Super Smash!

The kids made up a new game last night called Super Smash! It is a Pokemon style card game with a playing board that uses health points and attack points. I have played this game now several times and the only rule of the game that I understand is that I always seem to lose. Here the Dot is battling the Missing Popsicle.  

622 Professional Photos

Since the house was looking beautiful (and clean) for the Grant Park neighborhood tour of homes, I had a local professional photographer, Kelly Klein, take some pictures. They turned out great!

Cuong Nhu Dinner

Baikal has been taking martial arts from a neighborhood dojo for the past few months. The style is called Cuong Nhu and it is a Vietnamese form of Karate. It’s name comes from the Vietnamese phrase for yin and yang because it combines both hard (Shotokan Karate, Wing Chun, Kung Fu American boxing) and soft techniques ( Judo, Aikido, Tai Chi and the Vietnamese style of Vovinam). Tomorrow, Baikal will be testing for her yellow belt. I made a special Cuong Nhu dinner for her.

Blogging from 2015...

It is now 2015, officially the FUTURE! I took a hiatus from blogging, because I just did. Life was moving at warp speed...now we are in the future. Last time I posted, the kids had just started their new school in August. I am happy to report that they are still in school. We have lost two dogs, but gained two more. The youngest is now 3 and I am exiting out of the exciting world of creating life. Matt and I are both working. Things are still moving fast. I would like to start blogging again, but I am also not tying myself down to any promises. You can check out most of my goings on, with my facebook page and the yearly Miller Christmas card.

Around Atlanta

Bowling!

Bowling is a great winter Miller tradition. Fun was had by all!

First Day of School at Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School

Baikal and Rybolt had their first day of school today. They will both be going to a new school, Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School. They are very excited and nervous about it, but I think they will fall into a new routine in no time! The best part about the school is that it is only three blocks away! Rybolt will be starting kindergarten. He has two teachers, Mrs. Goss and Mrs. Swern. He is excited because Mrs. Goss is a Georgia Bulldogs fan. He picked out his Georgia shirt to wear on the first day. Baikal will be starting second grade. She made a card for her teachers and is excited because she has three friends in her class.

Happy Birthday Garvin!

Garvin had a duckie of a birthday yesterday as he turned TWO!

Suminagashi

Suminagashi is a type of Japanese paper marbling. We are learning about Japan this week and I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids. They enjoyed it for a few minutes, and I enjoyed it for almost an hour. We used a paper marbling kit that I ordered online and regular copy paper. Here are some of the results!

Baikal Before Backstroke

GO GRANT PARK SHARKS!!!!

Stuck in the middle with you

Today, I was able to have some quality time with just Rybolt. This does not happen often with my middle child, so I wanted to make the most of it. Rybolt loves to play games, but with an older sister who knows how to do everything and a younger brother who likes the taste of molded plastic, games have been difficult to play around the house. However, with just the two of us, it was great fun! One of his favorites is space chess, which Matt bought him at the National Air and Space Museum on our recent trip to DC. We played space chess at one of his favorite restaurants, Stone Soup, while he had his favorite food, a plain bagel with cream cheese. It was a good day. (If you are wondering what is on his face, it is black marker. He wanted to decorate himself)

Allowance at the Millers

Once you can read and write, you can start getting a monthly allowance at the Miller house. Each month, Baikal receives $4 for saving, $4 for spending, and $4 for giving. For her giving money, she decided to send it to the Grant Park Conservancy. They maintain and beautify the park in our neighborhood. After receiving Baikal's note, they put this on their facebook page: "It’s probably the cutest thing we’ve ever received in the mail. It is a donation from a neighborhood kid. The envelope contained $4"

Goodbye Merle!

Merle Chicago Garvin Miller strolled into dog heaven today after 16 great years with Erin and 11 semi-combative years with Matt. She was a loyal dog and one heck of a scrapper. She will be missed!