Friday, May 16, 2008

Nicholas Brad Milligan turns 30!



Well, yesterday was Nick's 30th birthday! Hard to believe that we're both in our 30's and no longer 20-somethings! Anyway, we kept it simple...Nick style...and had his parents over for dinner. They brought some delicious steaks and a homemade lemon meringue pie. I made baked beans, baked potatoes, salad and some grilled veggies with bread to accompany the steaks. It was a delicious meal...one that we haven't had in awhile, but it was so good! I definitely overate, though! Nick's not crazy about desserts unless it's homemade chocolate ice cream or lemon meringue pie, so he was thrilled that his mom made him a pie. We didn't have any candles except for the #4 candle that was supposed to be for Rachel's party, but I couldn't find it that day. Anyway, we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and then the kids helped him blow out his candle. They LOVE blowing out candles! I hope it was a special celebration for Nick! He's the best husband, father and son and we love him so much!




I love you babe!!! Happy 30th Birthday!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Boot Camp & Other tidbits...

I originally wrote this on 5/13, but coudn't get it to post!

I have recently noticed from reading some friend's blogs, that there is a new, popular exercise program called "Boot Camp". From what I gather, mommies and daddies take turns either getting up 2 or 3 days a week and meeting at a school track to exercise. A trainer leads the exercise session. They start at 5:30am and get home by 6:30am so they can get ready for work. They take their measurements and also their timed mile and see how they improve after a month. Anyway, I was inspired after reading how so many parents were willing to get up that early and exercise and then come home and get ready to go to work. Well, you know that I don't want to leave and go anywhere to exercise and I especially don't want to pay to join a gym or anything. So, I decided to use the perfectly good treadmill that we have owned for about 3 years and I have NEVER used. Nick has used it a ton, but I've never made the time. So, I decided to have my own little at home boot camp. I now get up at 6:30am four days a week and get on the treadmill for 20-30 minutes. Nick listens out for the kids (who usually wake up by 7) and then hops in the shower when I come back inside. The treadmill is in Nick's shop, so it's not far and it's already light at that time of day (who would have thought?!). I'm actually enjoying this early morning time. It's quiet and peaceful out there and it's just me and Dixie. She's always so glad to see me and excited that someone is outside so early. Anyway, I want to get in better shape and feel better about myself. Why am I telling y'all about this? Because I want to stick with it. I want to be asked how it's going so I can continue to feel motivated to exercise. It's a good thing and I want to keep doing it.



On a completely separate note...I sometimes marvel at the fact that it takes me a whole morning to get something as simple as mopping the floor finished. This morning, I started sweeping the kitchen floor around 9:00. The kids were playing in the den. Bradley went to the door and wanted to go outside. Instead, I let them go upstairs to play. I stopped sweeping, went upstairs, opened the door, helped Bradley figure out what he wanted to do. He decided he wanted to play with the choo choo train. I fixed the track, found a choo-choo and gave him the control. Then he wanted a movie on the tv. So, I turned on the tv and waited for his approval on the movie that was in: Baby Einstein "Baby MacDonald". Bradley seemed satisfied and then Rachel came upstairs. She started playing with the choo choo trains too. I went back downstairs and resumed my sweeping. I was almost done and Rachel said she needed some more juice. I found their cups, re-filled them and then took both kids some juice and then came back downstairs. I then got out the mop and wet it in the sink. I heard Rachel hollering for me from upstairs, so I went back upstairs to see what she needed. (It was about 9:20am). It turns out, that 2 choo-choo's aren't working very well and she wanted me to fix them. So, I went back downstairs, grabbed a screwdriver and some new batteries and went back upstairs. The trains are all battery operated and their AAA batteries are screwed down under a plastic cover. I worked on this for about 10 minutes and figured out that 2 trains aren't working right regardless of whether I put new batteries in the train or in the controller. (This may have something to do with the gentleness in which they are thrown down the stairs by Bradley.) I said I was sorry that I couldn't fix them and came back downstairs to mop the kitchen. It was about 9:40. I finally started mopping and then Rachel came back downstairs. She was fascinated by the whole mopping process. I'll admit that I don't mop often and Nick's the actual mopper. I sweep all the time, but Nick's the one who mops. He's tough and strong and can just do a better job than me! :) Anyway, I finally finished the whole process by 10:00 and then couldn't believe that it had taken me a whole hour to mop such a small floor! Maybe next time I'll ignore the kids and see if that helps. HA! They won't be ignored! It's easier to stop what I'm doing and find them an alternative play area than try to mop with them right under foot! Oh well!

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Mother's Day and a few more b-day pics

Happy Mother's Day!


(OOPS! CAn't post any pictures right now...I'll try again tomorrow!)


We decided to use the slide ONE more time this morning since we had to take it back this evening. Bradley actually went down it by himself without the water on. He could control his speed and stopped several times along the way down. He thought it was pretty fun and squealed the whole way down. Rachel waited at the bottom so she could "catch" him.



We had a pretty low-key Mother's Day, which was what I wanted. We missed church for lack of energy and Bradley decided to wake up at 6:30 because he dropped "Bay" out of his crib. Oh well...so much for sleeping in. Nick offered to let me sleep in, but Bradley didn't think it was a good idea. We were all very worn out from such a busy day! I did take a nice nap this afternoon while Nick watched the kids, which is no small feat since Bradley thinks he has to have me at his beck and call at all times! I feel soooooooo blessed to have two beautiful, sweet children who make me SO proud that I'm a mommy!!!!


We had such a fun weekend!