Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Free Zoo Day

My sister called me at about 11am and said the zoo is having a free admission day would you and Lila like to go. I pondered it for a bit--life has been super crazy with Primary and Christmas decorations and house cleaning and canning and then I paused and thought where are my priorities, "we're in". I made some lunches, Nessa came down we strapped her kids in the van, we picked Lila up from joy school, and headed down to the zoo. Lila sat in between Izzy and Siena and would hold Izzy's hand and talk to Siena and then she fell asleep with her head rested on Izzy's car seat.  I packed a stroller realizing that all of the other kids would be in strollers so Lila would probably want to also--she did.  We had a wonderful time.  The elephants put on a show for us, the new baby elephant was doing tricks and even did a head stand (I was too slow with my camera to catch it). We went to the new exhibit and had the polar bear swim right next to us.  The weather was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.  I'm so glad I took time to go.




















I forgot to ask Lila if she needed to use the restroom before leaving the zoo and as soon as we got on the road she said, "I need to go potty." She held it for a long time. We finally got off at the exit where In-N-Out was and decided to grab a quick hamburger while we were there.  Ellie was patient waiting for us after school since we were a few minutes late, but the half of cheeseburger helped win her over. :)

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Birthday-Thanksgiving

I decided this year since my birthday was on a Sunday that we would take the girls to Disney On Ice on Saturday.  So I ordered the tickets 6 weeks ago and made a big announcement the week before my birthday.  The girls were so excited.  Lila sang and danced the whole way through.  I think Ellie enjoyed it, but didn't really get into it like Lila.

















We went to the new City Creek center mall and had lunch.  I told Steve he could buy me a present from Tiffany's :) Seriously I don't know what I would do with jewelry that cost more than my car.



Then on Wednesday we loaded up and went to Idaho for Thanksgiving.  I don't take a lot of pictures at Thanksgiving--maybe because the idea of having pictures of me stuffing my face doesn't seem flattering . . . whatever the reason we had a wonderful time and I want to document a few things in writing.  We had a wonderful time hanging out with family and Mimi was nice and did the girls hair really fancy for Thanksgiving and then permed Lila's again on Friday.  Dad, Nessa, Steve and I braved the Walmart Black Friday crowd for a ripping good deal on some movies.  Ellie worked on calendars for Mimi.   

We had a stash of Hostess cupcakes and donuts we indulged on one day (now that they are out of business and you can no longer find their products).  At lunch one day, I told the girls they could each have one powdered donut before lunch.  Ellie gobbled hers up knowing it was a very rare occasion I let them have dessert first.  Lila got distracted and then a few minutes later asked me where her donut was.  I said, "You must have ate it."  She told me she didn't and didn't know where it was.  I said, "Well I'm sorry you can't have another one."  Then she said, "Look at my face. Do you see any white on my face?  I didn't have one."  It took me a minute to process that she was pointing out that powdered donuts usually make a mess and her face was clean.  She got a donut--good logic and using big girl words!  She also very politely asked Uncle Nate to switch seats one morning when he sat in front of her blocking her view to the TV--love that we are using words and problem solving.   

Santa was visiting the neighbors and was nice enough to stop by and say HI.  Although Ellie didn't know what to tell him so now every day she reminds me we need to write a letter so he knows what she wants and Lila was super tired and wanted nothing to do with him (she did promise next year she won't be afraid).













On Saturday before we left we helped my Mom go through her holiday decorations in the storage room.  We made her designate a DI box and had a garbage can close.  We each took a few things and the girls got new Barbies that they just love.  Now I just need to get my decorations switched to Christmas.  :)


Side note: We try to do a prayer rotation because Lila always want to say the prayer so we thought an order would help--she would know who she came after etc. Well it worked for a while and then in turned back into her wanting to pray every time and crying if she didn't get to.  Ellie all on her own created us a prayer jar.  She taped a piece of construction paper together in a cylindrical shape and cute and taped a bottom on and then made us each two bookmark size slips of paper with our names on them, Dad Kendall Moore, Mom Ann Moore, Ellie Nicole Moore, and Lila Jane Moore.  We draw every time we say a prayer seems to work well.  What a creative problem solver, Ellie is.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Fire Station Field Trip

Lila's joy school was organized by a wonderful group of ladies and they scheduled each Mom to host a party or field trip once during the year.  Dayna and Luke coordinated a tour of a fire station and it happened to be on day the rest of the kids were out of school so they got to join us.

The kids enjoyed seeing where the firemen eat, sleep, and study. They got to walk through the firetruck and look into the ambulance (did you know that 80% of the calls to the station are medical related--they are all at least EMTs). Then one of the fireman got dressed in his gear and gave all the kids high-fives (it was a good idea so that kids aren't scared of fire fighters if they see them in their gear during an emergency). They also reviewed stop, drop, and roll and encouraged families to have a plan in case of a fire. 
















After our tour we went next door to the park and played for an hour.  It was a lovely day (weather included)!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Trick-or-Treating Party Style

Once again the weekend before Halloween was a big long party.  On Friday (Oct. 26), Ellie wore her costume to piano lessons and played her Halloween song so she could earn a candy bar. Ellie also had a birthday party so my sister, Nessa took Lila to the gym Halloween party with Izzy. Then we went to their trunk-or-treat that night.  Saturday Ellie had another birthday party at "Scary Hill" (Cherry Hill).  My parents took Steve and the rest of us out to lunch for his birthday.  Then Lila helped me make Rice Krispie treats for Izzy's birthday party.
 












We had to leave her party a bit early because our ward was having a Halloween Carnival and Trunk-or-Treat that I coordinated.  So off we went.  It was a huge success and I had so much fun running the Primary cupcake walk and meeting so many people and their families.

Then on Sunday, Nessa and Nate blessed Siena.  It turned out to be a bit of a crazy day because they lost power due to a car accident so they had to come down to our house to get ready while we went to our church.  Then we went to their sacrament meeting where Siena was blessed. We had a nice luncheon at the Durbanos and then home to relax after a crazy week.
Jake and Marcee chilling with the girls while everyone scrambles to get ready.

 I helped with Ellie's class party and we made cookie spiders.

Then Nate, Nessa, and Izzy came down to go trick-or-treating.  We made mummy dogs (pigs in a blanket but wrapped to look like mummies) and baked potatoes for dinner.


This is the only picture I have of the girls' costumes this year. Really life is crazy right now!

Then we celebrated Steve's birthday on Nov. 1.  Honestly, when we were newly weds I never realized how close his birthday is to Halloween, but now that we have kids--it makes it interesting.  I also happened to be going out of town that day to spend some time with my friends from Tucson at Time Out for Women in Phoenix.  So I got up early and went and got Krispy Kreme donuts so we could sing Happy Birthday.  I also left him a candy graham and an ice cream gift card for him to take the girls out.  (He also got a bike trainer a month ago and recently purchased a snow blower so he got some good presents!).

 Today we had Nessa and her family and Stephanie and her family over for his birthday dinner of ribs, mashed potatoes, salad, rolls, and of course Miami Beach birthday cake (which Stephanie didn't set on fire this time ;).  

We LOVE you Steve!!  He truly is amazing and has really stepped up his game to support me and assist our girls more since I have recently been tasked with some new responsibilities.  I cannot imagine life without him.  He is genuinely concerned for our family's happiness and it shows in his actions.

Here are the girls I got to spend the weekend with.  I love each of them so much!!  I'm so grateful I could spend an uplifting weekend with them.
Here we are eating at the Cheesecake Factory way past our bedtime.  So nice to be able to visit and laugh together!
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