I Never Know What to Write Here

School started. Work started. I. Love. It.
At first I was really unsure that I would like it, that I was going to have a terrible time transitioning from stay-at-home mom to working mom. The Lord is always so good. I work with really great people who made the transition easy. We had a last minute switch for Eladie. She's going to a different school 3 days a week all day. Praise Jesus she loves it. She's really sad when she realizes it's Thursday and doesn't go to school.

I can't believe both my girls are in school.

I see people do lists all the time on blogs. Here's mine in no particular order:

1. I don't like folding laundry

2. I make the most amazing homemade salsa you've ever tasted. 

3. Whenever I work in the nursery and I change a diaper, I feel SO glad Eladie's been out of diapers/pull-ups for over a year now. 

4. I wish I would remember to make more time to read.

5. Unbelievably, I'm starting to become a morning person.

6. I don't like typos, but they happen to the best of us.

7. Dad and I didn't get to scuba this summer and I'm sad about that. 

8. We grew approximately 8 billion cucumbers this year. 

Now here's a picture of Maximus eating a big piece of ice from his water bucket last March. 

Change is Coming

Well, like my title says, change is coming. In one week I'll be sitting in an all day training event in preparation for my new job. Yes, I am now employed outside my home. Starting August 12, I'll be working at Monett Intermediate School (5 & 6 grades) as a Paraprofessional. It's pretty ideal because I'll have all the same breaks and time off that Emery does now that I have a kid in school. She sure is excited, by the way. She's even more excited to get a lunch box.

Eladie is starting preschool at a private school in Pierce City 2 days a week and going to a friend's house the other 2 days. I know she'll do great, but the last time we talked about it she was almost brought to tears saying that she would miss me if I didn't go with her. It will be an adjustment. I am sad. But we'll all be okay.

Other than that, we're just working on our house. We moved in in April and we've done quite a bit which includes building a fence (we dug 42 post holes!), painting all rooms minus 2, peeling wallpaper, installing new ceiling lights and fans. Our newest project is installing flooring in the dining room and front living room. It looks so great. That 1974 carpet had to go. Our house is looking completely different. In an awesome way.

We've also started canning salsa with tomatoes from our garden. Over 6 jars worth! It is so good.

I'll leave you with this picture of a squirrel on the clubhouse.

It's 4 o'clock, do you know where your kids are?

As I was driving home from picking Emery up from school yesterday, I see a girl sitting on the curb in front of the apartment complex on my street. As I drive by and glance her way, I immediately feel like something was not right. I turned around and pulled into the lot next to her. I got out and asked her if she was okay. I also notice that she is a lot younger than I initially thought she was (she is 6). She was so visibly upset so I ask her name and her grade, she tells me that she was supposed to go to her dad's but got on the wrong bus, and was at the apartments where her and her mom live, but mom isn't home. She knows her phone number so she calls her, but she got no answer, so I left her mom a voicemail to tell her that I was in the parking lot with her daughter  and that I really need her to call me back right away. I put her in my car because it was so cold and I stood outside and came to the conclusion to call the police. I called the non-emergency line and they sent out 2 officers right away. They ended up taking her because no one knew  (she didn't know, neither did the school) her dad's number and her mom didn't answer when one of the officers tried calling her again. Emery and Eladie were so kind to her when she was our car; proud moment for me.
The craziest part of the story is that her mom didn't call me back for over an hour after her daughter had first called, and was just so nonchalant about some stranger being with her kid. I told her I called the police and they took her, so she should call them.

Moral of the story: always know where your kids are. They could be sitting on the curb in the cold all alone.

The Internet

We have it again. It's more than I could imagine! Ha. That's funny. It's just been so long since we've had internet. We started watching the show from Discovery "Bering Sea Gold" and Bering Sea Gold-Under the Ice." It's the bomb.

The Once-A-Year Update

Well, I'm at my parent's house and they have internet so I guess it's time for an update!

My chillens are growing too fast! Emery's in her 2nd year of preschool. She goes Monday-Thursday 12:30-3:30. She absolutely loves it. Her teacher is really great too, so that makes it even better! I really can't believe she's starting kindergarten next year. Time really does fly.

Eladie is eligible to go to preschool next year and she's started talking about going to school, so I (reluctantly) filled out the paperwork for her to go. She's excited. I'm not sure how I feel!

Ryan is doing great. He's continually planning and working and God had definitely blessed all his hard work. A lot of people don't realize that he plans events months in advance. As soon as one is over, say, camp, the next week we're talking about next year. I love the way he lets God lead what he does. I love the way he strives to get others involved so that event are community-wide. No matter what church you attend we're still striving for the same goal so let's strive together! Ryan really is the bomb and I have been overly blessed to be able to call him husband and the father of our girlies!

I've been doing some extra things this year. I joined a team around Halloween time to plan a Fall Festival to remember at our church this year. The theme was "Where's Waldo" and everyone dressed in red and white and stripes. It was the team's goal to be intentional with sharing the gospel with the people who came in the doors on Halloween night. So besides having carnival games, a bounce house and food, we played a real life game of Where's Waldo. I don't know if you know this but there are 5 Waldo characters: Waldo, Wenda, Wizard Whitebeard, Woof, and Odlaw. For our purposes, each character (wearing their costume, of course) had a bag of beads. When people came in the doors after they registered they were given a paper with our characters picture on it. And the game begins. Each character gave a bead to make up the salvation bracelet and their signature. When they got all the beads to complete their bracelet and all the signatures they could hit up the prize table.

 All the characters

 Prize table 

He accepted Christ as his Savior that night. Even if it was just for him, all the work was worth it!

I had a great time working with the team and enjoyed getting to know them better! This was a super fun event!

The Story of the Colors:

Gold/Yellow

God has prepared heaven for us. Rev. 21:21b

Black

Sin separates us from God and keeps us out of heaven.
Rom. 3:23, 6:23

Red

Jesus shed his blood on the cross to pay for our sin.
Ro. 5:8, I Pete. 3:18a

White

If we accept Jesus and turn from our sins, our hearts are made clean. John 1:12, Romans 10:9

Green

After believing and receiving what Jesus did we need to grow in our relationship with Him by reading the Bible, praying,and attending a church where the Bible is taught.
Matt. 18:20 John 1:7

Right after the Fall Festival, a team and I began working on a home mission event for November. Every Sunday of November members of the church went out in town to hand out cookies and an invitation for The Village of Lights parade in town and a preview for our Music Ministry's Christmas performance (which was AWESOME). With the help of A LOT of people, we were able to visit every house in Mt Vernon plus some. We delivered 1663 bags of cookies. 

In both of these events, God really showed up and showed off! The blessings of letting Him take the lead and take control is immense! Neither of these events could have happened as well as they did with us working on our own. God really gets all the credit. Follow His call! Do as He leads! This has been my anthem, as it will ever be!

Here's to a God-filled 2014!

A Little of Everything

It sure has been a while. I guess that's what happens when you don't have internet at your house. I'm not sure exactly what the point of this will be. Maybe just a recap of recent events. Maybe a little of my heart. Both are allowed. This is my blog space after all.

The McMillian family is great.

In October, Emery started preschool. For some reason we got a little grief about the fact that we don't plan on homeschooling. It's okay. But here are my reasons why we chose public education:
1. Ryan and I both went to public school.
2. Emery and I are too much alike. Nothing would get done.
3. I don't have a degree in education.
4. (One of the most important points): We are striving to teach our girls to be missionaries. To not be afraid of other people. To choose right from wrong. To help others choose right, and ultimately choose Jesus. Not to say this won't be difficult. It will. But it's okay. God is on our side.
5. As much as it scares me to send her out some days, I can't live in fear. My kids can't either.
Emery loves school. She is thriving, she is learning, she is helping others. I am so blessed to call her my daughter.

Eladie is growing like crazy. She's on the verge of talking and is experimenting with new words everyday. She is potty training herself. She disappears, I hear the toilet flush, then an Eladie runs out of the bathroom with a dry diaper to put back on. I'm confident I'm being rewarded for having such a difficult time with Emery. Eladie is such a joy to my heart.

Both of them love to do any kind of art. They love to have their picture taken. I am so thankful God gave me the task of raising them.

For the past year for three days a week a 21 year old named Karley comes to my house. She is autistic and she is beautiful. Together we work on things that need to be done on a regular basis in a home. She has made such improvements in the last year! She has taught me so much this past year. She has taught my daughters so much this past year. I am so glad she is in our lives!

I feel also like I have grown so much this past year as well. I've learned to be confident in who I am in Christ.  To find my identity in Him alone. My relationship with Christ has grown exponentially this past year. It takes a lot of surrender on my part. What's so good about that is God is faithful and He ALWAYS will be! I'm still a wreck most of the time and I'm always learning, but I'm leaning on Christ instead of anything else. I am so blessed by my friends here who are encouraging me, pushing me and teaching me. I am so very blessed. (Thanks ladies! I love Thursdays!)

And of course, Ryan and I are doing great. With Valentine's Day just last week, I took the chance to spend more time than usual thinking about awesome God is to give me Ryan. I am so glad he chose me. I am so glad I chose him. I am so glad God chose us for each other. He is my ultimate earthly soul mate. He is my best friend. He loves Christ completely and our home is the way it is because of that. He leads as he should. Thanks Ry. I love you so so much. (Never pass out again, please)

Well, I think the overall theme here is I sure am blessed. I am working hard to run the race which God has called me.
I'm hoping to get to a computer more frequently. That may not happen.
So if that's the case, see you next year!

Long Time

I think almost all of my posts have a little blurb in there about how awful a blogger I am. Well, this time, it's not all my fault. We moved and had to cancel internet service because mediacom doesn't service our new house. Drag. So we've been without until Tuesday. I almost didn't know what to do with the computer. I guess this means a real update is necessary.

Eladie just turned 1 on Wednesday. Yay! She's made it around the sun one whole time! Go Eladie!! She really likes to eat and will try anything. This is a stark contrast to her older sister, but I will give Emery some credit. She's getting braver. Eladie is over the 100 percentile for weight and 95-97th percentile in height. She's so big!! She loves to do hair. Hers, Emery's, mine...she's a really good at combing. She says Momma and Dada specifically to the right person and loves stacking blocks. She also loves playing outside and crawling in the grass. No walking yet, but it's right around the corner; she stands and pushes everything she can around the house. Her favorite drink is water from her spiffy Camelbak and her favorite thing for lunch is deli turkey. She will NOT eat a hotdog. She must have a sense about what they're made of. All in all she's so adorable. I just want to kiss her face all day! And I do!

Emery is growing so fast too! Although she's only 50th percentile in height and 10-25th percentile in weight (She only weighs 5lbs more than Eladie), she's super smart. She loves to read and draw. She's started drawing family groups together. The 4 of us, grandma, papa...she's also drawn her friends Josie and her family, Dakota and his family, Brooklyn and Briley and their family and also Maryola and her family. She's also getting better at playing with Eladie. I think she's realizing that it can be fun to have someone to play with! She's so smart, I never know what she's going to say next! She loves being at church and she's always talking about what she's going to tell Miss Jane on Wednesdays. She will definitely enjoy preschool which is something I'm going to start looking into for her. Sad for Momma, thrilling for her.

(This is her "school outfit". She's always talking about going to school and riding the bus) 

(She's also practicing riding a big-kid bike!)

 I got picture-happy.