VBS and Little Man

Okay. In all seriousness, one day Jackson is going to beg me to take these off my blog, but for right now, they are just too cute to not post. As we have previously reported, he is beginning to show alot of interest in potty training. We bought him a potty chair, and this is what he wants to do all the time now...

All we hear now when we walk into our bathroom is "Sit. Potty. Book."

I promise that these are not staged photos. Isn't that hilarious!!!

Okay. I freely admit that my family is part of the VBS Decorating Cartel. We go all out! It usually takes about 2 weeks for some of our best work, but we only gave it 1 week this year. It was a push to get everything done. Here are some pictures of the room Kellyn and I did for our VBS class this year. Our theme is Outrigger Island, and we are teaching 3rd and 4th graders. Because we have 3 classes in the same age category we had to give our classes Hawaiian names so the kids know which room they are in. We are the Hala Kahiki class, or the Pineapples. We love our room, and even though it took forever to put it all together, it was totally worth it. Enjoy the pics, and I will do my best to post pictures of the Queen of the Cartel's (aka my Mom) VBS room tomorrow. It is amazing!!!

The Pineapple Queen's (It's really just me and my sister Kellyn)

Is it totally obvious whose pineapples are bigger???

Some of the girls in our class

The sign on the wall says "Welcome Pineapples"

Custom drawn surfboards by JAK Enterprises (Jason, Amy, and Kellyn)

Admit, Believe, and Confess Volcano.

Isn't it cool!! Kellyn freehanded it, and Jeremy and I did the painting.

Me trying to prepare for the lesson with Jackson in tow.

Jackson is in the 2-3 year old class at VBS, even though he is not quite 2 yet. He made it all the way until crafts last night before he just wore out and his Daddy took him home.

Jackson with his teacher, Mrs. Debbie

Stay tuned for more from Outrigger Island!!!

War Eagle....sort of

Hey everyone. I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We were booking it on Saturday trying to finish our VBS room up and I was elated to be through with it by 12:00 on Saturday. We have been up at the church until almost 9:00 almost every night this week. I am SICK of decorating. I love VBS, but thank goodness it is only 1 week out of the year. I would die if it were even one day longer.

So after our morning of decorations, I took Jackson home for a quick nap, and then we were off to Auburn for the wedding of a friend of mine from college. Jackson looked so handsome with his little plaid shorts and white polo shirt. He was definitely working the cute factor. Jeremy and I were supposed to go together, but his work schedule changed at the last minute, so Kellyn said she could go with me. Isn’t she sweet! She ran interference during the drive to the loveliest village on the plains and we were rushing to get to Auburn on time. We got off the interstate, with 20 minutes to spare, and the unthinkable happened.

Jackson threw up in my car.

Needless to say, after pulling over and cleaning him (and my car) up, we were not working with 20 minutes to spare anymore. I had like 10 minutes, and there was no way that I could take him into a church, much less a wedding, considering that he had just thrown up. Oh, and FYI, I don’t do vomit well. We just don’t work well together. Oh, and Jackson wasn’t sick, he just got sick from a goldfish going down the wrong way. The kid was fine….

So I drove on to the church, went inside and found the bride, and told her that I had come, but that I couldn’t stay. I was so bummed. We ended up going to the famous Toomer’s Corner and getting a scoop of lemonade. I couldn’t waste a trip to Auburn after all that. It would have been sacrilegious.

Oh, and Jackson can sort of say”Auburn” now. He says, “Auburrrr.” Too cute. We have established that tigers say, “GGGRRRRR” a long time ago, and we are working on what an elephant says. They say “Boooo” in case you were wondering.

I will post VBS and new Jackson pictures later. Have a great day and WARRR Eagle!!!

Prayers and More...

Please be in prayer once again for the family of Angie Smith. You may remember that I had linked to her page a couple of months ago when she lost her daughter, Audrey Caroline, shortly after birth. This week, her sister-in-law Nicol Sponberg (her husband's sister) lost her 2 month old son Luke to SIDS. This family has already been through so much, and now to have lost a second baby from the same family in only 7 weeks, they are just reeling from the pain of it all. They really need your prayers....

I also wanted to share a new blog with all 2 of my readers. I came across it today, and I am loving it. It is "Et tu?" The Diary of a Former Atheist, and it is wonderful. I think that her style is amazing, and be sure to click on some of the links on the left side of her page, especially the one about how she became pro-life. She has an amazing story to tell, and I am oh so glad that I found her.

One more thing...I need some comments people. I have a headache today and they would make me feel so much better. Have a great Thursday, and please remember to be in prayer for the Sponberg and Smith families. They really need it.

Is it Wednesday already???

Hey Ya’ll. Long time no blog. Things have been crazy busy with our family. We had the Wade’s come in for the weekend, and Jackson had a great time with them. They were helping Amy move into her new apartment in Auburn. It is such a cute apartment. I cannot believe that the wedding is next weekend! I am so excited. I have my dress ready, shoes, ready, and now I just need to figure out what needs to be done with my hair. Jackson got his hair cut yesterday for the big day and he is so handsome. He was handsome before the haircut, but you know what I mean.

Anyways, so this will be so short, because the wedding is the weekend following our churches Vacation Bible School and I am super busy, and am slowing losing my mind trying to do remember to do so many things at once. My sister and I are teaching 3rd and 4th grade and as some of you know, if you have Moore as part of your last name, you MUST go all out for VBS. It's the law! Gone are the days when you put a couple pictures up on the wall and call it a day. That's not gonna happen with the Moore's! So far our room has an airplane (or an a-pane as Jackson calls it) 5 surfboards, a windsurfer and 2 beach scenes painted on the wall. We still have one wall to go, and this thing starts Sunday afternoon. Good Grief!!!

Have a great Wednesday and I will catch up with you later. Bye ya’ll!!!

Jackson with his new haircut!

Gracie and Jackson

Miranda and I have begun a semi-weekly Wednesday night meeting at Zaxby's with our families. The 6 of us push a couple of tables together, wipe down the highchairs, and enjoy each other's company. On Wednesday night Zaxby's was practically empty, so we let our guard down a little and let the kids explore just a tad. This is a scrapblog that Miranda made with Gracie and Jackson. Aren't they cute!

I hope you have a great weekend and a wonderful Memorial Day. Jeremy's family is coming in to help move Amy into her apartment in Auburn (aka. the best college town ever!!), so they will be dropping in a visiting with us. We are so excited to see them again, and after this weekend, the next time we will see them will be for Amy's wedding! Whoo-hooooo!!!!!!

Don't forget to thank a veteran for their service, and remember those who have died for your freedoms, and those currently serving. They deserve a huge thanks for the sacrifice they have/are making!!!

Works for Me Wednesday

Hey ya'll. For today's WFMW I wanted to spread the word about something that a friend told me about. It is called Scrapblog, and it is a free site that lets you make the cutest blog banners. You just sign up for a free account and let your imagination go to work. You can also make little scrapbook pages that you can post on your blog. It is super easy and good for people like me who want a cute blog banner, but can't make your husband understand why you should pay someone to do it for you. They have ready-made banners, and you just insert your photos, or you can build a banner from scratch. I'm seriously addicted already. Have a great day and I hope you enjoy the site!

New pics of little man

Allison and me at the game on Friday night. We had so much fun!

Allison and Jason

Allison's B'day cake

Jackson at the park with Allison's boys. They had a blast!

Jackson loves to swing from the slide.

Jackson on the slide. He loved it!

My little monkey

Jackson in the tunnel

Jackson and Jeremy

Jackson and Zachary

Three's Company!

Jackson with Nana and Jeremy

He is a mess!

Jason, Allison, Me, Jeremy, Chase, Jackson, and Zachary.

Let's Take a Moment of Silence Please.....

I got word this morning that 14 tons of America's favorite double-stuffed cookies had tragically lost their lives in a traffic accident in Illinois. They were being transported in an 18 wheeler when their truck driver fell asleep at the wheel. The boxes were ripped open and many Oreos lay dying on the interstate, without anyone there to comfort them in their final moments. No charges have been filed, but the accident is still under investigation. Please be in prayer for the families of the Oreos, who will now have to turn to other sweet things such as cake and twinkies to comfort them during this horrible time. It will be hard for all of us....

So much to say....

First of all, our weekend was great with Allison. I loved meeting Allison's newest little one, Eli, and it was great seeing her other boys again. We went to a baseball game on Friday night, and after the game was over they had a great fireworks show. Allison's husband, Jason, won the comment of the night when he leaned over during the fireworks show and said, "Hey..this sounds just like Iraq." We had a birthday party for Allison on Saturday, and then we grilled out on Sunday. It was a super busy weekend, but it was wonderful seeing Allison again.

I have a few other things to share: First of all, Jackson's photo session went great on Saturday. We were really surprised because we had spent the entire morning at Primed for what we thought was croup, but it turned out to be a slight case of bronchitis. Jackson took a really short nap, and we just knew that he was going to be a pistol during the pictures, but he did fine. Jackson is doing much better now, but we have been doing breathing treatments all weekend long.

Also on Saturday, while over at my parents, my Dad came inside and said that my car had gotten hit. Let me say one thing before I begin my story. My parents live on a dead end road. that has a decent sized hill as you come down the street. It turns out that a little boy was riding his bike down the hill with his brother and friend and he must have looked back as he was riding, because he slammed into the back of my (parked) van. I had a pretty good head/shoulder size dent in my car, and the little boy had his nose busted and his front tooth chipped really bad. I'm not worried about my car, although it does stink to have to have it repaired, but I am concerned about the little boy. Please say a prayer for him.

And..(Drum Roll please) guess who has gone tee-tee on the potty 4 times now!!!! You got it! Little man!!! Jackson has been acting really interested in the potty lately, and you can watch him during bathtime as he tries his hardest to potty in the bathtub. So, Saturday night before bathtime, we just stripped him down and stood him on the rim of the toilet. Bingo!!! We had immediate success. He has since gone 3 more times and we have just praised him so much. I am so proud of him. We are taking it really slow, but I don't think it's going to take long for him to figure this stuff out. I'll post pictures of my little monkey later. Have a great day!

The Eagle has landed.....

and I can't wait to see her.....I'm so excited!!!

T minus 3 hours and counting.....

I am so stinking excited. My best friend Allison is due to make her appearance in P'ville in just a few hours!!! Yeah!!! I haven't seen her since March of last year, and I can't wait to meet her newest (and last) son, Eli. I have known Allison since I was 4, and she was 2, so we grew up practically like sisters. She has lived in Salt Lake City since she got married, and when her husband Jason got shipped out to go to Turkey, she moved to Denver to be closer to her parents. She is an amazing mother! She has 3 kids, her oldest, Chase, just turned 4, Zach will be 3 in November, and Eli was just born a few months ago. She has been rocking it as a Mom/Dad to her kids since Jason got shipped out, and I am so happy for her that he is back for a visit. I know she really missed him. Tonight we are going to a baseball game with A and J and tomorrow is Allison's B'day. Happy Birthday girl! I love Allison so much and can't wait to see her. I wish the day would hurry up!!

In other news, tomorrow we get Jackson's 21 month pictures done. Pray for us. We need it desperately during photo sessions. At least they are only 30 minutes long.

Oh, and do you like my new header? I took Lyndsey's advice and visited scrapblog.com to make it. I am addicted!! It was so much fun, and super easy. I hope you enjoy it. Leave me some love! Take care and see ya on Monday!

His new game...

Isn't he so cute!

A Boy and his Dog

Works for Me Wednesday

Hey everyone. I wanted to share about the best kids shampoo that I have found. My almost 2 year old son has his Daddy's hair. It tends to look a little wiry and I have found that Suave's 2 in 1 Smoother shampoo has been amazing for him. It is tear free (which is a must) and his hair is so soft after using this shampoo. My favorite scent is Cowabunga Coconut because it reminds me of the beach and just smells wonderful. It is the perfect scent for summer, except that I use it year round.

I have fallen in love with this shampoo, so much that when our crazy Wal-mart stopped carrying it, I sent my Mom on a mission to find a couple of bottles. I now have a stockpile that should at least get me through this summer. So, if you are looking for a super shampoo for kids, I really recommend this one. It definitely works for me!

Another Monday..

Hey ya'll. I apologize for the slacker blogging lately. I had 2 days off from work last week, and I have been so busy trying to tie up all my loose ends from CWE. I guess I have no real excuses. I mostly just didn't feel like blogging. So anyways, here are some new updates on little man. He has been talking up a storm lately with tons of new words. He has learned to call, Buddy, Jeremy's Dad, Papa. So Papa and Jackson's favorite thing to do together is to ride around on the lawnmower and so now, whenever Jackson sees a lawnmower he says over and over, "Papa cut grass. Papa mow." It is so cute. His other new thing is to tell everything and everyone we see "bye." Here is what our car rides sound like now:

Jackson: "Bye park. Bye bus. Bye Daddy (the goodbye's are not always in a timely fashion. We had left home about 3 minutes before this.) Bye Mow. Bye Mama."

Jackson also has fallen in love with our dog. She however, is not so much in love with him. She more or less tolerates him. Here is Jackson with Macy:

And it finally happened: Jackson fell asleep in his high chair. He was conked after playing at school all day and during supper I caught him dozing. We were heading outside to try and plant our garden after supper so we had to lay him down outside. Still sleeping. It didn't last long. The rain chased us back inside after about 2 minutes and he was so stinking cranky after that.

On Saturday I was heading to the zoo for a Mother's Day treat with my parents and Jackson decided to help me feed "My Mace." He is such a big help. Take a look!

Scooping the food...

completely missing the bowl....

then trying to help me pick up. Too cute! I couldn't help but laugh.

The zoo with Tata and me

Jackson and Nana

Jackson playing in his new swimsuit in the backyard. Check out that belly!

His new Elmo sprinkler

Jackson and my Mother's Day photo. Isn't he so cute!

We can't forget Daddy now. Aren't they so handsome!

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mom (Nana) and my mother-in-law (Gigi), as well as our Grandmothers. You are such strong women and have been a great example to your families. Thanks for everything. We love you!

Works for Me Wednesday

So today’s edition of WFMW is a themed edition about what DOESN’T work for me. Well, what doesn’t work for me is Campbell’s Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole. You know the recipe I’m talking about. It is in every family magazine I get, and they also have that cheesy (pardon the pun) song on their commercials. They make it sound so simple in the recipe, and maybe I’m just not very good in the kitchen, but this was a royal disaster the one and only time I tried to make it.

The recipe clearly states that you are to use “UNCOOKED regular long-grain white rice.” You add all these other simple ingredients and then it says to cook covered for 50 minutes or until chicken and rice are done. Well, my rice never got done. I think I finally pulled it out of the oven after 1 hour and 15 minutes and gave up. We went out to eat that night. The rice wasn't even close to being done. My sister even tried cooking the recipe and the same thing happened to her. For the love!!! I checked out the reviews on the Campbell’s website for this recipe and either we are the only 2 people that this has happened to, or Campbell’s is only allowing positive reviews of this recipe to go online. If I’m missing something, please clue me in, but for me, this recipe definitely isn't working.

Free Advice Friday

Since I am here getting ready for my conference, my free advice for today is about conferences. Here goes. When you fill out those evaluation forms that you get from conferences, be kind. I was always one of those people that thought that because they were asking for my opinion, that I would give it. Well not anymore....I am gonna tell them that it was the best conference I have ever been too, that I learned so much, and that everything was perfect. Now that I know what goes into planning a huge conference, I am never going to complain about one again. I already know that come tomorrow I will be hearing, "The rooms are hot, my hotel room is cold, the food is bad....etc." I am already preparing myself for hearing hard criticism about something that I have worked so hard on for 6 months now.

So from now on, when you go to conferences, be kind to those who have worked so hard for so long on something that may seem trivial to you. That's all. Have a great weekend!