A monkey. A squirrel. One happy family.

As I sit in our freezing cold basement, I cannot tell you how happy this entire family is that we had the foresight to make our annual trek to Starr Pines Christmas Tree Farm last weekend, when it was sunny and in the 50s, instead of this weekend, when it is flurrying and a bitter 20-something degrees. Because, being who I am, there would have been no way I would have agreed to forgoing the 30-minute drive, the hayride, the tromping around among the rows of fir trees, no matter how frostbitten our toes and faces became. "Get a tree from a lot here in town?" I would have scoffed. "Are you kidding? Chopping down our own tree is our tradition! Now put on these eight layers of clothing and get in the car." And then I would have forced my family on some sort of crazed Siberian death march through the frigid wind of the Boonville countryside, hacksaw in hand. Instead, we got to be these cheery people. We couldn't really get Annie to make a regular face

Last night, Spencer was rubbing Ella's ears, and she asked, "Dad, what in the world are you doing?" He replied, "This is my last chance to feel your unmutilated ear lobes." Yes, Ella finally earned her much longed-for pierced ears. Her weekly reports from school nearly always have two of the following items marked "needs improvement": Listens attentively Follows directions the first time Allows others to work undisturbed When she began lobbying for pierced ears over a year ago, we would say, "When your ears start working, then you can get them pierced!" We told her when she got a 100% clean behavior report, she could have a couple of holes punched in her head. Last week, she accomplished her goal! And so, I give you, this: Nervous Ella. She  shook like a leaf. One done. Bracing for the second hole. Tears of joy! "That ear-piercing cannon was a lot less complex than I thought it would be." Now on

Happy Halloween from Harry Potter's Hermione Granger and our sweet little devil!

Corn maze! Spencer's company, Veteran's United, held a family-friendly fall festival extravaganza at Shryocks Callaway Farm . There was a bounce house, kettle corn, hot dogs, s'mores, apple bobbing (try not to think about the germ factor), and, of course, the famous corn maze.

Hello! How are you? It has been a while, I know, so here I present a photo essay of Ella baking her first solo batch of cookies. I sat on the sidelines offering tips and drinking a glass of wine. I also got a little nostalgic remembering my own mother showing me how to level a cup of flour using a table knife. I also have a vivid memory of her showing me how to measure tricky ingredients like shortening and peanut butter using the displacement method in a Pyrex liquid measuring cup. I love you, mom! Ella levels her scoops of flour like a pro. I remember when the sound of this mixer used to send her fleeing in terror from the kitchen. Best part of baking: licking the beaters. Scoop! Safety first. Ella demonstrates proper (and enthusiastic) use of oven mitts. The finished product! Sharing a cookie with Annie. Other things are happening besides baking. Soccer season is wrapping up. Ella loves playing goalie, but Annie, after seeming to enjoy the first

Soccer Annie Soccer Ella

Really, does it get much better? I'm thinking that it doesn't. Surprise gift of a library card catalog. Coconut cream pie. Both whipped up by the lovely Spencer Kane. A lake house weekend with ridiculously awesome food.  Some of the littles at the lake house, post swimming extravaganza. Some of the bigger littles. Three girls in a boat. Semi-synchronized jumps. Spencer schools some young fisher-people. There were also s'mores, many bottles of wine, and some pretty fantastic grown-ups who have mad charades skills, none of whom I managed to get a picture of. Anyway, they were there, and they were awesome.

Annie has a summer 'do. This is her with my hairdresser Amy, who did the honors of chopping off the tangled length. The sassy cut suits Annie, and she is quite happy with it, as its shortness makes it possible for her to brush it on her own.

A few pictures from our 4th of July weekend at Holiday Acres Lake outside out of Cairo, MO. The pictures of Ella make me miss her more. She is spending four weeks at "grandma camp" in Florida. She just completed a week of film camp, and tomorrow she will be at Sea World day camp. I want her summer. Spencer and I spent the weekend farming Annie out to the neighbor so we could scrape off popcorn ceiling and rip up carpet and sub floor in preparation for this week's foundation repair. I would much rather be by the pool in Winter Garden. Happy summer! Annie June. Ella takes a grapes-and-cheese-stick break from swimming. Sisters. S'mores. Spencer very excited about grilling a ridiculous amount of corn. Jordan (nephew of my brother Aaron and sister-in-law Cristi) and Ella. Annie and cousin Trey ("It's too sunny!")