Halloween (and I am done with October- yay me!)

The night before Halloween Lexie had a school Halloween dance. I didn't get pictures because since she is on Student Council she had to stay at school to decorate for the dance, and she got ready at school. She wore her costume from 2 years ago to the dance. I must say that she looked much different in it this year.

She was with her dad Halloween weekend, so I don't have many pictures of her. His family was nice enough to stop by my parents' house while we were there, so I did get some pictures. Carter started off the evening tired and cranky, so we were not sure how long we would be able to stay out. Once he discovered candy (not that he had much), he was happy.

Lexie was Robin da Hood this year.





Carter started out very unhappy...



then he got CANDY!!

"Want me to take the wrapper off that sucker for you?"

"MMM. This tastes much better without the paper."

Lexie and her brothers and sister

A conversation from one puppy to another.

Carter LOVES to cuddle stuffed animals. My parents had just got back from the Smoky Mountains earlier in the day, and they brought him this stuffed bear.

Carter enjoyed passing out candy to the Trick-or-Treaters and then waved 'bye' to them the whole way back to the sidewalk.

My little daredevil.

Touching foreheads and screaming is all the rage in the toddler crowd.

Carter chased his tail forever. It was so funny!

I got it!

Carter's Halloween Party

Carter had his first school Halloween party. It was soooooo cute!! I loved watching all the kids play in their costumes. I made a bean bag tossing game for them to play. They did really well with the game, but not so much with the waiting their turn and standing in line. They are all around 2, so I didn't expect them to be able to wait. They also had a special snack and paraded down the halls of the school to show off their costumes. I LOVE his preschool. He really is learning so much, and the teachers at the school are wonderful. He has so much fun.

He was a puppy this year.

He is also a book lover.

It's hard to see the necklace I'm wearing in this picture, but it's one Carter made for me. He beaded it all by himself! He has great fine motor skills. (The teacher in me is also very happy that he already holds a pencil the right way :) )

The Costume Parade

Party in the USA

I know I am posting things from over a month ago, but this is how I keep track of things we have done. (I plan on printing my blog yearly since I am failing in the Scrapbooking department.) I was hoping to have Halloween up by Thanksgiving; that didn't happen. Maybe I can get Thanksgiving up by Christmas =)


Last month our family and my brother's family went to the Miley Cyrus and Metro Station concert. (Monte and Carter didn't brave the concert. They went swimming at the hotel instead.) Before the concert I would say that I was more excited than Lexie about the concert. (Yes, I love teen music. I was more excited about Metro Station than Miley. For some odd reason, I really like them.) I think Lexie, and the other kids and parents, were expecting the Hannah Montana kiddy bop concerts like we have seen from Miley before. Boy were we surprised! It was not a kiddy concert. For one thing, I give it a year before her brother (The lead singer for Metro Station) enters rehab. That boy has issues! We also saw more crotch grabbing in Miley's concert than we have seen in any major league baseball game. I think she is a Britney wannabe. (Not sure that's something to strive for.) But I digress... We really had a great time at the concert. It was fun, and we made a ton of memories.



Before the concert, we ate at Kobe. This was Carter's first experience at a teppanyaki grill, and he was very intrigued and excited about the whole thing. We had planned on going to the zoo, but I ended up getting really sick (not fun when you are not at your own house) so we didn't get to go. But... we did get to go to the Purple Cow!

Kalin, Katherine, and Lexie

We were also celebrating K&K's birthday; it was the day after the concert.



Ofelia and Dan

Monte, Me, and Carter

The girls on the bus.
We had to get bussed to the concert because there were several things going on at once, so parking was terrible.



Dan was SOOO excited about the concert! Can you tell? I was so disappointed that he didn't get out of his seat and dance like we were instructed to do. I'm sure he was secretly dying to get up and dance to Party in the USA :)



Lexie was obviously enjoying the concert-ha!

This was actually between Metro and Miley. Lexie loves to read. She seriously has a book with her everywhere we go.

The self-portrait.

Our eyes were watering because we had been laughing so hard. This was attempt 20 on the self-portrait. One of us was either bug-eyed, eyes closed, out of the picture, or just plain weird looking.



Miley


She flew over the audience during "Fly on the Wall."

I know it's hard to see, but her dancers are wearing 80's type costumes. When this song was over they teased us with a little bit of the "Thriller" dance. Lex and I got so excited, but then it was over before it really started :(

Waiting on her milkshake and cheese fries.

Yay! It's Uncle Dan!! Carter is a HUGE fan of Dan (and his Uncle Matt, but Matt wasn't here).

Happy Birthday girls!

"Here, I need that hat."

"Look, I'm Dan."

Dance Competitions

Lexie's dance team competed in two competitions in October. They were really fun, and I wish there were going to be more. The girls did a great job. I am very impressed with how talented all of the teams were. I can definitely say that the drill teams have changed since I was on it. We were all about short skirts and shaking our booty, but these girls are serious about technique and perfection (and they have to wear leggings under their short skirts at school =).)

Lexie is the queen of facial expressions! It is hard to see it in most of these pictures, but she had a different one for almost every count. Their coach said,"It's not right unless you feel like you look stupid." Lexie has been practicing her facial expressions since birth :)

COMPETITION 1-- Lexie's school competed in the Jazz and Pom categories.

"Ladies, your music is on."- ha ha not really-- Who knew it was so hard to work a sound system?!

Let's try again.

Lexie is 5th from the left

Waiting on the Awards Ceremony to start. (I think there were 10-11 teams at this competition.)

They won 2nd in Pom...


and best technique in Jazz.

COMPETITION 2-- Lexie's team competed in Hip Hop (her favorite), Jazz, and Pom.

My camera battery died as soon as the girls stepped on the floor, so I had to steal these off Facebook. Some didn't transfer very well.

Lexie is first in line.

3rd from the right

3rd from the right--Oh yeah, my girl has attitude!

2nd from the left

"Why smile when you can show EXPRESSION?!?!"

Waiting on the Awards (7-8 teams competed in this competition.)


They won 2nd Place and Best Technique for Jazz, 3rd for Pom, and 2nd for Hip Hop.

WAY TO GO GIRLS!!!

Lexie and Maty enjoying some sugar after the competition.

CAKE!!

Several weeks ago Carter helped me make a cake. It was his first time ever to get to help cook in the kitchen, and he was a very big helper. He did great and had so much fun! Who knows-- maybe he'll be the new "Cake Boss"!

Carter loves carrots, so we made a carrot cake. Yes we used a mix, but it did have real carrots and raisins in it. It was very good!





"Hey mom, we should use cream CHEEEEEESE frosting!"

I love those precious little hands! (Lex is a great photographer! She just came in, saw what we were doing, and grabbed the camera. It was great because I wouldn't have been able to get a lot of these shots.)

ENJOYING THE FRUITS (OR SHOULD I SAY VEGETABLES) OF HIS LABOR

Apology

I know I have apologized on here more than once for being a slacker when it comes to blogging. Well I can assure you that this will not be the last slacker apology. (I know my blog is not very exciting, but I do have friends and family that only get to see the kids via the blog.) We have been so busy (and ill), and I have not had time to update. There are A LOT of posts coming (with the usual 50 million pictures), so hopefully I can catch you all up on our hectic life.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

As many of you know, Grandpa Jim passed away over the summer. Today is his birthday, so I wanted to share some of our memories of him. He was a wonderful husband, dad, and grandpa, and we all miss him very much.

*Jim loved his grandchildren!
*He was a Mr. Fix-It.
*My parents and Monte's parents get along very well. (I am very, very fortunate and thankful for that.)
*Grandpa Jim always had a blue eraser in his pocket, and the grandchildren (minus Lexie) were fascinated with it. For more on the Eraser Chronicles visit my sister-in-law's blog.




The day we officially became family.

Love at first sight! This is the instant Carter met his Grandpa Jim. (It was a long 2 1/2 month wait.)

Obviously Carter was very comfy in his grandpa's arms.

Three generations of Moore boys. I wonder if Carter will marry a first grade teacher, too?

Father's Day

Oh, to be a fly on the wall during that conversation!

Serious Men

Brian found Jim's high school yearbook.

Jim's birthday last year.

We love and miss you Grandpa Jim!

Pumpkin Patch Pictures (A lot of pictures)

He's excited about his trip to the pumpkin patch with Lydia. (Lydia also joined us that morning at Gymboree, so Carter-and I- had a great day!)

I think he looks sooo big in this picture. Where did my baby go?

She looks just like my sister in this picture! There is a pic of my sister at Easter when she was this age, and you would swear it is the same child in both pics.



This year he not only walked in the grass, he rolled around in it!

My future Abercrombie & Fitch model.






It's okay; It's Arkansas.

I love how they look at everything and take it all in at this age. They don't hurry or feel rushed, they just enjoy the simple things.

Carter loved playing in the bird bath. Plus when he got thirsty he just licked the water off of his hands. I'm surprised he didn't come down with a serious tummy bug after that.

"Stick your whole hand in. It's fun I promise."

He was using the pumpkins as drums. (Actually he was doing the Freeze Dance.)


The Arrival Daddy

Carter is trying to get a pumpkin out of the bin.

I say, "Daddy's here," and Carter starts anxiously looking around.

He sees Monte's car in the parking lot, and starts calling, "Daddy? Daddy!"

He realizes Monte is standing behind me and starts running as fast as his little legs will carry him, and excitedly screaming, "Daddy! Daddy!" the whole way. (Check out his face- that's what unconditional love looks like.)

I LOVE this picture!

Lydia and Carter had a blast chasing each other through the maze of pumpkin boxes. It wasn't set up to be a maze, but they are creative =)

The owner's dog decided he wanted to be a part of our pictures.

I love the smirk on his face here. He was tired and definitely ready for a nap. He started fussing a little bit, and this older man walked by and said something to him. Carter just stared at him, smirking the whole time. I don't think he realized someone (other than me) was watching the beginning of his meltdown.

EXHAUSTED!!

Sleeping Beauty

Carter is sick, so last night I slept in his room. He woke up several times last night. (Every 20 minutes-- I felt like the parent of a newborn again.) From about 5-7:30 we got some good uninterrupted sleep. When he woke up at 7:30, I thought I would try to milk a few extra minutes. I looked over and he was tossing and turning, so I closed my eyes in hopes that he would see me "sleeping" and decide to go back to sleep. A few seconds letter I felt his little lips on mine. He was waking me up with a kiss. How could I fake sleeping after that?!

Remember...

Remember last year's trip to the pumpkin patch...

Carter enjoyed this year's trip was much better!

My sister and I took Lydia and Carter to the pumpkin patch this morning. I took a lot of pictures! Once I go through and edit them, I will post some more pictures. (Don't worry, I won't post them all. But you know me, there will be a lot =-). )