Merry Christmas from the Moores!

Welcome Friends!

Merry merry Christmas and a happy new year!  We would love to share with you some of our family's highlights from the past year.

We kicked off the year with a family trip to Grizzly Jack's water park at Starved Rock. Soon after, our family got the shock of our lives when the long suffering Arizona Cardinals made it to the Super Bowl for the first time ever.  My Dad has been a Cardinals fan for his entire life and we have followed the Cards from Chicago, to St. Louis, to Arizona, watching them lose year after year.  My Dad and brother Ed attended the Super Bowl in February, and although the Cardinals lost a heart breaker of a game, it was exciting for us all to see them get that far.
After the Super Bowl, we had fun seeing old friends and laughing about old times at NFK 100.  We definitely felt like old folks at this event, seeing all of the college students!  But it was great to see our old Newman Center group going strong and continuing on with its good work.  Here's Sharon and I holding Lucy and Dominic at the reunion.

Later that month, Kevin and Lucy attended the Daddy-Daughter Princess Ball at the Champaign Park District, which has become an annual event they both look forward to.  Also, Isaac took his first bath with the big kids in the tub!

Next we celebrated John's 7th and Lucy's 5th birthdays with a family party at Mindy's restaurant in Mokena.  Papa surprised the kids with a Wii console, which has definitely been the toy of the year.  Then, John and Lucy each got to have a party with friends.  John had a traditional birthday party at home with a taco lunch, party games, presents and playing in the backyard.  Lucy took her friends to see High School Musical On Ice at the Assembly Hall, after a birthday breakfast at our house.

In March, we traveled to Anna Maria Island in Florida to spend a week with the Grimes family.  We enjoyed the sun and the beach with Kevin's parents, sister, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents.

We enjoyed our final semester at University Primary School, where John finished first grade and Lucy finished a year of preschool.  After a long decision with late night talks, advice from friends, changing our minds mid-stream and finally feeling settled, we decided to transfer the kids to Holy Cross School once our time at UPS was finished.
Here's Lucy in her preschool "culminating event," an interpretation of Peter And The Wolf.

When the weather started getting warm again, John decided it was time to ride his bike without training wheels. Not one to be outdone by her brother, Lucy decided to do it too. Both learned quickly and were up riding around (with a few falls here and there) in one weekend.

Grandma Terry, Mike and Uncle Ed came to Urbana for Isaac's first birthday.  We celebrated with a one year photo session, presents and a dinner at Hickory River, where little Boo likes the mac n' cheese.  Isaac started walking shortly after his birthday, and is now running, climbing, bouncing, and moving around like a pro.  Here he is enjoying his homemade birthday cupcakes!  Nom nom nom!

We did lots and lots and LOTS of projects around our house this year, kicking off this spring with a flower box underneath the family room window in our backyard.  John and Kevin built the box, and I planted hydrangeas. 

We had a very relaxed, low key summer.  We spent most of our time at home with friends, playing in the backyard, swimming, or of course playing Wii.  We rode our bikes and worked on our projects both inside and outside of the house.  Isaac got his first taste of the swimming pool this year too, both literally and figuratively.  Unfortunately, the infamous pool must be replaced next summer, it has been used and loved so much that there are too many holes in it to repair.

John spent a lot of his summer (and fall, and winter) building Star Wars Legos.

Our alley was prime space for bike riding, and Cozy Coupe riding.

Kevin and I got to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary in St. Louis while the kids had an overnight with Grandma Terry and Uncle Ed.  We went out for a great dinner, saw Coldplay in concert and stayed at a swanky hotel.  It was a lot of fun and a great break away.  Here we are just before the concert starts.

As most of you know, I spent the summer training and raising money for the Susan G. Komen 3 Day, 60 mile walk in Chicago at the start of August.  My walking partner, Becky Fredrick, and I raised over $5,000 for breast cancer research and education.  Here we are, almost reaching our goal after the first day of walking in the pouring rain.

With the 3 Day behind us, Kevin and I decided to finish the basement in our home and to do the work ourselves.  When complete, it will be a playroom and home theater with a bathroom, large closet for toys and games, and a kitchenette.  Kevin has been nothing short of amazing in working on this project, spending many late nights and weekend hours taking care of every little detail.  So far the basement is framed out, plumbing complete, electrical work complete, and wall and ceiling insulation complete.  We are finishing a few little details before starting the drywall.  We are hoping to have the project completely finished by the spring, saving a huge amount of money and gaining a ton of confidence and satisfaction by doing it ourselves!  Here's Kevin pulling down the first board from the basement ceiling as the project kicks off.

At the end of August, John and Lucy started at Holy Cross School, John in second grade and Lucy in kindergarten.  It is a wonderful school with a great deal of parent support and a wonderful family atmosphere.  We are very happy with our decision and both kids have teachers they like.  Both enjoy school and we don't have too much trouble getting them out of bed in the mornings!  Lucy loves music class, calendar time, show and tell and especially likes the craft projects.  John is enjoying his class science projects on dinosaurs and bats, and he loves library time and playing group games in PE.  Here they are on their very first morning.

In September, Kevin's cousin Marc got married and we traveled to Warren, IL and Darlington, WI for the wedding.  The kids enjoyed dancing up a storm at the reception.  Here we are outside of the church.

Kevin worked hard all year at Cobalt Digital, thinking up new amazing things as always, and managing their team of engineers.  Here he is showing off a Cobalt project at the SMPTE trade show in Los Angeles, just before Halloween.

In the first week of November, we took a fantastic week-long trip to Walt Disney World.  It was nonstop fun that left us collapsing into our beds every night, but already talking about when we can go back again.  Everybody had a blast including Isaac, who was awfully young for the trip but still had plenty of fun (his favorite ride: It's A Small World).  Here we are watching a performance of High School Musical songs, at the request of Miss Lucy.

Kevin and Isaac watching the fireworks over Cinderella's Castle in the Magic Kingdom:

Isaac and I high in the sky on Aladdin's Magic Carpets:

Finally, we are closing out our year with Christmas lights, Christmas decorations, Christmas gifts, and Christmas concerts and get-togethers.  All the great things about this time of the year, the things we can enjoy with our family and friends as we reflect on a year full of good times and many blessings.  This month Kevin will complete his final requirements to earn his Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering.  We are all so proud of him.  He will participate in the graduation ceremonies in May.  This month we'll also travel to Bloomington, IN to see my brother receive his PhD in Political Science.  We'll also get to see John and Lucy perform in the Holy Cross School Christmas concert.  We've been hearing their songs around the house for several weeks already and I am putting the finishing touches on their homemade angel costumes.
Here's Isaac helping to put up the tree!

And here are the kids by their beautiful Christmas tree.

Once again we want to wish a very merry Christmas to all of you!  We hope that the next year brings you love, joy, peace and all of the best things.

With much love and heartfelt gratitude for your friendship and caring,
Becky, Kevin, John, Lucy and Isaac

Party Planning Committee

The party planning committee made me a sign this morning. I don't think they've gotten the hang of it yet. I am thinking, an ice cream cake would make it all better.

Boo Bailout

Isaac, being unsullied by the world of finance , was simply happy to continue receiving free lunches.

Slippery Slope

Lucy wanted her share as well. Having set the precident with John, we had to oblige. Due to an accounting error, the "Lucy Moore bailout" was accidentally One Quadrillion Dollars. It seems as if Lucy now can purchase the whole world. It's probably better that way.

Bailout Boy

We've decided to try an economic stimulus measure of our own here. The kids are pretty happy about it.

Water Park Photos

As I uploaded the photos we took on our shortened water park trip this weekend, I realized that we did not get very many, and the ones we did get aren't great. We don't have any photos of us in the water! The Grand Bear Resort at Starved Rock has an indoor amusement park, an arcade, and a water park. It also has a mini-golf course, which we obviously didn't do. I think this trip could be even more fun in the summer, when you could combine some of the activities at the resort with hiking, biking, etc. at Starved Rock.
Anyway, there are a few photos of the townhome we stayed in. You could stay in a hotel room or in a townhome, but the townhomes have kitchens, so we chose that and avoided the whole "Can you go back to the chef and find out what's in X for me?" which is always difficult at restaurants. We made all of our own food. The townhome was actually super nice. There was a fireplace downstairs, and a fireplace and whirlpool tub in the master bedroom. It wasn't just a big bathtub, it was an actual whirlpool in the room. The kids thought that was the most fun ever. It was very clean, but the kitchen was advertised as "fully stocked" which it definitely was not. There were glasses, bowls, plates, flatware and pots, but that was it. I thought the basics would be provided, but we didn't have things like a can opener, dish soap, coffee filters, etc. So, something to remember if we go back.
There are a few photos of us at the amusement park, which the kids really enjoyed. All of the rides were spinning rides, so I didn't have the easiest time with that. Even Kevin, who has an iron constitution, had to stop after a few. But we spent a good 90 minutes there and the kids went on everything a couple of times.
We went to the water park twice for about 90 minutes each time, but unfortunately have no photos of that! I think it's because one of us was always holding Isaac, and the other was in the water with the kids. We never had a free hand to take pictures.
There was also an arcade, which we didn't plan to go in, but after John started having asthma problems we felt bad for him and relented. The kids played some games and won a few prizes too. You can also see a wonderful shot of me busting out on Dance Dance Revolution. Another reason to get the Wii.

First Post of the New Year

Hello everyone! John and Lucy are back at school, Ikey Boo is napping, and I am getting back into the groove of my daily routine. I've spent all morning catching up on things, so here's my "catching up" post.
I've given our blog address to several old friends during the holidays, so I hope that they will continue to check in and keep in touch with us throughout the year.
We didn't get our Christmas cards out this year, obviously. I did actually buy cards but that is as far as I got. I am OK with it, because sometimes you have to let things go like that. I could have stressed and been frustrated and stayed up late, etc. to get them out, or just let them go, which I did. The cool thing is, this blog has been more or less a record of our year, so I passed out the blog address to a bunch of folks who can go back and get a good idea of what we've been up to.
We had a fun Christmas. The kids' break started a day early, with a day off of school from an ice storm. We had bad weather for about 5 days, which forced us to cancel a much anticipated visit with the Yorks. That was the biggest bummer of the holiday. We also cancelled our trip to my Aunt's house on Christmas Eve, but at the last minute decided to brave it and drive up. I am so glad we did. I realized that morning if we didn't go, it would be the first time in my entire life that I didn't see my family on Christmas Eve. All families bicker and squabble and have issues, and ours has plenty, but something about being apart on Christmas Eve made me feel infinitely sad. We had our traditional polish pig-out and I do not regret a single bite. In fact I wish I had eaten even more ha ha! We only have that meal once a year (pork, sausage, dumplings, pierogis, green beans) and it really is a wonderful indulgence. The kids really enjoyed themselves and I know that my Aunt was really happy to have everyone together as well.
Santa made his way through the ice and snow and delivered his packages on Christmas morning to all the good little children at our home. My very favorite part of Christmas morning is the satisfaction of how well I know my kids. John and Lucy don't really write letters to Santa, and I don't just buy whatever is popular. I buy the exact things that I know they will love and it is a real thrill to see them open those packages. This year my biggest success was Transformers chess for John. He didn't even know that existed and about passed out when he realized that he not only had his own chess set (he loves to play chess), but the pieces were actually Transformer guys. The only downside to this is, I always get stuck being the Decepticons because he wants to be the good guys. :) Kevin really rocked it out with Lucy this year, the top gift being a computer game called "pet vet" where you are a vet and diagnose and treat people's pets, then take care of them in the pet hospital while they recover. I think Kevin found this at the store underneath a huge, neon flashing sign that said "LUCY MOORE" with an arrow on it. Could there be a more perfect gift for her? Even baby Isaac got some fun treats, although his tastes are less discriminating, somehow Santa knew he loves a bath and brought bath turtles that you shake and chew.
We had a nice visit in Freeport, although we missed the Grimes family Christmas gathering for the first time in ten years. Kevin and I were both really disappointed about this, but realize that as all the cousins get older, move around the country and have kids, it is impossible to coordinate everyone's schedules. We did see Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Harvey, but missed everyone else. Luckily, it seems that the entire family will be able to make it on the Florida trip this year in March. It will end up being a family reunion of sorts and that is great.
Jenny and Sylvie spent a day with us, the kids had a morning at The Little Gym and we went (for at least a little while!) to Jason and Brandi's New Year's Eve party. Isaac did not realize that he was supposed to stay up until midnight, and instead fussed to leave at 7 PM. John stayed at the party with the Ashbrooks until 9 PM, when they were finally able to drag him away from the Wii. I made it until 11:30 PM, and fell asleep watching the Charlie Rose year in review. Woo! Party animals!!
Kimberly made us a wonderful dinner out at their home on Friday and this is so special to me. Making dinner for our family can be a real challenge and over the course of John's life only a few people have taken it on. Every time someone makes dinner for us and takes into account all of John's allergies, I don't forget it. Those thoughtful people (I know some of you are reading!) can be sure that I remember and can not thank you enough for it.
This past weekend we went to the indoor water park at Starved Rock. We intended to stay for 4 days, but ended up staying 2 instead. It was a lot of fun, but we felt that after 2 days we had done everything there plenty of times and wanted to end on a high note. Plus, John was having problems with his asthma, I believe brought on by the humidity in the water park. They keep it nice and warm in there, but the steam and humid air is very hard on asthma sufferers. John needed neb treatments through the night, and that was enough for us to say, let's just head home now. Since the trip was a Christmas gift from my family, we now have a little extra money to use on something special. We are trying to decide if we should save it toward our next trip to Disney World, or buy a Nintendo Wii. I know, you are all shocked that I want to buy video games for the kids! But here's the thing. Every day they get an hour of "screen time." They can watch TV or play on the computer. So if we had the Wii, that would just be another choice during screen time. Plus, I could definitely be a Guitar Hero champion. No, really. If I just practiced I could be really good. Hee hee!
That's our holiday in a nutshell. I will now resume my regularly scheduled postings.