Santa Picture 2012

Defining My Children

Brooke  noun  [bruk] - 1. girl who travels from one point to the next by cartwheel,  2. serves humankind by identifying the mistakes of others so as to bring the world closer to perfection,  3. quiet child who communicates her affections with the written word

Alixandra  noun  [a-lehk-SAN-druh]  1. girl who lives in extremes as evidenced by her description of each day as either the "BEST day ever!" or "WORST day ever!"  2. child who is small in stature but fierce in spirit (see lioness),  3.  a smile giver


Ryder  noun  [ri-der]  1. large child who can empty you of all energy with his excessive activity and then return that lost energy with the sweetest of smiles  2. male baby of extreme size, 3. one who seeks out the sounds of children playing so that he may observe and join

Ali Recites Luke 2:8-11 with PASSION!

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ICS Field Day 2012

Put on your tie-dyed shirts and let's have some field day fun!

Ali hits the bounce house - a highlight for her.

Brooke takes her turn at the long jump

He's just happy to be with his sissies for the day!

Ali and her bud Audrey

Third graders in pink shirts

My sweet Ali with her face painted

Sweet first grade friends

Brooke and her bestie, Gracie, get snow cones

What a fun day!

Squirrel Hunting

My sweet blondie killed a squirrel this weekend.

If Steve were writing this post it would be filled with pride, excitement, boasting, and thrilling details. Mommy will do her best. :)

After taking Ali out for her "Experience", Steve decided to take Brooke squirrel hunting. They had practiced shooting soda cans in the front pasture and apparently, Brooke is a pretty good shot. She shot five cans in a row without missing. Steve made sure the girls were prepared for seeing a cute fuzzy squirrel lying dead on the ground. They were cool with it and so they were off on an adventure. In a matter of minutes, they were back with their trophy.

Brooke saw her target up in the tree, took her shot and hit it on the first try. Wow! Those skills did not come from the Fogle side! She was so excited, retelling the whole story with a big ole grin on her face. Daddy "butchered" Mr. Squirrel and yes, fried it up in the pan. Apparently squirrel mixed with yellow rice and beans is "DELICIOUS!"

Meanwhile, mommy did her best to keep her cool and her disinfecting wipes close by. In spite of my squirminess over dead squirrels in my house I do cherish the fact that my kids have their daddy to share these kinds of experiences with them.

THEN, a few days later I get an email from Brooke's teacher. As soon as I see the work "squirrel" in the email, I froze. I was proud of my girl and her big accomplishment, but I wasn't quite sure if ICS was ready for an 8-year old squirrel hunter story. This is what she said:

I just love Brooke and loved her hunting with dad and shooting a squirrel story! She is so petite and quiet and sweet and she awed all the kids when she told that story!! They were all like, "Wow, Brooke! That is so amazing!" 

Mrs. D.

I just laughed and pictured her sharing her big story before the whole class. I bet her classmates see her in a whole new light now!

More Roller Skating!

The girls LOVE going roller skating on Saturday mornings. We don't get to do it near enough as much as they'd like, but we squeeze it in when we can. This time Brooke invited her best friend, Gracie, to roll with us.

Skating by, hand in hand.

Ali is getting really good at her skating. She's come so far!

And here is my goofy little man (aka. Mommy's excuse not to skate)

How I LOVE those eyelashes!

It won't be long before Ryder is rolling by too.

Ali and Daddy have and "Experience"

As hunting season approaches the girls have become very curious and interested in daddy's hunting plans. Steve took Ali out into the woods very early this morning to look for wildlife. We have a tree stand set up on our property and they sat there for almost 2 hours to watch the sun come up, spot some turkey and deer, and take some fun pictures.

When Ali came back to the house I asked her if she shot anything. She said, "No. We were just having an experience." She had a blast though and pictures are adorable. With Mommy's help, she made a little slideshow with her pictures.

Halloween 2012

Meet the DeMoor cast of Halloween characters!

The Butterfly, the Peacock and the Zebra!

Our beautiful butterfly, Brooke! We made her wings from a kite.

Our silly little Peacock, Alixandra!

And that cute little baby zebra is Ryder John Robert, wearing the same costume that Brooke wore as a baby.

We had an unusually chilly Halloween, but stayed warm running from house to house with our friends, The Lavendars. 

Spooooky Dinner!

On the night before Halloween I decided to throw a spooky Halloween dinner for the girls. It was kind of last minute but I found some really cute ideas online that would keep it simple but fun. I surprised the girls with invitations on their car seats after school. They looked a little nervous at first but I reassured them that it wouldn't be scary.

Our Spoooooky Table

On the menu:

Eyeballs (Meatballs and green olives)

Goblin Teeth (Apple slices with marshmallows)

I filled some glass bottles with colored water and labeled them Poison, Zombie Slime and Monkey Blood. Eewww, gross!

Witch's Brew

Jack-o-lantern peppers with spaghetti inside!

Steve's creation :) 

And for dessert, graveyard pudding cups!

The girls had a blast and I was giddy setting up for it. Love to see big smiles on their faces!

Our Little Pumpkin

Love Notes

After finishing a science experiment in the kitchen I ran up to our school room to grade Brooke's math.

This is what I found on the door...

And this is what I found inside...

What an amazing kid. How did I get to be so lucky that I get to call her mine?

Steve's 38th Birthday

Happy Birthday DADDY!!!

We had a great time celebrating this amazing man! He loves us so well with his hard work, careful protection and endless wisdom. Life without him would be so BORING! He brings life and excitement to our family and is a never-ending expression of love in our lives. We never have to wonder if he loves us because we hear it every day!

The girls made homemade cards for their daddy.

Ryder gave daddy a very silly card with his look-alike on the front. Can you see the resemblance?

Over the weekend we had a little party for Steve at the house with family, friends and TRAMPOLINE!

We fried up some gator (Steve's specialty) and had a great time hanging out with family and our friends the Neilsens, Clines and Wolfes

We love you Steve! Happy Birthday!