Thursday, December 24, 2009

Happy Buddy Day!

so we had a REALLY happy buddy day. becky and jeff arrived first (so we FINALLY got to meet him). the wadsworths and stonesifers followed soon after in a boy van load and a girl van! madsons joined in with lots of goodies to share. and chris arrived last (but never least) welcomed by lots of happy children yelling surprize. My Buddy even showed up from a keepsake box in the attic! and for our buddies far away who couldn't attend . . . we missed you. here's our version of the fun:i think and hope that we ate well. kendra led the children in a super fun game of simon sez. the wadsworths supplied some games. the dads got to play. the moms got to talk about cloth diapers, school, and that kim is not the superwoman that she appears to be. (look for the superwoman disclaimer in future blogs.) the children enjoyed cookies and sweets and toys a whole bunch. and we all took turns not neglecting the little ones. jeff and becky played buddy sitters for quite a while which was really sweet and enjoyable. jeff led 12 kiddos in singing their own versions of happy buddy day (to the tune of happy birthday). lots of sugar, soda, munchies, snacks, games, conversations, etc. so much fun that i forgot to serve the hot chocolate (though it was set out on the counter the whole evening!) and to take pictures. so these are the only milligan photos of the day. since we had so many good photographers in the house, i'm sure you'll all have yours up on facebook or something. we milligans just cannot commit to joining that crowd, so maybe some nice buddies could blog every once in a while so we can still keep up a bit?!? we do want to keep in touch with buddies and such, (someday i'll have to take some time to share our facebook disclaimer since i'm an explanation kinda girl) and we feel so blessed that you all traveled and took time out to join us for a fun day in our home! we hope you all had a happy buddy day too!! THANK YOU!love in Him
the milligan bunch
mark, kim, hogan, owen, leannora, nikao, able and shiloh

Happy Buddy Day to you, until we meet again . . . bumbadoodah bumbadoodah bumbadooo dahh
(my buddy song is to the tune of happy trails to you)

Milligan Christmas Letter 2009

Hello and Merry Christmas from the Milligan family! This letter is an attempt at a family update. (A simple disclaimer: both Mark and Kim have contributed to the writing, so we apologize now for any confusion.) Well, though we’ve tried to move a couple of times this year, we are still in our big blessing Edgerton house. We would love to have a bit of land, but we trust that our God has a wise plan for us. It has been good to be content and thankful for the great gifts God has given. The hustle and bustle of house repairs and readiness is behind, and for this season we have been able to ignore the itch to be on the go and rest for a bit. (This is a new thing to us!) Work has been a bit slow, but the family is growing right on schedule.

Shiloh is nine months old, just like we thought she would be about now. She’s becoming a sweetest little girl. Sober is often the word to describe Shiloh, but she will always burst forth a beautiful smile at just the right moment. Then just as abruptly as the smiles and giggles come, they vanish into a silly sober smirk or a thumb popped in her mouth. She’s a beautiful addition to this crazy, cozy circus called the Milligan household. Some days we just sit back on the couch, laugh, and enjoy the show.

Able is our small, wandering friend. (I remember Nikao doing that for a time, but Kim says that he only did it for the cookie table at church meetings.) So, maybe that’s just Able’s way, and he’ll remain the child who freely roams. What is nice, is that he is also very sociable – an entertainer, even.

Nikao is done with paper pants, so now we’re down to two in diapers. (Able seems close, too. That would be dreamy!) Nikao has been really getting better at talking. He’s such a fun bright-faced boy. One day recently Nikao was able to go tuning with Papa. It was a pretty special day for a little boy who’s on his way to growing up and a daddy who loves his little boy.

Leannora has been singing the Greek alphabet. She has heard Hogan practicing enough, that she has simply picked it up. What a way to learn! Leannora is always making music – humming, whistling, singing, creating songs – it is so fun. She loves to read and draw and LOVES the color pink! She also has some new found friends. It has been sweet to watch her grow as she has mostly known a household of brothers.

The big brothers, Hogan and Owen, are our official students this year. The boys work together on many subjects. That has been great as they help and complement one another so well. Besides working at Greek, Hogan is reading about Pilgrims, Indians, and early American stories. It’s hard work sometimes to pull him away from a book! Owen gets a bit fidgety at times, but as long as he gets in some sneak around time he seems to do well. Owen really loves science and experiments and just about anything he can do with his hands.

We have been trying to get a bit more organized, lately. Our friends, the Robertstad family, have given us some of their old homeschool books/curriculum. It’s been fun. The organization work has already been done and we just make the details work and fit our family. Though we lack consistency, the flexibility is wonderful. We’ve found ourselves to be better at routine than schedules. It has been a great relief to shed off standards and expectations.

God has given us a great gift this year – some close by friends! The Crenshaw family have become close friends over the last months. We play games and study the Scriptures and share meals and have picnics and other sorts of things together. They have 3 children that our children love dearly. And in places where our families don’t quite match up they give us grace and love us anyway!

Ah, fellowship has been sweet and full this year! Our week starts with the church meeting in our homes on Sunday evening. Monday morning at 7am, I (Mark) meet with Jason Crenshaw to read through The Work Of The Holy Spirit by Octavius Winslow (it’s a sweet time together with a sweet book). On Wednesday, we pray with the Robertstad family (our other friends who have blessed our socks off!) On Thursday, we have been going to the Crenshaw’s to discuss Knowing God by J. I. Packer. On Saturday, I have been meeting with Mr. Crenshaw

and Mr. Robertstad to discuss the Westminster Confession of Faith. Other things fit in the in-between times. It’s been enjoyable.

The Lord is good to us. He is helping us to grow up – we need a lot of that. In His timing we wait for His Spirit to grow our faith. We also need a lot of strength, patience, wisdom, discipline, gentleness, love, etc. He’s supplying all that we need for life and godliness. We’ve been enjoying Him more and more, learning deeper ways to live in Christ and be dead to the flesh, as it is written. One of the latest scriptures that has brought me encouragement is 1 Corinthians 15:10, which tells us that life in Christ is not just the spiritual/mystical stuff, but also the visible and practical stuff like doing dishes and raising children. I have been concluding that in all our labors, we should be able to say, “yet, not I, but the grace of God in me.”



“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God in me. 1 Co. 15:10


Love in Him,

The Milligan family

Mark, Kim, Hogan, Owen, Leannora, Nikao, Able, and Shiloh

Friday, December 11, 2009

Buddy Day - Christmas '09

Alright, ya'll: December 20th. All day (or more if we all get snowed in). Old-time Buddies. Our old house. Hot cocoa. Hot woodstove. Games. Catching up. Bing Crosby. Eggnog.

It'll be more fun than a stick in your eye. So, be there or be square, yo.


Tuesday, November 24, 2009

we're puttin' 'em to work early


here's our shiloh sweetie at 9 months. she wants to be a big helper. do you see the little dirt pile beside her rollie car? good job girlie!

we've been keeping busy.
shiloh can drive just about anywhere in the house with her rollie rollie.
able is a talkin' away these days. he's a trick to keep up with and still in his tornado ways.
nikao is a delight and is proudly wearing big boy underware all day and all night!
leannora has had a full social schedule with neighbor girlies asking - can leannora come out and play?
owen and hogan are our official students this year. history has been the blast with the boys. (leannora is often joining in with a twist of the hair - not so sure of the adventure stories we've been reading.)
momma has been enjoying the learning time during quiet time. a nice trick to keep tabs on the little ones while we accomplish things that need our attention without constant interruption.
we've been meeting sunday afternoons for church in our homes with the robertstad family here in edgerton. that has been a delight. fellowship has been sweet and full as we have been enjoying spending time with a family in milton too - the crenshaw family. both families have been a gift from God as we've been a long time praying for friends such as these!

Friday, October 30, 2009

kim's turn to use a quote

(i was thinking about this a good month ago - when i typed up this quote. now i'm finally getting around to posting my thoughts)

this lengthy quote is taken from a sermon named God in the Covenant by C. H. Spurgeon


"I will be their God."—Jeremiah 31:33.

But even here there is something special in regard to the child of God. Though God is the ruler of all men, yet his rule is special towards his children; for he lays aside the sword of his rulership, and in his hand he grasps the rod for his child, not the sword of punitive vengeance. While he gives the world a law upon stone, he gives to his child a law in his heart. God is my governor and yours, but if you are unregenerate, he is your governor in a different sense from what he is mine. He has ten times as much claim to my obedience as he has to yours. Seeing that he has done more for me, I am bound to do more for him; seeing that he has loved me more, I am bound to love him more. But should I disobey, the vengeance on my head shall not fall so heavily as on yours, if you are out of Christ; for that vengeance incurred by me has already fallen upon Christ, my substitute, and only the chastisement shall remain for me; so that there again you see where the relationship to all men is universal, there is something special in it in reference to God's children.
    Again: God has a universal power over all his creatures in the character of a Judge. He will "judge the world in righteousness and his people with equity." He will judge all men with equity it is true; but, as if his people were not of the world, it is added afterwards, "his people with equity."
God is the God of all creatures, we repeat, in the sense that he is their Judge; he will summon them all before his bar, and condemn or acquit them all, but even there, there is something peculiar with regard to his children, for to them the condemnation sentence shall never come, but only the acquittal. While he is Judge of all, he especially is their judge; because he is the judge whom they love to reverence, the judge whom they long to approach, because they know his lips will confirm that which their hearts have already felt—the sentence of their full acquittal through the merits of their glorious Saviour. Our loving God is the Judge who shall acquit our souls, and in that respect we can say he is our God. So, then, whether as Sovereign, or as Governor enforcing law, or as Judge punishing sin; although God is in some sense the God of all men, yet in this matter there is something special towards his people, so that they can say, "He is our God, even in those relationships."

those big bold sections just jumped out at me when we first read this sermon - God is the judge whom we long to approach! we will not be condemned before Him if He has adopted us as His children! now, i have believed this to be true for some time, but the reality of it's truth working out in my daily life and thoughts is pretty amazing to me!! though i have believed in some sort of the sense, my heart has led me astray to think that somehow i am guilty, guilty, guilty. ahh, to know i am in liberty to approach God even in my shame because Jesus Christ has redeemed and set me free!

i hope the beauty of this hope is yours in full!

(and i'm sorry about all the crazy fonts and sizes and such - i tried to go back and fix my mess, but it wouldn't change.)

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Another Quote.

"And, let it not be forgotten that the growth of the believer in the experience of the truth, is as much the work of the eternal Spirit as was the first production of Divine life in the soul. The dependence of the believer on the Spirit by no means ceases in conversion. There are after stages along which it is his office to conduct the believing soul. Deeper views of sin's exceeding sinfulness,—a more thorough knowledge of self, more enlarged discoveries of Christ,—a more simple and habitual resting upon his finished work, — increasing conformity to the Divine image,—the daily victory over indwelling sin, and a constant meeting for the inheritance of the saints in light, all these worketh the one and the selfsame Spirit, who first breathed into his soul the breath of spiritual life. Not a step can the believer advance without the Spirit.—Not a victory can he achieve without the Spirit. — Not a moment can he exist without the Spirit. As he needed Him at the first, so he needs Him all his journey through. And so he will have him, until the soul passes over Jordan. To the last ebbing of life, the blessed Spirit will be his Teacher, his Comforter, and his Guide. To the last, he will testify of Jesus ; to the last, he will apply the atoning blood; and to the very entrance of the happy saint into glory, the eternal Spirit of God —faithful, loving to the last—will be present to whisper words of pardon, assurance, and peace. Holy Spirit! build us up in the infinite dignity of thy person, and in the surpassing greatness and glory of thy work!" -- Octavius Winslow (1840)

Monday, October 19, 2009

Quote

"We must be content to have our fruitfulness and spiritual value registered in the unseen... and not be dominated by the scales of values as set up by men on the earth." -- T. Austin Sparks

Thursday, October 8, 2009

haircuts

Before.






During.






After.


Saturday, September 5, 2009

Baptisms


So, on August 22, Hogan, Owen, and Leannora were baptized. I am still trying to get a grip on the whole baptism thing. I know every parent has different beliefs on this one, but anywho, here's what we did. I haven't pushed them on it. But, I have made it clear that Jesus instructed his disciples to make more disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit. As far as I can tell, it's just a simple testimony to yourself and any witnesses (if any). It seems to be an outward sign of and inward reality (purification/sanctification). God instructed the Iraelites to wash certain items or people to sanctify them for service in God's temple.

Anyway, the three children all asked me if they can be baptized. So, I did. We had some family and some church meet down at the Rock River at a boat launch behind a little tavern in a little town called Indianford. It was fast and simple and done. However, Owen didn't like the crowd, so I baptized him before everyone got there.

So, I told them since they're baptized disciples of Messiah, it's their job to continue walking with Him, learning His teachings... and then to make more disciples and baptize them.

So, that's the best of my understanding on the subject. I'm just thankful that they are learning to really know God. Praise to God!

Mark

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

home

we're home!
we took our house off the market a couple weeks back.
ahh, it feels good to know this is home!
so we do not have any plans to be moving soon.
it is good.
and we'll just have to wait and watch for God to provide.

we're officially homeschooling 2 children this year!
wow!
and life seems to get busier by the minute at times.

well, i've been feeling pretty brainless these days.
always seem to be catching up to whatever just ran by.
just thought i'd share a simple update.
more pictures another day.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

summer stunts

owen, our amazing climber. a boy after his daddy's own heart.
owen is climbing a light pole in a church parking lot.
notice able below. in a couple of years he will be up there with owen!

this house selling stuff is crazy. i'm not sure where the summer has gone and what to expect with the rest of it ahead. evenso, we've still had lots of fun and God's streamlining program is working nonetheless. i guess we've hit lots of depths and heights in the whole process. it's been good, bad, ugly, and great. good in that we can always trust God. bad in our responses to His work. ugly in seeing our sin and fleshly spirituality. yet great as the convictions are covered over with His love and the challenges are producing a fruit of desiring Him in a wonderfully refreshing way.

a few highlights of summer so far . . .

sunshining our little white ones

visiting grandpa bill and grandma sara at their farm in iowa

this isn't the best perspective, but if you look close
you might notice that hogan is missing his 2 front teeth!


sending summer smiles to ya'll from the bunch of us milligans
we'll try to keep you
POSTED
on our happenings

shiloh sweetness





here's a few shiloh pictures at 3 and 4 months old. she's a sweet little lady and SO loved by her big brothers and sister. just lately she's been learning to laugh, finding her feet, and enjoying her fingers (especially sucking her thumbs). i wish i could describe her delightfulness and the joy she brings to our family. babies are just sooooo wonderful! we hope God will bless us with a bunch more. and we pray that our Lord and Savior will show them His great grace as we are increasingly convicted and humbled by our many weaknesses. we alone are so inadequate to the responsibility before us, yet God is sovreignly strengthening our family.

i'm typing one handed with shiloh on my lap. she doesn't want to miss out on anything!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

A little man's thoughts on creation.

I certainly don't have much figured out, but here are some of my thoughts about Ken Ham and the Creation topic in general.

For starters, I must declare that creation science/theology has a special place in my heart. Not only do I just enjoy thinking about it, but God used creation science to give my parents and brother (and me) a deeper relationship with God. Before my family was walking with Christ, we were all evolutionists (and we mocked those ignorant creationists). We all had a hard time trusting God's word. We thought it was just stories, or something. If evolution were true, it was clear to us that the Bible could not be. I was saved without reconciling this. But, the rest of my family explain that once they saw a series of messages about how unscientific evolution really is, and how true the Bible is (scientifically), they were able to accept the full message of the Scriptures (though there is more to the story).

As far as I can tell, people are all different. Some don't care about science, or logic, or the ramifications of the creation account. Some do. And some are in the middle. Etc. I know some pretty awesome brothers and sisters who don't care about the science of Genesis. I also know brothers who would not trust God because of the evolution lies they bought into. I think it is cool how God uses an amazing variety of scenarios to help lead people to trust Himself. So, as a community of Christ followers, I think that it is valuable to encourage different ministries in their outreach to different groups of people. With the creation topic, I think it is perhaps emphasized so heavily because evolution has been so strongly foisted upon our culture. I find that many of the teachers/ministries that we enjoy learning from tend to be reactionary to some false teaching or another. So, we are learning to glean the main ideas and leave behind the over-emphases (or so we try).

I think that the book of Genesis has something like preeminence among the books of the Bible (not to demean the rest). Only because it lays the cornerstone of the entire history of creation as well as the character and redemptive plan of God. It also chronicles over one-third of all history (about 40%). Even just the first few chapters (the creation account) reveal the earth, the image-bearers (us), our purpose and charge, the angels and demons, the need for a savior, God's justice and mercy and sovereignty, God's plan for a promised redeemer and overcomer, etc. I also think that if the first book of the Bible is not believed to be wholly true, than the rest loses its credibility. It seems that Satan already knows that. My guess is that evolution is a "doctrine of demons." We should certainly be polite and compassionate while discussing creation, but it just makes sense that it would be offensive to a person who denies Christ. If you just run a search for "Creationist" and start reading the sites and comments and forums, you'll quickly find out how heated this battle is. Unfortunately, many Christians don't use very good manners.

As far as Ken Ham goes, I have found him to be about as solid of an apologist as I've encountered. I have really been encouraged from his teaching (though I still find things that I disagree over). Kim and I went to the Creation Museum last Summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very much geared toward the skeptic. I was delighted with how tactfully and sensitively it dealt with such a hot topic.

Anywho, I guess that's some of what I think. Let me know if I'm way off... or even a little.
Oh, in case you're wondering, I'm the little man of my title. Hogan used to remind me often that I'm just a little man (my stature), and I have latched onto the title. It helps me battle that nasty ol' pride.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

whew!

we're winding down from all the excitement of the past few weeks. this has been an incredible ride. we are sooooo thankful that God has given us this time to trust Him and grow as a family. rather than try to reword all my thoughts so late at night, i'll just copy a part of my family newsletter article which summarizes things a bit more sensibly than i can at this moment. hee hee.

we've surprized even ourselves with this month's news. what was supposed to be an uneventful, quiet month of caring for children with the chicken pox, turned into a very full turn of events . . . kim happened across an interesting property in edgerton. it caught our eye because the yard backs up into a large wooded area just on the edge of town. the house is in need of a bunch of work, but after looking at it with our parents, and considering the asking price, we thought we could make it work. so . .. we make an offer 2 days later. crazy, huh?!?! our offer is contingent upon the sale of our house, so . . . we began the mad rush to complete unfininshed projects, unclutter, and get the house ready to sell. we went back and forth, but finally decided not to do the for-sale-by-owner route. after 2 weeks of intensive work, we listed the house using the buyer's agent as our realtor memorial weekend.
needless to say, we did remain at home through the entire month of may. not only because of homework, but also because we went through 2 rounds of the chicken pox. the children were amazing! we had fun doing special things like watching movies (mark introduced the children to STAR WARS!!! - this also included pulling out our light saber collection - 5 or so of them and one fully functioning homemade by mark back when episode 1 first came out!) we had special snacks - lots and lots of yummy real fruit popsicles, (oh, and uncle joe popcorn to go along with the movies), oatmeal baths complete with a snack of raisins, calamine lotion polka dots and coconut oil massages, and some funny photos and videos of kiddos. they were all wonderful and that aspect of the month seemed somewhat a breeze.the children have also been wonderful workers and helpers with all the other adventurous happenings. we have been amazed at how all of this has brought us together and refocused our daily relating. we all feel so free from uncluttering and organizing our home, ordering priorities, deliberately working at clear communication, and just simply waiting to see what God has for our family. (which is really not so simple as it seems here on page because we have been stretched and challenged incredibly in all this. yet it has been SO GOOD!) so we've all determined to be thankful for what God has given us, and what He will do in and with us, and trust Him to let us be content in whatever happens here or there. it's all good!
i guess i just wanted to update ya'll on the more personal side of things with this praise the Lord post. maybe all of this latest adventure is just to grow us up in Him a bit more. we honestly haven't been content with what He has given us. i think we are learning some important lessons on holding our hands open before the Lord. i read a cool article this past week that seemed to describe my heart in the matter. it said something about not holding an idea too tightly in your hand. instead, give it to the Lord. we should hold things loose enough so that if they fall through our fingers (or don't go the way we hope or plan) that we can trust God's sovreignty. or something like that. anyway . . . i related it to feeling anxious about selling our house. for me, early this week i'd been holding on to our cozy home and not wanting to let it go. but before all this i had been holding on to a dream of land and other stuff and simply not being thankful for the blessings of our current home. hmmm . . . well, my praise is that God is letting me rest in Him without any anxiousness! and i am so enjoying the work that He is accomplishing. that He is setting our family free to know Him more! WOW!

okay. i'll be off now . . .

Monday, May 25, 2009

House for sale

Anyone want a big house?
Here's a link to our house listing: http://www.wisconsinhomes.com/search/search.php?step=quickaddr&search=1&where=streetaddr&street=albion+st

We're on the list at 206 Albion St.

Here's a link to the house we have made an offer on: http://www.wisconsinhomes.com/search/search.php?step=quickaddr&search=1&where=streetaddr&street=707+s+main

It is 707 S Main St.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

chicken pox: ROUND 2 & other news

able broke out with the chicken pox on sunday - i think. maybe it was saturday though?
i noticed nikao has one "chicken spot" just this morning. leannora and owen are healing up very well. we more than survived the first round. the children were excellent troupers! i'm really glad that they didn't all get hit at the same time. somehow i think that just being used having a busy life with a large family has made the chicken pox not as difficult for us as i had imagined it would be. (does that run on sentance make any sense?)

other news . . .
we have made an offer on a house here in edgerton. we signed the counter offer on sunday morning. now we are madly getting the house ready to sell. my parents helped us like crazy last week with painting projects. we've had lots of unfinished jobs to complete. and now we're in the uncluttering process too. boy have we accumulated lots of stuff! so we're setting out to do the seemingly impossible and have our house all ready by thursday of this week. crazy! we'll be trying the for-sale-by-owner thing first, so maybe we can get a post up of all this house stuff soon!

gotta get to work!
please pray for us!!!!! we're asking God to shut doors if this is not His will for our family.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

chicken pox day 4 among other things

each morning i've been doing a chick check. well, owen is our new winner. he's been tolerating a whole bunch of spots under his clothes without any complaints. just after my post yesterday, he voiced his first uncomfort. i looked him over and was amazed. i thought leannora was covered, but owen surely had her beat. so now on day 4, we've used up 1/2 of our container of calamine lotion. the children have not wanted the pink stuff on their faces, so we've used coconut oil on the visible areas. i have no idea what that'll do, but they smell really good! able and nikao are still clear of any signs. and shiloh has been wonderful. the poor dear has been couped up in our room with visits from mommy and daddy fairly regular, but she is tired of being on the bed by her lonesome.

last night mark let me go out with some ladies to a pampered chef party. i'm not really a fan of parties selling products at all, but the girls that were going and the host are dear friends and i didn't want to miss out on an opportunity of sweet fellowship. shiloh loved the momma and lady attention. but we did not love that i accidently ate an extremely HOT pepper. it was little and purple and dried i think. i actually thought it was a funny bean in the chinese stir fry that we made. while i was changing shiloh's diaper i missed the warning not to eat those seasoning accents to the meal. whoa! was that a surprize! my ears turned red and i cried and everything. thankfully, a friend rescued me with some milk. mostly i felt so stupid and concerned for how my nursing baby would handle the thing. (she was fine. she slept well, but was letting wind all night in her sleep!)

when i returned home, i found mark and hogan and owen watching star wars together. this was the first time the boys had watched the movie. it was a really special time. they watched the first half last night and finished it during quiet time today. and leannora got to join in the fun this afternoon! we've had some fun conversations! i'll be interested to see how their immaginative play changes. hmmm . . . cowboy spys in space!?!

we had some more visitors this evening. though no one trying to catch the chicken pox. our friends the robertstad family joined us for prayer and dessert. we've been regularly meeting with them for about the last year to seek the Lord together about all sorts of things. one of them being the possibility of home church. actually, we've begun somewhat officially meeting on sat. evenings after Easter. so we've been opening our homes to sing, share, pray, and practice one anothering each other with a variety of families. it has been such an awesome experience waiting on the Holy Spirit's leading in such a new way. God has been putting unity and pressing community on our hearts. and there is so much more i'd love to say, but this post was supposed to be about chicken pox. :)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

chicken pox update

owen broke out with the chicken pox yesterday. he still only has a few spots and is not too uncomfortable. although, it's going to be really hard for him to control his hands and not scratch his itchy spots.

leannora is on day 3. day 1 she wasn't too bothered by them. we put coconut oil on her and she was still happy to be the winner. we got a phone call from a little friend named ava. she asked if leannora could come out and play. it was so cute and so hard to tell her mommy that leannora has the chicken pox and couldn't play. so we we're a little disappointed about that, but then grandpa and grandma strub came over for supper. after the children went to bed we played a game of settlers of catan with the fog scenario of the seafarers expansion. we're hooked! grandma won.

day 2 of leannora's chicken pox was not as happy for her. her spots had at least doubled and she was ITCHY. she has been doing an awesome job of not complaining or being too whiney. i'm amazed at her attitude! she enjoyed her bath of oatmeal. but i forgot to let her have raisins in the bathtub. (we eat raisins with our oatmeal for breakfast. she thought it would be pretty funny to eat raisins with her oatmeal bath!) i also forgot to break open the popsicles yesterday. although the children did get to watch a couple of videos before bedtime. oh yeah, we had visitors yesterday. some new friends of ours brought their 4 children over to get exposed. they played for a couple of hours and stayed for lunch. that was fun. it was a great time for the children and helped to keep things happy and adventurous. mark was in milwaukee tuning all day and played a bit of frisbee golf with my dad before heading to band practice in the evening. he missed all of our "fun".

so today is day 3. i think leannora's spots doubled again overnight because she is covered! she wanted to wear a dress today so she could look pretty. we remembered to let her eat raisins while taking her oatmeal bath! we also remembered the fruit popsicles!! she's taking a long nap on the couch just now while the little ones are sleeping upstairs for quiet time. i'll try to put up a not so embarassing picture sometime on a future update.

Monday, May 4, 2009

we've got the chicks!

breaking (out) news!

just this morning we spotted the pox.

while Leannora and i were doing our reading learning time together, i noticed a funny looking pimple on her face. the funny thing is, i wasn't even thinking about the chicken pox. it wasn't until we were done reading that i realized she has the chicken pox. so, Leannora is the winner! she's got a few spots on her face, neck, and tummy, and lots on her back.

i excitedly checked the other children hunting for more spots, but haven't seen any that are for sure the chicken pox . . .yet. my hope is to keep the children happy about it, so as to lessen the misery of the oncoming itch. so far, Leannora is pretty thrilled to be the winner. she's also looking forward to a bath of oatmeal. Hogan did not believe that i said she could have an oatmeal bath. he thought that was pretty weird! i've also told the children we'll have lots of fun doing special things like eating popsicles and watching movies. last week i went out and stocked up on calamine lotion and goodies to eat. Shiloh has been quarentined to our bedroom for a few days already. she'll probably stay there for a bit till the contagious time wears away, just to be a bit on the safer side for her little baby body.

so, if any buddy is interested . . . you are welcome to join our craziness. we are NOT having a chicken pox party because that just sounds super weird (and i already feel weird enough about the whole thing). i also don't want everybody else's other yucky sick germs. so our home is NOT open to all sorts of who knows who children walking through to catch our bug. (but if any good friends would like their children to get the chicken pox, we'll be happy to share.)

i've done a little bit of research about this. Leannora will be contagious for a few more days i suppose. if i understand correctly, we'll be contagious until her spots scab over, but i think the peak time is a couple of days before and after breaking out. incubation time is 11 days and up to about 3 weeks. you are not contagious if you have been exposed. sometimes children show symptoms of a sore throat, headache, or fever before the spots appear. a nursing mother passes on her immunity to her babies if she has already had the chicken pox. so an infant should not become infected if they nurse regularly. the concern of shingles is not to be feared if you have had a strong case of the chicken pox as a child and if your immune system is not compromised.

hmmm. . . so we'll be updating with future reports.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

camping

though we did not do such an exciting thing as to camp out on the beach, like our friends the hasting family, we milligans did have our own little camping experience recently. mark took hogan and owen camping at our church property so we could have a big fire and shoot our guns.


we did some yard clean up and decided to tackle our wood pile of too hard to split stuff and big stumps and sticks and other stuff laying around. we filled our 15 passenger van with the yard mess and left room for only one bench and a small amount of camping gear. the momma had an early morning Bible study at the church. so mark brought the kiddos up and we met there - in the rain. uhh, what a bum way to start off a fun plan. it was supposed to be a warm, sunny day. thankfully, the rain ran away, and mark was able to get the fire started. kim joined the adventurers after the wet, cold morning went away. mark wanted kim to shoot our new 12 gauge shotgun.yes, she did it, and it didn't knock her down or even bruise her!
the children took turns with our bb gun.

trying out the rifle was pretty fun too.
(i'm not sure why the only photos are of us girls with the guns?!?)
we had a picnic lunch, hiked around a bit on the 17 acre property, grandpa strub brought us burgers for supper, and we had some marshmallows and smores. kim was not up to the adventure of camping with the little ones, so as planned, she took them home. mark and the boys had a good time being manly milligans. and, yahoo, our wood is no more!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

chicken pox

coming soon to the home of the milligan family
yes, that's right, we've invited the chicken pox
anyone interested in lifetime immunity for their children?
well, mark your calendars
we estimate the contagious chicks to arrive about the end of april, beginning of may
yea, it sounds a bit crazy
but we survived it when we were kiddos
we'll let you know how things go as we'll know if this weeks exposure worked in a week or so

Saturday, March 14, 2009

MILLIGAN FAMILY ADVENTURES - 2008

this is our family update letter for the year 2008
thought it would be fun to post it here for any buddy to read


God has given us a fruitful year of growing in His grace. He has kept our family adventures full of fellowship and friendships. We even fit in some fun time for house play (home work) and learning opportunities (home school) for all. We had wanted to write a Christmas letter soto send out this year, but decided to wait for the arrival of Baby Milligan #6 for one mass mailing.

The first fruits of this new year are already in bloom with the birth of our daughter Shiloh Jubilee. She was born at home on Monday, February 23 at 1:50 am. She weighted 7# 2 oz, was 20 in long, and has lots of beautiful dark brown hair. Shiloh is a Hebrew name meaning place of rest, to be in safety, tranquil. It was the location of the tabernacle in biblical times - the place of worship before the temple was built. In Genesis 49, the word Shiloh refers to the coming of the Messiah - the fufillment being Jesus Christ, our confident expectation or hope. Jubilee means celebration, to be set free. Every 50th year for the Hebresw people was to be a Jubilee. It was the time when lslaves were set free, land returned to the family, a Sabbath rest for the whole year! So once again, we packed meaning into our child's name in hope that God will answer what we have spoken into her and fill her with the power of His Spirit.

Her arrival was surprisingly our quickest one yet, continuing our pattern of unpredictable and exciting birth stories. Our prayer was for God's timing and He blessed us with perfect peace. As each birth has been, it was an opportunity of faith and trust in the true Deliverer of life. So, I'll try to keep it short. (You may view our family blog milligannation.blogspot.com for the full version or make a request of a hard copy with a simple phone call.) Sunday, Kim had short, mild, very sporadic cantractions throughout the day. Grandpa and Grandma Strub decided to spent the night and arrived at our house around 9 pm. We stayed up chatting till about midnight. At 12:15 Kim woke up to a more intense ctxn and 2 more good strong ones at 12:30 and 12:45. Then at 1:20 she woke up to her water breaking. Soon after, she had a series of ctxns with only seconds of pause between. It was then that Mark woke up Grandpa and Grandma Strub and called our midwives. Moments later our daughter was born with Daddy and Grandma as the birthing team. Grandma Strub had the delight of "catching" the baby! All was PERFECTLY well! Once our midwives arrived, we did all of the usual: delivery of the placenta, cutting of the cord, momma and baby checkups, and got pampered by our midwives blessed service, all in the comfort of our home. The children met their new baby sister in the morning. They were all delighted and excited. Yes, Leannora LOVES having a sister! Nikao calls her "baby Low" and was convinced that she was a baby boy for the first couple of days. Able calls her "Shi shoh" or "Shah doh." He giggles and squeals as he says his word for doggie "dahgee" and points to Shiloh.

I could write a book on the blessings of our children and how they have grown this year! It's hard to believe that one year ago our Able boy was just a few months old. He has gone from Able Baby to big brother with such praise and admiration from his adoring family. Amiable describes him well. He is a delight to us all. Tornado Able is his most recent description as his early mobility and curious personality take him everywhere and into everything. God has prepared him in such short order for becoming a big brother at 16 months.

Nikao and Able are fellow chatterboxes. Nikao has taken off with words. He has a wonderful mix of enjoying others and his own individuality. It is fun to watch his unique fit in our family as he is strong in determination and definitely full of love.

Leannora is practicing patience as a princess. She can hardly wait to be a momma and meaures all time by this grand achievement. Her brothers test her little mothering ways. It is sweet to see her innocence and fenininity shine.. She loves to learn, loves to play cowgirl, loves her doll Anna, loves her brothers, and LOVES being a big siter to her new baby sister.

Owen is our bundle of energy. When he is still, he is asleep soundly. But before he sleeps he makes sure every ounce of energy is out. He loves to sneak around doing special things for others, but it is most enjoyed when he can give a surprise. He is full of imagination set to burst when just the right moment of maturity sparks new surprises.

Hogan keeps us on our toes as we are always amazed at his sharp mind. He has mastered reading and is moving on in math and manhood. He will be celebrating his golden birthday this month - 8 years old on March 8th. It is only such a short time that we have the privilege of preparing our children for the path God has chosen for them. Oh that we make the most of every moment!

God has blessed our family this past year with some wonderful family adventures. Our home has been a happening place! We've welcomed a good share of visitors - family, church friends, neighbors, new friends from the community. Looking over the calendar we enjoyed guests for meals, overnights, games, play, prayer, homework, remodeling, cleaning, meeting baby - so much sweet fellowship!

We also enjoyed a bit of traveling for more fellowship - visiting grandparents in McFarland, Ames, and Dixon; our first family vacation to TN which included visiting friends, a wonderful 3 day Milligan family reunion, a visit at the Creation nuseum with both the Strub and Milligan grandparents, and camping at Turnkey run State Park in IN; a special weekend at BoJo's cabin in WI; helping people move; helping and playing at Uncle Joe's work weekend; helping friends with a bathroom remodel; a kickball picnic; many church activities; homeschool group gathers and field trips; raspberry and apple picking; a childless date to a musical The Rock and The Rabbi; Highway to Heaven band practice and concerts; Nachusa Grasslands family day; 10 year high school class reunion; buddy days; and business adventures.

Our home has taken on some transformation this year too. We were amazed at all that was accomplished. Here's a quick list: electrical; toilet; trim, paint, and French doors in FR; clouds and night sky painted in Leannora's bedroom; bay windows painted; insulate house; plenty of destructo (enough for a dumpster in our driveway!); kitchen and mudroom remodel; DR and LR painted !!!!! My husband is amazing! Our parents are awesome! The Layhews are incredible! Our friends are indescribable! Thank you!

We are expecting more exciting adventures this new year as we wait on God's timing to reveal His blessings upon and directions for our family in 2009. We hope that you are equally blessed by His peace and joy. We send our love and greetings and smiles to you all. Also, you are welcome to join in our adventures anytime. We would enjoy a visit, phone call, card, e-mail, or even blog post!

Love in Him,
The Milligan family
Mark, Kim, Hogan, Owen, Leannora, Nikao, Able and Shiloh


and here we are getting ready to take our family picture on the saddle in our family room. it's always an adventure trying to get everybody to smile and all that camera crazy stuff. and now we have 8 people to pose! thanks to Grandpa Bill and Grandma Sara for helping us with the pictures!

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Welcome Shiloh Jubilee Milligan!

Shiloh Jubilee was born at home on Monday, Febrary 23 at1:50 am. She weighed 7# 2oz, was 20 in. long, and has lots of beautiful dark brown hair.

Once again, we packed meaning into our child's name in hope that God will answer what we have spoken into her and fill her with the power of His Spirit. Shiloh is a Hebrew name meaning place of rest, to be in safety, tranquil. It was the location of the tabernacle in biblical times - the place of worship before the temple was built. In Genesis 49, the word Shiloh refers to the coming of the Messiah - the fulfillment being Jesus Christ our confident expectation or hope. Jubilee means celebration, to be set free. Every 50th year for the Hebrew people was to be a Jubilee. It was the time when the slaves were set free, land returned to the family, a Sabbath rest for the whole year!
Shiloh's arrival was surprisingly our quickest one yet, continuing our pattern of unpredictable, adventurous, and exciting birth stories. Our prayer was for God's timing and He blessed us with perfect peace. As each birth has been, it was an opportunity of faith and trust in the true Deliverer of life.


Sunday, Kim began the day as a usual getting-ready-for-church-morning and noticed she was having contractions. They were short, mild, very sporadic, and continued throughout the day. We went to church, had an indoor picnic lunch after church, visited an open house just for fun, enjoyed a long quiet time (nap time), and spent the evening relaxing - Kim cozied up on the couch and caught up on some reading while the children played. Grandpa and Grandma Strub decided to spend the night at the last minute and arrived at our house around 9 pm. We watched a Monk episode borrowed from the library and stayed up chatting till about midnight. Kim had still been having ctxns, more intense as the day went on, and noticed them being closer together as we talked. She wasn't really kepping track and hadn't felt the need to time them yet, so we all went to bed thinking maybe we would begin labor in the morning!?!



At 12:15 Kim woke up to a more intense ctxn lasting about 30 seconds and 2 more good strong ones followed at 12:30 and 12:45 maybe a minute long. Then at 1:20 she woke up to water breaking. Soon after, she had one long, intense ctxn requiring a lot of concentration. Kim asked Mark to pray as she was beginning to feel a bit fearful Mark prayed and immediately God gave us this great sense of peace. Mark asked Kim if he should call the midwives and Kim suggested we wake up her mom first. Just as Kim's parents were getting up, Kim began a series of ctxn with only seconds of pause between. At this point, we recognized things were going to progress quickly. Yet there was no concern that the midwives would not make it. We knew this was God's timing and He was covering over us with His presence. Mark asked Lucy to turn up the thermostat while he called our midwife. Just as Grandma returned to our bedroom, our daughter was born with Daddy and Grandma as the birthing team. Grandma Stub had the delight of "catching" the baby!


All was PERFECTLY well! Once our midwives arrived, we did all of the ususal: delivery of the placenta, cutting of the cord, momma and baby checkups, and got pampered by our midvives blessed service, all in the comfort of our home. We cannot describe how wonderful it is to have a home birth. We love that God has given us this gift!




The children met their new baby sister in the morning. This is one of the best parts of having baby #6. They were all delighted and excited. We took lots of pictures and videos to capture the joy of the morning's surprise. Kim could hardly sleep anticipating being able to share Shiloh with her big brothers and sister.

Yes, Leannora LOVES having a sister! She thinks everything about Shiloh is wonderful - her tiny fingers, her pretty clothes, her little diapers, and that she is a girl! We have a little momma in the making.

Nikao calls her "baby Low" and was convinced that she was a baby boy for the first couple of days. He tells us when "baby Low uh whihn ing" (whining = crying).

Able calls her "Shi shoh" or "Shah doh." He giggles and squeals as he says his word for doggie "dahgee" and points to Shiloh. It has become a game to him - he says doggie, we answer baby, and then we all laugh together. It must be pretty confusing for a 16 month old little boy. All he has known is that we have called my tummy "baby." How could he understand that Shiloh is really the baby that was in momma's tummy? Well, it's hard for me to grasp the miracle of God's creation of life in the womb too. Anyways, it's adorable.

The children have all taken turns holding and caring for Shiloh. She will never be in need of a protector with 4 big brothers. We are already looking forward to seeing how all the childrens relationships will develop with one another as they grow. I imagine Hogan and Owen will have a constant admirer in their sweet baby sister.

Grandpa and Grandma Strub stayed with us for the first few days letting the momma get losts of rest. It was a wonderful time of blessing as they enjoyed the children to the fullest, took care of meals, dishes, laundry, diapers, quiet time, play time and everything in between.