The Power of Positive Reinforcement

It's been quite an August at Cameron's Castle. To say that we have been busy is an understatement. Now, I know that busy is a relative term and I know that there are probably plenty of families out there who would trade their hectic schedules for mine in a heartbeat, but the pace is certainly quickening and I'm scrambling to keep up.

We have two big new happenings in August that compounded our already fun-filled days... First, we made the decision in mid-August to switch Cameron from Ana's daycare (just down the street) to a daycare/preschool called Crawmer's Critterz which is a little further away, but will be a welcome change to his and our environments. Cameron's vocabulary and learning skills have exploded in recent months, and we just figured it was time to give him a more structured day and an opportunity to begin learning preschool-related subjects and incorporate those into his already play-centered day. Ruth and Russ Crawmer and their assistant "Mister Tyler" have been operating the Critterz for nearly five years now, so their experience and expertise with early childhood development comes highly recommended. We look forwad to learning and growing with Cameron as he begins his preschool path September 6th!

Our second devleopment to note is that our dear friend and neighbor, Lyndie Vaccaro (Queen of Vaccaroville) has been diagnosed with Hodgkins Diease. Essentially a cancer of the lymph nodes, Hodgkins disease can be a treatable condition with a high survival rate. We are blessed to have learned that Lyndie's condition can be characterized as Stage One Hogdkins and she begins her twice-monthly rounds of chemotherapy tomorrow (Friday, August 26). Her prognosis is very good and, other than losing her hair and being worn out, she hopes to have radiation in the fall/winter and receive a clean bill of health by the New Year. I continue to be amazed at how loving and nurturing her church family and her family family have been in the weeks since her diagnosis. Everyone has come together to love and support and pray for this incredible woman who gives ALL of herself and asks for very little in return. Lyndie is always the first to lend a hand and can never say "no" to anyone. So, Lyndie, it's time for you to sit back, tolerate your treatments, LOVE your family, and let your friends and neighbors help you out with the cooking, cleaning, errand running, mowing... whatever we need to do. I hear fundraisers and other "asks" are in the works to cover the tremendous medical bills that could mount during the next few months; Vaccaroville's job is to get their Queen better; our job is to take are of the rest of the stuff. Wink, Wink.

For those of you who may not have heard, we ARE building a new house this fall. Well, it should be completed by next spring, but the application for permits are in and Jeromy will be scheduling the push-out and excavation for the first week of September. Many continuted thanks to Corey and Micki Kovash for having the wherewithall to add a general contractors license to their plumbing contractors license and for allowing Jeromy to pursue his dream of generalling his own house. We know there will be many bumps in the road (that's another of Cameron's new verbalizations: "bumpy road, mommy!") but our end result will be amazing-- a new and improved Cameron's Castle (2800 square feet of living space with a 900 foot garage) designed by our brother Mark on a larger lot with a sweeping view of the Three Sisters... who could ask for more?

Well, lunch break is over so I'd better get back at it. I hope that, when I can get the Miller Family Newsletter out in the fall, everyone will have a moment to review these older posts and catch up on our comings and goings. What did we do before the World Wide Web???

Take care, everyone!
The Millers