Special Day

Happy Birthday Olivia!

The Big Two is here, and we are ready to celebrate with a trip to the playground to play with your buddy Emma. Unfortunately, Abigail won't be able to make it because she has a potty training conflict.

Our little package.

In honor of Olivia's birthday, I'd like to play "guess that word". Below you will find a list of some of Olivia's words, spelled exactly how she says them. The answers will be posted WEDNESDAY, and if anyone gets them all right they will win a free autographed copy of my book if I ever write one.

1. Key

2. crazies

3. eye queen coke

4. shoeys

5. boon boon

6. low

7. nakeup

8. fwen

9. moe moe

10. peetsey

11. nack

12. ban ban

13. pay

14. bakey

15. cookie

Bonus:

dopie

cratchie

butt (hint: she likes to push the "butt" in the elevator)

Like Mother Like Daughter?

Leah- 1980-ish

Olivia- 2007

Here and There

So much going on, and yet so few pictures to show for it! I just told my mom that I'd update my blog for her, but apparently this was not a very good picture week for the Millans. Here are some of the better shots of this past week.

Event #1 Alex's Birthday!! We celebrated his birthday with a "Best Ever Chocolate Cake" (recipe to come), barbeque sandwiches, coleslaw, chips and dip. My grandparents came in that day from Alabama for the week, so we were able to get a family shot. It was great to have Papa and Grandma here (I thought I took some pictures of them, but it must have been with their camera-- oops!).

Event #2-- Baby Shower. I want to save the pictures and post about this in more detail in the next day or so, but here is a picture of Olivia enjoying an eclair during the big event. This was our first shower for the Hispanic ministry, so it was a big deal!

Event #3- Downtown Tour! Alex and I were able to take a church history tour downtown Charleston. Grandma and Papa watched the children while we had a special day together. It was a great tour. I personally felt challenged to be diligent about teaching our children church history.

AJ's First Cereal

AJ: Hey mom! What's going on?

Mom: Well, today you are going to try something new

AJ: Something new?

Mom: You are growing up so fast, and it's time for you to eat some big boy cereal!

AJ: Big Boy Cereal!!!!! That's soooo exciting!

AJ: Mom, you always have great ideas for us!

Mom: O.K. AJ, here it comes! What do you think of your big boy cereal?

AJ: Um....well.... its .... different! Are you sure it's o.k. for me to swallow this stuff?

AJ: I think I could get used to this!

It is a Life of Love

I read a few pages from one of my favorite books last night, Amy Carmichael of Dohnavur by Frank L. Houghton. The author shared an excerpt from a pamphlet that Amy Carmichael gave to a group of single young women that she referred to as "The Sisters of the Common Life". It beautifully captures a philosophy of ministry that I constantly need to be reminded of-- love.

Let no least thought of unkindness move in me there. Let such a thought be impossible to me. Let it be intolerable. If I have given room to any least feeling of unlove, show me the seriousness of that sin. Break me down before Thy face because of it. . . We are trusted to spread the spirit of love. Tenderness in judgment, the habit of thinking the best of one another, unwillingness to believe evil, grief if we are forced to do so, eagerness to believe good, joy over one recovered from any slip or fall, unselfish gladness in another's joys, sorrow in another's sorrow, readiness to do anything to help another entirely irrespective of self-- all this and much more is included in that wonderful word love. If love weakens among us, if it ever becomes possible to tolerate the least shadow of an unloving thought, our Fellowship will begin to perish. Unlove is deadly. It is a cancer. It may kill slowly but it always kills in the end. Let us fear it, fear to give room to it as we would fear to nurse a cobra. . . If unlove be discovered anywhere, stop everything and put it right, if possible at once.

A Girl and Her Frog

Daddy caught a froggie for Olivia today

It sat in a bucket that Olivia carried all around the house

"Say chee froggie" (Olivia telling the froggie to say cheese)

The most precious sight of all was when Olivia put her froggie (bucket and all) in the stroller and took him for a walk around the driveway!

On another note: Thanks grandma for the bebe pod! AJ was happily perched on the counter while mamma fixed lunch this afternoon!

Where's Noah??

All the animals are on board and ready to go, but...

WHERE'S NOAH?

He's on the FERRIS WHEEL, of course!

Olivia loves to sit on the table and share daddy's cereal with herself

Little Buddy is showing off his new pearlies!

I finally did it! I painted the door red! I think that is the last thing I EVER paint red. As much as I love the color, it is a BEAR to work with!

Nice Deal

Looking for nice dress shirts for your husband? Would you rather drop that $25-$? into your Kitchen Aid fund? Ask your local DRY CLEANER if they sell unclaimed men's dress shirts! When a batch of Alex's shirts were lost at the cleaners, we were given the option of picking out replacements from the "unclaimed shirts" rack. At first I rolled my eyes and thought that we would be getting the short end of the stick on this one, but then I was shocked to see the GREAT SHIRTS Alex picked out. They were probably better than the ones that were lost! (Not to mention they were laundered and pressed) We asked if they sold the unclaimed shirts, and get this, they sell them for $3.00 EACH!! I can almost hear the whirring of my Kitchen Aid right now!