Pirate Pride

Noah was once again this year given an outstanding student award at Pioneer Middle School. He was awarded for his academic excellence and excellent classroom behavior. We sure are proud of this kid!

And, oh my, look how he's changed since receiving the award last year!

Abby's 1st Day of School

OK, this is a little late, but homeschooling, keeping up with two middle schoolers and a first grader, working, and football have pretty much consumed all of my time this fall. So, finally, here is a photo of Abby's first day of 4th grade!

First Day of School for the Miller Boys!

We have two middle-schoolers! How can that be? Noah is now in 7th grade, and Ethan in 6th, so they both attend our local middle school. Ethan has been home-schooled for the past two years, so this is a big adjustment for him. Noah is a middle school pro now, but still has all new teachers this year (except for band). I am so excited for them to get home (they rode their bikes together) and tell me all about their first day. They should be home in approximately 21 minutes!

And our baby started first grade today! This is Cole's first experience with all-day school as he went to half-day kindergarten last year. He was so excited and brave and confident this morning. I love it! I can't wait to hear all about his day, too, when I pick him up from school in 1 hour and 14 minutes! (Except maybe the part about how thirsty he is because his dorky mom forgot to put his water bottle in his lunch today...oops!)

I am home-schooling Abby this year, but she doesn't officially start until next Tuesday. Mark took her on a little shopping run this afternoon, though, to get some last minute supplies for art class.

Homemade chocolate chip cookies are just out of the oven...I can't wait to share them with the loves of my life as they share their days with me.

Cole's 1st Day of Kindergarten

The last one! Our baby started kindergarten today!

Our conversation when I picked him up:
Me: How was your first day, buddy?
Cole: Great!
Me: What did you do?
Cole: Stuff.
Me: Who did you play with at recess?
Cole: You know.
Me: What did you do in class?
Cole: Stuff.

Boys! So goofy! Good thing I have one daughter who will give me an account of every minute of every day!

2009 1st Day of School for Noah & Abby

Noah began his middle school career today. He left home at 7:45 am with his friend since kindergarten, Isayah. Mark stalked him on the way to school, following in the minivan (how embarassing!) to get one last picture. And we used the excuse of bringing in a check for his lunch, so that we could get one more photo of him at school. Mark asked Noah if we should come have lunch with him at school, but only received a "you wouldn't really do that to me, would you?" look! Abby started her 3rd grade year today, too. Her day didn't start until 8:55, although she was up and ready to go at 6:45 this morning! Her teacher is Miss Durr, who was also both Noah and Ethan's 3rd grade teacher. She is absolutely amazing, and we are so thankful that she will be teaching Abby this year. Mark & I were comparing Abby's back-to-school photo this year with last year, and I cannot believe how much she has grown up! But, she still quickly accepted the offer to join her for lunch, unlike her big brother :-)

Pirate Day

Noah attended Pirate Day at Pioneer Middle School today. He rode his bike there with friends, and Mark & I met him there later. He saw tons of old friends and learned lots of new information. He is so excited to be back in school. Mark is calm, yet excited for him, too. I am ... I don't know what I am ... my mother's heart is filled with too many emotions to put into words. I can't believe my baby is old enough to be in middle school, and I feel like this is the beginning of starting to let him go. Yet, I am proud of the young man that he is becoming, and I'm excited to see how this new adventure will cause him to grow and mature. I am praying God's protection over him. I am praying he will make wise, God-honoring choices. I am praying he will show the love of Jesus and be bold in his faith. And... for Noah's sake, I am praying I don't cry on his first day of school.

Last Field Trip

Today was Abby's last class field trip for the year (her last day of school is tomorrow). We walked from the school to Powderworks Park, where the kids played, ate lunch, and Abby showed off her mad basketball under-the-leg skills!

First Day

The first day of school is always so exciting! It was so odd, though, just taking Abby to school today. She was totally fine with it. She is an amazing trooper, I think - always just taking in stride whatever life throws her way, never freaking out about anything ... definitely takes after her dad (for which I am very thankful)!


2nd grade here she comes! New outfit (from Costco, of course), new backpack (I mean messenger bag ... gotta be cool), and new lunch box. Isn't she so cute?!?


Abby and her new teacher, Ms. Hebert. The teachers all stand out on the front porch of the school on the first day to greet their students. We took the opportunity to get this sweet photo. Isn't she so cute?!?! Noah and Ethan gave hugs and talked to their old teachers ... and explained to them all why they weren't in school :-)


Abby in the community room waiting for community time to start. Every student in the school gathers together for 10 minutes every morning for announcements, birthdays, lunch menu, etc. Isn't she so cute?!?!?!!!


Our homeschooling curriculum still hasn't arrived. We were originally told we would get all of the materials 2 to 3 weeks before school started. Now we've been told they will arrive on the first day of school or before. Nice, huh? Really gets me into my "freaking out" mode because I wanted to have time to look over everything and get organized before their official first day (September 8th). Guess I better take some lessons from Abby on handling whatever rolls my way :-)

Since we don't have any books yet, we took today to get a bit organized with what we could do. So the boys read the introductions to all of their courses (which we could do online), labeled all of their folders, made an art portfolio, and each drew a self-portrait. Plus they practiced their music (piano & guitar for Noah, drums for Ethan) and their typing.



Aren't they so cute?!?! I mean handsome ... or cool ...



All in all, a great first day for everyone!