allie was here

As much as I love this girl, and believe you me I ADORE her, she can be such a slob and her room is too embarrassing to even photograph. She cleans it constantly, I've tried to teach her different organizational skills to keep it clean, what else can I do? There are a few things that we have tried over and over and over to teach her, but I've come to realize that these things are just part of her personality and accept her the way she is, as long as she cleans her room. So, this odd picture of the milk container with the half drank glass of milk is soooo Allie. In fact, I walked past it today and laughed and grabbed my camera. I called her into the room and said "look around and tell me how I know you've been here". She looked around the counter and then rolled her eyes and put the milk away, then drank the rest of her glass. I don't know how many countless times I've seen at least the half drank glass of milk, usually accompanied by the milk container on the counter. At least that many times we've told her to please finish her milk before it gets gross, and at least that many times she's had to drink warm milk because she didn't listen. So, there you have it, it might as well be a big sign that she carved into the desk at school that says, "allie was here".

grammy time

Allie has been spending a ton of time at grammy's house for various reasons. She has been doing some cleaning for money for her the last several weekends but I think the real reason Allie loves to go doesn't have anything to do with cold hard cash. Grammy has a way of making you feel spoiled rotten and since Allie is the only granddaughter that's her age, she gets to do those grammy sleep-overs all by herself and really enjoys that one-on-one time with her. My mom loves Allie too, of course, it's fun now that she's getting old enough to be one of the girls. My mom called the other day to tell me that the last time they got together she understood clearly how much Allie respects the rules of Rich and I's home. I was surprised by this and asked her what she meant and she proceeded to tell me a story. She said they stopped at Classy Chassis for some hair stuff and while they were there, they checked out some of the hoop earrings. Grammy offered to give a set of large hoops to Allie (which Allie would love nothing more than to wear hoops as big as her ears if I let her) and without even blinking, she said "no, those are definitely too big and my mom would never go for that". My mom thought that was pretty great especially because if it had been me growing up, she knew I would've tried my darndest to push the envelope and get away with it, and she's right. She told me that she also tried to talk Allie into a practical joke of both of them showing up at the house wearing magnetic studs in their noses proclaiming to have both had their noses pierced just to see our reactions. Allie wouldn't even consider participating because she knew I wouldn't think that was funny, and Rich would think it was even less funny! (I actually feel kind of bad that she thinks I'm such a stick-in-the-mud, I would've laughed for sure!) I have to laugh because lately Allie and I are doing that adjusting to her new attitude thing mothers and daughter go through, so it makes me feel good that at least for the time being she isn't too tempted to push the boundaries. Of course I know that the key words in that sentence are, "for the time being" but I'll take it while I can get it. Funny girl.

FJA - future janitors of america

Have I mentioned how obsessed Ethan is with any kind of cleaning tool? We bought him a Hoover Jr., I need to get a picture with him because it's just so funny to see him vacuuming around the house with that teeny thing. He loves the big vacuum more but he totally runs away as soon as it heads his direction. He also loves the broom and swiffer and the other night at Lauri's house, she got out the swiffer and he went to town. He does not love his toddler sized broom though, it doesn't give him the same satisfaction of a full-size I guess. What a nut! The other night, I stripped him down to get him in the tub but got distracted by a phone call and didn't put him the water for a few minutes. He ended up running around the house naked for a few minutes and at one point while I was on the phone, I turned around and saw him vacuuming in the nude. I started laughing immediately and wanted so baddly to take a picture, but I knew Rich would've freaked about that one so I decided against it. Maybe that's just as well, I would've been sorely tempted to post those cute baby cheeks on my blog and that probably isn't such a good idea. Anyway, so I'll edit this post later with some vacuuming pics later but for now, the sweet swiffer ones will have to do.

letting go...

So, I should've snapped a picture, I know that there was at least one taken by someone else but that's not doing me any good right now. This morning I helped drive the Scouts up into the Uintas to back pack the grand daddy lakes, whatever they are. Taylor has been working on packing his huge pack (about thirty-five pounds once we were done) this week and this morning was finally check in time. He was very excited about going, he has some great friends in this ward and he knew from other camp-outs that they would have a fun time. However, I'm kind of struggling with letting him go. It's a week with no parents, and I worry way too much. I don't even worry about normal stuff, I'm sure he'll have enough to eat, I know he'll have fun, but what about that heavy pack? Is he going to be able to carry it without suffering? It's the suffering thing that gets me. Is he going to be warm enough? Is his poncho big enough to keep him dry...maybe I should've water proofed his shoes...how are all of those preservatives going to affect his stomach...is two pair of socks really enough...is he going to be lonely or scared at night? Seriously, I know I'm being ridiculous, but I can't help it. I did do a good job of mostly hiding it infront of Taylor though, but I'm sure he could sense it anyway because he knows me too well. He kept saying, "I promise to use hand sanitizer mom, don't worry", even though I only reminded him ONCE (and that was some serious self control going on right there). Anyway, I know that Tom Page is a phenomenal Scout Master and I trust him with all the boys' lives because he is a very capable and caring man. BUT Taylor is my baby no matter how old he happens to be. So today I'm just trying to keep busy and forget that he isn't here. It's hard, this letting go thing.

potter 'pologies

So, I had no idea that I had so many readers until I went to Josh and Lisa's twins baby blessings today and heard a few complaints about my "closing a chapter" blog entery earlier this month. I wrote about my beloved Harry Potter and gave away too many details of the seventh story. Not everyone read the book in two days, and I apologize. So, if you haven't finished the story yet, then don't read that entry, Liz was right when she said it took away the wondering of a certain character. Sorry about that, seriously, I had no idea that anyone was even reading my dumb blog.

mr. independent

Ethan has decided that letting your mom feed you is for babies-that-can't-hack-it-dorks. Lately he almost always refuses any help from mom, even letting me help him hold the spoon, aaahhhh. So we are changing our clothes A LOT these days because a bib only provides so much coverage, a lot of times I just strip him down, because c'mon my stack of laundry isn't getting any smaller. After this spaghetti dinner (mmmm spaaaagheeettiiiii) we striped him and put him straight in the tub. Then Spencer had the bright idea to eat a popcicle which Ethan is obsessed with lately. (We adapted Jenny's rule of "you show it you share it") I usually only give them to him at the pool, because I could care less about the grass getting sticky and they have a giant built-in bath tub there. Good thing that we had only put a diaper on after his bath but, did I mention that Rich had just given him a bath? After the popsicle was all done, of course he required a second scrubbing and so did the chair. Oh well, look at that smile. I guess that means it's all worth it right?

a real photographer

This is so childish I guess but I just had to share - of course I did, this is my blog after all. All of the orders that I put together over the last few days came today and I was like a kid at Christmas going through everything, I love looking at the finished products. Anyway, the box came and when I saw the lable and read "Wende Moore Photography" I thought, "oh that's me! that's MY business!" I felt like a proud little kid. Silly I know, but I love that this is finally happening for me, something that I've wanted for SO long! It's such a fun job and no matter how long I do it, I will never get tired of seeing MY NAME on a UPS box filled with MY ART! How cool is that? I have to say, for a SAHM who doesn't have too much action, it registers some pretty high marks on the cool scale. I also treated myself to something nice, a giant print of that awesome sunset I showed a while back (blog named "my view" i think in the early July archives). I'm going to frame it and hang it on the wall, because nothing beats having your OWN art hanging on your wall.

golfers for life?

Okay, so look at these cute boys. Taylor, Spencer, James Moore (a.k.a. James the Bold) and James Merrill (a.k.a. the James) have been loving their second year of Swan Lakes Jr. League. My dad went with them yesterday to be their score keeper and I sent him with the camera and he snapped a couple of great shots, these included. I am constantly aware of how lucky we are to have such great friends, and cousins for our boys to interact and grow up with. I hope that in ten and twenty and thirty years we can take another picture of the golfing buddies and that they still look like they're having this much fun!
Dad, what is this? Golfing Abby Road style? I love this shot!

clutter cleansing

You know the kind of day that you get a ton of things done but your house doesn't look any different? That's the kind of two days I've had, I've worked so hard at getting through things that help me take a deep breath but not anything that really would be noticeable to the average looker-on. I decided to take pictures to remind myself of the work I do in a typical day, I'm sensing a "stack" theme happening here...

stacks and stacks of laundry....(this is after most of it was put away) ....an enormous stack of ironing...

...crazy huge stack of magazines that I needed to go through and disect...AND, I organized the pantry which isn't really stacking, but look how beautiful?! I even scrubbed the honey off of the shelves! I should've taken a before picture but I may not have been able to post it for fear of total humiliation.... and, even though it's not really a physical stack of things that needed to be done, I had a long list of edits and photo orders, which is great, but they took forever to get through. But here are some of my faves...tell me what you think about this "before & after" creation...too cheesy? Or is it ok? I'm thinking of just taking everything off except the pictures. Maybe I'll do that and post it and you can tell me which you like better. But seriously, look at this cute baby and this darling family! I have the BEST job!

I'll be honest, editing isn't my favorite part of the job, interacting with totally fun people is the best part of course, but there's something about everyone's job that isn't totally great right? Editing is that for me, a pain but the results in the end are worth it I guess. Anyway, so of course I didn't include how many diapers I changed or spending time with the kids, but those stacks of things were basically it. But I feel so good, cleaned out almost because I got so much done. Tomorrow I guess I have to do some vacuuming so there's something visible that says I'm working hard...typical story of a mother I think. Good night!

pioneer day

(i wrote this post on 7/25 but took forever to publish it) I have to laugh because I just read Paty's blog about how sad Pioneer Day is here in Utah. I mean, don't get me wrong, we love to do the parade in Bountiful, (although it's never on Pioneer Day because they don't want to compete with SLC), and we usually do fireworks, etc. However, I grew up OUTSIDE of Utah and we always had some sort of way fun ward activity that we always looked forward to. Maybe it's because here in Utah we see enough of our fellow ward members because they are our neighbors that yet another church activity isn't necessary? I don't know, but Patsy, I'm with you babe, next year, let's plan something totally awesome. These photos are late because, like I said, pioneer day in Bountiful is celebrated a few days early.We did go to the parade this year which was kind of sad to be honest, it's usually one of our faves, but maybe it wasn't as fun because it was a thousand degrees outside...

However, Rob & Liz and their family with new baby Zach, are in town and so it was fun to have them and Josh & Lisa drive from Sandy with their family, new baby twins to enjoy the parade with us. And the Phil & Lauri's gang who are already like family so they were along for the ride too. Nate & Larraine came late to the parade but ended up being the ones that stayed for the park and fireworks. I put a blanket on the hill EARLY in the morning and it was worth it, we were so close we had to lay down to see the fireworks, it was totally awesome, unless you're Henry or Ethan, neither of them appreciated it as much. Unfortunately, it was so dark packed that as bad as I wanted to take a picture of all of us laid out on the ground, it just wasn't realistic. So, I did was Rich always tells me to do, "take a mental picture". So, here's my mental picture... It's dark and finally cool, everyone's happy from eating chocolate creamies (is there any other kind?) and the sky is lit up with fantastic fireworks and lots of noise. The girls, Allie, Lauren, Nat, are all laying on one blanket, Taylor James and Spencer are on another. Phil and Lauri are laying together and Nate & Larraine are laying on the blanket just below me. Henry is laying on Larraine with his hands over his eyes. Joy is laying on the other side of Larraine with Nate's sneaky hands trying to tickle her, which she loves but is pretending to hate. Rich is laying next to me and I have Ethan snuggled in his favorite wonder bread blanket with my hands and blanket trying to muffle the loud sounds. He is scared but only cries for a minute until he realizes, we're not running away and it will be ok. And I say to Rich, "thanks for enduring the crowd, I know it's not your favorite thing." He smiles and says "sure", because he knows that fireworks and taking my children to large community gatherings is my favorite thing... wow, a picture really IS worth a thousand words!

So, yesterday, which was the REAL Pioneer Day, was ok, Rich came home from work early because the electricity was out (which I'm guessing is an essential ingredient to a computer programmer) and I ran a few errands and hung with Laur for a little while. I also bought a new camera! Don't get too excited, it's not replace the "baby" camera I do shoots with, it's just a small compact Nikon coolpix11 that I can throw in my purse when I don't feel like hauling a giant camera around. My mom and dad and April and her gang came over for creamies and homemade fireworks (not really homemade, but you know, in your drive way fireworks) and Ethan tolerated these much better.

I also tried out the "fireworks" function of my new camera, which is essentially keeping the shutter open for a long time. Long enough for everyone to try writing their names with sparklers. April & Allie won. Happy twenty-fourth.

closing a chapter

I remember hearing years ago, I can't remember when, about this fantastic new series of books based on a boy wizard and his adventures at school. I don't even remember how I heard about it, but somewhere after the release of the third book, I finally sat down and read all three. I couldn't believe what I was reading, who was this author? If I could sum her up in one word it would be CLEVER. I had neve read anything like her and I loved every minute of it! So then came the tradition of counting down the months, weeks, day and minutes (yes minutes) to the next adventure in the series. Amazon, glorious Amazon would deliver the book into my eager hands and I would spend the next couple of days devouring the pages. After each book I would think to myself, why did I read that so fast, now I just have longer to wait until the next book arrives! They just couldn't come fast enough, I was so intreagued, I was dying to know! So, of course it was no different for the final installment of the series, in fact, I really couldn't wait for it because we would finally know what happens in the end! I finished the book a few minutes ago and I have to say that Ms. Rowling did not disappoint, it was fantastic, more adventurous, scary and thrilling than the rest. But I have to say that as much as I was looking forward to knowing, I feel a little sad about closing this chapter of my life. Cheesey, I'm aware, but really, it's about not having "harry fever" anymore, waiting for the next book to arrive, because there's nothing left to look forward to. I will say this though, without trying to give too much away, I was RIGHT about Snape being good and I was RIGHT about who R.A.B. was and RIGHT about Dumbledore really being dead, but pleasantly surprised that there were tons of turns in the story that I did not anticipate and it was great fun reading it. So, I guess now I have some laundry and dishes to catch up on that sat neglected while I was busy reading...and maybe now I have to fix dinner!

no dinner for my family tonight

....can't blog, must read....

face lift

I was feeling really tired of the pink and green blog site combo, so I decided to give a new template a try. I really like how this one outlines all the photos in white, I love to order my prints like this too, very classic. However, I don't know that I love the top, maybe I can work on that.... you know, I wish plastic surgery were this easy. You could preview as many "templates" as you want before deciding and then just click "apply new template" and voila, I would just turn all awesome.

harry fever

So, I'm having some serious Harry Fever! It all started last week when I saw Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (5) at the theater with Erin and Jake. I was excited for book seven to come out before I saw the show, but that just made me remember how much I LOVE this series! So, today at the pool, I started to re-read book six, just to brush up on the details so that book seven would be that much more clear and wonderful! I'm so full of questions that I can't wait to have the answers to. What will become of Harry, and Ron and Hermione? Is Dumbledore really dead? (I think he is, but the rest of the country seems to disagree) and the most important question of all, is Snape really a bad guy? I don't think he is! I think he HAD to kill Dumbledore to seal is promise to Narcisse and prove that he was a Death Eater to remain a loyal spy fo the Order. And what about the seven Horcruxes? I have a theroy about that too, but it's almost bed time and I'm already too worked up! So, I'm on the count down with the rest of the world, one more full day to wait and then Amazon will deliver the book to my waiting hands! I CAN'T WAIT! I've got Harry fever....FEVER!...in the morning....fever in the afternoon.....

multi-tasking

Okay, so I just had to laugh at these because April has a new goal to have me in more of the pictures these days. What made me laugh is how much these pictures are totally me! I am almost ALWAYS trying to multi-task, working on the computer while my hair is setting and the second picture is of me on my mobile at 11,000 feet on a family outing! I am actually making a hair appointment, my hair dresser was returning my call, but April is saying "you get coverage up here!?" Sad but true, I need to do a better job of just focusing on the moment, but how on earth can I be expected to get everything done? My to-do list is completely ridiculous, so I always feel like I have to be doing more than one thing at a time. I'm surprised that Ethan isn't on my hip for either of these shots!

cranky pants

Okay seriously, this is the reason why I can't blog tonight. I just got Mr. Cranky Pants a.k.a. Ethan to bed and I'm so exhausted from dealing with this toddler all day, that I'm going to bed myself. Seriously, he hasn't been the same since the flu attacked our family this last weekend. It's like he hasn't been able to catch up on the sleep he missed out on but at least he was a good eater today. Slowly but surely, we're coming back from the vomit-fest! Good night!

eleven thousand feet

I can't believe it's already the 13th! Happy Birthday Andrea! We have had a very fun week at our house, but I'm so exhausted that the blogging had to take place in my pajamas and it's 12:15 in the afternoon. My dad is from Pennsylvania and all of his family still lives back home in a tiny little county called Bedford that some of them rarely leave. Somehow my dad convinced my grandpa, who will be 80 soon, his brother and sister to come and visit us here in Utah! Grandpa and Kelly have never been on an airplane before so this really is a very big deal. My aunt Erin has visited us before but it's been six years so we were thrilled to have everyone here.

The men are all golfers (Erin is too but didn't bring her clubs), and so my dad has been in charge of entertaining the men all week. This means that they drive to different golf courses and play until they can't breathe the thin Utah air any more. Then they come home, order KFC or pizza and watch sports. :) So, we have been having a ton of girl time with my aunt Erin which has been so fun. My mom took the week off and so that has been a special treat for me too because it's been a long long time since we spent every day together doing lunch and everything else under the sun.April has been along for the ride for most of it too which is fun, unfortunately, Leah starting school was bad timing with the family visiting and so we haven't seen her as much, but hopefully more this weekend. So, to re-cap, they arrived Monday evening and we loved just sitting around mom's house talking and catching up. Tuesday was shopping and to the Outback for dinner YUM-O.

Wednesday was pedicures and lunch at Cutler's and it was way fun to have Allie along for the girl's day. She has been so patient and helpful to babysit Ethan this week that it was my treat to her to say thanks. It's crazy that she's old enough to be just one of the girls. The best was the Vietnamese lady that was bullying my mom and April into getting flowers painted on their toes. They finally relented and we got a cute picture at the end. Later that night Jake, Erin and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie and it was AWESOME! One of the best movies yet, very scary but loads of fun. Then yesterday everyone, including kids, went up to Snowbird for a day of tram rides, alpine slide, zip line and bungie jumping. I'm exhausted but it was well-worth it, the kids had a riot and it was a glorious 58 degrees up there! Way nicer than the 100 degree weather we have been facing all this month. We rode the tram to 11,000 feet and the view was absolutely breath-taking, Uncle Kelly couldn't stop taking pictures, it was great. Seeing sites like that make me love our mother earth even more and appreciate the beauty that God put into making her. In the picture of me and kids, the "V" in the mountains to the left of us is the Salt Lake Valley! Holy moly, awesome! Ok, this blog is forever long. I guess what I really want to say, is how grateful I am to be part of this family that laughs and plays hard and makes everyone feel welcome. It's been so fun to just hang out and soak up each other's good energy and to be lifted up by their smiles. I'm grateful that my kids could meet grandpa and the rest of the gang and maybe know grandma Jackie a little through them.

moorrills

Phil & Lauri have had their boat for several years but for whatever reason, yesterday was the first time that it worked for both of our schedules for us to go to the lake with them. We are so glad we went because it ended up being a ton of fun and a much needed break for both of our families. The kids took turns in the sea-doo tube and had an absolute riot but their faces tell all.After a short break for sandwiches, and swimming we were back out on the water ready for more only this time it was the mom's turn in the tube. Rich couldn't find the camera, so unfortunately I have no pics of Lauri and I, but later I went with Lauren and Allie and he did get a few shots of that...I got the "squeal like a little girl" award later on the drive home. Ethan loved hanging out (sleeping for the first hour if you can believe it) on either Rich or Lauri's lap watching the tube and kids bounce around. He won the "mellow baby" award.

I've blogged before about my friendship with Lauri, but it is an even bigger blessing that our families are such good friends too. We always have a blast hanging out with them whether it's on vacation in California, Thanksgiving in St. George or just to rent movies, we're like one big happy family...or as the kids refer to us, the Moorrills.

happy fourth!

There is a reason that this is one of my favorite holidays of the year. It has been such a fun day today celebrating, literally, all day long. In the morning we followed tradition with the Centerville City parade which Ethan was way into this year and watched intently until the last ten minutes or so when he lost all control and wanted to run away. Typical toddler, but we had fun anyway. Just like every year, the local military marched past us and when they do, I ALWAYS cry, I try not to, but it's so moving to see everyone standing and cheering these heroes. Later on the in the afternoon we headed to Nate's house for a Moore get together, but I am lame and didn't bring out the camer until after Andrea's family had already left. Anyway, also not pictured are the babies: Joey, Tanner and Natalie. Nate cooked my favorite, Colisimo brats with lots of mustard YUM and Jenny picked the best watermelon, just ask Ethan...

The kids had a riot jumping on the trampoline and then slipping through the slip and slide. Nate was worried there wouldn't be anything exciting for the older kids, I told him water + cousins = good times and I was right. The best part of the afternoon were Frank's trampline adventures....

Nice running man Frank! I have more pictures where these came from, what a good sport. The kids had some trampoline adventures of their own but those I'll have to treasure myself instead of clogging the blog with too many pics. (finished the rest of this blog on 7/5) On a more serious note, I told Rich last night that I cried when the military people walked passed us yesterday at the parade. He surprised me by saying that he got choked up himself, it really is such a big deal. He said he noticed on the side of the float was written "all give up some and some give up all" and how profound that really is, giving up everything. I feel so grateful to live in this country, it is such a wonderful place even with all of it's problems, I really do feel very blessed to live here. I feel especially grateful to live in this small town of Centerville where not all values have been tossed out the window. We genuinely love our neighbors and feel so lucky to live around such loving people. I also feel grateful that as a woman I don't have anyone telling me that I can't get an education or wear a veil or even worse, the horrific stories of female circumcision and honor killings. I can feel excited for all of the opportunities in front of my children and even myself and these are things that we don't always think about. I love America! And I'm grateful for everyone who makes it great.

We finished up the day at Grandma Smith's house where Lauren (April's sister) did a fantastic job of grilling (yes I confess I had MORE brats) and also roasted peppers and mom's family famous potato salad. Is there anything better than mom's potato salad? NO, I've tried them all, they pale in comparrison. There was so much good food I thought I might be sick but every calorie was worth it, so good. After we wer done eating we sat around and laughed, Smith-family style. My dad is in PA right now (he always is for the fourth) visiting his family, so it was mom, my family, Jake, April, their kiddies and Lauren. Later Jason, Leah and their family joined us for home-done fireworks out on the driveway, my favorite part. It's so difficult to take a good picture in the dark so last night I just tried to take a mental picture, everyone sitting around in their captain's chairs, the warm air, and the boys (husbands) at the end of the driveway talking about the next firework or seeing who can set the record for how many flowers they can light at once. And my mom saying "oooo that's a good one!" and April saying it Jean style (her mom is from England). Then when each firework is done, everyone cheers. Good times, good times. I love this holiday...