Merry Christmas

Plunging into the gifts...

Giving thanks...

Sleeping on the job

After visiting Santa, Nathan was inspired to stay on the "nice" list, so he created a leaf raking company called "The Friendly Raking Guy." I called the home phone from Jared's cell phone and hired him to rake the leaves in our front yard. He started the job with a zeal that only a 6 year old with a HUGE rake would have. After about 20 minutes, I looked outside and saw this...

Santa strikes again...

We thought we'd be smart by getting there before the doors opened, but apparently everyone had the same thought and we found ourselves in a scene from "The Christmas Story." Like Ralphie, Nathan couldn't wait to get to the front of the line. I had been coaching Rachel the entire morning and whispered bribes in her ear while we waited in line, "Mommy just wants a good picture, so if you don't cry, you'll get a treat," "Santa is so nice, just smile for the picture," etc. We had high hopes of no tears this year but alas, Santa struck again!

Matthew's first visit with Santa. He wasn't impressed.

Happier times while we waited 45 minutes in line.

Birthday Boy

Happy birthday to Nathan! He and Jared enjoyed a day on the town. They hit Chuck E. Cheese first and then went to see BOLT. They finished up with lunch at Pizza Hut. Needless to say, he enjoyed being the center of attention. He will have sweet dreams of his birthday presents tonight!

The fruits of his labor at Chuck E. Cheese

So happy!

Rachel "helping" with the assembly of the Indiana Jones LEGO kit

The finished product!

Night with Daddy

Betsy took Nathan to Red Robin tonight to get his B-Day hamburger... so I'm playing around with the camera and the video capabilities of Blogger. Enjoy the short video of Matthew and Rachel performing as always.

Mean Mommy is in the HOUSE!

I have arrived! It is official. This phrase has been uttered countless times by Nathan and Rachel and now here it is in black and white…

Translation "Mom is mean." Nathan was mad at me and wrote out this declaration on the white board in his room. His write-up diffused the situation and we all had a good laugh!

Chaos in the Carolinas

We were awakened by the shrill ring of the telephone at 6:25 this morning. There was a pause on the line and then a recorded message that school was on a 2 hour delay. I thought, "What in the world is going on?" I decided to look out the window and saw what most North Carolinians fear the most...snow! The seemingly innocent white stuff seems to have a power over the drivers that makes them instantly lose their common sense. The kids were thrilled though and headed outside in whatever clothes they could find.

Nathan was hard at work on a snow castle on the patio table when Rachel ran over, picked it up, dropped it on the concrete and stomped on it. She was screaming with delight and he was screaming in frustration. I told him there would be payback one day for all the teasing. We have the corner market on "love at home"!

Pooh Corner

Rachel has her own version of Pooh Corner. Like Winnie the Pooh, she has her "thinking spot"...but she's doing more than thinking! Let's just say she's not interested in potty training!

Monkey Boy

Here's Matthew sporting his new pajamas. The kids think he looks like Curious George. What do you think?

New Halloween Pictures

Yep, our website has moved. We're now doing the much easier blog thing. For our first Miles Family post I thought I'd post some Halloween pictures for everyone to enjoy. Enjoy