The big 3-0

So, I turned 30,gulp, the week before Christmas. To celebrate my mom and my aunt took my cousins and me to Atlanta for the weekend. It was a blast. We went down on Saturday morning and came back Sunday night. We stayed at the Ritz Carlton...all I can say is, "Wow!" It was the nicest place I have ever stayed. We went shopping, ate great food, and generally enjoyed hanging out with no men and no children. Thanks to all of our sweet husbands who took care of the kiddos while we were gone. And thanks especially to my mom and my Aunt Sandra for

making it all possible.

We got to have our picture taken with Santa outside of our hotel. He was driving a cute little red vintage Mercedes convertible.

Prayer

O God, I have tasted thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name. Amen.

-A.W. Tozer

Halloween Pictures...finally

Emma Kate at Braden's preschool party. She loved sitting with all the "big" kids. She pretty much thinks she is 4.

Braden with his pumpkin. They had a pumpkin hunt before the party.

Halloween night...no comment.

Braden as a transformer. He picked this costume himself and loved the mask although he really couldn't see out of it. He said he liked the mask so nothing scary could get him.

Emma Kate as a fairy. She didn't want to take the costume off all night. She caught on to the whole trick-or-treating thing real fast too! Her eyes lit up when she realized all she had to do was walk up to the door and she got candy...amazing!

Birthday suit

Emma Kate's favorite outfit right now is her birthday suit. She came out of her bedroom the other day totally naked with her princess shoes on, of course. (Notice how her sheep is conveniently covering her.) Emma Kate has proved to be a handful at 2. I can't tell you how many times I have had to clean up after her because she has decided to strip down, including her diaper. I think she might be ready to potty train. We went and bought some Elmo panties a few weeks ago, but I don't think that I am ready for potty training yet. My mom has suggested that I duck tape her diaper so that she can't get it off...I don't know?

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posting this month. We've been busy with soccer and with my camera on it's last leg, I just haven't taken many pictures.

Before and After...

Before:

After:

This post has been a long time coming. I've been waiting to have our house painted for about 4 years. I know you can't really see what color the house is by the pictures, but it is a pale green...Spanish olive, to be exact. It's been finished for about 3 weeks now and I just had to share my excitement via the blog. Now, what to do with our front yard?

Camera

Okay, so our ONLY digital camera does not seem to be working anymore. This poses a problem for me being able to post pictures on the blog. We are trying to fix the problem but it looks like we will have to be purchasing a new camera. We are now excepting any donations to the Millard Camera Fund.

No seriously, I'd love input on getting a new camera. If you love your camera, tell me about it. If you know of anywhere to get good deals on cameras please leave a comment as well. Any advice or input you would like give, please do.

Braden starts preschool

Braden started preschool again last week. He is in Mrs. Kate's class this year. She is about 80 years old and very sweet and Braden loves her. He had a harder time going this year than last. The first day he actually cried and didn't want me to leave. Last year he could not have cared less. He's had a harder time dealing with change this year. Anyway, we haven't had any tears since that first day but as he puts it, " He's still a little nervous." I think he takes after me...I never liked to leave my mom when I was a kid either.

This is how he likes to pose for the camera these days. I'm not sure what this is all about.

Emma Kate is 2

Here are the pictures from Emma Kate's birthday party. We actually celebrated it a week early because it was the only weekend we had available in September with John in the middle of soccer season. We had an Elmo party because that seems to be her obsession right now ( I really don't know why because we hardly ever watch Sesame Street). Emma Kate had a good time and especially enjoyed her Elmo cake.

Emma Kate opening her new "cell phone", with the help of big brother, of course.

Getting ready to blow out the candles.

Say cheese...don't mind the pizza all over her face. That's just the sign of a good party, right?

THE CAKE! My lovely mother took on the task of decorating this cake. I owe her big time. The last time we decorated a cake it took us over 3 hours. It is so cute and so worth it, right?