Summer is Beginning

I decided that I wanted the kids to have a fun play area with swings and a slide . The swing sets you can purchase are metal or wooden. The metal swing sets are not that attractive and the wooden sets fade in color. So, Stuart suggested that we use our deck and attach the slides and swing. I said "cut into our deck and put the slide off the side of it"? At first, I was not so sure that was a good idea. But we purchased two swings and a slide for less that $100.00 and we incorporated them in our back deck and it turned out nice. I already had a sand box so they have a nice play area. But now I need to put in a $6000.00 fence to keep them in the backyard. It's funny how some ways one can save money and other ways you can not. The kids had Ice Cream Cones and played outside. Today, I checked out a library book for the kids called The Dirty Little Boy. It is a great book! I had tender moments with the kids today. We played fetch with Mojo, played with our neighbor, made birthday cards, painted rocks, and laughed at John. I took Jacob over to a friends house. Stuart and I are going to watch a movie. It was a really low keyed day but nice.

Zoo Day

I heard the alarm clock this morning and then a big loud boom. I am glad the alarm went off before the power did. A transformer blew this morning and that is not a good thing for a house full of kids that has a mom with no coffee. So, I packed up the kids early, grabbed McDonald's and headed off to the zoo. I love the Knoxville Zoo. They have a big play area for the children and there is so much to do there. They have a place to comb the goats and sheep. They have a big sand pit and play cabin. The zoo has a small water area for the kids to wade in. I made the kids walk about two miles and then took them home for a long summer's nap. They were so tired and thirsty. Then I picked Jacob up from summer school. He was not there even though I saw the bus pull off. He had ran around the back of the school with his new buddy Rick. Well, I drove home which is about a mile and turned around to pick him up again. He was walking home. When he got in the car I said "are you chewing dip?!" No, he replied it's cherry candy. Well, I said get out of my car you can walk home with your cherry candy. So, I left him on the side of the road and waited for him to get home. He came home and wanted to know what was so bad about chewing tobacco. No comment. The glorious teen years have started.

Brotherly Love

Jacob is so much older than our other two children. I believe that is why it is hard for him to relate to them. There are times when Jacob surprises me and spends time with them. I think it is important for Jacob to know his family before he goes off to college. My sister and I fought when we were younger but when we reached adulthood we became friends. The only difference is that my sister and I are only 11 months apart.


We also visited with friends at the River Bend Campground and had lots of fun. The kids played in the water and we cooked out. This picture is of a few baby ducks we were feeding.

Jake the Snake Hunter

Jacob is wild and crazy. His hyperactivity reminds me of Ty Herndon from Trading Spaces. Jacob is all over the place. He walked a few miles today, road his bike a few miles, and ran Mojo every chance he got. He drove me nuts today like that little squirrel on "Over the Hedge". It is unbelievable to me that someone can act that crazy. Then tonight when the whole family was winding down, showering off the dirt, and reading books. Jacob came in with a snake. He had found a corn snake and got great pleasure out of watching Mojo and I squirm. He was putting the snake in his mouth. Stuart made him put it out in our garden. Well, Stuart is welcome to water his own garden now.

Mojo

Yesterday, Mojo ate through two $10.00 leashes and a bag of garden fertilizer. Last week, I went out into the garage which is very uncluttered. We only keep a handful of things in the garage. Stuart had dropped off a few bags of compose mulch for his garden. Mojo tore through the bags and spread that mulch in every square inch of my garage! Then when I went out into the garage and he was laying in the middle of the big mess. I have a another child on my hands.

Climbing Roses

This is my first rose this year and the first for my house in Tennessee. Stuart and I planted climbing roses that should have been red and they bloomed yellow. Mojo walked by and bit off my only rose with one bite. Some how we have adopted a dog that knows just how to make you mad and happy at the same time!

Dandridge Learning Center (John)

John finished his last day of school today. We took boy cupcakes and girl cupcakes. We also brought a bouquet of balloons that would have made Curious George proud. But if I had thought through my actions I would have purchased eight balloons of the same color. All the kids were fighting over a certain color. Ashley was so sweet to John this morning. She ask if she could read a book to John's class and I thought that was great idea. She looked like a young lady reading to his class. John was just happy he didn't have to take a nap at school. It was a great day for the kids.

Places to Visit

Every year we take the kids to the Carl Sandburg House in Flat Rock, NC. We started the tradition with Jacob and have many wonderful memories. We have taken a long hike from one of the trails, had picnics with extended family, fed the fish, and played with the goats. You can go out and read all about the house on website http://www.nps.gov/carl/index.htm. Every visit we take the best pictures of the kids. One year Ashley was in a really cute tropical dress feeding the goats. She noticed little pebbles falling from the goats back in. Well, she decided that they needed to go back in so she picked up a handful of little rocks and followed the goat around. I question Ashley about what she was doing. She said "I need to put the rocks back in mommy the goat is dropping them everywhere". We also like to visit several of the parks in Asheville, NC area where we lived for almost seven years. We lived in Etowah, NC for three years and Arden, NC for four years. The Asheville area is a wonderful place to entertain your children. We hike, kayak on the Green River, canoed on the French Broad, and listened to outdoor concerts in Hendersonville. A few other places to visit is Lake Julian, Sliding Rock, and Dupont State Park http://www.dupontforest.com/. Also, the best place for ice cream is Dolly's near the Pisgah National Forest in Brevard, NC. They have rocking chairs on the front porch and some of the most awesome ice cream. There are some of the best summer camps for kids in that area too. Camp High Rocks, Camp Carolina, and Camp Illahee.

Ashley's Big Day

Ashley finished kindergarten today. Stuart and I joined her class to celebrate and give out awards. Ashley has grown this school year in many ways. She is reading, singing, cheering, counting, and writing. She made lots of new friends and has grown several inches too. Ashley is always willing to try something new and is not afraid. She learned to ride her own bike without training wheels at age 4. She learned to tie her shoes and climb the monkey-bars by herself. She did not miss a single day of school this year. I am so proud of my beautiful, sweet Ashley.

Parent's Day Out Program

John Richard has attended the PDO program at the First United Methodist Church for almost 1 1/2 years. This year his teacher was Miss Shannon. He loves his teacher! All preschool teachers deserve kudos for all that they do for our children. I would not teach preschool but that is not to say that I do not love kids. The PDO programs has help John in many areas of listening and waiting his turn. When we had our neighborhood cookout one of the parents asked the kids a question. John raised his hand and answered it was adorable. Also, last week John tried to take a little girl home from his class. He insisted we take her with us and I insisted her Mom might get mad at us. Then later that day he gave a little girl a handful of flowers. He is such a lady's man.

Backyard Gardening

Wow. I just planted two tomato plants, basil, Mother's Day green bean plant, chives, and a few other plants. I am worried about planting in our backyard because we have so much poison ivy. Stuart and I had to get shots last year because we had poison ivy so bad. Well, I am finished and that's all that matters. Stuart already finished all the hard work with our garden. I was just finishing up the extra plants we have not been able to put out. Yeah! I love looking at a garden but I hate working in the soil! Thank goodness for Stuart because he loves it. I am itching while I am typing I hope that's not a bad sign. All of my beautiful children finish school this week and they will be with me this summer. I am really looking forward to this summer. This will be my last summer of freedom. Next year, I hope to be an RN with a job. I will finish school in April.

Our Neighborhood "Millstone"

Last year a few times our neighborhood got together and had a cookout. I love to see all the children running around, acting crazy, and enjoying the night. My kids are in the bed by 8 on school nights so they think getting to stay up is like a birthday present. Last night we had a cookout with seven couples and eight kids. We had hamburgers, kabobs, chicken, fresh fruit, slaw, potato salad, Kevin's famous beans, and sweet tea. After eating, we sit around a open camp fire and roast marshmallows. The kids play games and ride their bikes. The children were ages 3-14 years old. It was a really enjoyable evening and perfect weather. Stuart and I enjoy sitting outside on our patio, having a fire, and listening to music. We like all kinds of music but we really like Keb Mo http://kebmomusic.com/ and Jimmy Buffet. When I was a young girl my dad listened to Jimmy Buffet at our lake house and I thought it was a curse. We also had to listen to Charlie Pride growing up. Stuart and I have gone to several Buffet concerts and they are fun!

Nieces and Nephews of the Moore and James Family

Jacob 14, Ginny 11, Anna 9, Caroline 7, Ashley 5,

Ruby 4, Wyatt 3, and John 3.
They are so much fun to watch playing and growing together. Each one has a wonderful but different personality. It is funny how Stuart and I ended up with the oldest and youngest child. John is twelve days younger than Wyatt. I wished that we all lived close together. Ginny is intelligent, elegant, helpful, and thoughtful. Anna is athletic, outgoing, happy, lots of spirit, and personable. Caroline is a bundle of wonderful qualities such as athletic, clever, creative, and caring. Miss Ruby is polite, graceful, very intelligent, and a princess. Wyatt is self determined, strong, happy, loving, and energetic. I hope that our extended family grows "hint hint" to any of my family members reading this blog. The girls Caroline, Ashley, and Ruby were so cute during Lisa's Wedding. I look forward to being an Aunt to all of them in the future!

Mother Earth (Picture Ashley's Watermelon)

The complex, resource hungry population produce news stories around the World. I receive Discover Magazine which contains stories about the environment and the human footprint on the Earth. The last article I read described the"Wet Footprint". The article detailed the water usage needed to produce clothes, meat, beverages, and vegetables. The vegetables used the least where as meat used the most. It is amazing how much water it takes to make one leather purse ( about 6,000 gallons of water). Basically every thing we eat and drink effects our water footprint. Then when Stuart got home tonight we were discussing the fact that meat has a huge impact on our footprint because it takes much more energy to produce meat than vegetables. Vegetables can be pulled out of the ground where animals have to be feed, slaughtered, shipped, and sold. I guess the idea is to buy local produce. I can not find any local produce in my own town. Every produce item in our grocery store is from a different country. I am not really sure if there is an answer but to consume less, recycle, and teach conservation to your children. Also, maybe give up the meat and leather purses!!! Grow your own vegetables and fruit. This year Stuart has planted peppers, pumpkins, watermelons, broccoli, strawberries, tomatoes, potatoes, and herbs. We have a peach tree and two apple trees. I think Stuart would be a farmer if he had a chance. Society might have to consider self-sustaining communities here in America because they are gaining popularity in other parts of the World. (Like Costa Rica-tree houses and Brazil)

Jacob and Mojo

I went on a lunch date with my husband last week. This type of occasion only happens a few times of year. We had a great meal at Wok Hay's and some very interesting mango tea. The price, service, and meal was better than we expected. After we had a great lunch, we had to turn around in downtown Knoxville. The busy four lane road we were on had come to a halt. We were laughing so hard because this women in little Honda civic was driving a stick shift and it kept cutting off. Then the car would start back and speed off only to slam on breaks again and cut off. When we finally got to a good place so we decided to turn around. Out of the corner of my eye I saw this really cute dog in a pen. We had turned around at the Humane Society Adoption Center. I had to go pet that dog. I really want my kids to grow up loving animals like I did as a child. Although, I am a cleaning freak and dog hair grosses me out. I do not want my kids to suffer because of my hangups.

My oldest son, Jacob is like the Crocodile Hunter and animals seem to be drawn to him. When we lived in Etowah, NC two dogs followed Jacob home one day and became part-time pets. He loves all animals although Mojo made him really mad today (Mojo nipped his head really hard). Jacob has had a hard school year and I really felt he needs a dog. Mojo needs Jacob too. Mojo is a human dog because he acts like a human. He can open doors, open the garage door, and thinks he owns the house. He is 11 months old and is a Irish Wolf Hound mix. We had to put him in a kennel tonight and he gave my husband this horrible look. But he will consume everything not nailed down like shoes, helmets, balls, vacuum parts, DVD cases, mini blinds, and really just about anything. We thought he was through the chewing stage but not yet apparently.

Ashley

Oh how I wished that one day I would be an elegant woman. I wanted to have long beautiful hair and nails. I wanted have all the social graces of a beauty queen and parade around in high heels. My mom and sister were closer to those things mentioned previously and I was so far from being social butterfly. My mom was in beauty padgents and my sister looked just like my mom. When my first and only beautiful daughter arrived on earth she became part of this world so gracefully. She was born with several pushes and not much pain so I decided in the hospital that she would be a marvelous creature. We named her Ashley Stuart Moore and she was a beautiful baby, inspiring toddler, and now a social butterfly. I have high hopes that she will be graceful and elegant. Living with a house full of boy (that give each other wedgies, pull fingers, and burp) she has a hard road ahead. She sits at the kitchen table with her legs crossed. She loves makeup, pocketbooks, shoes, and clothes. She begs to watch fashion shows on TV. We actually let her watch shows on HD TV until we found men parading around in there underwear. She also loves the boys and came home not to long ago saying she had four boyfriends. One was named Johnny and she drew a picture of them holding hands. She is involved in cheerleading which was something I always wanted to do.

Funny John

John Richard Moore recently turned three years old. He brings so much joy to our household. He loves life! He is bright, funny, warm, happy, curious, clever, and knows how to stand up for himself. I am usually rolling on the floor laughing and can not bring myself to punish him. I often call him Curious George and he will say "I am not Curious George I am John". John is named after my brother John Richard who died at age 10. Last week, I punished him for stepping on our new plants in the front yard and told him to sit in the corner. Ten seconds later he was screaming and crying. I walked over to John and he was shaking and not talking. He had stuck his tongue in the electrical socket. The joys of motherhood. Children are so funny about using the bathroom. You want to teach your children the proper techniques of wiping, flushing, and washing their hands. John always screams out " I ready for someone to wipe my bottom". So, of course, I run right to him thinking there is no way to know what he is doing. Last week he said " Mom come wipe my butt" so I ran up the stairs with a hand full of bath towels to hang on the hooks in the bathroom. John looked at me funny and said "Mom I do not need a towel that big to wipe my butt." Children are so literal. "I read to my children every night. I was reading a story about Jesus helping a man that had been robbed of his clothes and money. I asked John what he would do if someone took his clothes. He said "I would be naked." I heard John say something ugly to his oldest brother Jacob who is 14 years old. I said "John what did you say to you brother and his said "I called him a duck's butt". He put that name together from my favorite cartoon on TLC Peep. My house is never boring.