Day 21--The End!

The Dunes are better than Disney!

We took the kids to the Sand Dunes in St. Anthony, ID the other day. They were so excited! The second the car stopped, they started screaming and running toward the massive mountains of sand. The only expense was the cost of cleaning the sand out of everyone and everything. Pretty goot deal, I think!

Hunter got his cast off!

After 4 weeks, Hunter finally got his cast off. He cried more at the thoughts of getting it off than he did getting it on! He was so scared. The saw they use is amazing. It only cuts through the cast--not to the skin. I felt a little sheepish taking so many photos of the tech in action, until he said that he is in more scrapbooks than I could imagine! I felt free to let the shutter fly after that. When they pulled the pins out, it bled quite a bit. I was surprised. I also mistakenly thought that once the cast was off, he'd be back to normal! I was a little wrong. Hunter still hasn't straightened his arm after 4 days. He is using it a lot more now, though. It was a painful but very effective method of breaking thumbsucking!!! He only sucked his L thumb. He tried a time or two to suck the R one, but I guess it just wasn't the same. We're so glad that it's over!

Connor being empathetic.

21 day--day 4

Today was great--due to taking my B complex vitamins yesterday! I know it sounds hokey, but I promise they help you feel calmer!!! I want to learn more about vitamins during this 21 day challenge, because I know they are key to getting healthier. I watched a show on colon health last night. Boy, was that eye opening (and disgusting)! I don't know if I'm quite ready to take on that one yet. I'll stick with baby steps this time.

I love the inspiration I'm receiving from other challenge participants. It really motivates you when you have to be bloggly accountable!

I had so much fun playing soccer with my boys tonight. Boy, they really gave me a run for the money. It was difficult to keep up with them. It's a good thing they are only 3 and 6 :) (remember, baby steps).

I gave Hunter a bath tonight. It was so much fun with a full-arm cast. Needless to say, he won't be getting as many baths as he used to until the cast is off. He should be able to get the cast off and pins out in two weeks. Last night I doodled on it for him. I have been dying to get my pens on it since he got it. Now that his arm is not so sensitive, I'm taking full advantage! I've really had to hold back and not draw flowers and vines, though. He requested stars, fire, and fall leaves. A cast is a terrific blank canvas!

Look at that cutie! Those eyes melt me! I couldn't resist posting this pic of Connor!

Rhonna's 21 day challenge

I was so amazed that some of the teachers at CE gave so much more than just their classes. They added another dimension to their classes by talking about how we can become so much more than we are. Rhonna and Heidi are both LDS and they cleverly put some LDS principles into their classes. Of course, these principles would benefit anyone in the world, it's just that I recognize them for what they truly are. This was awesome!!!

Rhonna had us create an art journal with a 21 day goal setting spin. I decided that there are some things (way too many for one journal) in my life that I want to change, so I've accepted the challenge.

My goal is to learn how to be healthier by monitoring my eating and exercising habits. Seems simple, but so many times I have started and failed this challenge.

Thanks to Rhonna, I am super motivated to get going on this. Today is day one, and here I go . . .

Amazing CREATIVE ESCAPE!!!

The moment I had been waiting for finally arrived!!! I have been waiting since January for Creative Escape, and after my disasterous week, I was definitely ready to escape! I felt VERY guilt leaving my family and poor James with everything--a kid with a broken arm, work to make up, etc. Thankfully my good friend, Susan came to the rescue. She took the boys each day and made poor Hunter as comfortable as possible! She didn't even complain when Hunter threw up in her house (twice)!

I took a shuttle back to Salt Lake (dejavew I was on that 4 hr trip the day before) and took a plane to Phoenix Arizona. I have never indulged myself like this before. I have never taken any classes or gone to any conventions before, and I feel it was long deserved. After all, James got a new TV!

I stayed with Betsy Moore the first night and Karrie and her mom picked me up the next day. Karrie is Mr. Bazzill's (Doug Jones) sister, and Millie is his mom. It was so much fun being with Bazzill family. I was treated like a VIP since I was with them. The classes were amazing and I met some of my scrappin' heros! We were pampered and primped. We met some really awesome people from Texas. It's funny how you meet some people and then keep bumping into them the entire time.

On the last night, I couldn't stop myself from being emotional. I didn't want it to end! It really was a once in a lifetime experience (unless I get to do it again next year!). I can't imagine a funner "girly" vacation.

After the convention, I stayed again with Betsy. She is one wild and crazy girl and I love her. She adds spice to my life! After church on Sunday, we went to the Mesa Temple and watched the Joseph Smith movie. It was awesome, of course, then we attended a fireside by the producer and some of the cast. It too was awesome!

What an amazing trip! It was a dream come true!

Although I had the time of my life, I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be home! I feel like I've been gone for weeks. I am totally pumped to start scrapping and creating again. It's good to be with my family again and I am fully taking the advice of one of the CE teachers and I'm being the best mommy and wife I can be so that my family will want to send me back to CE again next year because it did me so much good!

Labor-Day (disaster) Weekend

Alex got to stay with us this weekend, so we decided to spend the weekend at my parent's house in Kamas. We had so many fun things planned, and we were excited to get going. We've been having problems with the van over heating ever since I took it in to get a lube job (suspicious, huh?). I should have taken it in before we left, but we went ahead and packed some extra antifreeze and water and headed down. We picked up Alex and when we stopped, the antifreeze boiled out of the van. We trudged on and hit the mouth of the canyon. The temp gage rose alarmingly high, so we pulled over. We let the car cool, added h20 and headed slowly up the canyon. Had we any sense at all, we would have taken this as a bad omen and headed home right then and there, but there is nothing that can keep the Moore family away from thoughts of having a good time!!!

We had some fun on Sat. at the Alpine Slide in Park City, Ut.

We had some fun Sunday playing on the trampoline. Well, a little too much fun. My parent's have a 30 foot rope attached to trees above the tramp. The kids were getting wild swinging on it and with 5 kids on the thing, no good things can happen! We decided to separate the big kids and little kids. James was walking over to get the little ones off and *BLAM* Hannah swung into Hunter, kicking him (in the head) off the trampoline! He did a complete back flip and landed flat on his back. I said stupidly, "that was AWESOME!!!" Not realizing, of course that I'd quickly be taking a trip to the ER in Heber. James gingerly picked up Hunter and brought him to where I could see a huge, odd protrusion above his left elbow. Calmly we got in the car and my dad drove us to the hospital. I thought for sure it was just dislocated. I thought of my friend Christie Caldwell and how she helped a couple of VA friend's kids with nurse maids elbow by jerking the elbow and popping it into place. I am SO GLAD I did not try this. After xrays, we were referred to an orthopedic surgeon! Hunter dislocated his growth plate and broke his elbow! He had emergency surgery where they put two pins in his arm. Little Hunter is now sporting a huge cast from fingers to shoulder that weighs about 25%of his body weight! Poor little guy!

I spent the night in the hospital with Hunter, and James and my dad went home. My dad decided to take Alex rock climbing at the rec center Mon. morning. They had just gotten home when I did and it didn't look good. Alex had fallen from a couple of feet up and hurt his wrist. It immediately began to swell and I could tell that Alex was in a lot of pain! Alex is usually pretty tough and hides his pain, but this was looking more and more serious. After consulting with my aunt Julie, who is an EMT and firefighter, we decided to send him to the ER. James took him and luckily after xrays, it appeared to only be a sprain. Alex got a hard brace wrapped with an ace bandage and lots of pain killers.

By Mon night, we were ready to lick our wounds and head home. It wasn't to be so. My uncle had graciously offered to look at the van for us. He had it over the weekend and by Mon night we were hoping to have it back. He tightened the fan that somehow had come loose, thus making our engine overheat (more suspicious) and moved on to a couple of other things that were wrong. He accidentally broke the coupler on the gas tank. He tried in vain all night long to glue it. Tue morning, he decided to scrap the glue idea, and headed to Salt Lake to buy another gas tank coupler.

Have I ever said that no good deed goes unpunished? I'm usually on the other end of this--the good deeder getting punished! At this point, our healthiest option was to just LAUGH (I would cry later on)!

Finally, Tue night we were off. We were late getting Alex back to school, and the girls and Hunter missed school, and James missed work. I, on the other hand, knew that I was leaving the next day for Creative Escape, and was getting anxious!

Now, wouldn't you think that would be enough excitement for anyone? Not the Moore family. From my Creative Escape class, I received a phone call from James. I missed the call, but knew that something was up because James being the amazing man he is would in no way interrupt a class unless it was an emergency! I called him back to find out that Emily had stepped on a tooth pick and it was lodged in her foot between her 3rd and 4th toes, and he couldn't get it out because she wouldn't hold still! OUCH!

Why oh why didn't we listen to my old neighbor Lucy. She constantly warned us about such things! If she could see us now!!!

I told James to have her lay on her tummy and sit on her so she couldn't move her foot. Then try to get it out with a needle and tweezers. It didn't work. So it was off to the ER AGAIN!!! The ER doc couldn't get it, so they called in another orthopedic surgeon. Funnily, it was to be the surgeon that we would use for Hunter's check-ups later on. Tooth pick out, Emily's foot healed very quickly.

I am so thankful for insurance. We acquired insurance on Sep. 1. That is Saturday--the day before it all began. I have to wonder at God's humor at times like these. You see, I had been praying for years that we would all be safe until we got insurance. I really didn't think that I needed to be more specific and ask for us to then be safe once we received insurance! I guess that when you think of how well we have done for the past 6 years, this week shouldn't seem so shocking. If you average it out including Emily's stitches in her chin when she was about 4, that's less than one emergency per year! I wish I could be a fly on the wall when Blue Cross receives our claims! I hope they don't drop us!

We are all doing well this week. For some reason I panic a little easier watching my kids, and I tend to be a little more cautious. In fact, just today, I stopped Connor from sliding down the stairs to the basement on his sled. I told him that he'd break his head open. Maybe it's all for the good. I have learned a lot of lessons this week.

Hunter's "Celery-Bration"

How do you blog a lifetime of events that happened in one week??? That is my challenge for today!





I'll start with the "Celery-Bration"





Hunter finally turned 6! He and Connor have been watching the Wonder Pets on TV and when the little pets finish their challenge, they always have a celery-bration. They eat celery to celebrate! Well, we could do no less than that for the big birthday! We always start with breakfast in bed with the favorite cereal. Hunter couldn't decide which he wanted, so, spoiled as he is, he got two choices: Froot Loop Smoothies and Chocolate Honey Comb. Both yucky choices IMO! Hunter got sugared-out and the Froot Loop Smoothies went untouched.
Hunter opened way too many presents (Thanks Grandma B) and went to school. For lunch I thought it would be fun to make Peanut Butter and Banana Boats. Okay, it was a little over the top, and after eating mine, I never wanted to see peanut butter again! But dinner time was when the party really got started! We had pizza with--what else--CELERY! Hunter decorated it himself!

For dessert we had sprinkled cake and Neapolitan ice cream. I was so happy that Hunter didn't want an elaborate cake this year because I was wiped out after the pencil cake! He had been wanting a cake shaped like a tank. I did it once for Alex's b-day, and I knew how much work it would be.



All in all, it was a great CELERY BRATION! Happy Birthday to my little sweet Hunter with two tiny loose bottom front teeth and new 6-year molars!!!!

Emily and her Daddy

I just had to post this picture of Emily and James. It is such a good picture and shows what a great bond they have! This was taken at our end of summer block party. The food was amazing and there was so much of it that after everyone had eaten, it looked like it hadn't even started yet! It was fun, but not a lot of people made an effort to talk to us even though we tried to strike up conversations. Oh well, I know these things take time.

Back--To--School!

Hip, Hip, Hooray, They're back in school today! The kids were going stir crazy waiting for school to start. Finally last Thursday, it began. I was so excited for them, then I realized how early I had to get them off. Idaho schools are backwards as far as starting times go. Elementary school starts first at 7:55, then middle, jr. high, then lastly-high school. I also have a kindergartener who only goes half day. Needless to say, my day consists of getting kids to and from school all day long! I have very little time to run errands in between getting kids. I'm starting to get used to this, but I have been caught twice not picking up my kindergartner on time! In two years, I will have kids in 4 different schools! How on earth am I going to cope with that?

So, my schedule is this: Get up at 6AM. Scriptures and chores until hussling Hannah out the door at 7:35 to walk to the Jr. High to catch the bus to the middle school. Then Hunter and Emily scoot out the door at 7:45 to walk across to the Elementary school. Alex will head out shortly after that. Then I really have to pay attention to the clock because kindergarten ends at 10:50 (which I officially learned yesterday). I thought it ended at noon the first day! Then at 2:15 Emily wanders in. Then at 3:30 Hannah comes home. That alone is a lot for one mom to accomplish in a day. Then, of course, everyone is hungry when they get home, so we have snacks about 10 times in a day! I can see that I'm going to have to be very organized in my errands since it takes about 20 minutes to drive to Walmart. So much for Mom having her day to relax and spend with Connor! Oh, well, Connor will gradute soon (about 15 years) then I'll have time to play. Until then . . . bring on--school!

Connor is so excited to have Mommy all to himself!

Getting Ready to Go Back!

Emily and Hannah were quite nervous to start a new school year without knowing anyone, so we decided to have a Back-to-School party (I'll use any excuse to throw a party). I made the invitations, and on Sunday, we handed them out. We sent around about 13 invitations. Five people RSVP'd. Granted some of the invites were for sisters, we had no idea the response we'd receive! 18 girls attended the party! They just kept coming! Since we had only made 10 favors, we had to hurry and whip up several more! Everyone had a lot of fun at the party and the girls were able to make many new friends. This really helped make their transition much easier. The huge pencil cake was a big hit too!!!

America the Cat

We have the cutest cat in the world named America. I didn't choose the name, nor-as a matter of fact-the cat! This is the story of how America became a part of our family.

You see, when my dear Aunt Linda told me to stop by her house before heading back to Idaho because she wanted to "give me something," I was thrilled. I thought that she was so kind to offer me a house warming gift of some kind. Little did I know the house warming gift would be warm--and in my house--along with being furry and scratchy and somewhat stinky! When I arrived at her house, Linda wasted no time. You see, she had seen my children with the cat and they took to it like a fish in water. She knew my major flaw! She immediately thrust it toward me and said, "do you want a cat?'

Since we had just gotten rid of our previous cat by leaving her at the house we just moved from, I yelled "NO!" Then more calmly said, "NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Then it was the eyes and the cute furry little creature staring up at me and if that wasn't enough, it was my 11-year old begging "please please please please" with that look! I told her I would think about it and let her know before we left. Oh, she also played the guilt card, telling me that it would have to go to the pound where it would most likely be destroyed--and oh by the way, you can have a whole bag of cat food, kitty litter and the box and food tray.

I had been pretty determined to stay pet free for at least a little while. No hair, no odor, no ruining carpet and furniture.

I knew the kids wanted a dog. James and I are not really "dog" people (no offense), but we're also not really "cat" people either. I decided to make the kids decide. I thought that by telling them they couldn't have a dog if we took the cat, they would see the light. I was wrong. They said that they didn't care about a dog anymore and all they wanted was America!!! And then it was they eyes again and the pleeeeeez-ing me to death. So, I said yes. What a fool.

I love having a kitten. We have never gone through so many Band-Aids. My couches seem to be popping loopy threads. Have you ever seen cat tug-of-war? Or how 'bout played Where's the Kitty? Oh, she's been locked in the closet all night long--hmmm, wonder what she left behind. Oh, we have had the cutest little hairballs all over our new carpet. Joy.

But she does have the most amazing amber eyes and the way she bats at my feet when I walk by is kind of cute. Oh, the way she purrs when you hold her like a baby and scratch under her chin. I guess we'll keep her for now anyway, but if we move again, she stays with the house!

Thanks Linda!

We're in the Boondocks!!!

On August 11, James and I took Alex to a fun place called the Boondocks. We had so much fun! Alex (who is now taller than James) and James hit the Arches climbing wall. I watched. I saw so many little kids just zoom up the wall. It didn't look that hard. Then a girl got on and half-way up had a panic attack and had to be pried off the wall. I thought that it may not be as easy as it looks! Later on, after winning at air hockey and creaming the boys at mini golf, I was feeling like a champ. I let James and Alex convince me to climb the wall!!! Well, I was ill-prepared in my Mary Jane's, but my jeans were stretchy, so I set out. About half way up I looked up to notice that I had climbed so far to the left that I was running out of holds. I started moving back to the right and my limbs began to shake. My poor old body hadn't had much physical workout since battling toilet scum with Jean back in VA! I was almost there. . . I could see the last hold that would let me ring that bell! I reached for it, but my burning muscles failed me, and I sailed to the ground (my favorite part). My legs, being like Jell-o, would not support me. I landed in a sitting position on the ground. Shakily I stood up and somehow got out of the belt and stumbled to the vending machine for some Gatorade. Normally, I can't stand the stuff, but my lungs were burning as though I had run a marathon! I felt like I would either pass out or throw up. I guzzled the Gatorade and had to sit for quite a while before I felt I could stand again! Luckily James and Alex were in line to go again (for the fourth time) so I had plenty of time to rest. WOW! I wonder how much easier it would be to do it if I were in shape!?! Someday I hope to find out!

Grandma Brenda with Hunter and Connor
Sunny and Hannah trail riding with Julie above Kamas

Fiesta Days July 24, Kamas, Utah

My little Cowboys and Cowgirls



A visit with Great-Grandma Shirley

We had so much fun visiting my parents for Kamas Valley Fiesta days. I am so happy that now that we are so close, we can drive to Utah in 4 hours! We are now able to attend fun events like the July 24th celebration. We saw a real rodeo, watched a lot of fireworks, the kids were in a parade, we rode horses, watched a derby, and just had a lot of fun visiting with family!