A September to Remember.....

Well, this has been a very busy month in the Miller household. We started off Labor Day weekend heading up to Grayling to meet with friends who were back in town visiting from Hawaii. The first week of September, Alex started Kindergarten at Grand Haven Christian. He was nervous that first week but did an awesome job. He had half days for the first two weeks before they started going all day Mon, Wed, and Fri. Luke and I did a lot of trips to and from Grand Haven that week in the middle of day to transport him from school to daycare and then back to work for us. It was new for all of us. We had lots of school picnics, ice cream socials, etc. to attend. We all had to learn a new routine and he also started going to the after school program there iwth new kids and teachers. He adjusted very well though - especially for a child who does not like change. I was really busy at work those weeks preparing to be off for a few weeks because on September 11th (good day huh?) I went in to have surgery to repair a hernia that I probably got when I was pregnant with one of the boys. The Dr said that most hernias are about the size of a dime and that mine was larger than a 50 cent piece, so what started out as 4 hours at the hospital, turned in to over 12 hours. It was awful. I was home recovering for 2 weeks at the end of September, but returned to work - just to do paperwork for a few days. Going back to work has been hard on me -and hard on the family since I have been a little cranky when I get home. I start heading out into the field again next week. It has been nice to see Luke be a single parent for the past few weeks. The hardest part of my surgery was not being able to pick up Max. He is at the age where he just doesn't understand why mommy is not holding him or refuses to pick him up when he raises his arms to me. It was sad. We just found out at the same time that Max had strep throat too, so he was not sleeping good and wanted to be held all the time. I think it has been good for the boys and for Luke to spend some more quality time together. Luke was taking them to school, picking them up, and taking care of all of their needs at home. He got to finally experience what I go through when he works out of town and I am a single working mother. I have a lot of respect for those who do it all the time.
By the end of the month, we are all feeling better. Life is getting back to normal - whatever that is right? I think Max has all of his teeth now, so no more teething hopefully, I am almost recovered, and Alex is loving Kindergarten and can't wait to go everyday. Luke is always busy at work but he will be taking some time off soon now that hunting season is starting. October doesn't look as if our schedule is going to slow down at all with hunting, dr's appointments, field trips, family pictures, etc. But that is all the stuff that makes like fun huh? I will post all the new pictures as soon as I get them.

Summer's almost over....

I haven't written in a while. Things have been a little crazy around the Miller household the last few weeks. My parents came to Michigan for 2 months. They traveled from house to house in July visiting all of the grandchildren, and then rented a house in Gaylord for the month of August to visit with friends and spend some time golfing. August has kept us very busy. We have been on the road every weekend, and sometimes during the week too. I have finally unpacked my car fully for the first time all month. The first weekend in August we spent part of it visiting with Luke's parents in Dewitt and we also had my niece, Lily's, 6th birthday party in South Lyon. The next weekend, we went to Bunker Hill, where it is an Italian-American type of reunion for Luke's family. They have mass, then a picnic and games for the kids (all outside and it was raining pretty hard). The next weekend, we headed to Lansing again and stayed with my sister Stacy and her family. On that Saturday, Luke and my brother in law, John, took Alex and my nephew, Matthew to the Busch Race, then on Sunday just Luke and John went to the Nascar race. Luke got home around midnight and got up the next morning to fly to Dallas for work. He was there until Thursday afternoon and then that night, we left to go up to stay with my parents in Gaylord for the weekend to spend some time with them before they left to go back to Florida. It was a long drive for the kids. We then packed up the car again and drove up to Grayling this past weekend to see our friends, Travis, Heather, Taten, and Tessa. They are home for a short vacation before heading back to Hawaii, where they have been living for about a year and half. Yesterday was the first day in a long time, where I got to sleep in while in my own bed. Luke got up with the boys, and they brought me breakfast in bed, and then he took them out grocery shopping while I relaxed a little and got some housework done. It was a very nice day. But now it is back to work and back to school. Alex starts Kindergarten tomorrow :) He is actually really excited since he had his open house and is really looking forward to it now. I think it will be harder on me than on him.