A Day at the Park with Skye

Mike and I took Skye and Preston to the park while Christen and her sisters packed. Those two had a lot of fun together. For the record, Skye is NOT shy around Preston. Too bad we don't live closer, they would probably be the best of friends.

Skye & Preston

Skye & Mike ~ Preston took this picture
Beautiful Skye ~ taken by . . . Skye!

Mike had sharp eyes and spotted a frog. In honor of Jorja we had to stop and play with it for a little while. They have a frozen yogurt shop here that is named Sweet Frog, or something like that. I know frog is in the name. I thought, Jorja would suddenly become a frozen yogurt fan if she saw this store!

Where's Froggie?

Preston

Preston and Skye loved to jump on these circles. They could have done that for hours. Thankfully they didn't. There are some big, colorful fish that swim here. I've never seen anything like it.

Skye & Preston

At the waterfall

When we got home, Mike made yummy steak and hamburgers. Preston ate an entire steak. Jorja would have been proud. While we were there, I got some pictures from Mike. Below are more pictures from yesterday.

Preston & Stephanie ~ nice hat!

Larkin, Preston & Skye

Grandma & her birthday sundae

Larkin, Preston & Skye helping themselves

Preston & Skye

Mike, Skye, Preston & Stephanie ~ hopping away

Dr. Michael Millburn

We got to go see the hooding ceremony for my brother Mike today. It was really neat, but I wish I had brought my video camera. It's probably better that I didn't because I would have recorded it on pause anyway. But, I wish I had them saying "Dr. Michael John Millburn" and parts of his ceremony. It was really good.

Preston, Stephanie, Mike

Skye, Mike, Larkin, Christen

Preston gave Skye and Larkin each an arctic fox webkinz. Skye carried hers around most of the day. Preston brought his webkinz named Skye. Skye decided to name her fox Skye - now there are three Skyes! Larkin named hers Foxie. Christen has some cute pictures of Preston & the girls playing together. I'll have to get them. He is having a blast here!

Larkin, Mike, Skye & SkyeMike and Grandma Millburn
Today is Grandma's 93rd birthday
Mike, Grandma, Dad, Stephanie, Preston
Larkin loved the hat
Mike getting hooded

After the "gradulation ceremony" as Skye would say, we went to California Pizza Kitchen. I ate way too much, but it was delicious. Preston loved it too. They brought out sundaes for Mike's graduation and Grandma's birthday. The kids loved that.

Preston has LOVED playing with Skye and Larkin. He is now crashed out on the bed in our hotel room. It's nice that it has free internet, although it was even nicer yesterday having FREE internet on the airplane. Preston played Webkinz the entire time. What a life!

Three Piggy Opera

Jorja's first grade class did a Three Piggy Opera as part of their awards day. Jorja has been singing the songs for a month! I got a seat in the front and video taped the entire thing. I just knew she would love watching it again over the summer. Preston had taken nap and had crawled in my lap. My arm was SO tired from holding the camera. When the performance had finished, I looked down and realized one of the times Preston had jostled me, I accidentally hit the pause button. I only recorded one minute and twenty seconds of the show! I am so annoyed at myself right now. They are putting the show on again tomorrow for their reading buddies, hopefully I can talk Mike into recording it then.

Jorja dressed as the wolf

(she was a narrator, but wanted to try out the wolf costume....

although the knife and fork were her props....)

Jorja received many awards. Perfect attendance (with a medal), top AR points (with a plaque), math maniac, sight words, citizenship . . . I can't remember them all, but we are very proud of her! She did her absolute best in first grade, and it was pretty darn good!

Jorja & Mrs. Latham

Jorja

One of the awards must have been generated by the office because they spelled Jorja's name, Jorga. For some reason the office printed her name like this at the beginning of Kindergarten. I talked to them to have it corrected at the beginning of the year . . . .

Mrs. Latham and her class gave me this beautiful pot for helping with the math tests this year. The kids each made a bee with their thumbprints. Jorja told me that they still need to put wings on the prints, but I kind of like it how it is.

Stephanie, Jorja and Preston's head

Now I just have Maysen's awards night to go to (maybe Mike will post some pictures for me), then it is off to the airport! Preston is so excited!

My mom has now been gone for 14 years today. Miss you mom! At least I get to see her son and two of her grandchildren! I'm also holding out hope that she will get a new grandchild today....

They're In!

Stockton and Maysen have officially been accepted to GCA. I did reply to the e-mail last night. I had a call on my voice mail this morning saying they were accepted. As I called back to say I wanted the seats, Stockton hovered over my shoulder so excited. I hope I don't let them down.

GCA

I have been waiting to find out if Maysen and Stockton have made it into GCA. That is the homeschooling program I have been wanting to try out. We are suppose to find out any time this week, but for sure by Wednesday. Yesterday I got a e-mail that said Congratulations! You have been accepted. If you want the spot, reply to this e-mail. Then I got another e-mail that said "Amber Maxwell would like to recall the message 'Georgia Seat Offers'" No other explanation. Nothing came today. Did they accidentally send the e-mail to everyone? Did they send it to the wrong list? I am wondering if I should just reply to the congratulations e-mail. What are they going to do - be upset with me that they made a mistake?

On a completely unrelated note, yesterday at Maysen's school they had some 5th graders come and shadow some 6th graders. The 5th graders were suppose to go back and report to their class. Maysen said that she was welcomed four times by random people. Reminds me of the time I was teaching in a third grade class. I was taking the students outside when another teacher started scolding us and asking, "Where is your teacher?" Come on! I know I'm small, but these were THIRD graders we're talking about!

Uno Attack

We played Uno Attack for the first time with Preston. He LOVED it! He loved pushing the button and thought it was so funny when the cards flew at him. He loved having cards, especially the yellows.

Sacrament

I gave a talk in church today. I was really nervous about it. It was the first time I had ever been the concluding speaker, so I wasn't sure if I would have a lot of time, or a little. I was assigned to talk about the sacrament. I actually asked the bishop if I could give a talk. I wanted to give a talk so I could pass off one of my personal progress values. When I was given my topic, I wondered what I was thinking.

I have been able to spend the last two weeks reading everything I could about the sacrament, the last supper and the atonement. I have also been working on memorizing the sacrament prayers, but I don't have that one all the way finished yet.

This talk was a great blessing to me. I learned many ways I can make the sacrament more effective in my life. I also learned how important the sacrament ordinance is. I always knew it was important, but I didn't realize what an effective tool the sacrament could be. The sacrament seemed like the modern day brazen serpent. Because of the simpleness of the ordinance, we don't fully appreciate the blessings associated with it. I don't think I will ever be casual while the sacrament is being passed again. I might not always be able to focus as much as I want (usually I'm focused on keeping Preston quiet), but I know I will be more aware of the purpose and marvelous blessings the sacrament brings. I realized that if I take the sacrament worthily each week, I will be able to stand before the judgement bar of God and not be ashamed. That is miraculous.

Maysen's New Look

Girls Night!

This morning Mike, Preston and I went to get the licence plate for the van. I was so happy! At the window, we quickly learned that there was still another paper that we needed. The title was from the Smith Family Partnership. They need a notarized paper that said Mike is authorized to sign for this. I couldn't believe it. There was no way this could be done today since it couldn't be faxed. I was thinking to myself, "Well, I'm not walking away from here without a way to drive the van. I'll cry if I have to." I knew it wouldn't be hard to start to cry, all I had to do was think about picking up the kids the last two weeks. The thought of doing that even one more day was enough. Anyway, Mike asked if they could give us a temporary plate so we could drive the car while we were waiting for the papers - especially since this is the second time we have tried, so they know we are working on it. She said no, there was nothing she could do. So, I started crying. I told her I had been driving a jeep with no air conditioner, and I couldn't bare the thought of sitting in the carpool lane for two hours with my baby again. She told me she would get us a 30 day temporary plate. Now, was that so hard? I hate feeling like a criminal because we can't figure out the hoops they want us to jump through. Mike asked what papers he needed, she said, "I don't know what you need, but I know you need something." I am so glad I can drive the van again. When I picked up Maysen she said, "Mom you look so happy." That I was.

Mike took Stockton and Preston camping for Fathers and Sons. Preston was so excited. It was thundering pretty loud tonight so I hope they're okay.

After the boys left, I took the girls shopping. We went to School Box and let Jorja pick out some silly bands. Then we looked at books at Borders. We were there until the mall closed. As we were leaving Hallmark, the gate was almost all the way down. Maysen exclaimed, "Ninja roll!" and both the girls crawled under the gate. I waited for a worker to lift it up.

I took the girls to IHOP next. Maysen had crepes and Jorja had a silly face pancake. They both split a milkshake. Maysen declared this a "really good day". She especially liked the part of the day where her partner didn't show up in math class. Her partner hasn't liked any of Maysen's ideas. They had to turn in their ideas of what they are going to work on today, so Maysen changed them to what she wanted to do. She was quite happy about that.

It was pretty fun to have just the girls to myself. Maysen and Jorja were so cute together. It makes me so happy when they get along. I hope Mike had just as much fun with the boys.

Mike's Happy Birthday

Mike is now as old as me. Maysen really wanted to make him a TEC the Robot cake. The kids were great helpers. Jorja got the table ready, Maysen frosted the cake and brought TEC upstairs, Stockton did a lot of cleaning, and Preston walked around practicing 'Happy Birthday!'

Maysen, Preston, Jorja

TEC, Mike & Stockton

I really wanted to have bacon arms on TEC. I knew Mike would think it was funny. In the show The Middle, the mom made a donut dad with bacon arms for Father's Day.

I decided I didn't want to have 36 candles, so I thought I would get one color to represent 10's and one color to represent 1's. I said to myself, "I will need 7 candles." The white represent the ones and the black the 10's. Too bad I got the age wrong. No wonder Maysen was confused when I told her how I wanted the candles. The weird thing is, I know he's 36. How did I keep coming up with 34 on the candles. I guess I'm not too good at math. Good luck next year with homeschool Maysen!

Silly faces
Preston & freaky Jorja

We let Maysen light the candles for the first time. Preston was a little nervous about that.

Maysen, Preston, Jorja

TEC enjoying his bacon arm

The kids each gave Mike a popcorn bucket filled with a computer part. I got him a MiniMac. I thought we needed one more computer in our house.

After we got the kids to bed, Mike and I went out to dinner. Mike wanted to go to a new Italian restaurant near our house. We got there about 8:40. The restaurant closes at 9. It was pretty funny. I asked if my meal came with the bread and salad, it did. I ordered my salad dressing on the side. The watress brings our salads out and the dressing is on it. She was nervous saying, "Sorry, we are close to closing and they were hurrying on your salad...I'll make you a new one if you want." I told her it wasn't a problem. Soon she was back saying, "They don't want to make any more rolls, but next time you come in you can have a lot of rolls." We thought that was pretty funny. Then we see the hostess leaving. Then the lights in the restaurant turn off (we were outside). Mike said soon she was going to say, "I'm sorry, I would have cooked your chicken, but we were in a hurry to leave." I'm glad we weren't the only ones there. We were the last ones by about three minutes. The waitress had her purse on as we walked out. It was funny in an odd sort of way.

Now we are about to watch a movie. Star Trek. Hopefully I don't fall asleep. At least Mike gets to stay home tomorrow!

Stockton's Field Day

Today was a LONG day! It was Stockton's field day today. He doesn't traditionally enjoy field days, so I'm always a little worried about how the day will play out. It started off with volleyball. They had the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders compete. It took forever - well I guess just an hour. Stockton's team won two games and lost one.

Stockton during volleyball

Then came whirlwind. Stockton was really excited about this one. He usually does so good. You have to run through the jump rope every time it swings. If you let it go around an extra time, or if it hits you - you're out. This was the event Stockton was waiting for. He was first in line. But he got out first thing. The first three people got out. It took a little while for the teachers that were turning to get the hang of it. Stockton was really upset because Coach Hughes was turning the middle group (5th graders) and he thought that was where the 4th grade line should have been. It was pretty disappointing for him.

Stockton

The next game was tug-of-war, but Stockton, Preston and I snuck inside. I was thinking, "I'm so glad it's pizza for lunch today, that will perk Stockton right up." When we get to the room, I notice the lunch had been changed because of field day. Instead of pizza it was chicken sandwich - sack lunch. NO!!!!!! Stockton likes the chicken sandwiches, but he won't eat them if they are in a sack lunch. He hates them. I turned to Stockton and asked him if he wanted me to run to Chick-fil-a and bring him back a lunch. Preston could have his. Stockton thought this was a good plan. Preston and I ran to the jeep, and made a mad dash to Chick-fil-a. Lunch had already started by the time we got back, but Stockton still had plenty of time to eat. Thank goodness.
After lunch they had the water games. I wish Jorja's water games had been after lunch. She was freezing! The weather was great today. Stockton was enjoying himself, so around 12:30 Preston and I headed home.

Stockton & Nicholas

Preston

Stockton & Preston

Stockton

Katy & Stockton

This month has been so hard picking up the kids. I have been driving the jeep because our licence plate has expired on the van. We can't get it renewed until we get the title. Mike called his brother a few weeks ago, and he had to order a new one. Then the title got sent to Mike's dad's house in Sandy, but Mike's dad was at his house in St. George. The key to his mailbox was also in St. George. So we have been waiting. Mike has been driving the van with the trailer behind him hoping that the licence will be hidden until we can get it changed. (Mike's dad called today and said the title should be here by 3:00 tomorrow - hooray!)

Anyway, I get into the carpool line around 2:00 but I don't pick up the kids until 2:50. The jeep doesn't have air conditioning. It was 84 degrees outside. In Georgia. This week it is my turn to pick up Maysen and Rylee. (Jorja's happy because I can't take her with me because there isn't enough seats.) After I drop off Stockton and Jorja, I go get in line for another 40 minutes to pick up the girls. With no air conditioner. Today Preston fell asleep while waiting at the elementary school. He woke up about 5 minutes before the girls got out. He was screaming! I kept saying, "I'm so sorry. I don't know how to help you. There's nothing I can do." It was so hot! Maysen got in the car and said, "Wow! Preston's covered in sweat. I've never seen him like this." Man I can't wait to have the van back again!

I Hate It When You Blog About Me!

Ha ha! Sorry about that Porge, but this post is ALL about you! First of all, it was Jorja's field day. Jorja's class started with the water stations. Ugh! It was pretty cold this morning, and my little Porge was freezing.

Jorja

Jorja & Preston
Jorja's stormy eyes...I love it when they look like this.

Preston came to Jorja's field day to 'watch'. He did more falling down than watching. He scraped up his leg. The bottom scrape hurt the most. I cleaned it, but he wouldn't let me put a band-aid on it. He said, "That will make it hurt!" My other kids think they need a band-aid for every little scratch.

Preston's owies

Preston
I had no idea Jorja was so good with the hula-hoop
Preston couldn't figure it out

After we ate lunch with Jorja in her classroom, we went home. Boy was I exhausted. Nothing too blog worthy happened until dinner time. I was getting dinner ready and I had a brilliant idea that for the fruit I should have a frozen chocolate banana. I was thinking I was the coolest mom ever. Oh boy, that didn't go over well. You would have thought I was asking the kids to eat dirt or worms. Man they threw up such a fuss. Jorja took the longest. She said, "It tastes like applesauce and applesauce makes me throw up." Really? Applesauce. How does a chocolate banana taste like applesauce? I was laughing and I asked her if I should video tape her eating the banana to put on the blog. She started crying, "I hate it when you blog about me." I'm thinking, "You got to stop being so hilarious. This stuff is just calling to be blogged about.....especially when I have to think of something to write about every day." I sure do love my little Porge. By the way, if anyone was wondering, Jorja got her nickname from Jorja-Porja-Pudding and Pie. It sure does fit her though.

Preston just came into my room. He fell asleep in the carpool lane, so he is having a hard time getting to bed tonight. I told him to go get his blankets and he can come into my bed. He climbed up and said, "I'm still alive." Nice to know. Let's keep it that way.

The Fine of 1899

In 1899,

Grandpa Jiggsy had to pay a fine.

It was for a weird reason,

it could've been a bit more decent,

he had to pay it up

FOR SINGING!

Two dollars was a lot back then!

That peculiar event

happened at the bar!

The elder was completely drunk!

And so far,

this message has spreaded to every person, one and all...

"Never drink alcohol!"

Grandpa Jiggsy went robe!

The message has spreaded

around the globe!

Currently, everybody's using

their earlobe!

Oh dear! Use your ear, then you can hear...

"Never drink beer!"

Chorus:

Hi Ho, We'll never be drunk!

We'll never be drinking that horrible gunk!

If you do, when you sleep on the top bunk,

it won't hold your weight and you'll fall with a THUNK!

It happened in the past century,

and then it went a decade before that!

Never drink or smoke cigars!

Or else you'll see that you're so fat!

Because Grandpa Jiggsy had to pay a fine,

this thing made it go over the line!

He had to lose the cash

FOR SINGING!

Two dollars was a lot back then!

So I'll tell you all...

"Never drink alcohol!"

Chorus x 2

--Stockton--

Faith #3 & #5

Today I gave a Family Home Evening lesson on tithing. It was pretty simple. We played Money Bags, but as we earned our money we calculated the tithing we need to pay. After the game was over, we looked at the money we had earned and was able to keep verses the tithing. It was a good visual on how tithing really isn't all that much compared to the entire total.

I know I have been blessed in my life by paying tithing. This has never been a problem for me. Probably because my mom and dad taught me from an early age, so it is just something I have always done. Mike and I have always payed our tithing on our gross income. Only once have I had a problem with this. When Mike and I were moving from Washington to Georgia, he received a $15,000 bonus. We were going to use this to redo the siding on our house which needed to be done before we could sell it. When Mike's check came we noticed 4% had been taken out to buy stock. At this time 4% was automatically taken out of Mike's check to purchase stock in the company but we didn't anticipate it to be taken out of bonuses as well. Between this and the taxes on the bonus, we didn't have enough to cover the siding. This was the only time I pondered on just paying tithing on our net instead of our gross. I really struggled with this.

While I was trying to figure out what to do, I flew to Idaho Falls to see my grandma and my cousins' new babies. (Brooke had just had Kaydra and Courtney had Kalli) While I was there, I was reading some of our family history in one of the binders at Grandma's house. I remember reading about one of my ancestors that was so poor, but paid more tithing than he needed too. He was even told that it was too much, but still insisted to pay what he felt he owed. After reading this account I was immediately humbled. How could I be worried about paying this amount when obviously we weren't struggling financially. I knew we would figure out a way to pay for the siding.

When I got home, we wrote the check and handed it in. The NEXT day, Mike received an additional $10,000 bonus. Wow. Talk about humbling. Here I had never struggled with this principle of the gospel, but the first time I even wavered, after showing faith immediately I was blessed with a witness that would strengthen me to the end of my days. I know that because Mike and I have always paid a complete tithing we were blessed during the year and a half of Mike's unemployment. During the entire time we had no financial worries. We just didn't. I love how Heavenly Father always keeps his promises.

Happy Mothers' Day!

I know that flowers are OK.

But you're not getting a bouquet.

I thought about a chocolate treat.

But all you can do with that is eat.

Lots of gifts to give are easy.

And all of those are really cheesy.

Like pizza pie. It's very classic.

We need something kind of magic.

This poem is the way to go.

It's a way to let you know

that I take time on Mothers' day.

I don't buy gifts off E-Bay.

With all these reasons, it is true

that there is proof that I love you.

---Stockton

You Shouldn't Waste Money Mom!

When Maysen came home from school, I told her that in a few minutes we were going to Wal-Mart. Immediately she knew it was to pick out her new glasses. She glared at me and said, "You shouldn't waste money Mom. I never look at things far away." She was mad! She ended up picking$10 frames. Nice. Some were over $100. I think once she gets her glasses she will be surprised how well she can see with them.

Jorja came home from school with Mother's Day presents that she wanted me to open right away. She had a paper that she filled out called My Mom is Special. This is what she wrote. My Mom is special because she loves me. I like it when my Mom scrapbooks with me. My Mom can do things! I think she's best at reading to me. My Mom has a pretty smile. I like to make her smile by giving her a hug. My Mom is as pretty as the sun. My Mom is smart! She even knows 5000000 x 60000!

Mannequin

This morning after Mike left for work, I went downstairs to get something out of the storage room. My heart about jumped out of my throat when I turned the corner and ran into a man(nequin). I remember Mike telling me he was going to make one so he could put his jet pack on it. Then I vaguely remember him showing me a video of it, but I certainly didn't expect to run into it. After I got the oatmeal out of the storage room, it scared me again on the way back! I never know what I'm going to run into at our house.

I checked Stockton out of school today to take him to a doctor appointment. I was talking to Mrs. Catlin before we left. I was hoping that she would loop up and Stockton could have her again. She told me today that she was told no. I am so disappointed about that. She has been an amazing teacher for Stockton. I guess having her again would be too good to be true.

Poor Preston has a fever. The doctor took his temperature while we were there. It was 102.9. He took his medicine really good when we got home, and was back to his old wonderful self by the end of the day. Hopefully that is the end of it.

I Love Carpooling

Right now I am typing away. Jorja and Preston are in bed and Maysen and Stockton are at the church. Stephanie took them and is bringing them home. Stephanie and I also switch off dropping off and picking up Maysen and Rylee from school. It has been such a blessing. Stephanie moved into our neighborhood around the same time Mike started working again. It would have been so hard to have Mike go back to work without the extra help Stephanie has brought me. I am sure enjoying my stress-free night!

Marco!

While we were eating dinner today, Maysen starts telling us about school. She said it was really crowded and noisy in the halls as they were switching classes, so she started yelling, "Marco!" She said she tried it about 10 times, but no one answered. Where does she come up with this stuff? At least she can always make me laugh.

Two Hours

It took Mike over two hours to get to work today. Heavy, heavy rain. Stockton slept with us last night. The thunder was making him nervous. I did check to see if school was cancelled, because this year you never know. No luck. They still had school. Only 19 days to go.

Faith #5

Today at church I shared my feelings about the Savior in testimony meeting. At least I didn't trip. When Jorja received her baby blessing, I tripped as I was walking down the steps, it was quite embarrassing.

I am so blessed to have the knowledge of the Savior in my life. Knowing that He made it possible for my family to be together forever is an amazing blessing. I feel so inadequate expressing my thoughts. I love the song I Stand All Amazed. It words my feelings perfectly.

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,

That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

Oh, it is wonderful

that he should care for me

Enough to die for me!

Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

I do want my children to know that I have an unshakable testimony in Jesus Christ. I know that he came to this earth and atoned for our sins. I know he has made it possible to return to our Heavenly Father, and to be able to have a forever family. I would be shattered without the possibility of seeing my mom again, or without the hope of having my family with me for eternity. I am so blessed to have the knowledge I have, and to have the husband and children I do. I was blessed to be raised by two amazing parents, who also raised my five brothers who I adore. I am so lucky!

20/50

I took Maysen to the eye doctor today. Her vision is 20/50, or -1. Not too bad, but not good. Maysen still insists that she doesn't need glasses, and that she can see fine. On the way home she said, "See! I can see that trees have leaves, and they look very detailed." I told her the story of my dad getting glasses. On the way home he was looking around and thinking, "Wow, trees have leaves." Hopefully I'll get a chance to take her to look for frames next week.

I'm so tired right now -probably from checking the Jazz score every few minutes. I wish I could watch the games! My kids get annoyed when I tell them that the Jazz won. Mike thinks that is funny.