was her second ribbon. She was so proud of herself.

We are working really hard on getting her to let go of her teacher when she is on the balance beam. As you can see in the video, sometimes she is holding on for dear life! There is also a little jumping track action! It is kind of a long video so hold on if it takes a while to load.

Can I shoot myself now?

Recent events have led me to believe that I might just want vanish off the face of the earth in the near future, like when my kids become teenagers! Don't get me wrong, I love my children. I am sure most of you understand how precious little ones are.

This past week, today, SHE is NOT precious. SHE is EVIL! The SHE I am referring to is my lovely daughter, Tabitha. She seems to have found a new hobby here at the "baby house". It involves markers (usually the permanent kind), pens, or anything else that can make permanent marks, like say, LIPSTICK!

It all started a week or so ago with a dry erase marker. Your thinking right now, "How bad could that be, it's erasable". This is what she did with it:

Then, I got her up from a nap one day only to discover that she was covered from head to toe in pen! Somehow she had stowed a nice blue pen in her bed before nap time and preceded to draw all over her legs, arms, neck, stomach, hand and face. Oh, the wall and bed rails got it too. The next day I realized that Dora had gotten the same treatment! I was so furious I didn't even take a picture of her covered in ink. But here is Dora:

In case anyone needs to know, NO, pen does not come off Dora. Oh . . . I was sooooo mad!

So now here is the kicker. I was on the phone with my Mom and Tabitha was doing something she shouldn't so she was sent to timeout. I was sitting on the couch watching her, talking . . . She was literally out of my sight for 6 seconds, maybe. I turned and looked at her and I realized she had somehow manged to find my makeup bag. In that short span of time she had drawn ALL OVER the floor in red lipstick and concealer and given the kitty a nice coating of mascara. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! What did I do to deserve this?

I don't even know how I will begin to survive her teenage years. Boarding school maybe?

At Home for Christmas

So, it has been a very long time since I have posted anything. Sorry about that. I guess life is just now getting back to "normal". Brian is back in classes and working and Ethan is back at school and is getting ready to start his after school enrichment classes. This year he will be taking a critter craft class, french and chemistry.


We had a great time at home for Christmas. The kids were overwhelmed with excitement and could not wait for Santa to come to our house. Christmas Eve was especially overwhelming. We had dinner at Nana's house and then made our way home quickly to say goodbye to the shelf elf and put cookies and milk out for Santa. We also had to sprinkle reindeer food in the front yard (to attract the reindeer) and put carrots out with the milk and cookies. We really enjoyed spending Christmas with our family and it was really nice to spend more than 2 or 3 days at home.

So, with every trip home comes the packing! Our problem with being home for Christmas was that the kids of course wanted ALL of their presents to make it back to the "Baby House". As most of you know, we drive a Honda Civic. This car is not the roomiest of cars, especially with two kids and two cats in tow.

For all of you curious people out there. What can you fit into a Honda Civic. Here you go:

-2 adults, 2 children in carseats, 2 cats in cat carriers, four winter coats, 2 laptops, an amazon kindle, a livescribe pen with 4 notebooks, 1 extra large underarmor duffel bag filled to the brim with clothes, 2 large kids duffel bags stuffed to the brim with clothes and one small duffel bag filled with shoes, a matchbox space shuttle, the entire playmobil castle and every accessory that goes with it, 5 sets of playmobil fairy world things, a lego helicopter set, a breyer horse barn and 6 horses that go with it, a playmobil cargo truck, a pink tag reading system with five books, a green tag reading system with five books, 2 artist drawing tablets and two very special pens that came with them, 6 gi joes, a huge gi joe plane and a gi joe tank, batman, a nintendo wii, 3 controllers, 2 wii wheels, 8 wii games, a wii fit board, a go anywhere girls dance studio, go anywhere girls house, go anywhere girls pool house, go anywhere girls bus and ice cream truck, a tub of pop together beads, a battleship game, a my little pony and her remote controlled scooter, 2 binders of dvd's, 2 nintendo ds's, 6 new ds games, a "You, the Owners Manual" book, a cinderella play set, 4 pairs of dress up shoes, a bag full of play jewelry, a highlights calendar, a playmobil cement truck, a playmobil work truck, a playmobil dump truck, a playmobil construction set, a playmobil fire car, a gymboree bag full of pictures, mail and other things, a bag of diapers, a diaper bag, Brian's underarmor backpack filled to capacity, a kids laptop in a pink stephen joseph backpack, an Ariel head with hair accessories, 10 my little pony play sets, and one Operation game.

I think that might be it. I am sure I left something out but I think you get the point! See, we don't need a bigger car. By the way, I never said that any of us could actually BREATH during the drive home.

One last little tidbit of Christmas . . . Ethan and Tabitha both made candy houses. Ethan made his during school and Tabitha made hers during the visit we had with Santa at Ethan's school before Christmas. Here is one of the houses . . .

I am going to try to get cracking on more posts. I promise not to slack any more! Have a great Valentine's Day!

You are missed . . .

To Brian, Jen, Nana and the rest of the Miller and Hosler families.

My thoughts are with you today.

Do not stand
at my grave and weep.
I am not there,
I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints
on snow.
I am the sunlight
on the ripened grain.
I am the gentle
Autumn's rain.
When you awaken
in the morning hush,
I am the swift
uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars
that shine at night.
Do not stand
at my grave and cry:
I am not there,
I did not die.

-A Hopi Prayer

So, last Saturday we ventured over to the elementary school for the annual Santa Breakfast. They had Santa there for pictures, yummy pancakes, a silent auction and candy house making. It was a lot of fun for everyone, especially the kids who didn't want to leave.

After the breakfast we made our way over to the Virginia Tech Surplus Auction. This is our new discovery and there are some great finds here. We were hoping to be able to win some of the clothes that they auction off but the other bidders had other ideas. Oh well.

After the auction we packed up and got in the car for a lovely drive to Tennessee. We visited Troy and Stacy and had lots and lots of fun! We brought the kids to see the Speedway in Lights at Bristol Motor Speedway. This was an EXPERIENCE! Thank goodness we were in good company because we sat in a line of cars waiting for 4 hours before we even got in to see the lights! The lights were fantastic (even though Tabitha slept through it). They donate all of the admission frees to children's charities so it was definitely worth the money. If you are every down in that area you should "stop by" and see it, maybe on a weekday though.

Thank you Troy and Stacy for your hospitality and giving up your whole evening!

The Santa Picture Experience

So here is Santa. Sitting, happy, waiting for children to come and take pictures with him. Then, come our children . . .

Ethan, move, we can't see your sister! Let's take your picture . . .

Ok, really? Are you serious? Poor Santa, not even allowed in the picture.

Yea! Merry Christmas!

Our "Baby House" Christmas Tree

We were very excited this year to be able to have a "different" kind of Christmas tree in Blacksburg. Thank you Nana for the beautiful tree!

The Elf Yourself Video - Remember to pause the music down below on the right so that you can hear the music from the video!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I don't want to move you down the page . . .

So, this is what I have to say. I have been struggling with moving my Grandmother down the page. I like her here, at the top. I can visit, see her whenever I want and I always know her picture will be here. My new dilema is moving her down. Every time you post something new, the old posts get moved down the page. I have so many new pictures and things to say but in order to do that I have to let Grandma go. She has to move down the page. So this is me, letting go, letting her move down. I am encouraging myself to embrace the fact that even though she is gone she is still with us. Her spirit is here. My Grandmother would want to hear all the new things the kids were doing and see the new pictures we had taken. So this is for me and you Grandma. Grandma, you move down and I will keep you in my heart, always.

By the way, my Grandmother would have really gotten a kick out of the elf video posted abovt. Thank you Amy for sharing the video you made of "the brothers". I stole your idea!

I will miss you Grandma . . .

On Sunday, November 23rd we lost my Grandmother. She was 74 and had 8 children, 6 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. My Grandmother was an amazing person. Our hearts are broken.

To Grandma,

I will miss you being here.
I will miss your smile.
I will miss the way you laughed.
I will miss your open heart and strong character.
I will miss the way you kissed us on the cheek before saying goodbye.
I will miss the way you looked at your great-grandchildren.
I will miss hearing how much you won at the track.
I will miss hearing how much the last lottery ticket brought you.
I will miss your cooking .
I will miss how you let every stray in (human and animal).
I will miss you on Christmas like I did on Thanksgiving.
I will miss you when our family is together.
I will miss you at every birthday Tabitha and Ethan have.
I will miss your mashed potatoes.
I will miss your love of slot machines.
I will miss all of the stories I didn't get to hear.
I will miss how you rearranged the furniture every day, it seemed.
I will miss your sense of humor.
I will miss your strength and persistence.
I will miss seeing you and Grandpa together.
I will miss how you loved your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren

Most of all, I will miss you!

Every day I will think about you. You were an amazing Grandmother and Great-Grandmother.

3 Years of Tabitha Pictures

Happy Birthday Tabitha!

Oh my, my baby is 3! How time flies when you are having fun. I remember this day so vividly three years ago. It was two days after I begged my doctor to induce me. Finally he agreed and by the next morning, Tabitha was here. I remember Brian was out of the room at the snack machine when they told me to push. My parents were at home with Ethan eating waffles when they should have been at the hospital. I was supposed to be getting drugs at 7am to start labor, nope didn't need that. I thought I was having a 9 lb. baby, wrong again. Finally after 4 minutes and a doctor that almost didn't make it into the room we had our little baby girl. Of course she was a surprise to everyone except us since we had kept her gender and name a secret for the entire pregancy. That was a lot of fun by the way!

Now after three whole years we have learned a lot about little Miss Tabitha. She is a feisty red head who is fascinated by babies and accessories. She knows exactly which buttons to push to make her brother go crazy and would love to hug and squeeze cats and dogs all day long. Pony rides are a new found favorite and riding her scooter is her new talent. She loves ballet and gymnastics and I am sure one day Tabitha will be bungee jumping off of something. Oh and don't feed her applesauce, yogurt, or liquid medicine, she will throw up!

Please enjoy the slide show above of the first three years of Tabitha's life.

Halloween Weekend Pictures

Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend was very busy. Granny and Grandad were visiting and we had lots of things that needed to be done. On Friday we went trick-or-treating in downtown Blacksburg, ate dinner and then headed right over to the Hokie Harvest Sale (the on-campus horse and cow auction). Trick-or-treating in downtown was a fun experience. There were lots and lots of kids everywhere. We got candy from all the stores, bars and resturants (even Daddy's favorite - Boudreaux's). Tyrod Taylor was handing out candy at the barber shop and there was even a man at the photography shop handing our gourds! Hmmm, weird. Why is it that Halloween always brings out the weirdos? The funniest moment was when we walked up to Hokie Hair (a haircutting place). Tabitha saw the people inside getting their hair cut and handed her candy over and was ready to walk in and get a hair cut. In the middle of trick-or-treating! We also saw quite few dogs dressed in their costumes as well!

On Saturday we woke up bright and early for the Virginia Tech Surplus Auction. That was a fascinating experience but a very long day. Brian and Grandad were able to get some really nice VT coats for pretty cheap! Needless to say I think there are a few more auctions in our future.

Oak Lane Trick-or-Treat Pictures

Oak Lane Trick-or-Treat

So, we had a very exciting Halloween weekend. It started on Tuesday with the Oak Lane Trick-or-Treat. For anyone not familiar with Tech, Oak Lane is where the Greek community is housed. Every Halloween they invite the local elementary schools to go trick-or-treating at their houses. Our check in house was Alpha Phi where we were greeted by two very enthusiastic girls. Let me just say, this night had to have been the coldest, windiest day we have experienced here in Blacksburg. Add on top of that the fact that Oak Lane seems to be on top of a hill, making the wind even worse.

Our two new friends led us straight to the free cotton candy and then took us house to house. Most of the houses were handing out candy but a few had other activities. The kids had their faces painted in one house and in one of the fraternity houses they had a chance to play some games. These were the games: Pin the face parts on the monster while a strobe light is flashing and throw ping pong balls into tiny buckets filled with water. Hmmm, were we trick-or-treating or at a college party? They tried so hard but it was quite humorous.

At the end of the night our last stop was the haunted house! There were two haunted houses. One for big kids and one appropriate for the littler ones. Our girls brought us to the lesser of the two evils. Well, lets just remember these are college students we are dealing with and their version of tame isn't exactly tame. After the ski mask people and the room with the bloody guy and the threat to murder 10 children by the end of the night. When left through the back door and were promptly greeted by the freaky guy yielding a chainsaw and jumping straight at us. The only thing that came of this wonderful experience was one sleepless night for Ethan and the knowledge that there will probably be no more visits to haunted houses!

The Last Football Game

The Last Football Game

There were lots of smiles and laughter as well as quite a few sad faces and tears but all great things must come to an end. Ethan had his last football game last Saturday and on the last play of the game got a tackle! Of course that means he pulled a flag off of another player! He was so excited you could see his smile from the stands! All of the kids seemed to be having a great time during their last game, they truly did not want it to end.

After the game we all made our way to the park that they practice at and we had pizza and had a chance to play on the playgroud that they usually only get to look at. The coach also had a wonderful surprise for the players. He had bought each one of them a trophy with their name engraved on it! You've never seen a happier little boy then when Ethan was handed that trophy! The boy is obsessed with trophies and now he finally has one!

After lots of playing, eating, laughing and rough housing it was finally time to leave. Ethan got very quiet in the car and would not let us look at him. He was obviously really sad and could not understand why he could not keep playing football all though the winter. Poor little man.

This football season could not have been any more fantastic than it was. His coaches were so caring and patient. They taught Ethan so much about the game and how to be a great teammate as well as great player. He learned to play every position and was given lots of playing time at his favorite position, center. We wish we could bring Ethan's coaches back to NOVA with us for next season but I'm not sure their families would appreciate that!

I'm Done, at least for now . . .

I've finished updating the blogs layout. It didn't take the whole day, just most of the day. Now I can get back to posting things you really want to see.

***Under Construction***

As you can see we are undergoing some changes. It might take me all day to fix everything so please have patience. Hopefully it won't take that long!

Saturday's Halloween Party

On Saturday we went to a Halloween party! The party was hosted by one of Ethan's new little friends at school. Everyone had a great time wearing their costumes for the first time!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Happy Birthday Granny!

Happy Birthday to you!!!!! Happy Birthday to you!!!!

Happy Birthday Granny! We hope you have a great day and enjoy your birthday! We wish we were there to celebrate with you. You are a great Granny and Mother and we are so lucky to have you around all the time. We wish we could see you and Grandad more. We will see you next weekend though!

These are all of the pictures I could find of you. You are officially on notice. We need more pictures of you!

The Birthday Questionnaire:

How old is Granny?
Ethan: 20
Tabitha: 5


What should Granny do on her birthday?
Ethan: go shopping
Tabitha: blow out candles