The Littlest Reindeer

Chloe was in her school's 3rd grade musical last week. It was called "The Littlest Reindeer" (if you couldn't tell from the title of this post...) and it was about a small reindeer, who gets made fun of by all the other reindeer. She ends up saving Christmas because she can do things that the bigger reindeer can't. It was a cute play... the songs were schnazzy and fun. Chloe was Elf #5. (The one in the middle of the picture!) She was the cutest little elf of them all!
Her lines went like this...

"Santa's right. It's sad but true.
She doesn't have the brawn.
She's much too small to pull the sleigh,
and too big for carry-on."

After the show finished I had her pose for an up-close picture. Yes, that is Ciera's hand creeping in for the bunny-ears.
We are so proud of Chloe.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy AuTuMn!!

Four years ago on December 10th, a little girl was born. Her parents named her Autumn Susan Tanner. They never knew what an amazing little girl she would become. I can't believe my little baby is four years old today. She is such an amazing little girl, and teaches me a lot. I love her more today than ever...For her birthday breakfast we had hot chocolate and donuts. Yum!
Autumn was so excited about all the gifts she got this morning. She loved opening the packages as much as getting the presents inside! Autumn requested an Ariel cake for her birthday. This one took me a while to make, but I think it turned out fairly well! Happy Birthday Autumn Susan Tanner!

Conversation with Autumn

Last night when I was making dinner, Autumn came into the kitchen. She approached me and asked, "Mommy, when you die, will Ciera be our mom?" This was in all seriousness, and completely out of the blue. I really did not have any idea why she was thinking about me dying, but I sort of understand why she would think Ciera would be her mom. She IS in charge when I leave home for a little while, so it makes sense that she would be in charge when I leave for good... a sort of permanent babysitter.
I answered her question. "No," I said. "Ciera will not be your mom. She will always be your sister."
"Oh. Well, who will be our mom when you die?"
I answered, "Me. I will always be your mom, and you will always be my daughter."
"But you will be dead."
"I know," I said, "but I will still be your mom."
"Oh." Autumn seemed to be satisfied with my answers and left the kitchen. I continued making dinner. A little while later she came back in the kitchen holding her blankie and asked me to pick her up. I did, and she cuddled into me and said, "I am sad that you are going to die."
What? Does she know something I don't?
I said, "Don't worry, I won't be dying anytime soon. I have to get old first."
Autumn stroked my face with her hand and said, "Mom... you are old."
I certainly don't remember thinking that mid thirties was so far gone that death was imminent, but apparently I am at death's door in Autumn's eyes. I mean, I have a couple of wrinkles and a few gray hairs, and I may not be as quick as I once was, but I think I have a good many years left.
I said, "Your Grandmas and Grandpas are WAY older then I am, and they are still alive. You don't have to worry about me. You even have Great Grandparents still alive, and they are REALLY old."
I guess that was the answer she was looking for, because she said, "Okay." Then she hopped down out of my arms and took off.
When I was getting ready for bed last night, I noticed a few new wrinkles and gray hairs. Oh, man.

But seriously, this conversation with Autumn got me thinking. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have about families; that our Heavenly Father planned for us to have families here on earth, and that through the sealing power of the Priesthood found in temples, our family can be together forever. When we do eventually pass into the next life, we can still have our children with us as our children. I will still be able to be Autumn's mom, and Brooke, Chloe, and Ciera's mom for eternity. That makes me happy. I am grateful for my sweet family who loves me and wants to be with me forever, because I sure want to be with them too.

December Fun

I can't believe it is December already! We have already had a lot going on, and it is only the 6th! I sang in the Stake Christmas Choir on Saturday, which was really fun. I really like singing, especially Christmas songs! Sunday, we decorated our Christmas tree together. For the first time, I let the girls put the ornaments wherever they wanted. It turned out very full of ornaments, and not in the way I would have done it... but they had fun and it is THEIR tree. This week Chloe will be in the 3rd grade Christmas play at school. She has a speaking part... she is an elf. I will try to remember to take pictures! Friday is Autumn's 4th birthday! I can not believe she will be 4 years old!! She is getting so big and so smart! Next week Dave will be in CA at a conference, but Ciera and Chloe have an Activity Days parent night where they will be in some skits. Then, the following week is Christmas! I have not been feeling particularly Christmassy yet, but I am really looking forward to having time to spend with my beautiful family! I hope you all have a great December, and I will try to post as things happen this month!

Thanksgiving with the Cox Family

This year for Thanksgiving, our good friends from the grad school days in Riverside CA, the Coxes, came to spend Thanksgiving with us. They live in Texas about 6 hours away, and came to spend their holiday with us! It was really great to get together with them... they are great friends! They have children around the same ages as ours (their older 3 are the same as our younger 3) and it just was a really great time. Dinner was fabulous (thanks to Alton Brown's turkey recipe!), and the company was fabulous too!
On Friday, we went to the Dallas World Aquarium. Lots of other people thought it was a good idea to go to the aquarium too, because it was pretty crowded. It turned out to be more like a zoo with a bit of aquarium in it... but it was enjoyable, and the kids had a great time. There were a lot of cool exhibits and we spent about 2 1/2 hours there during the day.The Coxes left on Saturday morning to head back home. We had a really great holiday with them. It is fun to have friends that you can see after 3 years and still have fun with. Thanks for a great time Cox family!

Preschool Thanksgiving

Last week we had our preschool Thanksgiving party. I made some yummy, cute treats for the kids, that actually turned out pretty well! The paper turkey was filled with popcorn, so when we "carved" it they got to eat what was inside.I made cupcakes, and was just going to let them have cupcakes with sprinkles on them, but then I thought I could use some of the things we had around (left over candy from Halloween) to make turkey cupcakes. It was fun.Later, I made some turkey hats with just my kids. Their hands were the turkeys wings... It was pretty fun!

A moment of reflection & gratitude

I have seven loads of laundry to fold. I just finished doing a sink full of dishes. I am baking some pumpkin bars (yum!), and just finished cleaning up the table from lunch. I went grocery shopping this morning, which took several arm loads to bring in from the minivan. Before that, I waited at the Texas Department of Public Safety (for the third time, mind you) to get my Texas Driver's License, after driving 1/2 hour to get there since there is no such office in the town in which I live. I woke up this morning to a 3 (almost 4) year old telling me it was time to get up and eat breakfast before my alarm went off. Two of my children are sick, and cranky, with lots of nasty liquids oozing from their noses (gross!) and are currently fighting me about whether or not they have to take a nap. So far, it has been a busy, chaotic day... and it is only 1:00. AND, I would not want it any other way. (At least right now.)
As I was doing my aforementioned dishes, I was thinking about my life and reflecting a little bit on motherhood, and what an amazing blessing it is. I can't believe how lucky I am. I have four beautiful, talented, smart, feisty, playful, articulate, fun, caring, amazing daughters. My Heavenly Father blessed my life so abundantly with each little spirit He sent down for me to take care of. I do not feel at all adequate, but I am SO grateful to have the chance to be their mother and guide them in their lives a little bit.
My girls each teach me so much about love, devotion, and patience. They give me courage and strength to go through life, they make me want to be a better person. I love that I can be their mom, and talk with them about important things, and some not-so-important things. I love that I can be their friend, and listen to their silly jokes, watch their dances and plays, play games with them, and laugh with them. I love that they want to do what is right, and always want me to be proud of them. I love it when they tell me that they love me without being prompted.
I love the fact that I get to stay at home with my beautiful girls. I can't imagine having to send them to someone else to love and care for them. I feel especially lucky that Dave has always been able to provide for our family in a way that allows me to stay at home. I love being able to send my girls off to school and be there to pick them up at the end of their day. I love being able to volunteer in their schools. I love that I can do a preschool co-op for Autumn, and that she can be excited to have her turn to host it at our house once in a while.
I love being able to have the time to keep my house clean. I love it when I have things tidy, when my house looks and smells nice. I love the look of freshly vacuumed floors. I am so grateful that I can do so many things to make my house a pleasant place to be. I love it when Dave comes home and tells me how great the house looks.
I love being able to cook. I am grateful for grocery stores that have just about anything we want. I am grateful that my mom taught me how to cook and bake. I love being able to make meals that my family likes to eat. I love it when the girls have friends over and they say, "My mom is such a good cook!"
There are hard days. There are times when I ask myself what I am doing. There are times when quitting sounds like a real option. It is during those times, that I try to remember the good times when it all seems a bit easier. When I am folding the sixth load of laundry, and I am SO sick of clothes, sometimes I am not quite as grateful as I should be. When my kids are driving me nuts (which happens on occasion...) it is harder to be thankful to be at home with them. It is during those hard times, when I need help feeling charitable, that I rely on my faith to pull me through. I am so grateful for those trying times that make the sweet moments all the sweeter.
Words cannot adequately express how thankful I am to be a mom, to be able to stay at home with my beautiful girls, and to have such an amazing husband. I am truly blessed. I am so humbled that my Father in Heaven would allow me to be a part of such an awesome family. I am grateful to be a mom, thankful to call myself a homemaker, and glad that I can be involved in the lives of some truly amazing people. I LOVE my life (even on the busy, chaotic days).