Happy New Year!

We had a ridiculously silly and spectacularly fun New Year's Eve at Casa Miller this year. The boys decided they wanted to eat Boston Market for dinner, so we brought it home and ate it off of our formal Wedgwood china. We tasted some sparkling grape juice (our bubbly) from our Waterford crystal wine glasses. And we enjoyed the whole meal by candlelight. It was great! For dessert, we made some very tasty New Year's cupcakes. Jacks and Cody were happy to lend a hand with the frosting. And by that I mean occasionally putting some ON the cupcakes while mostly licking it off their fingers. ;)
Note the tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in this one...he was frosting those cupcakes with Michael Jordan-esque intensity and concentration. :)Luke mainly toddled around eating all the cupcakes and making goofy faces.
But Anthony decided to play with my camera last night and he took a bunch of Luke and Mama.
Mama gave Luke a kiss, so he decided to reciprocate...a little less teeth next time might be nice. Finally, Cody and Anthony made these fun numbers and so we posed for our official New Year's portrait. Happy 2009! May your year be filled with love and laughter.

Beautiful Day

The Dallas weather has been so gorgeous for the last few days. We've been trying to take advantage and play outside as much as possible.

Jacks is such a super big brother and Luke thinks the sun rises and sets with him. They had some fun with Luke's new ride-on.
Luke also enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with one of the columns of our gazebo. :)
This one is, "Ta-DA! Here I am!" He does actually say ta-da, although his version is just "Daaaaaaaaaa!" We had a really nice visit with Anthony's brother and his family this past weekend, too. It's always great to see them and especially to watch the cousins play together. They always have so much fun. Here are my older boys with their best 'cuz, H.

Merry Christmas 2008!

Last night we headed over to Gramma and Grandad's house for our annual traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tamale pie. Not long after we ate, the boys got a special Fed-Ex package direct from the North Pole! Inside were awesome rock star PJ's, encouraging the boys to get ready for bed so Santa could get started on the long night ahead. ;) The boys immediately stripped down and donned their gay apparel (hehe).

Here are the little rock stars with their Aunt Kate (AKA K-K). Think they like her?
And then Santa himself showed up...though he looked a lot like Daddy. ;)
Santa let Luke borrow his hat for a bit....Jacks was ready to head home so Christmas would come faster...But Cody found Gramma's cool headphones and had to rock out. He's with the band, he HAS to rock! Later, Anthony and I readied the house for the next morning. One of Luke's presents was his own green Anywhere chair from Pottery Barn. He has been coveting Jackson's and Cody's, who have both had one since they were about Luke's age. So now he has his own, and I had to get a shot of the 3 chairs together. :)
Before heading to bed, Jackson made sure to open the fireplace for Santa so he wouldn't get stuck in the chimney. Looks like Santa couldn't hang the stockings with care because they were so full!Santa was here! And he left a few cookie crumbs behind...In the morning, the ride-on FJ Cruiser got the most attention. But hold on, WHOSE present was it again? Clearly, Luke thought it was meant for him.
"Wait, this isn't mine?""What do you mean this is Cody's? I like it! Hey, no fair!"Cody's so sweet, he didn't mine sharing...But he was pretty glad when Luke finally decided to play with what Santa REALLY brought for him.Luke took the message on his PJ's to heart and practiced his rock star face.Meanwhile, Cody tried on the work goggles that came with his new tools and ran around the house fixing things.Then he and Luke (and therefore I) braved the cold to road-test the FJ!And where was Jackson during all this? He parked himself at the kitchen table at around 7 am with his Santa present, the Lego Cargo Train Deluxe, and didn't move for a few hours, until the whole thing was built! We're having a quiet morning at home before we go back over to Gramma and Grandad's to celebrate Christmas with them this afternoon. Merry Christmas to all!

Super Santa and his Helpers

Yes, even Superman is in the holiday spirit! And he managed to get Jacks on board with his Christmas cheer as well. Luke was very skeptical about the whole thing, but gamely played along. :)It's the day before the day before, people!!! We're almost there!

All He Needs is the Kilt

"They may take our cookies...but they will never take our FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Our little Braveheart has developed quite a love for dressing up. If he doesn't have shoes on, he'll bring a shoe or two (doesn't matter if they match) to whoever is nearest and demand help getting them on his feet. He often tries to steal the glasses off our faces and put them over his own eyes. And just yesterday, he found one of my scarves and was thrilled when Daddy wrapped it around him, sash-like. A metrosexual in the making? :P

Cody's Christmas Open House

This morning I joined all the parents in Cody's class for a special Open House in their classroom. The kids sang a couple of songs and then served us cookies and punch. They also presented us with a special Christmas present: a handmade tree ornament with their school picture inside.

Though Cody is always such a serious customer at school, he loves music and we've been listening to him sing these songs for the last couple of weeks, so I knew he was looking forward to today. He rocked his Baby Jesus like a pro, wished us a Merry Christmas, and hopped Santa right out of the chimney. It was so great to watch.
Notice that he is a full head taller than every other kiddo in his class. And doesn't he look so much like Anthony? Merry Christmas Codes!

When Luke Grows Up...

You know how you often see family photos of famous people when they were little, as evidence that they were always destined for greatness in a certain area? Like the one of a 2 year-old Tiger Woods holding a golf club. Well, here's ours of Luke.

"Wise men say.....only fools rush in....thank you, thank you very much."