The McMillen Family

When thinking about these words, many things come to mind.  This is the goal of parents and teachers all over, but how is usually the question.  How do you motivate kids who don’t care?  Well – These are the things I used to think about . . . NOW – These words bring to mind – Coach Dan Mullens – AKA “Dan the Man”.  Who when moving to The Beautiful city of Starkville last fall, hung up the motivation sign of the year!  The Countdown to the “Team Up North”.   He put the goal in front of the team from the beginning of the end of the season.  Constantly ticking, always a reminder, pushing forward, he motivated and inspired these passion-filled players!  After a few disappointing seasons, the players and the fans joined in with new motivation and inspiration to set new records on number of fans attending the games, to play every quarter with heart, and to ring their cowbells with new found passion!  Many coaches have a quote, but I think Coach Mullens quote is the best and lifetime guaran

(If you haven’t shared your thankful thoughts, please feel free!) 55. Good Neighbors who take out your trash – So, After seeing that my neighbors had their trash out today (And Friday is normally Trash day), I put out ours.  Then my mom called and said my trash day was tomorrow.  Before I remembered to go get it – The trash was gone.  I’m pretty sure my neighbor took out our trash and the other neighbors trash too!  56. Chocolate cake – Just like my mom makes  - - JM 57. Mrs. Anita and Jimmy came brought Thanksgiving to us!  We had such a great time fellowshipping with them tonight! 58. Christmas decorations that help you get in the Holiday Spirit!

32. See comments (Thanks Hillery!) 33. The new member of the family – Drew proposed to Amber last night!!  A new brother-in-law to be! 34. Having the entire family home for Thanksgiving. 35. Being able to sing and play the piano with Brooks (and his guitar) and Amber’s sweet voice! 36. For fun Family games – Such as Loaded Questions 37. Learning to cook Chicken N Dressing from my Mother-in-law! 38. Being able to take family vacations every year! 39.Technology – That allows me to share my thoughts online! 40. Funny Family stories that never get old! 41. Being able to spend Thanksgiving Holidays with my husband! 42. Good food and great cooks (especially from today!) 43. The opportunity, I get everyday to work with students! 44. The students that keep me on my toes, especially this time of year! 45. For having the opportunity to change a students’ lives everyday – even though the responsibility is HUGE, it is a wonderful opportunity! 46. Being able everyday to

Today’s Topic – FAMILY 11. (See Comments from previous blog) Posted by Hillery 12.(See Comments from previous blog) Posted by Deanna 13. Justin’s sweet smile and wonderful disposition.  His willingness and dedication to support me, even when times are tough. 14. Mom -  Who shares her beautiful smile with all of us.  Who raised 4 children (still not sure how) and taught us many skills.  Who is loving and supportive in everything I do and has taught me about loving God, marriage, and teaching. 15. Dad – Who gave me the ability to speak to strangers and speak up even when it’s not popular to do so.  Who taught me to plan and organize.  Who has prayed with mom daily for all of their children.  And loved us unconditionally! 16. Amber – My little sister, who is an inspiration to me always.  She has a sweet personality with compassion and love for those in need.  She has an inspiring love for Christ and is not afraid to venture into unknown territory to serve HIM! 17. Amy and JD

With Thanksgiving upon us, I thought it would be great for us to share in this time together!  We have all been blessed beyond measure!  So, I thought why not share our thanksgivings and praise the Lord for our blessings together!  Many of you aren’t bloggers, but here’s your chance! I will commit to 50 Thankful Thoughts before Friday (spread over a few blogs), and hopefully you guessed the rest!  Yes – Readers and Fellow Bloggers, I am challenging you to post the other 50 Thankful Thoughts with your comments.  (This is simple – Click on Comments below this or any future blog posts.  A new webpage will load with  a text box.  Type your comments and leave your name if you don’t mind. Click Post comment.)  Let’s Get Started!! I am thankful for . . . 1. My salvation – For Jesus our Savior and His sacrifice for our sins. 2. My raising – My parents raised me in a Christian home, where attending church was not an option, but expected.  Where reading your Bible daily was taught and he

Ouida Hamilton ECRU – Catherine Ouida Bush Hamilton, better known as “Mrs. Ouida,” 91, peacefully and gracefully journeyed to be with her Lord and Savior as her grandchildren sang praises to her heavenly Father and read the scriptures that she had so often read to them. She made this journey on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009, following her husband who made this journey on Nov. 20, 1969. She was born Sept. 18, 1918, in Greenwood to Flonnie Arant and Albert Jasper Bush Sr. At an early age, she professed her faith in the Lord. She was a living legacy of faith as a beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She received her bachelor’s degree in math and science from “The W” and began her teaching career in Randolph, where she met her future husband, J. Brooks Hamilton, whom she later married on May 30, 1941. She taught high school mathematics at Ecru High School until her children were born, at which time she and her husband established Hamilton Manufacturing Company. Af

I apologize for not being a better blogger.  Things get busy, I get lazy, and life moves on without blog updates.  I would promise to be better, but I’ll be honest that’s not going to happen.  Some days blogging comes natural to me and other days a nap comes natural (especially in the winter).  But I digress . . . Justin had his checkup with the docs in Tupelo today.  Everything went well.  They ran the standard EKG, blood pressure, heart rate, breath in-breath out, are you having any trouble, etc.   That was pretty much it.   He continues to be on no prescription meds which is such a blessing!  The doc said that he can go back to work soon, continue his walking and building up his strength.  The doc said with his walking, it was more about time than speed.  He said he would encourage taking a less strenuous walk for a longer period of time, so we will work on that.  Justin is already making a full loop around the yard without getting winded, which is about 1/3 of a mile.  It doesn’t

  Warning – some information in this blog entry may come as a shock, however (as the author) I promise that all are true and sometimes “the truth hurts”. Justin and I dated for a little over 3 years before getting married.  During that time, we spent most of our waking moments together!  Once we got married, we obviously also spent most of our waking moments together.  I, a teacher, and Justin, a bank employee, we share most major holidays!  So, very often when I had a 3-day weekend – so did Justin.   As newlyweds, this sounds awesome right??  Honesty – for the first year, these were not my favorite weekends.  They always started out great and I was excited we would have an extra day off to spend together, but by lunch time on Monday I was ready to go back to work.  I think the main reason was sometime around 8am on Monday, my guilty conscious (the one your mom instills in you that says “Get up off the couch and do some housework!” OR as Am and I call it - “the voice inside my head”)