Snipetts from February

Well, Farmer Brady continues to feed and water the chickens even though they have stopped laying eggs.  We're starting to wonder about the purpose of it all.  They eat 50 lbs., they poop 50 lbs., and not one stinkin' egg!

 

 

Ada continues to experiment with hairstyles, much to Jude's delight.  On this day, he would hug her (nearly knocking her flat) saying, "Ada, you look so CUTE!!"

 

 

 Miss Pinky is on a mission to get to the other side -

 

 

 Jude is seriously contemplating going over the fence and down the steep bank.  I must admit he had some very compelling arguments in favor of said maneuver.  I told him to ask me again when he is six yrs. old, but I think he'll be doing it before then.  He's very strong and an excellent climber.  He can do it. 

 

 

And then it snowed.  And snowed.  It was beautiful and nobody could get here so I was holed up for days and attacked some great in-house projects that would make the most anal person smile! 

 

 

I was attacked by the birds while filling the feeder. 

 

 

Jude and Brady are both learning to read.  Actually, all of them are learning to read but Jude and Brady run around looking for words to read.  Here's a funny shot of Jude.  This is how I read the Sunday funnies, how about you? 

 

 

A large broken tree branch was hanging precariously over the backyard so Ben and Jude decided to eliminate the danger by looping a rope over it and attempting to bring it down. 

 

 

 

 

The Boss and his loyal subject:)

 

I just realized I don't have any pictures of Drew from February but the child did take home the gold for the Maneuver of the Month.  Drew and Brady were fighting a stomach bug for a few days and at one point Drew threw up down the heat vent!!  And I thought I'd seen everything.  Nice work, Drew.

 

xoxo

Be still, my heart.

I always thought my boys were a lot of fun, what with their roughhousey sports, assorted scheduled ball games and other antics.  But they didn't ever take BALLET.  A ballgame of a different color.

I was unprepared for the heart-pinching experience of Ada's first dance class.  Prior to the class, she was all twirley and dancey and thrilled with her tights, leotard, little pink ruffled skirt and soft dance shoes.  She whirled around the house, all confidence and big talk.  But when we arrived and took one look at a teacher we'd never seen and a small group of girls we'd never seen, and a dance floor the size of a football field, all bravery drained out of her.  She stood there, frozen.  I wanted to take her hand and walk with her to join the group, but waited just a minute and she took those first steps all by herself.  First steps are always the hardest.

Whew.  The inner circle. 

At the end of each class time, they perform their new moves, all of which have fancy names.  Ada has spent the last year perfecting the pointy toe, the twirls and the dainty little hand motions so of course she's way ahead of the class:)  A star is born. 

The closing dance with her new circle of friends. 

Ada told her dad that she didn't want to bother going to school
anymore, she just wants to dance. 

 

Holiday fun, 2013

Ada, the queen of everything, strikes a pose and declares that it is finally Christmas Eve and let the games begin!



One unhappy Drew face is soothed by a whole plate of beautiful cookies



And what is Christmas without a rousing game of "dead in the water"??



Or a walk up the hill?  Overtaking from behind in a flying stride is superhero Jude!



Drew and Ada leading the group



Brady had my camera for awhile and got some good shots......this one of the TV,



a great picture of his dad and sleeping brother,



and the best picture of me anyone has seen in a long, long time:)



And then, a few days later, the Miller Family Christmas party!  This is Julie and Justus reading the cautionary notes on the new flying machine.



My brother John and his wife, Linda.  We call her the Miller Miracle.



Uncle Jon Englund reading a story to Brady.  Precious picture.



And Uncle Jon demonstrating for Drew the correct technique for launching the new flying machine



Andy recovering new flying machine from very high spot



This is my sister-in-law, my sister, and my daughter-in-law.  A dangerous combination:)



Speaking of dangerous combinations......



Linda and son, Craig, snuggled up together.



Payton, terrorizing the little boys



Andy handing out a lucky number to Haley for the book exchange



Drew, reading one of the Harvard Classics.....


Missing from all these pictures of the Miller Christmas are Ben, Linden, Ada and Jude who jetted off to Florida the day after Christmas.  So while we were partying and freezing, they were partying and sunning themselves.  We missed them at this event because they always bring a lot of fun to the table.

So Christmas 2013 is a wrap.  Today is Monday, January 13th and the last of the trappings and trimmings were finally packed away into the attic where they will live for another year.  Whereas all the holiday activities seem like a bit much sometimes, we take a deep breath and pause to reflect on the real reason for the season and our collective good fortune.  Families are a combination of all parts, making up the whole.  And a good family clings together, like snowflakes. 

The tradition lives on.....

The annual Christmas baking day just keeps getting better!  My boys used to do the skedaddle and run for their lives when this event rolled around and landed on the calendar somewhere between Thanksgiving and Christmas.  But they have come full circle and realized that we might be having more fun in the kitchen than they were having on the golf course or in the bar!  Ha.

Here's Andy supervising the sugaring of an old favorite recipe.  Actually, he wasn't supervising anything because the kids were doing things their own way and he was just standing there.



Brady and Ada were getting the job done right -



Well, the day isn't ALL about baking......



Ben and Brady bonded over a super huge batch of Gingerbread cut-outs



You can never have too many sprinkles, right Drew???



Here are some key members of the baking team.  The beautiful girl on the right was our newbie.  Few ever return. 



Time out to snuggle in for a video.  I love the angle of the picture in the background:)



Jude provided a little harmonica music to see if it would help the cookies bake faster



Hey.  Remember the "Christmas Story"???   Drew was dressed for the 15-degree weather, but I hoped he wouldn't fall down because he would never be able to get up. 


All together we kicked off the 2013 holidays by putting a little Bailey's in our coffee and then destroying the kitchen, sending the electrical meter into the o-zone, laughing our heads off with the children, and keeping a valued tradition alive.  It was agreed this was the best baking day ever.

The chicken came first

We have the answer to the age old question. 

The chickens have been a good source of entertainment around here.  We let them out once every day to run around the yard and uproot my flowers.  Three out of the four kids are wildly interested in the life cycle of the nasty little critters and love to help with the feeding and the care. 


Ada drops one eensy little piece of grain to the waiting crowd.



Brady claims to be a farmer.  He amazes me the way he gets right in there with the chicken chores and he loves to feed them right out of his hand.  They peck pretty hard, but he doesn't seem to mind.
Brady is actually the one who named the chickens:  Seven of them are named Walter and one is named Fruity. 



Jude likes to watch them run (and they do!!)



Drew could care less about the chickens.  And while the chickens aren't very smart, they do know enough to stay out of his way.



At one time we were getting 8 eggs/day and it occurred to Jude that we might turn this into a profitable venture for his piggy bank. 



This is Jude & Ada having a picnic in the tree fort.  You can see his egg sign in the background and his 3-dozen egg inventory.  He would yell at the passing cars, EGGS FOR SALE!!!!  Before the operation closed for that day, Jude had managed to sell a dozen eggs to the neighbor (who I had been supplying with free eggs) and knocked the other 2 dozen onto the ground as he was climbing down.  No worries, we have lots more where those came from. 

Jude's pricing structure was firm:
$4.00 for 18 eggs
$3.00 for 12 eggs
$2.00 if you are what he considers a "loved one". 
FREE EGGS ON HOLIDAYS

He had an opportunity to sell some eggs on Memorial Day.
Nice customer:  This is Memorial Day, do I get free eggs?
Jude:  Not THIS holiday.  Only on real holidays like Halloween and Christmas and baking day and Valentines Day. 

Sad news:  With the onset of the time change and the season change, the chickens are definitely out of sorts.  They still manage to eat 50 lbs. of chicken pellets every couple of weeks and they manage to poop 50 lbs. all over the yard, but the egg production has dropped off significantly.  Some days we get 1 or 2 eggs.  Some days we get NO eggs.  Jude has fallen into a lower income bracket. 

So it appears the chicken's government has shut down.  I've had some very frank discussions with them lately and have explained in detail just how the BBQ works.  It's called tough love, but they know I'm a pushover:)

I'll let you know if the situation corrects itself in the spring.  If not, we may have to change the sign to read "Chickens for Sale". 

Cheap - Cheap.