Christmas!

Like everyone else our family has been very busy with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Todd and I are gearing up for our 10 year anniversary on the 2nd and Haley turns 2 on the 5th! Time flies!

We had a great Christmas. Katelynn put out reindeer food Christmas Eve and Scott got the milk and cookies ready for Santa! Scott was the first one up at 7:00am. He quickly went to see if Santa had arrived then woke up his sisters. Todd and I enjoyed watching the kids faces light up as they opened their gifts. One of Haley's favorite gifts was "bum bum". (They have play-doh ready in nursery when you drop them off. Todd pounds the dough with Haley and says bum bum bum. Thus play-doh being called bum bum.)

I wish I look as good as Katelynn does in the morning!!


Scott was super excited to get Lego Batman for the Wii!

Later Christmas day we went to my parents and enjoyed a super yummy Christmas dinner!

The Annual Tingen Musical

Every year we go to Todd's parent's house for Christmas Eve. They have a wonderful tradition in there family of reading in Luke the account of Christ's birth. Everyone in the family, no matter where they are in the world read it at the same time. Todd's parents invite lots of friends and family for the reading and refreshment afterwards. Once everyone is nice and full, Todd's dad plays the piano and everyone sits around singing Christmas carols and those who wish to showcase their talents are more than welcome!

Haley was old enough to really get into it this year. She loved dancing to the music, then running to her abuela for a hug.

Santa Cookies!!

It has been a tradition in my family ever since I can remember to decorate Santa Cookie. My mom still does them with Wendy and my sister Laura and I still do them as well. I love doing them, but they are a lot of work!

I ended up making at least 100. Laura said she made 200.


I actually let Scott and Katelynn help me this year which is a HUGE step for me. I was always afraid that they would mess them up. This year I decided to relax a little and not worry about how the cookies looked. After all the worst thing that could happen is we get suck eating great tasting Santas:) Anyway, Scott and Katelynn did a fantastic job and will be helping me for years and years to come:)

Family Photos

We have for the last 2 weekends been trying to take our own family photos. We set up our dining room as our studio with a plush brown blanket between the blinds of the window and put our coffee table under the blanket as our platform. We went to wolf camera and bought a remote switch for our camera so we could snap the shot while we were in place instead of setting the timer and scrambling to get set. Brilliant in theory and probably would've worked if we have 3 cooperative subjects. It was soooooo stressful trying to make the kids laugh, smile, and sit still.
After taking at least 100 photos and not one we liked, we called for reinforcements....family! We went to our neighborhood play area where there was a perfect setting for our photos. They turned out so much better and we got it done ten times faster. Lesson learned...next year, ask for help first!! I made a little video of our adventure. Enjoy!

Tinkering with Photoshop Elements

A couple of years ago Todd and I bought at Cannon Rebel digital SLR camera. We have loved every minute of using it. We've also invested in photoshop elements and a book on how to use it, which we've also had a couple of years. I thought it would be great for digital scrapbooking. I have not invested much time in learning it, so I decided to get at it. So here are couple of attempts at digital scrapbooking . It's very simple, but hey, I gotta start somewhere.


We decided that we would save money this year by taking our own family photos. More on the woes of that later. Anyway, I took these photos today. This photo is my favorite of the ones I took today.

Santa is a Cow?

My friend told me about breakfast with Santa at Chick-fil-a, so we decided we'd go together. If you brought in a toy you got to have a picture with Santa. Here it is!

So not exactly what we expected. I don't know why after all it is Chick-fil-a. Anyway, it took Haley some time to warm up to the cow. First we just said hi. Then we touched him. Then we watched other kids sit on his lap and by that time she was ready to do the same. She didn't want to get off his lap. It was cute and Haley had a good time playing with her friend Sara in the play area.

Thanksgiving in Tennessee!

My side of the family met in Tennessee at my sister's house for Thanksgiving. My brother Scott was the only one not there and we missed him! Thanksgiving day there was of course eating......Sleeping.........

Holding of the new baby cousin, Trisha. (The only other girl cousin there besides Haley among the 8 boys!).........and


Identical cousins battling it out playing Guitar Hero!


This is my nephew Jacob. He's 11 years old. Scott will be 8 in February. It has been so fun watching these two grow up. I know exactly what Scott will look like when he's 11. They must have a lot of Wade in them for them to look that much alike :) Thank you Laura for having us all up for Thanksgiving. We had a blast!

Kindergarten Pow-Wow

Can I just say how much I love Kindergarten! All the kindergarten classes (tribes) got together and had a pow-wow and it was so much fun. Each tribe had decorated shirts, feathered headbands with their accomplishments on them, and a drum . Each tribe sang and danced to a song they had learned about Thanksgiving. Then all the tribes combined food that they brought to make a trail mix.

My little tag along made herself comfortable in her sister's lap. It thrills Katelynn to no end when Haley wants her big sister. Haley is known by name in both Scott's and Katelynn's class and can't leave until they have given her hugs. Haley tolerates it pretty well, but it's pretty intimidating when you have a bunch of kids in your face. Katelynn is very protective of Haley and says that no one can hold her because she is MY sister.

I was walking down the hall at the school the other day when a student I didn't recognize said, "Hey...there's Scott's mom." I thought to myself, "gee, am I really up here that much?" I eat lunch with the kids every week and they are allowed 2 or so friends to go outside or the loft to eat with them. So we try to alternate kids in the class to be fair. Here is what I've learned. A child in Scott's class has a 17 year old sister who is pregnant. Another child's mother will wash her mouth out with soap when she uses a curse word. Another child has a 4 grade brother that he loves and looks up to very much. Another child protects my baby when she's about the hit her head on the table. This same child is also responsible for bathing his 2 year old brother 2 days a week, and is one of the sweetest, most kind 8 year old I have ever met. I've learned who likes PB&J and who doesn't. I learned that my kindergartner contemplates throwing her bag of chips in the chandelier when we are eating in the loft. What going to the school has allowed me to do is see the fruits of my labor. I can see that my children are friends with good children and really don't want anything to do with the children that misbehave. It puts my fears to rest. So I will continue to go to the school and keep looking for those teaching opportunities to strengthen them from all that is out there.

A Visit from Elder Holland

Our stake had a "special meeting" last Sunday in which Elder Jeffery R. Holland came to visit. There was a lot of speculation as to why he would be coming to our stake. Most thought that our stake would be split. That was not the case. He came to be among the saints and what a blessing it was for all who attended the meeting. I usually don't sing in the stake choir due to the 40 minute drive it takes to get to the stake center, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be in the choir for this. Singing for special programs such as this has its advantages! There were about 100 other people who felt the same way. I was one of the lucky ones that got to sit literally feet away from an apostle. As I have taught gospel doctrine this year, we often discuss scriptures such as 3Nephi 6:20 "And there began to be men inspired from heaven and sent forth, standing among the people in all the land, preaching and testifying boldly.....testifying unto them concerning the redemption which the Lord would make for his people, or in other words, the resurrection of Christ; and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings." I would pose the question how do we testify boldly without being overbearing? Elder Holland gave us a great example of that. His testimony struck me like no other testimony has before, it was very bold, unshakable, indisputable, truly a witness of Christ and His divinity. I will remember his testimony and the spirit in which I felt as he testified for years to come. He talked mainly to the youth ages 12-14. He wanted them to make a commitment that they would stay close the gospel of Jesus Christ for the next ten years and encouraged parents to create a millennial home, a safe haven, a place where Satan has no power.

Watching general conference I tend to put these apostle and prophets on a spiritual pedestal so far reaching how could they ever be "real"? It was nice to see how real Elder Holland was. He has quite the sense of humor and made us laugh. He was very down to earth and relateable. He knows what we go through and it was refreshing to see that first hand. I know that these people are truly called of God and when they say they love us, and they are concerned about us, they are. I saw it first hand. He cared enough that he stayed to shake hands with us. My grandma lives down the hall from Elder Holland and she told my mom that we just had to introduce ourselves. Since I was sitting so close I was able to shake Elder Holland's hand and introduce myself. "Ahhh, my neighbor, I'll have to tell her I saw you!" he said. Then I went to find my mom, dad, and sister who were further back in the line and stayed with them until they got to shake his hand too. It was a really neat experience, one I'll remember forever.

Most Loved Mommy!

As usual, when Katelynn got home from school yesterday, she asked for a snack which was some sort of junk food. She wanted something else so she got into her Halloween candy. Still not satisfied with that, proceeded to get something out of the pantry to maximize her sugar intake. I told her no, that if she was still hungry, she needed something like an apple, banana, or something healthy. She was having none of it. So, I left her alone for awhile and came back to a most heartfelt note lying on the kitchen counter which read, "I hat you mommy". I couldn't help but chuckle. She changed her attitude and after dinner crossed out the "hat" and wrote "I love you mommy". I love you too Katelynn!

Happy Birthday Todd!

Todd shared his birthday this year with millions of people who went out to vote for the next president of the United States. He said all he wanted for his birthday was a new Vince Flynn book and for McCain to win the election. I took care of one birthday wish, unfortunately the other was out of my control. Anyway, we celebrated with balloons and a Cold Stone ice cream cake which was absolutely the best ever!

A Princess, a Military Man, and A Dinosaur!
Almost sounds like a story book. We had a blast Halloween night. My brother and my nephew went trick-or-treating with us and I bet we walked about a half mile collecting candy. I think we have enough to last us all year.

Monster Cookies!

Check out these Monster Finger Cookies we did as a family activity. They were super yummy.

Scott's motive for making these cookies was to freak out his friends the next day at lunch!

Even Haley got involved!

My princess, Katelynn. Loves making cookies even if they are a little weird looking.

Trunk or Treat

So we went to our ward "Trunk-or-Treat" Saturday night. There was moonwalks, cakewalks, candy everywhere, and oh yes...puking to add the the festivities. The children were getting ready to go from car to car to collect candy when Haley puked all over herself. Thanks to my quick reaction, it was contained to her thick dinosaur costume. No problem, we'll just take off the costume and she's good to go. It must of been all that bouncing in the moonwalk that upset her stomach right? No way it was a stomach bug. Todd wanted to go home right then, but I couldn't deprive Katelynn and Scott of the candy they were so excited about getting. So I kept Haley with me and passed out candy to the kids that were coming around when she puked again. We darted home after that. The poor thing threw up every hour until 3am and a sleep deprived mom had to get up early for church and teach her gospel doctrine class. Ahhhh, the joys of motherhood:) She's feeling fine now and no one else in the family has gotten the stomach bug. (knock on wood!!)

Fall Festivities!!

Fall is here and so are all the festivals!! The kids elementary school puts on a fall festival every year sponsored by the PTA. It is the responsibility of the room parents to come up with a booth(some carnival type game), find people to run the booth and make a creative poster to try to earn money for the teacher to spend in the classroom. As room parent in Katelynn's class and one of the assistant room parent's in Scott's class, you can imagine what I've been doing. The kids had a blast and the effort was well worth it.

My parents own a silk screening business and set up a booth at the Apple Fest in the North Georgia Mountains. They have been doing this for the past 10 years or so. My mom, my dad, my brother Randall, my nephew Wade, and I all went up Friday and we will be doing it again this weekend. Working with my family is actually a lot of fun. Randall has to make sure he lives up to his responsibilities as a big brother and of course I have to do the same as a little sister. He was teasing me quite a bit, so in response when he asked for a Dr. Pepper, I made sure to shake it for him :)

The kids are all geared up for Halloween. Yesterday Scott mentioned that he wanted to be a missionary then changed his mind. "I want to be Kroger!" (a grocery store) How do I pull that one off??? Thank goodness my 8 year old nephew Kyler called this morning and asked Scott to be an army dude with him. That one I can do! I'm trying to talk Katelynn into being a ballerina. She has an absolutely gorgeous ballet costume from her dance recital last June. What better way to get your money worth out of a $60.00 ballerina costume right? I love watching the kids trick-or-treat, it's so much fun!

The Kids Activities!!

Right now life is really hectic. Scott is playing fall baseball and in piano lessons. He has baseball practice twice a week with a game every Saturday from now until November. He got really upset with himself last Saturday when he got out at 2nd base. He ran ever so slightly past 2nd base and got right back on the bag, but during that short amount of time the other team managed to get him out. He went to the dugout crying. When Todd asked him what was wrong he said, "That was a dumb mistake, I knew better than to run past the base." Oh well, lesson learned.

Katelynn is in dance once a week for an hour and a half. She takes ballet, jazz, and tap. She absolutely loves it!! She is constantly dancing! When we went to Daytona Beach over the summer on vacation she was dancing on the beach. You can often find her dancing in front of our fireplace where she can see her reflection in the glass, but don't try to spy. If she catches you, well.........let's just say it's not pleasant.

Haley is just along for the ride. She does however play with a friend twice a week. My friend and I swap babies so we can go up to the school and volunteer. They are 6 weeks apart and play really well together.

I thought when the kids went back to school I'd have all this extra time. Boy was I wrong.

So what does Haley do all day while her brother and sister are gone?

She plays with our puppy, Max. We got Max back in July and he has been a fun addition to our family. Haley and Max have become best friends. They chase each other around the house making all sorts of playful noise. Haley loves the dog so much she climbed in his crate and needed help to get back out. I wish I had a picture of that one. She is so funny and keeps us rolling with the things she does.

First Day Of School

My friend Angie convinced me to start this blog so here goes nothing!! Scott and Katelynn started school at the beginning of August. Scott is in 2nd grade and Katelynn is in Kindergarten. It is so fun to watch Scott take care of his little sister and show her the ropes. He's very protective of her on the bus. No one is allow to sit by her, just him! They have grown up so much! So far they are loving their teachers and enjoying learning.