Happy Friday!

We are currently in the midst of our 30-hour respite between family visitors.  My fam departed in two waves yesterday and the BG's mom and stepdad arrive late tonight.  Thankfully, his all-day track meet was yesterday and not today so that we can, you know, change the sheets and maybe buy some groceries! 

Hooray for fun times!

Couldn't get a decent pic of the two of them Christmas morning to save my life.

But, hey, at least they coordinate in their festive Gymboree "gymmies"!  (Thanks, Grammie!)

Busy week o' family visits so might just be pics here and there!

Miss C's Christmas Eve outfit put a little pink twist on the typical red/green holiday attire.  She's sooo close to walking (others have seen her take a few rapid, unassisted steps) but isn't quite there yet.  Sure loves the being led around thing, though--when not crawling at lightning speed.


11 months old...and still pretty bald!  :-)

Hope you had one, too!

Man, trying to get a decent Christmas card photo with two busy (and/or uninterested) kids is crazy hard.   We did a mini-photo shoot the morning we were at the Gaylord in late November and I seriously didn't think we'd gotten one that would work.

Perhaps I should've gone with one of these classic outtakes?





(I actually like this pic above but I figured it was probably good to, you know, see their faces.  Same goes for this one, too, although it's also way too "soft":


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Growing up, I always thought we had way cooler stockings than anyone else.  My Grandmother Moore made them for us and they were just sparkly fun!  (Mine was also ever-so-slightly larger than Geoff's, so I totally got more prezzies than he did.  HA HA HA HA!  kidding.)

Oh, look!  See for yourself...circa 1981, maybe?

 Here we are with Grandmother at Christmas, likely 1984:

 And at her 90th birthday party in 2005:

Grandmother passed away in 2006 and there are now 6 great-grandchildren, most of whom were born, if not after that, then after she had stopped sewing.

With a history of such a special handmade stocking, I've had a hard time figuring out how to proceed with finding stockings for my own tykes.  In our family unit growing up, only the kids had them so we've decided to continue that tradition.  I bought the most basic red stocking for B a couple of years ago since I figured I'd make a more permanent decision after the next child.

Well, that time is now and I still haven't been able to make a decision, so I bought some cute $4 stockings at Hobby Lobby recently just to match our current Christmas decor. (To be fair, we don't have a mantel or other great display place, so I was fine with not having a permanent solution yet.)

Why am I telling you all this?

Waiting for me at my front step yesterday was a package from my aunt, Carole Jean, who is my dad's sister and the daughter of Grandmother Moore.  I was absolutely bowled over upon opening it and finding this incredible treasure:

Each of those pieces is separately cut out, stitched on, and--in many cases--stuffed, as well.  The detail work is unbelievable.  It came with a note saying she'd wanted to carry on Grandmother's tradition and had made this for B.

She also included a picture of the pattern for the stocking she's now working on for the little miss-- seriously, how "sweet" is this?!

I can't even get over all the extras and how many hours she has put into these labors of love for my children, her great-nephew and great-niece.    Thank you SO MUCH, Carole Jean!!

As Brooks would say:


PS:  Welcome to the world, Drew, new son of loyal reader Jill (aka JJC)!!

But he has a new name, thanks to the quick wit of Big Daddy from whom the BG clearly got his wordplay skills.

Behold, I introduce you to...

...SIR EDMUND HILLARY (yes, in need of a quick combing across his forehead....sigh!)

Indeed, he does adore climbing to the highest point:

You'd think from these pics that this action was intentional Daddy-riding, but NO.  Poor BG will just be hanging out doing whatever and, often without even realizing it, will suddenly have a Baboo around his neck.  That climbing scamp is FAST!

PS:  Thank goodness the preschool decided to ditch those crazy background options from last year!  Remember the planetary awesomeness?! 

I got to have the most wonderful escape on Saturday afternoon! I left about 2:15 PM and headed the 45 miles southwest to visit Karen and Ian. (We didn't take a single picture but this one from exactly three years ago is seasonally appropriate for sure!!) Karen and I hit up the movie theater for some girl time: we saw The Descendants and both enjoyed it. After the movie, we went home to scoop up Ian and then went to their fave local Indian restaurant where we seriously ordered enough food for 7 people. It was deeeeeelish.

After that, we returned to their house for a bit more chatting as well as some brownie sundaes, which leads me to today's POLL... Having an affinity for "edge pieces," K&I use this brownie pan:

Crazy?  Awesome?   Vote now!!!
PS:  Just to be clear, I do realize how blessed I am by having a husband who happily holds down the fort while I'm off enjoying some much-needed adult socialization with dear friends!   Hooray for the BG and his awesomeness!

...She may have been under the weather all week, but she still managed to dress festively!

Holiday wear (for any holiday throughout the year) is so tricky to me.  How far in advance do you wear it?   I get that there's a season for pumpkins and also for reds/greens, but I still question on a daily micro scale whether it's still really too early or late.   I feel like snowmen/snowflakes are okay for January but generally in blues and whites-- so does the red snowman onesie pictured above get the boot next week?   I'm thinking the red velour leggings on the right can be extended through Valentine's Day since they're LOVE-red right?!

Speaking of--  is one the max for Valentine's Day shirts and St. Patrick's Day shirts or do you get leeway a day on either side?  

Really, my issue is that I always think we should "save" the "special" ensembles for a "real" occasion involving other people....which hardly ever happens around here.  And then it ends up getting worn exactly once because I waited too long and the holiday has passed.   We might just have to go out on the town each day this week so I feel like there's a reason to wear all the remaining red outfits!   :-)

Of course, it's chilly here so she'd just be bundled up, anyway.  Oh well-- at least her coat is festively red, too!

I kept him home from school again yesterday.  Probably unnecessary, but I couldn't in good conscience drop him off when I knew he'd be coughing and proclaiming that he had a runny nose.

Such sad eyes.


But don't worry!  We managed to have fun all the same!


HAPPY FRIDAY!

(What TV show am I honoring with the construct of my blog post title?!  I know Polly P will know!)

Y'all.  Staying at home is a hard job.  I'm not claiming it's harder than anything else; I'm just saying that it's definitely not easy.

I'm writing this on Wednesday evening as a tightness threatens to take over my ears, throat, and head in general.  Why would this be?  Oh, because I've been wiping snot and getting coughed on for 3 days straight.  Right.

Decided I had to ignore the baby's hacking cough to go to the grocery store.  We had not bread, yogurt, bananas, cheese, or a vegetable for dinner.  Somewhere along the line, though, I decided the pork chops that needed a veggie would have to wait because there was a more pressing need to do something with the ginormous slab of ham we got over the weekend (deli ham being the only meat B will eat requires asking regularly for a "1/4-inch thick slice of ham."  The varied results are laughable).  Calzones it would be.   So I got those ingredients, too.

Where am I going with this story?  Who knows.  It's all fuzzy.

I could write a whole other post on my failings in the maternal attentiveness department, but that's for another day.  Suffice it to say, however, that I'm fine with my kids playing in the background while I make calls about getting a discount on our car insurance, or writing an email to customer service about a magazine subscription I need to buy as a Christmas present (both of which happened today).  My not-quite-4-year-old has also decided he should announce to me he has a runny nose so I can wipe it.  So yes, I'm now regularly wiping both ends.  It's awesome.

I had every intention of going to a 7:30 PM exercise class.  But you know what?   By the time the BG gets home (which, thankfully, is generally earlier during indoor track season than football, unless it's a meet day like Tuesday when he got home close to 9 PM), I am trying to put together dinner (that one kid won't touch and the other one is probably already asleep when it's served) and I no longer feel like going to the gym. Especially when my head has started to feel like it's mad at me.

How are we supposed to be healthy?  I mean, I could've forsaken dinner-preparation and gone immediately to the gym, but the meal alternative would most decidedly be unhealthy.  My preference would be to go to a class in the morning but I have an infant who takes a nap during the class times.   I pay $15/month for up to 2 hours/day of child care at the gym, which is fabulous except for the fact that it a) doesn't open until 9 AM which is basically nap time, and b) might very well be where they're picking up the germs that got them sick in the first place.   I suppose I could go in the middle of the day and work out on machines, but then I'm confused:  when do I shower?  Do I even bother?

So basically, I'm destined to stay overweight (or unshowered/gross/homely).  Because even when I get on our little treadmill at 6:30 in the morning, I'm probably still going to eat chocolate cake later in the day.   Should I keep paying for the gym?  Well, yes, because at least I can get there every so often.  Even if it's not 7:30 on a Wednesday night when I've just eaten some dinner that I threw together amidst the crying and whining of some sick kids.  And didn't do the treadmill because I was going to go to an evening class.

I mentioned to the BG that, if I were to get actually sick, he'd have to stay home from work.  After almost 4 years of parenthood, this has never happened and he, frankly, seemed pretty surprised at the thought.  Yeah, must be nice to go off to work and not have to get coughed on all day.  Or worry about trying to save money on car insurance.

 (Did I mention my entire family left for London today and I'm super bummed that I'm at home wiping snot instead of headed for an international getaway?  No?  Okay, we won't mention it.)

By the time this blog post shows up Thursday morning, I'm sure I'll be well-rested and feeling much, much better.  No need for concern!!  (Besides, you know you like the Emily-rants!  :-)  Let's make it a GREAT day!!     Go team!   (or something.....)

The kids are a bit under the weather.  Little sister seems to be a day behind brother in symptoms.  He's gone through hacking cough day, runny nose (plus hacking cough) day, and yesterday seemed to be an improvement.  Unfortunately, her Tuesday was spent being a drippy, red-eyed, coughing mess:


I kept him home from school yesterday but hopefully he'll be rarin' to go on Thursday. (Maybe we'll even get to leave the house today?  We could use some groceries!!)  In any case, I think he's feeling better:

Now let's just hope the adults are spared!   The BG claims never to get sick ("you can't hurt steel")....HA HA HA.   All I know is that I have a fun adventure planned with one of you for Saturday afternoon and becoming a drippy mess does not fit into the plans!   :-)

I guess it's probably a universal truth that having familial visitors generally equates to gaining a few pounds from all the celebratory eating!   True to form, we enjoyed all kinds of calories during our weekend with Big D.  We spontaneously decided to pick up a dozen gourmet cupcakes Friday morning and I will tell you they were mostly all gone by Saturday morning!   :-)  It's just the way we roll! 

So yes, beyond the eating, drinking, and chatting, we didn't do too much.  He swears he's okay with that.   I mean, it's the time with the grandkids that counts, right?!  Everything else is just (delicious) icing...on a dozen cupcakes that we couldn't stop eating!!

 (one sock up, one sock down.  nope, doesn't bother me at all!!  ;-)



Above shot may be a grainy phone pic but at least we have eye contact, unlike our other photographic endeavors:

Thanks for coming to visit and for all the spoiling, (Grand) Big Daddy!

Big D got quite the treat on his weekend visit:  he was able to attend B's preschool holiday "concert."  Could anything BE more exciting?!

Miss C took the opportunity to wear her $2.95 party dress, although she glammed it down a bit with a onesie.  (what?  it was cold!)

While I'm not sure anyone in B's class actually attends our church, we love that two sets of our dear "young adult group" friends have kids at the early learning center, too:

The "half-day 3s" performed the last song.  Why not go in age order and have the 4s go at the end?  Who knows.   But here comes our little caterpillar, decked out in red as requested:

There are 4 sections of 3-year old preschool (M/W/F and T/Th, both AM and PM).  They all "performed" together.  We even took B for an extra "rehearsal" Friday morning so they could get more practice lining up with so many unfamiliar children.   You'll notice that B was placed in the line on the floor:

Wait, where is B?  I can't find him!  (And yes, blurred faces are creepy, but I'm all for discretion!)

Sure enough, our dear sweet son--who belted out 3 verses of the song earlier in the day while standing on the coffee table--chose not to open his mouth at all during the actual "concert."   No, he spent the entire song trying to climb on stage.

And, by the end of some newfangled verses of "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" he had succeeded.


Clearly, he was proud of himself:

Oh no-- that's not just a shipping box.  It's the best seat in the house!


Happy Friday!   Big Daddy arrived from Austin last night so we're looking forward to a fun weekend!

So, yes, this is what we do now that there's so much more floor space in the living room:


Someone's been watching a LOT of track video footage on a certain BG's iPad!

(My one disclaimer:  the black railing in the background is now wound with garland and twinkle lights-- I finally got them yesterday afternoon at Target!)

Remember how I mentioned that the BG was going to rig up some sort of tree-anchoring system with fishing line so we could keep it safe around a grabby wee one?

Yeah, well, we decided to do something much easier:

Shove the coffee table in front of the tree!   DONE!

(And actually, it really opens up the floor space in our living room which is much better for keeping kids entertained while upstairs!)

We love Polly P!  Although she's still living it up in Boston, she's been in town visiting family and spent yesterday afternoon with us.  She arrived at noon and I really figured she'd have only an hour or two to hang out, so I felt kinda bad when B was pestering her about whether she'd still be here when he woke up from his nap. Lucky us, though-- she stayed and played until almost 6 pm, which made our entire day! We tried and tried to convince her to stay for dinner and, though we we were unsuccessful, we did manage to have a fun photoshoot with her glasses and the hat she bought the B-man:


Polly is one of those rare people who exudes positivity and can make me feel like it's absolutely awesome to do whatever it is I want, even if it's eating 15 cookies!   So, by the time she left, I was so full of warm and fuzzies (and cookies) that I decided I had no interest in going to the 6:30 pm aerobics class I'd planned all day on attending.

So, Polly, these 5 new pounds are for YOU!    Please return soon to pick them up.  ;-)

Totally fitting that I was halfway through recounting our exhausting weekend when it all somehow got deleted.  I'm not even sure I have the energy to reconstruct.  So bullet points it is!

• We don't remember what happened to Friday night.  I remember Vietnamese takeout and then I think I got lost in some online Christmas present ordering.  Exciting night.

• Saturday brought us the lovely present of the BG getting up at 5 AM once again and heading out the door at 6 for a track meet.  As many of you know, long days with two needy (in very different ways) children is exhausting and Day 6-in-a-row is never a happy day.  Tired.  Weary.

• BG got home at 3:30, which was also the start of the Baylor/Texas game.  Important note for you non-Baylor peeps:   during the course of the 4 years I was in Waco, we won 7 games.  Total.  This season alone, we've won 9.  It's been awesome.  Go Bears!

• Had to leave at halftime because we were headed to a small gathering of the BG's former (and fun!) colleagues.  Hostess, who used to live 15 minutes from us, now lives 40 minutes from us.  Stopped at Target on the way to use a coupon that awarded a $10 gift card when spending $50.  Expired that day-- had to use!   Plan was to buy a couple large canisters of formula.  Ran in while rest of fam waited in car.  Out of large canisters.  Mental math mayhem as I tried to piece together $50 of other necessary items while watching the clock!

• Followed the live gamecast on the espn mobile site the entire car ride...obviously!

• Party was fun.  Ate much pizza.  Yum.  (We put C down in a pack & play as soon as we got there.  B had a field day playing with a 3-year old counterpart and was still awake when we got home at 11)

• Sunday morning-- had to make 4 dozen cookies for an exchange.  Simultaneously serving as consultant to the tree-trimming going on in the next room.  Lots of action.  

• Got showered and dressed at the very last minute to go to this event where I knew only a handful of people. Fretted about attire appropriateness, etc.  Turned out to be a lovely time and I now have eaten way too many cookies.

• Went to (other) Target after that to kill some time before meeting family for Walk to Bethlehem (see next bullet point).  Needed to get another strand of white lights as determined by tree-trimming earlier.  Target out of white lights.  Boo.  Forgot to use earned-last-night $10 gift card when checking out.  Oops.  But somehow I bet I'll be back soon!

• Met up with the other 3 at our church for the annual Walk to Bethlehem event.  So much more pleasant weather-wise than usual--- although I could totally deal with some fluffy white snow right about now!

And yes, I totally know these events would be just a drop in the bucket for many of you busy bumblebees.  As a mostly lazy person, however, I'm exhausted!  And, not surprisingly, the house is a MESS!!!   

No, not the affectionate kind-- we all know I love me some hugs!   I'm talking about the edible variety.

I've decided over the last year that Hershey's Kisses are the perfect dessert treat for me.  Tasty and controlled, two of them and a small handful of animal crackers can generally satisfy my "I'm having a cup of something hot and need some accompanying sweets" craving without breaking the calorie bank.

Well, I ran out over the weekend and, trying to avoid thinking of myself as an addict, I turned to other things for post-meal comfort.  But you know what?  As much as I love cinnamon-sugar toast and the like, nothing satisfies my need--without going overboard like all the brownies I'd eat if I baked them--than a few Kisses.

We finally got to Target on Monday and B wanted to put the package in the cart.  So I gestured, he selected, and off we went....

.....and then, when the kids were napping and I made my cup of peppermint chai, I reached into the bag and realized we'd been FOILED!!!  

 Yes, I realize it says HUGS in big letters.  But why does it also says KISSES under it?!  And can't they make the bag a different color or something? Come on!!

Well, there was no way I was going to waste calories on that white chocolate slop.  Again, I tried to keep from running to Target that same night (which, believe me, I strongly contemplated) and instead, we hit up Trader Joe's Tuesday morning.

For those of you unfamiliar with the wonder that is TJ's, it is the place to buy chocolate snacks during the holiday season.   I needed to buy a few treats to put aside for my parents (per their request, the poor TJ-less people) so I decided I'd just go ahead and get some tastiness for us to eat:

Candy Cane Joe-Joe's (bought 2 boxes, 1 for the 'rents), Dark Chocolate-Covered Shortbread Stars, Chocolate Truffle-Filled Figs (got these for you to try, Opa), Dark Chocolate Orange (for Grammie), Cocoa Truffles, Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels, Minty Melts, Dark Chocolate-Covered Peppermint Joe-Joe's (for Sheils), and Candy Cane Coal.   No lie, there are probably 6-8 other treats I'd like to try this season!!  What?  Didn't your daddy teach you that nothing is worth doing that isn't worth doing to excess?! 

So I immediately opened the Cocoa Truffles (they're an annual standard) to be my "burst of chocolate" in the absence of my Kisses.  And they are delicious....but they're also a bit more decadent in the calorie category.  Darn!

And....I also might have bought these, you know, "for the boys"!  First ingredient is whole-wheat flour and they're completely free of trans fats and anything yucky/artificial.  (Read: they're HEALTHY!) ;-)  Between these and the truffles, I have eaten WAY more calories than I would have with my animal crackers-and-kisses combo:

 Whew!   Thank goodness we made it back to Target yesterday:

 Of course, the truffles and the, um, sea salt caramels are already open.......!!!

Enough about me and my chocolate issues.

Here's a fun pic to send you off into the weekend!  Hope it's a happy one!

PS:  GOOD LUCK to loyal reader (and my cousin), Mama Bear, as she embarks on marathon #14 (!!!) this weekend in Dallas.  Click here to learn about Team Four Bears!

I have been telling myself up until this point that Christmas-related activities (decorating, music, apparel) would not start before December 1st.  So I guess it's time to deck the halls, huh?!  The BG is planning to go pick up our tree this afternoon from his one-time place of employment and, honestly, I think this is the earliest we've ever had a tree.

I gotta say that I'm a little skeptical of a tree-with-a-wee-child thing since we didn't have one the year B was this age because we spent the holidays in Texas.  The BG has some master plan involving anchoring it to the walls with fishing line, however, so I guess we'll forge ahead.  'Course this is our extremely physical child we're talking about, so who knows what she might manage to do?! Stay tuned.

My next big project will be Christmas cards-- yet another thing with which I've never been so prompt!  (You'd think I'm super productive these days, but nah, it's just luck.  It always depends on how complicated the photograph-procuring process is!)   Unlike the vast majority of the Christmas-card-sending population, I still am carrying the old-school, Moore-style torch of real cards with enclosed photo, letter, personalized message on each card, and handwritten addresses!  (Sheilsie taught me well!!)   So it's no small task, but one--like the daily blog posts--that I must keep up!!   Fun fact:  I still always start with the 10 members of my wedding party when writing cards!

Question:  how many of you keep track of your card recipients and the senders of the ones you receive?   Again, I learned this from the Christmas Card Master, although my Excel spreadsheet (circa 2007, before that I kept individual lists each year) is a bit of a departure from her handwritten records!   But my crazy detail-obsessed mind finds it fun to be able to tell you that, last year, we .....hold on......let me check.....received 68% of the number of cards we sent (okay, who are the slackers?! ;-), and 77% of those received included pictures.  Are we Moore women the only such weirdos?!

All this to say that, as unbelievable as it is that it's December already, I'm pretty excited about all the wonder and merriment that the Christmas season brings!!   I think I'll go turn on some festive tunes and put Miss C in one of her many holiday-themed outfits!

PS:  CONGRATS to loyal reader Susan (and family!) on the arrival of Claire Elizabeth yesterday!

We used to have a neat and tidy basket for collecting our paper recycling, which goes to a receptacle at our church to help fund the playground. 

Not so much anymore.


Let's just also say that we no longer keep toilet paper where it's supposed to go, either.  If you're ever here and use the facilities-- look up!

Back to Thanksgiving Day for a few laughs...

While Fake Uncle Eric was minding the chicken-frying, a very generous FAC treated B to the highlight of his day:  unwrapping (and sniffing!) a giant box of candles!!!


Later, when C awoke from her nap, she was in  need of a wardrobe change.  Unfortunately, my diaper bag contained only a (slightly wee) top and no bottoms.  Oops.

 I want Grammie to know, however, that the little miss CAN hold her own bottle....gorilla-style:

Christy finally couldn't stand it and went to get some, um, leggings!

 And where was B during all this?  Oh, just hiding in the pantry eating marshmallows!

These crazy kids....!!!

Since we weren't entertaining family over Thanksgiving (but do expect lots of visitors over the Christmas holidays), we decided to experience the Gaylord Christmas extravaganza at the start of the festive season rather than at the tail end like last year.  Not only was it a month earlier but it was also unseasonably warm this weekend, meaning we didn't have to fight blustering snow and we were able to spend a lot of time outdoors at the Harbor Lights Festival taking place in the surrounding retail development!

Since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to head down earlier than check-in time and check out the sites outside the hotel.   Someone demanded that we at least walk through the hotel, however:

 These boys had all kinds of adventures outside, including lots of river-rock-throwing and even a late-night fireworks celebration.  There was lots of "piggy-shoulders," too.  (Isn't that the most fun--and apt--name?! One of my fave Brooks-isms.):

 As you can see, we were not the only ones enjoying the day.  We never felt crowded or cramped, however, and B loved having a "beach" to explore:

Oh, yes, the ladies were there, too:

 In our exploration, we visited an extension of a children's museum.  It featured an exhibit about the culture of Nablus.  Would you BELIEVE they actually had a spice-sniffing station?!!!!

 Once it was time to check in, B did some...hanging out:

I had decided to splurge this year on an "atrium-view" room and it was awesome.  The levels you can see across from him in the picture above are actually on the short end; directly to the left of this frame, the hotel opens up all the way to 18 floors.   The balcony provided all kinds of entertainment, as well as a fab escape location for the adults to allow children to drift off to sleep.

Something about this pic just makes me smile.  I think it's because I can pretend we're outside of some European villa and she's ready to go dancing in her ruffles!

Turns out there are sets of rooms that overlook the atrium but don't actually have balconies, just French doors that open.  The lady at the registration desk looked long and hard to find us a balcony room, which--obviously--she did.  The trade-off, however, was that the beds were handicapped-accessible.

The motel in Corning where we stayed last month had beds so high that B had to climb first onto the nightstand and then onto the bed.    That was not a problem here:


Thankfully, they were totally comfy!   And the little miss even had her own "room":

Saturday morning, I slipped out early to go to the nearby coffee shop for hot bevvies and baked goods.  The view wasn't too shabby:

We took a family trip to the swimming pool after breakfast but it was a titch cold for the wee lass.  So she napped while I got dressed and the boys swam...and swam...and swam.    Then we all got ready, loaded up the car, and wandered around a bit more, mostly so I could go have some fun at one of my favorite retail locations, Charming Charlie!  (Seriously-- it's inexpensive AND arranged by color!  Accessories Overload!)

I'm pretty sure someone enjoyed her first family adventure:


We're all looking forward to the 3rd annual one next year!!   I'm thinking we should really splurge and reserve the Presidential Suite that is 2500 square feet!!!   (ha ha ha ha ha ha)