Swing Set

T.J. and I have been talking for a while about getting the kids a swing set for the backyard. Nothing big considering we have an awesome park right across the street. We just wanted to be able to shove let the kids go outside when they wanted instead of having to pack everything and everyone up every time they felt the urge to go down a slide.

The motivation to actually go and get all the lumber, tools, hardware, and toys not to mention the motivation to actually build the swing set has been pretty much non existent. Until now! That's because Papa Bill (a.k.a. T.J.'s dad) came to town! He loves working on projects and I love it too because when he's in town, things actually get fixed around my house!

Since T.J. had to work on Friday, Bill completed what he could on his own and then they finished the rest when T.J. got back. It was ready for the kids by dinner time Friday night.

Under Construction...

Cody and Laney (our friend's daughter) on the platform that the slide will attach to

The boys hard at work


(If you look closely, you can see the tops of the equipment at the park behind us. This not only shows how close we are, but also how lazy I am because it's much easier for the kids to go outside where I can watch them through the window than it is for ALL of us to go to the park! Don't worry, we will still make PLENTY of trips over there.)



It was getting dark when they finished everything last night so I waited until this morning to get a good picture of all the kids playing



Cody driving his "pirate ship"


Thanks Papa Bill and Daddy for building us an awesome swing set!

Teach Them Young

I got a forward from my step-mom in my e-mail yesterday. This is great. My boys do have a lot of catching up to do. I guess they're not true fans yet!

I don't know who she is, but she sure is cute!

Go Aggies!

http://picasaweb.google.com/TracaMiller/Sept07/photo?authkey=Gg8iMUO2f9E#5112454912157208674

I know I'm horrible, but it's just too funny!

When we were at my brother's for dinner the other night, my niece, Ashley put on her Halloween Cat mask and ears. As long as she was standing up and walking around, Cody was fine with the costume. The minute she got down on her hands and knees, he started screaming and would go running the other way.

My little brother said I was a horrible person for letting Ashley scare him like that. I have no idea why he's so shocked, we used to do horrible things to him and my little sister, Chandler growing up. This was nothing compared to the things they had to endure!

I might be horrible, but it's pretty funny!



If you listen closely, you can hear T.J. telling us to stop! What a party pooper!

Jillian's Birthday Party

My little brother's girlfriend turned 19 yesterday! We wanted her to have a special birthday since she doesn't have any family up here. She goes to Oklahoma Christian University here with my brother but all her family lives in Houston where most of my family lives.

My sister-in-law, Liz and my nieces decorated their house and made her an angel food cake with sparkly icing. They even got her a "birthday princess" crown to wear.


We made sure she had a great birthday dinner by ordering her Chinese food with her favorite Hot and Sour soup. Liz actually ordered a bunch extra so she could take some soup back to the dorms with her. I tell ya, my sister-in-law is the bestest sister-in-law EVER! (And it has nothing to do with the fact none of my other brothers are married).

T.J. made her some lettuce wraps to go along with the Chinese food. It didn't matter that it was her birthday, T.J. put her to work peeling the lettuce leafs.

Cody LOVES Chinese food

After dinner, we played a little family game of Volleyball. I have a huge family so don't think they were small teams. We had 6 players on each team. Oh, and it was just my family, my brother's family, plus my little brother Jon and Jillian. You can only imagine what it's like when ALL my siblings and their families get together. Let's just say, we could probably have a weekend tournament and still not get to play every team.

I forgot to take a group shot of everyone playing but here's McKinly serving the ball.

Cade reffing the game. He's drinkin' on the job!


After dinner it was cake and present time!



McKinly made Jilli a special card


Chelsi, Keli, and Ashley with the birthday girl


McKinly and Ty wanted their turn with Jilli bean

Jillian even got a glow in the dark wand!


We hope you had a great birthday Jillian! We all had a lot of fun celebrating with you!

Gig 'Em Aggies

In case you missed it, Texas A&M KILLED Oklahoma State last night. And by killed, I mean we won 24-23. The Aggies came back from being down 17-0! It was a great game and the only thing that would have made it better, was if I was at the game with my dad and little brother.

I was so jealous when I got a text message from my dad after the game that said my brother, Clay was playing on Kyle Field at that very moment. I really wish we lived closer to my parents so my boys had the chance to do things like run around Kyle Field! Cody did get to go to a game there when he was 7 months old. It just happened to be the Oklahoma State game two years ago.

The kids and I were sure to wear our A&M gear all over town yesterday. All these Oklahoma State fans just gave us looks, like they thought we didn't stand a chance!

And that was BEFORE the game was even played.

Today, I have washed our clothes so they would be nice and clean for us to wear AGAIN today just so we get a chance to rub it in! That might not be very sportsmanship like, however when you live in a city where they live for either Oklahoma State or OU football, you do whatever it takes to be noticed!

Oh, and I have the coolest husband in the world because he got us tickets to the OU vs. A&M game in November. That one will be a little more tricky because it's played here in Norman but hey, stranger things have happened!

Go Aggies. #1 in the Big 12 South!!!

Not the best picture of me, but I haven't been in a picture since the day Cade was born.

and he's off...

Well, not completely, but pretty close. We're about to hit the beginning of the end. Cade has learned how to crawl. He can get up on his hands and knees but hasn't really figured out using the two together. Right now he just scoots both hands forward and then pulls both knees forward.

It doesn't really matter how he does it, the point is I'm going to have to watch him a little more closely. The days when I could just sit him on the floor with some toys and go on about my own business are over.

Hopefully he's like Cody because I never had to worry about him. He never got into anything, still doesn't. We never had to put those little plastic things in the outlets or locks on any cabinets. Cody just never messed with any of it. Hopefully, we're that lucky again!

Going after his Binky

He gets very excited when he actually moves

Who's Who?

I was looking at old pictures today and this is what I discovered!

All you people who say Cade looks more like me, are complete LIARS! That's right. Here are pictures of Cody and Cade, both at 7 months old. THEY LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME!! We all know, Cody doesn't resemble me in the slightest, so therefore, Cade doesn't either!

Which one's which?? Huh?

I appologize for the OU outfits, it's just one of the outfits I had from when Cody was a baby and I wanted them matching for these pictures. My mom took the OU out of the picture before, maybe I should have her do that again!