December Fun!

My goodness, December has been non-stop! Not just non-stop fun....but non-stop errands, parties, eating, shopping...you get the idea. But, even though I may complain a bit (yes, just a little), I do love it all!

So, here's a little glimpse of what our December has held! It all kicked off with my hairdresser, who now lives in Canada, coming to our house for a night of primping! Amanda got married this Fall and has since moved to Canada; but she was home for Thanksgiving and was able to take care of her two FAVORITE clients!

1st place for beautiful bride goes to...Amanda!

So, maybe I clean dishes in this sink, but it also works well for shampoo and conditioner!

Beauty comes at a price!
(P.S. Her 2nd favorite client -HA- is my forever friend, Nicole! Don't you know that John and Sam loved this evening of girls and hair cuts and colors and eyebrow waxing...?!?)

Next, John's mom came for a quick visit and we journeyed into downtown for a new adventure. We went to the Shakespeare Tavern for their opening night of "A Christmas Carol". We could all use a bit of the "classics" every now and then, right? Well, this was awesome!

We had a great dinner of traditional English pub fare and then watched a wonderful production! Sam and Grandma were even asked to say a brief line in the play! "Merry Christmas, sir!" They did great!




This was the beautiful sight when we left the theater!
And this was the sight as we pulled into the neighborhood. Precious!

Our latest fun was an impromptu visit to the local skating rink! Let's see, we've lived here 9 years and haven't visited this place. So, to kick off the kids Christmas break, we gave it a try !



Oh my gosh, it was soooo fun! And the kids did sooo good! We will definitely have to repeat this adventure!

So, at this point, I'll probably leave you until after Christmas or maybe even New Year's. We have lots of family fun planned and I want to soak up every minute of it! I wish blessings to everyone and a 2012 full of happiness!

Good Tidings~
Laurie

Miracles

Isn't this the perfect time to talk about miracles?!?! We will celebrate the ultimate miracle in a little over a week -- the birth of Jesus!

Well, last week, was Sam's chorus concert and they sang one of my favorite songs of all time: Sarah McLachlan's "Ordinary Miracle". This song points out the everyday marvels that we take for granted...ordinary miracles. ie: the sky knowing how to snow, no need to teach a seed to grow, the sun coming out and shining bright and disappearing every night. Oh, those ordinary miracles are amazing!

What other miracles have we seen in our own lives? Me? I have two precious miracles that call me "Mom". I soak up the miracle of the seasonal changes...spring to summer to fall to winter and then it starts all over! And who knows the miracles of everyone we pass on the street -- surviving cancer, being adopted into a loving family, delivering a very premature or very sick baby who lives a happy, normal life.

Miracles are all around! Listen to these precious voices explain the ordinary ones!




Teary~
Laurie

Full of thanks!

See what happens when you finish your Christmas cards and complete 75% of your shopping list?!?!? You get to blog! Yay!

So, we took our thankfulness into Alabama for Thanksgiving and joined the rest of the family at my sister's home. In addition to the turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, seven different desserts -- and the list goes on and on -- we:

Played some basketball:

Shot some guns:

Made some wishes:

Did I mention that we ate?:

(Complete with a "Red Solo Cup" with names written in Sharpie!)

We also did a little shopping, played lots of games and had lots of laughs! I am thankful for these special people in my life!

Full heart and belly~
Laurie

Playing catch up....

O.k., let me fill you in on our recent happenings!!! First of all, let me share with you what I've learned. (And I think I've said it before.) I went into this school year with the thought that having both kids on the same schedule and having an empty house from 7:00 - 2:30 that I'd be so organized and just begging for things to occupy my time. Well, I was WRONG! What I have realized is that I'm a sucker for volunteering! Between the copying center, the media center, the PTA public relations, and kindergarten and 4th grade classrooms....my second home is at the elementary school.

And I really wouldn't trade it for anything! My kids love for me to be at their school! Yep, they even hug me when they see me in the hallway! And it's so fun to see all of their friends and have them wave at me when they pass in the hallway. So, in case you had some vision of me sitting around the house looking like this:

I'm not!

I came across this next little sweet treat while I was "surfing the internet" and just had to make them! Three little ingredients made some yummy fun treats! Take these three things:



"Glue" them together with the chocolate icing and voila! Edible acorns!

With some help from Nana and the kids, we made over 250 of these and shared them with their classes for Thanksgiving!

Back at the school, the students did so well in their Boosterthon fundraiser they won the opportunity to tape their principals to the wall! Seriously....take a look!

*Sam's opportunity to tape!

When it's all said and done....duct tape is really strong! Mr. Freiberger is about 6'6" (quite intimidating for an elementary school student), but the duct tape did it's job well!


Oh, and one more thing that's keeping me busy.... Zac! Still cute, but a handful!

That's my first part of the catch-up, because guess what...I'm off to the school!

Mrs. Moore~
Laurie

Wow...

has it really been a month since I've last blogged?!?!? Well, guess what...........



I'm not blogging now either! Just letting you know that the Moore family is alive and kickin'! I promise, I'll post within the next couple of days, but for now I'm:

decorating, shopping, writing, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, car pooling, mom-ing, dad-ing (when John is out of town), loving, hugging, kissing (well, only with the kids...when John's out of town), caroling, hustling, bustling, vacuuming, washing, drying, exercising (totally not as much as I need to), decking, dusting....

and then I sleep, I wake up and it all happens again.

So, keep your faith! I will return!

Phew~
Laurie

Bragging Rights

No one likes braggers, am I right? I don't. But.... (You knew that was coming!), a mama has to brag once in a while. That's what we do! Annnd, it's my blog, and I'm gonna do it - na, na, na, na, na!
So, please bear with me! Here goes:

Do you remember a couple of weeks back when I posted a picture of Lily holding a certificate similar to this? Well, guess what! Sam came home with one of his own! He was chosen as a "trustworthy" student! And with that... another kids meal from Shane's rib shack! Man, I may not have cook if my kids keep this up! Way to go, Sam!



Then came Halloween! Can you guess which one is Sam? Lily was a ninja and Sam was a 'faceless ghoul'?!? We hosted the Pre-Trick or Treat dinner, then all 48 guests headed out for the goodies! Well, I had wanted to add something different to the night and asked the kids if they'd like to, as well. They agreed and so we asked the neighborhood to write thank you letters to soldiers and Sam and Lily would pick them up as they made their rounds. Believe it or not, they remembered to ask for the letters and came home with over 30 letters to the troops! So proud that my sweeties wanted to do this!



And last, but not least, Sam and Lily made their way into the local paper for a food drive their school had organized! They were so excited to see themselves in print!


And the bragging mom that I am, is so glad that they want to help and please others! I don't make them do any of this! They hear about it and want to be a part...of which, I love!

So come on, let me brag~
Laurie

An Easy Treat!

Ahhh, this cooler weather and the beautiful colors of the leaves changing outside the windows have put me (and the kids) in the mood for some tasty pumpkin treats! Well, just getting back in town from a week at the beach and jumping right back into school volunteering, Cub Scout camping trips and Halloween planning...ummm, hasn't really given me a whole lot of time to bake.

But, thank Heaven for the internet, because this little (and I mean little) recipe has been floating around; so I wanted to try it! OK, get ready, want the ingredient list?!?!? Betty Crocker Spice Cake Mix and a can of pumpkin! Yep, that's it!

I decided to bake them into mini muffins and I made a cinnamon and powdered sugar icing, but seriously, these little babies were so easy and are so yummy!



Go ahead try it! I think they might be even more delicious with some type of cream cheese icing! Hmmmmm....I may need to try that next!

Lip smackin' good~
Laurie

Bad Mommy!

Uh-huh, I did....

I can't believe that I failed to post pictures from Lily Clare's birthday! Our pretty girl turned six and had a "jumpy", princess party to celebrate!


Lots of pink!

Lots of giggles!


Lots of beautiful princesses!


And as always, big brother Sam was there to be her right-hand man! (I think he was hoping that she would accidentally get some Hot Wheels or Legos!)



Happy Birthday, sweet thing~
Laurie

If you look up the word "responsible" in the dictionary....

this is what you'd find:


Our very own Lily Clare was chosen as a Responsible kindergartener for the month!


Way to go, sweet girl! You're off to a great start!


Psst-I'm craving bar-be-que~
Laurie

Go Jump in the Lake!

And our other new addition ... "The Nest"!


If you're an original blog follower (anyone? crickets.....), you may remember that about three years ago we had a cabin in Blue Ridge, GA. Well, we enjoyed it for three years, then started getting too busy to visit, so we decided to sell it. And luckily, it sold before the market went "Ker-plunk"! Well, as we've visited Lake Burton over the last couple of years, we've fallen in love with the area and with the market still "ker-plunking", we just so happened to find an incredible deal and jumped on it!

Here are some pics:


(No, that is not our excavator. Unfortunately, it broke down while they were working at our place and it's still sitting there.)

The beautiful lake view!

Remember in April, when Tuscaloosa was hit by that horrible tornado? Well, that same storm spawned a tornado that hit the Lake Burton area and did some damage to our "Nest". The damage was by no means as severe as Tuscaloosa, but locals say that they were very fortunate that the storm came through on a Thursday, because most of the homes that were demolished were weekend homes and luckily, no one was there. Unfortunately, one person lost his life.

Here are a couple of pictures from our lot. (These were taken the day we looked at the property. What can I say...we have the talent to see potential!)



The before:


After a little "TLC": (Next step--stainless steel appliances.)


A good view of the floors and cabinets after we spruced them up!


The master bedroom:

The kids room:


The "crows nest". This is 3 stories up and has an unbelievable view!


The guest room. (Would you like to spend a weekend with us?!?)

The 2nd bath:


We are so blessed to be able to have something like this to enjoy! With God's blessings, John's hard work and our penny pinching ways, good things have come! We still have more work to do -- some paint, some yard work, more decorating-- but I can foresee many happy family memories being made! It's already begun!

On lake time~
Laurie