The Girl Camp Girls ~ Jess, Helen, me, Camilla, Debbie & Jen at El Yunque
Real quick, I am back from Puerto Rico and it was amazing! I haven't had time to post pics anywhere but on my Facebook account. Here's a quick link to check out the highlights:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25474&l=f6514&id=749919789
I'm off from babysitting today, so the kids and I made an early run to the zoo before it got hot or there were too many people. The kids did great, although I think I've said "Michael, stay where you can see me!" about a thousand times today already. The polar bears were swimming laps, the monkeys were swinging and whooping and the tortoises were all out walking so there was lots to see. Miranda particularly loved the tortoises today, while Michael just wanted to stomp in every puddle and make footprints.
So the big goings-on here at CasaMoore is the rupturing of Dan's achilles tendon last week at his Monday night basketball league. He had surgery the Friday of that week and he's doing much better now that we've got him on a pain killer that doesn't make him super sick to his stomach.
The kids have been really good about it all. We were worried about their inability to keep from climbing on Daddy like he is a jungle gym. Michael keeps coming in every morning to tell Dan "Don't worry, Daddy. It will get better soon, I promise." Miranda points out Daddy's "boo boo" every time she sees it, and they both keep giving his leg kisses to help it feel better.
Dan is going to be in this cast for four weeks minimum and then a walking cast for minimum four weeks after that. This sure has started out as an interesting adventure!!!
Michael was given a great little digital camera for Christmas and he continues to try to take shots of the things he sees at home. For every good picture we delete about 15 shots of bright white light or blackness but he has actually captured some good ones!
His sister
Daddy
Mommy
We turned the camera on him this afternoon and caught one of his recent "Smile" face!
Why, oh why, did I think it would be a good idea to take studio pictures at the end of a busy two-toddler trip-to-the-zoo-then-short-nap birthday? We went on Miranda's second birthday to take pictures and it was quite a fiasco, this photo shoot. Even though she just turned two, Miranda is well into the terrible tantrums and this day was no exception! We finally brought out some balloons and then toy cars and we were able to start getting some good shots. It all turned out well, I have smiley kids ~ they just took a little coaxing.
Probably the best shot of them together
This is Miranda's special birthday dress, made for her by Grandma Gayle
We changed clothes and brought out the beloved race cars from home, and luckily were able to coax a few more good shots out of them before they totally lost their minds and wouldn't smile anymore!
Miranda was just about done with this photographer lady
We asked them to make silly faces in hopes of catching a laugh
Good single shots
My favorite of Michael
Grumpy Miranda
My favorite of Miranda
The pictures are posted online for 90 days and you can order copies if you would like. Email me directly if you want the website access information!
Another Easter has come and gone, and we wish you the best for spring and this time of new growth and renewal. We went to California for a family gathering and had a lovely time of it. We stayed at the beach, spent lots of kid-time in the water, and had a really great Easter brunch and Sunday at my grandparents.
Here is Michael, proudly displaying his little race cars
It was March, so I didn't even consider bringing bathing suits. Apparently I should have since the temperature was in the 80's every day! We just put the kids on the beach hillbilly style and they couldn't have cared less!
Perhaps my favorite picture from the weekend
Amy and Rulon snuggling
All of us spent Easter day at my grandparent's house along with both my Aunt Valerie and Aunt Denice. The kids had an egg hunt on the front lawn, and they had so much fun!
Michael with Auntie Valerie
Miranda hunting for eggs
Rulon
Michael in what he called "the jungle"!
What did you find there, buddy?
Fun with eggs!
The kids are getting bigger all the time - funny how they do that, eh? I always smile when I think that every mom has wondered at the miracle of every kid growing up but it's still new for each mom each time, and I'm no exception. Growing out of new clothes, longer hair, wider smiles, more teeth ~ it's fun to take it all in.
Miranda finally grew out of these overalls this winter.
Michael used to be so little in the tub and now he's a big boy making silly faces!
Here's a picture from 2005..
Here are both kids in the tub ~ lately it's been an interesting exercise in sharing space and toys when they're in together.
(Love that baby heinie!)
Miranda has some beautiful curls after bath every night, and Daddy is the best at making them fluffy!
We're deep in the throes of potty training ~ right now it's a "you win some, you lose some" situation. We've discovered that the movie Cars is Michael's ultimate motivator, much to Mommy's advantage. :D
The side effect of watching this movie a-l-m-o-s-t e-v-e-r-y s-i-n-g-l-e d-a-y is that we've become a home obsessed with racing! The weather is so great lately that we've spent a lot of time out back, riding everything with wheels.
Here we have team racing, which requires a bit of monitoring (My sister just went spinning off the back while I was going too fast? Great!!!).
Miranda does pretty well on her own, although she doesn't have pedals down too well yet (short legs, you know)
Even Daddy likes to get in on the action
Michael's becoming such a big boy, it's so exciting to watch him grow and explore and have more fun every day.
It rained for a good 24 hours here yesterday and last night, so we've spent a lot of time indoors waiting for everything to dry out. Today the kids decided to spend the morning driving! Miranda has discovered the joy of her big brother's helmet and marched around with it on all morning regardless of what we were doing - potty training, watching cartoons, laundry, breakfast, lunch.
Michael has claimed the pink motorcycle as his own...
Daddy's pushing "Mimi" around on the Dora cycle
We have worked on teaching Michael that when Mommy and Daddy drive, they go around the other cars instead of ramming into them head on, but he thinks this is more fun ~ pushing his sister around backwards!
And since there hasn't been one in a while, here's the obligatory pic of Mom and Dad :O)
The kids and I take walks through the neighborhood occasionally and there is a friendly kitty that lives down the street. There's a little area with benches and a table two blocks down and the cat almost always comes out to see us. Miranda L-O-V-E-S that cat! Michael calls him Hopscotch (there are flagstones around the benches and he thinks it's a hopscotch game) but his real name is George. He puts up with anything Miranda does to him ~ she lays on him and puts dirt on him and gives him the toddler equivalent of a deep tissue massage and he loves it!
Walking down our street to see the kitty
Here comes Hopscotch!
Miranda always shouts some form of "Kitty Cat!" when she sees him
We also got a package from Grandma Gayle today and it had a new sweater for Miss Miranda, so these pics are for my mom to see how it looks (totally cute if you ask me!)
