Our Crazy Life

These videos are just a small picture of how crazy our life is now! It is so wonderful and hilarious and happy all at the same time...but crazy for sure!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Book Review-Mom's Bible

This is a review of The Mom’s Bible: God’s Wisdom for Mothers. Bobbie Wolgemuth writes the notes in The Mom’s Bible. The translation used for The Mom’s Bible is the New Century Version. The Mom’s Bible has features that make passages and scripture applicable to our daily lives as moms. The features included in the Mom’s Bible are Our God is, which points out things for you to know about God; Walking in takes a look at our daily attitudes; Godly Character encourages openness to strengthening godly character and growing Christlike hearts; Passing it On is a scriptural look at the legacy we pass on to our children; Moms in the Bible features life lessons for our mothering roles from moms in the Bible; Insights are short writings linked to Bible passages regarding motherhood; Wonderful Counselor is a feature written by a Christian Therapist to help moms uncover issues that need to be addresses in order for us to be free and used by God; Questions Kids Ask features Bible-based answers to questions children ask about God, life and the Bible; First Touch provides an instant word and favorite inspirational verses for quick access to scripture when your time is limited. Overall this Bible provides insights and notes that were new to me as a mother. I have enjoyed the features Moms in the Bible, Walking In and Wonderful Counselor. This Bible doesn’t skirt around tough issues that we face as moms, but hits them head on so that the Spirit will be free to work. The only thing that I think would improve The Mom’s Bible, would be better packaging. The outward appearance of The Mom’s Bible is a little drab and doesn’t stand out. I more fun cover and packaging might be more appealing to young moms especially.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

XXII Olympic Winter Games

On Sunday, February 14th, Eric and I left for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC. Our trip didn't start off great unfortunately. DFW airport put a hold on planes landing because of fog in Dallas which resulted in us missing our 10:30 flight to Vancouver. We arrived in Dallas at 11am but ended up having to wait until 5pm to board the next plane to Vancouver. We tried to make the most of our time in the airport. Eric worked on homework for grad school and I purchased a Nicholas Sparks book, curled up in a some what comfortable chair and read and read and read. We finally arrived in Vancouver at 7 local time. The airport was so nice and welcoming. We didn't really even wait at customs. Our hosts picked us up at the airport since our flight had gotten in so late. We were really sad to have missed a whole day in Vancouver. We had planned on going to Grouse Mountain (this is where the Today show is at and NBC headquarters for the games) and viewing the city and taking in some winter activities. But we made the most of it and finished the night by sitting up at a local golf course taking in the view that way. We were exhausted but ready for a day of excitement. Our hosts surprised us with red mittens waiting for us! I was sooo excited about the mittens! Eric and I woke up really early, 5am pacific time, and prepared for the day. However, our day didn't start out as good as we had hoped. Our hostess informed us that she had just heard on the news that some of the seating for Snowboard Cross (our event) had been cancelled. We thought maybe the "C" seating had been cancelled, we had "B". Sure enough, our seating ended up being what was cancelled. I'm still not exactly sure why, but they had said it was a safety issue because of all of the slush caused by warmer temps and lots of rain. If I hadn't been in the same room as our hostess, I probably would have cried. But what can you do? I was 1 of 4,000 people that weren't going to be able to go and I knew plenty of other people had sob stories too. So we just made plans to go up to Whistler and do some extra exploring of Vancouver. Eric and I took the Sky Train to BC Place (where the Opening ceremony was held) so that we could get our tickets and see what we could do about our seating being cancelled. We were starving and realized quickly that outside of downtown our American currency was not going to cut it. After a breakfast at Starbucks we began walking around. We walked to the sea wall area and were able to see the Olympic village. It was a pretty walk around and we finally located the American ticket sales office. We were still out of luck with tickets and just sucked it up. We then headed through Yaletown and took in the sites. We stopped at Yahoo's free "booth" that had free hot chocolate, photos, Wii, and even a live stream. Eric texted our families so that they could watch us on the live stream. Our girls got to see us! After that we went to Robson Square in the middle of downtown. It was CRAZY there! We had to pick up our Victory Ceremony will call tickets there. The line wrapped around a building and when we asked how long the wait was, we were told 4 hours! We only ended up waiting 2 hours but had to eat street vendor hot dogs instead of a nice meal that we were hoping for! Oh well! After waiting, watching the Olympic mascots ice skate, watching the zip line above us, we moved on out. As we were crossing a busy area, several tickets scalpers were yelling out that they had tickets. Eric took a chance and asked, and sure enough the guy had seating A for Women's snowboard cross. I was nervous and at first said no. I didn't want to pay more money or have fake tickets. The guy of course assured us that they were legit and offered us it at face value. So, we used all of my "spending money" to get this ticket, and Eric said he would just find something to do while I went. I didn't want to go without him, so the next street corner we were able to pick up another ticket for $25 over face value. I was really nervous about doing this, but Eric helped me to see that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we couldn't leave the Olympics without going to an event. We walked around some more, grabbed coffee, and then went and ate an early dinner. This ended up being our only nice meal because all of our other meals were on the run or concession food. We ate at Earl's and just relaxed outside with blankets and a heater. We also were able to watch the Olympics live on Canadian TV. Its not like the US where we are forced to wait for NBC to actually televise the events, this was live as it was happening and had no commercials. After dinner, we tried to go buy souvenirs but realized that the wait time just to get into the ONE official Olympics store was 30 minutes and we were pretty tired of waiting. We caught the West Coast Express back to where we were staying, only to find out we had to walk up hill a little more than 1.25km. We were exhausted, and couldn't help but laugh at our trek up the hill that far. We felt like we were in the Olympics.
Tuesday morning started early again. We caught the Olympic Bus from SFU to Cypress Mountain. It was a pretty drive and also allowed for a little nap to prepare for the day. On the way up, we were excited to be passed by the official athletes vehicles that shuttled them to the event. They got there when we did, but had a super secret entrance of course. When we finally arrived, we easily went through security and made our way up the mountain to the venue. We probably walked a mile and then hit the steps. 215ish of them in fact. It was very high up and very steep. When we got up to the top it was covered in fog. We weren't even sure which course was snowboard cross. We sat in the pouring rain for about an hour, when they announced a one hour delay. It stopped raining at that point, but was still foggy. We waited about another 30 minutes when they announced another delay. So, we marched down the 215 steps and indulged in some expensive concession food for lunch. When we came back up to the venue, it was a totally different scene, and we could actually see. The excitement was amazing! Once the contestants started practicing, it was sooo exciting and so fun. We watched Lindsey Jacobellis (Silver medalist from Torino), Faye Gulini and Callan Chythlook-Sifsof from the USA ride for the qualifications. There were lots of falls and at one point the fog was so bad again that you couldn't even see a rider cross the finish line. So we endured about 3 more 15 minute-ish delays. Callan went out but we still had two USA riders to go. Lindsey Jacobellis did awesome and was riding so smooth. Another top contender fell and went out, so it was looking good for Jacobellis, but in the semi-finals, she caught an edge and went out of the course and disqualified. It was sooo disappointing. She was able to ride in the small final (or loser's bracket) and really dominated. We know she could've had gold or at least silver. However, Maelle Ricker from Canada won Gold and did awesome. It was exciting to hear a Canadian win and how the place erupted in cheers and craziness. We left right away, and it was crazy. People were running down the stairs! I was really nervous we were going to be trampled. Everyone wanted to catch the buses back down the mountain. We had to get back downtown for the Victory Ceremony (But in hind site I wish we would've just stayed at Cypress for a while so we could've seen the contestants and because we really didn't have to be at the Victory Ceremony as early as we had thought). Anyway, we took a bus back to downtown and sprinted onto the SeaBus (ferry) to get back into downtown. We tried to eat before the ceremony, but couldn't find anyplace to eat because every place was packed with people watching the Canada vs Norway hockey game. So we once again settled on "fancy" concession food at BC place. The Victory Ceremony was amazing. We were able to watch Seth Wescott (USA) receive the Gold medal for his race in Snowboard cross the day before. It was really neat to be part of and witness. We were exhausted though and ready to get back. At about 7:30 we left the venue early ready to go to bed, unfortunately we didn't end up in bed until 11 that night due to public transportation. I had a horrible head ache and was way beyond tired, it wasn't a good way to end the trip but it was how it was, and we were just ready to be home. We woke up at 4am and headed to the airport. After waiting for 3 hours we finally boarded our plane and slept on the way into Dallas. Not surprisingly, our flight into Amarillo was delayed a little, but we finally made it home. It was soooo wonderful to hold my girls and love on them. It is good to be home, but we had a once in a lifetime experience and it was amazing. I'm so thankful to everyone that made it possible for us to. However, we will now greatly enjoy watching the Olympics from the comfort of our own home. And what is funny is that I've seen a lot less of the Olympic events by actually going to the events! Right now I"m watching Women's Half pipe and knowing we were just right there! I'm a little envious that their weather is so great compared to what our's was, oh well! These are just a few pictures, there are so many pictures of our trip. Check out my pics on Facebook.

Sandies for Life

A while back I had asked for prayer for our family as me made some major decisions. The life of a coach is always interesting. In December, our head coach at Amarillo High became the district Athletic Director. Eric was hired by Coach Thiessen for his first job as a coach and followed Thiessen here. Along with all of the coaching families on staff, we were concerned about what this would mean for our future with a new head coach coming in. Every time this happens, there are many possible outcomes, some which are great and some that can be devastating. We fell some where in between for several weeks. At the end of this whole hiring process, we are proud and thankful to let everyone know what we are Sandies for life. Eric will be keeping his job at Amarillo High and we plan on staying here indefinitely. I'm trusting God and that He sees the future and that Amarillo is where our girls will flourish. I'm very thankful that I don't have to keep the house picked up and spotless in order to sell it and thankful that we will remain right across the street from Mali's elementary school that she will attend.

Happy Valentine's Day

Since Eric and I are leaving for our trip on Valentine's Day, we have celebrated early. Wednesday night Eric took his girls on a date to Chuck E Cheese. Mali and Eleri both had a blast. Eleri loved riding in the car with Chuck E Cheese and seeing the performers on stage..Mali was, however, scared of both of these things! Last night, the girls opened their Valentine's gifts from Eric and Eleri even gave Mali a Reese's Peanut Butter heart, Mali was thrilled! This morning my plan was to make pink heart shaped pancakes, but I realized we had no milk or sugar! So, tonight we will have them for dinner while Eric is out of town for his game!

Kelly Moore

Win a cool free camera bag

http://kellymoorephotography.com/mooreblog/?p=6332&cpage=4#comment-36734

1 year photoshoot

When we were in the metroplex about a month ago, we met my good friend Naomi Jones at the Dallas Arboretum to take Eleri's one year pictures. These are the highlights! Naomi and I were friends from nine30. I was even blessed to read scripture at her wedding and help with her reception! And in a month, our oldest daughters will be in a wedding together! We had a ton of wonderful moments discussing God and life when we met together weekly. Naomi is an amazing mom and just continually amazes me with all she does. She is super creative, fun, loving and...amazing! Thanks for taking Eleri's pictures Naomi! Anyone that needs a photographer in the metroplex should definitely consider Naomi!

A style all her own

Mali dressed herself and put a bumpit in her hair all by herself today. In fact, she wouldn't even allow me in the bathroom while she got ready. She has a style on her own, but she looks pretty cute!

Mommyhood

Isn't this SO how mommyhood is? I love it!

Falling asleep

Oh the woes of being a second born child! The other day during lunch, Eleri just fell asleep while we were eating lunch. Mali never fell asleep like this, and I just think it is because Eleri is the second child and life just doesn't cater to her. I can't really get her nap schedule down right now. She was taking two naps a day or even one nap. Eleri NEEDS two naps but putting her down for her second nap is pretty difficult.

Eleri's 1 year stats

At Eleri's well check appointment, she weighed 19.8lbs and is 29 3/4 inches long. She is a little longer than Mali was at a year but does not weigh as much.

Have a mentioned....

Eric and I are going to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada! I'm sooooo excited! We will leave in 10 days. We have tickets to Women's Snowboardcross on the 16th and then the Victory Ceremony that night. I can not wait to spend this time (alone) with my husband and to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity with him. We will be leaving the girls, which will be hard and sad, but will be worth it! And if I didn't mention it, this is what I asked for as my 30th birthday present! I have always been a huge Olympics fan. So much so that Mali has been asking me if Shaun White is ok (he fell on a half pipe run in the X games), she even prayed for him today on the way to preschool! Yeah for going, and not for turning 30!!!

More celebration

On Monday, Eleri received more presents from Grammie. Grammie, and our, presents had been held up by the snow storm. They had arrived in Amarillo, but were not being delivered. Eleri got two Signing Time DVDs, some beautiful clothes, musical stacking turtles, and a big red, Radio Flyer Wagon. Both girls enjoyed playing with all the new toys and wearing their new clothes!

Fun in the...snow

On Thursday it started snowing and we ended up with nearly a foot of snow! School was cancelled for Eric on Thursday and Friday, so we made the most of our time snowed in. Friday it was a little too cold outside for Mali, but on Saturday we enjoyed building a snowman together. Eleri went outside with us too and just plopped down in the snow beside us as we worked. Eric shoveled our sidewalk and the girls and I played. Of course, we had snow ice cream too! On Sunday while Eleri napped, Eric pulled Mali behind my car on a trash can lid. We have decided that before the next big snow storm we need 1. a snow shovel 2. a sled! After their sledding adventure, Eric decided to build Mali a sledding ramp in our front yard. People in our neighborhood were sledding and snowmobiling throughout the weekend. It made me feel like I was back in Ouray, especially Friday night with the glow of the full moon and the beautiful, sparkly snow! We had fun and enjoyed the extra family time that it provided!

Birthday Celebrations

On Eleri's actual birthday, we celebrated by allowing her to eat Fruit Loops for breakfast! Then Mali gave Eleri the presents she had picked out for her; a stuffed animal puppy "since she likes puppies" and a pink sippy cup. We also gave Eleri one of her presents, cute suede Stride Rite shoes. She did like them and carried them around trying to get me to put them on her. Then we played outside in the snow! That afternoon, Eric baked chocolate chip cookies and we sang Happy Birthday to her and let her "blow out" her candle and eat the cookie. She kept looking at me and Eric as if to say "can I eat this?" Yesterday, we had her birthday party. We are thankful for everyone that came especially with the crazy amount of snow we got. Mimi, Papa, Grandpa, Nana, Aunt Megan and Uncle Chris, Uncle Brandon and Liza all came for her birthday. Eleri received an Elmo farm activity center, a Dr. Seuss Book, a big, pink stuffed bear and two cute outfits, a pink purse, a pink Nalgene sippy cup, and a Radio Flyer wagon/stroller. We had fun watching her and Mali play together with the new toys. Mali was having a hard time realizing that everything was for Eleri, but Eleri gladly shared with her big sister. Eleri had a turquoise giant cupcake cake and turqouoise cake bites that didn't turn out anywhere near as pretty as the recipe picture. I thought a shade of blue would be better than a shade of pink since Mali's favorite color is pink, that way Eleri could be different. We all sang Happy Birthday to her and Eleri blew out the candle for her. Eleri enjoyed the frosting on her cake, but was fairly dainty about it all. Eric made gourmet hot dogs and we enjoyed watching the girls play until everyone had to get on the road to get home before the roads iced over again.