I think I have a problem.  Cohen and I were reading a book in the car yesterday while waiting to pick up the kids from school, and there was a part about a little boy helping his little sister.  Ever since, Cohen has been informing me that he needs a little sister.  I really wish that was possible, but this almost 42-year old mom is not having any more kids.  Not going to happen.  It would be wonderful if we could adopt a little girl but I'm not even sure that would be a possible.  Hopefully, he will out grow this 'need' and I won't have to worry about it anymore.

On another note, we have finally consented to hosting a german student this summer through my friend, Gusti, and her sister, Quinn.  They have an exchange program called Sister to Sister exchange.  They've been doing this for 4 or 5 years and it is always a great success.  Now we just have to get the boy's room finished in the basement so there is somewhere to put him.  He is 15-years old and seems to have a lot in common with Cameron.  I'm hoping that this is a good experience for him and for us.

Yes, I know it's been over a year since I've written anything on this blog. I'm a HUGE slacker. It's been a great year here in the Mills household.

We were able to take a much needed family vacation to San Antonio this summer. We stayed in a gorgeous and fun hotel that we probably didn't even need to leave the whole time we were there, because they had so many things to do. An awesome pool with a lazy river to float on, movies on the lawn with popcorn and drinks, all kinds of fun things for the kids to do. We spent most of our time at Sea World while we were there. Watching shows, riding rides, and spending an entire Saturday at the waterpark inside Sea World. On our way home, we stopped in Cortez, CO and went to Mesa Verde National Park. The boys really enjoyed seeing all the indian ruins. We're hoping to be able to get back up to Oregon this summer to see my parents. The boys have been begging to do this ever since we went back in 2009.

Some other happenings in the house are Cohen started preschool this fall. He really likes it and has a great time when he is there. All the boys are growing like weeds and are so tall. Cameron has surpassed me in height and he is always letting me know that he is taller than me. Colby is a read-a-holic. We were saying at the beginning of the school year that he could read all 7 Harry Potter books and the 3 Hunger Games books and that should keep him busy for the school year. He has already finished all 7 Harry Potter books and has started on the 3rd Hunger Games book. Last quarter, he was a top reader in the 5th grade and surpassed his AR goal by more than 60 points. Carter is doing great in 3rd grade and loves his teacher, Mrs. Tuft, who was also Colby's 3rd grade teacher. Gary continues to work hard and A LOT and I am home most days with Cohen and volunteering at the kid's school on Wednesdays.

Great life we are having here in the crazy place we call home. Hopefully, I will be better about posting on this blog this year.

Coming Soon...

It's been a long time since I posted on here. Hopefully, I will soon have pictures from Christmas posted. Just waiting for the camera battery to charge so I can transfer the pictures to the computer and then to here.

On a side note, I have started another blog just for myself. It is called Gee Mom Rocks and my goal is to post something to it every day for a year. Sometimes there will be pictures, sometimes a recipe, sometimes just a rant about whatever bugged me that day. Go check it out.

So I have been wanting some rocks in the flower bed that is in the middle of my front yard for quite some time now. Over the weekend, Gary and Cas dug up a couple of bushes that were in the flower bed and also ripped out the light pole (it hadn't worked for years). Then they moved in some rocks that a friend of ours found for us. Here are some pictures.

The wire is from the light pole.

Here are the rocks. Three pretty big ones.
Eventually, they will be made into a fountain.

I just love the way they look.

Now I have to decide what to plant and where to put the fountain.

Instead of taking a family vacation this year, we decided to have a "stay-cation". Cameron is the only one of the boys who has ever been to Lagoon so we decided to take all the boys and go have a wonderful day. We arrived shortly after they opened at 11 a.m. and we didn't leave until right before they closed at 10 p.m. We had a ton of fun and even went to Lagoon-A-Beach.
Here are some pictures of all the fun things we did.

Carter and Cohen went on a bunch of rides together. They had a lot of fun together.

Mom and Cohen on the Dragonfly ride. If those swings would have gone around one more time, mom would have made a big mess on the ground. Just a little bit nauseous.

I personally think they are both too young to drive, but you can decide for yourself.

First, they tried to fly an airplane...

Then they moved onto helicopters.

Dad, Cohen (next to dad and not viewable on any picture), and Carter all rode the roller coaster together. This was the smallest coaster Carter rode. He went on the Jet Star, The Bat, and the white roller coaster with mom.

Cameron and Cohen on the mini Rocket. Cohen loved it!

Dad rode the merry-go-round with the boys. It makes the mom sick to her stomach just to watch it go around and around and around.

Gary and I recently went to Las Vegas to celebrate my 40th birthday. We did a lot of fun stuff and ate A LOT of good food. Here are a few pictures of all the fun things we did.

This is the view out of our hotel room. We stayed at Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa in Henderson. This is the 3rd time we've stayed there and we love it.

On Monday, June 21, we went to the Atomic Testing Museum. They don't allow you to take any pictures inside the museum, but this is the hand-stamp they give you when you go in. We thought it was pretty funny.

On Tuesday, June 22, we went to Mt. Charleston, which is northwest of Las Vegas. We hiked to a waterfall and this is along the trail. It was really pretty. We saw a lizard on the trail that had an electric blue tail but it was too fast to get a picture. Darn!

Towards the top of the trail, there was actually still some snow on the ground. I'm not sure what the elevation was, but the temperature dropped a good 20-30 degrees from in town.

This is the waterfall at the top of the trail. Very pretty.

I laughed pretty hard when I saw this sign.

Part of the package we had at the hotel included a $50 dining credit so we ordered room service for my birthday breakfast. It was delicious!

We celebrated my birthday, June 23, with dinner at Mon Ami Gabi, a french bistro restaurant. Our server was so nice. My creme brulee had a candle in it and she offered to take our picture. The food was delicious. Our table was in the doorway to the patio and we had a wonderful view of the Bellagio fountains.

On Thursday morning, June 24, we went through a session at the Las Vegas temple. The grounds at the temple are beautiful.

I actually took this picture upside down as we drive by on the strip. It turned out pretty good.

Today was a beautiful day. Just a little breeze and plenty of sunshine. After the snow we received a few days ago, it was a welcome change. So, since it was so nice, I decided to do some yard work. This does not happen very often because, I hate yard work. If my yard was done and nice the way I wanted it, then I might enjoy it a bit more. I pulled weeds in the flower bed in the front of my house that will some day be my herb garden (hopefully sooner than later).
Here are some before, during and after pictures of the work.

I'm not really sure how all these weeds got in here with how cold it has been, but they must really like the snow.

Another view from the front. It looks like I already planted but they are just weeds.

About halfway done. There were some weeds in the bottom portion that were huge! They may have had their own gravitational pull.

Colby was my big helper today. He pulled a bunch of weeds out of the bed and he helped me clean off the porch furniture and the doormat.

Finished product. I love the way it looks right after I get done. The dirt is all dark and looks so nice.

This picture is going to help me figure out what to do with this space. I really want to make it a herb garden but we will see what happens.