Just imagine Christmas music playing and a yummy smelling candle burning...ladies chatting and stamping and eating...I forgot to take a single picture!!! The set up was neat and I even had a tree with pink and tinsel and presents on it for each lady...a big thank you to all the ladies that made such pretty cards! 
Everything has found its home again and I am even a little more organized...on to my next project...the cornucopia for the the front of the church for Sunday! Pics to follow.
...see Teddy's new bed...see how high it is...see spot on the floor above the red tie...see Mommy wash the dresser off...see Daddy clean the carpet...
and my craft area looks like a bomb went off! Tonight is our ladies night out at church. This is the second year for us to do a stamping night...I hope the ladies enjoy it as much as they seemed to last year! It is alot of work, but fun! My friend, Angie, helped with some ideas and little giveaways to adorn the Christmas tree. We will listen to Christmas carols and talk and stamp and eat! I made Christmas cookies for our dessert...plus we have chocolate on the tables! Still have some things to finish...falalalala!!!
I wonder if it is wrong for a mother to want to fly south for the winter!?
" Life is easy when you're up on the mountain and you've got peace of mind like you never knew. But when things change and you're down in the valley, Don't lose faith for you're never alone!
and I am so tired that I keep typing the wrong letters. I downloaded 180 pictures and just finished editing them...don't worry...I won't post all of them! What beautiful country!!! The leaves were absolutely gorgeous but the camera didn't do them justice! There was more color in TN than here in the midwest! We watched the colors become more vivid each day...next week, the mountains will be on fire with color! We counted 31 different state license plates and 2 Canadian provinces as we drove over 1300 miles in 6 days through and in 5 states.
This picture takes me back to the days when we would load up the car and head up to the cabin for an autumn vacation. So many wonderful experiences were shared as a family as we enjoyed the simple pleasures of the northern woods.
What is it about a comfy chair and a dog on the lap that makes one feel all the stress of the day falling away? All I could think when Mar sent this picture is...we each need a chair facing each other with a cup of coffee ready to chat! The dogs would be chasing each other and the children's voices would be heard around the neighborhood as they played together...husbands would be off doing manly things...and we would be oblivious...cause we were together! Digging in the dirt...wouldn't bother us...constant requests for snacks...knock yourself out...dishes and laundry...who cares, they don't have legs...
A week ago, our Thursday started out with a trip to Grandma Great's for Teddy and Grandma and a plea for Mommy to buy a cowboy hat..."pleeease!" It was a reasonable request since the dollar store always has hats. Praise the Lord, I got there before any other mother was able to scoop up the last one in the store!
What is it about this time of year that makes me want to bake and cook?
I thought the pictures turned out cute...but the facial expressions are hilarious. We are not doing retakes because I want to remember their reasons for "not smiling". Alisa didn't smile because when she did "her lip hurt". This was news to me...she gave me a big smile for a practice one as she bounced toward the school door. Ashlynn said, "I am smiling." "You didn't show us your teeth..." "They are there...(smile)" It is funny to me how their "ideas change" when they leave in the morning, go to school...are with their classmates and teachers, and come home...are with each other and us or with other family members. All their talk of how they were going to smile...excitement over school pictures...and the reality of being in front of the camera with a stranger operating it, school personnel telling you to smile, and all your classmates watching and waiting for their turn! Oh the memories! "Hey...girls, where are your little black combs?..."
It is so fun to see the girls want to help with things around the house...right now, it is willingly! It sure makes my job a little easier to have two more sets of hands!
Alisa is a great sock-matcher-upper! She asked me if I would "inside out these socks" for her to make it "easier to match them up". I have the helpers to "fold" some of the laundry and put it away...I just have to get it to that point! Thanks to my girls and boy for being such good helpers!
I had to share a pic of my new fall decor from my secret pal. I love this time of year! The leaves are changing...slowly, and the promise of cooler weather moving in tonight is a great relief! 90 degree temps in October do not make for fun fall activities! We didn't even have a fire at the lakehouse this weekend...it was too hot even for this campfire lover!
Why is it that children always go beserk when company comes? They do things that they are not allowed to do during the normal day...full speed ahead. Some family, we see only once a year and for short periods of time...I guess the kids feel the need to "show off" and make an impression. I, on the other hand, am praying that they will be polite and use good manners...and instead, we have a tumbling class and racing event and kickboxing ring. Just call me mortified! There were a couple things done and said, that I just stood there with a stupid look on my face..."I can't believe that you actually thought that was important to say out loud!" I can totally understand why parents of long ago taught their children to "be seen and not heard"! It is so adults can conversate and be able to hear the other conversators! It is a lost manner that I am thinking of reinstating...now, how to do that after all these years!? Does duct tape come in flesh tones?
