The Moore You Know

We went on a road trip this summer and went up through Yellowstone over through Mount Rushmore then over to Minnesota where we visited Lance’s sister. It was crazy long but we got to see a lot of fun stuff.

Yellowstone started off supercool looking at Old Faithful and seeing steam come up out of the ground but by the end the kids and I were pretty much done with nature. : ) I’m kind of considering this the trip of “scenic byways.” We took quite a few and really enjoyed the waterfalls and small curvy roads but by the end, again, we were just ready to get to our destinations.

Mt Rushmore was probably one of the boys’ favorite. They loved seeing the faces in the mountains plus there was an episode of Phineas and Ferb about it. That probably helped. While we were there and at Devil’s Tower the boys earned Junior Rangers patches. (They’re in Cub Scouts now!)

When we made it to Minnesota the kids were so happy to be in a house. They had so much fun with their cousins. They learned a dance that they still do in the car. We spent a couple of days out on lakes and they loved going tubing with their jet ski. Rory and I hung out on the beach and played in the water. She is officially a water girl now. She loves to go swimming! We, of course, went to Mall of America and the kids went on a bunch of rides and visited their LegoLand. Lance and I went on a date with Cindy and Brigham and I finally got to see The Avengers. Sooo Good, BTW.

We were supposed to stop at a few places on the way home but I told Lance that we just needed to get there. The only place we ended up stopping was winter quarters but other than that we booked it home.

Be sure to look through the photos at least until you see the pics where Lance has the kids picking the nose of the presidents.

I’m a little behind so in about a month don’t be surprised to learn that they are now blue belts. : )

The boys are working so hard at karate and they are progressing right up the ranks. Here’s a few pics from their belt promotion ceremony:

Back in Maryland we used to try to go to the Renaissance Festival every year. We just think they’re so much fun. So Tams emailed me and said that there’s one here in Utah…We were there! It was fun but hot. In Maryland they have this perfect place for it. It’s nicely shaded along a hill. The place they have it in Utah is pretty much full on sun all day. They had awesome jousting and acrobatic gymnasts on horses. The boys learned slight of hand magic tricks. And no Renfest would be complete without a turkey leg. : )

The kids!

In between all our other craziness the boys had a great soccer season this year. Dax is a hit or miss kind of player. Either he’s on fire and scores like six goals or he’s not into the game at all and follows butterflies around the field. You don’t know until the game begins what Dax you’re going to get. : )

Lance coached the twin’s team this year. After the first couple practices and games Lance thought he just made the biggest mistake of his life.  : ) But after a couple more the kids got it together and started working hard and Lance by the end really enjoyed coaching.

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I’m a little behind in blogging so over the next few days I’m going to try to catch up.

We have a couple kids and a couple lambs around here now. They are sooooo cute! It seems like sheep in general are a little more shy but goats are so stinkin friendly. I just love these babies. Unfortunately both kids are male so they probably won’t be around here in the long term. (They get smelly and can get aggressive.) But I’ll enjoy them while I can. They are little trouble makers and are jumping on everything and each other! Their mom is so patient as they climb all over her.

Just after they were born.

Xander loving the sheep when they would still let us hold them.

Sheep just after they were born.

Okay I should just warn that there are going to be many more posts about karate. We spend at least two days a week at the dojo. So it’s a big deal around the house. The boys participated in a Karate tournament in May. (Busy Month!!!) I’m just gonna say it, they rocked it! : ) Between the two of them they got gold in the events they participated in. We practiced a lot and it paid off. They were so excited. They participated in their Kata, Self Defense and Flag Sparring.Chi took Gold in Kata and Xan took Gold in Self Defense and Flag Sparring. Chiler finally got a hold of nunchucks (His ultimate goal!) and volunteered to nunchuck sparring. On his first time ever doing it he got gold. That is the one that means the most to him. : ) I’m trying to upload Youtube videos here. You should be able to just click on the links below.

End of Chi’s Kata

Xander’s Kata

Chiler’s Self Defense

Chiler Nunchuck Sparring

Xander Flag Sparring

**With Flag Sparring they’re trying to teach them good form and the students have to keep their front arm up so that it’s protecting their face. So you’ll see kids losing points because they’re not keeping their arm up. I think it’s a great strategy. Please help my kids protect their handsome faces!

They also had belt promotion last Saturday and got their purple belt. They are going to start real sparring now. I’m a little nervous but they already spar at home at least now they’ll have pads. : )

Soaking up knowledge from their new belt.

Good job Chiler and Xander!

May was such a busy month I couldn’t be more excited it was over! The Twins had their 2nd Grade program and they learned and sang patriotic songs. It was a wonderful program. I was holding Rory so I didn’t record it or get great pics but this is what I got.

Xander’s on the row middle, far right side.

Chiler is in the middle, middle. : )

The boys all did soccer this Spring as well.

Dax kicking the ball.

Chiler throwing the ball in.

Dax graduated from Preschool! Next year, Kindergarten here he comes. He’s so stinkin excited. He asks me all the time if he’s going to Kindergarten today. August! At Miss Rachel’s preschool they did a Goldilocks and Three Bears Opera. All the kids did such a good job. They were a smart little group. Miss Rachel served her mission in China so she taught the kids some Chinese words and Dax can now count to 30 in Chinese. Good job Daxie Doo!!!

I’m not sure when it happened that I became a “once a month” blogger but that’s what I’ve become. It’s soooo sad!

This year is the first year that I’ve been so stinkin’ excited for school to end I can hardly wait two more days. Usually I’m in panic mode right now trying to think of what I’m going to do with the kids every day. But honestly, I’m just excited to have a few moments of down time. Come July it might be a totally different blog but for right now, one more day!

Actually, for Xander that day was today. I got an email from his teacher yesterday and it simply pushed me over the edge. I was not going to send him back to school. His teacher has just been ragging on him, I feel, like for the last few months. A few weeks ago I ran into her and we were talking about some behavior issues and I said, “but academically he should be ready for 3rd grade, right?” She went on to say that no he’s absolutely not ready. I was totally taken back. Seriously? He doesn’t seem to struggle with homework. He’s doing well on his reading. “What’s going on,” I asked her. She replied and I quote! “He’s bombing his CRT’s.” (They are the Utah Standardized testing.) Okay. I’m hitting panic mode right now. (Which I now believe is the place this woman like to place me!) Though, in the back of my head I’m thinking well he’s an AD/HD kid and she’s basing this theory on a long test with a classroom full of kids. But still, he shouldn’t be “bombing” any test. So fast forward to yesterday when she kicked him out of field day because he accidentally (she admitted that to me) hurt two kids. Then complained that he cried because he couldn’t participate. Seriously? What 7 year old do you know that wouldn’t cry if he/she was kicked out of field day? But she detailed how everyone got hurt and then told me how tough the next couple of days are going to be because of all the activities. I just got so fed up last night I asked Xander if he was ready to call it good on the school year. He was and I was so we stayed home and played today. Oh and by the way I just looked online and the CRT’s that Xander “bombed” he got a 94% and 84%. I don’t know how he’s going to make it to third grade with horrible scores like that!

The ducks being introduced to the pond my parents are building at their house.

Our grass is green. We have baby chicks and ducks. The goat and sheep are prego. It’s Spring!!!!  YAY! Sometimes I feel like I’ve been transferred to Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in the sense of hearing their song, “Spring, Spring, Spring” in my mind all the time. All the animals having babies and everything blooming. We have everything except for all the very rehearsed dancing and singing. We have very unrehearsed, out of tune, singing and dancing. Which works for us. : )

Flying kites. The dang wind is good for something I guess!

The Twin’s friend that had brain surgery got released from the hospital last Wednesday. The hospital and family threw a little “graduation” party for her so of course we had to go celebrate with them. The boys were so excited (and a little nervous I think) to see their friend. But she looked sooo great! She’s been working so hard and has come so far in two months. She demonstrated her walking for us and she was just laughing and giggling and having a great time. It was awesome and I was so glad the boys were there to see their prayers answered. Even now she’s included in every prayer. Now they pray that she will be able to become a ninja again soon.

My friend Nicki and I.