Live Moore Life

Sunday, June 20, 2010 - Happy Fathers' Day!

To David: you are an amazing dad to our boys. They love you so very much and want to be just like you. I love that they have your beautiful blue eyes! They can't wait for you to get home each afternoon and race to the backdoor to greet you. Thanks for loving them the way all kids deserve to be loved and for playing such an active role in their lives. I appreciate how hands-on you are with them, from breakfast to showers to playing T-ball in the backyard. Watching you with play with them and seeing all three of you burst into laughter fills my hear with great joy. They are so blessed to call you Daddy! I love you!

To my Daddy, aka Papa: Thanks for being the kind of dad every daughter dreams of. Thanks for showing me the importance of putting family first and what it means to love sacrificially, for teaching me that anything is possible if you set your mind to it, and for instilling in me a love of Jesus. Thank you for all you do for Joel and Silas. Watching the way y'all play together and seeing their love for you is very special to me. They love their Papa very much!

To Lynn, aka Grandad: Thanks for raising such an amazing son. Thank you for teaching him how to live an upright and godly life and what it means to be a daddy. Thank for welcoming me into the Moore family with open arms and for all the love you show to Joel and Silas. Their time with Grandad is special and precious and I look forward to all the memories they will make with you! You are loved!

Today, I let David set the schedule. I let him sleep in a little, and then we headed to church.

Happy Fathers' Day, Da-Da! We love you!

I am happy to report, that Joel did much better this week. David took him and stayed until they broke off into their classes. It might have helped that we told him he could have a donut if he didn't cry. We also tried to take him to see Mary in the nursery before church but she wasn't there for the second week in a row. I asked where she was, because she is always there, and found out that she just had surgery to remove a malignant tumor. Oh my word! My heart just broke for her and I felt so guilty that I didn't know! They don't believe it's spread and she will probably only do radiation (no chemo). Please pray that her recovery would be smooth and quick and that the prognosis would remain excellent.

After church we headed over to the new Qdoba for lunch. It was pretty good. They had queso that was yummy and their chips were really good. I think David enjoyed it! Then we headed back home so the boys could nap. After their naps, our plan was to head to the beach. Unfortunately, they woke up a little on the cranky side and Joel was insistent that he did NOT want to go to the beach. Rather than fight that uphill battle, David decided we could just stay around here and play in the pool. He put his swimsuit on and got in with the boys. They had a fabulous time splashing and going down the slide.

Big Splash

Deep Thoughts...

For dinner he decided he wanted to go find a taco truck. So, after the boys were in bed, David, Andrew and Joey went looking for a taco truck. He said it was great. A fairly low-key Father's day, but I think it's just what David wanted...low stress!

Monday, June 21, 2010 - Happy Birthday, Andrew! Hope your first day of your "late 20's" was fabulous! Eli and Katie came over this morning so Katie could get a little laundry done. The boys loved playing with Eli and I think he liked the chaos! They played peek-a-boo and talked to him and he just smiled right back. He is such a little cutie! Sometimes Joel and Silas get a little bit rough or don't understand the limitations of infants, but overall, I am really impressed with how gentle and sweet they are with all the really little ones around. We headed over to the Rose Bowl for a quick walk. However, after I put Joel in the stroller and we started walking, I noticed the boo-boo on his knee was really red, and was starting to streak out to one side. I watched it for a few minutes and then noticed it was warm to the touch. After our run-in with staph in April, I didn't want to take any chances. So, we turned around and came home so I could put the anti-bacterial cream on it. I drew a sharpie line all the way around so I could keep track of it. I called the doctor's office and the nurse told me to just keep an eye on it since Joel wasn't running fever and it hadn't spread since we got home. Thankfully it either wasn't really infected or we caught it early enough and it appears to be healing up.

I spent most of the rest of the day just cleaning house and getting ready for our dinner guests. Our friends, Cory & Karissa and Ipp & Lizzie came over for dinner. The boys loved having a new audience to entertain. Sans when Silas pulled the sour cream off the table, shattering my bowl and sending it everywhere, they were really well behaved. (No one was hurt, thank goodness!) We had carnitas and all the fixings. So yummy! It is truly one of my favorite recipes. Unfortunately, the oven is on ALL DAY, which makes our house so warm. So that recipe will probably not come out again for a while because it is not the same when I cook it in the crockpot. Anyway...we played Ticket to Ride after we put the boys down. We had a great time, but unfortunately, Cory won. I'm sure he won't let us forget that any time soon. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures! FYI..check out the blog that Lizzie and her sister write; it's a fun read ....http://www.theunexperts.com/

Tuesday, June 22, 2010 - Today was a pretty uneventful but exhausting day. I can't really put my finger on it, but honestly, today was a day when being a (mostly) stay-at-home mom was especially draining. So, since there's not much to recap beyond a little laundry, a quick trip to the bank, and ignoring screaming kids, I thought I'd share a few of the cute and quirky things the boys have said recently. Fair warning...we just finished potty training Joel so there's a little potty humor here....if that kind of stuff offends you or grosses you out, you might want to skip ahead to Wednesday....

Silas - He calls Woody (from Toy Story) "Boot" as in "There's a snake in my boot."

Background: In the midst of potty training, Joel has become fascinated with the digestive system and how food goes into your mouth, moves thru your body, and comes out in the toilet.
Joel - (While going to the potty) "Daddy, I have a lot of stink. I eat a lot of food."
Joel - (A few days later, while on the potty but not going) "Mommy, I not have poop. I not eat food."

Background: The first time Joel went in the potty when we started officially potty training, I tried to clap for him. He did not like that. I asked if I could sing/dance for him and he agreed. Thus was born the "Potty Dance." Joel thinks it's ok but Silas loves to join in.
Silas - Walks up to the potty, opens the lid, and indicates he wants to sit on it.
LB - "Silas, do you need to sit on the potty."
Silas - "Uh-huh" (Silas doesn't say "yes" just "uh-huh")
LB - "Silas, are you all done?"
Silas "Uh-huh"
LB - (Removes Silas from potty)
Silas - "Flush!"
LB - "You didn't do anything."
Silas - "Flush!"
LB - "Ok"
Silas - "Dance!"
LB - "Do you want to do the 'potty dance'?"
Silas - "Uh huh"
LB - "Doing the potty dance! Doing the potty dance! Doing the potty, doing the potty, doing the potty...."
LB and Silas in Unison - "DANCE!"

Heard daily from Joel...."Momma, what you doing?" "Dada, what you talking 'bout?" "Momma, what its name?" "What time is it, Dada?"

Joel laying in bed with his Woody doll...."Yee-haw cowboy!"

Joel, walks in with a statue of Kansas Jayhawk of Kim's...
Joel - "Look Momma, a Seahawk"
LB - "No buddy, that's a Jayhawk"
Joel - "Oh, a 'jee-hawk'...'jee-hawk', Cowboy"

Background: One of Joel's favorite new shows is Special Agent Oso on the Disney channel.
LB - (Walks into bathroom where the boys are taking a shower)
Joel - "Oso, we need your help!"
LB - "Joel, who are you talking to?"
Joel - "I calling Oso. We need help."

Silas, upon seeing that we are turning tv on always has a request, usually Word World, Turbo Dogs, or Oso but sometimes Mouse (as in Mickey Mouse)

Background - LeLe (my mom) always has snacks around, especially animal crackers.
Joel - "Momma, I want some animal crackers."
LB - "We don't have any."
Pause
Joel, with a heavy sigh - "I miss LeLe..."

Joel is telling me a long story to which I am simply nodding and saying "uh-huh"...
Joel - "Momma" (grabs my cheeks so I look at him in the eye) "Use your words!"
Oh those kids! They do make me smile!

Deep Concentration

(notice the tongue!)

Wednesday, June 23, 2010 - Happy 9th Anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 9 years since I married the love of my life. I feel like we've been together our entire lives and I am so happy he asked me to marry him. I still remember that day very clearly....getting ready at Gana and PaPa's house, getting dressed at the church, our few moments alone together in the sanctuary before pictures, hanging out in the bride's room, waiting for the ceremony to start, and on and on until at last we were husband and wife. What a fun day! And then, off to Hawaii, with a short stopover/adventure in LA. Who knew we'd be moving here just 5 years later! Thanks for last 9 years together, babe. It's been a fun time and I can't wait to spend 59, 69 , or 99 more years with you!

 

Happily married to this smile since 2001

Today was a busy day for us as Papa and LeLe were coming to town. The boys and I cleaned the house a bit and then got ready to go pick up David for lunch. We had a delicious lunch at Maria's and the boys, overall, did really well. 

Lovin' this face since 2007

Lovin' this face since 2009

After lunch, we hurried home for a quick nap and then it was off to the airport! Both boys were so excited to see Papa and LeLe, even though it took Silas a bit to get over his recent shyness. We came home and played until dinner. Of course, Papa and Lele brought surprises....manually rechargeable flashlights, binoculars for Joel and a Finding Nemo book for Silas. They loved their toys. We spent a large part of the afternoon playing in their dark room with the flashlights and the binoculars went everywhere with us, too.

Side note: And, Silas LOVED his book. To the point that I think he started to develop an obsession with it. We had to take it everywhere we went and he wanted to read it all the time. We didn't have it at one point in the car and he literally had a melt down. He says, "Melmo" when he points to Nemo (or wants his book) and it's so cute. He also likes to yell "Shark" and "boat" when he sees those pictures. A little loud but oh so precious!

Back to the week....I made beef enchiladas and we enjoyed a nice meal outside. After dinner, my parents took the boys to McD's for play and ice cream and David and I headed over to Stewie's for shaved ice. It was quite good, probably the closest thing to Bahama Bucks that I've had anywhere. David got pink lemonade and I got a snow capped black cherry. They had these cool holders that I thought were great. 

Pink Lemonade...Black Cherry

Only a real man eats a pink snowcone

I thought they were great!

Thursday, June 24, 2010 - After we hiked to the waterfalls a few weeks ago, Joel could not stop talking about the "cave" we saw there. When we walked past it originally, we were on our way out, the boys were tired and we were just anxious to get home. So, we told Joel he needed a flashlight to go explore the cave. Well, when Papa and LeLe arrived on Wednesday, lo and behold, they brought flashlights for the boys! Of course that meant we had to go check out the cave!

We loaded up and headed out soon after I finished working. We were able to park fairly close and off we went! There was a little more sun this time and a LOT more bugs! They loved me! We saw quite a few lizards and some squirrels this time. The boys had a blast.

Papa and LeLe and Joel giving Silas a bear hug

Silas trying his best to move the rock

He loves his Papa!

"Where is the bear, Papa?"

The cave wasn't very big, really just a large crevice in the rocks, but Joel loved it. We told him the bear wasn't home but was out looking for berries, thank goodness! We hiked on to the falls. The boys (and my parents) got their feet wet in that cold water. I was on clean-up and bug patrol since I felt like I was getting eaten alive at this point! We made our way back and finished up our expedition.

We headed over to Chick-Fil-A for a yummy lunch and some more playtime. My boys LOVE Chick-Fil-A. They always eat really well and have a great time in the play area (as long as it's not too crowded). My mom worked especially hard keeping them awake on the drive home so we could all take a nap when we got back, which we did! 

We had a pretty low-key evening. We made dinner and chocolate chip cookies and then Mike and Annie came over. They packed up their pod on Thursday and then came to spend their last night here with us. It was bittersweet. We were honored to spend their last evening/night here in Pasadena with us and we are excited about all that God has planned for them. But, we are very sad to see them go. They have been like family to us and we will miss them greatly!

Friday, June 26, 2010 - This morning was the day when Mike and Annie were really headed out. My mom made yummy sausage balls and crescent roll cini-minis for breakfast. Delicious! We said our sad good-byes and they headed out. 

We decided we needed to do a little shopping so we loaded up and headed over to the Americana in Glendale. Papa took the boys to the playground, for a trolley ride, and to the movie arcade to ride the motorcycle. They had a great time while my mom and I browsed thru Anthropologie, Home Goods, and Vera Bradley. We found a few things, but nothing major. We had lunch at the Granville Cafe. It was awesome! We will definitely be going back there, as there were lots of menu items I wanted to try!

Joel and his bike

After naps, David, my dad, and Joel got ready to head to the Yankees vs. Dodgers game. Joel was so excited to a) get to ride in his car (aka David's car) and b) take his glove (he really wanted to take his bat, too). And they were off!

In the car on the way...

Apparently Joel did not like the noise at the start of the game

This must have been before the ice cream...

Pretty good seats!

And this must be after the ice cream or the Sprite or the hot dog or the cotton candy...

What a great night!

Thanks for a fun time, Papa!

Silas got to go on a shopping excursion to Paseo and then Trader Joe's with me and LeLe. He thought it was a great time! Ok, maybe not so much, but he was a real trooper and definitely charmed all of The Loft ladies!

Saturday, June 26 - We woke up early and headed over to the Aquarium of the Pacific. The boys LOVED it! I think I'll tell the story with the pictures.

Checking out the fish with Papa

The boys were mesmerized from the moment we arrived. They wanted to see all the fish and went from tank to tank to tank. Silas, of course, was screaming, "FISH" every 10 seconds!

Driving the boat

They had a fun little play area for the kids that included a boat to drive. The boys had a lot of fun taking turns driving the boat.

Looking at the Seals and Sea Lions with Daddy

Their sea lion and seal exhibit were really great. We had fun watching them swim through the water and play on the rocks. Unfortunately, Silas and Joel were a little too young to fully appreciate the shows.

The playful Otters

Joel LOVES to talk about otters. We first saw river otters at the LA Zoo this spring and he fell in love. He would mimic their sounds and it was hilarious. So, David started telling him "Otis the Otter" bedtime stories and they always make him smile. Amazingly, Otis' days usually are filled with almost identical encounters as Joel's; Joel loves that. So, we were very excited that the Aquarium now has an otter exhibit. The otters loved to come up to the front of the tank and spin in circles under water. They were also really fun to watch, once they got going.

Joel the camera man

While we were waiting for the otter show to begin, I gave Joel my old camera to take pictures with. He loved it. At one point a lady commented, "I hope that's not a real camera." I told her that yes, indeed it was and her response was, "Oh, my!" He took a ton of pictures of people, the otters and other sea-life and random pics. Some turned out better than others. The flash was off and the room was fairly dark but I think he did a pretty good job on some of these. Here are two of his shots...

Towards the end of our tour, we finally found the Great Barrier Reef aquarium where all of the "Nemos" were hiding. Silas loved this room, of course!

Finding Nemo...

I didn't get any good pictures of the boys touching the sharks and the sting rays. They had several tanks where you could touch them (with 2 fingers!) and the boys were really interested in that. Some of those sting rays were HUGE! The only issue was that the tank was just a little deeper than Joel's arm and they pretty much stayed at the bottom of the pool. So, for him to reach them, he had to put his whole arm in. I think I dunked his forehead in a couple of times! Oops!

As we were leaving the aquarium, we stopped in the gift shop to get an otter for Joel and a Nemo for Silas. We found a Nemo (ok, so he's a bit sparkly) and thought we found an otter for Joel. But, Joel was convinced that none of the stuffed otters were Otis. When we first walked in, he found a rubber sting ray and was attached immediately. We tried to convince him otherwise but David said he told him like 3 times that he wanted to sting ray. So, Silas got Nemo and Joel got Mr. Ray. He LOVES that toy. You just never know about kiddos! I'll try to take some pictures of them this week.

After the aquarium, we went to a bar-b-cue place that everyone's been telling us to go to...Famous Dave's. The food was good and atmosphere was fun. We were all pretty worn-out so we probably didn't get the full experience. My parents shared a big plate. I had brisket and David had ribs and brisket.

Silas telling us what he wants to eat.

Joel enjoying his hamburger

We walked around Rainbow Harbor for a little bit after lunch and then headed back home. Papa and LeLe took the boys to the park to ride bikes and play at the playground.

Silas trying to ride Joel's bike...he wants to be a big kid so much! 

All reports indicate that Joel LOVED running around this wall around the park and it looks like Silas wasn't far behind.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Meanwhile, David and I officially celebrated our 9th Anniversary with a night out to Bottega Louie. So sad that did not take a single picture because it was really chic.  The entire place was white, with nothing on the walls and really tall ceilings. The host took our name, asked if it was our first time there, and told us to check back in 20 minutes. We went back 20 minutes later and were seated. We were addressed by name for the rest of the evening and they took great care of us. I ordered Portebello Mushroom fries (5 stars!), a Caesar salad (3 stars), and spinach and ricotta ravioli in a pea and pancetta cream sauce (5 stars!). David ordered an Italian salad (modified to lose the olives and mustard vinaigrette instead of balsamic) (4 stars, I think) and chicken Parmesan (3 stars, I think). The menu was all a la carte, which was interesting, but we really enjoyed it. They also had a deli and bakery counter so we got a couple of macaroons for my mom. I had never really spent time in downtown LA and this was a great first experience. Thanks for a great evening, babe! What a fun find!

What a week....

We had an awesome week full of all kinds of amazing activities. Unfortunately, I am completely wiped out and don't think I'm up for getting the blog posted tonight. I am adding the final touches and uploading the last few pictures and should have it up sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening.

 

Things to look forward to....

• Father's Day
• Our 9th Anniversary
• Pictures of the "cave"
• Yankees vs. Dodgers pics
• Our trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific

Stay tuned....

Live Moore Life

Sunday, June 13, 2010 -We headed out to church today and were met with the same resistance as last week. Joel just hides behind my legs until someone comes and forcibly removes him from me. I just keep remembering all those years that the Sunday School Superintendent walked around with my brother during SS because otherwise he just cried and cried. This too shall pass! After naps we decided to make a last minute, quick run to the beach. Apparently we chose the only non-sunny beach in Southern California but the boys still had fun. They dug holes and made rivers and just loved being in the huge sandbox.

Surfer Dude

We dig, dig, dig-a, dig, dig...

Monday, June 14, 2010 - Happy 17-months, Silas! I can't believe you are so old! It seems like just a few weeks ago I was holding you in my arms as such a small little guy. You have grown up so fast! I can't believe all the things you can do these days. Your vocabulary and understanding of what I ask you to do blows me away all the time. You just soak everything in. You've really started climbing these days..up on the couches and much to my dismay, the kitchen table! Thankfully (for me), your older brother loves to come tell on you. One of my favorite things about your right now is that you get down and up confused. I love when you walk over to me and say "Down, down!" when you really mean "up, up!" When prompted, you quickly correct yourself but it makes me smile every time. I've heard you practicing in your car seat and in your crib though..."up, down, up, down, up down..." Soon you'll have it straight and this will be just a small blip in your young life.

One of Silas' favorite things..."fives"

Ok...on to the day...Today we finally had Joel's 3 year check. Since the appt was a little later in the morning, we hit up a nearby playground before we went over there. The boys had a great time. Silas even requested to go down the slide....which was wet....but he still had fun. He's getting braver on the playground every time we go.

Joel is such a big boy these days at 38.5 lbs and 39.5 inches, both in the 90-95th percentiles. We started with a new pediatrician a few months ago after we switched to Fuller's insurance. I was very nervous leaving Dr. Schlundt, as I really appreciated the way that he's cared for both of my boys since they were born. He whole-heartedly recommended Dr. Chapman and by the grace of God, we beat the system and she took the boys as patients. Dr. Chapman said that Joel was doing great. He got two shots and didn't cry one bit. When the nurse gave him the first shot, he said, "Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow!" but never anything else. I wasn't sure then, how he would handle the second one, but he had the same reaction. She was as shocked as I was and said, "No tears! That's amazing!" I had to brag a little and told her that amazingly, he's only cried tears during 1 shot in his whole 3 years of life. I don't know how I am so blessed but so far, there is no fear of doctors or needles with either kid. On the way out after I checked out, Silas loudly yelled, "BYE" to the receptionist. All the nurses and staff looked over and he immediately started blowing kisses to everyone. What a charmer!

We stopped by Trader Joe's to pick up a few things. They boys overall did really well. We've been to TJ's enough now that when Joel sees the sample station, he says, "I wonder what they have today...." Today was grapes and bread with brie. The boys shared some grapes and I tasted some yummy brie. The boys took a gloriously long nap....almost 3 hours but woke up a little on the cranky side. I finally got them calm enough to eat snacks and then they were much better. Funny story: After being at the doctor today, Joel found his tools and using a wrench, screw-driver and one of my hair clips, Joel (all by himself and completely un-prompted) created this "tool" to replicate the light the doctor uses to look down your throat. I tried to snap a quick pic of it. Of course, he needed to make sure Silas was a-ok.

 Say ahhhh!

We enjoyed a fun dinner outside when David got home, joined by the Wrights and then the Kim busted out one of my favorite desserts...chocolate chip cookie pie! Oh yes...then later that night, I was in the office working on the computer and David was sitting on the couch watching TV. He yelled, "Did you feel that?" "Feel what? Oh, yes, there and there." Yep, we felt about 3 waves of the earth rolling under us as part of the small-ish earthquake on the US/Mexico border. We haven't felt many earthquakes since living here but every one has felt very different. I've learned not to live in fear of them anymore, but I'd still prefer to deal with natural disasters that I can have at least a few minutes warning....like...tornadoes!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010 - Well, today has been a day. I don't know if it's just one of those days or if by missing out on the terrible 2's with Joel we have signed up for the trying 3's. Either way, he has been pushing my buttons today. Not to say that he's usually a perfect angel because he's rambunctious and mischievous like all little boys but rarely is he so defiant. Since we did so great last week getting out for some exercise, and since we didn't exercise yesterday, I thought we'd head over to the Rose Bowl for some running/walking and some playground time. There was a major melt-down over spilled raisins before we even left the house. Then again at the RB over getting in the stroller. Then there was the running away to the other playground and the running away in the parking lot. Thankfully, there were a couple of really sweet moments too. We decided to walk over to the other playground and I was pushing the stroller, sans kids. I asked Joel to help Silas get over there. They walked hand in hand the whole way. At one point when Silas stumbled, Joel leaned over and asked, "Are you okay, Guy-wus?" Then Joel wanted to cut across the grass because it was more direct while I stayed on the sidewalk. He let me know..."Momma, this way..." I explained that I was staying on the sidewalk and he said, "Ok, we'll meet you over there." And Joel did so great on the playground. He's gotten especially good at climbing up the "mountains" and "ladders" and he really likes the balancing walks and the monkey bars. He can't really cross the monkey bars by himself yet, but he's able to hang there for quite a while and has learned how to let go and fall safely to the ground. (None of the ones he's hanging from are very high.) After we left the playground, we headed to the grocery store. I thought it would be ok, but by the end, they were testing me again. They each threw their snacks and cups out of the cart and by the end Joel had Silas in a headlock. Thankfully David came home for lunch so he could help me corral them!

Kim found out that there was a Street Feast happening at the Americana in Glendale so we all headed over to check it out. There were 9 food trucks from the LA area parked around the trolley tracks at the Americana. Food trucks have become a huge deal out here and the people were there to support them. The Retts and Wrights got in the long line for the Grilled Cheese truck. David was so jealous (or not) but we chose the Patty Wagon because the line was shorter and we knew the boys wouldn't last too long.

 I'll share with you, Mommy....

We finally ordered and then finally got our food. It was pretty good. They focus on using high-quality ingredients and serve only grass-fed beef. The sliders were good and the fries were awesome! (Well, I loved them because they were thin and crispy. David said that they would be more accurately classified as chips. I wouldn't go that far!) Anyway, the boys loved watching the fountains, chasing birds, and saying Hi to all the people. Unfortunately, we left before the others had even ordered their food! It was time though because the boys were falling asleep in the car on the way home. Oh yeah...this afternoon we skyped with my parents and saw Belle, a border collie, and Daisy, a brown mini-dachshund. Silas was enamored Dee-dee (as he calls Daisy) and wanted to see her over and over. Well, when we got on the elevator to leave the Americana tonight, he saw a small brown chihuahua who looked a little bit like Daisy. The entire way to the car and then all the way home, he kept saying excitedly (which = loud!), "Dee-dee! Dee-dee!" Joel kept saying..."That's not Daisy. But Momma, that's not Daisy." How do you convince a 3 year old it's not necessary to correct an almost 1.5 year old?

Wednesday, June 16, 2010 - Today was laundry day so not a lot of excitement here. The boys played around the house all morning and we went outside to play with Zoe and burn some energy. Silas has reached the age where he wants to do whatever Joel and Zoe are doing. He was very excited when they let him play "mountain monster" with them. When David got home he took the boys on a quick walk around the neighborhood while I finished dinner.

Thursday, June 17, 2010 - We met Kara and her boys (J and L) at the Rose Bowl for a walk today. The boys did great. Then, noticing a pattern of playground in the morning = especially long afternoon nap, we headed over to the playground for some fun. Silas loved the swings. Joel helped L and J "make" Kara all kinds of wood-chip food at the little table. They played a little soccer and dug in the dirt. We got ready to chase the birds and Joel got his "binoculars" out. (He puts his hands up to his face like he's looking thru binoculars. It's adorable. It was especially cute because he had dirt all over his hands so there were dirt smudges where his "binoculars" had been. Unfortunately, I didn't get a great picture.

Making "birthday cake"

Big boys digging...Silas to the side looking at the birds

After naps, the pool was set up so Z, Joel and Silas hopped in. They had a blast! At one point, Joel and Z were just pouring buckets of water over Silas; he just laughed! He loved it! I finally had to make them stop because even though he was laughing, he looked like a drowning puppy!

Say Cheese!

We are tough...and silly!

Playing in the boys' closet...one of their new favorite games!

Mike came over to watch Game 7 in the NBA finals. We were all disappointed the Celtics couldn't hang on but we were apparently the only sad ones around here. LA seems to celebrate every Lakers championship like they haven't won in 100 years. It's really odd to me. Anyway, fireworks started and cheers erupted. I think it was chaos in downtown LA.

Friday - June 18, 2010 - Andrew's mom, Sue, has been in town this week watching Evie while Becca finishes her last week at work. Since she doesn't have a car during the day, Kim had the fun idea that we could take Sue and Evie to lunch. We loaded the cars and headed to Camille's. Normally a pretty slow place, it was happening on Friday. But, we had a great lunch and for the most part, the kids did really well. The boys shared a yummy pizza! We figured out soon after Evie was born that we can squeeze her car seat between the boys. They are nice and cozy but the boys love riding with her! Silas has even started saying her name!

E fascinates us!

Saturday, June 19, 2010 - On the menu this morning: Oatmeal Berry Muffins! Joel helped me mix while Silas munched on Cheerios.

"Momma, what's next?"

Then we headed outside to eat our breakfast. When Silas saw them, he started saying "cupcakes! cupcakes!" I had no idea he really knew what a cupcake was! Too cute!

The Finished Product

The rest of the day was spent getting ready for our Chicago-themed going away party for our dear friends, Mike and Annie. They are headed to Illinois next week so Mike can work towards his PhD at Wheaton. We are so sad to see them go but so thankful that we've had the last 2 years to get to know them.

LB, David, Mike, Annie

We will miss you!

I love a themed-party so of course, we went all out. Becca made deep-dish pizza. Kim made Chicago-style hot dogs and a turtle cheesecake. Katie made strawberry cheesecake and green Jell-o. And I made caramel corn and put together a fruit tray. Let me say...the food was amazing. We hung white socks in honor of the Sox, had Gummy Bears ala Da Bears, Teddy Grahams for the Cubs, Red Bull for the Bulls, and Wrigley gum in honor of Wrigley Field and the Wrigley Building. Chris painted an amazing backdrop of the Chicago skyline to set the scene.

The Spread

The Snacks

We had a great evening of food and celebration of friendship and new chapters! They boys did really well. Joel ate quickly and after he got out of his chair seemed a little bored. He quickly found the water dispenser and started asking everyone if he could serve them. He would walk up to people and say, "Excuse me? You need more water?" and then he would carefully walk over and fill up their glass. Someone said he just needed a tux! Too cute!

More water?

Joel, E, LB, Silas

Live Moore Life

***Blogger is wreaking havoc when I try to upload pictures. I'll add more pictures later this week!

Sunday, June 6 - Today was my day to sleep in. (David sleeps in on Saturdays and I sleep in on Sundays so, in theory, we both get a little extra sleep at least one day a week.) So I woke up feeling a little more rested than usual. We got ready and headed out for church, running just a couple of minutes late instead of 10 or 15 minutes, which we have been known to do. As we got closer to church, Joel decided that he didn't want to go to the playground and see Gabby (our children's director), he wanted to go to the nursery with Silas and see Mary (the nursery worker). Now, this has nothing to do with Gabby. Once he's with Gabby, Joel has fun with Gabby. But...Joel loves Mary. Joel and Mary have a very special and unique bond. From the very first time we left Joel with Mary at only a few months old, she has called him "her angel baby". Her face lights up when Joel arrives. She was the first person that Joel waved bye-bye to and the first person he blew a kiss to. So, we decided that Joel could stop by to say "hi" to Mary and then sit in the overflow room and listen to the music with us for a while. He lasted about 2 songs and then said, "Momma, I want to go to the pwaygwound." Off we went. As soon as we walked thru the gates, the wailing began. The ugly cry. I don't see it often from him, but when it comes, it's dramatic. And it was. I am so thankful for Mr. Villa, who almost every week, peels Joel off of me and carries him off to find a truck to play with, or in this instance, off to his class. And they say, that as soon as I'm out of sight, he's fine. And I know that's true, but why he can't it make it a little easier on poor Mom? Ironically, later in the day, Joel specifically told me he wanted to go back to the church and to the playground to see Gabby "tomorrow". Of course!

After church we headed out to the beach. We decided to hit up Seal Beach because it was a little closer and the southern beaches looked clearer. It was clear but the sand was nasty and the water was pretty gross too. It was a little windy but not bad at all. Unfortunately, it was windy enough to blow our umbrella all the way across the beach. Thankfully a very nice stranger chased it down for us as we were at the water's edge with the boys when it happened. David and Joel dug a huge hole and then a channel out to the ocean so that as the tide started coming in, the channel would fill with water that then filled up the hole. Joel thought it was pretty amazing stuff! Silas loved watching all of the birds scavenge the beach for food. "Tweet, Tweet! Tweet, Tweet!" He also liked digging in the sand but not quite as much as Joel.

Silas and the sand

He really wanted to get in the water and splash around but it was too cold to stay in for very long at all. We only lasted about an hour and then we loaded up and headed home. The Retts were cooking out so Andrew and David ran to the store to get some carne asada and the fixings. We fed, showered and put the boys to bed, and enjoyed adult conversation with our meal....a nice change of pace. The food was so good. I don't know what is in that marinade but the beef is melt in your mouth tender and so good! So far, I must say this is looking to be a pretty great summer!

Monday, June 7 - Back to the real world! We were in need of food so I loaded up the boys for a full morning of grocery shopping. We went to Target, Von's and Trader Joe's. I should have known that 3 long stops like that was 1 too many, especially since Von's didn't have the handy "car carts" for the boys to ride in. But, we did survive. After naps, they, as usual, wanted a snack. I learned last week that they love cherries so I had picked some up. Of course I have to pit them before they can eat them and I tried to do it by hand last week. It wasn't that hard but it was tedious, time consuming and messy! So, we picked up a cherry-pitter at Target. Joel loved it. I think he had more fun doing that than he did actually eating the cherries! Good thing too...since Silas was eating them just about as fast I we could pit them. They polished off the cherries, had a handful of blueberries, each ate a whole banana blueberry muffin, a yogurt stick and some wheat thins. You would have thought they hadn't eaten in years! How will I feed them when they are 17 and 15? Yikes! When David got home we went up to the Rose Bowl to burn off some calories. Joel thought he wanted to ride his bike but only got about 1/4 of the way around and he was done. So, David carried it back to the car while I tried to keep walking with the Silas in the stroller and Joel by my side but it didn't last long. We finally just stopped and the boys snacked...again....until David got back. Silas went on a drive with David while Joel and I strolled the rest of the way around.

When we got home, we found the Retts headed out the door for dinner. They convinced us to go eat pizza with them. It had been a while since we all went out to eat together and I'm so glad we went. We basically took over this little pizza shop in South Pasadena (Mama's Pizza) and the kids had a great time. The kids played with their cars and everything else they could get their hands on. Overall, they were really well-behaved....just a few loud shrieks that caused the other tables to turn and stare...Fun times with fun peeps!

Say Cheese....pizza!

Joel making us laugh...as always

Tuesday, June, 8 - Tuesday started off like a fairly normal day. I decided to take the boys to Rose Bowl for a run and then a trip to the playground. Joel showed off his climbing skills and Silas had fun going down the slide! We chased the birds for a bit and then headed home. Thankfully, we didn't have too much planned for the rest of the day. We (and I use that term very loosely because all I do is say Yay or Nay to whatever David finds) have been looking to purchase a 2nd car for David. We've been a one-car family for almost 4 years now and David's patience with bike commuting has been wearing very thin. So, he found a car last week at a dealer in Montclair that he liked. He went to look at it on Saturday and was really excited about it. We had been talking it over and David called on Monday and made the guy a final offer. They negotiated a bit (why does $100 seem like so much in when it's only a small percentage of the overall purchase price of the car? I think it's either pride or principle or maybe both....) Anyway....they came to an agreement over the phone, pending my seeing the car and giving it my approval. David called just as the boys woke up from their naps (ok, he actually woke me up from my nap, too) so I threw a few things in the diaper bag, got shoes on the boys, and off we went. It should be about a 35 minute drive, but of course we were driving with rush-hour traffic at 4:00 pm so it took about an hour. Joel was so excited. He wanted to know if the new car would be orange or white. Answer: Neither! When we got there, Joel just wanted to "drive" all of the cars. David took the car for one last test drive and Joel had a melt down because he couldn't go with him. Joel sat in about 10 different cars. He really liked the "race car"...aka a Toyota MR2 Spyder. He thought that was really cool, especially when David put the top down. Sadly, there were no seats for Silas and I. At one point, while David was going through some paperwork and Silas was hanging out with him in the air conditioning, Joel and I went "driving". I asked him to take me to Disneyland to see Mickey Mouse (we're hoping to go in a couple of months). When we got to "Disneyland", Joel leaned over and picked up Mickey Mouse in the palm of his hands. I tried to explain to him that Mickey Mouse is very tall, probably taller than Mommy, but he wanted to hear nothing of it. So I am a little concerned that seeing an adult-size (or larger) Mickey Mouse may freak him out a little bit when we go to Disneyland. Back to the car....So David and I signed all of the papers, moved Joel's car seat over to the new car and we are now the proud owners of a 2001 green Honda Accord. It's a standard (which means I can only drive in emergency situations, never on the freeway, and on streets with as few hills as possible...so umm, never!) but it's ok because the car seats will easily fit in it if David needs to take them somewhere. We left the dealership and headed to Chick-Fil-A (the boys' fav) and were happy to realize that it was Kid's night, which meant the boys ate free! Considering each kid can almost eat his own kid's meal, it was a great deal. They had fun playing in the playground and of course, loved the food. Joel rode all the way back with David and refers to the car as "his" car. I didn't have the heart to tell him that the poor car will be 22 years old by the time he's old enough to drive. Who knows! Stranger things have happened. We got home, got the boys in bed, and Kim stayed with them so I could actually ride in our new-to-us car. The interior is in perfect condition and it rides very nicely. I'm very happy for David and thankful for an extra set of wheels!

Wednesday, June 9 - The morning started off a little rough when we realized that David took Joel's car seat with him to work. My normal plan of an outing every morning went out the window. I decided to get a few things done around the house since we couldn't go anywhere anyway. Fun things like cleaning out the pantry, under Silas' bed and in the boys closet. Most of what I cleaned out was stuff that nobody sees anyway, but it made me feel better. By mid-morning, the boys were sick of being inside so I finally got us all dressed enough to get outside. We played for a little while, rode bikes, etc. It was almost lunch time so I went inside to preheat the oven for chicken nuggets. Mistake! After about 10 minutes, the smoke detectors were beeping and Joel was crying again. They are so loud that even outside, they make your ears ring. I couldn't get the kitchen window open, which usually shuts them off, couldn't leave the boys outside, couldn't open all the doors with the boys inside, and by now, they've been beeping for like 5 minutes and I'm starting to think it's more than just the oven! I finally started fanning away from a specific one that seems to be extra sensitive and got the beeping to stop. Needless to say, we had macaroni & cheese for lunch instead and I won't be baking above 350 for a while. Ugh! David came home for lunch and I have never been more thankful. I crashed while he fed them and got them down for their naps. After their naps, we headed out to Target for a quick outing. Silas is so friendly to people. He is always saying "Hi" to people as they pass, which seems to make everyone smile. And Joel has started saying "Have a good day" to the cashiers as we leave each store. They only understand him about 25% of the time but I think it's really precious.

Thursday, June 10 - The Rose Bowl was calling our name again this morning so we met Kara and Levi. We were a little late because of the great shoe debate of 2010. Joel could care less about what shirts/shorts/pants I put on him, but he is highly opinionated about his shoes. He has very strong ideas of what he likes/wants to wear/needs to wear every day. Some days his choices are in line with his outfit and other days, not so much. Some days he's easily persuaded to wear something more appropriate, other days, not so much! Also, Silas loves to play the game...empty all our shoes out of the bin and leave them strewn about in our room. So, we're trying to get out the door and Joel cannot decide what shoes he wants to wear. Since he and Silas are only a couple of sizes apart these days, he kept bringing me random shoes and asking...Go-el or Guy-wus? He finally settled on some loafers that sort of kind of went with his outfit. Oh well...he was happy so I was happy. Anyway...we finally made it to the Rose Bowl, around the RB and over to the playground. There had to have been 1800 5 year olds running around at the playground, all wearing matching royal blue shirts. Yikes! They were on top of each other so we scooted over to the "big kid" playground that was empty...for about 3 minutes when one of the teachers realized it was empty. We didn't last much longer. Silas found an area with tons of pigeons so we chased those birds 'til every last one of them was gone. He loved it! He is always spotting birds when we are outside and loves to run after them. Joel really thought he was going to catch a couple of them. I thought he might, too, and I was so thankful when those birds finally got smart and just flew away! Thursday night, I got together with our "Bible study" gals. I placed "Bible study" in quotes because it's become more like a weekly catch-up on each other's lives meeting. That's ok though...I'm so thankful to have such an amazing group of friends who can share life together in every sense of the word. They are encouragement to me every time we meet and I would not survive if they were not around. Annie, we will miss you when you head East! The group will never be the same without all of your insight and wisdom! Since we didn't meet last week, we surprised Kim with her favorite dessert, "Dirt Cake"and a couple of special gifts. (Dirt cake is really yummy, easy and fun! Maybe I'll post the recipe on here some time.) Andrew tried really hard (not intentionally, but he really almost did) to ruin the surprise but I think she really didn't know. We love ya, Kim! Hope your 27th year is awesome!

Friday, June 11 - My new goal each week is to have all my laundry done before the weekend. Thus, we started out the day doing 5 loads of laundry. Amazingly everything was even folded and put away before we went to bed! The boys and I met Katie and Eli at Sonic for a lunch out. When Katie and Eli got in the car, Joel looked very confused and asked, "Where's Go-ey (Joey)?" He loves all of our friends so much! It was great to catch up with Katie again after her trip to Michigan. After their naps, Joel wanted to paint so badly. So, we got out the paint and Joel went to town! He painted 5 pictures and I think they were all of him. Silas tried to paint a little bit but he doesn't quite have the hang of it yet and really just wants to put his hands all through the paint so that didn't last long. After David got home, we agreed with the Wrights and Retts that we should order pizza and watch a movie. The guys went and got Pizza Hut (my favorite!) and then after the kids were asleep, we watched Couples Retreat. (We missed you Chris!) It was pretty funny but I fell asleep about half way through. (If you have never watched movies with me, my falling asleep in a movie has no direct relationship to how entertaining, interesting, or anything else the movie is. I have been known to fall asleep in the theaters.) It was a nice relaxing evening. Then, Joel decided to be up off and on from 2:00 to 6:30 so it was a long night for me.

Saturday, June 12 - After a long night, the boys and I woke up and made pancakes at Joel's suggestions. He loves to help me cook and making Saturday morning breakfasts together have become quite the tradition for us. Silas sat in his chair and ate the pancakes almost as fast as we could flip them. What an eater! He cracks me up. When David got up, we decided we'd try a family hike. He looked online and decided we'd head to Monrovia Falls. It was only 1.5 miles round trip and we knew the boys would love the waterfall at the end. I told Joel we were going on a hike and he thought I said we were going to fly a kite. He started singing...Let's go fwy a kite....from Mary Poppins. He LOVES that song! We loaded up and got there around 11:00. We had to park a little ways off so David dropped off Joel and I at the trail head and went to park the car. Joel immediately was not excited and I could tell his restless night was going to make this hike interesting. As we started out, I was trying to encourage Joel so I started singing another of his favorite songs, "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho" from Snow White. From that point on, we would randomly hear Silas sing "Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho." So funny! Silas loved the hike and wanted to walk the whole way. (We had to carry him across some narrower/rocky parts of the trail.) He made friends with everyone we passed, offering a loud "Hi" to the fellow hikers. Periodically he would stop and point to the sticks or dirt or leaves or he'd lean down really close to check things out. I have a feeling many more hikes are in his future. Joel on the other hand, didn't think it was so great. It was nice and shady but he was so, so tired. At one point, we were dangling fish out in front of him just to keep him moving. But, he loved crossing the stream (I called it a river and Joel looked at me, confused, and said, "A baby river?") and was really excited to finally reach the waterfall. We let them take off their shoes and walk in the water a little bit but the water was really cold so that didn't last long. They enjoyed their fish and cheerios and then we headed back. Silas is a very slow walker so at one point I teasingly told him we were going on. He looked up and started saying, "Wait! Wait!" I am so amazed at how his vocabulary grows every day! I'm sure he's heard Joel say it hundreds of times but it still made me laugh! We finally made it back to car, made a quick Sonic stop (yes, twice in 2 days, but we were literally 5 minutes from it) and then headed home. The boys took a great nap so David and I did too! I haven't taken such a long nap in a really long time. It was great!