Stitches

On Friday, November 21, Corban was running in our house. He tripped and cracked his head on a wooden toy shelf. He and his dad were soon off to the hospital (like Ski Equipment, Emergency Room Visits also fall to Jack in the Miller household). Corban was very brave and came home with 4 stitches in his head. Forty-eight hours later, Jack was back in the emergency room with Jakin who cracked his head while playing at a friend's house. Jakin came home with two stitches above his left eye. Both boys in stitches at the same time. Poor Corban. The boy can't even get stitches without his older brother butting in and claiming some of the attention for himself! Jack was gratified to have the clearance (sort of, but that was all the clearance he needed) to remove the stitches himself and both boys are healing nicely.

Not Quite "Completed"

Jack says the porch isn't done. It still needs lattice. Although I don't always notice such things, I wouldn't want anyone who does notice such things to think less of my husband's carpentry skills.

The Shoemaker's Wife

Isn't there a joke about the shoemaker's wife going barefoot? Well, the carpenter's wife often has to be patient as she waits for house projects to get accomplished at her own house. Because this is true for the us, it is blogworthy to mention that this carpenter's wife got a completed front porch this week. Pretty nice, huh?

Getting Ready For Winter

In the Miller family division of labor, "Ski Equipment" falls into Jack's department. Every year at the beginning of November, he gets all the equipment out to see what fits who and who needs what. Annie was not going to be left out of the action. The kids spent the evening skiing around the house and getting really excited for snow!

Halloween

I don't have much to say about Halloween beyond what the pictures say. We've been trick-or-treating with our good friends, the Daniels, since 2004. This year other good friends, the Gills, joined us. The number of kids represented by our 3 families continues to increase! Since my domestic skills do not include sewing, my kids are somewhat limited in their costume choices. Fortunately, they have been content to raid the dress up bin each year and find a costume about an hour before Halloween starts. Fun times!





During my Bible study on Tuesday mornings, the kids go to a group they love (and have been with for 6 years) called "Tuesday Tigers". Annie looks forward to this time of playing with her friends each week. And the opportunity to wear these special dress up clothes on the Tuesday before Halloween made this day even better. I kept looking at her in this get-up, shaking my head and thinking, "Sometimes I still can't believe we have a girl." And she is quite the girl.....
Her friends in this picture are Brooke Bishop, Talia Kapiloff, Annie and Isabella Champney.

Dress Up

Annie discovered dressing up this week. The revelation was prompted by receiving a pair of hand-me-down ballet slippers. She then made the connection between the ballet slippers and the "tutu" in her drawer and the set has been a permanent fixture on her body during almost every waking moment since. As you can see, her fancy duds don't prevent her from her duties as vigilant mother to a brood of babies.

Trading Cards

The boys have discovered the world of trading cards. Pokeman, no less. Although Jakin and Corban have never and will not likely ever see the show, the enthusiasm of their friends is enough to excite their interest. After seeing all of their friends feverishly trade cards after soccer a few weeks ago, the boys determined that they must have Pokeman cards. Trading cards in general, and Pokeman trading cards in particular are not a thing I especially want to encourage. But, I decided this wasn't a hill to die on and the cards themselves weren't likely to be a negative influence. So, on a recent trip to Walmart, we tracked down the Pokeman cards. The boys were warned that they would be spending their own money to purchase the cards. When we found the cards, Jakin and Corban were confronted with their first lesson in the harsh reality of trading cards. $4.00 for 10 cards. Jakin made the immediate decision that he wasn't going to shell out the few remaining dollars he had for the cards. Corban (who didn't even have $4) still wanted to take the plunge. After a quick thought about what it would be like for one boy to own this precious commodity while the other still pined for them, I caved and offered to pay for half of each pack. The boys were so excited that they wouldn't even open them in the car less they should lose one of them on the way home. The next hours at home were spent in happy bliss, examining and pouring over their new treasure. Jakin could barely wait to take his to soccer that evening to begin trading. Jack took Jakin to soccer that evening and when they returned Jakin was practically in tears. He had been slapped with another aspect of the harsh world of trading cards: no one would trade with him. His cards were either "no good" or the boys who had already accumulated 50, 60 or 70 cards already had those Jakin was offering. Jakin's broken heart didn't immediately discourage Corban who clung to his belief that "trading" was synonymous with "multiplying"; he was still looking forward to magically turning his 10 cards into 20. Since the first disappointment, the boys have had opportunities to trade cards. And while I worry that their lack of knowledge of anything Pokeman means that they are getting fleeced out of "good" cards in return for"bad" cards, they seem happy with the new hobby. The problem they now have is that I'm not going to buy any more cards for them and Jakin is perplexed as to how to get more money for more cards. "How do I get more money? I never get more money!" The happy days of $5 stuffed in birthday cards won't come around again until next May and June. And the boys are stuck with parents who not only believe that they are too young for an allowance but that chores are part of what they are expected to do as members of our family. Meaning, they won't get paid for the normal jobs they do. I guess these are all good life lessons, right? Aren't we all still trying to figure out how to "get more money"!