St. Louis Trip 2013

So Spring Break 2013 has come and gone :-( I enjoyed being at home with the kids & my wonderful Hubby. God has blessed me so much more than I deserve. I have a man who loves me so much and shows me how much he loves me (But don't get any ideas that you are romantic Mr. Miller because you & romance is nonexistent in the same sentence. LOL) he is also such an amazing Daddy to our 3 wild & crazy monkeys!

So vacation "officially" began at 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon. I couldn't get out of the door quick enough I was so stoked. I got home & we were able to reveal the big surprise to the kids when Aunt B, Kaitlynn, and Anna Claire arrived. They were fired up the rest of the weekend. There were times I honestly thought OK I am going to have to put handcuffs on them & gag them just for a moment of peace. LOL

Thursday morning we got up bright & early and began our voyage to St. Louis. Of course no trip to St. Louis is complete unless you stop & eat at Lambert's and my favorite part of Sykeston SHOPPING!!! We all got some really good deals & finished the rest of the trip to St. Louis. We arrived at the hotel with 5 wild & crazy kids. We went down to the pool & swam for a couple hours. I took 1 for the team & swam with them freezing cold the entire time. The pool was "heated" but not "heated" enough for me! I am a hot tub kinda girl. After a couple hours of wearing their little booties out we ordered pizza & then baths & bed.. Whew not sure who fell asleep 1st me or them. (my guess is me!).

Friday morning we got up bright & early again, went down in our PJs and ate breakfast, then back to the room to get ready for our fun filled day. We went to the City Museum. For those of you with kids this place was AMAZING!!! I am still so very sore today & just hoping I will make it through the hour long step aerobics class tonight without falling out & having to call an ambulance. I climbed 10 flights of stairs twice & slid down the 10 story slide twice.. Ugh tired Mommy. We crawled in holes, cracks, and places I never in a million years dreamed my butt would fit into. We had a great time "playing" with the kids!!! Friday night we went down to the Old Spaghetti Factory where we 1st had to take a horse & buggy ride because the kids just thought it was the coolest thing ever. I felt like I had been shaken up like a milkshake but the kids enjoyed it. I wasn't a fan of the food at the O.S.F but whatever just means I ate less!

Saturday we got up again bright & early, went downstairs in our PJs and ate breakfast, then back to the room to pack & venture out to the city again. We decided since it was supposed to be 57 degrees that we would venture to the zoo. It was a very nice zoo.. Not sure why people think Memphis is so great because the STL Zoo put Memphis to shame. We had a great time riding the train, simulator, carousel, and looking at all the animals. I am sure I am boring the crap out of all you but I really want to document our trip for the kids. So this part may be really stupid but I have never in my life seen an animal do this. If you asked me at the time if it scared me I would say no because you never act scared in front of your kids & husband, RIGHT? This gorilla they had on display lost its mind. It was like watching a scene from a movie. He was chewing on a crate & would get made throw it at someones face then pound the glass right where there face was. All I could think is if this gorilla breaks this glass we are in trouble!

Now for Tony's FAVORITE part of the trip. This dude watches Food Network ALL the time. I think some days he is trying to torture me because he will turn this on & then expect me not to eat ice cream, cupcakes, etc.. I mean really?! So he has gotten to where he watches Dine, Drive ins, and dives with Guy.. Well he just happened to watch an episode that was in St. Louis & noticed a place called Sweetie Pies. We got there & the line was forever long so in my mind I am thinking this better be good for me to stand in this line with 5 kids who are exhausted & not so happy for this long.  I have to say the place did NOT disappoint. I ate the best macaroni & cheese and banana pudding I have ever eaten in my ENTIRE life. I could have probably eaten my weight in this stuff.  After dinner we made the trek back home in the rain. I think the next trip I need some Zanex because I was freaking out the entire ride home.

Ready to Grub

Maycen pointing at the rolls being thrown

Anna Claire was ready

My roll eating dude (he ate like 5)

The girls

Dawson going down the Pencil slide

Anna Claire's turn

The Kaitlynn

Then Brooklyn

Aunt Krystal, nieces, and 2 of my babies

The girls spinning in the top

Ready for the zoo with my monkeys

And with Brooklyn too :-)

Maycen Kate was a thirsty girl

Train Ride

Petting Zoo

I am not sure what Brooklyn was doing with this Alpaca

Me & my beautiful blue eyed baby girl

Me & all the kids swimming :-)

Back to reality on Sunday (well sort of)... My amazing wonderful hubby let me go back to bed at 11:30 and I got to sleep to 1:30. Happy Spring Break to me!! In my defense I let them all sleep til 9:45 and I was up at 8 :-)  Then of course its unpack, laundry, grocery store, Walmart, cook, baths, etc...

Understanding

Do you often find yourself asking why?  I know we are to never question God but somethings I can't help but wonder why do good things happen to bad people?, why do bad things happen to good people?, why do daddys & mommys go away?, why can't people who would love to be a daddy & a mommy never get that opportunity? and the list goes on and on and on...

The events of the last week have left me asking again WHY?  As most of you know 1 year ago we got that dreaded knock that everyone fears. A Crittenden County policy office stood at our door & delivered news no one could prepare us for. For a long time it left me asking God why? What did we do? What didn't we do? I just don't understand.  It left me with a fear of car accidents, accidents period, the unknown.  As I look back on the week of the accident & the week after I see so many glipses of God that at the time I didn't see before.  It amazes me to think of God's goodness & grace to us who don't deserve it at all. Who am I to deserve what he has blessed me with.

This week a very dear friend to me lost someone she loves so much. Again I caught myself asking Why? Why her? Why now? Why so young? I think a lot of us were left with this question. Though we may never know the answer of why on this Earth we do know that God's timing, HIS plan, HIS will for our lives is PERFECT!!! At times I find myself struggling with this more than ever.

I started noticing as just young children we start asking this question of WHY? My kids are often asking why do we have to eat that? Why does so and so get so and so? Why do we have to go to the grocery store. I often find myself answering because I am the Mommy & I said so just do it. WOW how this struck me. Maybe I should stop asking why & learn to realize because my Father said so.  I need to just do it. HE is the MASTER he KNOWS the plans HE has for ME. He plans to give me a hope & future that today I can't see but HE can.

I know to some of you this post may not make sense but I pray that some day it will. If you don't know the love & grace of our Father Jesus Christ reach out to someone because your days are numbered. God knows the plans He has crafted for our lives but we don't. Life is precious & it is time that we start writing our very our memorial service!! What do you want to be said about you when you leave this Earth? Do you want it to be said that you loved the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might? Or do you want it to be said that you cared about yourself more than the work of the Lord? We need to start NOW with writing our life song.

Weekend with my loves!!!

So I always look forward to the weekends.. Well most of the time I do when we don't have a big cleaning party planned. LOL

So Friday night we decided to go to the Youth Mission Auction at our church. I had decided we weren't going because we didn't need to spend the money but a couple of our friends talked us into it. I left with the 1 thing I really wanted and needless to say got in trouble when I got in the car because we both agreed no money was to be spent... BUT I am super excited about having Zoom done!!!  I have always been so self conscience about my appearance so I am really excited to have brighter white teeth! Maybe since I have been tanning too that will help. YAY!!!

Saturday morning I was pumped when I got out of the bed because we were planning a trip to the zoo that day. Well I was quickly defeated when the 3 kids got up & immediately messed up the kitchen I had just spend 30 minutes cleaning so it would be clean when we returned home. And my sweet darling little Maycen Kate woke up acting like her Mommy in the mornings. NOT GOOD!!!  She was really trying my patience because she wanted nothing I tried to feed her (I went from scrambled eggs, to coco puff cereal, to toast, and finally even tried M&Ms) you know it isn't going to be a great day from the start when she keeps throwing everything at you or on the floor. Lord help me survive the terrible 2s...  So we pack up our stuff & head to the zoo. It was a beautiful day outside & I think everyone from Texas to Mississippi thought it would be a great day to enjoy the Memphis Zoo. We enjoyed our time as a family (minus the few fits that were thrown because we didn't do face painting, icees, or the String Ray Bay).. After leaving the zoo I decided I really needed some new tennis shoes! After all it has been almost 8 years since I bought ME a pair of tennis shoes. So we headed off to the Nike Outlet where I got me some super cute stylin kicks for super cheap :-) Saturday night we had Bible study with our good friends & enjoyed some fellowship time. This is something we typically do every Friday night & I must say I look forward to it & so do the kids!!!

Sunday we of course had church that morning. I went to the gym and put about an hour into my workout. Nothing too major but hey I went on a weekend that has to count for something right?! I am determined to have that super hot body by the summer (if that super hot body is possible because I never had it to begin with. LOL)... We spent the rest of the day folding clothes, cleaning, and just hanging out... 

We are on the countdown to the BIG reveal surprise for the kids.. 8 more days & we are ST LOUIS BOUND with my sister & sweet nieces. I can't wait to see the kids faces when they find out I haven't exactly been telling the truth about Spring Break :-)

I know it is going to seem like all the pictures are of me but Coach just isn't a camera person & we have to have something for the kids later on... Right?!!

 Me and my baby girl (Growing up)

 Cheetos are a girl's best friend (if you are Maycen Kate)

She was stylin & profilin in her giraffe pants

1st zoo trip she knew what was going on

Mommy &  her girls!

 My Little Man love him!

 Worn out!

Loving the animals & her new pink car!!!

Random all over the place

Ok just a word of warning this blog is going to be random all over the place so if you don't want to read I understand! LOL

So it has been a week or 2 since I have posted anything on our blog.. this is mostly because our life has been rather boring this days.. I said boring not unbusy! lol

Not a lot has been going to that is really blog worthy but I do have a couple thoughts to share..

#1: My husband is looking SMOKIN HOT (Dawson's fav term these days).. He has lost so much weight I am so proud of him!

#2: Brooklyn and Dawson have both been signed up for machine pitch ball this Spring. I am so excited I can't wait!!!!  I absolutely love baseball (when my kiddos play).. I don't so much like the CRAZY schedule though. LOl

#3: Spring Break trip has been planned & I can't wait to surprise the kids. We aren't doing anything major like Disney or anything but my sister & my beautiful nieces will be joining us for a couple days in St. Louis, MO which means a trip to LAMBERTS!!! Can we say fat jeans & lots of thermoplus?! LOL

And just a random thought.. Seeing everyone posting their sweet new babies on Facebook makes me a little sad.. My last baby is now a sassy, talkative 20 month old!!! Kind of sad that time of our lives is over but excited for what lies ahead for us too!!!

Silly Goose

 Just Me. So ready for Summer days!

My Baby boy sleeping!!

Brooklyn hasn't been home enough for me to capture any pictures of her this week :-(

Life in Pictures

Little Buddy

 Brooklyn at the dance with friends

Brooklyn & Her Daddy

Fort Worth

Handsome Little Dude

We got the Vision

This place in TX was too cool

Brooklyn cookin up some eggs

 Me & Coach almost 11 years later

Maycen Kate has discovered cupcakes!

 Love my snuggle nap buddy

Special Day!

Let me 1st say  #1 I am SOOOO PROUD OF BROOKLYN and her decision to follow Christ!!! The feeling I experienced yesterday was like no other. I was nervous (crazy I know) and so happy all rolled into 1.

In the Bible, baptism is first introduced in Matthew 3:2-12 when John the Baptist began his ministry as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. John preached a simple message to the Jews that they were to repent of their sins in preperation for the coming of the Messiah. In Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan River.  Baptism is a "Picture" of the Gospel that pictures the Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Being immersed in water pictures the death of Jesus Christ dying for our sins. Being raised from the water is a portrayal of Jesus' resurrection in which he conquered sing & death. Baptism emphasizes to the new believer and to those who witness the baptism that as a Christian and child of God the Christian now is to live a godly life, resisting in sin, and not giving it place in their lives. (Bible Truth).

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new 2 Corinthians 5:17

Brooklyn accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior December 2011 while attending a play at Marion 1st Baptist Church in Marion, AR.  We were blessed enough to get to share this experience with a very special lady, Mama Shirley. Mama Shirley has been a part of our family since we 1st moved to Marion in 2005. She is 1 of the 1st people we met when we moved & 1 of the few who has been there through everything with us!  She has been able to share the most happy times & the saddest of times with our family! She is truly a God sent & I don't think she will ever know how much she means to us. So anyway Brooklyn has been asking about baptism for quite some time now. She understands exactly what it means to be a Christian without a shadow of a doubt & wanted to follow up that decision with the decision of baptism.  As a Christian in our home we do not believe that baptism saves you! We do not believe if you are not baptized you are not saved. We do however believe that baptism is done out of an act of obedience.  As a parent you always want what is best for your child. The feeling of knowing that I will spend eternity with my child is 1 like no other. Dawson too has accepted the Lord as his Savior & when the time comes & he is ready he will be baptized as well. As a parent all I can do is pray for my children & pray that they will follow Christ!

Changes in the Miller House

So we have some changes in the Miller house that we are super excited about!!! We are praying that God has given us a "vehicle" to help others & to share our story!!!  For a long time I wasn't sure my purpose but God is giving me a purpose.

Last football season I started hearing about this business called Advocare.. I just kind of shrugged it off & was like yeah not for me. So then in December I ran into a friend of mine who looks just amazing. So I got to asking her what she was doing. That is when she shared her story of Advocare and what it has done for her. She had lost approximately 50 pounds since she started taking products from Advocare  (August 2012)& I thought wow maybe this stuff does work. So I decided at the end of Decemeber I was sick & tired of looking at myself in the mirror & feeling just disguist for what I looked like.  We decided in the Miller Family it was time for a New Year and a new us!!

Jan 2nd I took the plunge into the 24 day challenge.  I started feeling better than I have in years. My energy level was at an all time high & I was seeing results!!!  I have never stuck to a weight loss program or healthy eating but this time I was determined!! At the end of my 24 day challenge I had lost 7 pounds and 11 3/4 inches total body.  I dropped from a 12/14 down to a 6/8 in a matter of 24 days. 

Now the rest of our story is what is so amazing!!! My husband did this right along beside me and all I can saw is WOW he looks AMAZING!!!  He has been on product as well & the results he is seeing is like no other!!! He has dropped 30 pounds and down to a size 36 jeans! I have never felt so proud to call him my husband. He is on fire & looks so good! (Did I mention he looks good? lol)

So I know you are asking yourself what is Advocare and what in the world is a 24 day challenge.  Advocare was founded 20 years ago and has been going strong ever since. It is guided by a prestigious Scientific and Medical advisory board of doctors. Advocare offers the highest quality ingredients and standarized herbal extracts for best absorption, well balanced nutrition, and consistent results. The products are regulary tested and pass the comprehensive banned substanstance certification program for dietary supplements.  Some of Advocare's unpaid endorsers include star football player Drew Brees,  Pro football star Jason Witten, and hundreds of other professional athletes, coaches, enterainers, etc..

So now you ask me what is the 24 Day Challenge?  The 24 day challenge is a nutritional program. It gives your body the jumpstart it needs to help you reach your goals.  It is done in 2 key phases. Your 1st phase is a gentle cleanse phase.  This is designed to help eliminate waste & prepare your body for optimal nutrient absorption The 2nd phase is called the Max Phase. This phase is to put those nutrients in your body that are the keys to being healthy. The challenge also has meal replacement shakes (available in a variety of flavors), omega plex (fish oils), and Spark.. If you haven't been "sparked" you are really missing out. Spark is an energy enhancer that isn't like your normal energy drink. He provides you with sustained energy all day long!

Advocare also has many other products available not just the 24 day challenge.  They have a trim line, an active line (perfect for athletes & locker rooms nationwide), well line,  and a performance elite line.  We are now maintaining & continue to lose weight with this other lines of product!!

If Advocare is something you would like to know more about please contact me via email at footballwidow84@gmail.com I would love to talk to you more about the products & what it has done for my family.  Also, they have business opportunities for those interested.

BEFORE ADVOCARE 2012

2 MONTHS INTO ADVOCARE