The Pilgrim....

I almost forgot these photos....

Here are my Pilgrims.

hehee....

It's Jingles the Elf!

Please welcome Jingle-Cupcake the Elf to our home, dear friends.

Jingles will be staying with us till Christmas Eve, it seems, to help keep an eye on Emma. Jingles will be reporting back to Santa nightly to tell Santa all about Emma's day and if she is being NAUGHTY or NICE.

Yeah, the next month should be very stressful for my darling daughter....

I'll be sure to report on how Jingle is doing with our family; and more importantly,

how EMMA is doing with being watched by an elf named Jingle-Cupcake....

It's Thanksgiving Day!

The Turkey and Stuffing....

....and the homemade Cranberry Relish are done!

Shredded turkey and gravy for later....

...which is a tradition from my Mama to serve for breakfast on

toast the morning after Thanksgiving, is also ready.

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving, friends....

May your day be blessed with family, friends,

lots of laughter, sharing and love.

Turkey Cookies

I love, love, love to bake.

My Father loved to bake.

So did my Mama.

And my Grandmother loved to bake, too.

I've always wanted to bake with a child. Back in the "old days" when i didn't think a family was going to be in the plans for my life due to my black sheep mentality and just not trusting that the Lord would put in my life whatever HE had planned, and not ME, i would dream of baking cookies with my daughter. Sugar cookies. With lots of icing and candy decorations. We would laugh and giggle as we baked, making a special plate for Dada....after a while, i shoved that dream to the farest reaches of my head. It was painful to think that i would never re-marry, or have a family. And so, dreams of baking with my future daughter faded...i threw myself into working and that did help a lot.

I still baked, mostly during the holidays or to bring treats to work. And i baked when i went home for the holidays to my parent's house. The smells, the laughter in our kitchen are what made the holidays for me. My sister's growing family would also come to our parent's home and i loved on my niece and nephews....trying desperately to block out the ache of dreams not realized in my life.

I wasn't sad, mind you, as i knew that there WAS a plan for my life. I made peace with the fact that God would show me where to walk; i just had to have patience. God may not have a husband or children in my life plan. Maybe he wanted me to travel to other countries, to serve. Or maybe to stay where i was already planted and just grown. Letting go of my dreams for husband/family was hard, but freeing. It's hard to trust God and let go; especially when you always think you need a plan and you need it N.O.W. I have always pictured the Lord looking down on me while i make plans and make my 'to-do' lists and 'must-do' list, shaking His head, smiling, almost giggling at me. I must ask about that when i get to heaven...

(Many years later, i did meet my husband....that's a whole 'nother amazing, sweet, beautiful story, so back to baking cookies!)

These Turkey Cookies were so easy and fun to do with Emma! I saw them on Pinterest and thought "Oh, yes, THAT'S THE COOKIE!" The supplies were easy to gather and we actually already had them in the pantry. The candy corn was leftover from Halloween. So all you needed was a sugar cookie recipe (or you can go buy already baked cookies if you're short on time), lots of icing, and leftover candy corn. I baked earlier in the morning to give the cookies time to cool, but both Emma and i iced and put on the candy corn.

Emma and i both ate way too many Turkey Cookies....and lots of good, sweet memories were made.

It was a perfect afternoon.

Perfect.

Those cookies were really, really cute. Next year, i think that we will bake a batch and have a little Thanksgiving Cookie Decorating Party with some friends. Or maybe decorate some Turkey Cookies and give to neighbors, friends, teachers, and such. I do think that i need to come up with a different name, though....how about Gobble Cookies?

I hope that Emma remembers these moments when she grows up. I hope that these kind of memories make her smile when she thinks back on them. Doing things together as a family, after all, are what the most cherished memories are made of....

...and more photos.

I took these photos with my cell phone. I don't mean to sound like a geek, but i love that camera on my cell phone! It makes it so much easier to snap a pic at any moment you'd like to capture....true, the file isn't that large, but i've taken some photos with my cell phone that i truly just love. There are also apps that you can use to change your photos! Amazing, i know....lol

I won't even go into how much easier it is to carry a cell phone than it is to carry Larry; not to mention how i don't worry about Larry being dropped or lost or worse, stolen---> Larry is my Canon 7D. :)

I prefer Dena's photos, but i do love our Butterfly Garden that Emma is playing in as i snapped these quick pics....a lot of love has gone into that little Butterfly Garden and Emma and i love it out there. To hear her giggle as she tries to catch butterflies makes my heart smile. If she's not giggling, she's watering, asking me for birdseed or smelling/picking flowers.

Everyone should have a Butterfly Garden....everyone.

New Photos...

Every year, around October/November, i try to get Emma to Dena SanMiguel. She is an amazing woman and photographer and i always come away from a session with her pleased. Usually, these photos are for Christmas cards or calendar gifts, which during the busy time of year, well, makes things so much easier for me.

On this session, the fact that Dena was able to get any shots of Emma surprised me. It was a cold morning and of course, that made my little four year old a very unhappy camper. Thankfully, Dena brought suckers! I don't know how she managed to get any good shots of Emma, but thankfully, she did. Being a child photographer is a hard job and Dena really knows her stuff.

Thank you, Dena, and we'll see you again in the Spring!

Thanksgiving Acorn Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes this year for Emma's preschool class. The class had a Thanksgiving Meal that parents could attend and i wanted to do a special cupcake. I wasn't sure if i wanted to make these or Turkey Cookies; somehow, Acorn Cupcakes seemed a bit too grown up for a class of four year olds. And they were...i'm afraid that the horrid looking Turkey Cookies that tasted icky were a hit in looks, but the cupcakes were eaten. What wasn't eaten, i made sure did not come home with me. With the week that i've had, i would have eaten every one of the left-over cupcakes before i had even made it home....

Preschool is a challenge for my Emma. Not sure why, but we are working to find ways to make things better. I spent the day in class with her last Thursday and she was so very good the entire day, so i'm not sure what exactly is going on in her mind. I don't know if spending so much time with me alone is the issue, if she has listening issues (she did fantastic on Thursday), or if it's something else. I can tell that she knows what she's suppose to do and how she is suppose to act...yet, she's having problems. I'm thankful for her two teachers...they are gems and i'm grateful that they are willing to work with her.

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. We'll be staying home this year, just the three of us. Robert has been doing a bit of traveling lately, so we truly need this time together. I do wish that we had some family or some company, but i am looking forward to having Emma and Robert all to myself for a few days. I'm planning on doing some photos; i really haven't had much time to shoot lately.

I'm working on a few things, but it's too early to talk about that just yet. Better to just concentrate on the holidays, i think...

Fall

Forgive me for these photos...they were taken with my phone camera. To be honest, no camera (maybe even my Canon 7D!), i think, can truly show just how breath-taking beautiful Tennessee is in the Fall. Fall has always been one of my most favorite times of year, and since moving to Tennessee a few years ago, Fall has taken my breath away.

My photos just don't do the beauty of Tennessee any justice, especially in the Fall. The colors are simply amazing. From the reds, oranges, greens, browns and amazing yellows of the leaves, i just can't seem to capture to majesty of the beauty. It may just be a season that one has to see in order to appreciate the beauty. I walk around most of Fall in wonder of the trees that are around, in their changing season. It seems as though every day brings a new shade of color to my little area of the world. God truly out-did himself when he created Tennessee in the Fall.

I am sure that more camera time outside would help me capture the beauty that surrounds me. My new camera is still a learning experience and i imagine it will be that way for some time. My trusty older Canon and i, however, have things down pat and do mangage to get some shots together. I just always wonder, though, if the person looking at my tree photos truly, truly can see and feel the beauty.

TREES

by: Joyce Kilmer
(1886-1918)

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

"I don't like da beach..."

I have always in-visioned having a child who loved the beach even more than i. She would want to be on the beach from sun up to sun down, collecting shells, making sand castles, playing in the water and running on the beach. She would simply beg me to stay longer at the beach and i would happily say "of course".

Isn't it funny how you sometimes think that your child will just "love" the same things that you do?!?! Really, it can be almost downright hysterical...in a sick, sick kinda way.

On the morning of our second day here, we hit the beach. I can't tell you how excited i was to be on the beach. I love the beach with a passion. The smell of the sea water, the sand, and the amazing sounds of the waves. It feels like coming home to me, when i finally get to sink my toes into the sand. Emma, was really excited, too, having found some other little girls to play with. I settled down into my chair to enjoy the beach with a book that i would probably not read. Robert watched over Emma, who was playing with her new little friends. All was well for the next hour or so...and then, i was just about to doze off when i heard Emma crying.

I was so close to dozing off when i heard Emma crying. Really. I was SO close.

Crying?

At the beach?

My daughter?

Couldn't be.

ah, yes, Grasshopper, it was.

I could not figure out what in the world the problem was. She was crying that she hated the beach. She hated the water. She hated the sand. She itched...

Being the calm, understanding loopy mother that i am, i finally figured out that she had sand in her bottoms. I grab a towel, wrapped it around her, and took off her bathing suit. I am not, btw, happy. Really? Of COURSE there is sand in your bottoms! She and her little friends were digging a hole to China in the sand, for heaven's sake. Couldn't i just get back into my chair and continue to pretend i was going to nap?

umm, that would be a 'no' for those of you out there without the blessings of children who were wondering.

So, i dust off the sand a almost hysterical Emma....deciding to just take her back in and clean her up. I get her upstairs, still crying (not me, her) and talk her into a bubble bath with her friends (the dinosaurs). She calms down a little and finally begins to calm down a bit. I sit on the floor, watching her play, wondering what in the world she was so upset about.

As she plays mermaid in the tub, she flips over so i can see her bottom.

Emma has sand abrasions all over her bottom and the tops of her legs. Bright, red, angry sand abrasions...i called for Robert, not really wanting him to see that i was a candidate for the Worst Mother of the Year Award by getting irritated her when she was truly in pain.

"Isabel," he tells me quietly, "it's okay. It's just sand abrasions. She'll be fine."

I knew that...really i did. But the thing that i knew, too, was that i couldn't believe how selfish i had acted. I just wanted to sit on the beach...and i was irritated that i couldn't.

The thing is, vacations are different now. It's not an Isabel and Robert get-a-way anymore. It's a FAMILY vacation. And that means that everyone is on vacation...and well, it seems that i am kinda not. I'm just in a different place, doing what i do, being a Mom. Moms don't take vacations on family vacations...

...which makes me sound like the most selfish person in the world.

And i guess i am. Seriously? I am complaining about being a Mom?!?! This is the job i wanted most in the world. This gig is 24-7, being a Mom. I knew that before i signed up for the title of Mommy.

To be honest, i wouldn't want to be on vacation without Emma or Robert. Where is the fun in that?

I am surprised, you know, that my sister and i made it into adulthood...had i been my mother, i would have left the both of us at a rest stop while we were on vacation. My sister and i were horrible together growing up. Being in a car with no air-conditionaire for hours on end together in the back seat did not bring out the best in either of us. Kudos to my Mama for not beating us with a tree limb or kicking us out of the car and having my Dad drive off without us.

Back to being selfish...

Perhaps the solution is to have a day on vacation for both Robert and i where we take off alone to do what ever it is we want to do, alone. He could go do that boat/fishy thing and i could take off with my camera for the day to just photograph.

I just don't remember my parents doing stuff like that...where ever my parents were is where my sister and i were. Of course, my Mom did look pissed off a lot during our vacations...a day away from the three of us probably would have done wonders for her mental health.

This being a Mom thing is hard sometimes...

I'm being called by Emma to eat Popsicles in bed, so i should go.

I don't want to miss doing that, you know....it's our new Family Vacation Ritual. :)

Learning...

...to slow down has not been an easy task for me. To be patient has not been an easy task to learn, either. I am learning, though.

I am learning.

Just not as fast as i would like.

Emma loves, loves, LOVES to paint. She loves the colors, the feel of the paint and getting her hands, face, and anything else nearby, full of paint. And she loves to paint slowly.

S-L-O-W-L-Y.

That means, for me, sitting there. For what seems like forever....just sitting there.

One day, as i was looking out the window after i had 'finished' my painting and Emma painted on, i realized that my little artist was four years old. And, she was in preschool. I looked over at Emma, her face scrunched up in concentration as she painted, and remembered back to when she was a baby. Four short years ago, she was a baby who needed me for everything. Oh, she still needs me, but in different ways.

She can feed herself.

She can dress herself.

She can wash her hair.

She can clean off the table after dinner.

I always seem to want her to move faster, to do things quicker.

I need to stop that. Because the faster she moves, the faster time with her goes.

Blink.

She's a baby.

Blink.

She's walking.

Blink.

She's running.

Blink.

She's talking.

Blink.

She's in a Mother's Day Out program.

Blink.

She's a kitty for Halloween.

Blink.

She is hopping on Santa's lap.

Blink.

She's in preschool.

Blink.

Blink.

Blink.

So, i think that i will work even more at learning to slow down and have patience. I will walk slower with Emma, look at more rocks, collect more dirt and leaves and instead of planning what i need (or what Emma needs) to do next, i'll be in the moment i am, remembering that patience and slowing down to enjoy the world through her eyes, is truly a good thing.

I think, too, that maybe, just maybe, this is God's way of making me really see all that i have to be grateful and thankful for by walking slower, and looking at the world again WITH Emma. It's so easy to forget all of the amazing things that children and the world have to offer...

...and with Thanksgiving coming up, it's never too early to slow down and remember these things.

Lilli House in Franklin, TN

I managed to sneak back out to Franklin a few days ago to take a few photos of the Lilli House. I don't know much about this house, but the photos don't do this beautiful house any justice! It is truly a beautiful house that has a charm all of it's own!