A Time For Thanks

This is a shout out to all you wonderful people who celebrated this time of year with the Moore4 in one way or another. First off, thanks to the Younger Men who braved Earth, Wind and Fire to bring us their traditional deep fried turkey! (And a roasted one for good measure!) And for a Sweet Aunt (who is with sweet child :) tirelessly cooking and baking in her famous kitchen in all of our behalf. Thanks to Gramma Shelly and her Always Helpful Sidekick, Steven, for the Tasty Homemade Rolls and the Fun and Sugary and Creative Homemade Gingerbread Fireplaces, as well as cooking endlessly for us all. A shout out to our peeps in Alaska, and California for well wishes through e-mail and texts... we love you, too! And last but not least for the phone conversation on this Thanksgiving with our our Oregon family... sending love and smiles! We.... uh... one second...


burp* oh, excuse me....



As I was saying... Oooo, not feelin' so well. Umm.. We want to thank you for... Rick?!? What is wrong with your chin? Cali?!?? Your teeth!!! Huh!???? MY BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!








Okay, I demand you tell me what was in that Turkey!!! Was it the potatoes? It was the CRANBERRY SAUCE, wasn't it!!!!! The Moore4 is permanently MORPHED! You just wait until we host the Christmas Dinner, I'm gonna....


Oh What?

The eggs? The deviled eggs? Oh, yeah. I made those. Ha, ha, ha.... it was the eggs. Oops. My mistake. Heh, heh, heh. Uh......

Well, anyway.... thanks again and I'm sure we will get back to normal very soon. Yes, yes... I feel us... getting back to Normal...







(well, relatively normal :)

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"Who stuck a pimento in my black olive?"-Cousin Carice


Aunt Shelley knockin' back a holiday brewsky... just kidding. It is an Apple Beer from Uncle Nate's Private Costco Reserve


Cali and Abbi: BFF


"Who are all these people and what are they doing in my house?"-Aunt Steph


"Of course I used real butter, I'm not a margarine kind of girl."-Gramma Shelly


"Blast these short arms! Just a little further..."-Cousin Benni

How to Blow Through a Box of 12 Popsicles in less then 8 hours…

1. Hit Target early in the morning with 2 kids in tow after discovering Cali has a fever & knowing there are no 'supplies' (Juice, Capri Suns) in the house. Ack!
2. Grant Little Sis’ request of slurpin’ on a popsicle while still in the parking lot at Target just about to head home.
3. Trade Cherry popsicle for Cali with grape because Little Sis has grape; while still in the parking lot at Target just about to head home. (Mommy eats cherry popsicle)
4. Administer popsicles to sick Cali throughout day and give token popsicle to Little Sis to keep the peace. (Okay, I think Momy had one, as well as being the finisher of Little Sis’ Leftovers.)
5. Feel Great Joy in being the Coolest Mom on the Planet when asking Cali if she wants another popsicle and hear her exclaim, “4 popsicles in one day?!”
6. Grant request for a new popsicle to Little Sis when partially eaten, melty grape one hits the hall floor; to keep the peace. (Did I mention that I love my floors?)
7. Save Last Popsicle for the real reason we bought them in the first place: Nurse Cali back to Health.
8. Be happy it’s Tuesday because Daddy will be grocery shopping tonight and can buy another box!
9. Think about how Wednesday will be a repeat of Tuesday.
10. Take Cali to see Dr. Dimick if sore throat persists. Thanksgiving and Strep? Rx, please!

Kindergarten Crafts and Keepsake Notes

Just before Halloween, I went to Cali's Kindergarten class and helped with Centers. Mrs. Yardley had 6 areas that the children went to in about an hour to make a fun craft or play a game(?). I sat at the table where they made something out of fall leaves. It was based on book they had read.


Here is Cali's butterfly she made. They also made a paint print that was a fall tree, a paper bag puppet, a small book, played a number game with paper apples,(something like that) and a spider web made out of real chewed bubble gum. (yeah, glad I wasn't the mom at that table) Eww...


Cali also likes to write me notes and I have been keeping them in a special drawer in my room. I call them my "Collection". After I went and helped in her class, this is the note I got later. Needless to say, I had a melty heart.

The Budding Artist (part II)

We penned a photo of a young Cali (bottom of the page) The Budding Artist and now are starting to see through her drawings and colorings the prophecy come to fruition. Now, with Carice, we are witnessing it again! (Boy, that artist DNA gene that Daddy possesses and sent through the pipes is s*t*r*o*n*g!) Carice has been drawing this same little 'man' for a little while now. Most of the time, it is a picture of Daddy, she says. Lately, she has colored a couple of them in. She is staying in the lines really well for a 2 year old, she is getting features in her work, too, such as eyes, and legs and sometimes even glasses! Her drawings resemble a stuffed M&M (Embullem, as she calls M&M's!) we have, Amazing Crispy. Daddy... M&M character... you can see the similarities, right? hee hee ☺

Who knows. Perhaps one day there will be Moore, Moore, and Moore Design firm, while I get to sit back and beam about my stunningly artistic little famliy ☺

Vanilla Extract is a Hot Commodity

Yes... more cookies. And silliness :)

Who needs a pet when you have wool rugs?

Sun, sun, glorious sunshine! Did you have a few rays shine on your little part of mother earth today? It inspired me to open up the doors and windows to bring in a little fresh air and shoo the stale air out. Although, this fall weather did bring in a chill, but it was nice. I was working up a 'glow' cleaning my floors.

Did I mention that I love my floors?

It was a love/hate relationship at the start. It took me about 3 or 4 times of cleaning my lam floors to get all the grime off from construction and walk-throughs. But once all that goo was gone, they really are not that hard to maintain. Sweep, Swiffer and they are done! And I love that I can sweep off the base boards while I am at it.

Don't you just love baseboards without dust?

I love my natural rugs, but boy do they shed. Yeesh. But, I do like sweeping more than vacuuming. That is 4 sure!

This floor has been fairly forgiving with children, too, I might add. Throw up. Ewww. Yes,easy to wipe up. Crayon (mostly blue from the Littlest Artist). Scrub with a dry, nubby washcloth: good to go. Spots. Damp Cloth: good as new.

Anyhoo, the new house is coming along. And no, I haven't moved into my kitchen yet. No worries, I will. It's not like we are moving again. I mean, they are going to have to pry my cold, dead, boney fingers off the door knob to get me to leave. Right?

Okay, so this is weird post. But what the hey :)

School Conference

Well, what’s good about a blog if you can’t complain about your children on one post and absolutely yell from a soap box how incredible, smart and wonderful they are? Yes, exactly. So, here goes a proud mommy about her stupendous kid, Cali, age 5 and a half, a kindergartener.

Today was SEP Conferences, or in terms we all understand, parent teacher conferences at school. And actually, these aren’t the ‘old school conferences’ where just parents go and the child has to wait to hear what went on after it’s all over. No, now the child is there and involved. Teachers, parent(s) and students get to talk about successes, things to work on and set goals. SEP stands for Student Educational Plan. And all three sign their names to the Plan prescribed.

We’ve all been amazed at Cali’s brilliance at reading. Today we learned that she is decoding (being able to see and recognize the words) at about a 4th grade level and her comprehension of the words at about a 2nd grade, 3rd month level. Incredible! Amazing! ☺ Way to go, Cali Mo!




Her other “areas of strengths” were that she is “kind to everyone” and “completes (her) work with neatness”. She also knows the shapes and attributes of them (how many sides, corners).

Goals for her are knowing certain vowel sounds on an individual letter basis (although she is able to identify them when she reads words), comprehension skills by us asking her questions during stories, encourage her to raise her hand to be more involved a little in class, and her “writing in upper and lower case letters”.


Cali, my Love, what a wonderful first conference we had with you and Mrs. Yardley! I’m so glad you love her and that she is your teacher. She is fantastic! And I am so glad you love school. You are so beautiful and talented and intelligent. Mommy and Daddy are so proud of your great learning ability.

Here’s to more happy school days together ☺

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Here comes another raw, full-out blow-out of emotions of a blog post. The subject? Motherhood.

I love my girls beyond belief. Ultimately, I am grateful that I am the one who gets to be home everyday and not have to send them to someone else's arms to feed them, help them, hug them and take care of them.

However, there are times when I miss my job(s). My paying job. My job that I feel like I did well. The job that I felt appreciated. Motherhood is thee hardest job I have ever done. The job I feel like I am supposed to have the answers to for every moment, for every tantrum, for every situation to solve. I don't want to 'grow' with my girls. I feel like I need to know things and need to know them NOW! I don't want to screw my children up! Some say children are resilient... that they bounce back. I'm not so sure anymore. If so, then how come there are so many 'adults' on psychiatrists sofas spilling their guts out trying to fix their 'childhood' in order to function today?

No, I want to do this right. Maybe it's still the underlying perfectionist in me even though I consider myself a 'recovering perfectionist.' And maybe there is no 'wrong or right'. I know I rely on myself too much and not the Lord. Stupid Mistake. The Lord WILL help me because I chose to at least try (and then was able to) have children. It's a commandment: "multiply and replenish the earth." It's just hard in the midst of a dilemma, sometimes. And I have to remember to be humble, ask and be patient. Again, hard in the midst of a dilemma.

I called Rick and told him my latest plight... and also added afterward that I am not coming home tonight. I am staying out as long as possible! (It's Thursday - M.N.O.) Then I hung up.

I know I have it good. I have it great. I'm not completely blind. But sometimes I need more. Am I stupid? Selfish? Ungrateful? In need of a pill? I will be sad when it's (having small children) all over.

I ordered Parenting mag because in it, parenting looks do-able and fun. :) And that's what I want to be remembered by from my girls: "My Mom was fun! " Although, I am probably failing in the fun department. And sometimes I don't feel I'm amply equipped for the challenge of all that Motherhood encompasses, hence the subscription.

Thanks Blogging World, for the venting session. Much cheaper than a 'sofa visit. I probably should keep my guts to a journal, but what the hey... maybe I will help someone else not feel alone. And in the process, work out out a little sanity and perspective for myself in the end.