Tag Archives: Miller

Fireflies and Lemonade Stands

One of the kids’ favorite things to do in the summer is to have a lemonade stand. They could sit for hours on the corner and wait for customers to buy a lemonade. This year, instead of lemonade, they sold sweet tea (I didn’t have any lemonade). Everyone loves sweet tea. It is much easier to make and is super cheap. I think that it will be our new product to sell.

Because we live on a cul-de-sac, the kids moved their stand up to the corner where there is more chance for business. Amazingly, they made $22! Yes, $22. We have very generous neighbors at the new house. One person gave them a $5.00 bill and someone else gave them a $10.00. I don’t know who these people are but they have motivated my children to have a lemonade stand every day. I told the kids that they could only have a stand on Friday afternoons because novelty wears off when neighbors see them out there everyday trying to make money. Here is a picture of them with Faith’s friend, Kelsey….

Another fun summer activity is catching fireflies each evening. Our front yard (and the neighbors yard) is full of them. Firefly catching only happens during June and only for about 30 minutes each day. We are motivated to catch them as long as we can and as many as we can. I think Wilson had four in his hands at one time. After catching them, the boys let the fireflies climb all over them. It is amazing how God created these fantastic little insects that glow and then He made them slow fliers so that they would be easy to catch. God was really thinking ahead and was giving us a wonderful gift all at the same time.

Wilson has one on his arm….

The boys hunting in the neighbors yard. They rarely have shirts on, if you haven’t noticed already…..

I love you…

I can remember the first time that I told my mom that I loved her. I was in elementary school. It was bedtime and my mom was putting me to bed in the back bedroom at the parsonage where we lived in Boca Raton, FL. She left the room and said “I love you.” I remember nervously saying back, “I love you too.” It must have surprised my mom because she said, “What?”. I instantly became shy and said, “Nevermind.” (Believe it or not, I was a bit shy when I was younger.) I am not sure how long it took me to say “I love you” again, but eventually it did become something that was said with more ease.

Now fast forward thirty five years – I have my own children whom I tell “I love you” all the time, everyday, and usually at random times throughout the day. Miller has especially picked up this habit of saying “I love you.” Most of the time I think he says it simply because he doesn’t know what else to say. We will be driving in the car and he will say,

“Mom..”

“Yes, Miller”, I reply.

“I wuv you.”

“I love you, too.”

Even if he does say it just to fill the silence, I still want him to say it.

Kids really do mimic what they see and hear from us adults. Sometimes Miller will come up to me, put his arm around my shoulder, press our cheeks together and say in his calmest and sweetest voice, “I wuv you so much.” I LOVE it when he does that because his cheeks are so soft and squishy that they feel good against my face and he is doing exactly what I do to him everyday.

Miller isn’t the only one to do something so sweet. Sometimes Wilson will come up to me, kiss my cheek, put his head on my shoulder and sincerely say, “Mommy, I love you”. Wilson truly is the sensitive teddy bear of the bunch. He will cry if he misses me during the day or if we talk about moving. One time he started to cry because we were talking about how he would get married and move out someday. It is very sweet.

The kids are young and impressionable right now. I hope that the habits we are forming will continue to last throughout their lives and mine. “I love you” is something that I will always say to them and I hope that they will continue to do the same.

Play Time

Now that Wilson is not in preschool, Miller and I have another playmate during the week. We all had a great day together on Thursday. To start, I was in Miller’s class during CBS because it was our group’s week to help out in the children’s department. If I have to be in Children’s then I really like to spend that time in my own kid’s class. It is always nice to see how he interacts with his classmates and teachers.

After CBS the weather was gorgeous! We headed straight to the playground next door to spend a few hours. During that time, Wilson and I had a good game of “throw the gum ball” going. Now, this isn’t gum that you chew, but the gum balls that come off of a gum ball tree – they look like round pinecones. At first we threw them at each other, but then began to try to make baskets into the trashcan with them. This took up at least thirty minutes. Miller caught the moment on camera.

After the park the boys began to beg me to take them to Chick Fil A. Now, I usually don’t take the kids to a fast food joint, especially now that I read the ingredients to a Chick Fil A nugget. (Did you know that MSG is the third ingredient! Yuck!) But…..the weather was great and I knew that they would continue to play which would allow me to sit and take a short break, so I did it. We headed over to Chick Fil A for some nuggets and an ice-cream cone. It was heavenly. The boys played while I sat and basked in the sun. Here I am with my boys…

The boys were so tired when we finally got home that I laid in bed with them to take a nap. Wilson fell asleep immediately and I tried to sleep while Miller continued to climb all over me. Eventually Miller did find something to entertain him so that I could sleep for a short while. A ten minute nap is all that I require in order to rejuvenate myself and make it through until the end of the day.

It was a wonderful day. The best part was that I got to spend the afternoon having fun with Wilson and Miller. We spent lots of quality time together doing things that were fun and exciting. I have really enjoyed having Wilson with me and look forward to more days like this. one.

A day with my boys

Yesterday I got to spend the whole day with Wilson and Miller. Wilson really didn’t want to go to school so I let him skip since he was going to be leaving early anyway. It was so nice spending that time with the boys. I don’t usually get to spend that much time with just the two of them and I enjoyed it very much.

The first thing that we did was put part of their new race car track together. I say “part” because I didn’t have enough batteries and it was the most complicated race track I have ever seen! The boys loved it and they played so well together.

I had scheduled a dentist appointment for both Wilson and Miller that morning. It was Millers first trip to the dentist. He was a bit nervous so Wilson held his hand while they walked back together. Wilson is a sweet big brother…most of the time. No cavities!
Dr. Savage (funny name for a dentist, right?) takes a picture with the kids at their first visit….

After the dentist we went to the playground, Wilson got a haircut, I bought myself a sweater, and we ran through the Walmart together in the fastest shopping trip ever!

Finally, I picked up Faith and took all three of them to Wilson and Miller’s well check ups at the pediatricians office. I didn’t realize it at the time that I had scheduled both the dentist and the doctor on the same day. I thought it might have been too much but they did amazing! It was so cute to see all three kids up on the exam table….

Faith was there for moral support and she is a big help if one kid cries too much at the end during the shots. I had warned wilson that he would have to get one, maybe two, shots. It turned out that he needed two shots (I honestly thought that he would need more than that since I spaced out his shots when he was younger.) I gave him the choice: both shots now or one shot now and another shot later this year. He bravely took the option of two shots now and no more until he is eleven years old. He was very excited to hear that shots are in his past and will be for many years. Now Miller, on the other had, got one shot and had no idea that it was coming. I got him to turn his head away and the nurse stuck him. He rocked it! He didn’t even flinch. Wilson didn’t cry either. My brave boys!!

Wilson is 42 inches and 42 pounds.
Miller is 36 inches and 28 pounds.

It was such a fun and enjoyable day with the kids. 85% of the time they are sweet brothers and sisters that truly enjoy each other’s company. I am so thankful that today was one of those days and that I got to enjoy it with them.

Miller’s birthday

My baby turned three on Saturday! His birthday is actually this Friday the 21st, but Tom is going to be out of town and I am tired of thinking of, and planning for, birthdays. I was ready for it to be Miller’s birthday and so was he. For the last two weeks he has been talking about how he is going to go to the ice cream shop and is going to have a Thomas the Train cake. I took him to Michael’s a few weeks ago and let him pick out his own cake pan. In hindsight, I should have suggested a football cake, but instead let him pick out something difficult like a Thomas cake. I am no Martha Stewart, but I tried anyway. Of course, I used my favorite cake mix and icing from the health food store. This cake is always delicious and the icing is awesome!

Faith and I had some Mommy-daughter time on Saturday icing the cake together. She was a good little helper. We had fun laughing about how silly our Thomas looked and trying to make him look as close to the real thing as possible. I had a Thomas book to guide me. A few neighborhood kids even came in to help me put on the sprinkles. It was a group effort.

As goofy as I thought the cake looked, Miller loved it. He kept taking the stool over to the kitchen counter to look at it and admire it. I was glad that I could give him what he really wanted for his birthday – a Thomas the Train cake. He didn’t ask for any gifts or even expect any. That is just how Miller is. My mom bought him two football shirts – one of which he put on immediately and is wearing in the picture.

The party was a small one, just my parents and Grandmama Pat were invited. We ate hamburgers and hotdogs, per Miller’s requests, and had cake. A very simple and enjoyable evening. It seems the parties have gotten less extravagant with each child. Faith had a big party every year, but Miller has yet to have one. I have realized over the years that the kids don’t care about having a big party – I just thought that they were supposed to….wrong! I have remedied that with Miller. He is happy just being with us.

As for Miller’s gift from us, I bought him that cute little suitcase/backpack from Costco. He needed a suitcase for his sleepovers at Grandma’s house. He loves it! He rolls it around the house constantly. Here he is with Grandmama Pat, his new football jersey, and his new suitcase…..

I have been so blessed to have Miller as my little boy. He is so sweet and funny. He rarely gets in trouble and when he does it is hard to be mad at him. He has started to torment Wilson a little bit, but he has also started playing with him as well. It is fun to see the two boys playing and becoming friends. Miller is also reaching the age when he switches from being a Mommy’s boy to now being a Daddy’s boy. This is always a bitter-sweet time for me. I finally get a reprieve and can use both of my hands to do things, but it is also a sad time because he doesn’t want to be with me as much as he used to. I know that my baby is growing up and will need me less and less as time goes by. This is a fact of life, but one that I don’t look forward to happening. I know that I have talked about this numerous times, but it still doesn’t make it any easier. My babies are all growing up and having three birthdays within six weeks may be more than one Mommy can handle! I love my little Miller and am so proud of who he is: sweet, funny, smart, silly, and increasingly independent. Happy Birthday Miller!!

Miller’s Growing Up

Miller is now 27 months old. I love it when they turn two because then I can just say that he is “2”. It is much easier than counting months. But for the sake of accurate blogging and remembering how old, or young, he actually is, I will say that he just turned 27 months old….a young two. The things that he can do and say at this age amaze me daily. He knows most of his colors, loves to draw, and can do puzzles without the picture under the piece. He can count to ten and sing part of the ABC song.

His vocabulary and verbal skills are quite abundant. He says things like, “I want to watch the Neverland Pirates, Mommy.” or “I don’t want the blue blanket.” or “Let’s go outside and play soccer. Come on!” I love that he can communicate so clearly. Of course, some of the words are ones that only a mother could understand, but others are quite clear. Today I leaned over in the car, kissed his cheek and said, “I love you, Miller.” He told me for the first time, “I love you.” It almost made me cry.

His athletic interest and skills are also amazing. He can set up and hit a tee-ball, dribble a soccer ball across the field, swing a golf club and actually hit the ball, and throw a frisbee (in the wrong direction). Not bad for a two year old. He even slept with his soccer ball last night. You could say that he is a bit obsessed. I am hoping that his interest in sports will lead to a very lucrative job when he grows up. For now, I am just trying to play with him in the front yard as much as possible. He enjoys it and it is nice to get outside.

He will occasionally get into trouble, but not often. His biggest crime is dumping a bucket of blocks out and refusing to help clean them up. I put him into time out (which he doesn’t mind), but he will help clean up after that. He does copy me occasionally which isn’t always a good thing. This past December he looked at Faith one day and said, “Shush it, Faith.” Shush it!?!? Where did he get that?, I thought. Then I realized that he got it from me. I never even realized that I said it, but he did. It was very funny and cute when he said it, but it had to be controlled. Everyone was being told to “shush it!”. Even me.

I am trying to remember so much about this time in his life. I am so glad that I can write all of this down and have it to remember later in life. I have enjoyed being able to watch him grow and learn. Physically he is still pretty small, but I like it. I can pretend that I have a small baby for a little while longer….a small baby that talks, reasons, and plays sports.

Bed time songs

I have gotten into such a long and funny bedtime routine with Miller. First, we go into his room and play with the train table for a few minutes. Then we read three or more books; His favorite one being Thomas the Train. After we read books and talk a little bit it is time to turn out the light and sing songs. This is the part that makes me laugh and where Miller’s personality really shines through. I ask him what song he wants me to sing and he either tells me right aways or he says, “Ummmmmm…..”. If he says this then I proceed to go down the list of songs for him to choose from. It sounds like this:

“Sunshine?’

“No.”

“Jesus Loves Me?”

“No”

“Twinkle, Twinkle?”

“No”

He says “no” to almost everything I ask….”Do Lord?”, “Spider?”, “Away in a manger?”, “Jesus love the Children?”

“Happy and You know it?”

“Yeah!”

Then we sing the chosen song over and over again together. He has the same favorite for a few weeks and then changes it to something else. The other night he said, “Hark, angels sing.” I was shocked because this is a Christmas song that he has only heard from Faith. She sang it at her Christmas pageant and then over and over again around the house for a week or so. I started to sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and during the song he kept interrupting me by saying, “Faith sing it. Faith sing it with the kids at school. Faith sing it.” The things that kids remember amazes me! How does he know that she sang that song at her school. Yes, he was at the performance, but he actually remembers her singing that particular song. It blows me away! So, now his favorite song (this week) is “Hark the Angels sing”. Who know what it will be next week.

I thoroughly enjoy my 30-45 minute bedtime routine with Miller. It gives us some quiet, quality time together and l look forward to it everyday.

The Dressler Family

A Day in the Life…