An Apple for the Teacher

Josie and Norah have just finished a stint of being sick with high temperatures and nasty coughs. After being more than 36 hours without a fever, I was looking forward to everyone getting back to their normal routines today.

Josie, having slept in the last five days, was having a difficult time waking up today. After I tried coaxing her several times to no avail, Eric took over (he really has a way with her that leaves me standing in awe). He walked into her room and cheerfully greeted her sleepy form with something to the effect of: "Congratulations on your first day back to school!" That got her up and excited as she let out a big "Yippee!!" and quickly went about the task of getting dressed for the day.

Norah, on the drive into town to go to her "school," was talking about how Josie goes to "Big School" and that Norah is a "big girl and goes to big school too." Who am I to argue? So I agreed and said that yes, preschool is big school, to which she yelled out, "School is FUN!"

Ahhh.... an apple to all the teachers who have impacted the lives of children and who make school something that our children joyfully look forward to. It is an admirable calling to be a teacher, and truly, I admire and appreciate you all. I can only hope and pray that my children continue to look as forward to school and learning as they do now.

The (Cute) Terrorist

Who knew a terrorist could be so cute and yet so mean? You wouldn't be able to tell just lookin' at her. You have to KNOW her - all 30 pounds of her with her big blue eyes. She may smile a beautiful smile, but the way she can hold the remote hostage rivals the bad-guys in Fox's 24. The most recent hostage in this terrorist plot of hers: the recliner chair - aka: Daddy's chair.

Here's my conversation with the sneaky one this morning:

NJ: Momma, see me in my chair?
Me: No, it's Daddy's chair.
NJ: NO, MY chair. (points to the sofa where I am sitting) Daddy's sofa.
Me: No, Daddy doesn't sit on the sofa. Momma does.
NJ: (pauses to consider this) MY CHAIR.

And this is how a 30 pound 2 year old gains control of the comfy recliner and the remote.
Sigh.
Who can argue with cute??

Simply put, a GREAT day!

There is no other way to say it -- today was fabulous! It was jammed pack with excitement that appealed to everyone in the family. In reality, the excitement started yesterday at dinner time when Eric and I revealed to Josie that we received a call from her principal informing us that Josie was the classroom winner for the reading contest that had been held over the last couple weeks. As a reward, she would get to ride in the homecoming parade today. Josie worked SO very hard on reading over the past few weeks in hopes of winning this contest. When we told her she won (over ice cream as Baskin Robbins), she was so excited that she screamed a silent scream and about bounced out of her chair. She then got a far-away look in her eyes as she imagined how great today was going to be.

But see, that was only the beginning. Today was Grandparents Day at the school. Josie was under the impression that her grandparents wouldn't be able to attend -- only to be surprised by them arriving and tucking her into bed last night. Such excitement for a seven year old. Truly... I have no idea how she was able to fall asleep last night. But let me tell you, she flew out of bed this morning without any problems!!

So today, Mema and Papa went with Josie to school for a couple hours. While they were at school, Eric hung out with Norah while I ran errands. Unfortunately, this is when Norah learned a painful lesson about where Lucy the cat's patience ends. Apparently, it ends with a karate kick from a toddler. Eeks! Anyway...

The day continued on with family fun and classroom fun. We got to see Josie in the parade -- she was so very thrilled and all smiles. Following the parade, Eric and I helped to host the classroom fall party where treats and games brought the school day to a close. Phew! I gotta tell ya, from just that little time in the classroom, I saw first hand how smart those second graders are! Look out world... here they come!!

While Josie spent a fun-filled day at school, Norah played hard with her grandparents. They laughed, they chased, they built, they did it all. So much so that Norah passed out for a good 2.5 hour nap! Following nap time, we were off to a surprise trip to the pumpkin patch and then out to supper! The pumpkin patch was at the local apple orchard where we were the only ones around and dinner was back in town where we were lucky enough to beat the Homecoming rush by a good 30 minutes!

How much more can a person jam into a day? I am sure someone out there can do more with the 24 hours they are given each day, but today, today was a great day for the Moore family. Today we had good quality fun together, fun that spanned the ages, and fun that will not soon be forgotten. It is days like today when I am so thankful that we live in a small town. There is nothing like the fun of fall activities experienced in the intimacy of a rural setting. Do I miss my former big cities? Sure I do. But today, today, I am reminded just why I so value our life in Small Town, USA.

Seasons

I am not a native Missourian. In fact, when I have to answer the question, "where did you grow up?," which I am answering quite often in these get-to-know-you days at a new church, I often falter as to how to answer. The northern mid-west? Chicago-area? Or do I list the places and then answer the obvious follow-up questions of if I grew up in a military family or if one of my parents was a pastor? No matter how the conversation goes, it usually lands on how I ended up here, here in Missouri. My answer... I married into Missouri and once you marry in, you can never get out.

When my folks moved to St. Louis in my senior year of high school, I never thought I would stay in Missouri when "I grew up." That said, I didn't really have any dreams or ideas of where I would end up. As time has moved along, I have found not only an appreciation, but a love of this state. Now, that isn't to say I don't crave the metropolis of Chicago or the lakeshores of Michigan, but I have come to love all that Missouri offers -- even rural Missouri.

Of the many things I enjoy about Missouri, and life in the mid-west in general, is the change of seasons. We get to experience all four seasons here and I absolutely love it. I drive 30 miles through the rural landscape on my way to work each day. The winter has a quiet peace about the land -- the soil is resting, the livestock are huddled close together to stay warm. The horizon is often grey, but full of mystery and beauty. The spring is so very pretty with the spring-green leaves and the row crops beginning to pop up along the dark, newly turned-over soil. The first hay is cut and baled. The summer brings forth rich greens as the beans and the corn grow. Cows, goats, sheep, horses, and other animals enjoy the summer heat. The lilypads bloom on the local lakes. Currently, with fall, the acres of bean fields are turning from their deep rich green to a bright golden color -- one that takes my breath away each year. The corn stalks are bare and dry. The leaves on the trees begin shifting their colors. The mornings are often cool and foggy. The round hay bales have steam rising off of them during the cool mornings. Experiencing the seasons in rural-Missouri is like nothing I have experienced before. It keeps my perspective fresh and it reminds me of just how dynamic life truly is.

The change of seasons often brings forth a variety of busy-ness in church life as well as our family life. We are getting used to new fall customs as I get my feet wet in a new church home. We are busy with school events, homecoming parades, campus band days, church organ concerts, fall kick-off events, church picnics, and a Blessing of the Animals service. Autumn is proving to be a wonderful season not just in rural Missouri, but also in our home and in our churches. It is easy to get overwhelmed as we think about all the next season will bring (afterall, it isn't "winter" so much as it is "the season of advent."), but with each commute to work I am able to take in what the current season offers and it grounds me once again to the present. Such a great gift.

Enough with that. You are reading out of interest for what is going on with the girls and you are probably hoping for a picture or two (yes, Mom, I am on to you!) Josie is thriving in second grade with a teacher she absolutely adores. She is a spelling machine, having passed every spelling test so far on the practice round. Josie started piano this fall and is thoroughly enjoying that musical outlet. That said, she has plans. She figures once she masters piano, she can learn guitar and then become more like Hannah Montana -- complete with CD sales and the "Rockstar" title.

Norah continues on at Pam's in preschool. She is counting, singing, playing, and having a jolly-good time. She has adjusted well to life at a new church and has taken a strong liking to her nursery worker friends. Our joke is that while some churches have a church cat, MUMC now has a church Norah. Bless her heart, she is with me wherever I go! Josie has also been enjoying her time at MUMC meeting new friends, but she also has fun with her weeks at "Dad's church" with her school friends.

Below are some random pics from the last couple of weeks. Some are from a church picnic while a couple others are from the Blessing of the Animals service we had. The latter aren't great pics of the girls, but they are pics just the same!