Another weekend is almost here!

Things are moving right along here! We are continuing to work on paper work and the whole process of getting ready to close on selling our house and also on purchasing the new one. It is kind of looking like we might be able to close the 20th now. It isn't set in stone but everything is moving forward smoothly so far. We were already able to get a key for our new house and will start to move stuff hopefully next weekend. I have already started packing stuff that we aren't using. This week has gone by so fast but I have been really tired the whole week. TJ came back from visiting family in western Nebraska on Tuesday evening. He had a great time and even got to go see Mount Rushmore while he was gone. It was great to see the excitement in his face when he got back and told us all about it and showed us his pictures. He left again today to go with his mom to stay with some other family until next Wednesday. It sure is different not having him around and we are already missing him. He has such a great personality and is so funny now that he has gotten use to being around us. After he gets back from this trip it will be time to start thinking about getting him all ready for school to start the 19th. He will be starting his first year at the middle school so I am sure it is a scary but also exciting time for him. This week I have also been watching our friends 9 month old baby girl. She has been good and plays good with the girls. Actually she just mostly watches them play and fight with each other but it has been fun. Watching her also confirms that we are not ready for another baby right now. We are loving having the older kids right now and it is working well for our family. The girls still really need a lot of attention and having three under three is a little crazy. No wait its A LOT crazy! Maybe later when the girls are a little older we will want another baby but we are completely happy having older kids right. We are going to get my sister this weekend and she will be staying with us until the end of the week. We always have a good time when she is here with us and the girls can't quit talking about her coming. We have several appointments next week so it will also be nice to have some extra help. The girls have been doing great and love this cooler weather we are having so they can actually spend more time out in their sandbox. Lately they have been spending a lot of time playing with the neighbor kids so they have been exhausted each night. Scott and I are doing good too. Scott just finished his first season of soft ball playing on a team for his work. They did really good during the regular games but when it got into the last couple games they didn't' do too good. He has a great time playing and is now planning on playing this fall too. I have been doing great too. Last Friday night Scott watched the girls and I got to go to the movie with our neighbor lady who I have become really good friends with over the last couple months. We went to the movie hangover and it was so funny! When we got home it wasn't even 10pm and everyone at my house was asleep. I couldn't believe it so the neighbor and I decided to go to Walmart since we would actually be able to go shop without our kids. It was so nice and quiet and great to actually get to look around at things. Funny how you miss little things like going to walmart alone. We hope everyone is doing great!

Life is not about getting through the storm, it is learning to dance in the rain.

SOLD! And other updates

As you can probably tell by the name of this post we got our house sold ALREADY! Guess we won't have to worry about the open house now thank goodness. It was so unexpected and everything has been a whirlwind since my last post. As I said before our house went on the market last Thursday. We didn't have any calls Thursday or Friday. That kind of worried me but we also were prepared to have it for sale for a while. Then Saturday evening we all went for a walk and when we were walking back up to the house a lady and her mom were pulling in the drive way. Well they had been trying all day to get a hold of their realtor so they could look at our house with no success. Then they decided to just drive by the house and pulled in the drive way. I stopped and talked to them and they asked me some questions about the house. They they asked if they could come in and look and of course we said yes. Both the girl and her mom loved it and said they would come back with the realtor and the girls husband and that is just what they did Sunday evening. While they were looking at the house and we were out and about our realtor called and had someone else who wanted to see it. We were glad for that because we had it all cleaned up and ready to show already. After the first couple got done they told our realtor they would be putting in an offer that night. She called us around 10pm with their offer. We actually were kind of leaning toward not selling it Monday morning because we had found NOTHING that we liked at all and really hated to sell ours that we really do like just to settle for something OK. But when the buyers came back and decided they would pay full asking price we couldn't turn it down. Monday evening we met with our realtor at 3 properties we had been wanting to look at. We really liked the second one and was by far the best thing we had seen for the money. So as of right now we are suppose to close on everything the 27th of August but we hope to move that date up if things go well. Our new house is a new construction and is all ready to move into. The yard did need sodded, fenced and underground sprinklers installed but that is in the process of getting done right now. We are very excited and totally didn't expect our house to sell in less than a week. Now I have just been busy trying to get all the paper work to the appropriate people to get things finalized. We also found out yesterday that TJ is going to be living with us permanently. He is officially our foster son and we couldn't be happier. When the agency called to see if we wanted him I said of course and didn't even have to ask Scott. When I told Scott later he was really happy too. TJ doesn't know yet but will find out tonight at a meeting and it has been hard to not talk about it. We have almost slipped a couple times. Over the next couple weeks we won't have him much because he is going to be going and visiting some family in western Nebraska then at the end of next week he is going with his mom to stay with some other family somewhere else here in Nebraska. His school won't be far from where our new house is so that will be nice. Its very hard to not get attached to the kids that come in our home but we always have to try and remind ourselves that they will most likely go back to live with their family. We will enjoy the time we have with them and hope we have some positive influence in their lives. The girls are really warming up to TJ and now Tate demands that TJ gets her in her car seat and out when going somewhere. Today when Keely got up from her nap we all went in to get her up and she wanted TJ to get her out. Its hard to explain to the girls all the different kids coming and going in our house but someday they will understand. Tate did finally get over her pain crisis for the most part. We never did have to go to the hospital for fluids or IV pain meds. It seems about every other day she is waking up in the mornings and her hands are hurting but one dose of ibuprofen takes care of it. She still has the bad cough and if that doesn't clear up soon I may have to take her in. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer even though most people I have talked to are ready for school to start again.

Wednesday afternoon

Here it is again almost a week since I last posted. Everything is going great still and we are definitely enjoying the summer. TJ is still here with us and doing great so far. He has been going to day camp just a couple days a week so we figure he must be having fun here. Today he decided to go because they were going to go on a tour of Memorial Stadium. Who would want to turn that down? I have never even been there! Friday at Keely's 18 month check up she had to get a few shots and all the normal stuff that they do at those checks. She is now almost 23 pounds so she is doing great but still behind her sister who is now around 26 pounds. Friday evening we went out for supper for Scott's birthday at HuHot Mongolian Grill. It is one of our favorite restaurants. When we got there there was a fire truck and police car at the restaurant next door but we really didn't know what was going on. After finding our we were going to have a long wait we decided we would wait outside so the girls could play around on the sidewalk. Well when we got out there one of the firemen came and told us we had to wait in our car or go back inside until they got things figured out. We still didn't know what was going on but decided to go inside. We finally got seated and after we all had eaten one plate everyone started leaving and then two police officers came up to our table and told us that we needed to leave. We all got outside and everyone was just standing around thinking we would go back inside and finish eating and pay. Pretty soon another firemen came and told everyone we had to get in our vehicles and leave! There was a silver car outside the restaurant that had a suspicious package in it and they believed it was a bomb. We did find out later that someone had put a device in the car that looked very much like a bomb and that it wasn't real. We haven't heard anymore about if they found out who did it but it was very scary. Needless to say we didn't get completely full but that was probably a good thing. Saturday we had a 12 year old boy for the day as respite and he was quite the talker. We had a good time with him but he was the total opposite of TJ who doesn't talk at all hardly. Also, on Saturday Tatum started having pain in her hands again and has been having a pain crisis ever since. We have been managing the pain very well this time and she has continued to eat and drink great through it. Today I have been able to cut back on the narcotic pain medicine but am still giving the ibuprofen about every 5 hours. This crisis has been way different than the first two and I am so thankful for that. No hospital stays! We are hopeful that today is the end of the pain although yesterday she started coughing and has a runny nose. Keely also has the runny nose so it's probably just a virus. Sunday my sister stayed with the girls in the afternoon and Scott and I went to some open houses. It was fun getting to see what all is out there and we might try to go again this weekend. Our house goes on the market tomorrow. I am very anxious about it and don't really know what to expect as far as how often we are going to be having to leave to have it shown. We will have an open house the 26th and hope that a lot of people come to that since it should be spotless for it. We have been working hard on getting things straightened up and ready to be shown. Now that we have it looking so great I told Scott maybe we should just keep it. We moved a couple things out to the garage so it didn't look so crowded and it looks so big now. We had a great time with my sister here. The neighbor kids and TJ and Haley got along great and kept pretty busy. Haley and the neighbor girl went roller skating Friday night. That was something new for Haley since they don't have that kind of stuff where she lives. So far we don't have any big plans for the weekend but who knows what might come up. We hope you all have a great week.

Where does time go?

I can't believe that it has been a week since my last post. It's not that nothing has happened, just been too busy to write. Last weekend Scott's dad and step mom came and stayed in Lincoln. They spent the whole weekend with us and we had a great time. The girls loved the fire works and both of them even held a sparkler! The fireworks here in Lincoln were scheduled for Friday night the 3rd because Larry the Cable Guy was playing here in Lincoln on the 4th. Because of the heavy rain we had on Friday night they moved them to Sunday night. Grandpa bought the girls some fireworks and we too had bought a few. They had a great time watching them even though they were a little scared at first. We also had two girls, ages 9 and 13 stay with us last Friday night for respite. They were a lot of fun even though they were here for such a short time. They left Saturday after lunch. Saturday night we took Scott's dad and step mom out for supper since it was their anniversary. It had been a long time since we had seem them so it was nice to have the whole weekend to talk and have a good time. They brought the girls a tent to set up in the back yard and play in and boy did they love playing in it. It was a two room tent with a divider in the middle and they just kept running in circles around the divider. Both were exhausted by the end of the weekend. Sunday morning an 11 year old boy named TJ come to stay with us for respite and we still have him! He is still here just as respite but we don't know when he might be going back to his other foster home. He is much more quiet than any other child we have had for respite but is starting to open up. We have a neighbor boy who is 9 and him and TJ have been hanging out and playing all week. They have been to the pool, swam in our pool, and went to the movie this morning. He also has the option to go to day camp that last 9-4:30 everyday. I have just been letting him decide if he wants to go and he did go Monday and is planning on going tomorrow. He really likes going and it sounds like they do a lot of fun things there. Tonight we picked up my sister in Grand Island and she will be staying here with us until next Tuesday. It's always a lot of fun when she comes and we always manage to stay busy. This weekend I think we all really want to play in the pool and relax a little. Tomorrow is Scott's birthday so we will have to do something special for him tomorrow night for supper. And since you all know how much I love to cook I will probably just take him out for supper. Keely also has her 18 month check up in the morning and since Haley is here Keely and I will get to go by ourselves. Speaking of Keely and I hanging out by ourselves, Tate went to her first movie this morning at the theater. The neighbor lady took all her kids plus Tate and TJ. They had a good time and Tate seemed to enjoy the movie but was very tired by the time they got home. It was good to just be with Keely this morning. We went grocery shopping at Walmart, did some playing at home, and made lunch for everyone when they got home from the movie. The week has flown by and we are so glad the weekend is almost here. On top of all this business we are also puting our house up for sale this coming week. I know we just bought this house a year ago but we think we have found what we want. Most of you know that we moved here from and acerage with a house that was double the size of the one we currently live in. We do love this house. It is very nice and everything was new when we moved in. We have found an acerage in town and it is almost as big as our old house. We absolutely love living in Lincoln and what we miss most about where we use to live is our amazing house we use to have along with the land. We are just going to put our house on the market and see what happens, it may sell quickly or it may sit for a while. We are going to continue to look at other places just in case we find something else that we like. We haven't made an offer on the other place but aren't too worried. It has been on the market for a year and it is empty. When the time is right we will make an offer. See what we mean by Moore Family Maddness? We love our busy life and it seems like when things do slow down we just find something else to keep us busy! I will try not to go so long in between post next time. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July!

It has now been a little over a week since we returned from vacation and things still haven't slowed down much. I was hoping that they would but have now decided we must really like things busy. Tuesday both girls had appointments in another town and all went well at both of them. We got a call Tuesday from a family in Colorado that we had sold one of our boxer puppies to say that they needed to get rid of the dog soon. We had always told people when they bought dogs from us if they weren't able to care for them or had to get rid of them for any reason we wanted the fist chance to get them back. Mostly we did this to make sure the dogs would never be left off somewhere or something like that. We had been in contact with this family since the end of the year and knew there was a possibility that we might get the dog back. He had become very protective over his property there and loved to chase other dogs. Well Wednesday he was upstairs on their second floor and saw a lady walking her dog down the alley and decided to jump on the window that was open and the screen fell out and so did the dog. He was strong enough the fall didn't phase him and he continued to run after the lady and her dog but didn't hurt anyone. The neighbors called and told them if they didn't get him off the property that day they would have him sent to the pound and put to sleep since there had been other incidents. That is what brought them to calling us and needing to get rid of him so quickly. So yesterday (Wednesday) me and the girls spent the entire day driving to North Platte to meet the owners to pick up the dog. He was very timid at first and also very scared but did great once we got to the house. He is the sweetest dog and really was attached to me. He followed me everywhere and wanted my attention all the time. Since we knew some time ago we may get him back we had lined up a home for him here in Lincoln. Scott works with the guy who wanted him. Him and his girlfriend came over tonight to see the dog and get to know him. They fell in love with him and decided to take him home to see how he does with their little dog. It was very hard for me to let him go and I really wish that we could have kept him. I guess if he is meant to be ours he won't work out for this family. They also know that we want him back if it doesn't work. All we want for him is to have a good home. Our trip took about 8 hours and I was very glad when we finally got into Lincoln. The girls really did do a great job on the trip considering it was so long. Today we got several calls from our foster care agency about doing respite this weekend so we are going to have extra kids this weekend. Tomorrow we will have 13 and 9 year old girls staying with us until Saturday evening. Sunday morning we will be getting an 11 year old boy and he will stay with us until sometime next week. It should be a fun weekend with all the 4th of July activities going on. Scott's dad and step mom will also be coming tomorrow and staying at a motel here in Lincoln until Sunday. It should be a lot of fun getting to see them and hanging out at their motel and swimming some too. My sister was suppose to be staying with us but got sick at the beginning of the week with mono and isn't getting better very quick so she isn't going to be able to come. We hope everyone has a great holiday weekend and stay safe!