Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011


This was the first annual Thanksgiving fun run for the Miller and extended family. 1.5 miles of gruelling path running (straight and flat). The kids finished in around 15 minutes, some just faster and some a bit slower. No crying, minimal whining and Biscuits for all at the finish line! Papa Burl came to visit and walked with Cathy for a mile or so. Beautiful morning, Beautiful Day!

Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Halloween 2011





This year for Halloween we went to Ooma's and Papa's for dinner and went trick or treating in their neighborhood. This year is the first year Carleigh understood what was going on and she had a blast. Caty-lynne hates costumes so we always have to find something we can add to her everyday clothes. This year she was a devil, we got her a pitchfork, cape and horns to wear. She was comfy which makes it pleasant for the rest of us. Bri was an army soldier, again taking common toys around the house and making a very practical costume. Carleigh was a fairy and loved it and Lizzy was a cat and pulled it off very well. Robin as usual had no desire to dress up. I had the best costume of all - THE PUMPKIN HEAD. Yes it was heavy and at the end of the night I had a very sore neck.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Soccer Liz




Lizzy is the champ - she has scored as many as 5 goals in a game. She has her days where she is not in the game, but when she is, WATCH OUT! She loves to chase it down and kick it hard - aim will come with time. Forget passing to other players - that is 1-2 years away.

The Kid's Running Run In In



These are the pictures from the school run's for Brian and Caty-Lynne. Bri finished his in 9:00 and Caty-Lynne finished in 10:01. They had lots of fun except when dad was encouraging them to run faster - When Caty-Lynne runs with me at home it is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth until we finish - somehow she made it through the whole run with hardly any complaining. The power of having friends there.

Bri pushed hard, walked a couple of times but pushed hard and sprinted it out at the end to almost break the 9 minute barrier.

I guess it helped to have dad offer frosty's as incentives!










































Note how Bri skillfully dodges the high 5 from the girl in his class, playing hard to get I see.








Lizzy's Birthday






Lizzy turned 6 this year and wanted a party at Chuck-e-cheese. She had a blast. She got to go in the ticket blaster and was shoving tickets into her shirt. I think she ended up with like 1000 tickets at the end. She invited some girls from school and church. She wanted me to make her cake and decorate it for her. She wanted a heart shaped cake which I can handle but the decorating is another story. I decorated it while she was in school and it did not look so hot so I was worried she would be a little upset once she saw it. She came home from school saw it and looked at me and said mom that is the prettiest cake I have ever seen! I guess from a kids eyes it was great. At the party all of her friends where all saying the same thing to her when they saw the cake. She was so proud!! We had a great time and the next day was even better because Nana flew in to spend a few days with us. The kids all love when Nana comes and are very sad to see her leave.
Lizzy got some roller skates for her birthday and loves them. If she is outside you can count on her having them on. She has gotten pretty good at them to. She also received a yummy and pretty cookie bouquet from nana and granddad. All the kids love birthdays for this reason, they know that when it is one of their birthdays we always receive one with tons of cookies to share with everyone.
Lizzy is such a happy go lucky girl, she is so much fun to have around. She makes us laugh and you never know what is going to come out her mouth. What a sweet little girl we have and we feel so bless to have her as our daughter.

Hanging Rock







This is the day that Carleigh and I went on a daddy daughter date to Hanging Rock. Much to Robin's dismay, we went all the way to the edge and took some pictures. the funniest part of the trip was that Carleigh didn't have to use the bathroom until we reached the top of the mountain. She got naked from the waist down and peed in the forest at the top of the mountain. For the rest of the week and still today, she talks about peein in the forest on the mountain!

Abby was worn out by the end of the trip, as was I

Summer Triathlons





Here are some pictures from the YMCA triathlon in Charlotte NC.

It was a good year for me, I did 6 races and finished all of them. I only had to walk during one and we won't talk about that any more. Robin was kind enough to come to this one and take some pictures.

The kids came over the transition area while I was changing to the run to give some encouragement

The sweatband - don't leave home without it.




The first day of school. Beautiful and handsome children. Lizzy was super excited and Robin almost cried.

Brian is in Grade 5 (last year of elementary)

Caty-Lynne is in Grade 3

Lizzy is in Kindergarten

Carleigh is in preschool which she thinks is going to the gym with Robin. Makes perfect sense to me - and I don't have to pay extra for preschool.