School Daze....

We are trying to settle into the new school year.....Here are some cute pictures !

"Why are you still taking my picture???"

My big boy ready for school.....

Mommy & Jude....


Yes, that is Jude with the Pokemon bag....ugh!

Jude waiting in line!

Avery is ready for school - if she gets to play all day!


Elise has her own style!!!

Elise with her teacher, Miss Jamie.

Elise & Avery

Elise before school.

Elise going into her class.

Okay....so this isn't a school picture but it is a cute puppy & kids shot!

Bathing Suits....

Every Friday morning I meet with a couple of ladies from Church at Panera Bread for coffee & a devotional. It has been really great. Honestly, at first I wasn't so sure about it but I really do enjoy the time. Often times we sit and just catch up about the weeks happenings and whatever craziness is going on in our lives. We are an unlikely group of friends.....quite a Motley Crew if you ask me. This week we all had to be somewhere pretty early so we were still chatting as we got our refills to go. I was telling them how I just bought a bathing suit for the first time in YEARS. I had made a Facebook update about it and there were several comments about how it was the end of summer and I wouldn't be using it. The truth is because I have a little extra "baggage" up top I can't just buy any bathing suit. I need one with built in equipment. The kind that Target doesn't sell. And it has not been our budget to spent $80-$90 on a bathing suit. So, kept the ill fitting one I've had for years and just didn't go swimming. LOL. Anyhoo...back to my story. I was telling the girls I bought a bathing suit from Lands End online. I did not try it on. I picked on out that I thought I would like and I bought it. I know....what woman does that? As we were talking bathing suit shopping, another woman: whom we have never met before, began telling us about her bathing suit woes and who she couldn't find one with an under wire to support her large chest. She said she went to Macy's and bought a Miraclesuit. She gave us a description and everything. After she left another woman gave me her thoughts on bathing suit shopping. She is not fond of it but said she was going to check out Land's End because I told her how I only paid $25 for a $90 bathing suit!!!! As I was walking out of Panera, I was thinking about how interesting it is that all women have an opinion about bathing suits. Strong enough opinions to discuss our boobs in public to strangers. I think it really comes from the dissatisfaction of our bodies. I don't think men think twice about putting on a bathing suit and taking off their shirts. But women....I don't know, I think for most of us it is difficult to expose ourselves. I don't know about you but I love the security of a loose pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. LOL. Well, in the end I did get my bathing suit and I like it as far as bathing suits go. I probably won't use it until next year...but next year I will be prepared! And I got a fabulous deal. BTW...the picture to the right is the bathing suit I bought. Yes, I got it in red. When I tried it on Jude looked at me and said, "you should have bought a black one"! Oh, my children know me so well. I just liked the red one so that is the one I got.

Now if I could just find a cheap cover up.........

Yesterday....Blueberries, Family, A Milestone, Puppy & A BIG Surprise!!!

Yesterday we went blueberry picking. We drove an hour to go to this blueberry farm. It is nice. You can pick your own berries for $1 a quart. There wasn't even someone there monitoring - they used the honor system and even had their little cash drawer sitting out on the table. How refreshing. That could NEVER happen where I live. While we were there we ran into my Aunt Debbie & Aunt Jeannie. How strange to run into them so far away at such a random place. This is my Aunt Debbie. It was her second trip to the blueberry farm!

While we were picking blueberries, Nana pulled Jude's first tooth. It was funny because he thought she was just going to wiggle it and she pulled it. He didn't even notice at first because he walked away and then noticed it was gone. He acted like he was mad but he really wasn't.....


After the blueberry picking we had to go find a store to buy diapers because we didn't bring any. That is The Miller Way. Then we went out to eat. When we got home that evening this is what was on the porch!!!!!!!

My cousin, Jason (some of you remember him because he used to have a blog...he's the prison guard), read my blog about the stray puppy, the Wii fund and all that. He had a Wii that he bought but "wasn't really that into it" & he decided he wanted to give it to my kids. I just can't even believe it. The kids were so excited they were jumping up and down! It has been a big week for the Miller family. Some people might not think this is a very big deal but it is almost overwhelming to me. I am feeling very blessed this week. Thank you Jason & Thank you to the mean person that left the little puppy for us!

Here are some more pictures of the puppy and other vacation events.....

This is from earlier this week, when we went fishing....

I asked my Mom to take a picture of Jake and I together. We aren't capable of taking a serious picture.....

The Dog....

Yesterday on Facebook I left a comment that we had to take our dog to the vet...everyone said the same thing..."You have a dog?" I promised a story and here it is.

Sunday we went to Big South Fork National Park. It was a great day. We did a little hiking, a little geocaching, a lot of nature seeing & we stopped at the visitors center and did a little chatting. It was really nice. BTW...the ranger asked where we were from. I told her NE Ohio. She said, "oh, ya'll had a little bear incident up there." I laughed. She asked if I got to see the bear (lol) but I told her I didn't. In fact, they have all kinds of bears here and I haven't seen ONE. Anyways...we went back to my parents house, ate dinner & goofed around a bit. I started looking on line at the geneology website for the area my family is from. They have it set up with a list of all the cemetaries and volunteers have scribed what is on every tombstone in each cemetary (well they aren't all done). There is a format for photos to be added. I was so excited but most of them don't have the photos. So....I loaded up a grumbling husband and tired kids to head to the closest cemetary to take pictures. It is very close to my parent's house. This is a picture of it:


It was very buggy out so we didn't stay long and decided to go back to the house. My parents live on a very country road. We always see interesting things on the road (turtles, snakes, rabbits, one time a fox, etc...). I tend to be on the lookout when we are driving for random vermon. Well, we were driving along and I saw this little puppy. Jake stopped and it looked scared. I tried to talk to it but it wouldn't come to me. It was by this overgrown driveway and we weren't sure if anyone still lived there. We decided to leave the puppy and go back to my parents. Later when they got home from church we asked them if anyone lived there and they said no. We told them about the puppy and explained that we thought somone dumped it off. It was almost getting dark at his point. We didn't have a leash or much dog stuff. My parents did have a dog (RIP) so they had a little food and a few items. But we didn't know what we were goint to do with this dog if we even caught the thing. So, we get in the car and go on a dog hunt. It was exactly where we left it. It was very timid but let Jake pick her right up. She was very scared and weak. We are pretty sure she had been out there for at least a couple days. You can see how skinny she is in this photo:

We gave her a bath because she is covered in ticks and fleas. I think the bath really helped with the fleas but she had about 20 ticks insided her ears. I picked them all out. And she has them all over her. And she has literally thousands of little tiny "seed ticks" all over her. Hundreds on her ears, legs, belly.... all over. We decided we didn't need to tie her up or anything. The first night after picking off ticks and bathing her I took off my clothes and hung them on the back porch. The next morning my Dad went out to the barn and she wasn't there. He thought she ran off but later he found her laying on the back porch by my clothing. Awwwwwww......Look how sweet she is:

I don't even like dogs....really.

But isn't she so cute?

So, Jake took her to the vet yesterday but they couldn't get her in so she is going back today. We have to find out if she is healthy enough to keep. We put some flea & tick stuff on her and instantly she started feeling better. She barked at my Dad and was chasing me a little. She really likes the kids. And of course the kids LOVE her. I think I told you before but in case I didn't.....my kids have been saving for a Wii. When we started approaching the $200 mark they decided it was a dog fund. I have been reluctant. This dog is not free - the vet bill and a kennel will surely eat up the Wii fund but she really is a rescue dog.

She doesn't have a name yet. Here are the choices.....

1. Willow (my idea)

2. Sunshine or Sunny (Elise's idea)

3. Cricket (my Dad's idea and Jude's favorite)

So, that is it....my dog story.

The Black Bear Saga continues.....

Here in Northeast Ohio we have a little Black Bear Drama going on. Last week a black bear was spotting near the main campus of Kent State University (my alma mater). Apparently it was rummaging through the trash behind Bob Evans on July 26th. That isn't really that close to the main campus but rumor has it some students attempted to feed it. Higher education paying off! My office is in Kent, right by the river. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of the bear myself....until I looked at pictures of black bears! Yikes. They are HUGE. Well, the bear has stayed in the local news all week. Yesterday it was reported that it was in Streetsboro and was attempting to claw it's way into a house.



The authorities did see it and tried to shoot it with rubber bullets but the bear just ran away. I had many questions but after looking them up this is what I found...The black bear has been slowly increasing in population in Ohio. They had not been seen in many years but over the last 10 years the sightings have increased. I wondered if it is possible for it to be the same bear in Kent as the one in Streetsboro. I found that a bears home territory can be up to an 80 mile radius. The authorities keep telling everyone to call them if they see the bear. Why? Are they going to kill it? Capture it? Don't other people in other places live amongst the bears without problems? I am pretty sure we have enough deer for the bear to eat. Do they eat deer? I am so interested. Maybe I should go on a bear hunt. LOL. Only if I had a better camera. I could hunt and shoot the bear (with my camera) - sell the photos to the local paper and get rich. ha ha ha ha ha. I am only joking and just typing as I think things. Well, my Dad saw a black bear on his property. So, I could continue my bear hunt next week when I go to Tennessee. Which reminds me of something I heard a long time ago.... These guys (somewhere up north) were putting some substance out that lures bears, so they could shoot them. Couldn't the people in Streetsboro or Kent just do that, lure the bear and then capture the bear, feed him and then take him somewhere away from people?

In case you were wondering here are some black bear facts....

• Bears eat acorns, nuts, fruit & succulent greens. They will eat meat if those things are avalible.
  
• Bears are very intelligent. They have great memory and navigation skills.
• Most Black bears die due to human related causes. How sad is that?
• Bears can hibernate without food, water, going to the bathroom...for up to 7 months. They give birth while hibernating.
  
• Bear attacks on humans are very rare. Most bear related injuries come from people trying to feed bears. DUH.
• Bears only roar in the movies- not in real life.
• Bears are indangered species in Ohio - so you aren't allowed to shoot them.
  

Here is what to do if you encounter a BLACK bear.

• Do not look it in the eye.
• Talk in a soothing tone.
• Do not run.
  
• Back away slowly.
• And don't feed the bear!

While I was looking up bear info.... You MUST watch this ridiculous video!



Okay, I have to go fill my bird feeders and set some honey out.

For more info on the Ohio Black Bear & to see where I got the bear picture visit the Ohio Department of Natural Resource web site.