Taking Down the Tree

Check out the post below to see the story of the tree. We had crazy winds on Sunday so the rest of the tree had to come down for fear it would fall into the house. Steve and his dad braved the 5 degree wind chill and cut the tree down to the trunk!

The Tree

Over this past weekend, we had an ice storm that was pretty nasty. The big excitement was the fall of our Bradford pear tree. This tree is enormous and takes up a lot of space in our front yard. Steve and I have contemplated taking the tree down but always felt guilty because it is not exactly the most "green" to do. Not to mention the fact that the tree is beautiful, just huge. The tree succumbed to the ice early Saturday afternoon. One part of hit fell between our house and the neighbor's house and the other limb fell into the street. We are so lucky it did not hit the house! The picture above shows what the storm did to the tree.

Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving in Galesburg. It was a great weekend. Steve and i have so much to be thankful for. We got to visit, eat, shop, eat, visit, shop, and attend my dad's hall of fame induction. Meg took great pictures so check them out at her blog. Thanks Mo, for being the official photographer.

The Pumpkin Picture- Cole

The tradition of taking a picture by their carved pumpkin started with Kane and we have continued that tradition with Cole.

Cole- 2007- 19 months


Cole -2006- 7 months ( Check out how chubby he was!)

The Pumpkin Picture- Kane

It has been a tradition since Kane's first Halloween to get a picture of him sitting next to his carved pumpkin on the countertop. I wonder how he will feel about that when he is sixteen?! I posted all of his pictures from his six Halloweens. It is incredible to see how he changes each year.

Kane Miller- Halloween 2007- 5 and a half years old

Kane's 1st Halloween-2002- 7 months old

Kane- 2003- 19 months old


Kane- 2004- 2 and a half

Kane- 2005- 3 and a half

Kane- 2006- 4 and a half

Siblings, Silliness, and Skittles

I love these pictures of the boys. They were very happy and being very silly. I think it could have been the Skittles they were eating. My carpet has some lingering color stains from Cole's pack of Skittles.

The boys are looking at their Daddy. They both light up when Steve is around. Daddy is the best.

Pumpkin Carving

In our house, the carving of the pumpkin is a yearly tradition. My role has always been to design the layout of the jack-o-lantern. Steve has always taken care of cleaning and carving the pumpkin. (I definitely have the better of the two jobs!) This year, being that Kane is a Kindergartner and all, he decided he should draw the design. He took his job very seriously and his jack-o-lantern turned out great!

Kane Miller, jack-o-lantern designer.

Cole was interested in what was inside the pumpkin but did not want to get too close.

Cole squealed when Steve got the pumpkin pulp anywhere near him!

Kane does a very nice job making sure Daddy does his job correctly.

Kane's impression of what his pumpkin looks like.

Halloween Warm-up

We went into the cities on Sunday before Halloween to go trick or treating at Steve's aunt and uncle's house. Here are a few pictures outside Steve's parents house before we left. Notice the large inflatable blow up cat as well as the blow up Frankenstein. Papa and Nana have become members of the inflatable blow up society at the request of their oldest grandson. They are such good sports to put these giant creatures in their yard for the entertainment of Kane and Cole!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Raphael, AKA Kane Miller.

Posing in front of the Frankenstein blow up. Kane is making his best pose as a ninja turtle, while Cole, a turtle in training, can barely move at all!

Cole and Papa posing for the camera.

Tanner's Orchard

We took our annual trip to Tanner's Orchard in Speer, Illinois. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and the kids had a blast!

Cole picking out his pumpkin. I want to just squeeze his cheeks all the time!

The boys were sooo happy to be here!

Kane looks so old in this picture. I look at him and can't believe how grown up he has become. Where has all the time gone?

Daddy and Cole on top of the pirate ship slide.

All the crazy cousins hanging out in the pumpkin patch!

Unorganized in October?

I can 't believe I have neglected the blog for so long! I have made a vow to do better from this day forward! Wish me luck!

Virtues

Steve and I struggled today when we sent Kane to school. He was a bit apprehensive which is very out of character for him. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that it is Monday and we had such a great weekend together. However, Kane was concerned about people being nice to him or in this case people NOT being nice to him. He wondered why the fourth and sixth grader who rode the bus didn't want to play with him. He thinks about these things all the time. It is such a test for me as a parent. How do you explain such things as not nice people and why they act that way? The innocence of youth is such a sacred stepping ground. I want to continue to protect Kane from the not so virtuous parts of life. However, that is no longer an option. It is up to Steve and I to teach him now how to deal with these disappointing parts of life along with giving him the tools to continue to be the loving and kind person he is. Being a parent is so heartbreaking at times. This instance just makes me appreciate how much my parents have done for me in my life to instill a sense of values. I am grateful, and resolve to follow in their footsteps. On a final note, this experience with Kane has only strengthened my own sense of virtues and how important it is for me to live my life as the best example of those virtues.

A Birthday Fit for a Princess

We celebrated my 32nd birthday on Saturday. Kane picked out the cake for me. He told Steve it had to be a girl cake and that only the Disney Princess castle would do. That boy, he makes me so proud to be his Mama!

Finley and I checking out the amazing cake!

Missy, Trey, and Kane are watching the festivities as well. Trey and I share the same birthday, how lucky am I? He turned 1, I can't believe how fast the year has gone. He is such a good boy!! So happy and smiley!

Cole and Grandad. Check out their mouths, they have the exact same expression!

Blowing out the candle!

Finley, the official taste tester!

Kids at Play

It was absolutely beautiful weather after the circus. Everyone came back to the house and played in the yard.

Brady and Kane got the vehicles out and took them for a spin.

Alexis taking a turn in Lightening McQueen. She is a mad woman in that thing! Thank goodness we have 13 more years until she hits the roads.

Lexi and Finley represent for the ladies and show the boys how it is done!

Papa and Cole getting in some swing time.

Seriously, she is completely gorgeous. I just want to squeeze her!

A Bunch of Circus Animals

The circus was in town over Labor Day weekend. Fourteen of us went to the i-Wireless Center ( formally the Mark) to check it out! Fun was had by all.

Grandad, Kane and Brady checking the action. Could that be a tiger?

Cole and Finn checking it out from their view through the rails.

Uncle Rock finding his true calling.

The best toys ever! Swords! Thanks, Grandad!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today was the day! After visiting his classroom last night and dropping off his school supplies, Kane went straight to bed to be ready for his first day of school. When Steve and I woke Kane up this morning, his first question was "Is the bus here yet?" Kane was quite brave and took the day in stride. This made it much easier for his parents to be brave also! I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and his response was, "Rest time. I love my rest mat." So there you have it, Kane's day in a nutshell.

Here are the pictures of the day. There are not in chronological order, I am still getting use to "blogging"!

Kane giving his best smile for us!

Miss Wickwire and Kane. Kane thinks she is very nice!

Here is Kane at his table. He is getting ready to color a picture of himself. He chose the black crayon and used it to color the whole thing. He is definitely a minimalist when it comes to adding color!

Kane getting off the bus in the afternoon. It was a hot and long ride. He practically jumped off the bus.

Happy to be home and excited to tell about his first day at school.

Waiting outside the house for the bus in the morning.

Jenna Freeburn and Kane- they are bus buddies.

Jenna taking care of Kane before the bus arrives.

Kane arriving at school. He didn't know we where there taking pictures. The girl in the long hair met Kane right off the bus and walked his to his classroom.

Signing in for class with Miss Wickwire.