lickety split!

It took probly all of 5 minutes to pick out the tree this year! We had been at the parade and kids were melting.. and it was FREEZING... (which is why Beck and Mommy are not pictured!) We went to our trusted Ace Hardware on the corner, which never lets us down with a beautiful tree for a great price. I felt so bad for the poor kid that had to spend 10 minutes wrapping the tree up for us and then for my poor hubby for the 15 min that he spent tying it to the top of the van.

But we brought home a perfectly sized, wonderfully smelling fresh tree and spent the evening hours fighting with lights... and two more trips to Wally world to get more sets of lights.

Seriously.. I wonder how many marriages break up over lighting a tree??? lol

December fun !

So seeing as it is the eve before Christmas Eve and I have only done one post for the whole month! yikes... well that is mostly because we have just been on the go like crazy people and when we have had time to sit and rest awhile , its only because we were forced to by the icky stomach flu that invaded our home =(.

So I am gonna try to recap the month of activities a bit.. so at least I have things on the ol' blog, should I ever get around to finishing making books out of this bloggeroo. (have started year one.. way back in 2005!) Here we are at the annual downtown Christmas Parade. We always have the best (warm) seat and have a great view of all of the floats and fun coming down Main Street. We grabbed some take out from Laf Brew Co and headed to grandma's office. We just take over one of the front rooms and have a great time! This year, Tatum really was into it.. and Beck was kind of confused as to what was happening, but his eyes were pretty much glued out the window the whole time!

What a fun surprise to see Uncle Monkey walking down the street as part of Nine Irish Brothers- one of our favorite night spots to hang out.

The kids adored seeing Ronald.. I was a bit bummed he wasn't tossing out coupons or big macs...

but the highlight was seeing this guy coming down..... the kids ran outside to get a better look.

I snapped a few pictures, but it was so miserably cold, our curbside trip only lasted a few minutes!

We had a full, festive weekend , that first wknd in December.. next up.. Picking out the tree !

He Runs!

So Andrew and I were laughing the other night as he said " I never thought I would say I was a "runner". Yeah... I never thought that either... coming from the two of us , who both really dislike exercise of any kind. Well.. we don't mind taking our nightly neighborhood walks.. the Frisbee golf matches... of course playing with kids and their sports.. but to actually go and work out?. Um.. no thank you. many a gym membership has been bought and well... very infrequently been used. I know suckers are we.. and the gym folks love people like us! However.... late this summer, my husband decided to start up the C25K. He loved it. of course it was bit difficult getting into the swing of things.. but he kept coming back week after week saying how much better and easier it was getting. he almost enjoyed himself out there!! So he decided as he was nearing the end of the program, that he obviously could run a 5k.. and so he signed up for one for Thanksgiving day. However , he set his alarm for pm instead of am. And so we didn't make it. Worked out ok, since we had to be an hour away and drag the kids out and then come back to take another 2 hr drive to the family's house for Thanksgiving dinner. He signed up right away for our town's local, annual Sleigh Bell Run. The weather could not have been more perfect, no? We bundled up the children and headed out at 7:30am.. to cheer on daddy.

(this one was actually a mock run shot! ) prior to the race

This was as he was nearing the last stretch. He ended up beating his personal best time by 2 minutes and came in 8th in his age group.

So proud of him!! He had a great time and has already signed up for a half marathon in the spring. We are excited to make a weekend of heading to Nashville, TN for the Rock n' Roll City Marathon !

I am pretty sure that my surprise gift (gym membership) to him this year will not be a waste.. SHhhhhh. don't tell.

my princess wants

we have not experienced the joy of the impending Christmas season quite like this before. Our quite and content( oh.. so no that way as a 1st grader..!) first born.. never asked for much. Well he actually still doesn't ever ask for anything.. not even gum at the grocery store. I guess he never asked for toys, because he never knew what was out there. We started out this parenting thing not letting him watch tv. Well.. he watched PBS after he was 3 and before that it was baby Einstein or we sing silly songs on DVD ! He didn't even know who or what characters were.. except for Purdue Pete! He knew that one well. Sooo. last week began a new era for us. One where we are left holding our aching ears and making loose promises!

Our 3 1/2 year old who is everything girly girl... who does not go out of the house with out 2 purses and sunglasses and usually her lipstick. The girl who jumps up and down when I said someone was bringing over new hair bows for her! The girl who watches me put on my make up every day. The girl who wears a pony tail and says "I look like mommy now". compliment.. , I think? lol

She has been caring for her baby dolls since she was 6 months old. She has had a bow in her hair since she was 2 days old. We have shifted to flowers and headbands.. but always an accessory. The girl screams as we walk past the shoe department of Target.

and... well . now she has discovered commercials. Partly our fault.. yes I know.. we introduced cable . She now watches Disney channel.. (which actually was a positive as it prepped the kids for our trip last month).. however several times a day.. this can be heard through out the house.

"moommmmmmmmmyyyyy, do you think I can get that?" or "daaaaaaaaadddy, do you think I can have one of those?"

this rant will continue and actually get quite emotional and even some tears stream, if her request is not acknowledged.

and so our constant response has been "well, you 'll have to talk to HoHo about that".

Ho Ho has some big promises (perhaps) to live up to. oh.. and for the record.. nothing that is remotely boy is ever requested. It is every baby, barbie, princess, coloring, crafty thing advertised.

I can only imagine what the toy aisle at Target will be like this year! maybe we'll divert her attention with a free cookie from the bakery.

We met the Mouse!

I have a very good reason for not posting in a couple weeks.... we took a much needed vacation to meet the Mouse and all his friends! We just got back this week and quite honestly , I need a vacation from my vacation! We were up every day (8) and at our shuttle by 8am and didn't come back to our resort until 10pm most nights! We packed in a whole lot... and STILL didn't see all we wanted to. Guess there will have to be a return trip =).

Friends have been asking for pictures... and I have been swamped with work since the day we returned! I just now took them off the ipad and decided I better get at least one pic up on FB and thought I'd share one here too.

We had a fantastic time. I actually decided that I want to live in Disney World. It is the happiest place on earth- besides the fact that I gained 4 lbs. oops! Geesh... the dining plan just had too many options.. and come on.. a big honkin' dessert for every meal! I was not used to eating like that.. and I totally indulged.

I wish I could have stayed away from the sweets like Andrew did- he came back having lost 2 lbs. Pretty easy to do that considering the amounts of walking we did- Plus he got up at 5am to run.. (um.. silly daddy.. but I still give him kudos!)

I have to get caught up on editing some sessions.. and then I'll be back to posting about our trip- not even going to attempt the some 700 + pics from the trip yet! yikes.

Kids are finally getting caught up on sleep... but our poor little BeckBeck visited the Dr. on Friday for a double ear infection. He is scarfing down his meds, so hopefully will be feeling better soon!

well.. I am off to load up some client galleries.. be back soon!

an Indian Summer!

One fine fall day.. with the leaves turning.. and the air crisp.. oh wait.. and the temps were in the mid 80's !!!
We decided to take another trip down
to Conner Prairie. We went last year, but Tatum was too small to remember anything. They had a great time running from exhibit to exhibit inside the museum.. but I was chasing them instead of snapping pictures.. and we all had tons of fun as we stepped back in time to the 1830's and became a part of Prairie Town. My little girl stops to model...

This is the first thing we saw.. actually as we approached the place. We hadn't been able to see it in flight last time due to high winds.
We visited with a carpenter.. and he showed us some projects he was working on. Brigham of course, had many questions for this man. Its hard for a 6 year old to comprehend the fact that this man is 'truly living in the 1800's).. and so. .. didn't quite understand the tenses' that Brig used. It was a great history lesson though.

Beck loved just hanging around.. the weather was just perfect to be outdoors

Everyone except mama took their turn in the ax throwing contest. Look at that great form by Grandma !!

Ta Ta got her turn.. she used all her strength to get that about 12 feet! LOL

Brigham rearing back and ready to throw.. I think his actually hit the target and fell down.

Beckham would rather just throw some straw.. fine by me =)

We stopped by the inn on our way into town.. Brigham wasn't sure he wanted to stay here , since they were booking 5 ppl to a bed ! It was pretty cheap for a night's stay though.

We almost got Brigham to peek into the outhouse.










He didn't believe us when we told him that is where Grandma had to use the bathroom growing up. .. well.. or that his mother (me) used one at camp years ago. I won't even go in a port a pot nowdays. I'll wait for hours than to climb inside one of those.

The kids helped the lady of this house tend to her garden. Brigham was a champ at filling up the buckets

Then it was school time. This teacher was quite hard on the kiddos.. we didn't last in here long! !

Brigham joined in with some of the other kids and tried his hand at the games. We stayed just long enough to take part in the party and to have some of the freshly baked cookies made over an open fire.

Brigham asked the blacksmith if he could make some shoes for his horse. Well of course he could.. and we sat and watched this crazy character make up a shoe while telling all kinds of stories.

We stopped by the barn and the kids each held a baby chick.. and brushed the wrong end of a goat ! LOL

Oh, how I would love to live in a big ol' house like this some day. Love the charcter of it.

and the kids and grandma actually took a trip up up and away on this balloon.. although due to the roofs of the building surrounding the launching pad.. it was really hard to get a pic of them on it. But they really are on it. We could hear their little voices calling down to Andrew and I below.

Well.. we were supposed to finish our day up at a local pumpkin patch. I had heard great reviews for years about one in Noblesville, but of course it closed at 5pm,, which is just about when we finished our day at the museum.

I guess it is ok, because two days prior, when the weather was in the 50's , I ran out to make sure I had super 'fallish' looking , Perfectly-Pumpkin Patch-Attire for my kiddos.. and then we wake up to find its going to be in the mid 80's. that day. I was so disappointed, but tried to come up with substitute outfits. Guess it worked out in the end. We ended our day at Ruby Tuesday for dinner and watched the Boilers beat up on Northwestern.

We also will get another attempt at a pumpkin patch.

an introduction of sorts

For about four months now, our little guy has been taking a bottle. yep. I do realize that as of last week he turned 15months old.. however... you may remember me saying that he was a bit of a mama's boy?
which translated to mean that he would NOT take a bottle. not from dad. not from grandma. heaven for bid he take from nursery workers at church. (oh wait.. he never stayed in there long enough for them to try it).. All he had for his first 12 months of life was mama's milk. I would say an occasional ounce of formula.. maybe two.. if dad could force it down.. and if there were no other options. 3rd child and totally high maintenance. EVEN more than the girl in the middle. So you also may remember that at his one year well visit , his Dr. labeled him "failure to thrive" and gave a whole long list of fattening things to give him. One of them was whole milk.. (as if the stuff I was giving him was fat free? lol).. so among his pudding cups, and ice cream treats, we needed to see how many ounces of fluids he was actually drinking. We tried the sippy cup, and he did not get it. For a few weeks.. we introduced the bottle to him and it was like feeding a baby goat. he would sit on the floor and look up at us as we held the bottle. even in his high chair , he wanted no part of participating in this new venture. Finally.. one day.. we left the bottle sitting out and he found it. Guess he was really thirsty, because he tilted it back and took a swig. Of course a proud ear to ear grin followed. Thankfully , we don't have to hold the bottle anymore. And thankfully, he is eating like a champ.. all kinds of foods. mac n cheese , gram crackers and curried chic peas being his favorites. He has even gained a couple of pounds since his Dr. visit.

And since he is such a big boy now.. we decided it was time to let him in on a little secret about what goes the best with an ice cold glass (or bottle ) of milk.

O-R-E-O !!

oops !! my two worlds collide!!

I am much better at keeping up with my photo blog than I am this personal one.. lol-

So when I went to post something on elle- mi photography's blog.. it accent ally wound up here!

I thought about deleting it.. but then thought what the heck.. my photography is my life right now. Starting tonight(ok, really last weekend..) begins my long run with bookings ... and I am super pumped.. so excited to meet brand new people and places to shoot. I *LOVE* my job.. and I * LOVE * fall !

...and with the cooler temps and changing leaves.. such a beautiful reminder that winter(bleh) CHRISTMAS is soon to be here.. (YAY!).. I am working up the last of my custom card samples and will share them on my blog soon.

Like my post card says.. I am opening up 3 more dates for sessions.. I know I may be crazy, but the demand is out there, and I figure why not? I can sleep in January!!!

has it really been a week?

geesh. I am officially just saying that I am a terrible blogger.. that I can't stick to a schedule (even when I beg for accountability)... and stop beating myself up over the fact that I don't keep up with regular postings.. or even interesting topics.. or that I don't get 1,345 comments. ( really? I know can you believe that).. must be how JC felt. Seriously.. I am over that fact that merely a few read this here blog- because I am so not writing it for the approval of others. I have said it before, and I am going to believe it this time. I need to give myself grace and realize that this blog is just a form of me 'getting stuff out'.. be it junk or fun family stuff or even the mundane life stuff. It is my place.. and if I will ever take(find) the time to finish up my Blurb books, then I'll have some pretty cool stuff to hand down... and so with that I share with you

Fun on Friday.. because..

we did have lots of fun this week! Starting with a soccer game. Brig moved up to the U7 team even though he just turned six.. we were a bit unsure how he would do along with so many kids that had played before. (remember he just started last spring). He is getting better and focusing more. I feel like such a bad mom for telling the coach "no we're not buying team or individual pics" But really... I have seen the pics from the league photographers . and well, I'll just leave it at that.

( now no making fun of the big metal hook sticking out of the net in the above pic!)
In Tuesday's game, Brig got one hands on ball during his stint at goalie. The game finished up 1-1


and our little guy is found looking cute and spending time eating entire bags of goldfish crackers.

But really, can you blame him? ( I splurged and got the flavor blasted ones this time)

Or he is climbing. Yes we have a climber as of this week. Feeling pretty proud of himself for climbing up in the chair. Or the chairs at home or the couch.. or standing on the couch and throwing all the pillows off. its a good thing he is cute!

Another fun thing we did was that we ALL went to T's gymnastics class. Brig stayed home sick from school due to a stomach bug.. and so he went with. He actually begged to come see his sister's class. He is such a proud and supportive big bro.

T is in a class of two(sometimes its a private class even!)

Look at that form!! Well.. I kid, b/c if it were not for he teacher, she'd fall flat on her back! We're working on strengthening her arms.

She loves the beam..

and of course the bar is her FAVE (other than the splashing in the puddle)

and what does Mr B do while she is at JANAKSIX? (that is an exact pronunciation)


well , he plays house of course!

Well that is it for some fun times in the Miller household.. we also got out in this wonderful ahem 90degree fall weather and took some family walks. Had his Tiger den meeting last night.

Oh and we're dealing with drama. Uck. makes me sick to my stomach.. but hoping prayer will get us through.

Looking forward to a date night with the hubby to see this guy

tonight will fill my emotional tank a bit.

and maybe some sushi is of need as well.

I'll leave you with a classic of Beck from the week.