Thanksgiving 2009

I am so very thankful for my kids!! They are funny, adorable and amazing little(well ok, some are not so little) people. I feel so lucky to have them!

Riley ( he is 12 yrs old)



Elijah (9 yrs old)



Olivia (8 yrs old)



Isaiah (5 yrs old)


Moriah (4 yrs old)

bunk bed building

Compromises. Why does life have to be filled with them? Esp in a large family. It feels like we are constantly compromising about something! The most recent was bunk beds for the girls' room. I wanted these adorable white ones with sweet little spindles AND they came with 2 "free" mattresses. But the hubby thought 5 hundred something was too much for said beds. He said we should keep looking. Even though I had been looking for two years for those exact beds at under six hundred. But the mattresses??? Did I mention they were FREE!!?? My usually optimistic hubby became all cynical, scrunched his eyes and said "nothing is FREE-- remember the FREE puppy??" ahem, I think we were talking beds here, NOT dogs. So I looked around online and found free bunk bed/ loft bed plans to BUILD them. It is a basic set. No spindles. But it did look sturdy(very important in my house). The picture showed 6 adults on a top bunk.(I know practically WHEN would that need to happen?? but still it meant STURDY!!) So I asked him what he thought. He wanted to build them. He was excited to build them. I said, if you build it, I will paint them white. It will be our compromise. Here is the breakdown.
The supplies-- 180.00
The plans-- free
The labor-- free but several hrs of building then several hrs priming and painting

This is Dan building them. The boxes were assembled in the garage, then the posts and extras were actually put on IN the room. It is a really heavy set!



This is with the ladder on the end. IT is built. Now ready for painting!



This is the set fully painted and ready to move and get the mattresses on(which WERE free because we already HAD them.)


Moriah's bed! Made and ready for my little Ninja sleeper so she can sleep HERE and not with mommy!!! wooohooooo!!!!!(not that she did not have a bed before. and not that she stayed in it very much the first night, but I keep calling it her "special new bed with high hopes)


awwww, my sweet petite ballerina enjoys her new bed. At least for the super cute photo session.

The finished product is a bed that is simple, takes up little space and works. Not bad for under 200. The ladder is built into the end which makes it easier to build (and did I mention thereby taking up less space?). The girls love it. So that makes this one successful compromise. BUT the biggest problem now? We have to do another set for the new sisters.

the hair cut "After"

These are the photos of my boy AFTER his hair cut.

bad hair day

As we were getting ready for a trip in Sept, my hubby had #4 out with him. I can run a house, pack for 5 kids and myself and do the dishes literally AT the SAME time, but not if that one kid is in the house. He has the ability to be a kink in every chain. I love him to pireces but sometimes it is required to have breaks.(for my sanity and his probably) So he was "helping" Dad clean out the car. Dad had left some scissors on the front seat of the van. He had a few hairs hanging in his eyes. He saw a problem. He fixed the problem. Just a few days before my niece said, "oh I love his hair long-- it is so cute! Please don't cut it." I actually said, yeah it is starting to hang down a little I better trim a teensey. UGH! What is that saying about a day late? Here he is before the hair cut. Looking all surfer dude cute. My ONLY blue eyed blond in the entire clan.


MY husband brings him in, saying, "DONT FREAK OUT! He is ok!" I of course freak out. I thought he was hurt. This is the kid who has been to the ER every year of his life. The daredevil. The uninhibited one. Then I see him. I thought for long minutes about this. I tried not to cry. He is a boy, short hair is fine for boys. I kept trying to figure out a way to have some length remain, here he is while I assess the damage and try to figure out WHAT to do. We were supposed to be pulling out of the driveway at this moment. He was not happy about the picture, but I said, it is required if YOU cut your hair YOU are getting pictures!


I will post the afters as soon as I can. But imagine his fine blonde hair cut to about 1/2 inch all over. It looks nearly bald because his hair at that length is practically clear! This was not the first hair cut gone bad in our home, but it had better be the last kid done job!

Sticker mania

What is it with Toddlers and stickers?? Or markers? I feel like everytime I get a fresh coat of paint on something SOMEBODY puts something on it! Last night I found Moriah doing this to my freshly- painted bedroom door.
Me: ohhhh!!
Moriah: oh, you don't like it?
Me: well, it can take the paint off that mommy just put on!
Moriah:(sad face) oh.
Me: but I have to get the camera
Moriah: OOOH! You DOOO like it!!!
She graciously (in Vanna White style) pointed out to me the different styles of address labels. Snowmen, Christmas trees.. etc(thank you M*rch of dimes!)




Then after her photo shoot she sweetly removed them and carefully stuck them back to their original card.

little hackers...

The other day, I was looking online at our favorite websites. We order most of our Christmas gifts because it saves tons of time! AND we sort of love getting mail-gifts. Well, I started at Vision Forum. It is a GREAT place for Godly, toys and books and movies. Also they have real adventure stuff for boys. Last year we got the zipline, and the slingshot! The girl stuff is pretty sweet too. Well, I looked at the top of the page and it said I had 6 items in my cart! hmmm. can't remember adding things, but you know I haven't had a full night's sleep in like 12 years! So I may have but just forgot that detail. So I looked at the cart. hmm, yes, I remember thinking the spy gear would be good. Yes I looked at that for kid 2. hmm... yes I liked that too. then further down, "TOMOHAWK!??" I did not add that!!!!!! Who would give these three boys a tomohawk!? ohhh, it began to hit me ... THEY would. Yes a real weapon folks. These boys can maim one another with foam swords. They do it often. Plastic ones cause serious damage. and they think I'm gonna give them actual blades????? Those greedy little hackers.(hacking as in computer. lol no pun intended there!) if you have never seen the website, www.visionforum.com
Meanwhile, I am thinking foam blocks, bubble wrap and cardboard for my kids for christmas. hmm, no cardboard can give pretty bad cuts... better keep thinking.

More birthday!!(and a miraculous invention)

ok, so this is a joke-- don't be thinking I mean actual miracle. My daughter got a Barbie house for her birthday she has been wanting for forever. Isaiah(5) gave her one hint. He said, "Sis, your present...(insert dramatic pause) has A ROOF!!!" Surprise ruined. Or so I thought. She still must not have believed she would really get it because her look when she saw that GIGANTIC doll house was priceless:



This dollhouse is great. All the furniture she had but did not have room for(some was mine when I was a little girl) she now has room for. But my niece Nikki kept ooohing and ahhhing over the new stuff we did NOT have as kids. Apparently Barbie now needs a miniature toilet! This came with the bathroom furnitire. Nikki(who is more like my sister than my niece) says, "the only toilet in the world that does not need to be cleaned!"



Here she demonstrated for us, "seat goes up, seat goes down". But maybe Barbie won't need to explain that to Ken. Maybe Ken is the perfect man (as his perfect plastic coif and perfect chest muscles suggest) MAYBE he won't leave the seat up! I wonder...

the Par-tay

Today was the party!! We had 15 kids(it was hard to get an accurate count- they move so fast!) and several adults-- ending up to be about 25 people!! My baby girl turnes 8 years old. I have tried and tried to explain to her since about age three she really SHOULD stop this growing up thing. ;-) But every year she informs me it must occur. This morning said, so "Sweet Petite, are you feeling eight?" She says, "oh VERY!" well, I can barely remember myself being eight, but judging from the pictures and her sweet smile all day, eight must be feeling pretty awesome.
Her big gift was a gi-normous barbie home.(which by the way, Nikki and I decided we really are going to play with!!) My little niece Audrey hopped of Nonnies lap to throw herself in my arms and squeal, "oooh will you get ME one of those and bring it to MY birthday??!!" It was like the little rabbit on the Robin Hood cartoon, "come again, on my birthday!"
Olivia got to spend the whole day with our dear friends, who drove 2 1/2 hrs to see us! It was a great, busy, chaotic day full of fun and giggles.

Veteran's day 2009

Thank you thank you to all the American soldiers!! The men an women who serve our country and fight so hard for the freedoms we enjoy. The Moore family does not take it lightly!!

Birthday Bunny!

Okay, so we don't believe in the Easter bunny, BUT we are loving a birthday bunny!!
My Olivia turns 8 this month and has wanted a bunny for about 4 years. Of course with our littles as babies it was impossible. Now they are 4 and 5 we were thinking about it. But they are expensive at the pet shops. We were concerned a baby bunny might be too fragile. Well last week a friend of mine posted an ad on facebo*k about her rabbit needing a home. She GAVE us the rabbit, (who is neutered!!) and a cage, water bottle, litter box, shavings and food. EVERYTHING he needed! Olivia is so excited. He spent his first day being very skittish(who could blame him?) But today has been a giant furball of lovin'. We are so grateful that God grants us the desires of our hearts in such amazing ways-- even the somewhat crazy desires like a pet rabbit my little girl has prayed for. But I can tell you this little girl understands the power of prayer and love of God even more. She had tears in her eyes when she found out my friend GAVE him to us for FREE!!

New baby in the family

My new nephew!!! Henry Luke arrived today at 6:39 pm. He weighed 7 lbs, 2 oz and was 19 inches long. He is truly a beautiful baby!



Isn't he just a darling little fella?????


Seriously... are you overwhelmed by cuteness or WHAT????


His sweet and strong mama Ashley, who worked so hard to keep him strong and so hard to get him here. I am just so proud of her!! This my friends is what WE did today. lol, ok, so I just held a hand and said Good job a lot and took a few photos, but still I AM quite proud. Tomorrow I get to have his big sister Audrey for the day. Can't WAIT to hear what that sweet baboo has to say about him. She giggled and said he was naked! And her mommy took clothes so the Dr would dress him up. lol