Bedroom Makeover

Over the last few months we have slowly been remodeling the girls' bedroom with a splash of new paint and some new stuff hanging from the ceiling and walls. We cut the bunk beds to make separate beds for the girls and added some stuff for their dressing room/closet area. They wanted to take a moment to show off their new duds!

Spring Pictures

We thought we would throw these in, the girls spring pictures from school and Gabe in a tux from Show Choir. I guess us old timers only had one shot at taking photos in school. Now you get two chances! The fall photo is what runs in the yearbook. The good thing about the spring photo is that it is optional, you are not required to purchase it. Both the girls always take a good spring photo though. Click on the image to make it larger.

Rambling On..........

After the excitement of our new cousin Reese's birth last week, things settled down a little as the past weekend approached. The weather seemed to take a turn here in the Quads, a turn for the better for sure! The last 2 days the temp as been over 70 degrees! The extended forecast seems warm, jackets are put away, the heat is turned off and snow boots are no where to be found and the lawn is getting greener every day and it almost needs to be mowed!

We started soccer last week for Abbi and Elli, they actually had games scheduled the week before but heavy rains forced cancellations. Abbi had a game at 8:30am (ugghh!!), they played well, it was a close game, I think they tied...whoops....no keeping score in Dad's Club! The cool aspect of the game was the fog that surrounded the complex. You could not see 2 fields down at the complex, I wish I had taken the video camera for you to see. Abbi was her normal rock solid player, doesn't let anybody by her.

Elli's game was at 12:30, by then the fog had lifted and a beautiful sky shined through. They struggled in the third quarter and found themselves down 4-1, but Elli and her friend Sam mounted a comeback in the fourth quarter, with a little luck (and better passing) they could have easily tied the game, but it was not to be. Though her first game is a couple weeks away, Elli has started coach pitch Little League baseball. We have been playing catch a lot in the yard lately, she has moved up in gloves, now using Gabe's old Kerry Wood glove!

Last week Abbi started swimming for the Metro Swim Team at Central High School, an hour each weekday. I went and watched last Tuesday and I was real impressed with Abbi in the water. They work on technique and endurance, swimming lap after lap with a different stroke or variation of a stroke. Abbi has a couple friends on the team with her, so she is loving it! By 8:15 after dinner and homework she is ready for bed.

Gabe had a set back last Tuesday during Central's loss at Bettendorf. We were unable to attend with Abbi swimming and Elli at baseball, both the varsity and JV teams lost, but when Gabe got home we knew something was wrong. He complained of chest pain and had difficulty breathing. He thought it was his ribs. He collided with a Bettendorf player going for a ball. It was past 8pm when he got home, so Tiff called a nurse friend for some consulting. Ten minutes later they were out the door headed for the ER. Keeping me updated with text messages (we're so hip!) the doctor thought he had broken a couple ribs.

After some X-rays, no ribs were broken. He had some bruised cartilage in his chest. Gabe was given some pills and we kept him home from school last Wednesday, he was still in a lot of pain. He hasn't practiced full go, but only missed 1 game, earlier tonight a loss to North Scott. They were scheduled to compete in a tournament in Muscatine on Saturday, but it got weathered out. He is looking forward to Friday's game, he said today it was moved to Brady Street Stadium, where the new Field Turf surface should be completely installed by then.

I'll have the video camera out this week for some stuff to post soon. Keep checking back......

The Homecoming......

After staying a third night in the hospital, Ally and David finally welcomed home Reese to their home on Thursday afternoon. Elli and Abbi were very anxious to see their new cousin, so after all practices were done and the Millers were done with dinner we loaded the van for a visit!

Reese was asleep when we arrived, Riley was quite happy to have some people to play with! Gabe was first to hold the baby, he must have said 3 times how small she is....being a baby in all!! Elli was very excited and couldn't wait any longer, she took the reins for a few moments, but Riley started chasing Gabe and Abbi around the house, so Elli wanted in. Next came Abbi's turn. Reese still sleeping Abbi held her new cousin for a long time. Their dog Enzo was happy to see all too, he has remarkably turned into a very well behaved dog.

Their next door neighbors, our good friends and Abbi's best friend Miranda's parents, Scott and Michele came for a visit as well. David took us guys upstairs to show off the nursery and the work he had done on Riley's new room. We stayed for more than hour, Reese was asleep the entire visit, I'm sure she up most of the night!!!! To view these photos larger, click on them. Also...Hello Nicole!!!!!!!!!

More Reese....anyone????

It's mid afternoon, Reese is a mere day old, Tiff mentioned last night after I went to bed that Uncle Jamie had taken some good shots during his visit to the hospital yesterday. Jamie brought some dinner for Riley in the form of a Happy Meal from McDonalds on his hospital visit. The promotion on the bag was a spin off on American Idol. The bag had 4 'singers' who were musically named featured on the bag and each had it's own toy. Oddly enough 'Rockin' Riley' was in Riley's Happy Meal and if you turned it around a rather handsome young fellow by the name of 'Punky Pete' was rocking the back cover!

Riley getting close for a hug on Reese.

Again...the credit on these photos go to Jamie. Here is a couple of good shots of Reese with her eyes open. More to come....keep checking back!

New Niece.........Reese!!!!!

Born earlier this afternoon to Aunt Ally and Uncle David, Reese Elizabeth Miller, born April 14, 2008. She was 7 lbs 11 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.




Tiffany and I just got back from the hospital for our first visit of the little bundle of joy. Ally was resting comfortably, while David was chasing Riley around the room! We spent about a half hour there, visiting time was over at 8:30 and David wanted to get Riley back home. Unfortunately Riley didn't want to leave mommy at the hospital, Riley kept repeating the phrase...mommy come home, mommy come home...... as we left the hospital room with tears streaming down her face. Good luck tonight and tomorrow night at home David!!!!!!


Riley had no problem adjusting to life as the big sister, getting close to Reese and gently rubbing her little head when Tiff fed her a bottle. For the record....Reese has a head full of jet black hair. It was a special sight to see!!!

Spring Has Sprung

It's early Saturday morning and Tiffany and I went through the normal Thursday-Friday questions of who or whom can spend the night, and which night can they stay. Let's face it.......as parents we have done pretty good supplying our kids with plenty of activities to do around the house....or compound....as I like to call it. And with the weather getting a little sunnier and warmer with each passing day that same question will keep coming back.


This week we decided to let everyone have 1 person stay. Gabe went with an old standby, Zach Pearson, a great kid with a great sense of humor. Zach's mom Lisa taught Abbi and Elli kindergarten. Abbi called Abigail, but as I woke up this morning Elli asked where Abigail was, so I'm not sure if she made it through the night with us. Elli called her friend Claire, looks like they slept in the basement. Just went upstairs to find Gabe and Zach tuckered out in Gabe's bed!

Gabe is in the red, those are Zach's feet!

So everyone got to have someone over last night. It was was an incredibly tough week at work for me so I fell asleep very early, luckily our Christmas present from Grandma Marcia was a fake fireplace for our bedroom that provides the perfect amount of noise and heat when things are going on around the house, so I didn't hear much.

Last week was Spring Break for everyone except me, it was a little different this year for us, last year we spent the week with Grandma in Arizona! The question came....can so and so stay the night? The rule (that often gets broken) is if Dad is working the next day then no one stays the night. I've been burned before on a work night, kids up till 2 or 3 in the morning having a good time, just not a quiet time! Tiffany claimed I agreed to break the rule and allow kids to stay over Spring Break, but I don't recall to agreeing with that. Everyone had a couple people stay throughout the week.

Gabe informed us over Christmas of his intention to play soccer for Central this spring. He hasn't played soccer since fourth or fifth grade, so we tried to talk him out of it, never works and it didn't this time. Our point is....he is wasting valuable weight room time for football and now has informed us he will not try out for baseball this summer, which disappoints us. I think he is just afraid of getting cut, there is a lot players going out, the talent level is extremely high. So the first soccer game, actually first 2 soccer games were last Saturday. Central traditionally is not good at soccer, but this season may be different.

We were a bit surprised to see Gabe starting on defense, left side (he is left footed). He did his job quite well, take the ball away, pass to a mid fielder. He actually has some size on some of the forwards he has faced, it's always tougher going against someone who is bigger than you are. They were beaten 2-1 by Linn Mar, then defeated Maquoketa 2-1 later in the day. Gabe got a lot of playing time both games. Then Wednesday they played Assumption and beat them 3-1, he again started though didn't see any playing time in the second half, the coach played some varsity kids who didn't get time in the varsity win over Assumption before the sophomore game, there is no official freshman team. He looked quite cold sitting on the bench!

We are happy to report he his doing a great job and we think he is having a fun time. No game today, but he has 2 this week, we'll get some pictures or video posted soon.

Abbi has been asking since school started if she could bring her classroom pets home for the weekend, 2 gerbils, Midnight and Cinnamon. So this was the weekend! We had them rolling around in their play balls last night while getting caught up with some TV shows from last week. It was funny, Cinnamon was rolling all over the living room floors, but Midnight must have been tired, he didn't do much. Actually....I think I'm allergic to them, I haven't been breathing easy since their arrival!

Elli is a waiting a call from her Little League coach about practice starting for the new season, we've noticed the older age teams already practicing. We are just starting to plan out summer programs for the girls to participate in, like the dance class they did last year. We noticed that the Park Board is offering a Harry Potter class! We may sign Elli up for more swim lessons but not Abbi, she is set to join a swim club next week that practices at the Central pool. That girl loves the water!

Today we will spend a little time outside cleaning the yard and landscaping for the upcoming summer.