Reduce, Reuse, Recycle....Voila!...new room

REDUCE
This past May we found a new home for our dog Sammy (Drew is allergic to dogs). This reduced the number of animals in our home.  Sammy is very happy in her new home with the Lassiters.

REUSE (Repurpose)
This allowed us to reclaim the room that had been designated as "Sammy's room" off the side of our house next to the kitchen.  Thus began a major renovation that lasted from May until after Thanksgiving.  Luckily this room could be closed off from the rest of the house for the majority of the project. 

Here are the pictures of Drew's handy work...

This is a view of the gutted room looking toward the door connecting to the kitchen.  Thank you "guys night" for pulling out all the paneling and insulation.

This is a view of the gutted room standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

They are standing in the opening created by taking out a window just like the one behind them.  

We hope to reuse the windows in a tree house some day.

Clearly all the boys liked the demolition aspect to this project.

Drew is standing where the door used to be.  He is framing in the opening for a window.

Here is the door that was put in the hole created by removing a window.  (See previous pictures)

Here is a picture of the room with drywall in place, but not taped or mudded.

This is a picture of the tree that almost ruined our renovation.  

This limb came down in the crazy snow storm at the end of October.

See the nice new siding that could have been ruined.  Thank you, God, for protecting our project.  :)

This picture was taken the weekend before Thanksgiving when Drew and I put in the floor while our boys watched TV or played outside.

And here it is!  We finished it the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Didn't Drew do an amazing job?  

Now we have a place to eat other than the middle of our kitchen.

RECYCLE

And finally this is a picture of the aluminum siding that was pulled off the house and will eventually be recycled.  The picture is taken from the sliding glass doors at the back of the room (see picture above).  We hope to build a deck in this space at some point in the future (maybe by the time the boys go to college).

Donuts with Dads

Ben's Kindergarten class had "Donuts with Dads" last week to celebrate "D" week.  Unfortunately Ben's dad was not available at 8:30 on a Thursday morning.  I stepped in as a sub.  Just too make it fun (and not sad with no dad)...I dressed up as Drew.

Warning ***These pictures were taken by my children and are not great quality shots.

October

October was a busy month in the Miller home.  I didn't have time to take many photos, but I did capture two family moments outside with the boys.

I remember HATING leaves because that meant I had to rake them.  My boys don't have the same feeling at all.  They look forward to Autumn and a chance to rake and play in the leaves.  Maybe it helps that they only have to rake a small part of our yard.  Here are a few photos of them in the newly, fallen foliage.

 My newest leaf raker.

 Rye inherited the little green rake from Ben.  

He learned fast from his big brother who has moved up to an adult sized rake.

 Noah came out a little later to finish the job.  Rye has two big brothers to learn from.  

Does that mean he will be twice as good at everything?  :)

 Did I mention that Grammy was visiting?  (probably why I had time to grab a camera)

 She had fun in the leaves too.

 Ben's mohawk was spiky enough to collect a leaf.

 "How does this thing work again?"

Ben decided to take a little nap after working so hard.

And then there was snow (In October!)...

  The snow was perfect for making snowmen. 

Excuse the bike left out in the yard...who knew it would snow?

 Rye had to make do with snow clothes a size too big.

 He didn't last long.  I captured this moment right before he started crying and came inside.  

It is hard to move around in 3 inches of snow when you are only 2 feet tall.

 This is the room Drew has been working on since May (photos of complete project coming soon).

 This is the branch that almost ruined the project Drew was working on.

  See how close it came to tearing off the siding we had installed the week before.

 Goodby Bratford Pear tree!

And finally....

My little cuties in their costumes.  

(Ben has in fake teeth which is why his mouth looks so funny)

This is where I live!

This weekend I enjoyed taking in some of the beautiful views we have here in Virginia.  On Friday night I headed out on the Appalachian Trail with two fellow adventurers and moms of all boys, Megan and Laura.  We had a great time backpacking a tough section of the AT and spending some time outdoors together.  A big "thank you" to our husbands for making this trip possible.

 Starting off ... matching jackets and all

Our cozy little camp site

This little guy hung out with us at camp for hours.

Megan is all set up for a comfy night's rest. I got to sleep in one of these as well.  

It is my new, favorite way to sleep outdoors.

Laura is getting ready to cook dinner.

  Taking a much deserved break after hiking straight up for 3 miles.

 I don't know how Megan looked so nice after such a hard hike up.  

I'm glad I don't have any pictures to show you of how sweaty and gross I was.  :)

 These are the peaks we just finished climbing.

 And the view from the top.

We had a great trip together.  The weather and companions made it a perfect weekend.

With the boys...

I had so much fun on my girls' trip.  I decided to take the boys on a hike the next day.

 The boys cruised up the trail.  They didn't stop to take a break until we reached the top.

 Both boys had nothing but smiles on their faces.

 Some of the smiles may have been because they packed the snack and included things such as pixie sticks and gum. But I think it was mostly because we had so much fun being outside together.

 Rye spent most of his time climbing on rocks and trying to get too close to the edge.  He didn't really appreciate how far I kept him from the edge of the cliff.  :)

 The bigger boys did get a chance to climb on some rocks.

 And then they were off...back down the mountain in record time.

I even got a shot of me and my little cargo, just to prove that I was actually there.

First Day of School

The first day of school is here.  I think we were all ready for Ben and Noah to head off to school.  They are so excited about this school year and I am excited for them.  That is why it surprised me this morning when I got a little choked up watching Ben get on the school bus.  Here are the pictures of our morning together.

 Ben was ready to go at 7:15 (the bus doesn't come until 8:00)

 ready to go...just have to wait 40 minutes for the bus to get here :)

So we got out Ben's Rest Blanket

 Noah found the one I made for him for Kindergarten 

and they filled up a few of those minutes before school with "resting"

 

 Okay, now it really is time to head out the door

 Patiently allow mom to take a few more pictures

 The ritual soccer game at the bus stop 

(some times we use a rock or walnut, but today we brought a ball)

 Noah asked for hair gel this morning to really accentuate his new hair style

 Rye wanted to go to school too

 Here it comes...

 Mrs. Bonnie and bus 170

  wait for it...

 Have a great day at school boys!  Mom loves you!