Merry Christmas Y'all

Merry Merry Christmas everyone!

Well, we've had a great year. Richard graduated with his Master's in Electrical Engineering, and will periodically insist on being referred to (or deferred to) as Master of All Things Electronic, or, Moate. He rolled right into the doctorate program with a slightly stressful entrance exam week. Once again we spent the summer in Lorton, VA just south of DC while Richard worked at Night Vision Labs at Fort Belvoir. We made some good friends and are looking forward to going back this summer. Richard is also happy to report that the music scene is going well, that is, he's acquired a couple more keyboards (including a long sought after Wurlitzer) and a twelve-string guitar. One Way Ticket, the garage band, has recently lost some members but we're trying to hold it together. Richard also has joined me in the River City Band playing the bassoon.

Hannah is everyday becoming a better person, and I am ridiculously proud of her. She is really enjoying preschool and has mastered writing her name, and so now it can be seen on almost every scrap of paper in our house. She has also become Sam's teacher, friend, and on occasion disciplinarian. As she says, “I love to share and I love to take care of you, Sam!”

Hannah and Sam are definitely each other's best friends. In fact, the only reason this post is possible is because they have played together so well this morning! Sam is now an official “big boy” and will no longer let us call him baby boy. He is in the middle of the terrible twos and is not afraid to throw himself on the floor screaming, but usually he is still a sweet kid.

I'm doing great. The River City Band continues to be a wonderful creative outlet for me, and I look forward to pursuing my graduate degree in the near future. I am surrounded by family and friends, and glad to be home. We are all very happy and hope that you are too-

the moores

(by the way, the video quality on blogger is, well, not spectacular. If anyone wants a better video I can email it to them. The file is about 42mb)

Indigo Girls

The Indigo Girls are coming to the University of Memphis on New Year's Eve and we have tickets!!! YEAH!

Okay, actually I am a dofus. they are coming January 31, which is not new years eve, which I did not realize until December 31st at about 6 pm. But we are still going!!

Queen of the Cuddly

In an effort to perfect her morning cartoon experience, Hannah gathered and piled everything soft, fuzzy and cuddly onto the couch. Sam was invited only after much debate.

Merry Christmas!

Hannah and I decorating the tree. Merry Christmas all!

Et tu, Brute?

This afternoon, as I was blithely pouring a cup of chocolate milk, Hannah, in response to something Sam did, suddenly exclaims "Great Caesar's Ghost!"

I almost dropped the milk.

It turns out that that is a favorite expression of Tasha the hippo on the Backyardigins.

Monkey with a typewriter

Richard went ahead and gave me a Christmas present early this year- the Canon 100mm macro lens. I feel rather like a monkey with a typewriter; I just keep clunking away and eventually I catch something good! It's an incredible lens, fast, stunningly sharp, no aberrations to speak of, great for macro and portrait.

I won't subject ya'll to all the crazy pictures we've been taking lately, but here's a sampling

Penny

Here's to Penny, the best dog I have ever met. She is great with the kids, she won't run off when you open the gate, and she's always happy to see me, even if I don't pet her (allergies).

She's officially Brian's dog, but like all the others it's dad who really takes care of her. :)

A day in the park

pumpkin cookies

Halloween day Hannah's preschool had a party and we decorated pumpkin shaped cookies. It was fun to see how each of the kids iced their cookies- the boys mostly heaped a buncha on, a few used the orange and green icing to make it look just like a pumpkin, and Hannah created an intricate purple-blue pattern with a pink center.

Mr. Princess

The perils of having an older sister....

If the cute, pink, butterfly watering can wasn't in the way you could see his belly poking out over the skirt.

Michelle's Pumpkin

Michelle made an AMAZING pumpkin from a picture she found of a tiger. I'll let her tell you about it:
I call this peace of art "Awesome Tiger Carving" well because I did it. It took a lot longer than I thought it would.

Here it is lit up Halloween Night:











And here's the pic that inspired her:

Happy Halloween!

We went trick-or-treating three times this year, once at church, once at Nick and Sweetie's neighborhood (Sarah's parents) and once at Chief and Zannah's neighborhood (Richard's parents). The result was a LOT of candy; so much so that I made Richard take half of it up to school to share! Hannah and Sam were both pirates- Hannah was the captain, and sam was the matie or the schwabbie, depending. Enjoy the snapshots!

Mmmm Mmmm candy nerds! the best part of trick-or treating is dumping out all the booty!









Trick of Treating at the spooky house! So brave! (anything for candy)







Hannah the pirate Captain











The best part was when Spongebob answered the door, especially since we were expecting a princess!










Awwwww....

Pumpkin Patch

They sure are cute, those two...urmmm...errk..I can't help it....Pumkinpatch kids.

We've been tagged!

Kayleen "tagged" me a long ago, and it is a testament to our friendship that I am finally following through! Here you go!-

Sarah 4 jobs I have had 1. Full-time nanny for four ADORABLE kids 2. Bursar assistant at Christian Brothers University 3. Closing assistant at Fearnly and Califf Real Estate Law Office 4. ummm... mom? does that count? 4 movies I can watch over and over 1. Sneakers 2. Lord of the Rings (Peter Jackson) 3. Pride and Prejudice (6 hour BBC version) 4. Star Wars, of course 4 places I have lived 1. Anaheim, CA 2. Salt Lake City, UT 3. ummmmm......Memphis, TN 4. Lorton, VA 4. Guilty Pleasures 1. good books that you just can't put down 2. Salt and vinegar chips (yum) 3. Old school video games 4. taking a hot shower until all the hot water in the neighborhood is gone 4 Favorite Foods 1. Breakfast: Everything Bagels, buttered and toasted to perfection 2. Lunch: Cream of Potato soup, with cheese melted on top 3. Dinner: Sarah's legendary Lasagna, secret family recipie 4. snack: Bryer's cookies and cream ice cream 4 websites I visit 1. Photo.net 2. Homestarrunner 3. Ubuntu (linux) help forums 4. Random Blogs 4 places I'd rather be right now 1. enjoying naptime (oh, wait, I am) 2. The Main Library 3. an Iris Symphony concert 4. Hiking the AT in the spring before the bugs are out 4 Books I love: 1. Persuasion, Northanger Abbey, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park (Jane Austen) 2. East of Eden (Steinbeck) 3. The Tao of Pooh (Benjamin Hoff) 4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 4 Things I would like to know I'm learning how to do 1. Stunning photography 2. Play clarinet...better 3. Write something (anything) that won't embarrass me when I re-read it 4. control my temper 4 things I worry about 1. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AFTER RICHARD GRADUATES!!!!!!?????? 2. what if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about? 3. It's too quiet. What are Hannah and Sam doing?! 4. Actually, pretty much everything. especially the kids. everything. yep. 4 Happy Moments 1. "Mommy!" and a big hug 2. Sitting in the comfy recliner in front of the warm sunny window, reading, and just..dozing..off... 3. Watching the kids play nicely together 4. Listening to an orchestra warm up 4 things I want to do this year or in the future 1. Get my graduate degree 2. Add a baby to this already crazy family 3. visit freinds 4. finish this post

Richard 4 jobs I have had 1. Movie theater grunt 2. Pizza man 3. cage fighting champion 4. Researcher with the U.S. Army's Night Vision Labs 4 movies I can watch over and over 1. Thomas the Tank Engine 2. The Blues Clues Movie 3. Cinderella 4. Veggie Tales: Lord of the Beans These are the only movies that I have see over and over. For this reason, I know that I CAN watch them repeatedly. Since it is untested, it is possible that my repeated viewing of other movies would prove physically impossible for me. 4 places I have lived 1. Murmfus, TN 2. Bakersfield, CA 3. Provo, UT 4. Lorton, VA 4. Guilty Pleasures 1. Scaring the elderly 2. Faking Tourette Syndrome 3. Biting things 4. Vigorous nose picking 4 Favorite Foods 1. Breakfast: sausage and egg biscuit 2. Lunch: cheese steak 3. Dinner: Sarah's quiche 4. snack: Snoopy fruit snacks 4 websites I visit 1. slashdot.org 2. musicthing.blogspot.com 3. craigslist.org (still waiting for that $100 clavinet posting) 4. www.homestarrunner.com, to help cheer me up after I check craigslist and there are STILL no clavinets for sale in Memphis for under $200 4 places I'd rather be right now 1. out in the electronic music dungeon (our detached garage) 2. in my state-of-the-art mansion on a Lunar colony 3. in Hans Zimmer's modular synth studio 4. 5 years in the future, when I'm done with school, have a job, and there's no longer anything to worry about 4 Books I love: 1. Fourier Optics, by Joseph Goodman 2. the Burle Electro Optics Handbook 3. The Day of the Locust, Nathanael West 4. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams 4 Things I would like to know I'm learning how to do 1. Program in C/C++ 2. Play bassoon 3. Kill all of the mosquitoes in the world 4. oh yeah, be an electrical engineer 4 things I worry about 1. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN AFTER RICHARD GRADUATES!!!!!!?????? 2. When will someone claim the pass the Turing test and win the Loebner prize? 3. When will we have consumer-level quantum computers? 4. What if music on the radio never stops sucking? 4 Happy Moments 1. Hearing the kids giggle when I tickle them. 2. Spinning Hannah and Sam in the office chair really fast. 3. eating 4. When I write a program and it works the first time I run it. 4 things I want to do this year or in the future 1. Finish my PhD 2. kill all of the mosquitoes in the world 3. build a harpsichord or clavichord 4. build a modular synthesizer

Absolutely revolting

This post goes out to all of you living in the DRY, mid-west, like Arizona and Utah. Especially those who used to live in muggy Memphis! Here you go- one mound of mushrooms, a foot in diameter, fresh from the backyard.

We usually get a few good 'shrooms when it rains, but I have to admit I am particularly impressed with this batch. I didn't even kick it over.

I get the heebie-jeebies whenever I look at this one.

Catepillars and Curiosity

One day we're going to do some research and keep a caterpillar so we can watch it change into a butterfly, but until then we'll just have to be satisfied with chance meetings at the park.

Sea Lion Bubble

The Memphis Zoo, really and truly, is a great place. They have a (relatively) new exhibit- the Northwest Passage- that has the new Polar bears, as well as the sea lions and bald eagle. The polar bears are so great. They will swim right up to the glass, beautiful and huge. But what is really neat is the sealion exhibit. They built in a "bubble" that's about three feet deep, and when you're sitting in it you really feel like you're in the tank! Today one of the sea lions was doing a loop, coming right up to the bubble an flipping around. The first time that sea lion appeared and flipped Sam just about fell over! We must have stayed there half an hour, just watching him come and go.

Painting the Garage

Those of you who have seen our garage out back know that it is...ummmm....tired. Now that we've gotten the house pretty much how we like it, we've been spending most of our free time (okay, not most of our free time. just enough free time to make us feel like we're working really hard) fixing it up. Now we can walk into the garage without kicking things out of the way and actually find stuff (we had a camper in there! who knew?!). Richard replaced the outside door, since the old one was, quite literally, falling apart- he's standing on the remains. And today we painted the outside of the garage. Well, the front of the outside. One coat. We had to stop sooner than we planned, because Sam was using all the paint on himself. Hannah and sam each have a small tupperware and a watercolor paintbrush. They were a BIG HELP!!!

Magnolia wings

This evening Hannah took to flight. She grabbed a handful of Magnolia leaves and announced that she was going to fly right now! I don't think the tree begrudged her the leaves too much- she's just too cute!

(I think this is a cool shot because I kept a relatively long shutter speed to capture all the movement from her flight- but I also let off a burst of flash to freeze her expression as well. It was my first try at this)

Hannah's Haircut

Hannah got her second real haircut today (sniff sniff). She had gotten tired of having beautiful, luxurious, flowing long hair because it would get so tangled. So she told me she wanted her hair short like mine. And she looks great! I got in trouble with Jennifer (the stylist) for doing such a mediocre job cutting her hair in the past, so I am officially fired. But...that's probably for the best, since I don't know what I'm doing! Hannah loved being the princesss and center of attention.

Mud Island

Today was playgroup and we went to Mud Island. For those of you who don't know what Mud Island is, or for those of you who have heard of it but never bothered to go (shame on you)...Mud Island is a rare gem in Memphis, that is, a really cool place to go if you're under 10. And, incidentally, free, if you know how to get there without using the monorail (which debuts in such John Grisham movies as.......um....one of them...). Mud Island is a concrete scale replica of the mighty Mississippi River, complete with running water, and if your parents are cool (and Catherine and I are sooo cool) they will let you walk in the river, climb over small bridges and under large ones. Chandler, Hannah and Sam walked the Mississippi from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico, undaunted by spooky bridges with trolls. We had a blast.

Tuesday in the Backyard

This summer the only thing our backyard lacked was its own personal swimming pool. So I grabbed one at wal-mart and inflated the whole thing by myself. The kids had a blast. sam is right to cringe. That hose water is COLD! We didn't even get the pool half filled before the kids were cold and wanted to go inside. He's got his plans for getting even, though. Just as soon as he figures out how to make it shoot.

that's not candy

Tampax has a new strategy for tampons. Now they come in a super-compact size to easily fit in your purse, and in an assortment of different bright and exciting colors. As a result, they don't look anything like tampons at all! In fact, they look like little candy bars. Which is exactly what Sam thought they were last sunday. He kept running back and forth from the bathroom to the kitchen with what he thought was a little treat and asking excitedly "candy?". We finally had to open one to set him straight. Now whenever he sees one he sadly informs me "not candy."

Balloon Head

There are few things in life more funny than watching the man you love and respect inflate a purple glove on his head. It's even better than watching your girlfriend stuff 14 grapes in her mouth. Or belching in front of your bishop. Or even walking in to the living room in your skivvies before you realized your brother-in-law was there. Ahhh....the lengths we go to just to make complete fools of ourselves.

Not long after this picture the glove exploded.

Richard finally confessed he learned how to do this on his mission.

Don't Stop Believin'

Back by popular demand, the goofy street sign. Only this time, we didn't have to edit anything! Germantown vandalism at it's best.

Do Journey proud and start singin'

water park

We went to the Collierville water-spray park today, since it was 105 outside. Hannah had a blast, but it took Sam a while to get into it. It's just so great to be back home.

Four Feet

Four feet, but only two were dancing in food dye a moment ago!

Good Morning

It's best just not to talk to me when I first get up in the morning. Give me some time. Like an hour or two. or three.

....And we're back

Well, we made it back to Memphis (YEAH!) and are LOVING being back home. (Sorry for the long break in posts, our internet was seriously on the fritz and it took a while to get up and running again.)

On the way home we stopped at Cracker barrel for lunch, and had a nice checker break. The best way to play checkers, according to Sam, is to stack them as high as you can and then knock them down. It's even better if you can knock your sister's down, too.

Mmmmmm...Tasty!!

Hannah requested a cheese and peanut butter sandwich. We decided to also include honey, lettuce, and licorice. It's really good dipped in beef broth like a po boy. And drizzled with chocolate syrup.

I just want everyone to know that the sandwich was Richard's idea.

behind the blinds

The blinds ate Hannah. I had to choose between trying to pull her out at the last minute and save her, or getting a really cool picture by which to remember her. Enjoy the picture everyone!

face, er, body painting

Night Vision Labs (Richard's work) had a picnic today! We all got to go onto the compound and see where Richard works and meet a bunch of his colleagues. That was exciting for me, since I hadn't been allowed to get past security before. Just as I expected, it looked like a place where a bunch of engineers work- effective, efficient, and a bit disorganized.. He fits right in.
They had face painting at the picnic, and Hannah really liked that. She got a rainbow on her leg and a star rainbow in her arm. She had a green butterfly on her cheek, but she cried it off.

Booster seat

If you're asking yourself "what is he doing?" then know that you are not the first one. This is sam, and his booster seat, standing on the couch. He was once content to simply eat in his seat, but before long he was scooting along the kitchen floor, accompanied by a herrung, herrung, herrung. That's how I would know he was done with his hot dog.
But now, when he's done eating he just gets up, seat and all. And he can run, jump, climb onto the couch and even onto our bed. And since we all laugh (uncontrollably; this is really funny in action) he runs around saying "funny! funny! funny!"

a few moore cute stories

We have started reading the Book of Mormon stories with the kids. Sam participates because afterwards, if you pay attention, you get a scripture treat (a skittle). Anyway, I jokingly asked Sam to pick the story tonight and he started singing (and dancing) chop, chop, chop arms; chop, chop, choooop aaarms!

Hide-and-go-seek is a regular game here. There has been one very serious and necessary change to the rules, though, when playing with Hannah. Instead of yelling "ready or not, here I come!", it is wise to just ask "Are you ready?"

And I have quit cleaning. This is really due to our own safely, actually. Recently the carpet in our apartment has taken to suddenly bursting into flames of molten lava. Or torrents of rushing white-water rapids. Or, rarely, but very scary (try saying that fast) colonies of very tiny belly-tickling monsters. So you never know when you are going to need a couple shirts, a few pillows, some scraps of paper and a couple blankets to get you safely from one room to the next.

swimmin' in the sun

It's all in her head

The results are in, and the verdict: She's faking it. All. We had quiche for dinner tonight, and Hannah loved it. She ate it all, and got Sam to eat his. that's right, Quiche, involving spinach and broccoli. Hannah usually picks the oregano out of her spaghetti, gets distressed if her hot dog touches the ketchup before she is ready, and gags herself on an assortment of other veggie-laden dinners. But, tonight, when she saw the amount of cheddar cheese that goes into a quiche, she decided that she simply loves it.

Haircut

Sam does not, not, not, not, not like getting his hair cut at all! As soon as he saw the clippers he backed away saying nooooo n no no noowwaaa! But I prevailed.
Poor boy, I don't think he is ever going to grow out of that swirlee at his front hairline.

A minor modification

Sarah didn't believe I could make this work without wrecking her laptop, but sure enough, the back can be pulled off the laptop cover to expose whatever is behind it. The LCD screen is just a transparent array of liquid crystal cells that can block light by rotating light polarization with respect to a polarizing filter. I wonder why they don't sell laptops like this? Maybe people find it too distracting.

The Nanny

When Sarah and I need a break, we go out and leave the kids in the care of the trusty old acoustic guitar case. As can be seen in the photo Sammy has grown quite fond of his 'uh-tar' nanny. There are some other shots of the guitar case with Sammy at the park and playing in the tub, but Hannah took them and they are badly focused, so we won't post them.

More fire!!!!!!!

Because fire is fun! One shot is of me writing our last name with a sparkler (hey, nice penmanship!). The other is one that I took as I was being attacked by a Roman candle - I will put myself in great peril to obtain good images for the blog.

Bye to Lala

Laura left us this morning at 4am and we are all sad and missing her. The kids love aunt Lala and I really enjoyed her company. But I think they miss Jason more- he would play with them and throw them around more! Yesterday Laura and I went to colonial beach, (the camera batteries were dead, sorry, no pictures). It was part of the Potomac, not the Atlantic, so the waves were mild and the sand was rocky, but that was perfect, really, because what more could a kid want than sand and rocks and small waves? After a while even sam would get into the water up to his waist by himself. When we got home I asked hannah "That was fun, huh? Am I the best mom ever or what?" Hannah, saucy little cheek, replied "what!!"

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July!
We all (richard, me, Hannah, sam, laura and jason) went to visit Sam and Tom for the 4th. baby Gaetano is just as cute a baby as you could want. He's also a nice, even-tempered baby, which made richard and I inwardly VERY jealous. We had a cookout, and played an Eighties trivia game (Tom spanked us all). We had plans to go down to the potomac and watch the fire works, but we were all tired and Jason had to leave early in the morning, so we did sparklers instead. It was a blast! Sam was a bit scared of all the booming from surrounding fireworks, but he was happy if someone would just hold him. Richard had the bright idea to take some sparklers pictures with a slow shutter speed- so we could see what we were drawing in the air.
Sam (Samantha) was, by far, the most talented. Here's her shining star.

Penalty

We knew it was tough trying to make it out here in Virginia, but we had no idea just how tough until we visited the historic site of Woodchase, once a part of George Washington's estate. Apparently, being handicapped is offensive enough to people around here that not only will they impose a heavy fine, but they are going to tow away anyone audacious enough to roll onto the historic lawns.
I mean, really.
If you're going to make such a sign, at least do it right. Here's how it should look: