more marchness...

I was without my camera almost all last week...and not for any reason other than I just didn't pack it.

We spent A LOT of time outside last week, soaking up the fresh new rays of sunshine.  Every afternoon Emily pleaded to go outside and enjoy the spring sunshine and I did my very best to meet her demands.  I have been finding it incredibly hard to take pictures while holding Charlie and monitoring Jack and Emily at the park so you will just have to take my word for it that we did indeed go to the park twice last week and spent a whole afternoon gardening and playing at Grandma Emily's park. 

When we were indoors we did things like clean all six or seven pairs of CROCS.  Can you see them lurking beneath the mounds of bubbles?

 My mom found this dress I wore as a flower girl in my Uncle Gary's wedding many years ago and it made the perfect princess dress for Emily.  She loves that it touches the ground.  Apparently it is only considered a princess dress if it touches the ground...

 Grandma Emily had some dental surgery last week and was on a limited diet.  She called me one evening with desires of donuts delivered to her house.  I am not sure if I can recall the last time my mom ate a donut so I was quick to rush her over some as soon as I could.  Emily tagged along for a girls outing and picked out a fresh bouquet of daffodils to help make grandma feel better soon.

Apparently you can only buy a full dozen of donuts that late at Haggen so the kids ate the left overs for breakfast...

 Later that afternoon we had SPECIAL visitors.  Amanda brought Grace and Vince over for a very special GIRL cousin play date.  I have to say that I absolutely loved watching these two girls play together.  They went straight into Emily's room and played their little hearts away.  At one point I peeked in and over heard Emily tell Grace that she loved her and Grace kindly replied that she loved Emily too.  These are the moments I live for as a parent.  I hope these two cousins remain this close for the rest of their precious lives...

 Vince was crawling all over the place and in case you are wondering...yes, he always has that precious little grin on his face...

The best part of the day for me was some quality time with my sister-in-law, Amanda.  While we sat and chatted and chatted and chatted away, the babies contently played on the floor, took some naps and snacked on Cheerios...

After our play date was over the kids were tired and Jack pleaded to go in the "car, car" to take a drive.  I think he fell asleep before we pulled out of the driveway.  As we made our way on our daily route I suddenly felt inspired to finally talk to Emily about the passing of my Grandpa Moore.  I had been reading, praying and talking to others about how to attempt this conversation and it finally just all came together for me.  I talked to her about Grandpa Moore and remembered some recent times together with him.  Then I told her that God's angels had come to take him to heaven to live with him.  I did my best to keep it simple, not tear up and prayed she would understand.  She paused for a second and then said to me, "You mean he went to God's village?  You know mom, heaven is just God's village."  I smiled to myself, let her know that she was exactly right and then asked if she had any questions.  She wanted to know what the angels looked like and we discussed that for awhile and then she told me she didn't have any more questions. 

Last Saturday we met Auntie Jenny and Grandma Emily at Babies R Us and "helped" Auntie Jenny register for her baby on the way...

We did some well needed shopping at Nordstrom, ate at The Old Spaghetti Factory and then headed home a little early since Emily has a roaring ear ache.  

While we were having our girl day out Bryan and Jack went on a walk in the woods, found a snake and then went to Jack's favorite restaurant, Chuck Wagon.  Bryan sent me this picture from his phone...

When we got home Emily was beside herself with pain so I did my best to distract her by making "Auntie Manda's Minions" and turning on Despicable Me (a gift from Auntie Manda) but nothing seemed to touch the pain she was in.  Emily NEVER complains when she is hurt so I knew it had to be pretty bad but on a Saturday night the only option would have been a trip to the Emergency Room. So I doctored her up with some Tylenol and headed to Urgent Care early the next morning...

You can see the pain all over her face...poor sweet girl...

On Sunday I spent the first three hours of the morning with Emily at Urgent Care and filling prescriptions at Haggen.  We came home with lots of goodies and another doctor kit ($1.99 from the grocery store) to help make her feel better.  She ended up with an ear infection in both ears so I was happy that we took the time to take her in.  Back at home Bryan was getting ready to head up to Nooksack to celebrate Grandma Jones' birthday.  We quickly made plans for me to stay home with Emily and Charlie but I made a last minute call to see if it would be alright to bring Emily on up. I knew that if we stayed home Emily would be DEVASTATED and I already felt so bad for her.  Those Joneses were happy to have her so off we went and Emily played her little heart out the whole afternoon... 

 Grandma Jones had the kids working hard making lefse...

Look how much these kiddoes have grown up just since last year...

While Jack slept and Emily was baking, Charlie hung out with the grownups...

When Jack finally woke up he headed straight for the coup car in the garage to join in on all of the fun...

Since Emily had an earache Grandpa Jones let the kids blow their bubbles INSIDE the garage.  I think we owe him big time...

Before everyone was off we tried for one final photo shoot of Grandma Jones and all her grand kids.  We attempted forcing Grace and Jack in the picture...

...and then settled with getting what we could with those who wanted to be photographed...

Emily didn't complain about her ear ache to whole time we were visiting. Sometimes I think the best remedy is to be with the people you love, have a lot of fun and take your mind off what is hurting you.  FAMILY is the best medicine you can get.

Obituary...

Below is the link to my Grandpa Moore's obituary...
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/skagitvalleyherald/obituary.aspx?n=jack-moore&pid=149760473

POP!

Filling in the time...

...and soaking up family.

Last week we spent most of our time with family and visiting the hospital.  Although it was an extremely emotional week there were many happy moments to celebrate in between...

Emily had a field trip to the library on St. Patrick's Day...

When we received word from the doctors that things were not looking very hopeful for Grandpa, Jenny and Zach immediately made plans to come up and spend time together as family. After an emotional day at the hospital, Uncle Zach had the great idea to hit up the Taco Truck.  He was so excited about his first trip there that he ordered over $30 worth of food...that is A LOT of food from a Taco Truck...

Later that evening everyone gathered at our house for an impromptu St. Patrick's Day dinner.  I always make corned beef and potatoes for Bryan even though I can hardly stand to look at the stuff.  We ended up with quite the feast of special green treats (key lime pie and cupcakes) thanks to Grandma Emily and Grandma Patti...

On Friday night we had a mellow evening talking to each other and gorging on pizza...

 

Charlie showed off his new trick of putting his whole foot in his mouth...

On Saturday the men spent the whole day moving all of my grandpa's stuff out of the retirement center he had been living in before he became ill three weeks ago. They were a tired bunch but eager to get a fire going and celebrate our first fire of the year...

Charlie has definitely become a Grandpa's boy.  These two are completely inseparable...

While Jack slept, Emily spent her time riding her bike around the neighborhood with Daddy and Auntie Jenny, until she finally settled in by the fire...

Baby Mitchell popped out of Auntie Jenny's jacket to give us a little preview of her growing belly.  I cannot begin to describe how excited I am to meet that precious baby.  It is hard to believe that 5 months have passed already and in only 4 more months we will finally have a cousin on my side of the family...

These boys were hungry so my dad whipped up the biggest burger Bryan had ever eaten...

Love these peeps...

When our bellies were full the marshmallows took over...

...and with a little help from grandpa and Auntie Jenny, Emily had the best smore ever...

Jenny was sporting the camping gear look to keep warm while the rest of us froze...

Just when we thought Grandpa Jim was the best marshmallow roaster helper ever, he accidentally landed a whole marshmallow in Emily's hair.  It was the messiest, stickiest thing every.  While I tried to figure out how we were ever going to get it out Emily reassured us that the barber would just cut it out...

The marshmallow incident lead to a crazy marshmallow brawl in the yard...

I am so grateful for a fun filled, goofy dad who is always up for a good time.  I laughed so hard by cheeks began to ache and tears streamed down my face.  Maybe it is the Moore in us, but we love silly moments like this.  When it was all over I sat and looked around at the marshmallow mess around us, wiped the tears of laughter from my eyes and chuckled to myself as I thought about my grandpa.  He was a quiet man, appeared serious to others but for those of us who knew him well he was a fun filled, silly man just like my dad.  I knew that if he had been here with us he would have thrown a few marshmallows as well.

Things finally quieted down, we put out the fire and Emily escorted Grandpa to the barn to say goodnight to the trolls and turn out the lights...

Jack finally woke up (with some help from Bryan) from his four hour nap.  He went straight to Grandpa and snuggled in for the night...

Is that my boy or what with a WHOLE bag of Salt and Vinegar chips for dinner?

The rest of the crew snuggled together on the couch...

I got up early the next morning with plans to finally go spend some one on one time with my grandpa.  I finally had Bryan home to watch ALL of the kids for me and I was anxious to spend some quiet time praying and just being alone with grandpa.  Unfortunately my dad called before I could get out of the house and let me know the news.  Somehow I already knew deep inside my heart but it hurt just as bad nonetheless.

We have been spending the rest of the days playing tea parties, reading books and doing all those things you  as a mother.  The laundry is piled to the sky, the floor is covered with toys and there are a million things on my "To Do list" that will be remaining there for the time being.

When I feel the need to cry I find a room to do it in away from the kids.  I haven't had the heart to talk to Emily about her Great Grandpa Moore and am in constant prayer to find the right words to discuss it with her.  During hospital visits I had the kids wait in the car or stay with Grandma Emily.  Bryan and I are both strong advocates of protecting the innocents of a child and when you have a child as sensitive as Emily you want nothing in the world to upset her, especially at such an impressionable young age.  While I know the conversation will need to take place in the next week, I am praying for the strength to remain unemotional and blessed with the right words...

Grandpa Jack...

Grandpa Jack Moore made his way to heaven last night.  While this has been an emotional last three weeks, I am encouraged knowing that he is in a much better place and finally reunited with grandma.  Envisioning the two of them finally together...peaceful... helps my heart heal.  My mind has been occupied rerunning old clips of our favorite times together...camping, fishing and just being together as family.  I feel so blessed knowing that my children were given the opportunity to spend time with him and I will forever cherish every memory.

His legacy lives on in the faces of my children.  Every time I look into Jack's deep blue eyes I see the reflection of my grandfather looking back at me.  These two share a lot in common and I pray that Jack will one day grow up to inherit all of the traits that I admire in my grandfather, my father and Bryan. 

Times like this remind us of the importance of family.  I want to spend every minute of every day soaking up every bit of life with family.  We are so blessed with the time we have together and it reminds me to make the best of every moment, live life to the fullest and never let a day pass without being grateful for the time we are given here together.