Early Thanksgiving

Part of the kindergarten mass

Cooper and Cade

Mrs. D and Cooper

Cooper's kindergarten program was this morning. About 140 5- and 6-year-olds stood on risers in the cafeteria and sang and recited Thanksgiving poems. My favorite:

Turkey, turkey

Gobble, gobble

Eat too much

Wobble, wobble

After the 5-minute performance, the kids broke free and received congratulatory hugs, posed for photos and played with friends.

Cooper, as you can see, was a Native American. There were also plenty of pilgrims.

Katie loves interacting with Cooper's friends -- she was wiggly!

Moving service

Our church is one of a handful of area United Methodist churches sponsoring a new congregation, Christ Foundry UMC, a predominately immigrant congregation in the Bachman Lake area. Last night Christ Foundry hosted a Thanksgiving celebration for all the sponsoring churches. We met at Walnut Hill UMC in North Dallas, the first church I ever attended.

Mel and I would walk a couple of blocks on Sunday mornings to attend Sunday school. I sang in the children's choir. I attended Mother's Day Out there. I haven't been back since I was 6! It was so comforting to return. Cooper and Katie stayed in a nursery during the service. It was the same room as my MDO class! Of course, the toys, carpet and furnishings have been updated in the past three decades, but I remembered it just the same.

The service was simple and beautiful. Ministers from different churches participated by reading Scripture, serving Communion, leading prayers. Christ Foundry's minister preached in English and Spanish (and another minister signed in American Sign Language). We all met downstairs after for a potluck dinner. Unfortunately, it's unusual for us to worship and eat among such diversity -- ethnic, socioeconomic, theological. I loved it and hope the service becomes annual.

Trying to get healthy

Ugh. We Damms have been sick off and on for the past three or four weeks now. Somehow we've still managed to go to work, school, church, stores, etc. But the laundry is about to defeat us. I'm pretty sure Katie is out of clean socks. That will force me to dive in tomorrow!

Steve & I are escaping to Manhattan for a couple of days. There is just too much to do there! So, we're focusing the trip on modern art museums -- Guggenheim, MoMA and the Whitney. (As a bonus, MoMA is hosting a Brice Marden exhibit. Marden is one of Steve's favorite artists.) I've made reservations at Blue Hill for a nice dinner and at the Bar Room for a fancier-than-normal lunch.

I'd also like to visit some Harriet the Spy spots. Last time we were there, I drank an egg cream to celebrate Harriet, one of my favorite fictional characters. I'd like to visit Carl Schurz Park, which is near Gracie Mansion, which I've also never seen. The park is the setting of a pivotal moment in the book, which I first read when I was 8 and continue to read every year or so.

Watch Cooper read

Cooper's reading skills are improving so quickly! He brings home one or two guided reading books from school each day. (You should hear him read a question or exclamation -- very dramatic!) Here he's reading a card from Grandma and Papa.

Boo! (updated with photos)

Our ghost and lady bug are fast asleep now after an adventurous evening. We saw our favorite neighbors, hosted the Pry-Becka-toddler-monkey family for dinner and trick-or-treating, gave out handfuls of candy (Cooper is most generous) and ate a few sweets.

Earlier this month, the kids and I visited the pumpkin patch (the same one from Cooper's field trip). Photos from that afternoon are here.

Sunday night, Steve and Cooper visited Grandma at her church for trunk-or-treating. (Papa was out of town for work. Katie and I were home resting, after a week of being sick.) Those photos are here.

Punkin patch

This may be the last year that Cooper says "punkin" instead of "pumpkin," so I get him to say it often. It's a small way to hold on to the little boy, even as he's growing taller and more mature.

Last Wednesday, all seven kindergarten classes rode school buses to a nearby pumpkin patch. It was the group's first field trip. There were lots of moms chaperoning -- one class had a 2:1 student-to-parent ratio! Our class had five moms for 19 kids. I don't think you can ever have enough -- wrangling a bunch of 5- and 6-year-olds in an open field of bales of hay, countless pumpkins, snow cones, a bounce house and various games is a lot of work! We had a great day, as you can see here.

Momfidence

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Paula Spencer, a family writer and author of "Momfidence! An Oreo Never Killed Anybody and Other Secrets of Happier Parenting." The Q&A is in today's Morning News.

The book is a deceptively easy, fun read; it covers some important issues in parenting and society. Her premise is that parents, specifically moms, should trust their instincts more and rely less on experts. She thinks we've become too protective of our children, and it's going to be a problem later. This fits with anecdotes I've read about oversheltered Gen Y kids, who have worked in groups all their lives and now have trouble being leaders.

Some of her advice challenges my own parenting style -- I do buy only organic milk, shun fast food altogether, advocate organized sports for little folks. But this is what works for our family right now. Our style, cobbled together from all sorts of sources (as I wrote about this time last year), is constantly evolving and probably riddled with "mistakes" according to others. But ultimately, I think that's what "Momfidence" is about -- being confident and comfortable with your choices and being able to sometimes tune out the constantly running monologue of guilt and questions. The job of a mom (and a dad) is much too important to be guilt-free, but it shouldn't overwhelm or paralyze you or your children.

Howdy, partner

Katie and Cooper before our walk to the round-up

Cooper's school sponsored a Western Round-up (fancy words for pizza in the cafeteria, a dance in the gym and vendors in the hallways) last week, and he found it the perfect opportunity to cobble together a cowboy get-up. On our walk to school that night, he stopped at every stranger, tipped his hat and said, "Howdy, partner." I don't know where that uninhibited extroversion comes from, but it sure is entertaining.

Cooper practices some of his "cowboy moves."

A music school offered short guitar lessons.

Well, I have to start back sometime

I haven't had much time for posting, and as the days go by and the photos accumulate on my memory card, I get more intimidated about starting. So I'm just going to start small!

I recently reviewed a book for Religion -- I'm Proud of You: My Friendship with Fred Rogers by Tim Madigan, a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, one of my previous employers. (That was a dismal eight months on a sports copy/layout desk.) I love this book and wish I could buy a copy for all my friends.

Speaking of friends, Michael Taylor was in town about three weeks ago, and he spent some time with me and Katie. It was wonderful to catch up with him and his life in D.C. I miss his company so much. We worked together at the NT Daily in college -- I don't think I would have survived a couple of those years without him and Will. We were reunited later at the Morning News and have had some memorable adventures.

Katie and Michael met for the first time three weeks ago.

Pure joy

The baby swing at our neighborhood park is new. Katie loves it and laughs almost the entire time she's swinging. (Her pants and jacket are hand-me-downs from Cooper. I love the associated memories.)