Solo snippets

* It seemed like a good idea, you see, to let Laurel eat pudding by herself. I have a habit of making these kinds of miscalculations when Alan is away.

* Alan is at his department's annual two-day conference, south of Anchorage. Meggie must have thought he's been working in his office without stopping all this time, because she asked me this morning, "Isn't Daddy going to get tired with all this working?"

* In case you don't think young children are highly susceptible to TV advertising, I offer the following observation from Meggie during her bathtime today: "Mom, you should get some 'Lime Away.' It gets rid of stains of all kinds."

* I had ambitious plans for a homemade Little Mermaid Halloween costume for Meggie this year. But I gave in today and ordered one, because I don't think I'm going to be able to get it done. (Thanks again, Aunt Holly, for checking out the costumes at Disneyland.) I think the costume I ordered from the online Disney store is going to be way cuter than my design.

* I saw a HUGE, beautiful bull moose walking among the foliage today.

* Winter is definitely here. Or maybe it's ... fwinter? There was snow on the ground this morning. But it melted off during the day. Nevertheless, I sent Meggie to school in her snow boots. But I'm definitely out of winter practice, because I stuck the wrong boots on the kiddos this morning. Meggie was having quite a time trying to cram her feet into her sister's tiny boots.

* The shots below may well be our last snapshots of this fall.