miller family catch-up

I decided to go through my personal picture folders from September and October and see what sort of randomness I could share here. Look at me, playing catch-up, getting back to Blogging!

So lets see. First we had my Godson’s 1st birthday party. It was country Western themed with a petting zoo and pony rides. Lots of fun!

Then we had our first day of school which was off to a weird start. Every year since Emily and Andrew started school, I put the kids on the bus and then beat it up there so I can take pictures of them getting off. They always laugh and think dear old Mom is a kook. This year, Grace’s very first day of full-day school no less, our morning bus never showed. So after standing on the corner for close to 25 minutes, we drove the kids to school and as an added bonus, everyone was 5 minutes late.  =P Not the greatest way to start your first day. I ended up getting lucky on the way home though. They all sat together and got off the bus, in age order to boot. Love my bus shot after all. :)

On September 7th, us 5 Millers did the Color Run in Brooklyn. Here’s a before… (sleepy eyes due to a 7am departure time from our comfy beds).

…and after.

On September 16th, Grace turned 5. She celebrated with some girlfriends as we hosted a spa party in the house and then brought “tie dyed” cupcakes to school for her class.

Grace officially became a Daisy Scout.

Fall also means we are busy with football 3x a week. Andrew is #15. The boys have been wearing pink socks in October for Breast Cancer Awareness and they wore green in September for Lymphoma Awareness.

The kids took my Dad’s boat out for a spin…

“We’re the Kings of the world!”

…and did a little fishing.

Then we hit October and I turned some tomato cages & sheets into three twinkling ghosts for the front yard.

On October 3rd, Andrew turned 9.

He brought in donuts for his class to celebrate!

Dunkin’ Donuts + plastic fangs + Wilton candy eyes. Boom. Done.

He also had a small friend party/Halloween bash this past weekend.

Do you like Chucky our skeleton clown sitting by our front door? He adds a little whimsical charm to our home, dontchya think?

The kids had their second Spirit Day of the school year. Go blue & gold!

Grace went on her very first field trip. It was to a local pumpkin farm where she picked a pumpkin, radishes and green beans. My favorite part of these after school pictures are the grass stains that she didn’t leave home with that morning. Just a little souvenir from the pumpkin farm.

This past weekend we had Homecoming which was lots of fun. A parade with floats, the Varsity game and then Andrew’s game the following day. Here we are waiting for our favorite football player to come marching down the block.

Here are a couple of random shots I dumped from my iPhone recently.

Top row, L-R: Vin and I upstate, the kids trick or treating upstate while camping, Grace showing off her cute ponytail before school one morning and the kids before school on 9/11. My girls insisted on wearing red, white & blue.

Bottom row, L-R: Rootbeer Float cupcakes I made for Andrew’s family birthday party (a RBF is one of his favorite treats), our pup Sadie going to get groomed last week, Grace making me laugh during a Starbucks dessert date while the other kids were at Religion and Emily wearing her Daddy’s FDNY dress hat.

I’ve also been quite busy (since July 1st to be exact) working out 5-6x a week and making healthy treats. Here are a few of my meals/snacks I keep in rotation. Actually, compiling this collage made me realize I need to make a trip to Trader Joe’s and get back on track. These are mostly protein-heavy treats using my favorite protein powders by Trutein. I’m also big on flat pizzas (the one shown here is made with spinach, feta & figs) and overnight Oats In A Jar! I love adding diced zucchini to them for an added dose of veggies. I usually top them in the morning with fresh fruit and granola. Breads used are Ezekiel. Waffles and pancakes are made with protein powder instead of flour. I don’t use any sugar on anything. In fact, we don’t even keep it in the house anymore.

And I do believe that brings you right up to date with the Millers. And probably left you on a hungry note. Apologies.

Thanks for catching up with me!