Sudafed

I love Sudafed, but I'm pretty picky about the kind I get-I need the little red pill only dispensable behind the pharmacy counter.  It's not for my meth lab out back, either-we use Claratin for that.  It's for when I have a cold in the nose.  It's the only thing in the whole wide world that works. 

I swear.

Any other drugs of choice out there?

Christmas Magic

The kids woke up at 4:30 A.M.!!! Christmas morning, excited out of their skin that Santa had left them a cookie on their bed, presents under the tree...and HIS PIPE ON THE FIREPLACE!  Apparently, while snacking on our milk and cookies, Santa got a little forgetful and left his pipe behind-a special corncob pipe WITH TEETHMARKS!  They have been beside themselves with PROOF OF THE REAL SANTA, and have alreade penned a few letters to him to let him know we have his pipe, and will keep it safely under lock and key until he returns to retrieve it.  That Santa-so forgetful.  It's a wonder he makes it around the world in one night with everything he has to do.  :)

Between the pipe and the White Christmas, we had quite a magical few days.  Grady was in full swing this year, tearing into his presents with vigor, but old enough to take the time to watch everyone else opening their presents as well.  The cereal boxes were a big hit.

Despite the early wake up call, we spent Christmas morning leisurely snacking on cinammon rolls, breakfast casserole, and sipping hot chocolate.  Oh-and opening a few presents to eachother.  It was really a magical morning, and one that I've filed away as so very special.  Because we were snowed in, we stayed in our pjs for the majority of the day-even building snowmen and checking out the reindeer tracks in them-but that's part of the wonder of the day, isn't it? 

Around 4 in the afternoon, we decided to make the hike to my mom's house, bundling up in any gloves, hats, snowboots, and jackets that we could find.  We strapped on some pistols (well, Sheriff Grady did anyway), and headed out the door-about an hour later (and many snowball fights, tumbles in the snow, and a little whining) we arrived at Grandmom's, where we had some of her Christmas Feast, warmed our toes, played a little Pictionaryman, and retrieved Todd's truck.

Did I mention we had to leave Todd's truck at my parent's house on Christmas Eve?  Oh yes, once the snow started piling up, we loaded our loot and tried to head the two miles to our house, but Todd had a little difficulty getting out of the driveway and managed to not only get his truck stuck partially on the road, and partially on the driveway, but also to almost dismantle Dad's entry timbers...only to hear the whispers of "I told you so" as the snowfall picked up.  Noone ever said it, but we all knew it was there.  :)  We managed to get home in the trusty minivan, but I doubt any of us will ever let Todd live this one down.

Once home, we cuddled and watched Todd's favorite, Christmas Vacation, and then sent everyone to bed with visions of wonderful in their memory....

oh ye of little faith...

and Bethie thought we wouldn't make a dent in the wine last night...Great times with Sean, Carter and Co.!  Sadly, I didn't take any other pictures.  I know!  Me!  Not taking pictures?  I guess I got caught up in the relaxing and having fun.  :)  Till next time...I'll start stocking up on wine today....

Our White Christmas

We had a great time playing in all the SNOW that fell on Christmas Eve, snow that is still on the ground (as hard as that is to believe!).  We always dream of a White Christmas, and this year, that dream came true.  We decided it was Sandy's little present to us-he and Windy wanted to do something to make us smile and count our blessings even more.  God bless us every one.  :)

Saying goodbye to Sandy...

I wrote this over at Mom's the Word-but needed to post here too, just for our own little scrapbook, and here-I can say that it's been killing me how much I miss our Sandy.  :(  It's hitting me really hard, his passing.  I've been trying to work through it, wondering exactly why. As I looked at a picture of Sandy, Windy, and Ringo, and realized they were all gone, I wondered if I was sad for that time of our life being gone, too-the beginning part of our life, the puppy part of our life.  He was the last link we had to that-and I think that's what's making me so sad.  I know it's specifically Danielle sappy to say that, but it's true...and that's all I have to say about that, but here's what I have to say about Sandy....

just a boy and his dog

That's what my friend used to say when she watched them. They played frisbee, hide and seek, and tag. They walked to the mailbox together, cooked brisket together, and watched NASCAR together. They sang at the moon, raced to the phone, and swam in the lake. Man's best friend? Or Dog's best friend? Honestly, it was hard to tell.


He was a member of a family, a son, a brother, a friend. It sounds cliche, and I know completely sappy, but it's just so very very true. I know because that boy is Todd, and that dog was our Sandy.

We adopted him about eleven years ago, and will love him always. We had dinner plans at a friend's house the day we brought hime home, but instead of leaving him in a crate or the backyard, we brought him with us. He snuggled in our laps through dinner, and that small moment defined our relationship. He was never the dog that had to stay home, because he was always invited-always welcome to come along. We went on daily walks, picnics, roadtrips to College Station (and Decatur), Petsmart, and trips to the lake (complete with boat rides). He was more than a part of us; he was our family. He'd bark at me when I woke my husband for work, so much that the phrase "it's time to get up" would send him into fits. He'd run all over the house looking for the phone when it rang (mostly because I was running, too). He'd dump his food out everyday in the hopes that he would find a treat waiting underneath all that crappy dog food. He'd passively aggressively growl at other dogs only to practically smile at us when we caught him in the act. We called him the fun police, because he always had a handle on just how much laughing would be allowed. He'd "load up" in the car any time we asked, always ready for an adventure.

And boy, did we take him on an adventure. He met three newborns, and lived in four houses in his little life. He bonded with our old collie, the best cat in the world, and two other cats. He put up with other dogs that came in and out of his life, always opting for my husband or some other human for real companionship-because he was so much more than a dog. In our eyes, he was practically human, and he howled to let us know he agreed.

Eleven years is a long time in dog years, and I knew the end was coming. His health had been declining since this summer; he had arthritis and gingerly made his way around the house. He slept a lot, and had lost his hearing. He had stopped "loading up." I think he had a little Alzheimer's, too. We'd find him in odd places of the house-places he'd never hung out before, and when we did, he looked at us like we we were the crazy ones. But, he'd still play hide-and-seek; he'd still bark if I tried to wake my husband up for work. He was still our Sandy-until last Monday when, to me, his eyes seemed a little sad. We took him to the vet because we needed advice, and they diagnosed him with cancer-telling us that yes, he might be in pain, and we should think about saying goodbye.

We brought him home that night, watching and knowing we needed to make a decision, but just torn by how to do that. We didn't know it then, but before the night was over, he'd make the choice for us. The three of us spent the night in the living room, petting Sandy, remembering the life he shared with us, and shedding tears of goodbye. We were at the vet at 8 a.m. the next morning, and without saying a word, they knew. She asked me if I wanted to stay with him, and I managed to ask if they could come out to the car-we had a special place to bury him at home. Strangers hugged me, patted my shoulder, and looked at me with pain and understanding. We held him as he drifted off, thanking the vet, and silently driving home. We buried him next to our Windy, and each remembered our favorite thing about Sandy-the hide and seek, the howling, the dumping of food, the barking when we returned home. Todd and I remembered the day we brought him home the first time, how we instantly fell in love, and how he shared eleven years with us. We've been married only thirteen, so it's hard to imagine our life without him. I still look for him when I pull in the driveway, when I wake up in the morning, or when I'm running for the phone. I'm wondering if I always will; if I'll look around for the "fun police" when the kids are getting a little too loud, or if I'll expect to see him trotting beside Todd as he goes to check the mail-just a boy and his dog. I know he was a special dog, for a special time in our life, and he will live in our hearts-forever.

Teacher Nerd Moment

"Wow!  Class is already over?  This project is really fun Mrs. Scroggins, and I think I learned a lot."  :)

The moments are rare, but when they happen, they are amazing.

Cereal Boxes?

Todd is using cereal boxes to wrap presents.  Thrifty?  or a little odd?

"They are boxes, aren't they?"

Bigger Stronger Sadness

So, Grady has decided that he doesn't love his school as much as he did when we began this new routine.  You know how that wears on my sanity!  Is he just working me?  Or should I talk to his teachers?  :(

say it ain't so, Tiger?

http://skattershooting.blogspot.com/2009/12/tigers-women.html

Is all this hype about Tiger true?  9???

Surely not.

Busy Weekend!

Last night was the annual Christmas Lights Parade in Decatur-one of my very favorite little Decatur Traditions.  We started with a little photo shoot at home before we left to meet some friends for dinner.  I'm a little behind on my Christmas Card Extravaganza this year, and this was an opportunity to get a picture taken.  The kids did ok-I'm just really wondering WHEN they will sit still and just smile at the camera.  Those will be the days!  After the shoot, we headed to Yesterday's in Bridgeport which, for the kids, was like going on vacation.  They loved the decorations and the fact that their food CAME IN A CAR!  (a paper one, but still!!!)  Then it was off to get our spot on the parade route.

It was REALLY cold this year, and there were a few intensely whiney moments as the kids waited in anticipation of the parade, but once it started, the Christmas Spirit took over. 

After the parade, it was the Moonlight Madness sale all over town where businesses offer sales and discounts specifically for that night.  It always sounds a little better in my head to walk around the square and shop with the kids than what the reality of that entails.  After the second store, Todd escorted all 3 kids to the car while I finished up some shopping.  It worked out in the end.  He went to Jason's house; I hooked up with Jennifer, and I think we were all happier.  The boys watched that dreadful t.u. game while Jenn and I hopped all over town crossing those last minute items off our lists (and snagging a few things for ourselves too!).  Superfun times in a small town. 

Today, we headed to the big city to Baby Sona's house and church to participate in Baby Andrea's Baptism.  Sona and Kevin asked us to be Godparents, and of course we were giddy at the chance-especially Father Todd.  I was nervous about tackling our own kids and completing our Godparent duties, but they actually sorta behaved themselves with minimum beatings and threats.  :)

We first attended Mass, and then met up with about 8 other families for a group/private baptism ceremony afterwards.  It was a really lovely ceremony; the Deacon in charge put us all at ease in terms of our kids' behaviors and explained the process and celebration.  Baby Andrea was a beautiful, perfectly behaved little doll, wearing Baby Sona's very own Baptismal Gown.

Everything was running along smoothly.  My own little hoodlums were even paying attention as the Deacon went through the Baptismal Rite.  Before I knew it, Grady had FALLEN ASLEEP on my lap!  It's been months since he did that.  I settled into the pew, just taking in the moment-when I had a panicked thought.  When was the last time Grady had gone to the bathroom?  I dismissed it pretty quickly-thinking he'd been taking naps dry for a few months now, so all should be fine.  Lesson #876 of Motherhood.  Just when you think all will be fine-it won't.

Yep, Grady peed on me.  Right there in the middle of a lovely Baptismal Cermony in a beautiful Cathedral.  Being the problem solver I've come to be, I asked Sona for a non-special receiving blanket and cleaned up the puddles.  Yep.  PLURAL.  Luckily, I was wearing black, and the incident didn't show on my outfit, but still.  STILL. 

We managed to make it through the rest of the ceremony without crisis, and spent the afternoon relaxing at Baby Sona's house-with Kevin all the while teasing me about my skirt.  It was an afternoon spent with family, and one that made me wish (as I always do) that Dallas and Decatur were just a few miles closer together.

Especially since Kevin and the kids have so much fun playing.  :)

cooking class

Me:  "Don't lick your fingers!  These cookies are for book club!"

Grady:  "I want to be in book club!!  Pleeeeaaassseeee!"

i want to wash my hair in snow.....

It didn't last long, but this morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.  The kids made snowballs before breakfast, and Grady conned Gran into letting him hang out with her for the day to have the chance at a snowman.  I think it worked out for both of them.  :)  The kids were sad to see the snow gone after school, and are counting the days until the next "snow blast."

Brainwashing at its Finest

As I was trying to get Grady and myself out the door to go to Gran's house this morning, I heard Grady singing a song in the garage. I swore I heard him "sawing varsity's horns off". Indeed I did. It was one of my proudest moments as a father.

An Aggie Thanksgiving

Gig 'Em Aggies!  This year we drove down to College Station to spend Thanksgiving Day with Todd's family and to do a little brainwashing.  When we pulled into town, we drove to a few of our favorite places, including the famous trailor park where Todd and I used to live.  We told stories, and pointed out some totally Aggie landmarks along the way.  After setting up camp, we walked over to Kyle Field for Yell Practice. The kids weren't immediately impressed, but as the night wore on, and they heard stories from the Yell Leaders, and participated in the traditions, of course-they were hooked. 

Thursday morning the grandkids ran amuck around West Campus.  Becky coordinated the meal; Todd fried the turkeys (after many trips to the grocery store for additional oil).  I tried (and liked!) a Bloody Mary, while I made my plan for Black Friday shopping.  As game time rolled around, we took Madison and Grady on a walk around campus, hitting our favorite spots and marveling at how much the campus had changed.  Tanner scored a ticket to The Game with his Aunt Michelle, so he missed that walk down memory lane.  I think he was ok with it though.  :)  After we got back to camp, we huddled around the TV listening to the cheers from Kyle Field as they delayed through to the satellite feed.  The Aggies ran out of time, but it was a good run. 

Friday I was up at 5 a.m. shopping, and Todd was supposed to have the kids ready when I returned around 8 a.m.  He almost made it, if he had been out of bed to start the process.  Apparently, all the beer in College Station had called his name Thursday after the game.  Despite that, we were on the road by 8:30 to head to my mom's house.

When we pulled up, my dad was busy frying more turkeys, with Patti, Tony, and Mom as his cheer squad.  Madison practically leapt out of the car to go see Skeeter (the recently acquired horse, which I will post pictures of, and blog about soon), and the boys ran to the backyard to see the dogs.  Busy five minutes.  As usual, it was a beautiful table, with a beautiful meal.  The kids slurped up their "Sparkling Wine," and we slurped up some sparkling wine of our own.  I think it was the first holiday meal in 8ish years that we weren't chasing a baby or small child for whatever reason.  We even had time to list our thankfuls. 

After dinner, we decorated the tree-as is Miller Tradition.

We also watched the first Christmas movie of the season, Home Alone, which was a big hit with the kids.  They loved it when the "bad guys" got their faces smashed with something painful.  Should I be worried?  After all the festivities, we crashed in our own beds and actually slept late Saturday morning.  We spent the rest of the weekend decorating the house (inside and OUT) for Christmas, and are now in full Holiday Spirit around here.

Tomorrow it's back to work and school, but just 3 short weeks until we break again to retreat into our Holiday Lives.

Bad Marley!!!

the first feast of the season...

Todd has taken up "Mommy Duties" this fall, and has been doing a fantastic job.  Friday, he even went up to the school for the kids' Thanksgiving Feasts, and I'm pretty sure he had a ball while he was there.  :)  He texted multiple times letting me know what I was missing.

Tanner was assigned to bring a chocolate pie, which I quickly commissioned out to Todd's mom.  The first grade teachers apparently had great confidence in my abilities, but the thrid grade teachers knew my limitations.  For Madison, I was assigned lunchmeat roll-ups.  No problem, and Madison even helped me make them.  Double bonus.

Elementary teachers are little angels to do these fun days for the kids.  They had a blast celebrating with their friends, and getting a head start on the holiday partying.  :)

Celebrations

Big Week!

Grady finished out his soccer season, and earned his FIRST TROPHY!

Well, EARNED might be a big word, but he did finish out his soccer season.  It took the entire fall, but he did manage to stay on the field for MOST of the games, and he even kicked the ball 2-3 times in there somewhere.  :)  He was happy though.  He even wanted to sleep with his trophy.

In other boy news, Tanner was chosen as the Extraordinary Eagle for his class this six weeks.

This is so huge for us.  Tanner is having a superfantastic first grade year.  He LOVES his teacher (which really isn't that shocking, he still hugs his kindergarten teacher almost everyday), but he also seems to have internalized classroom expectations.  He hasn't pulled his card ALL YEAR.  Last year, we were hopeful if we made it through THE WEEK.  I'm not saying we have it all down, because I'm not going to jinx myself like that. But, yay Tanner!  :)

Guest Post-from Madison

Today me and daddy were playing tic-tac-toe at Grady`s soccer game and he said "I bet I can beat you at every game of tic-tac-toe". But he didn`t. I guess he isn`t smarter then a 3rd grader. First, we had a stalemate. Second, I won but daddy won 2 more times then we had another stalemate. Then we started playing hangman with mommy. First, daddy went. His word was three letters. Me and mommy tried our best but just couldn`t guess it. It was car. Next it was my turn. It was 4 letters. It took them a while but they finally they guessed it. It was four. Then daddy went again. We guessed it. It was be. Next it was my turn again. It was 6 letters. Daddy guessed it when he only had a smile and an eye left. It was Tanner. Next it was my turn to go again. It was 7 letters. Mommy guessed it right off the bat. It was Madison. Then I had to leave to go to my girl scouts thing called meals on wheels.  It was fun day.

Tuesday Toddism

"Mom said no more candy!  Put that back or I'm going to get that candy out of your stomach!"


mmmk...let me know how that works out for you.

Chrissy is a genius cat.

She pees in the shower.  True story.  Enough said.

Ever Googled yourself?

Kinda weird.

My students are all about Google.  They think it's the answer to everything, including (I guess) the answer to who they are.  They Google themselves constantly, which sounds strange but really isn't.

I guess if they Google me, there are cats out of bags as far as blogs go.

Tuesday Toddism

"I'm gonna kill the person who made me do this."

--on taking Madison and Tanner to the Reading Rally at school tonight.  I don't think it was as superfun as he thought it might be.

this is just bragging, but I can't help it

I'm not sure where the line is on bragging and just informing the world of my children's greatness, but I think this blog is a fair medium for actual bragging-should it be necessary.  So, here goes.

Last week, Madison wrote a song for her class for Red Ribbon Week, inspired by "It rocks to be drug free."  When she read it to her class, her teacher was so impressed she asked Madison to read it for the school during announcements.  She did, and then the counselor asked her to sing it for the school at their Monday Sunrise Assembly.  Madison was really nervous, but we practiced over the weekend, and assured her it was a great song.  She got up there this morning, and albeit tentatively, sang her song for the WHOLE SCHOOL (that's Pre-k-4th grade!!).  That took some guts.  Todd and I were sure to be there for the performace, snapping pictures and videoing the whole time, perpetuating the nerdiness of the Scroggins Clan.

I was so proud of her!  Proud of her song, her guts, and her performance.  :)  Here is the song she wrote:

Proud to Be Drug Free

Playing sports all day long

Even as I write this song.

I'm proud to be drug free

Because I like being me.

Reading books to pass the time,

Because my life is mine.

I'm proud to be drug free

Because I like being me.

Sitting down to write this song,

maybe even all day long.

I'm proud to be drug free,

Because I'm ME!!

Happy Halloween!

Last night, we went out on the town with two Darth Vaders and one Hermione Granger.  We hit Jason and Jenn's house to hook up with a Ninja, Anakin Skywalker, and Princess Leia-and tons of others.  This makes the sixth(?) year we've tricked and treated with them, so I think we can call it a tradition.  :)  We changed up our routine this year, and stuck with just their neighborhood.  We thought since Halloween hit on a Saturday, we could relax with an orange plastic cup filled with our own treat. 

There were a few tense moments waiting for dark, so the trick or treating could begin.  Because our morning was filled with soccer and baseball, Grady didn't get a nap, and we had to continually talk him off the ledge-promising that he WOULD get candy.  I think the concept of going from house to house with people just GIVING YOU CANDY was just too much for him.  When we finally began the walk, he literally bolted from house to house. 

Our adventure brought us back to Jason and Jenn's for more candy extravaganza-only this time to pass it out.  It was an intricately involved process to ensure everyone took turns passing out the candy AND the candy was rationed appropriately for all the incoming trick-or-treaters.  In fact, it was so intricate that at one point, I lost Grady when he wandered next door to chat with the neighbors about the footballs they were giving out.  Yes, I lost one of my kids.  I am unfit.  In the time I lost him, and the neighbors found him, the police (monitoring the street) had been contacted about the lost little boy.  I freaked only for a few minutes after we found him again, but for those few minutes I did lose my mind-thinking that OF COURSE he was kidnapped on Halloween.  What a perfect time for a crazy person to steal a precious bundle.  At that point, Halloween did seem very scary, and I made mental notes for future Halloweens...It took a while, but I did finally recover, and was able to enjoy the time spent with friends-very Happy to Be Here. 

God Bless us Every One-wait, that's another Holiday, but it fits anyway. :)

Outta Sight!

Todd and I went to a costume party Friday night.  I think I've seen Todd in costume twice in all my years of knowing him, once as a pimp, and now as an Outta Sight Dude.  It was fantastic.  Especially when we walked out the door, and the kids asked what we were.  We tried to explain that we were Grandmom and Grandad when they were our age-ish.  They didn't believe us, but they did think we looked groovy.

The party originated with a 70s theme, but as we searched the internets, we found that 60s was way easier to find, dude.  So, the results were a combination of the two decades.  I actually had plenty of "hippie" in my own closet, but Todd would not have it.  If he had to be "in costume," then I dern well better walk on the wild side with him.  So, I was on the search for GoGo Boots (the best shoes ever invented). On a sidenote, if you do happen across some REAL bellbottoms, fringe, or flowered shirts, buy them up.  I think all the thrift shops have been picked over in the last 40+years.

For fun, I edited these two pics on http://www.picnik.com/.  There is a "60s effect," and I just couldn't resist.  I think it works for us, especially with the fringe and white boots.It was a superfun party, and I think everyone had a fantastic time.  I was definitely in the mood to let my hair down (or put it up in this case), and of the 89 (!!) pictures someone took that night, everyone is smiling ear to ear.  Either we know how to party down, or the 60's gave us a great reason.

We tore ourselves away from the fun about 1 in the morning,  but promised a new tradition:  a Halloween Decade Party.  Next year, the Roaring 20's.  We're making our own history book!

Peace.