One More Valentines Blog

I can't leave Valentine's Day without showing off Harrison's handiwork. His class was given the project of creating a mailbox for their valentines. As you can see, he put a lot of work into it (and mom had to be the overseer).









Here's the finished product. He had a great time making it, but he's just more into basketball and Wii than making crafts. Go figure?????

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We actually had a wonderful start to our day - Chris and Harrison surprised me with a card, a yellow rose, and a ginormous Hershey's Kiss (which Harrison reminded me "could" be for both of us). Then Chris and I surprised Harrison with a card, a stuffed dog holding a heart, and a "Message Bean" - you water it and when it grows, the bean has the words "I love you" on it. Finally, I surprised Chris with a card. It seems like Dad always get the short end of the Valentine's Day deal...at least in our house he does!

We then packed up and drove to Bloomington for the wedding of a dear friend of ours from Phoenix. Now, before you get confused, this is a friend we met while living in Phoenix that now lives in this area, too. It was a lovely wedding and a great reminder of how precious the gift of a spouse can be. The afternoon was quiet - until around 4:00 when Harrison had a basketball game. He had a great time, as usual and we all came home to have a home-cooked meal of steaks on the grill. We are now settling in to more quiet, which is just how we like it. I can't think of a better way to spend this day - surrounded by "my boys". I hope your Valentine's Day was just as special!

A "Wii"ly Good Time

So, now all we do is play Wii games...but it's done wonders for our family time together. And, I like to think because they are not really "sit down" games, I'm getting a little exercise while I'm at it. We spend most of our time with Wii Sports. Check out Harrison playing some tennis:
And Chris bowling:

I know you can probably tell by my fantastic form that I'm playing golf here:
Yes, Santa really came through this year - things will never be the same at the Moore house because now we know how to have a "Wii"ly good time!

A New Look in Bowling Attire...

Check out Harrison...he was "suited up" to bowl with his plastic ball and pins in the hallway. Not sure what I like most - the cowboy hat or the slippers. Of course, we know these are both necessary items at any of the finer bowling alleys! The Wii pants make a nice addition, too (really, he picked the clothes out himself!).

From Sorrow Comes Hope

In late January, a friend of mine lost her 17-year-old daughter to cancer. She was a very brave girl and battled her disease with all she had. The type of cancer was Sarcoma, which is more prevalent in children/young adults. I share this story because I want anyone who reads this to treasure the time they have with their families and loved ones - and remember to pray for everyone who has such a big burden to carry.

We can not understand why these things happen and the Bible tells us it is not ours to understand. So, with that in mind, I rejoice for this beautiful girl who has now gone home to Jesus and ache for her mother, brother, and father who are left here to miss her. So many friends shared their thoughts and memories at the Celebration of Life service and it was easy to see that God had blessed her with a wonderful, caring spirit.

So, I share this with all of you who are reading this as a reminder of God's promise that when we fall, He is there to hold us. And, in the middle of the worst storms of our lives, He will carry us through. Our job is to continuing praying for each other through those times.

God bless you all.

Christmas #4!

We had lunch on Christmas Day with Amy, Delmar and Emily. It was so nice to spend time with them. This winter, the weather has been yucky and we've all been hibernating. So, while the food was great (thanks, Amy!), the company was even better.

We exchanged presents all around and the kids really seemed to like their gifts. Harrison got a Photokins, which is a digital picture frame in the belly of a stuffed monkey - too cute! And, Amy was thoughtful enough to go ahead and add some pictures. Harrison LOVES it! I think Emily liked her room sign, too!










Looking back on all our Christmas activities, it seems we celebrated for weeks. And, in reality, we did! But, we got to see most of our family and many of our friends which is how it should be. Through it all, though, we never forgot the most important reason for Christmas - the celebration of the birth of Jesus. Harrison wanted to make a birthday cake for Him, so we did. It was simple, and not really very pretty (I've never claimed to be good at that), but it tasted good and shared the most important message of all:

Home for Christmas

After our trip to KY, we tried to start a family tradition for us. This is one of two years we have spent Christmas Eve and Day in IL - we have usually spent them in KY. So, we attended the Christmas Eve service at the First Christian Church and enjoyed it very much.

We made it back home that night just in time for Santa...after spending some time tracking him on Norad, we got Harrison to bed around 10:00 or so. He was up at 4:00 asking if it was time for presents yet! I was able to get him into bed with us and keep him there until 6:15. But that was as long as he could wait. He was very excited about opening presents, but he also wanted to be sure we each had our gifts. So, he was in charge of passing out presents and nothing could be opened until he was done! I had to get a picture of him with his line of gifts before he dove into them.
One of his most-loved gifts was a Mario Kart tee-shirt, along with Wii sleep pants (thanks, Nana). We can't keep this outfit off him - it's a favorite "home outfit".

But the biggest deal of all was the Wii!!! Yes, Santa came through and Harrison got a Wii for Christmas. Life is now complete (yes, this is said with some sarcasm on my part).
I was very happy with my Willow Tree figurine - always a favorite.

Chris was happy with his gifts as well, but you can tell we really would both rather be sleeping.

All in all, it was a great Christmas and we were happy to be together. But guess what??? There was still one more Christmas to go...

Moore Christmas...

It just never seems to end when we go to KY for Christmas and this year was no different. Our last stop before heading home to IL (and Santa) was the Moore family Christmas. We started with dinner and Harrison and Katie had their own table again this year - don't they look cozy??? And this year, they actually stayed at the table and ate! (Will wonders never cease!)
Then the presents came...and came...and came. You can always count on Barb to keep us busy at her house! Harrison and Katie got their matching Thomas stockings. We all commented on how much taller they they had gotten (the kids...not the stockings!). It's amazing what a year can do.

We headed home to IL the next day - and we could tell Harrison was beat! I had fun snapping pictures of him as he finally gave up and went to sleep!










It seems strange to say it so late, but we hope all you had a very Merry Christmas surrounded by friends and family - that's what makes the holidays so special!

What could be more fun...

than a big bag full of stuff??? Well, Harrison could tell you that not much could beat it! Tim, Toni and family gave Harrison a bag of goodies that didn't seem to end.

Reindeer antlers -











Colored pencils -








A glow sword -








A High School Musical punch ball -








16 (yes...I said 16) Reese's peanut butter cups -









A magnifying glass -







And there was more, but who could keep up?

Grandma got him a Thomas video and one of his most favorite gifts - a High School Musical 3 board game. We've had some fun with that one!









We had a great time together. It's always great to spend time with family and there were lots of us there! But...believe it or not, there was more to come...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...at Toni's house!

So, I'm a little behind on my posts...we are now into February and I'm just blogging about Christmas! I will say I did not make any New Year's resolutions to stay current on this, so I'm not feeling too much pressure. (Now if I can only remember what we did for Christmas - oh, yeah, we had Christmas 3 times this year!)

Let's start with "Christmas #1" - in KY! We did a "Powers family" Christmas at Toni's house. She goes all out decorating - and nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a replica leg lamp from the movie "A Christmas Story":
To be fair, she also has more traditional decorations as well. Here are a few of my favorites:
We had a great time at Toni's for Christmas...but I'll save that for another blog!