Wow, Time Really Flies!!

Malakai had his first day of Pre-K this past Thursday! I can't believe that my little guy has gone from this...

To this....

I realize that it is such a cliche' to say that they grow up so fast, but truly, THEY DO!! Poor kid had a camera in his face from the second he woke up that morning, because I didn't want to miss a thing!! He is so excited to have Jon-Jon in his class (a previous Goddard classmate) however, I think they were both a little sad that Landon wasn't there :(

To Malakai, you are such a little man now! It seems like yesterday that your dad and I found out we were pregnant with you. From that second forward, our lives were changed for the better! Okay, maybe not that exact second, but immediately after the shock wore off ;) I only hoped that I would be the mother that you so deserved. When you left for school, and I looked back on the past 4 1/2 years, I can not help but smile. I have learned so much from you, and will continue to do so for the years to come. How to love unconditionally, how to forgive, how to be carefree, how to be innocent, the list is endless. Thank you Malakai, for choosing me as your mother. You have made my life worthwhile. Love, MOM

XOXO,

Best thing since I last blogged: I have come to terms with a lot of things that I have let weigh me down lately. I have realized God has a plan for me, and I need to start looking at the glass half full.

Worst thing since I last blogged: I still haven't found my camera. Which means I look like a tourist everywhere we go because I have my hard disk camcorder with me to take still shots. Even though it's tiny, it still has the screen that flips out, so it looks like I'm taking video :)

Ten on Tueday!

1. I have seemed to misplace my camera! I am devastated!! The only thing I can think of is that I left it at the resort when we went to the lake. Of course, I called and they have not seen it. This makes my TonT this week because it gives my children an explanation as to why there are no August 2009 pictures of them. I know they will be wondering :) At least it gives me an opportunity to justify buying a non-point and shoot camera. Does anyone have any suggestions for a decent, beginner camera. I don't want to be professional, just want to get decent pics of my kiddos. I would like (though I don't know if possible) to keep it around $400.

2. I had SO much fun doing my 100th post giveaway! Thank you so much to everyone who participated and congrats to Jaime for being the lucky winner!! It was so sweet of you to pick two bags and give one to myself! So thoughtful!! If you haven't received them already, they should be on your doorstep any day now :)

3. I believe in Karma! Thanks to Kate, I too have started entering blog giveaways. For those of you who are interested, Deal Seeking Mom always has some great ones!! I even WON one today!! A coupon to Old Navy that was $45 off a $100 purchase! There were over 3000 entries, and I won!! What perfect timing since my 45 days of no shopping is over and my kids are in desperate need of fall clothes.

4. Malakai starts pre-K on Thursday! He is so excited,as am I for him. I'm not sure how the whole uniform is going to be, since like Jackson, he has NEVER worn a shirt tucked in!! Surely they will be a little lenient on the four-year olds!

5. Along with this new school comes the 12 inch pile of papers for Josh and I to fill out and read. I'm a little overwhelmed!! PTO, Mother's Club, Fundraisers, Dinner Auctions, etc. It is NEVER ending!!

6. I'm going back to school! That's right ladies and gentleman...back...to...school! My work is going to pay for me and I will be getting a second Masters, this time in Health Care Management. All it is going to cost me is one night a week for a year. I really have nothing to lose, and Josh is SO supportive. I truly am blessed.

7. I received my first true order of pictures from Nicole over at Spirits Breeze Photography, and OMG! they are gorgeous! When people say professional pictures are a true investment, they are SO right! These are portraits that out do ANY ones I could get at a studio!! I'm so excited to get them framed and up on the walls. PERFECTION!!

8. I have officially picked out and ordered our Halloween costumes for this year! I am sad to say, however, Leila's is not one that was on the past TonT. All of those were very expensive, and I just couldn't justify it for her to wear one time. SO...we are going to be a family of Pirates, and here is what they look like :)

Malakai (all he cared about was having a sword!)

Josh, Malakai picked this one :)

Me, again, Malakai's pick

Leila Jane, she also has a head rag and eye piece :)

9. Halloween is on a Saturday this we, and honestly, we have no plans other than trick-or-treating. Kind of lame, but hey, at least we will look good :) Someone needs to have a party!!

10. A special shout out to my girl Danielle! All of her hard work has paid off and she was finally awarded her very own, first grade classroom this year!! Way to go Danielle! Any parent will be extremely lucky to have you as their child's teacher! I know you will rock it!!

XOXO,

And The WINNER Is....

Jaime!!

Thank you to everyone who participated!! That was SO much fun! The winner was chosen by complete random at www.random.org!

Now I can't wait to do another one :)

XOXO,
Miller

100th Post!!

Finally!! I have finally reached my 100th blog post! As promised there is going to be a giveaway!

Here is the problem with this whole "giveaway" notion. I posted my 99th post two weeks ago, the reason it has taken two weeks to get to 100? Finding something to giveaway is freaking hard!! It is virtually impossible to pick an item that will appeal to everyone. Even though I only have a few loyal commenter's, people see/hear giveaway and the lurkers come out. Which is totally fine, that's the whole point of doing this. However, I finally had to except the fact that I can't make everyone happy with the item being given away. I refuse to do a gift certificate since that is SO boring!! Probably the most realistic, but still boring.

Also, I was looking at other sites that do giveaways, and they giveaway some amazing sh**!! Aren't we in a recession? Let's note that I don't have advertisers on my blog which means, I am not getting paid, which therefore means, there will be nothing extravagant as a giveaway!

Soooooo....here it is!

Miller Time Uncensored's first giveaway comes straight to you from Baggu! With Green being the new black, I thought it was perfect. I know I have made the change from plastic/paper bags to re-usable bags. Every little bit helps :) I can't believe I didn't do this long ago! These bags hold SO MUCH MORE than plastic sacks and the baggers are forced to fill them as opposed to placing one or two items per bag when they are filling plastic bags!!

Whomever wins the giveaway will be able to choose ANY three of the basic baggu bags!! There are SO many cute patterns to choose from!!

So! You can get your name in the drawing up to three times! You can do this by....

1. Leaving a comment and telling my what your ideal (realistic) giveaway item would be!

2. Add Miller Time Uncensored to your blogroll. Be sure to leave another comment with the link to your blog!

3. Update your status on Facebook/Twitter/Myspace by linking http://www.millertime0016.blogspot.com/ Again, don't forget to leave a comment with the link so we can see :)

The contest will end at 11:59pm CST on Tuesday, August 25 2009!

Happy Giveaways!!

XOXO,

Ten on Tuesday

You would think that with the kids being out of town, I would have A LOT of time to blog! However, A) there is nothing to blog about when the kids are not here, and B) we have been spending ALL our spare time working around the house!

This T on T is ten "things" Josh and I have found while cleaning (and I mean CLEANING) out this house! You have to remember we have lived here for almost 8 years and in that time have accumulated WAY too much stuff!

1. A DVD player. Still in the box, totally unopened!

2. 562 magazines that date back to 2002!

3. Most of you already saw the picture...7 strollers!!

4. 7 swimsuits of Leila's in size 12 thru 24 months! What does a 17 month old need with 7 swimsuits?!

5. 3 pairs of shoes, still in shoe boxes that Malakai never wore!

6. 3 pack n plays!

7. 3 exersaucers

8. 4 bouncy seats

9. 150 PS2 games!

10. 213 socks with no mates!

This is just the tip of the ice berg ladies and gentlemen!! There were items from my ASU days found in random places. I am so thankful for this time to go through it all! Tomorrow, Josh and I tackle the 55 tubs of "stuff" in the basement!

XOXO,


Best thing since I last blogged: Company picnic was a GREAT success over the weekend!

Worst thing since I last blogged: I miss my babies!!

Ten on Tuesday

1. This is my 98th post!! Thinking of doing a contest for my 100th! That means one of my 3 readers has a REALLY good chance of winning something!!

2. I'm SO thankful for my children's AMAZING grandparents!! They truly are blessed. Thank you Poppy, Tutu, MaMa, and Papa for braving the little stinkers next week! I can not even express how lucky our children are to have you in their lives!! Please don't take it personal if their outfits are in individual zip-lock bags and they come with 8 pages of typed instructions :)

3. I booked a spa evening for Josh and I at The Face and The Body Spa next week! I have never been there, but thanks to all of you who voted, Josh won a $300 gift card there in the hottest hubby contest!! When I called to book our couples massage and pedicures, the lady preceded to ask me if we wanted Botox while we were in our "private" room?! I couldn't help but giggle. Ask me in about 10 years lady :)

4. Love the reality TV this summer, but I am itching for my regular shows to start back up! LOST, 90210, Grey's, Private Practice, and Gossip Girl!

5. Malakai started soccer tonight and is LOVING it! He played in-door last spring, but this is so Hard Core! compared to that! His coach is amazing. So structured, organized, and I love it! Go Orange Crush!!

6. I have two weeks left of no shopping!! I have to say, it is getting easier each day. The hard part is when we are at the lake next weekend and I have to brave all those amazing outlet stores. Thanks for all the positive encouragement! It has really helped me get through this!!

7. I'm having a hard time this week with T on T...just an FYI

8. Josh and I have made the decision to have both kids baptized in the Catholic church. It obviously has taken us a while to come to this decision, but we are both excited for it!

9. I've officially become a coupon cutter/printer! I have never done this before in my life, but since I haven't been shopping online, I have spent my online time trying to do things more productive. Coupons is something I have become very good at! I learned to make my list first though, and then go coupon searching! This seems to be working quite well, and I even got some things FREE this week! Very exciting!

10. Fantasy Football is just around the corner!! Who is interested in playing in the Woman's league this year? We are always looking for a few more players!!

XOXO,

Wild Weekend!

Ahhhhhh! That's how I am feeling right now as I have just curled up on the couch with my lap top and a glass of wine. I am exhausted!! I'm not exactly sure why. I mean we had a pretty busy weekend, but it wasn't THAT crazy. I do have to say that I am PARKED out! We hit a park EVERY day!!

Friday started off with a picnic in the park. The weather has been absolutely fabulous, and we are taking full advantage of it! We grabbed some blankets, picked up some KFC, and headed to the park. Malakai and Leila are so cute to watch play. He automatically goes in to protective mode over her. He makes sure she makes it up the stairs okay, and lets any "big" kid know if they are being too rough around her. I love to watch their brother/sister relationship blossom right before my eyes.

I promised Malakai on Saturday that we would try Tilles Park. However, by the time we got there, it was pouring down rain. It wasn't a cold rain, so I thought what the heck. Some of the best memories I have as a child is playing in the rain. I got the kids out of the car, and that's exactly what we did, ran around in the rain. I wish I had captured the moment with a few pictures, but I wasn't sure how my camera would handle getting soaking wet!! We had a blast, and for that half hour, I truly felt like a kid again. What a great feeling :)

Saturday night I headed to Wapango for a little girl time. I had never been here before, but quickly learned that their Pineapple Cosmo Martinis and Black Bean Spinach Enchiladas were TO DIE FOR!! Good thing I was driving or else I probably would have had WAY too many!! Thanks girls for a fabulous evening!!

As I was walking out the door, I couldn't help but snap a pic of my babies. They were so cute :)

Tonight, we decided to hit the park, yet AGAIN, to take advantage of the weather. I should probably find some new outdoor activities, but it's free, and my kids LOVE it! This time we grabbed their swimsuits so we could take advantage of the splash pad! I actually got a half way decent picture of both the monkeys together!! It only took a million tries!!

Here's to Monday! Blah!

XOXO,

Side note: Just as I thought that no one reads this thing, I was proven wrong! Kristen picked up on my pity party when she read my Funk-y town blog and showed up unexpectedly on my door step Wednesday night to take me to dinner and a movie! How exciting was that?! It is a 3+ hour drive for her and she had to leave at 7am the next morning! I truly am blessed with fabulous friends!! Thanks Kristen! 18 years of friendship and counting :)

Best AND Worst thing since I last blogged: My kids are BOTH going to KC for a week on Friday!! Malakai is a pro at this, however, it will be Leila's first time and I'm a nervous wreck!!