Especially Comical

 I follow a few comical parenting accounts on instagram -- mostly about the funny moments of motherhood, but there is one account I follow that is a fatherhood account.  Its called "noideadaddyblog" and it is funny.

This was an especially comical post made the other day.

Instagram Inspiration

 I saw a picture on Instagram a few weeks ago and I thought it was pretty cool.  It was of a mom who is expecting her 6th baby and while she was standing sideways for her pregnancy profile picture, all her other children were lined up sideways as well.

I thought that was pretty cool and worth trying with my little crew.

Here was our inspiration:

Here were our first attempts:

Addallee wanted nothing to do with it, and the kids had their own ideas about how we should line up.

The next day, after a successful outing, I decided to attempt the picture again.  This time I showed the kids the picture of the other family that I was trying to emulate... and I bribed them with a treat if they smiled and stood in the order I wanted them to.

The results were MUCH better the second time.

Definitely better results when Lee Lee was in a good mood!  I can't believe how big they all are getting... its so easy to notice when they're lined up like that.

I don't know that we will take these pictures every week... but it is a pretty cool picture and very special knowing that this is (we believe) my last pregnancy and our other children as so involved and excited to meet their new brother or sister.

Adventures

I compiled my top nine pictures of 2018 and it was fun to realize the theme of 2018 for our family seemed to be "adventures".  The truth is, we were able to do so much with our little family this past year that we weren't able to do the previous year.  Even though we had four children (under age five) all year, we were able to attend a show for the first time with our crew (Disney on Ice), do fun activities as a whole family (picking peaches, picking blueberries, kayaking, camping, family rodeo, and more) and it was an awesome year.

Facebook is full of people stating how horrible 2018 was for them and it makes me sad to read.  Every year has ups and downs and every year has natural disasters... but I hope and pray that everyone can find a partner or teammate (spouse) or family to face those disasters with and feel like they have support when ups and downs and natural disasters occur.

We had a wonderful 2018 and we are so excited and encouraged to be heading into 2019 as a family.

Happy New Year!

 

 

Sights of the Season I

This month, in an effort to keep myself focused on the joy of the Christmas season every day, I have been posting 25 days of instagram, sort of an Advent Calendar of sorts.

Do you remember Advent Calendars?  I guess they were the old fashion version of Elf on the Shelf.  My understanding is that the Elf hangs out at your house to keep an eye on the kiddos and report back to Santa in the days leading up to Christmas.

When I was a kid, there was no elf -- there were 25 pieces of candy, 25 Bible verses, and 25 ornaments to put on a tree -- one each day leading up to Christmas.

Well, I've been posting one picture a day each day of December leading up to Christmas.

Here are some that I posted -- days 1-5:

A Sixth Grader

Yesterday I helped Hubby with his weekly after-school class.

I taught an after-school class last year, and Hubby taught one last semester, so I've gotten to know some of the students in Chris' classes and at his school.

That being said, yesterday a little girl (6th grader) that I've never met looked up at me and said, "Are you Mrs. Miller?"  When I said yes, she grinned and said, "I follow you on Instagram."

For those of you who aren't familiar with Instagram, it is a website and application people have on their phone.  People take pictures on their phone, enhance them with Instagram and share them on this photo site, which is similar to Twitter, but only pictures.

I post pictures on Instagram every so often, and it is a phone application that I enjoy.

When this little sixth grade girl, whom I had never met told me that she followed me on Instagram, it was a very needed reality check for me about who is out there seeing the things and pictures I post.  I have never posted any photographs that were inappropriate in any way, but I need to be aware that my peers are not the only ones on these social media sites.

It had never even entered my mind that one of Chris' students might be following me on anything -- facebook, my blog, pinterest, or instagram... and yet, apparently, at least one is.

We do live in a glass world these days where anyone can learn pretty much anything about you.  The thing is, I always saw that as a risky thing -- the wrong person, a bad person could gain information -- but the truth is, if there is the chance to be a respectable role model or positive influence on impressionable kiddos, maybe its not such a bad thing.  This student could potentially learn that Chris and I are followers of Christ through pictures I post.

I never thought of Instagram being linked to minister, but maybe the Lord has a plan for Instagram?