I love Christmas, I love lights, and I love decorating...Now if we could get the tree up! We are going for a real tree this year so we will see how that goes. Happy Decorating!
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Technically they aren't all cousins some are uncles, but you could never tell the difference. When these kids get together it's like best friends playing and harassing each other. We got together for an early Thanksgiving with some extended family on Kris's side and there was a lot to be had! Our kids are such good friends they wouldn't get bored for weeks. We had good food, good laughter and a ton more... We played football! We did some online gaming! We even went to a hockey game to do some cheering!
It was a fun day, so much to be thankful for! Each week I have a bunch of random pictures that are just so priceless I don't want them to get lost among the ever growing computer files. We do so many "things" here at the Miller house to post about and sometimes the mondane things can get lost in the mix. So, here is the first of many "Extra Glimpse" posts.
Love of Family...Giving, Thankful, Happiness! I didn't get many pictures this Thanksgiving, but it was filled with cooking, family, and laughter. The kids started the day ohing and ahing at the parade. They helped put some of the food together with me and then made a thankful sticky note wall. We had family over and enjoyed a great meal and conversation. Kids played games and we ended the day watching movies! Thankful for sure!
And so starts #3... To know our family is to know we are into soccer. This last week my little man Lucas started a winter skills training soccer camp. He was beyond excited his first day. Putting on all his gear so proud, walking a little taller with his tiny cleats strapped to his feet. He felt like such a big boy especially with his sissy on the field next to him showing her skills! I've said this so many times before but I absolutely love watching my kids grow into the people they are suppose to be.
Derrick has really enjoy getting to know his new Cub Scout pack. He has always loved Cub Scouts and all the scouting activities there are to participate in. The RainGutter Regatta was a first for us. We didn't really know how to build the boat or what to expect. Honestly, we weren't even really prepared with materials to construct the boat. Derrick was going to start to paint everything when I realized most of the paints we have are "washable." Not good when you are dealing with submerging your boat in water, so he went to town with all the permanent markers we have. He chose a Halloween themed boat and put pumpkins, vines, and ghosts all over his boat. He even added a Lego Captain to man all the sailing! He had fun cheering on all his opponents and even did a little "shop talk" with one of his good friends before starting his race. Once he figured out the best way to get the wind to push his boat along he was unstoppable. Unfortunately, right before his last race his Keel broke off and he wasn't able to secure it back on before he raced so his boat sunk and tipped in the water. In the end he didn't end up winning first place but it was his first go round at it. After the tears subsided he realized he had a lot of fun and next time probably shouldn't carry around his boat by the Keel. He was even designing a different boat for next year by nights end!
My Special Person...Delightful, Dynamic, Devoted. It was Derrick's turn to be the "Special Person" at school. They get to take attendance, be line leader, all the other students write them friendly letters, and they create and share a whole window display. He asked so sweetly if I would come observe him sharing his display. It is hard for me to get into his school with the younger kids at home, so how could I turn down his sweet request. He is such a great speaker and the kids in his class were awe struck that he was born in Germany and lived in so many places. Mrs. J, his teacher, writes a poem for each child at the start of their special week...
Derrick “Big D” Miller Hot diggety dog! We’re downright delighted about our dashing Derrick. Derrick is definitely devoted to making our days dynamite with his dozens of dandy deeds. All the dudes and dudettes in our domain have discovered Derrick’s dazzling, dynamic determination and diligent dependability. We decisively declare that our dreamy Derrick is a doubly deluxe desk-mate. Hey Derrick, we deeply dig getting’ down with you cuz your D’MAN!! I have to say the last time Kris and I went away for the weekend or even overnight was when Derrick was less then 2 years old {and he's now 9yrs old}. Since then we have added 2 more kiddos and a ton more chaos and getting anyone to watch them all overnight can be a task in itself. When I got my sister to agree to come over I was beyond excited! I mostly needed the break so I didn't have to hear "MOM" every two seconds and for a chance to actually talk to my husband without talking about schedules and coordinating and which kid did or didn't do what.
For Kris it was a complete surprise so he didn't have too much thought before hand just, "what the hell are we doing?" I had made a pretty loose schedule so we could really just do whatever we wanted. Personally, I had so much fun and we didn't even leave EP! We caught up on some shopping we wanted to get done, totally kid free. We went to a movie we wanted to go to and not a kid cartoon movie. We went to the restaurant we wanted to not worrying whether they would have food our kids would like{which they didn't}. We went out for late night drinks just because. We even went and got the tattoo we've been wanting to get. The best part, I slept the entire night without being woke up by someone screaming for me! Sad I know, but oh so wonderful in the Miller world. We woke up and made it out to breakfast and enjoyed every sip of our HOT coffee. Just thinking about the whole thing is making me relaxed all over again. Neither of us are ones to be away from the kids but we both said, "we need to do this again!" Both for our sanity and the kids. *Special thanks to Nicole and Don for tackling our kiddos, they had a great time with you! Bonding, Best Buds in the Making It is fun to see all the newly budding friendship for all of my kids, but this one is super sweet. Lucas started school just 2 months ago and him and his little bud M ax have been inseparable. They look for each other each morning they get to class, they chase the girls away from the playhouse each day on the playground, they have to sit by each other during snack time, they walk out of class together to us waiting moms. It's amusing to watch and hear what Lucas has to say about it each day!
Trick-or-Treating was in full swing around here before it got dark! I love watching all the kids run from house to house with that look of pure delight on their faces. We had only 3 of the 4 kids for our Trick-or-Treating adventure this year. Alexis went over to a friends to have dinner and gallivant around without mom or dad. Well not really gallivanting by the sound of it, they were hardcore trick-or-treaters trying to get as much candy as possible before everyone's parents came to pick them up. I know she out did her brothers and sister! Sadly for her the out doing does her no good when she doesn't like most of the candy...good for the rest of us though. Back here at the Miller house the 3 younger kids started out strong going house to house at full speed. Kourtney and I quickly got left behind by the group and after only about a block and a half she was cold and wanted to go home to eat her candy {and eat her candy she did}. I think she ate over half her candy before the boys even got back. She just sat on the steps eating away and watching all the trick-or-treaters come to our door. Lucas lasted way longer then I expected and was keeping up with the older neighbor kids almost till the end! Best part was his Power Ranger sword lite up and you could see exactly where he was at all times! Derrick at first was upset that his older sister got to go out with her friends and he had to go with "the babies," but he quickly got over that as we gained neighbor kids in our group. He made out with a good haul and was happy in the end! We had so many kids come to the door we ended up running out of candy and had to take from the kids stash. They didn't mind because they liked giving out the candy just as much as they liked going trick-or-treating!
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