Chloe's First Day of Kindergarten

 Chloe was so excited to go to Kindergarten. She woke me up five minutes before my alarm went off. We got all ready and had twenty minutes before we had to leave. lol She was so happy and willing to take pictures this morning. And I feel like I got a lot of really cute ones. My favorites are below. I did good when I dropped her off but we had to drop them off at the gate and get out of the way do the next parent could drop off their kid. That kind of bummed me out I really wanted some cute pictures of her in line, but what do you do. I hope she does good today and makes some new friends. My girls are just growing up way to fast!

Here is the post of here first day of preschool... http://tkmillerclan.blogspot.com/2010/04/first-day-of-pre-school.html

 First day of Kindergarten!

 HOORAY!! FOR SCHOOL!

 Phoebe had to have a few shots too.

 She was being so cute I ended up taking about 50 photos

Love that smile

She looks so grown up!

Funny face

Phoebe trying to copy sisters pose. She did it all on her own.

She was so excited about getting to pick out all her school supplies. She picked a Lisa Frank folder with a beautiful Rainbow Pony and a Disney princess backpack.

Love this girl! And I can't believe how fast time has flown.

Sisterly love, Phoebe sure is going to miss her while she's at school.

Walking away to go stand in line. That backpack is as big as her. lol

My finished Ruffle T-shirt Dress!!!

Over conference weekend me and two of my SIL worked on some dresses for our little girlies. we had so much fun and I am thoroughly impressed with how the turned out. You can find the tutorial at Tidbits.

Here are our versions (I don't have a picture of Amie's)

 I also got my first bountiful basket this weekend! Look at all that food!! We will be eating good this week that's for sure. =)

 The Mexican Pack.



Day 8 - A Picture That Makes You Laugh

This picture makes me laugh every time I see it. I can still hear the little sniffing noise she made when ever she would make this face. It cracked us up. Our Phoebe is quite the character. She is so rambunctious. She makes us laugh daily. Don't get me wrong this little girls is a handful! She is stubborn and gets into everything but she makes up for it by being so darn cute and funny!

Okay these two pictures just crack me up! For Chloe's fourth birthday we had a marshmallow war in the backyard. It was so much fun and the kids had a blast! But at one point I look over and see that Chloe is stashing her ammo in the front of her dress. So in the first pic she has little marshmallow boobs (hee hee)  and the second shows her getting it out to throw it at someone. The first thing T.J. says is Hmmm... I wonder where she learned that? While looking directly at me. (Insert cheesy grin here) Yes, I have been known to stash things in my bra, like money and my cell phone. I learned it from my mom and apparently Chloe has learned it from me. =) So now you could say it's a family tradition. (hee hee, with the girls that is.)



Day 7 - A Picture of Your Most Treasured Item

This is the first thing that came to my mind. I know that it is not a tangible thing that you can hold, But holds so much meaning and hope for me. It means that I get to be with my family FOREVER!! And that is no small thing. It also means that T.J. and I get to be with our sweet Katie Jae again. She was with us for such a short period of time but has impacted our lives like nothing else ever will. I look forward to the day when i will be able to hold her in my arms again and this certificate is representative of all of those things. That is why it is my most treasured possession.

Day 6 - A Picture of a Person You'd Love to Trade Places With For a Day

A day late...

Okay no one ever said it had to be a real person. =) For those of you who don't know this is Elizabeth Bennett. I love everything about this era the culture, the chivalry, the dances and courtship. I probably wouldn't fit in very well but I would love to walk a day in her shoes and dresses. =) I chose Elizabeth Bennett of some of my other favorites because she had a real zeal for life that has always appealed to me. So if I could trade places it would be with her in her era. How do you think she'd fair here in my place?

Day 5 - A Picture of your Favorite Memory

Okay, It is literally impossible to pick just one memory. I have so many great memories but I will try my hardest to narrow it down to a few. And these are not really in order of favorite to least favorite just a compilation of SOME of my favorite ones.

Christmas Mornings! I love Christmas and I love the excitement of Christmas morning. I have such amazing memories of all of my Christmas's. From my earliest childhood memory of them to being able to see that joy and excitement on my children's faces. There is nothing like the feeling that the Christmas season can bring into the home and the heart. So here a few (most of the ones from my childhood are at my parents house) pictures of my Christmas's.

1986

 One of the only pictures I have at my house of my family at Christmas when i was little. I know there are a ton more at my parents house but this will have to do. =) One story that really sticks out in my mind is the year that my dad let me sleep on the couch Christmas Eve. I stayed up all night and when they would bring in a few Christmas presents at a time and set them up (some from Santa) I would wait for them to leave the room and then run over and check out all the presents. I'm pretty sure that this was the year that I officially knew that Santa was make believe. But that blow was cushioned by a holiday barbie in a gorgeous red dress! (Chloe has this barbie now in all her tangled hair and drawn on glory)

2006

Chloe's first Christmas. The best gift she got that year was her mobile. It put her to sleep each night for the almost the next year.

2007

This was our the first Christmas in our new home! We were so excited, we moved in at the end of November so the first thing we got to do in our new house was decorate for Christmas.

Still 2007 I just loved this picture of Grandpa with two of his adorable grand kids on Christmas morning.

2008

Although we were in our house the Christmas before this was the first Christmas that we actually spent Christmas morning in our home. The year before we spent it in Hiko with T.J.'s parents. We do that every other year and it has become a great tradition.



 2009

Phoebe's first Christmas. A year spent in Hiko. I love Chloe's face in the picture above I think it is the perfect example of the excitement of Christmas Morning.

Phoebe opening one of her gifts. =)

2010

A great year at home. We went a little overboard this Christmas but it was so great to see their excitement. And luckily the both still love all the toys and books they got. These are some of my favorite memories, listening to my kids oohh and aahh over all their exciting new things and watching them glow with pride when mom and dad exclaim how wonderful their gifts were. =) What's better than a child on Christmas?!

Phoebe's Favorite gift from mom and dad.

Another great memory or memories if you will is of my Grandma Roden. She was one of my best friends and confidants. I told her almost everything and she always knew what to say when it felt like the world was crashing down. She was the best Grandma that there ever will be.

Growing up I always remember going to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes with my family and a large group of friends. We always had so much fun and we made a million memories. Things like snipe hunting and building forts and taking spills off the bikes. We played hard while we were there and always had a great time.

 Me in 1986. Aren't I cute!

Later on my best friend Becky started coming with us as well. And we always had so much fun. This is us playing UNO, our game of choice.

And last but not least my group of amazing friends growing up. Most of whom I still talk to on a farely regular bases. These guys were a constant in my life from a very early age. And I'm sure they always will be. They are the type of friends that even if you go a long time without talking you know that when you do it will be with the ease of a close friend. I love them and the part they have played in my life.

Girls camp! What more is there to say. I loved girls camp I looked forward to it every year. A few days away to "rough it" with your friends. And luckily for me these girls were some of my best friends.

Church dances were always fun. This is a picture of some of our group there are definitely a few missing in this picture but I feel like this picture gives a good sense of those days. They were great times. =)



Day 4 - A Picture of Your Favorite Night

I have to say that the night me and T.J. got married has to be my favorite night! Without that night I wouldn't be where and who I am today. I have been so lucky these past six and a half years to be married to someone like him. We have been through a lot in our marriage. And have always come out stronger and happier than before. I can't imagine what my life would be like without him. I am completely devoted and in love to this amazing man! Plus without him my other two favorite nights would never have happened...

You may kiss the bride...

 these two shots are the perfect pictures of our marriage. Our marriage started out with joking and love and still to this day I could see us at any given moment playfully smashing cake into each others faces. =)
(just a side note, I smelt cake pretty much our whole honeymoon because he smushed it so far up my nose. hee hee)

 Here we are blissfully happy and ready to start our lives together.

 And my other two favorite nights are...

The "night" Chloe was born. technically she was born in the wee hours of the AM, but since i hadn't gone to sleep yet I've always thought of it as the night.

 And then of course the night that Phoebe was born. One of my doctors was nice enough to take this

picture for us.

These girls and T.J. are my whole life. I am a wife and a mother. I love my life and I love my family. I'm far from perfect and so are they but that's what makes life interesting. What more could a girl ask for than to have a husband who is willing to work at our marriage and family each day and two amazing daughters her push her to be better and to make her learn more about herself than anything else in life ever will. I am constantly amazed at the privilege I have to live my life with them. That is why these are my favorite nights.

Day 3 - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

Yep, I'm a nerd! I love this show. I recently after getting netflix spent many a late night up (because this is far from suitable for my little girls) watching the series from start to finish. I know its silly and I know I'm to old for it but hey I just cant help myself.  =) And I know alot of you out there are secretly agreeing that this show was/is awesome!

P.S. My favorite episode is the musical!

Other shows that I watch now are...
Grey's Anatomy
The Vampire Diaries
Off the Map
GLEE

Day 2 - A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest.

This post was hard. I have a lot of really good friends that I have been close with for a very long time. But when it comes down to it the person that I have known and been close with the longest and am still very close with is one of my very best fiends and cousin, Danielle. We are kindred spirits in almost every way. And the ways that we are not alike we still manage to love each other anyways. =) So I have known her since birth and even though she lives in Reno (which feels very very far away at times) I know that she is someone who I can always count on to be there. She gets me!!! And I love that about her. She has never judged me even when i probably could have used a little judging. Ours has been an interesting relationship. Full of late nights, laughing, laughing, laughing, boy talk, meaningful talks, crazy love triangles and crazy boyfriends, bites that look like moons, bruises brought on by bites, and just a deep love for each other. I love her and always will! And I am not just saying that because I know she will read this. =)

yes this is from my days of when you cut everything with those wavy decorative scissors. =) But don't we make the cutest Christmas presents!

At my wedding. She was my maid of honor.

She was there when Chloe was born. and she wasn't born till 4 in the morning!

And more recently when me and the girls went up to visit Danielle and Jack for her birthday.

Something to get me posting again....

I have seen this around blog land and on FB. And I thought it was a really good idea. I have seriously neglected my blogging which is one of my major forms of journaling and feel the need to pick it up again and i thought this would be a good way to get me started. So I am doing the 30 day challenge.

Day 1 - a picture of yourself and 10 facts

1. I am adopted. And I am thankful everyday that my parents CHOSE me! I love them and my sister and wouldn't have it any other way. =)

2. I LOVE being a mother. I find it challenging and am often frustrated but my girls are my world and life would be so dull without them.

3. I am an avid reader. I very very rarely read non-fiction as I prefer to enter another world when I read. I re-read my favorite books often.

4. I used to be really good at making friends but as I get older I am finding it harder and harder to make new ones. (luckily I still have alot of amazing old friends)  ;) Would you like to be my friend?

5. I love crafting! I find it calming and fulfilling. They are not always perfect and yes this does bother me at times, but I like enjoying what I make and watching others enjoy it as well.

6. I love to laugh and giggle. I have a weird sense of humor that is often lost on others but I have been lucky to find a few kindred spirits out there.

7. I love anything Vampire/ werewolf related. And have WAY before Twilight. Don't get me wrong I love those books but I am a Buffy and Angel and Charmed aholic! I know I am probably to old for it but that's OK with me.

8. I am very insecure. As hard as I try not to I am constantly worried what others think and how they feel about me. And my insecurities vary from day to day.

9. I cry A LOT! And have ever since I was a child. My cousin still teases me for crying every time we played barbies. I feel things deeply and my feelings apparently have a direct line to my tear ducts. In fact just thinking about this I am tearing up. Ridiculous, Yes I know.

10. Just as I had given up on the idea of love and being serious with anyone I found my husband. We went on one date and never dated anyone else again. He literally completes me. He is calm when I am irate. He can cheer me up no matter what. He makes me laugh constantly (even times when it is most likely very inappropriate.) He can make me laugh at myself. He endures my crazy side. He sleeps hot and i sleep cold, so he keeps my feet warm at night. I can't imagine my life without him. It would be very dull and bleak indeed. Luckily I have him and it is filled with laughter and lots of happy tears.


So that's me in a nut shell... What about you?

30 Day Challenge

1. A picture of yourself with 10 facts


2. A picture of you and the person you have been closest with the longest

3. A picture of the cast from your favorite show

4. A picture of your favorite night

5. A picture of your favorite memory

6. A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with for a day

7. A picture of your most treasured item

8. A picture that makes you laugh

9. A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

10. A picture of the person you do the most crazy things with

11. A picture of something you hate

12. A picture of something you love

13. A picture of your favorite band or artist

14. A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

15. A picture of something you want to do before you die

16. A picture of someone who inspires you

17. A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

18. A picture of your biggest insecurity

19. A picture and a letter

20. A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

21. A picture of something you wish you could forget

22. A picture of something you wish you were better at

23. A picture of your favorite book

24. A picture of something you wish you could change

25. A picture of your favorite day

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you

27. A picture of yourself and a family member

28. A picture of something you're afraid of

29. A picture that can always make you smile

30. A picture of someone you miss

Really Cool Craft Swapping Site!

Come check out this site for crafters! You swap your crafts with other crafters for FREE! Such a great idea. Go to http://bit.ly/etHayw to check it out. It will bring you up on the register page. Just click the home button to see all the great crafts that are available. But if you want to register make sure you come back and register on my page. =) Below are the crafts I've listed so far. :)