Ben, Becky, Kara, Kiersten,and Evie: 2013 is going.. going.. going

2013 has been a pretty great year for the Millers. This morning Kara was telling me she was sad that the year is almost over. She said it's been the "best year ever". It's been nice to be settled into our new home, and getting used to living here in Missouri. The girls have changed so much over the past year!

Karalee

Kara has enjoyed attending the CCL this year. She loves her days there, and even wishes she could go every day. Her love for reading has grown so much this year. I can't even count the number of times, I've gone to check on her in her bed at night, and found her at her desk reading. Often in the mornings, when I'm trying to get the girls ready for school, I have to keep checking on her, as she'll hide out in her closet, behind the bed, or in the sitting room to get some reading in. She loves being with her friends and acting silly. We can always count on her to liven up a situation. Yesterday we went to lunch, and she noticed a sign that said, "eat, drink, and get freaky". So she immediately started eating and drinking frantically and spazzing out.

Kara's 2013 accomplishments:

Karalee graduated from first grade and began second. She also graduated from Daisy scouts, and became a brownie. She loves earning badges with her troop. So far this year she has earned her pet badge, hiking badge, and a special badge for attending the nutcracker on Ice. She is doing very well with her swimming, and has graduated up to the highest level in swim lessons, barracuda. She loves science, and enjoys taking after school science classes whenever they are available. She wants to be a scientist when she grows up. She is torn between being a geologist, or a biologist. She loves watching netflix movies about ocean animals, especially dangerous ones, such as the cone snail, which I never knew about until she became fascinated with it. She also made a powerpoint on the computer all about the box jellyfish just for fun.

Karalee is 50.4 lbs and almost 53" tall.

Some of her favorite things:

favorite color: lime green

favorite animal: snow leopard

favorite food: ramen

favorite song: Party in the USA

favorite game: Marvel super heroes

favorite movie: Spiderman 2

favorite TV show: Jessie

best friend: Addison

favorite playtime activity: baseball

favorite toy: lego blocks

favorite non play activity: art

if she could see anyone in the world she would pick: Avery W

favorite outdoor activity: football (???)

favorite outfit: green lace dress

favorite activity with mom: scrapbooking

favorite activity with dad: Wii U

food she doesn't like: stuffing

one thing she dislikes: zombies with their eyes poked out

Kiersten Joy

Kiersten has been such a busy girl this year. She really enjoys being around people, adults or children. She loves to tell everyone how much she loves them, and to be surrounded by happiness. She is very adventurous, and willing to try most anything we ask of her. She really loves playing games with her sisters. She asks Kara to play games at least once a day, usually more. She also considers it a special treat whenever she can convince Daddy to play. She enjoys school and loves all of her new friends there. She is always talking about her teacher, and how cool and nice she is. She is VERY excited that her teacher is expecting a baby. I think she believes the baby will be coming to school once she is born. She gets to attend adventure club 3 days a week before school, and loves all of the art and projects she gets to do there. She has 3 adventure club teachers, and loves them all dearly. When we have gone to school events, I always spot the adventure club teachers pretty quickly, because she spots them, and her eyes light up.

2013 accomplishments:

Kiersten graduated from preschool and started attending kindergarten. She has become a great reader. I am often surprised when she reads something I don't expect her to understand. She started in the Daisy scouts, and is loving it so far. She lost her first tooth a few weeks ago. She played spring and fall soccer, and is ready to join a team that plays real games, and keeps score. She loves being competitive. She tries very hard to keep up with Kara. She zoomed through her last 2 levels of swim lessons, and is now in the same class with Kara. She is so thrilled to have caught up, though Kara is slightly annoyed about it. When she is having a hard time doing something, all it takes is seeing Kara doing it, and that is enough motivation for her to push through. She is my little athlete. She runs circles around both of her sisters, and sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with her on the way to and from the bus stop. She's always running or skipping. She is also really into singing. She picks up songs after hearing them just once or twice. She sings along with everything on the radio. I was pretty surprised a few months ago, when she was walking around the house singing "head like a hole" by Nine inch nails. We had heard it once on the radio earlier that week. Kiersten is 41 lbs, and 46" tall.

Kiersten's favorites:

favorite color: blue

favorite animal: giraffe

favorite food: spinach

favorite song: Call me Maybe

favorite game: bingo

favorite movie: The Little Mermaid

favorite TV show: Looney toons

best friend: Teagan

favorite playtime activity: Wii U

favorite toy: fur real kitty

favorite non play activity: sitting around

if she could see anyone in the world she would pick: Jesus

favorite outdoor activity: playing in the grass if she doesn't get a rash

favorite outfit: princess dress Mommy made for Disneyworld

favorite activity with mom: snuggling

favorite activity with dad: cuddling

food she doesn't like: cheese (???)

one thing she dislikes: poor people not having money and their kids not having enough food

Evangeline

My Evie pie is really growing up. She is a happy little thing, and always wakes up at the same time every morning. She loves all of her little friends, and has recently declared a little boy down the street to be her boyfriend. I hear several times a day about, "Tyson is my boyfriend", "I'm gonna marry Tyson when we grow up", and "I'm so in love with Tyson". It is pretty cute, and reminds me of Kiersten at that age wanting to Marry Prince Eric and Uncle Victor. She has such a funny little attitude. Sometimes it does get trying, but it is one of the things we love about her. She is always keeping us laughing with the silly things she says. She has recently decided that she is not a baby anymore. She doesn't want me to walk her into school in the mornings. She says, "just dwop me off since I'm one of da big kids now". She is so proud of her counting skills, and always asks us if we'd like to listen to her count. She also loves making different faces, and is always asking us, "wanna see my happy face", "silly face", "mad face", etc. she gets pretty creative with it too.
Evie's 2013 accomplishments:
Evie graduated from the baby class at preschool, and started attending the regular preschool. she loves her teacher and her friends. I love picking her up from school and hearing all about what each kid did and said that day. I always know if someone got in trouble, got hurt, or said something silly. Her teacher tells me that she is a leader in her class, and sometimes she can get a little bossy. She has gotten in trouble once, for fighting with a little girl who called her a baby, and said she belongs in the baby class. But she was definitley scared straight by some time in the naughty chair. Now she makes sure to behave at school. She has been learning lots of new songs, and is working on letters and counting at school. She told me she wants to learn to read. So I told her as soon as she can write all of her letters and say their sounds we will begin to work on reading. She has gotten very good at writing her name, and I think it's starting to be legible to other people besides me. Evie weighs 34lbs and is 40" tall.
Some of her favorite things:

favorite color: purple

favorite animal: pig

favorite food: cereal

favorite song: jingle bells

favorite game: memory

favorite movie: Finding Nemo

favorite TV show: Doc McStuffins

best friend: Colbie, Eva, and Adalyn (she couldn't pick just one)

favorite playtime activity: playing dolls

favorite toy: Singing Doc McStuffins

favorite non play activity: drawing

if she could see anyone in the world she would pick: Eva