Merry Christmas

Thanks to all our friends who sent Christmas cards to us. It is so much fun to get each one and with each one my guilt grows about not sending out one from the Miller 5. Maybe next year, or maybe not. I figure with this blog how many pictures of us do you really need to see. ;)

Anyway, trust everyone has a lovely holiday. We can certainly praise God for all that is past and always trust him for all that is to come. If He doesn't come in the next week I think 2010 would be the perfect year to go home. But what do I know.

Love, The Miller 5

Jill's "New" Bike

Over the Thanksgiving weekend in T-hatch, Nathan painted Lucas' (or is it Lucas's or is it Luca's or.... Honestly ever time I write it, I wonder) old bike, which in now Jill's bike, pink and also the surrounding grass but that is really beside the point now since his Mother graciously forgave him and is now just very thankful every time it snows.

To complete the transformation I ran to Maisonnette, which is a wise first step in any decoration transformation one may undertake. Turns out they had the PERFECT oilcloth fabric to tie in the pink and the remaining bits of red. A little bit of paint, a little bit of sewing and a little bit of decoupage glue and TA DAAA....a new PINK bike for a very PINK girl.

Since I had the camera out we had fun trying to make "fast" pictures. I told Jill to ride by me really fast, look at me and smile. She did a great job looking at me with a huge cheese-ball smile.

But occasionally you also have to keep an eye on where you are going...

Lucas pulled out his standard freestyle tricks...

This one "got my heart going. I wasn't sure what was going to happen."And on a completely unrelated note...all fall I've been loving these trees at end of our street.

Boy humor

Here is what I found taped to the toilet seat a couple of days ago...

It reads..."tlit and pee and pup"

Now, ain't that nice! The boy's putting his recently acquired writing skills to good use.

Thanksgiving 09

This year we rented a RV, loaded everything from our house into it , and drove it up the coast to Carpenteria, a cute little beach town just south of Santa Barbara. Growing up, Nathan's family camped there on a regular basis so it's a destination brimming with happy memories, of which we added a few more of our own. The kids had a wonderful time riding bikes, starting/maintaining fires, building forts, sand castles and weaponry, climbing trees, boogie boarding, and eating smores. We had a wonderful time watching them.

After camping, we spent one night at U. Dan and A. Carmen's new house...lovely!...and then drove up to Tehachapi for the rest of the week. Lucas and Jill had a blast with cousin Jax and friend K. We got to listen to baby Marlowe's sweet little squeaks. She so little and precious. How can it be that only a few months ago my 23+ pounder was that little! Speaking of Miss Chunky Monkey she started walking! She had taken one or two steps before but this was five or six steps on purpose. It probably helped that she had a full cheering section egging her on. When she would make it to her destination she would turn with a beaming face and wait for the adulation.

Mia News and Trees

Mieza (newest nickname) took 2.5 unassisted steps this evening and made several "shopping trips" with her siblings around the circle in our house. Mia pushed the shopping cart and Lucas or Jill act as the throttle control. Exciting times at Durango Circle!

I thought this was pretty clever.

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/bio-diversity/?hp

Hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving!

Backyard

We have been spending a lot of time playing in our backyard lately. Mia seems to have inherited Jill's propensity to wake up crabby from naps and we've found there is nothing like a trip to the backyard to take her mind off of her troubles. There's lots to se, explore and eat (and ya'll thought sand was gross).

Pumpkin Patch

Friday night we had a fun evening at a pumpkin patch with friends. It was more about the little rides and petting zoo than the pumpkins.

Take Down

This made me laugh so I thought I'd share.
Lucas was recounting stories of a birthday party he went to today. This one was told without any embarrassment or ill-will toward Noah..
"I heard Noah say, "I'm strong and he is weak." and he was pointing at me so I said, "Oh yeah! Come out on the field and we'll see about that." So we went on the field and Man! he took me down so fast. I was like shoot!"

Good to see he's learning the ropes.

A Tuesday Evening

Our video camera called it quits several months ago and we finally got a replacement about a month ago. I am so glad to have a video camera again but alas this also means we have video, which means it must be organized and stored, which means more shtuff to do on the computer. We also got Adobe Premiere to edit the video which means new software to learn, which means much frustration and vexation of spirit. But enough complaining. Here is a video of a Tuesday evening in September. There is no editing and some issues with focusing and for some reason the quality is really poor BUT I did add some jazzy Caribbean music to distract you. PS.. the water has turned cold for the winter so we will be giving beach post a break for awhile. Your welcome.

Six Years

Turns out, if you do the math, this little peanut turned 6 last week.

I've never did like math.

Let's take a walk down memory lane...

2004
2005
2006
2007
2008



We had friends down a few days before Lucas's actual birthday so we did a quick impromptu party at the beach. It turned out to be the first non-sunny and 70 day since the beginning of July. It actually rained...or spit twice which is good enough to be called rain around here. All of this might have dampen the spirits (and perhaps did dampen some adult female spirits) but then a rainbow appeared. A beautiful, bright, full rainbow that eventually turned into a double rainbow. The children danced, shouted, pointed, laughed and screamed (and perhaps the adults did a bit too). Who knew a drizzled out party at the beach could be so wonderful. Thank you, Lord for the rainbow and our little big boy.

On his actual birthday we thought we would do something different and fun as a family. Turns out, if you do the math, everything fun in San Diego costs massive money. I tell ya, math stinks! So, we did what this family does best, we went to the beach again. For dinner Lucas got to pick which restaurant we went to. He picked Chuck E. Cheese. Good thing his birthday comes but once a year. The Pascoe's joined us so at least the fellowship was yummy.

A few picts of my baby...

She is getting more adventurous with her standing, even letting go of her support for a few moments at a time. Her new smile - she has four new teeth and isn't afraid to use them.
And this one because she looks so big.

And one more because I have to take this precious face to the doctor this morning for possible ear infection. I hate it when they're sick.

Ya gotta check out these super cute kid's clothes... :)
http://www.gigglemoonbaby.com/

Last Tuesday night..

we met friends at the beach for dinner. It was beautiful and warm. Almost warm enough to make me want to get in the water. Almost, but not quite.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Kindergarten

Lucas had his first day of Kindergarten yesterday. Around 7:00 yesterday morning he ran into our room, kissed me up and down my arm and started chanting "I get to go to school today!" By the time it was time to leave the house around 9:15, I had banned him from asking "Is it time to go yet?" Yes, this kid is ready for school, question is, is school ready for this strange little kid... Of course after school we peppered him with questions and his answers went something like this...

Well, how did your first day go?

"Good! Well, actually it went really, REALLY good!"

Friends? Did you make some friends? (2 boys from his preschool are in his class)

"The girls seem really nice and I'm almost friends with some of them, I just have to figure out their names."

Your teacher?

"She is so sweet and nice. I thought she was going to be bossy but I was surprised how nice she was. She has a really sweet attitude and didn't say any bad words so I think she might be a Christian but I'm not sure yet."

Did you learn anything?

"Man, all I did was work, work, work!"

What did you work on?

"Mainly crafts."

Did you miss Mom?

"Uh, no. (chuckle)"

Summer '09

Perhaps you may have already noticed, but summer is almost over. Lucas starts school next week. It will be interesting to see how it goes. I think he is ready for the challenge, the interaction, and very excited about eating his snacks out of his new camouflage lunch box. I'm hoping Jill will not miss her best-est playmate and greatest foe too much for a few hours each day. I think she will enjoy making up her own rules for awhile. But back to summer.
It's been a good one full of visiting friends and being visited by friends, lots of meat on the BBQ, a shameful amount of trips to the frozen yogurt shop, many quick evening surf sessions, a bazillion pieces of sand (in the car, in the house, in my purse, in my bed...), gallons of sunscreen, and countless loads of towels. Yep, it's all good (name that brother-in-law ;).

Here are a few more summer '09 photos and also photos from our recent trip to my homeland.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

She's mobile!

Extreme Swinging

"Mom! Come outside and watch what Dad taught me!"

Why the helmet, Lucas?Oh, this would be why...



Yeah! All my limbs still work!

No wonder I now find it necessary to dye my hair.

Miss Skin and Bones

The Jillster

I love my Jilly but somedays....well, she is 3 and she likes to talk, especially in the car when the music is playing loudly enough to make everyone happy and the baby is squawking and I'm trying to mentally recreate the list I left on the kitchen counter. This is how our conversations have been going lately...

Jill: "Can you go fast with your shoes off?"

Me: Uhhhh, "Yes."

Jill: "How come?"

Me: Uhhhh, "Because."

Jill: "You can't go any faster than the speed limit, right? Cause you'll get a ticket"

Me: "Yes, that is right."

Jill: "But you can still go fast?"

Me: "As long as you don't go too fast."

Jill: "Well, why do you want to take your shoes off?"

Me: ahhhhh!!! Breath deep, she means no harm. "Mommy needs to drive now so no more talking until we get to Costco."

Jill: "What?"

Me, louder: "Let's be quiet until we get there."

Jill: "What?"

I'll spare you my reply that I'm sure she heard loud and clear.

Like I said, I do love my Jilly. She IS the sweetest. Just look at her! How could I ever get frustrated with a kidlet with a face like that?

Nathan's B-day

Nathan's birthday (the 3rd) was a holiday this year. Yahoo!!

First stop: the beach...

36 years old. We're growing middle aged together, Dear.

Coming up, best present Nathan could ask for...(at least with the economy the way it is :)

Mia loves being outside, especially the beach.

Jill loves the beach too, as long as she doesn't get too dirty.

Next stop: Friday night Jazz in the Park or as Lucas says "Jazzin' in the park".

Thanks to the moves of Aunt Carmen, Jill and Lucas got to dance with the big people. If she could have, Jill would have spent the whole evening there alternating between dancing and staring at everyone else.

ahhh...

Lucas broke out his moves next to our picnic spot. He was really gettin' jiggy, aka show-boatin', until an elderly lady came up and asked him if he would dance with her. He immediately crumbled into his daddy's lap.

Kickin' back with Aunt Wendy.

Happy 4th...on the 14th

Sometime in the middle of the night between the 3rd and the 4th, Uncle Josh and Aunt Kate joined us. We, being the hostesses with the mostestes that we are, were sound asleep when they arrived.

For the second year, we were able to join our neighbors in a romping neighborhood 4th of July parade. Here we are waiting for the parade to make it to our house so we could join it without walking more than absolutely necessary.

Here it comes. They had to stop to fix the boom-box strapped to the back of the lead car. Do we still call those things boom-boxes?

Happy Birthday, America!

After the parade, all the kids met up for games. Lucas is just about to spit out a sunflower seed. It kinda dribbled out. We need to work on our spitting skills before next year.

Sack races!

We need to work on our sack racing skills before next year.

Chunky-chunks!

Jax and Jill

Rub-a-dub-dub...

Me, my little pumpkin-noodle, and our many chins.

And one more because this is what we do a lot of when we are together...