We're still around...

...but holy moley things have been busy!! Things have picked up for me at work and I'm even bringing stuff home to work on at night. :(

And we are getting ready to go to FLORIDA!!!! WOOHOO!!!! :) We are all so excited and can't wait to go!!! I'm itching to get my hands on my beautiful niece!!!! :)

So I'm sorry we've been so boring lately - but hopefully things will slow down soon (hahaha, all the holidays around the corner - not likely) and I'll try to get back to posting!!

Hope everyone has a Happy Turkey Day!!! :)

Halloween 2008

The kids decided they would do something together this year (which I love)!! :) Except, wow, I wasn't sure how I would get Syd's costume together!! Mason was a hunter and Sydney was a deer.

But I am so proud of myself - I managed to do it!! (Granted, I finished it the night before, but darnit, it was done!! And I'm pretty happy with how it turned out - I thought she looked adorable!)

I was going to post the pics here but figured it would be easier to get them all on here: http://www.dropshots.com/moorepics

Enjoy! :)

Introducing Bradee Lynn...

SHE'S HERE!!!!!! Just under 2 weeks early, born October 25th at 5:15pm. She was 7 lbs and 13oz and 20" long!!! AND PERFECT!!!! The doctor said she's perfectly healthy!! PRAISE GOD!!!! That's what I've (and many of you - thank you) have been praying for!!!! She is a perfect angel!!!

Here she is from yesterday!! Isn't she beautiful?? (Yes, I'm biased, but she really is!!!!)



There is absolutely no denying she's a Boyd - especially in this picture!! She looks JUST like her daddy and Grandpa Boyd!! WOW!!! It's unreal!!! :)


The first family picture!!! I cry every time I look at it because I see the tears in Mike's eyes and I see how much Shannon went through!!! It was a hard labor for her. 15 hours of tough labor and over 2 hours of pushing. But she did it all by herself without any drugs!!! Shan, you're AWESOME!!!!!

Here are some pictures from today!

Here she is with her Grandma (Pat - Shannon's mom)!!! She doesn't look TOO happy does she?!?!? :)

What's a matter punkin? You look like you smelled something bad!!!! LOL!!! :)

The very proud (and tired) parents!!!!! :)

Shannon said she's Mike Tyson!!! It was hard for her, bless her heart!! Her eyes are black and blue today from pushing so hard. They were swollen and starting to go down now!!!

Sis - I think you look gorgeous!!! I'm SOOO proud of you!!! You did it exactly like you wanted to and brought your precious daughter into the world (and gave me my first niece!!!!) I love you!!!

And here she is - just as beautiful as can be!! So soft and sweet!!! How I wish I could be there, punkin, to kiss those soft cheeks!!! I'll be there 30 days from today. It seems like a lifetime!!!!

And anyone who knows me, knows I have a weakness for baby toes!!! So of course I had to have a picture of them!!! Can't wait to kiss those piggies!!!!! :)

Happy "Birth"day Bradee Lynn!!! You are loved by so many people and our prayers have been answered!!! xoxoxo

A Thousand Words Thursday

(In memory of Mason's first lost tooth! It was the exact same tooth that Syd's losing!!!)

My baby....

...has her first LOOSE TOOTH!!!! WAAAA!!! I know it's silly, but to me, that's the last sign of being "little"!!!!! I just can't believe it!!! Mason started later than this so I was really surprised.

We were sharing an apple and she started crying saying her tooth hurt. I looked and sure enough - loose!!!! She BAWLED!! I think it was a combination of pain and fear. She didn't know what to make of her tooth being loose!!! Poor thing! But then she got all excited and called everyone she knows!!! LOL!!!

(Caution - unattractive picture that I will probably be killed for when she's older!!! LOL!!!!)


But we capture everything else on camera - thought we might as well get this. If you click on the picture, you can see of the two front teeth - the one on your left is poking out a little bit.

*Sigh* Where has my baby gone?!?!?! I'll be sure to post a pic once it's out!

A Thousand Words Thursday...

Me and my baby bean...

Seeing Sarah and Julia made me think of this picture and knowing EXACTLY

how she is feeling!! And I can't wait for Shannon to have this!!

It's like nothing else in the world!!

(And of course for you too, Mike. But it's impossible to describe how a mother feels

after she brings her child into the world!!!)

So precious...

Syd and I went to her school last Tuesday night for a Writing Workshop!! They taught the parents how to allow the kids to write how they hear things and not to spell things for them but to ask them what sounds they hear in the words. They showed the kids how to draw a picture on the left and write about it on the right side.

This was Syd's first entry that night. It warmed my heart and I know how Mike and Shannon will feel about it!! :) Sydney is SUPER DOOPER excited about getting a girl cousin. How I wish the kids could grow up near each other. But we'll make the best of it!!

The two pages...


Here is Syd and Bradee holding hands. Syd on the left and Bradee on the right. Note how they are holding hands and how Bradee is dressed like a baby and Syd like a kid!! :) I love her details!!!

Her entry reads "Bradee is my friend. Me and her hold hands at the park." (Let me tell you how hard it was not to correct the "me and her"...lol!!!!!)

Love it!!! :)

Leavin' on a Jet Plane...

Well on a Jet Blue plane, I should say!! :) WE ARE GOING TO FLORIDA!!!!!!! :) Mason, Sydney and I are going to FL for Thanksgiving!!! Bradee is due November 5th, so even if Shannon went late (sorry Shan), she will still be here by Thanksgiving! :) Rex always goes hunting over Thanksgiving, so the three of us are headin south!!! Here's the coolest part (this trip was MEANT to be)!!! Rex drives by Dulles on his way to hunt, so he is dropping us off at the airport Wed night. We were going to stay until Sunday, but saved about $300 to stay till Monday (twist my arm...lol). The kids are off of school from Thursday through Monday - so it's PERFECT!! Rex is picking us up on his way home Monday morning!!! It's literally perfect. So then, we called AMEX (our biz credit card) and we had enough points to save us $700 off our tickets - can you BELIEVE that? When all was said and done, the three of us are going to FL for $290!!!!! Isn't that awesome??

Now, if we can just stand the wait until 11-26!!! :) Well, we are getting ready and the kids and I started a countdown!! It's made it real and fun to count down!!!

Sydney writes in a journal and here is her entry tonight!! :)

(It says "Us in the plane on our way to Florida. I hope we have fun in Florida.") :)

We are so excited!!! We have a very exciting event before that (Bradee's birth of course), but we can't WAIT for 11-26!!!! :) We were blessed to go to FL for their wedding and to go again in the same year!!! YAY!!!

A Thousand Words Thursday...

If you don't know Rex and Sydney, this is going to look strange to you (maybe it does anyway - lol)!!! These two have a very special and kooky relationship. They are constantly goofing around!! I have NO idea how they even discovered this "thing" they were doing!!! Syd is SUPER flexible and she's always twisting herself into weird positions!! :)

Anyway, this picture made me smile today. It just captured something for me. Look at how she's looking at him. Warms my heart... There were actually a bunch of these pictures and they were so silly, but this one was my favorite!

Ok, so much for the picture speaking for itself...lol...but you have to admit this one needed to be explained!!! ;)

Sorry, but I have to brag for a few minutes...

Anyone who knows me, knows how VERY proud I am of both of my kids. They are both amazing kids!! That's not the brag though... ;)

I knew Syd was going to do well in Kindergarten. She is so smart and really advanced for her age. She's been reading for a while now (maybe 6+ months)!! She amazed us by just picking up a book one day and saying "I can read" and SHE COULD!!!! :)

Well last week her teacher called us at home. Unfortunately I wasn't home so she talked to Rex (man, I always miss the good stuff...lol)! Apparently her teacher decided to have her reading skills tested. We didn't even know she was going to do that. She went and sat down with the "tester" and the woman opened the book and Syd took off. She said she never hesitated, just started reading and doesn't use her finger to point at the words. Well, it turns out our little girl is already reading at...an END of SECOND GRADE, beginning of THIRD GRADE level!!!!! WHOA!!!! We knew she was doing great but we had no idea it was that far. I could have absolutely burst with pride!!! :) WOW!!!!

So her teacher went on to say that she believes Syd will end up in a gifted program just based on how she learns - she picks things up very quickly and retains a LOT!!! Whether that happens or not, who knows (I never wanted my kids to be in a gifted program but I also would never want to hold them back)! Regardless, we didn't share this news with her or Mason, because we don't want them to know. Everybody knows she can read and that's all they need to know. I don't want to put any pressure on her or make Mason feel any less than he is (if that makes sense)!! Sooo, if you see them - PLEASE don't talk to them about it!!!! :)

The teacher went on to say how much she adores having Sydney in her class and that (even though she shouldn't say it), she's her favorite. She said how Syd is so kind to the other kids and will sit and help them if they get stuck on something. She said Sydney just brightens her day and she loves it when she comes in!! I imagine she walks in everyday with a smile on her face!! :) My girl has the sweetest soul! I pray she never changes!!! I'm so proud of her!!!!!

Anyway, thanks for letting me brag. I can't help it!! :)

Here are a couple pictures of her before school one day last week!!! She looked so darn cute!! :)

Love you my beautiful bean...

A Thousand Words Thursday

Love...pure and simple...

A Pat on the Back...

Sydney got off the bus yesterday with a sticker on her shirt. I asked her what it was and she yelled "I GOT A PAT AWARD MOMMY!!!" She was SO excited!!

I knew what it was because Mason has received a few himself. I don't know what P.A.T. stands for but I do know it means the child has received a "Pat on the Back" for doing something good. In this case, Syd's PAT says:

"Sydney Moore deserves a PAT on the back for being kind

and helpful to her teacher and to her new school friends!

Thank you! Mrs. Landes"

The cool thing about this is they bring the whole school into the auditorium and they select 10 PAT winners each semester. They announce the child's name, read their award and the child goes up on stage and shakes the principal's hand (which she thought was VERY cool)!!!! I was SO excited for her - she was beside herself. I asked her what she thought when they called her name. She said "I was so suprised and excited. And then I thought 'My mommy is going to be SO proud of me!!!' " (I get a lump in my throat just typing that! I was so touched by that!!) :) She was very giddy!!! She received her paper, a cut out hand for her PAT on the back, a new pencil and a small pad of paper (which is you know Syd - that's like giving her a piece of gold!)

Here's her "loot" (she wanted to put her own hand in the picture too...heehee):

(She definitely inherited her daddy's "one lazy eye" picture habit!! LOL!)

The neat thing is it doesn't surprise me! One, because that's Sydney - she has the biggest heart! And two, because I talked to her teacher at the Open House and she said that Sydney is her "special helper". Apparently if a child is stuck on something or needs help with something, all Mrs. Landes has to do is ask Syd if she would mind helping them and she said she goes over and helps them with whatever they need. She said Syd is so gentle and kind with the child and she's been a big help to her!!! I could have popped out of my skin with pride! :)

We were so proud of her!! We got pizza to celebrate the special day!!! :) Way to go Bean!!!!! :)

A Thousand Words Thursday...

SUCH concentration!!! I love this picture!!! :)

(Click on the picture to open it bigger and look at her little face!)

Wanna see pictures of my niece???

Ok, so I'm jumping the gun a Weee little bit, but I couldn't resist!!! Modern technology is amazing!! I can't believe what they can show you these days!!!

Bradee (yep that's confirmed), is due to be here in about 7 weeks. Everyone is very excited and I can't wait to travel to Florida to meet her. The doctor said she weighs about 4 lbs 11oz right now and that apparently is an average size. She could gain as much as a 1/2 pound a week until birth - which would put her right about 8+ lbs.

Mommy and Daddy said she was moving all around, yawning and pushing back against the u/s wand. Oh boy, she's fiesty already!! :)

I think she looks just beautiful. She favors my brother very much and actually has many features that both he and I had as babies and both of my kids had. So there's no denying she's a Boyd (my maiden name)!!! :) (But don't worry Shan, I promise you're not just an incubator!!! lol)

Please continue to pray for her and her mom - that they both stay healthy for the last stretch and that Shannon has a quick and easy delivery!! And that Bradee Lynn Boyd enters the world perfectly healthy, kicking and screaming!!!! :)

A Thousand Words Thursday...

Still the same smiley girl - 4 years later!!!! :)

First Day of School

So I'm a little behind, but I thought I'd go back and update on our First Day of School!

It was obviously a big deal for us since it was also Syd's First day of KINDERGARTEN!!! Wow - I couldn't believe it!! She was SUPER excited!!! She was SO ready!!

So Mason was up first - his bus left at 8:30am. Syd is in afternoon K, so she wasn't dressed and ready to go yet - but I had to take our traditional first day picture together!! :)




And my traditional school "prop"!!! :) I had nothing to do with the finger pointing - that was an ad lib!! LOL!

So then it was finally my big girl's turn!! She looked SO STINKIN' adorable - I could have eaten her up!! She couldn't stop smiling, she was so excited!!! :) She looked like such a big girl (but still like my baby in my eyes)!! My stomach was a WRECK all morning just waiting to take her. She had told me the night before she was nervous so I think I was a little worried. But the morning came and her nerves seemed to be gone. She couldn't wait to go!

Of course we had to get a picture by our "prop"!! :) LOVE this picture!! (Notice the matching pink toes - she thought was VERY big stuff!!!) :)

We went to her daycare where she will normally go in the morning. I wanted her to be able to walk to the bus with her class so she would be used to it. She was very excited!

So everything went great - she got right up on the bus without a second thought. And ya know what - I didn't even cry!! WOW!!! :) I knew how ready she was. So I went home and tried to occupy my thoughts and not count down the minutes till they got home!! LOL! Well I was just about to head out to my mom's house (where the kids get off the bus) when my phone rang (thank you God for keeping home for a few extra minutes). When I looked at the caller ID, I noticed it was from her school! PANIC!! She was fine, but it turns out her teacher accidentally put her in the wrong bus line. She takes one bus in the morning and a different one in the afternoon. The teacher put her in the line for her morning bus. When she got up to the bus, they said "you are on a different bus and that bus has left already!" GAK!!! I was SO upset! I said, I'll be right there!! I don't remember driving that fast before!!! ;) I thought for sure she'd be sitting there crying thinking she did something wrong or worse, be scared!! I RAN in the school and here she comes strolling down the hall holding the principal's hand and SMILING!!! Geesh kid - thanks for the heart attack!!! ;) Anyway, needless to say, she was fine! So then she and I jumped in the van (after I smothered her with a million hugs and kisses) and FLEW over to my mom's to be able to see Mason get off the bus (we made it)!! So despite the small blip (to which her teacher called our house twice that night to apologize!! Poor thing!), the day went great and they both were happy!! :)

So Mason and I always had a tradition of baking cookies after he got home and talking about his day!! Well, he had football practice about an hour after we got home - so we did a quick slice and bake (lovely I know - but they loved them!!!) :)

So basically we all survived (especially Mom!!) :) As I was attaching pictures, I saw this one from last year... (at least she looked presentable that year....lol)...

And then just for a laugh, I found the picture from 2006! It's SO funny!!! Syd really wanted to be in the picture, but had just gotten up!!! LOL!! Gotta love the umbrella and the bed head!!! :)

What's funny to me is how much Mason has changed in 2 years. He wouldn't be caught DEAD in a pair of shorts that went above his knees now and he would NEVER let me cut his hair that short!! Wow - where has the time gone??

My babies are growing up!!!

A Thousand Words Thursday

Think she was excited?? :)

A new start...

...after a very long absence. Time just seems to get away from me and it's sometimes hard to pick up where you left off. I am WAY behind and could post so many things from the last 2 months, but I'll probably just touch on the highlights and go forward.

So I'm going to try to pick it up and run from here. If you haven't given up on me and are reading this...thanks!! :)

I also changed the template. I'm not crazy about it - but then I'm not crazy about any of the Blogger templates. Maybe if I can keep up with the blog itself, I'll go out on a limb and try one from the Web!! :)

Stay tuned...

A Thousand Words Thursday

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Today's thousand word Thursday post needs a few words with it. There's a special reason for this picture. Yesterday afternoon, my dad fell and broke his hip! He is in the hospital and will have surgery tomorrow afternoon. This picture was from last Halloween and it makes me smile to see him standing tall and looking happy - because he looks so small and helpless in the hospital bed.

So if you are reading this, could you please say a prayer for him? A prayer for the surgery and a prayer for his recovery. A hip is a tough thing to recover from but for him - he has diabetes and Parkinson's disease - it's going to be a long, hard road. We would appreciate any prayers!! Thank you!!

(And for those of you that might be confused after my Father's Day post - this is my stepfather but he has always loved me like I was his own! It doesn't always take blood to make you family - LOVE makes you family!!)
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And the season comes to an end...

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Well, sadly, we lost our game on Saturday. It was really hot and our kids seemed to be "down" from the beginning. They pretty much beat themselves. It was a shame. They started off strong, scoring 4 runs at our first up to bat. But the other team answered with 4 and then 4 more and then 5 more and didn't allow our kids to score. We did rally and come back for another 4 or 5 runs, but it just wasn't enough.

Our kids have nothing to be sad about though! It was a long season and they made it quite a distance!!! We loved the games and watching the kids play, but it will be nice to get our lives back to a normal schedule!

And so...Mason started football camp this morning!! LOL!!! (It's just a 3 day - 3 hour each - mini camp, but he'll love it!!) He's my little sports fanatic (he's a mini Uncle Mike!!) :)

We are really proud of him!! :)
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WE WON!!!!

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They did it!!! They won the game 9-3!!! It was a great game - kind of laid back and real easy!!

So now they play tomorrow afternoon (change in the schedule) against a very good team - #3 team in the league (we are #4). So keep your fingers crossed. I really hope they can pull it off. It would be SO awesome to come back and end up in the finals!!!

I'll keep ya posted!! :)
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STRIKE, SAFE, OUT.....

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These are the words I hear the most lately!!! LOL!!

We are into playoffs for Mason's baseball team this week and it has been CRAZY!!! Monday night a game - it got rained out halfway through so we had to finish it Tuesday night. Unfortunately they lost that game. But it's double elimination (phew)!! Wednesday night's practice got rained out (thankfully). We had our second game last night and those kids came out charging and won 18-3!!!!! It was awesome!!!

So now we play again tonight. We SHOULD beat this team (we beat them in the regular season) but it will all depend on the kids. (Fingers crossed!) If we win tonight, we play again tomorrow morning. If we win that, we play tomorrow night. If we win THAT game, we play again Monday night and that might be the championship game. However, if we lose tonight - we are done.

I have loved this season. Mason being on the bigger kids team has been so exciting. As much as I look forward to getting back to a normal schedule and getting the kids to bed at a decent hour, I will miss this. It's been a great family event for us (Rex coaching, Mason playing, Syd and I in the stands cheering!!! And that little girl is a great cheerleader. She knows all the kids names, she's learned what to yell and when!! She's awesome!!) It's been so nice to do these things together as a family and I will be sad to see it end.

I'm really proud of how much Mason has grown through the season. Last night he pitched the entire game and only walked 3 batters and of those 3, 2 of them were at Full Count. He struck out 7 batters. He did fantastic. He's hitting the ball now and he's been doing great. He has so many nicknames this year - Deuce (he's number 2), M&M (obvious), Flash and Wheels (cause the boy can RUN!!!!! He is FAST!!!! You wouldn't know it by his size, but he can FLY!!!) I'll be anxious to see if any of the nicknames stick for next year!!! I'm proud of you bug!!!! :)

WAY TO GO AFC!!!!!!
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A Thousand Words Thursday

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Happy Birthday Mikey!!!

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(Mason, Mike and Sydney at Disney)

Happy Birthday "baby" brother!! Still hard to believe sometimes that you are all grown up. You've come so far -wondering for so long what was in store for you. Now you have what you've always dreamed of. It took longer than you wanted, but I know it was worth the wait. This is an exciting year for you. You married girl of your dreams (and gave me an incredible sister) and now you are going to have a baby girl!!! Can you imagine? God has blessed you so richly and I couldn't be happier for you. You are SUCH an important part of my life and the thing that sucks is that you live so far away!!! I wish we could all live near each other so we could watch our kids grow up together. That would make it perfect! But we will have to take what we can get. No matter how far you may be, you are always in my heart and I love you so much!!!
We miss you both and hope we'll see you soon!! I hope your birthday is magical!!!! xoxoxo


(Syd, Mike, Shannon, Mason at Mom's house)
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HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Father's Day was a beautiful day!! The weather was gorgeous and we had a nice day. After church, we took Pop Pop to breakfast (Happy Father's Day Dad) and then came home and celebrated with Rex.

The kid's each made him an "All About My Dad" booklet. There were questions that they answered and drew pictures to go with their answers. They both had so much fun and their answers were so cute!! It was a great idea!!! (Thanks Care!!!)

Here's Daddy looking at Sydney's book:


Mason was so proud to show Daddy what he had made:


Sydney also answered some "Dad" questions at school. (Things like How Old is your dad...*23*. How much does your dad weigh...*25 lbs* and how tall is he...*13 ft*!! It was hysterical!!)


I tried so hard to get a nice picture of the three of them together. I asked and asked them to sit together so I could get one, but Daddy does NOT like to have his picture taken. So he continued to tickle the kids and I must have taken 20 pictures trying to get one. (Ay yi yi...)


And this is what I ended up with - which honestly, is beautiful to me!! Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband and the best Daddy!!! xoxoxo


I thought about my dad today too, who has been gone for almost 11 yrs. It's hard to believe it's been so long. Breaks my heart that he never got to see his beautiful grandchildren. But I hope he has a "window" in heaven and can look down to see them. I still miss him. I love you Dad!!