onward

the overwhelming task of the overdue christmas post
is lingering over my head
and blocking my ability to post.
which makes me feel super behind
which blocks my ability to post
etc. etc.
and so, i'm giving myself permission to SKIP it.
the end.

onward with a few miscellaneous things.

i love little kid handwriting.

i wish i would've taken photos of the older kids' handwriting from when they were young.

come to think of it, spencer and taylor's handwriting probably still looks the same,

but it's not as cute when you're past 1st grade.

speaking of taylor and spencer....

how man moore boys does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

i took this photo after they had been up there fiddling with it for more than fifteen minutes.

for some reason, it just cracks me up that they had such a hard time with it.
maybe because i've heard too many screw in a lightbulb jokes?

spencer is back to his old self now that indoor lacrosse has started.
the bad light and plexi-glass arena make it almost impossible to get a decent photo,
so i can usually be found cheering (too loudly for rich) instead of shooting.

after the first game spencer decided he needed to work out on the treadmill more often.

i wonder if it has something to do with all the video game training he does?

i'm so lucky that all of my kids love music so much.

i'm even luckier than the high school musical AND the jr. high musicals are two of my most favorite of all time and all three of my teenagers are participating in them.

the high school is doing the scarlet pimpernel - with guillotine special effects and all. 

 and spencer and allie will be doing o.k.l.a.h.o.m.a - ooooklaaaaahoooooma!

hmmmm....too bad hugh jackman won't be staring in the jr.high production!

i love the music from both of these plays so much! i have been listening to them non-stop since we heard the good news.

a few more reasons to look forward to spring.

over christmas break there was more than just christmas morning that we were counting down at our house.

allie was counting down to three days BEFORE christmas when she could smile metal-free again.

 and all of us were counting down to TWO days before christmas when we could welcome these two cuties home from their mission in hawaii...

it was definitely nice timing to have them home for the moore family party the next day.

even if it meant getting up before the sun to see them at the airport!

last sunday we enjoyed hearing their talks at their homecoming.

 glad to have them home.

tall enough to be a man

i have a big christmas catch-up post coming soon.

but before that, there are more important things to blog (and brag) about...

like wishing a happy 14th birthday to this handsome boy,

i mean, man, i mean, young man.

i get a little weepy when i think too much about what a big year this has been for spencer.

he was always a good kid, but this year, i can tell that he knows it.

spencer has the best attitude and most positive disposition.

WHAT? yes, that's right i said, positive and spencer all the same sentence.

no more being the eyore of our family, like i said, i can tell that he feels better.

a lot of times in the last few months, i have found him in the kitchen, doing the dishes without being asked.

just because they needed to be done.  

and even though i would love him if he didn't do the dishes, this is just an example of the kind of kid he is.

yes i'm bragging, i just think he's great.

this year, he scored more then 12 lacrosse goals, i lost count.

earned lots of merit badges at scout camp

auditioned for and made it into the jr. high musical (coming this spring)

helped ethan with countless hours of whatever wii game he was trying to master.

pulled thousands of weeds and moved at least that many boxes

wrestled for the first time with the jr high team

(and only threw up once during their hard-core conditioning)

helped taylor hang our christmas lights

ran track for the first time and rocked the hurtles

starting shaving good grief!

grew at LEAST six inches and two shoe sizes to pass allie and catch up with taylor

with a lot of hard work, he's earned all As and Bs so far this year

plus lots of things i'm forgetting

man i love this guy!

tonight we'll be celebrating with a spaghetti dinner, strawberry cupcakes and a late lacrosse game with his indoor league team. and maybe later saving the world from the evil covenant.

in other words, his version of a pretty much perfect night.

happy happy birthday spencer

i love you

self defense

i'm not sure i've ever smelled worse morning breath

than that of one ethan tanner.

for real.

its baaaaad.

and he knows it.

and he thinks it's funny.

so he breathes on me during our good morning squeeze.

on purpose.

gross.

it makes my stomach turn.

so the other morning, i'd had enough and decided to defend myself.

so i turned his beloved blanket...

into a bad breath guard.

it worked!

and i enjoyed my good morning squeeze nausea free.

trimming the tree

i was unpacking our tree decor a few weeks ago and asked taylor, "where is the box of good ornaments? these are all crap." taylor replied, "those ARE the good ornaments".  i was shocked. seriously shocked. when did my tree get so ugly? most of the stuff we have has been in the box since our first christmas and it was TIME to update.

so i  made an executive decision right then to have a grown up tree this year. so i picked out some stuff and called my cute neighbor kristie over to get the job done. i saw her tree earlier in the week and she has a gift for sure, so i knew she was the girl for the task.

she worked her magic and i just have to say...I LOVE IT!

it makes me happy every time i look at it.

the photo doesn't do it justice, it's just so gorgeous.

pure elegant joy.

my favorite part has to be that she put whole bouquets of poinsettias in the tree - i never would have thought of this! poinsettias are one of my favorite christmas symbols and this tree is loaded with them.

also, most of what i chose had glitter on it.

i have a thing for glitter.

it's just so...glittery.

i'm realizing now i should've taken more detailed photos.

and just incase you're wondering, i don't have one bit of guilt about not having any homemade ornaments on the tree this year.

not even a smidge.

because i'm feeling so happy when i see it, there's no room for guilt.

add the fm100.3 christmas music playing in the backround and we are definitely ready for christmas around here.

poor kristie should have faked some incompotence, because she did such a good job, she has a job for life now. i love that her philosophy for decorating the tree is "cram it in". who knew cramming could be so gorgeous?

sigh

thank you kristie!

zoolander

you would think that the older my kids get,

the easier trying to take their photo would be.

i mean, they're MY children after all.

it's not like i don't ever take their photo.

it's not like they haven't practiced this a million times.

or even more.

but it's always the same routine.

they pose for a few "nice" shots.

and then just as we're getting into it,

spontaneously, they all break out into their alter egos,
and any control i had of the shoot, magically disappears.

there are always "super model" poses...

although, really, i don't know what magazine they could possibly be posing for.

freaks are us?

there are always "kung fu" moves...

but i'm pretty sure the big fat panda would be just be embarrassed for them right here.

and of course, funny (a.k.a. dorky) faces...

but really,

i don't think i would have it any other way.

because they kind of crack me up.

except when it's december and i'm freezing and want to get into the house.

men in tutus

i could have titled this "the moores have moves", but since that was the title of my last post, i'm going with with men in tutus instead. however, it is a video displaying spencer's sweet moves and is giggle enducing for your christmas season pleasure.

for the jr.high boys' choir, they put together a number called, "nutcracker in three minutes". choreography provided by allie and chloe, entertainment provided by spencer and kyle and other eighth grade boys not afraid to make fools of themselves infront of a live audience. backround cackling provided by me, sorry about that, i just couldn't help myself.



i have to say, when allie and chloe showed me what they had put together, it didn't look anything like this. watching these boys made me actually appreciate how much work and talent real ballerinas put into their dances. with that said, i've never laughed outloud at one of allie's recitals. my favorite part has to be when spencer gets "lifted" by his partner who is tiny.

the moores have moves

it was funny when we did it two years ago, and seriously, it just never gets old.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

ethan's favorite part is that rhino made it into the video.
the rest of us all agree that spencer had the perfect face for a vid like this.
have a good laugh.
we did.
happy christmas everyone.

to put you in the mood (christmas that is)

have you heard?


i haven't really used my blog for plugging products, but rick starr's new christmas cd, an acoustic christmas, is really fantastic. it's been playing at my house non-stop for the last couple of days and it's really set the tone for me and made me excited that christmas is coming. my teenagers especially love it, the sounds he produces are just beautiful.

we were lucky enough to have a personal performance of this song, and rick's talent blew me away!
to hear a sampling of the rest of the songs on his new christmas cd (and buy one for yourself), go to rickstarrmusic.com.

christmas is coming!

silver lining

i don't really know if i'm quite ready for the slushy white stuff.
especially because we've woken up to it for two mornings in a row.
it stinks to add an extra ten minutes of coats and boots whenever trying to get out the door.
which in this house, is often.
and mucking through slushy parking lots while errand running.
bleh. yuck.

but it sure is pretty.
and like most everything inconvenient, there's a silver lining, like...

fuzzy slippers and sherpa boots
extra blankets on the beds for snuggling at night
a cozy house
kids (especially little ones) in snow pants and all the gear
turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and pie
never being too hot (which for me, is always)
craft projects at the kitchen table
fire in the fireplace
movies and sherpa blankets on the couch
organizing inside instead of yard work on the outside
creamy soup - well, any kind of soup really
thick, soft scarves (i found the coolest one today!)
beanies that make my dirty hair instantly cute
christmas!
quilting and crocheting
snow angels and sledding
every single little tree branch decorated with flakes
and the hundreds of photos of the tree branches decorated with flakes

oh ya, it all sounds lovely.
but most especially, i'm ready for this...

hot chocolate baby.

in the morning,

or any time at all.

just a little guy, kind of

i'm having a hard time believing it myself.
but it's true!

my little ethan man, e-dog, big E, tail ender, caboose, BABY

is FIVE years old today.

and i know this, because he's been counting down the days.

in a high pitched squealy voice that becomes less audible with each number closer to one.

hillarious.

the day started (for him) with a funny phone call from the neighbors seconds after he woke up.

he chose mc-a-dee's for lunch (mcdonalds)

enjoyed tons of well wishing phone calls throughout the day

and FINALLY opened presents after dinner.

the theme was toy story, of course.

and we moved into the big leagues with a new bike.

the neighbor boy will be happy that ethan can now stop stealing his.

while i am thankful every day for the joy that this little boy has brought into our home, i'm also a little heart-sick over losing the four year old version of him. there's just something so great about FOUR. i know there will be lots to look forward to with five, but it feels a little like it's officially big boy stuff from now on, he can definitely no longer be considered just a little guy.

sigh.

it's a good thing, i have photos to remind me of how squishy he once was...

but i guess he is still pretty squishy.

and silly

and sweet.

ok, five is good too.

because i'm kind of a mess

if you know me, you know i love a good apron.
i mean really love a good apron.
mostly because i'm kind of a mess.
i'm not talking about emotionally either, because while that's probably true, that's a post for another day.
i mean i am a mess, in the kitchen especially.
i haven't learned the art of neat and tidy cooking.
but homemade goodness from the kitchen is usually worth it, so it's ok.
but not if it adds to my laundry pile.
and not if it requires me to change my clothes after every meal.
and not if i have to reach for the towel to dry my hands every ten seconds.
and so, i love a good apron.
and lucky for me, patsy has been sewing up a storm lately.

this photo doesn't even do it justice - it's so dang cute!
and i love the style, sort of old fashioned that doesn't tie around your neck.
and this morning, when i was making the kids' lunches,
i should've been wearing it.
because i wasn't.
and now my pajamas smell like tuna.
thanks patsy, i love you.

please pass the catch-up

it's late sunday evening, and i'm reveling in some quiet computer time - finally.
there have been about ten too many end-of-term projects going on at my house lately with three teenagers and their demanding school schedules. luckily, the end of term is coming soon. listen closely, and you may hear a collective deep breath on thursday when the school bell rings. we are all looking forward to a three day weekend.

i should be taking advantage of my turn on the computer, and the quiet house by taking care of some things on my "get it done" list. things like editing these loooong over due photos of my beautiful new niece.

or editing photos of this darling family whom i love.

or working on updated photos for grandma's apple tree.

but i can't.

because, my blog is nagging at me.

i have this dilemma .
i haven't been a consistent blogger since spring break, maybe even before that?
i don't want to try and catch up, because, that's a little too overwhelming, but i feel like for documenting purposes, i need to at least summarize what we've been up to in the last few months. so here goes.
starting with a summer recap.

i had mixed emotions all summer long.
i didn't want to spend the whole summer unpacking boxes and miss the time with my kids. especially because taylor will probably be working full time next summer saving money for school, because he will be a senior next year. what? that's a post for another day.
back to summer.

we spent a lot of time trying to cool off because the heat was such a bear!
sometimes cooling off involved the back yard hose,

or a local water park with friends or cousins, or friends that feel like cousins.

 or, eating as much frozen yogurt as humanely possible

 but some days the heat was so bad, all little ethan could handle was laying on the tramp with a squirt bottle to cool off.

 i learned how to tend roses this summer thanks to patsy, and allie enjoyed photographing them regularly!

of course we loved going to see toy story three!

and especially loved getting a copy of rich's game to play and play all summer long.

allie and taylor spent a week re-roofing, painting and cleaning up in a low-income area of salt lake with our church's youth group. i don't know why i don't have a photo of taylor, he looked just like a chimney sweep in mary poppins most days since he was tarring the roofs. a ton of hard and hot work, but they loved it!

i learned how to work the grill this summer thanks to my dad, and so we hosted several bbq get togethers which was so much fun! i love the easiness of bbq, everybody brings something, there's not a ton of preparation involved, eating outside, chating, our new little kids picnic table, love everything about it.

oh, and i got to hold and kiss the newest smith in the family, sweet little emmie cakes.
ethan is in love with her too. who isn't man? she's such a princess. and she smells so good.

and i guess these photos remind me that i also wore super bright red hair for a little bit of the summer.

 thanks to grandpa's nice ebay hook up - we also lagooned for a day with cousins.
this included, the green dragon which ethan LOVED (cole not so much), bumper cars, some more serious roller coaster riding by the older kids, me and grandpa, funnel cakes (of course), going up in the giant farris  wheel with grandpa, and allie winning at bingo at the ebay party!

 and we stayed until closing which meant that everyone slept like rocks that night.

 we celebrated our country's birthday, as well as our state's.

 and all the smith birthdays in august with the happiest little cupcakes we've ever made!

of course, we did a million things that we didn't take photos of - like unpacking boxes

furniture shopping 

trying to decorate the walls

lots and lots and lots of weed pulling - yuck

driving lessons

movie marathons
halo nights with friends and dad
girls' nights out
eclipse
reading and reading and reading
ethan finally got a hampster!!
and more...
i was sad for it to end.
especially since today, it was so cold, there was SNOW on the mountains. sheesh.