A visit from Lollipop

This weekend we had a visit with Lollipop the bunny. My friend Ben from school has a rabbit as a class pet and let us borrow her for the weekend. Jackson thought she was wonderful. As soon as she came in the house he was just taken with her. Todd and I did have to explain that she didn't belong to use and I had to take her back to school. Jackson was excited to touch her, help fill her food and water and read books to her. And of course being a three year old little boy- he was really excited to watch her poop. The thrills of being three. Aubrin on the other hand wouldn't go into the kitchen by herself for most of the weekend. She wanted to touch her, but was very nervous and would attempt to do it crying and giggling at the same time. By the end of the weekend Aubrin was starting to feel a bit more comfortable. We hope Lollipop can come back for another visit.

Child of the Day

Today Jackson was child of the day at school. He has been very excited for today to come. It started with going to Meijer on Monday to pick out the perfect snack to share with his friends. After being in the store for 45 minutes Jackson decided on a mixture of pretzels and goldfish, along with apples and milk~ sounded delicious! Last night we spent time putting snacks in baggies, washing apples, and counting napkins and cups. Before bed he had the big decision of what he was going to take for show and share time for his big day. He finally settled on his big red barn and stuffed as many of the animals as he could inside. This morning he woke up and first thing he said was "I'm child of the day today." He was very eager to go to school with his barn and snacks in hand. He had a great time at school sharing with his friends and reading a special book to the class with his teacher Mrs. Katie.

Colds, Colds, Colds...

Colds have hit the Miller house. Aubrin and Jackson just can't seem to shake the runny noses and coughs. We have been spending a lot of time at home trying to get healthy and some energy back. Aubrin has fallen in love with the game Elefun. She has such a belly laugh running around the living room trying to catch all of the butterflies. Jackson has been practicing writing his letters and patterning games on his computer. Jackson has really taken an interest in letters and words. He is always asking what things say. He also thinks it's really fun to find letters in books that are in his name. He is such a little sponge right now.

It was so nice to have the whole family home for a long weekend. Todd and I savor weekends like this. We stayed home playing most of the weekend. The kids continue to play well together and could spend hours up in their playroom. Jackson loves to "read" to Aubrin before she goes to bed. He tells her about all of the pictures and tries to teach her new words.
Last week at school Jackson made bird feeder. He was so excited to come home and tell us step by step how he made it. We found a special tree in our yard to hang it in. We hope that Jackson's love and enthusiasm for school continues. He loves his teachers, all of his pals at school and learning new things.

Staying Warm

We hope that the new year has started well for everyone. We love that we finally got snow, but now we are just trying to stay warm! Over the past couple of weeks we have been busy exploring some of our new Christmas gifts, playing outside and going on fun outings. Jackson and Aubrin have been spending some of our chilly days inside coloring and painting. Aubrin got an Aquadoodle Runner that hangs on the wall for Christmas. Both her and Jackson have enjoyed coloring on it. Jackson has also been trying to teach Aubrin how to paint. He very carefully shows her how to dip her brush in water and then in paint. He loves being a big brother.
Todd took the kids to Bounce for a little gymnastics fun. They both had fun jumping on the trampoline and jumping in the foam pit.
This past Friday night Jackson and I went to our community pool and swam while we watched the movie Finding Nemo projected up on a big screen in the pool area. Jackson thought it was a lot of fun. Jackson is starting to feel more comfortable in the pool. He was going down the small water slide with more ease and going into deeper water. On Sunday afternoon Aubrin had a play date with her friend Ryan at the pool. They were both very busy exploring their new surroundings. Aubrin had no fear of the pool. She loved the mini tube water slide. She also enjoyed the water spraying up from the ground.
Happy New Year and keep warm!

Playing in the snow...

We had so much fun playing in the snow today. Jackson and Aubrin loved going down the hills and making snow piles.

A wonderful time of year...

We have had a couple of busy days, but so fun filled with family. We started Christmas Eve with Jackson and Aubrin putting reindeer food all of the front lawn (Crushed candy cane, oatmeal and gold glitter.) We had to make sure those silly reindeer could find our house. We spent Christmas Eve with Todd's side of the family. We went over to his parents house opened presents, went to mass and then back to his parents house for dinner and more gifts. Jackson and Aubrin had so much fun opening presents with their cousins. Aubrin was so excited when she opened her baby bed that Papa made her. She was so cute putting her baby in it to go to sleep. Jackson was SO EXCITED about everything! From cookies, to getting presents and giving presents. It was a really fun year to watch Jackson.
When we got home we put out our treats for Santa and the reindeer. Jackson was a little unsure about Santa being in the house while he was sleeping, but said he could come in just as long as he didn't "break in" the house.
Both Jackson and Aubrin were up early on Christmas morning. They were both excited to come downstairs and see all of the surprises that Santa left under the tree. We took our time opening gifts and playing with each of them as we opened. We took a break to eat breakfast and then back to the excitement of opening. Jackson LOVES his remote control car. He has enjoyed chasing Aubrin around the house with it. Aubrin loves anything to do with her baby doll. She loved getting a new stroller to push her baby around the house.
We spent Christmas Day at my parents house. Jackson and Aubrin were so happy to see Emerson and Will~ we haven't seen them since October. My mom made a wonderful Christmas dinner and then we opened gifts with our aunt, uncle, cousins and great grandma. Again, the kids had so much fun opening gifts and spending time with family.
Today (Sunday) we went to my parents to have Christmas morning with them again. My mom and dad like to give us and the kids our presents when it's just us and they don't have to share us with anyone else. They enjoy sitting on the floor and opening all the gifts with Jackson, Aubrin, Will and Emerson. It was a great morning to have the whole family together. Jackson was very excited to open his gas pumper and Aubrin loves her new toaster, blender and coffee pot.
We feel very blessed to have spent the past couple of days with such wonderful family. We hope that you enjoyed your Christmas as much as we did.