trick-or-treat

A little bit of pre-function action with the McMullens...
two pirates out on the town...

In front of the house with a bag full of loot....

Wow! What a fun evening.

This was Chris and Nate's first year of really doing the the trick-or-treating the old school way~only in our neighborhood with friends. Just how Halloween should be celebrated.

Tale of two frogs

I love this poem.

I rediscovered it as I've been going through my 'teaching' stuff and setting up my new classroom.

This hung near my desk for 7 years. It's etched in my brain, and I remember sticking those frog stickers on it about 13 years ago.

good kid

Nate got the 'superfecta'....the perfect individual compliment with all 4 categories checked.

It was especially meaningful because it was from a substitute teacher...and you know how most kids are for the substitute. :)

???

Guess what Nate wants to be for Halloween?

Sandra

On Friday, I received some terribly sad news. My childhood friend, Sandra Farran, had a heart attack and died early in the morning of October 8th. She was only 43 years young.

Our friendship spanned 31 years...that's pretty much 3/4 of my life that she was a part of. I remember thinking that she was kind of a 'mean' 7th grader when I met her, but for some reason, we became friends. Friends that would last a lifetime. She was that friend to me who I did my growing up with. Sandra and I both had jobs in high school so we always had money to go and do fun things. She worked at the Busy Body (her mom's Ballet shop) and I made cones at the DQ. She had a black and red Celica car that she called 'Wee!" and I had that golden 76' mustang. Sandra's sense of humor was so quirky and silly, but we got each other.
We were at UofO together, and even shared a house in our early 20's when we both got 'real' jobs. Sandra had a crazy fun side that I have always loved, yet at the same time, she was completely responsible and I knew that she could be counted on. A fine balance, indeed.
Our lifestyles as adults were quite opposite, yet our friendship remained strong. Sandra was the epitome of the urban gal; and me, married and a mom. She loved shopping, shoes, travel, treating herself to nice things, and fun times. She worked hard, and was the ultimate young, professional woman. I was her friend who was home raising kids and being a stay-at-home mom. She thought my Dansko clogs were dorky~and she let me know. But these differences worked for us. In our friendship, I was the rock, and she was the kite.
Even though the hanging out and doing fun stuff changed as our lives evolved, we still would regularly talk on the phone and get the latest from each other.
A long drawn out "Widaaad!" I would always say to her, then she would reply with "Aidaaa!" in the accent that her mom and aunt (from Jerusalem) have. We would say this as we would start every single conversation that way. Completely silly, but we never skipped it...not once.
I will miss you, Sandra. Our friendship was amazingly special to me, and I'm so glad that I had 31 years of banter with you. I am rich with fun memories. I know that I will feel your presence around me. I'll see you again someday on the other side.

What a Week!

Wow. What a week it has been. This whole job thing happened so fast. I heard about the position last Wednesday, got a call from HR on Thursday, interviewed on Friday, and was offered the job on Monday. I signed my paperwork on Tuesday, and started on Wednesday. How's that for an action packed week?...and I wasn't even looking for a full time position. But sometimes you just have to listen to the whispers and realize that some things are just meant to be.

My new classroom as I found it. Desks, chairs, shelves, and tons of old stuff crammed into the cupboards. My work was cut out for me. I needed to have this room ready for 20 little first graders come this Monday morning.

This is how I left my classroom on Friday afternoon. Names on tables, calendar up to date, morning message ready for circle time, and pencils sharpened.

Of course, this means huge changes for our family, since I have been at home with the boys since they were born 6 1/2 years ago. Team Moore is ready for the challenge.

Working Mom

No, I didn't win the lottery, although I kind of feel like I did.

(f.y.i: this picture is from several years ago when my family got me good. They put a fake winning lottery ticket in my stocking at Christmas. I TRULY thought that I had scratched off a $10,000.00 winner. So cruel yet so funny!)

Why do I feel like I won the lottery? Because I just landed a job with the Beaverton School District teaching first grade at this school.

I'm a soccer mom

Soccer season is here! Chris and Nate are playing with a bunch of buddies from school.

Tons of fun. The first game was a huge success!
Nate, Erik, and Chris.

3 on 3. Chris gets the ball.

I don't know what Nate is watching, but I do know that I love his grassy knees.

First Graders!

Nate and Chris on their first day of first grade.

(New shoes and lunchboxes courtesy of Aunt Leann. :)

Sunriver

Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan are the proud new owners of a house at Sunriver, and they invited us over to break the place in. We did just that~and had a great time.

On the first night, Uncle Greg treated us all to some amazing star-gazing in the clear, Central Oregon sky. Looking at the night sky with someone who knows all the cool stuff really makes a difference. The Moore boys (all 3 of them) loved it!

See, I'm not kidding. This is Uncle Greg's HUGE telescope. Chris and Nate are lucky to have such a great mentor to nurture their own love of all things in the night sky.
We went on a really long bike ride through Sunriver on Saturday morning.

After lunch we went over to the Sunriver Nature Center to see the release of a red tailed hawk. He had been rehabilitated from an injury and it was his day to return to the wild.

Here he is right before the release. He was ready to fly!!

Fly! Be free! Silly bird. Both Susan and I got a little bit choked up as we watched him spread those big wings. Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Two trips to the swimming pool....always a hit!

Of course, lots of hot tub time too!

Uncle Greg made the boys some tasty pancakes for breakfast and turkey bacon.

Mmm...turkey bacon.

We went to the top of Lava Butte. What an amazing view.

Family portrait. Yes, we purposely messed with the signage.

6 year old potty humor is rampant in our household!

Nate really like Uncle Greg's big binoculars to hunt for chipmunks and ground squirrels.

Did you know that chipmunks have stripes on their faces, and ground squirrels don't?

That's how you can tell the difference.

The most exciting/adventurous part of our trip was when we went down into the lava river cave. These pictures don't even begin to show what it was really like, but I'll just tell you it was freaky! Not for the faint of heart or anyone who is claustrophobic.

This cave is a mile long and PITCH BLACK and cold (42 degrees)

We went about half way and figured that was good enough. Christopher really wanted to go to the end, but we'll save that for another trip that he can do with Uncle Greg.

This was when we were heading out of the cave.

Thanks, Greg and Susan! We look forward to many more fun times at your house.

10 months old

A blast from the past. So stinkin' cute.

Slater-Cotter-Moore annual beach trip

We had our annual beach trip with the family, and it was a great time. We stayed at a house in Pacific City that was right on the beach, and was perfect for our group. The whole crew at a beach bonfire.

All of the cousins. These kids have so.much.fun.together!
Ready, set......
Go! Down the sand dune they ran.

Aunt Susie making her way down the huge dune at Cape Kiwanda.

The boys and I at the top! Mission accomplished.

All of us girls at the top of the dune showing off our STRENGTH Studio tanks from Susan's studio in Seattle.

Playing in the ocean.

Nate, the surfer.

Uncle Mark on his way down the big dune. Ahhh! He's being attacked by his jacket!

Grace set up a snack-shack in the arcade room.

Ella, Nate, Chris and Grace play a football game as the sun was setting.

A trip down to the tide pools in the morning. Lots to look at!

Dan and the boys.

G'ma and G'pa came over to spend the day and brought Granny's ashes so that she could be returned to the earth. It was a lovely and simple moment, and just how Granny would have wanted it.

With a sunset like this later that evening, I think that it was Granny's way of telling us thanks...and that she is finally right where she wanted to be.

Today was our annual pilgrimige..

...to the Enchanted Forest. Tons of fun this year, as Ella and Grace were able to join us too!

The big thrill of the day was the log ride.

Thanks for the fun day, Grandma~can't wait to do it again next August!

Good times at Black Butte Ranch

The boys and I had a mini vacation at Black Butte Ranch where we stayed with the Slater family for a few nights of their family vacation. We had a GREAT time!

Chris, Nate, Catie, Will at the first pool.
Slater family. Catie is an amazing little swimmer. I truly think that she is a mermaid.

The Yunkers were staying at their house at BB, so on Sunday evening they came over for a very tasty Korean dinner. mmm.. sookie ribs!!

It was HOT in Central Oregon. Notice where my boys are sitting in this picture? They thought that Asa was a really cool 'big' boy....and he was.

It was hard to keep kids out of this hot tub. We cooled it down with cold water and they swam every chance they got.

Scootin' to the playground and pool. Please note Catie's poppin' wheelie. New skill, and she was very proud. :) We also went on two really big bike rides. Nate had 2 big crashes, but amazingly enough, no scrapes to show for them.

Uncle Mark in front of the house which was right on the golf course.

On the second night, we stayed up extra late and went down to the golf greens with blankets/pillows/flashlights to watch the stars above. Very fun until the sprinklers started coming on around us.

Chris does a plunge into the water.

This trip did wonders for both boys' swimming skills, especially Nate.

Nate jumps!

Mama and her boys. You should see my sunburned back from being waist high in a pool for hours on end. ouch!

It was so hard to leave this fun. :(

Thank you so much, Mark, Claudine, Catie, and Will.