Cookie Decorating

I love baking and especially love eating the results, but I DO NOT love making cut out cookies, nor do I love eating them either. I hate having to roll the dough 50 times to get about 50 cookies. But, I would not be a good mother if I denied my children this favorite holiday past time and pretend to enjoy it. I do enjoy watching my children exercise and grow their generosity by sharing the fruits of their labor with neighbors and family. I should also add that Hallie made this cookie baking experience a bit difficult, as she has a major sweet tooth and kept snitching dough every time I turned my head. She took it right out from under me! I think she probably ate about 5 cookies' worth.

Jack-O-Lantern

Carson continues to grow up physically before our eyes. Here's a photo just after I pulled his 4th tooth for him. (That is something I didn't think I would be able to do, but when duty calls...) He had his second teeth cleaning (after that horrible incident of trying to do sealants) and went through it like a pro. I was truly amazed and couldn't stop showering him with praise and letting him know how proud I was.

First Snow

Carson spent two hours after school one day making this snow man. (Of course I wasn't bright enough to get out the camera until he was putting on the finishing touches.) I was really impressed with his dilligence and that he was strong enough to get up the middle and top pieces.

This is what the snow man looked like the next day after it rained all night!

Gaylord Texan

Since I travelled to the convention alone, I did not take a lot of pictures, but these are a few things that impressed me. These pictures were taken inside the hotel's atrium. This hotel was amazing! And huge! Obviously, I like the chili pepper plants. I think they're neat. The longhorn was cool and the other picture, in case you can't tell, is a train on a big guitar. There were many trains and mini towns throughout the hotel. The convention itself was amazing and there were over 4500 mothers of preschoolers attending. Pretty much every person you saw at the hotel was a MOP!

More Fall Beauty

Shortly after our fall photo shoot, my mom joined the kids and I for a sunny walk through the Kenai Wildlife Refuge. I love being amongst the trees at this time of year! This was a fun, refreshing outdoor time.

Fall Photo Shoot

Fall is my favorite time to take outdoor pictures because of all the vibrant colors and I really do love the leaves falling on the ground. So I always try to get a fall photo shoot of the kids. This year I got some good individual pictures, but I could not get one of all three of them looking at me! Oh well, they're kids!

Catching up.

Well, I have been avoiding the computer these days because it eats up so much of my time and I really want to be a good family manager! Going the the MOPS convention in Dallas for four days in early October was really great. Not only was it a refreshing break from my daily "mommy" life, but I was spiritually nourished, was able to connect with other mom leaders, and came home with a renewed sense of appreciation for my role in this family and outside the walls of our home. MOPS is not just a ministry, it is a movement!

I hope to be adding some pictures to the blog soon, but for now I wanted to share a conversation I had with Carson the other day before I forget.

Mom: This house sure isn't much fun to be in anymore because there is so much whining and crying going on.

Carson: Yeah, Tana cries all the time.

Mom: No, I would say you do more crying and whining than anyone when you are home. Why is it that you don't have this behavior at school? Why do you save it all for us at home?

Carson: Because, it's embarrassing! I don't want to be embarrassed!

Mom: So why isn't it embarrassing to act that way at home?

Carson: Because you're used to me!