My Little Cinder-Autumn

Once upon a time in a land far, far away...in the land of stories and make believe where things aren't real, and they're only just pretend there lived a little girl named Cinder-Autumn. Poor Cinder-Autumn had to beg for food b/c she was so hungry.

But, in order to earn her keep and have food to eat, she had to sweep the porch and felt like a slave.

Even her best efforts weren't good enough and she had to be shown by the master of the house how to do the sweeping to his liking.

Cinder-Autumn tried and tried to please the Master of the House, but she always felt inadequate.

She went and hid in the bushes and cried out for her fairy god-mother to come and save her from this life of servitude and slavery.

Fairy god-mother sent her Penne Dolcellate, her favorite pasta dish, which she ate and ate to her heart's content.

Cinder-Autumn ate until her little cheeks were full like a chipmunk.

"Mirror, mirror on the wall..." Oh, wait. Wrong fairy tale...that's Snow White, not Cinder-Autumn. But either way, Cinder-Autumn thought she was beautiful and was so happy to see her new hairdo.

"I am the fairest in the land...just look at me!"

I will use my beauty and talents to help others. I will sew little dresses for mice and birds. With my big magic earrings, I can become anything I chose to be. No more Cinder-Autumn for me!

THE END!

I'm pretty sure that I'm in big trouble when you're a teenager. Today I went and got my nails done, and while I was gone you and Mimi played dress up. You had found my purple earrings I took off last night after we got home for the day, and Mimi put them on you! You thought you were the greatest thing since sliced bread. You totally crack me up and I love you so much. I just hope you always remember that you are beautiful and that you always have this much self confidence (but not to the point that you're stuck up). You are an amazing, gorgeous, brilliant, and phenomenal person!

No, No, No!!!

You've started doing this thing lately where if someone does something you don't like, you'll shake your pointer finger at them and say, "No, no, no!" It's usually directed at Uncle Nate, even if he's not the one that does something you don't like. If he's in the room, he gets the brunt of the "No, no, no!" If he's not around, then Mimi is next in line for it. I know I shouldn't laugh when you do it, but it's just so funny!

General Conference Day 2

This morning we woke up, got cleaned up, and got ready to watch the Sunday sessions of General Conference. You were such a snuggle bug, and I take advantage of every second I can that you want to snuggle. You got all your little babies and came and sat on my lap and just let me rock you for a few minutes. I treasure moments like this.

Uncle Nate decided if I was going to rock my baby, then he wanted Mimi to rock her baby! I don't think Mimi enjoyed rocking him as much as I enjoyed rocking you...her face shows exactly how she feels about it.

I was finally able to catch you on video doing what you do for hours on end every week...you lay your babies down, cover them up with dish towels or baby wipes, pat their back, etc. I'm glad you can keep yourself entertained for so long with such a simple thing.

Happy 53rd Birthday, Papa!

Papa's birthday isn't really until tomorrow, but we celebrated it today. Lexie, Jon, and Andrew came up from Austin. For his special birthday dinner, Papa requested basically a Thanksgiving dinner...turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and rolls.

You are a meat lover, but a whole entire platter of turkey is a little over the top. You have to share with everyone else, too!

Uncle Nate brought home a surprise for us from work...a garden snake. You weren't scared of it at all and even touched it.



Papa was nice enough to share his favorite dessert with you...homemade banana cream pie. You were so excited with that HUGE mountain of whip cream.

"Ooohhh! This stuff is YUMMY!!!"

Papa & Grand kids

After all that scrumptious food, you wanted to go outside and play. You LOVE basketball, and I hope you'll be coordinated like your dad so you can play it when you're older.

"Here, Andrew. I'll roll it to you and you catch it and roll it back."

After playing in the backyard for a while, we decided to go on a walk around the neighborhood. You, Andrew, and Uncle Jon were chasing a rabbit that kept running away.

I thought this picture in front of the big pompous grass looked cool in sepia.

I know this picture is blurry, but I still loved it. It's just non-stop action with you and Andrew around.

After all that running around, it was time for some of Papa's amazing smoothies. I bought these chef hats for you and Andrew at Target. Y'all look so cute!

SMOOTHIE TIME!

I laughed so hard when I saw Andrew's shirt and his face in this picture. He didn't want a smoothie...he was "holding out for chocolate milk."

Look at what a difference just a little chocolate milk can make...from Mr. Grumpy to Mr. Happy.

You were also super happy to get a bah bah full of chocolate milk. You kids are never going to go to bed with all this sugar from chocolate milk and then smoothies on top of that. Just watch the video below for proof.

Aunt Lexie and I were in my room talking when all of a sudden we were overrun by the super silly hyper kids. It was funny, b/c Andrew would kind of attack you and you would just play along and laugh. But, as you can see in this video, when you tried to attack him, he had a FIT and was NOT happy about it.

You two kept this up for a good 45 minutes and we were all just laughing and having a blast the entire time.

This picture just makes me smile. I'm so glad we live close to family so you can have fun with Andrew!

Princess in the Purse

You are addicted to purses and usually have 2 or 3 of them on your arm while you walk around the house. Today you found one of Mimi's bags, and Papa decided if you like purses so much, how about if you ride in one? This video is TOO FUNNY!

After the purse ride, you decided you wanted to get out.
"Hey, let me out of this thing! I am the Princess of Purses, but I don't want to be Princess in the Purse!"

"This is bad for my public image. Please, no more pictures."

"OK, fine, if you insist on continuing to take pictures, I have no choice but to go and consult with my lawyer."

"Now, where were those papers I needed to look over to sue my Mother, the crazy picture taking paparazzi?"

"Yes, everything looks in order. Please hand me a pen and I will sign these. She'd better not post that video on my blog!"

Butterfly and Eskimo Kisses

These are the moments that I LOVE being a mom!