Christmas at the Moores!

Christmas came and went at the Moore Home

On our way back from Thanksgiving travels, we stopped to walk among the Christmas light in Johnson City.

We went and bought a beautiful 7.5 foot slim tree at target and decorated it!

Best Part of Christmas this year was our advent that Matt and I started. Advent means "coming", as in the coming of Christ, so we started by reading in Genesis 2-3 about the creation and fall of man, when the need for a Savior was first revealed. We then continued through key passages where the Lord promises the coming of Christ. It was great to walk through this together and see the scope.

Merry Christmas to all, because the reality of Christmas is still here! Christ has come to save his people from their sins...what a blessed thing this is!

60 days and counting!

Only 59 days until the expected due date! So many things I am working on until he comes...

I'm not working now, last week was my last time to volunteer at the pregnancy center, so I've been busy at home, organizing and nesting lately!
Here is the most recent book that has topped my wish list. It's a christian book that talks about managing a home in a God-glorifying way, with plenty of tips and hints on being efficient and consistent. Let's just say it fits my personality: Large Family and Logistics :)

Something else that I've been working on (while keeping up with organizing and cleaning), is what some would call a home-maintenance notebook. Growing up I would see mom with her binder that she would write Christmas lists in, meal plans, errands etc in and now coming up with my own set of organized lists just thought I would make a giant "Moore Family Binder" of my own. Only I found out that this is now a "hip Christian-wife thing" to do. I have found whole websites and online journals about how women have developed their own "family binders" and have found some good ideas from them too.

Currently mine has tabs that are labeled : To:Do list, Calendar, Cleaning(has my weekly cleaning schedule), Baby, Crafts, Grocery, Meal Plans and the list goes on. Something I am really proud of and want to keep working on before baby comes is what I have called my "grocery comparison list".  This is a snapshot of my most recent list:

This allows for me to keep a record of what places have the best deals on what groceries we buy. Then when I am looking at coupons, weekly ads or even just my grocery list, I know where a good deal is!

Just little things that hopefully will help keep parts of life organized for us. I know that if I didn't start these things now, I may never get them done once baby is here (and more babies for that matter).

Community

We live in a great place.

Last night we and some friends from church came and helped us do a "Block Party" to meet our neighbors and build relationships with these people.

We just moved into a neighborhood, and let's just say we are the ethnic minority :)

No worries. God led us here and has been blessing his fruit here. I think we have some of the best neighbors anyone could ask for. Sure we have our few: Matt intercepts a few drunks here and there, as well as some pot smoking smells in the air, but all in all---we have a really great neighborhood.


These are pictures from the block party that Matt and I helped with in one of the projects in Bryan. We had alot of kids come out!

He really wanted his picture taken!

playing games and eating lunch

Sarah was a little overwhelmed by one of the girls :) 

Halloween

Actually, its Reformation Day!

Its was October 31st that Martin Luther spoke out against the unbiblical practices of the Catholic church by posting them on the door of the cathedral ---Wahoo! Now everyone gets to read the bible in their own language and here the true gospel that salvation comes only from the Lord, by grace, through faith and its to the glory of God, not to the praise of any church. 

Matt and I decided to participate and hand out candy this year---which was alot of fun getting to see the neighbor kids and talk to their parents briefly at the door. We also carved pumpkins (something I've always wanted to do and we came up with some fairly nice ones:

Matt amd I are intense when we carve pumpkins!

Yes, Katie wore a glove to remove all the pumpkin innards out of the pumpkin

Focused on the pumpkins...

Matt is very proud on his progress so far

Katie's progress...almost there!

Finished Pumpkins!

Katie's "Cartoony House"

Matt's Pumpkin, titled "He has overcome!"

Cattle Working

That's right. I have officially "worked" cattle. Not once but twice now.

Matt's mom and stepdad own a ranch about 45 minutes north of where we live and twice a year Matt and his sister help with branding, vaccines etc., as they own a few of the cattle as well.

This time I was bale to get the vaccines ready for the guys to shoot the cows with and kept a record of which vaccines we gave to which cow.

Looking at this process makes me very grateful to be a person and not a cow when it comes to getting vaccines. Its the same process: a syringe gets filled with vaccine and gets pushed into a muscle, but I'm glad that people have a little more care taken. I really like not feeling like a cow when I go in and have doctor visits!

Blessed

Hooray for husbands that bring home flowers :)




Matt and I have an uncanny nack for finding deals on large appliances. We have purchased our washer and dryer for under $200 from searching the area. When we went looking for a refrigerator for our new house, we found one we liked, then walked about 30 feet to the back of lowes where we found the exact same fridge for half! Now Matt and I have been looking for a freezer because we like finding deals and being able to freeze them in storage. Last week, we saw this one (also a discounted appliance in the back, due to a small dent in the back) and it had a price listed on it. Matt and I looked and thought we could at least make an offer. So we both agreed how much it was were spending $400 and said our limit would be $500. Matt left to go find a clerk and ask how much it was selling for (and possibly to make an offer). The clerk told him $400, so we were set! Now we have 25 cubic feet of freezer space to fill.....



A friend and I went to see Herman Cain yesterday here in College Station. He's a top contender for the Republican Nomination for President. No big deal :) He was signing his new book in town and I took this picture, then when he walked around (he was done signing books) he came within a few feet of me!

Last night was church community group that we have every week and tonight I'm took black bean salsa. yum! Community Group is where are church breaks up into small groups that meet at people's houses and eat food, fellowship, talk about the message on Sundays and pray with and for each other. I really like the way we have small groups through church. We have inter-generational groups, which means that I get to be in a small group with people of all ages -not just college, or now, young marrieds. I enjoy being with older wiser adults, families with kids, and then younger college age as well. I think its the best biblical picture of community and "living with" (fellowship) people of all ages.

Size of Baby Moore

6 Months and Life is Flying

Ahhh. First day of October and its a cool 85 outside. This 'drop' in temperature is making it feel more like fall everyday.

Matt and his dad have spent yesterday and today working on putting up our backyard fence!

And I was able to put these ribs in the slow cooker and they have made the whole house smell wonderful!

 In other news, I have bought a pumpkin in order of the season....

 And I painted a jewelry box I've had (since 4th grade) to match our hall bath. I love doing simple projects like this.