Valentine's Day!

We had fun celebrating Valentine's Day this year. Jade had her own Valentine's day surprise up her sleeve on Friday night (more on that when I get pics). Sunday I made a Valentine's Day breakfast: Pink heart pancakes, pink eggs, and pink punch. The kids thought it was great!
Monday I gave the kids pillow pets, cookies and cards for Valentine's day. They were really excited about them!
(Jax was pretty much non functional that morning since he had been up since 2:00 AM. Yeah....he woke up hungry so I got him some food and then put him in his room with a show. USUALLY....he will go back to sleep quickly. Imagine how surprised I was when I got up at 5:00 to workout and his light was on and he was playing legos! I turned off the lights, put him back to bed. I got home around 6:30 and went in to check him....still awake. By the time we got to daycare he was soooo tired. I told Collene he would probably fall asleep at some point. When I picked him up he was knocked out! She said he fell asleep about 1.2 seconds after he got done with lunch. He just laid down on the hardwood floor and was out! He ended up sleeping for about 4 hours and then I finally woke him up so he wouldn't be up all night again! Crazy kid!).
Jade had dance and gymnastics that night so Scott took her and Jax and I met them and Brandee at Mcdonalds for dinner.
It was a great day and was glad we made an effort to celebrate it this year.

The kids with their pillow pets. Notice how tired Jax looks!

Jade's Dance Recital

I could never get tired of watching Jade dance. She LOVES to dance and was so cute on stage! She had a solo back walkover that only she got to do and she did it PERFECTLY! She had been practicing them all week and was nervous about it but it was fantastic! I was so proud of her. She had lots of family there to watch her. We appreciate all of them coming-especially because it is CRAZY in the auditorium! Good Job Jade! You did GREAT!

Kinderbear

In Jadyn's Kindergarten class there is a bear named "Kinderbear". Each week a different kid gets to take Kinderbear home. Jadyn was sooo excited that it was finally her turn for Kinderbear. Kinderbear is a little scary looking-ratty, old, eyes and nose that look like they were a little melted at some point-but Jade didn't seem to care. She LOVED Kinderbear. We tried to do a few fun things while Kinderbear was here. Kinderbear went to dance, the ice cream store, out to eat and to a friends house. I think Kinderbear and Jade had a great week!

Jade with Kinderbear at icecream

There was a tv there. These two decided they'd just sit right on the floor and watch. Yuck!

Feeling the spirit

Hi Sis Miller!
My name is Ali Sommer and I am in the 1st ward. I teach Jr. Primary and
had a great time with you in singing time yesterday. The reason I am
sending you this email is about the time you spent with Sr. Primary. I
have a daughter who is 6. Over the past few months we have had
conversations about feeling the spirit. She has always said that she
hasn't felt it and doesn't understand what we are talking about. We
just continue to teach and hope it catches on. Yesterday after church
she came into my primary class and very happily said "Mom! I felt the
spirit today!!!" I said "You did? When?" She said "Sis Miller was
teaching us singing. She sings every day. I am going to sing every day
too! I felt the spirit and it even made me cry a little!" I don't know
exactly what was said while you were singing with them, but THANK YOU!
Something you did helped her to feel the spirit and for the first time
she was able to recognize it! I was so happy for her! Sometimes your
job may feel thankless but yesterday it had a huge impact on my little
6 year old and she had an experience that I will refer often too as she
continues to grow in the gospel.
She would be so embarrassed if she knew I was sharing this, but I
wanted to let you know how special it was for her!
Thanks again, Ali Sommer

Ali,
Thank you so much for taking the time to email me. You made my month!
:) I miss being able to do music time every week and when I do get to
do it it gets me very happy. I am so glad that your daughter felt the
spirit. I got very emotional reading your email. I am so glad you
shared that experience with me.
I was wondering if you could send me a picture (via email) of your
daughter and her name so that I can remember who she was/is. If you
prefer not to that is fine, I would just like to remember her from all
the kids I saw on Sunday. I would also like to know if I can share
this story (leaving names out of course) with others as a
teaching/testimony building experience? Let me know.
You are a great mom and I hope that my kids will someday have an
experience like this one!
Karen

Grown-upness

Jade has been wanting a Library card for a little while. I wasn't sure what age she had to be to get one so when we went last week we finally asked about it. Little did I know the excitement that would come when she heard you only had to be 5! Her eyes lit up and she was over the moon happy when they handed her the card and had her sign it! In the car she said "Mom, this makes me feel all grown-upness!" She carried it around all day. Wanting to show everyone. Around the time Scott comes home she asked how much longer till Daddy gets home. I told her he wasn't actually coming home until night time because he had errands to do and then baseball. Well.....that was not ok with her! She had a Library card to show him. She pouted and whined a bit. I told her she could call him. All of a sudden I hear a huge meltdown of tears "Hi daddy (sob, sob). I want you to come home (sob). I have something to show you! (Sob) Can you please come home for a minute (lots more tears). OK. Bye" She hand the phone to me and Scott says "What in the world was that?" I told him she got something today and I guess she really wanted him to see it....Now! So, Scott being the good dad that he is, stopped at home real quick and Jade PROUDLY showed her what all the crying was about....She got her OWN library card! YAY! ;) Scott told her how great that was and gave her all the praise she was looking for!

So, as you can see. She is feeling all types of grown-upness and just wants everyone to know it!