Salt Dough Christmas Ornaments

Yesterday I decided to make salt dough Christmas ornaments with Charlotte. I found a recipe online and this is how they turned out!

I am still planning on painting them (I will post the picture later).

This was the process.

Charlotte wanted to taste the dough...

She is thinking about it...

Blehk!

Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving in our new home!

Going around the table from left to right: Jacob, my Dad, Andy, Wyatt, Sarah, Daniel's Dad and Mom, Garrett, and my Mom. We had a full table (and even fuller tummies!).

I made my very first turkey...

(Thanks for the help, Mom!)

Charlotte knows that a turkey says, "gobble, gobble!"

Then we enjoyed some after dinner reading...

If you are wondering how we spent our morning.... we were NOT slaving away in the kitchen.

No, we were enjoying some unusually warm weather!

Playing tennis....

Jumping....

Driving....

Posing...

Climbing...

Sliding...

Swinging....

I am so thankful for my dear husband and darling daughter. I LOVE being a mom. I am thankful I can stay home with her and be there to watch her grow and develop. I am thankful for the wonderful family I was born to and the lovely family I married into. I am thankful for our beautiful new home, good health, and good food. We have been richly blessed.

Duck Pond

We have been enjoying the most beautiful fall weather. Here we are in mid November and it is sunny, cool, and the autumn colors have finally burst.

We went to the duck pond in downtown HSV on Saturday and enjoyed feeding the birds and the fishes.

(Baby C - 16 months)

Check out those curls!

Check out the huge koi! The white one is almost as long as that goose!

Charlotte didn't full grasp that we were there to feed the birds and fish. However, every piece of stale bread we tore of for her to throw she immediately gobbled it up herself. She doesn't even usually like bread!

Mommy and Me

Charlotte - age 15 1/2 months.

This girl LOVES to read. If you ask her if she would like to go read, she will vigorously nod her head and run to grab you a book. Then, with book in hand, and standing at your feet, she will reach up and say, "Read it." Clear as day.

Peek-a-boo!

(These were all taken by my Mom while I was visiting my folks in Atlanta.)

Fast Forward

So... I haven't blogged any since my first post (which was a year and a half ago). I am not going to apologize or pretend that anyone has been anxiously awaiting my next post. Also, I am not going to make any promises. I find blogging to be a bit stressful and with my first post I agonized over what to say (even still, I want to edit what I wrote). That being said I will try not to edit myself as much (easier said than done). The main reason I am doing this is to catalog the things we have been up to for my daughter, close friends, and family. So rather than going back in time and trying to update everything that has happened since my last post I am going to have you fast forward to present-day.

This last weekend I rowed in Chattanooga, TN at the Head of the Hooch regatta with the Rocket City Rowing Club. The last time I rowed was in high school (10 years ago) in Connecticut. I am thrilled to be involved in the sport again.

I rowed on a women's 8+ ...

And a women's 4+...

I joined RCRC back in August and I practice with them on Saturday and Sunday mornings at sunrise.

Thanks to Mom and Dad for waking up SUPER early and meeting me in Nooga to help watch Baby C since Hubby was traveling that weekend on business.

Baby C - age 15 1/2 months