Okinawa

Ben emailed us some pictures from his adventures in Japan. He says it's a lot more interesting than the desert but he's ready to come home. We're ready to have him home--and glad that the homecoming is only a week away!

Ben at the Okinawa Aquarium.

This is the Okinawa Peace Park, a memorial of the Battle of Okinawa during WWII.

These walls list the names of all the Japanese and American soldiers.

Ben next to all the Moores that are listed.

At the Japanese Naval Underground in a room where a bunch of soldiers killed themselves to prevent capture.

The Tooth Fairy's Going Broke!

Earlier this week, Eli lost one of his two front teeth, but the other one has been hanging on by threads for days now. You can see in the first picture what he looked like after we pulled the first tooth.

Today I finally convinced him to let me pull the other one out (I told a tiny white lie... that if he didn't let me pull it out that it would rot and ruin the new tooth coming in... aww, come on! I had to get him to let me pull it out--it was driving me crazy!)

So, we get the dental floss and I tie a loop in it and go for the top tooth. Before I can get there he points to one on the bottom and says, "No, Mom! It's this one!" And flop, out comes one of the teeth on the bottom. This kids teeth are falling out left and right!


After a little more "you're teeth are going to rot out of your head" and "you'll get DOUBLE money from the Tooth Fairy", he finally lets me pull out the top tooth as well.

Here's the after shot . . . good thing Carli won't lose her teeth any time soon--the Tooth Fairy's broke after tonight!

Haircuts!

Eli and Carli both got haircuts this weekend. Eli's hair grows like wildfire, so I had her cut it really short and hopefully it will last a month or so.

Carli is adorable with a pageboy, so we went with that this time.






They were both really good at the haircutting place and both held really still. The funny thing is that while we were waiting to be called back there was another kid there who was throwing a royal fit. That poor mom kept putting him back up in the chair and threatening him with all sorts of things. "No playstation!" "No candy!" It was sort of humorous, but I felt bad for her! The kid was also at least two years older than Eli. I had a proud mom moment when they both climbed up in the chairs and submitted cheerfully to the scissors. I think they both turned out well, although I'm going to have to straighten up Carli's bangs.

Carli and Sammy make great playmates. This video is nothing spectacular, although I just love how much Sammy loves Carli and how much she makes him laugh. I know Ben will enjoy this video--two months doesn't seem like a long to be away, but when you're only 10 months old, it makes a big difference!

This one is Carli doing Superman. She is laughing like a maniac the whole time! Sammy thought it was hilarious and he was trying to get the camera out of my hands as well--thus the fabulous camera work.

Clone Wars

Everybody better watch out, there are some new Clone Troopers in the neighborhood!
Eli (and thus, Carli) has been really into Star Wars: The Clone Wars lately. We saw the movie for his birthday and now there is a new cartoon on TV. He loves playing the Clone Wars games on the computer and he printed off these masks for himself and Carli to play with. He got the guns for his birthday as well, and they have a good time playing with them.
I think they're very cute (and kind of freaky too!).

Carlidiculous!

Carli, Carli, Carli. What to do with this little girl. Last night my family had a conference call, so I put Sammy in bed and let Eli and Carli watch cartoons. As I talked I was so grateful that the kids were quiet--not knowing that there was secret havoc going on upstairs! After I got off the phone, I took the kids up to bed and discovered that Carli had gotten a hold of a brand new tube of concealer and decorated her carpet and bed with it. Then, realizing that she was probably in big trouble, she got a squirt bottle with water in it and tried to clean it up. AAH! I did manage to get most of the stains out, but I'm going to have to get the carpet machine out today and get the rest.



It's a good thing she balances acts like the one above with those in these pictures. Last week I went up to turn off her lamp and kiss her good night and this is what I found. Little Piglet tucked into a cute little bed, snug as a bug in a rug.



Carli and I also had a great conversation the other day. She was in the bathroom with me while I put on my makeup and she was playing with the three rugs on the floor. She says to me, "Mommy, when I was a baby I peed on this rug... (pointing) and I poohed on this rug." And I say, "I know, those were accidents, huh? But you don't do that anymore, cause you're a big girl now!" "Yeah," she says, "Now I do it in my bed." =)

Spooky Fun

For Halloween last night Sammy was a bumblebee, Carli was Tinker Bell and Eli was a spooky ghost. We went to the Trunk-or-Treat at the church which was really fun! They really put a lot of work into it and the kids really enjoyed all of the games. Eli especially loved the football toss (they had tied a tire swing to the basketball hoop and the kids got to throw the football through it). The prize for that one was a can of soda--so that made Eli happy too! Carli mostly just stood quietly by my side and asked for prizes. She didn't want to play anything, she just wanted the candy!
After the party we hurried home to have time to go around the block in our neighborhood. I put the rest of our candy in a bowl on the porch and we set out. Sammy did NOT want to ride in the stroller, so I carried him--and unbelievably, he was too hot in the whole costume, so I had to take the outer part off! Who can believe that it was 70 degrees on Halloween? Trick-or-treating was very pleasant--as far as the weather goes, anyway. The part that wasn't pleasant was holding Sammy and having him try to dive out of my arms anytime anyone opened the door! Eventually I ended up with Sammy on one hip, Eli's ghost costume slung over one arm and about twenty pounds of candy in two bags on the other arm. They got too heavy for the kids to carry and Eli kept dumping his out accidentally (he did it on three different doorsteps!). We managed to get home and survey the loot--I can't believe how much candy they got! It's amazing--and they got lots of good chocolate this year! Not so good for the hips, but in terms of Halloween loot, it was a bumper crop! Unfortunately I didn't get a lot of pictures, what with trying to handle Sammy who was not happy unless I was carrying him, but I managed to take a few.

Carli loved being Tinker Bell this year--she especially loved the curly ribbon in her hair--which you can't see very well in this picture. She was very happy to have a "pretty" costume. (Thanks to the Disney Store after Halloween clearance last year!)

Carli insisted on a "silly face" picture.

Last year Carli was a ladybug and she loved having freckles--they don't really go with Tinker Bell, but when I was putting on her makeup she just had to have freckles again!

Sammy made a very cute bumblebee.

His face looks so chubby in this picture, you would think the rolls in the costume are actually part of his anatomy!

It wasn't until we got out of the car at the party that I realized that I forgot to put the white face paint on Eli. Eli didn't really care, but I was really mad! You can also see in this picture how much Sammy was enjoying the party. =(

I don't know how Carli manages to be so photogenic, but it's almost scary. I think she is beautiful in this picture--and nothing could make her happier than SpongeBob candy!

Eli loves all the weird "body part" candy--the eyeballs and hands and stuff. Good--he can keep it, more chocolate for me!

Can you believe all that candy for two little kids? We are going to have some serious sugar shock around here! Unbeknownst to them, however, half of the candy has already disappeared! Good thing they're still young enough that I can do that.

Overall, it was a great Halloween and the kids had a great time. For me it was bittersweet to watch them without Ben here to celebrate with us. Oh well, maybe next year.

Happy Halloween to everyone!