Happy Birthday, Michael!

Michael turned 2 at the end of August and we had a fun little party for him with our family. His Grandpa Mike was here, as well as his Grandma and Grandpa Moore, Uncle Jeff and Auntie Mona with cousins Ethan and Eli, and his Great-Grandpa Moore came up from Green Valley for the day! We had a very Elmo day. :O)


Elmo cake!

Michael got a basketball hoop from Grandma and Grandpa Moore!





That's Grandpa Mike in the background and Michael's dad in the foreground.


Ethan and Michael playing in the new tent city!


Miranda thought the balloons were great


Three Moores - Dan, Grandpa Moore and Jeff

A Day In the Life...

Haven't posted in a while, life has been carrying on and keeping me busy! Max is doing better - had his 4th surgery last 10 days ago and looks like this might be the final one! We'll have physical therapy later but for now we're just focusing on getting those broken bones better. Between check-ups every week and all the pills he's taking, a good amount of my free time is gone. Dog + CarBumper = No Good.

What else is sucking up my time? Michael turned 2 and Miranda has hit 5 months and they're doing their part to keep me busy as well. I've picked up knitting again (how could I have not knitted for so long? I'm really enjoying it!) and found a great charity knitting event - Red Scarf Project 2007 - check out my link to the right. ---->

Regardless of being so busy, we're still snapping lots of pictures of the kids. Here's a smattering...


Miranda and Mommy, not so successfully using the self-timer on the camera



Michael stuffing himself into his Lego bin... "You mean I'm not a Lego, mommy?"



Miranda and Daddy, chillin'.







Miranda wiggling around on Michael's quilt

We had professional pictures taken of the kids about a month ago, and the photo session didn't go very well. Think two crying kids, two stressed out parents and one underqualified photographer who did the best she could...we actually got some cute pictures, but before we knew they would turn out decently, we tried to take some pictures at home while the kids were still in their matching outfits. You can see it didn't necessarily go better at home!

Jardin-ing on Calle de Jardin

We've had tons of rain lately - great for Tucson and also great for the weeds! We just had brush and bulk pick up by the city this week, so we worked really hard to get the yard work done. Of course Michael wanted to help - digging up weeds, raking, using the hoe - he wanted a hand in all of it!


Cutie pie, ready to report for yard duty!


Some diversion before the work begins?


Can I help with the hoe, Daddy?






Along with the rain came spider mites - yuck! My lovely zinnias were covered in mites and their webs before I knew what was going on and now over half of them have died. :O( I sprayed two days ago and I think I've gotten rid of the bugs, and maybe saved the zinnias that are left.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub

One of Michael's favorite things to do is take a bath - it's the beginning of bedtime every night. Right now he really loves popping bubbles and pouring water on his tummy, and every once in a while he's brave enough to try to put his face into the water! He's learning that the water is supposed to stay *in* the tub (as opposed to being splashed out!) and that bubble bath doesn't taste very good. He still doesn't like getting his ears wet but we're working on it. :O)


Drying off in Miranda's bath tub - silly Michael!


The last night our friends Art and Steff were in town, they came over for the Fourth of July. We just threw the boys in the tub together at bedtime and they had a ball.




Davis taught Michael how to splash with his hands, which Michael thought was very funny!

BONUS PICTURE!

Steffanie knit Miranda a funny halter top that she gave us on the 4th - here it is!

Michael is Hatty Too!

Michael loves his hats, which is great for hot Tucson. He also loves to try on Dad's hats as you've seen in previous posts, and recently has moved on to playing with Mom's hats too.


New hat from Old Navy


Mom's gardening hat


This is the current "grin" we get when we say "Smile!"

Ice cream may not be eaten on Sundays.

In Oregon it is against the law to eat ice cream on Sundays! Our very good friends Art and Steffanie moved there this month and I think they should rethink their decision. What civilized place would have any kind of rule restricting freedom of ice cream? We had a BBQ for them before they left, and we even had an ice cream cake. Thank goodness we didn't have ice cream on a Sunday!


Steff, Davis and Art


Davis, look up!




Suzy, Katie and Bob


Mary and Shannon


Diana and Jake


The hosts, me and Dan.

What A Hatty Baby!

Lots of our friends and family have given Miranda very cute sunhats. It's just too ridiculously hot outside in Tucson right now to have her out in the sun, but I'm still trying to make sure she wears each one before she grows out of them. Here is Miranda's ice cream outfit, complete with a darling sun hat.

I have tried to take as many pictures of Miranda Mae as we did of Michael, and here are this week's photos to share! You'd be surprised how many people feel it essential to remind us to be wary of taking less snapshots of her than Michael when he was little - probably because they were second or third babies themselves!





What a cutie pie!


What a hatty - happy - baby!

Random Acts of Kindness

When was the last time you performed a random act of kindness?

Today I stopped on the way home and gave a ride to an elderly man pushing his groceries home in the pouring rain. His name was Charles and he had been having trouble dodging splashes from the cars as well as pushing the cart through the huge lakes in the road. He was so grateful and such a sweet guy. To my surprise I found that doing something nice for someone else has put me in a really fantastic mood this afternoon!

http://www.actsofkindness.org/

What do you do?

Girl Camp Ruidoso

Hola guapos y guapas!

Girl Camp 2006 was in Ruidoso, New Mexico this year over the first weekend in June. Girl Camp is continuing to evolve with more kids added this year - yippee! and no Jess - sniff, sniff! Everyone I tell about this annual trip says the same thing...that we are lucky to have long-time friends that are important enough to see every year. I didn't think much of it until about the 40th person told me that, these women were just a part of my life and they had never stopped being present. You know what though, I really am lucky. I count on each one for different things in my life, and I think I offer different things to each of them. They are all important to me and all loved and I'm thankful for every one of them. Our friendships ebb and flow as our lives wind in and out but we stay in touch and stay present. Here are some of the pictures I took while we were in NM together last month.

Helen and Sarah, and me with Miranda.



You can't really tell from this picture but Andrew Pretzel Boy was bent almost completely in half over his side, and couldn't have been more comfortable!



It seems that Auntie 'Milla has a soft spot for the babes, since almost all her pictures from this weekend were with one kid or another or three!

Miranda on the left, Sarah on the right.


The faces that Sarah can make!


Again with the grinning! What a ham, just like her mom. :O)


What a lovely smile that girl, Camilla, has too.


Michael was a great supervisor of the babies all weekend, and had a ball with his Auntie 'Milla. "I'm gonna get you!!" followed by vigorous tickling and giggling was heard throughout the house all weekend.


Can you see the baby? She's camoufloged!


On Saturday, we all had massages over the course of the day and traded babysitting for each other. Somehow Debbie wound up in charge of all four at once for a while and she totally had a handle on them all! She even had the situation in enough control to read to Michael. You go, girl!


Camilla, back from one of her power walks, having a snuggle with Miranda.


Jen with a sleeping sweetheart, Andrew. Does this mama look in love or what?