Go Watch Divided!

Divided was a film that our family saw for the first time at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival last year. It was one of our favorite films, and now you can watch the entire movie at dividedthemovie.com for a limited amount of time! Please go watch it! The trailer is below.

Divided Trailer from NCFIC on Vimeo.

Recipe For Stuffed Peppers

Shelbi and I made theses peppers for the lunch after church on Sunday. Despite my many doubts, they actually turned out well ;) I would encourage you to try them!


Dad's Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

4 bell peppers, any color
Salt
5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 lb of lean ground beef
1 1/2 cup of cooked rice
1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned (if using can, drain of excess liquid first)
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce
Dash of Tabasco sauce


Directions:

1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.














2 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well. (You may find it easier to put the ingredients at this point into a large bowl and mix together with your hands.)


3 Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside the peppers. Arrange the cut side of the peppers up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed peppers is 150-160°F.


Yield: Serves 4-6.


Here is the finished product!

A Giveaway!

Hi everybody! Our internet has been out, so that's why things around here haven't been updated in a while :) I probably wouldn't have had time to blog anyways because I've been working fast and furious to get the remaining part of my schoolwork done in the next two weeks. (It's a goal I've set for myself.) I think I'll make it!


My Mom is doing a great giveaway at her blog. Go to it here and check it out!

Stay on the lookout for another post about my latest baby goats!

Everyone have a wonderful evening,

Savannah

Baby Rabbits

Just recently my brother Seth's rabbits had babies. There are four, and as Easter is nearing, he is hoping to get a good price for them :) They are SO sweet!

Our Camping Trip Slideshow

Last weekend our family and some of our camping buddies went on our first camping trip of the year! We had a blast, and as is our "tradition" we had a theme night. This time it was a cowboy night, so we all brought our boots and hats and lived up to the Texas name; eating roast and potatoes out of tin cans :) Our family made a slideshow with all of the pictures that we got-- hope you enjoy it!



( Don't forget to turn off the music on the sidebar )

Cowboy Camping from Bambi Moore on Vimeo.

99 balloons

Hey everybody-- watch this video, please!!!! It is very inspiring, and shows the great mercy and sovereign will of God. You might as well grab a tissue because it will make you cry! :) Don't forget to stop the music on the side though.

99 Balloons from Igniter Media on Vimeo.

Shiloh And His New Diapers

Recently mama bought Shiloh some cloth diapers. Thought y'all might like to see some pictures of not only the diapers, but of him :) He was eight months old two days ago. Oh, and the diapers are Fuzzi Bunz ;)

Shiloh has definitely got crawling down, and he is starting to try to pull up. He will wave bye-bye, (when he wants to) and is very particular about people he doesn't know holding him :)

Does this diaper make my butt look big?

Hanging on the line... :)

More About Welsh Ponies

Hey y'all! We got the horses from our grandparents' house yesterday. So far we are really enjoying them, but I have a story to tell :)



We drove out to grandma and papa's house yesterday afternoon, and walked out to look at the horses. They trotted up to the fence and we went in to pet them. Papa said they were gentle enough for us to ride them, so if it was alright with mama and daddy we could try. The horses hadn't been ridden in a year, but as they had been trained and worked with so much we decided we would. Daddy put a lead rope on the little one, ( the little one is full welsh pony, but the bigger one is only half ) and Seth (10) was soon riding in a circle around him. She seemed to like it, but the bigger one was prancing around snorting, not liking what was going on. I rode the little one next. It was hard to stay on as I was riding bareback, but I grabbed handfuls of mane and hung on for dear life when she started galloping in circles around daddy. Having very little experience with horses, I was quite proud of myself when I slid off :) Next we decided to try the big one. She still wasn't too sure about us. Daddy asked me if I wanted to go first. I wanted to, so he held her head while Shelbi, (15) knelt down so I could stand on her knee to get on. As I swung my leg over, I realized that she was ALOT taller than the little one. She snorted and shifted her weight uneasily. I was uneasy too. As I said before, I, or our whole family for that matter, hasn't had much experience with horses. Shelbi backed away and daddy started walking. What happened next is all a blur. I remember her running towards the fence, and I of course, now thoroughly convinced that she DID NOT want me on her, thought she was going to throw me in the barb wire. Daddy got her turned the other direction, so then she started twisting, and turning sharp circles. I don't think she actually bucked, but she definitely wanted me off. I don't remember what happened next, but I do remember falling off. I fell on my side, and have a knot to prove it. Then a bad pain hit me in my upper leg. I passed out. I woke up to someone asking if I was okay. It was daddy, and I apparently hadn't been out for very long, because he was still trying to calm the horse down. I tried to get up, but my leg hurt so bad I just sat there. I managed to get up after a while, daddy said she had stepped on me. Everybody outside the fence was still asking if I was okay, and I squeaked my yes. I think I scared all of them when I didn't get up right away. I'm fine now-- just sore and a new collection of bruises. I 'm thankful that the Lord protected me-- it could have been alot worse. The story has been retold numerous times by my younger brothers and sisters, they now are scared of the bigger horse. ( As I keep calling them 'The Big One" and "The Little One" , your assumption has been right. We still aren't settled on names :) ) Seth in particular has even acted it out for me and told me it was like watching something from a rodeo.



Here are some pictures of the horses in their new abode. They particularly like rolling around in the pond :)

















































My bitter enemy-- "The Big One" . I am more determined to ride her now-- but with a saddle :) Look at her face!

Welsh Ponies

Hey everybody!! Sorry I haven't been blogging, but I have a good excuse--I've been sick...twice. I had the flu for two weeks; It was my first time to ever get it and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. After that I was well for a week, and then our whole family came down with a horrible stomach virus except for mama and the baby. Oh, and Sarah Grace. How she managed to escape it I'll never know. We haven't been really sick for a year or two, so I guess our time was up. In between our two bombs of illness we went and got welsh ponies! A good friend of ours has a brother who breeds them. He had two that had been sent to "Obedience School" and failed. :( So he very generously GAVE them to us! We are so excited. We haven't built a place for them on our land yet, so we left them at our grandparents' house intending to build a shelter and fence for them, and then move them to our house. But, alas, we all started losing our lunch and therefore haven't moved them yet. :( I've got pictures! ( of the horses, not us losing our lunch.)


































































We still aren't settled about names for them, but I'll let you know when we are!We are looking forward to getting them here. Have a great weekend!



Savannah

Dog Photos

A couple of weeks ago I took some great pictures of our dog Spurgeon. Thought y'all might like to see them :)








































In case anyone is wondering--he is a Great Pyrenees. Look at all that hair!









































He Looks like a lion. :)

Snow!

Yesterday it snowed for the first time this year! We got about four or five inches, so we were really excited! There wasn't enough to build a snowman, but we still had fun playing outside :)




































































Seth and Sarah Grace.


















Spurgeon getting rambunctious.
















Silas throwing snow at Spurgeon :)

Penguins!!

We took these cute little penguins to a New Years Eve party. They are so fun to make, and not very hard to do if you do it right the first time :)




All you need are large and small olives, carrots, cream cheese, and toothpicks.













You take a large olive and fill it with cream cheese. I uses my fingers.

















Then you cut a slice of carrot and cut a triangle out of it. Next you take a small olive, cut a slit in it and stuff the triangle of carrot into it. Lining it all up the way you want it, you stick a toothpick through it all. You use the carrot with a triangle out of it for feet.



















Then your done! Not only are they cute, but they taste good as well. (That is if you like olives) :) Mama made an igloo out of a big cream cheese ball and we put them around it. I hope you try it!

Are You A Good Person?

Watch this!!

My Favorite Christmas Story

Hello everybody!!!
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Now that it's nearly "That time of year" I wanted to share with y'all my most favorite all time Christmas story. I won't say any thing about it except that it's a real tearjerker, and don't quit reading 'cause it's kind of long!!




A FAMILY FOR FREDDIE
By Abbie Blair

I remember the first time I saw Freddie. He was standing in his playpen at the adoption agency where I work. He gave me a toothy grin. "What a beautiful baby," I thought.

His boarding mother gathered him into her arms. "Will you be able to find a family for Freddie?"

Then I saw it. Freddie had been born without arms.

"He's so smart. He's only ten months old, and already he walks and talks." She kissed him. "Say ‘book' for Mrs. Blair."

Freddie grinned at me and hid his head on his boarding mother's shoulder. "Now, Freddie, don't act that way," she said. "He's really very friendly," she added. "Such a good, good boy."

Freddie reminded me of my own son when he was that age, the same thick dark curls, the same brown eyes.

"You won't forget him, Mrs. Blair? You will try?"

"I won't forget."

I went upstairs and got out my latest copy of the Hard-to-Place list.

Freddie is a ten-month-old white Protestant boy of English and French background. He has brown eyes, dark-brown hair and fair skin. Freddie was born without arms, but is otherwise in good health. His boarding mother feels he is showing signs of superior mentality, and he is already walking and saying a few words.

Freddie is a warm, affectionate child who has been surrendered by his natural mother and is ready for adoption.

"He's ready," I thought. "But who is ready for him?"

It was ten o'clock of a lovely late-summer morning, and the agency was full of couples-couples having interviews, couples meeting babies, families being born. These couples nearly always have the same dream: they want a child as much like themselves as possible, as young as possible, and-most important-a child with no medical problem.

"If he develops a problem after we get him," they say, "that is a risk we'll take, just like any other parents. But to pick a baby who already has a problem-that's too much."

And who can blame them?

I wasn't alone in looking for parents for Freddie. Any of the caseworkers meeting a new couple started with a hope: maybe they were for Freddie. But summer slipped into fall, and Freddie was with us for his first birthday.

"Freddie is so-o-o big," said Freddie, laughing. "So-o-o big."

And then I found them.

It started out as it always does-an impersonal record in my box, a new case, a new "Home Study," two people who wanted a child. They were Frances and Edwin Pearson. She was 41. He was 45. She was a housewife. He was a truck driver.

I went to see them. They lived in a tiny white-frame house in a big yard full of sun and old trees. They greeted me together at the door, eager and scared to death. Mrs. Pearson produced steaming coffee and oven-warm cookies. They sat before me on the sofa, close together, holding hands. After a moment, Mrs. Pearson began: "Today is our wedding anniversary. Eighteen years."

"Good years." Mr. Pearson looked at his wife. "Except-"

"Yes," she said. "Except. Always the ‘except.'" She looked around the immaculate room. "It's too neat," she said. "You know?"

I thought of my own living room with my three children. Teenagers now. "Yes," I said. "I know."

"Perhaps we're too old?"

I smiled. "You don't think so," I said. "We don't either."

"You always think it will be this month, and then next month," Mr. Pearson said. "Examinations. Tests. All kinds of things. Over and over. But nothing ever happened. You just go on hoping and hoping, and time keeps slipping by."

"We've tried to adopt before this," Mr. Pearson said. "One agency told us our apartment was too small, so we got this house. Then another agency said I didn't make enough money. We had decided that was it, but this friend told us about you, and we decided to make one last try."

"I'm glad," I said.

Mrs. Pearson glanced at her husband proudly. "Can we choose at all?" she asked. "A boy for my husband?"

"We'll try for a boy," I said. "What kind of boy?"

Mrs. Pearson laughed. "How many kinds are there? Just a boy. My husband is very athletic. He played football in high school; basketball, too, and track. He would be good for a boy."

Mr. Pearson looked at me. "I know you can't tell exactly," he said, "but cm you give us any idea how soon? We've waited so long."

I hesitated. There is always this question.

"Next summer maybe," said Mrs. Pearson. "We could take him to the beach."

‘That long?" Mr. Pearson said. "Don't you have anyone at all? There must be a little boy somewhere."

"Of course," he went on after a pause, "we can't give him as much as other people. We haven't a lot of money saved up."

"We've got a lot of love," his wife said. "We've saved up a of that.

"Well," I said cautiously, "there is a little boy. He is 13 months old."

"Oh," Mrs. Pearson said, "just a beautiful age."

"I have a picture of him," I said, reaching for my purse. I handed them Freddie's picture.

"He is a wonderful little boy," I said. "But he was born without arms."

They studied the picture in silence. He looked at her. "What do you think, Fran?"

"Kickball," Mrs. Pearson said. "You could teach him kickball."

"Athletics are not so important," Mr. Pearson said. "He can earn to use his head. Arms he can do without. A head, never. He can go to college. We'll save for it."

"A boy is a boy," Mrs. Pearson insisted. "He needs to play. You can teach him."

"I'll teach him. Arms aren't everything. Maybe we can get him some."

They had forgotten me. But maybe Mr. Pearson was right, I thought. Maybe sometime Freddie could be fitted with artificial arms. He did have nubs where arms should be.

"Then you might like to see him?"

They looked up. "When could we have him?"

"You think you might want him?"

Mrs. Pearson looked at me. "Might?" she said. "Might?"

"We want him," her husband said.

Mrs. Pearson went back to the picture. "You've been waiting for us," she said. "Haven't you?"

"His name is Freddie," I said, "but you can change it."

"No," said Mr. Pearson. "Frederick Pearson-it's good together."

And that was it.

There were formalities, Of course; and by the time we set the day Christmas lights were strung across city streets and wreaths were hung everywhere.

I met the Pearsons in the waiting room. There was a little snow on them both.

"Your son's here already," I told them. "Let's go upstairs and I'll bring him to you."

"I've got butterflies," Mrs. Pearson announced. "Suppose he doesn't like us?"

I put my hand on her arm. "I'll get him," I said.

Freddie's boarding mother had dressed him in a new white suit, with a sprig of green holly and red berries embroidered on the collar. His hair shone, a mop of dark curls.

"Going home," Freddie said to me, smiling, as his boarding mother put him in my arms.

"I told him that," she said. "I told him he was going to his new home."

She kissed him, and her eyes were wet.

"Good-bye, dear. Be a good boy."

"Good boy," said Freddie cheerfully. "Going home."

I carried him upstairs to the little room where the Pearsons were waiting. When I got there, I put him on his feet and opened the door.

"Merry Christmas," I said.

Freddie stood uncertainly, rocking a little, gazing intently at the two people before him. They drank him in.

Mr. Pearson knelt on one knee. "Freddie," he said, "come here. Come to Daddy."

Freddie looked back at me for a moment. Then, turning, he walked slowly toward them; and they reached out their arms and gathered him in.

Tagged!

I was tagged by Shelbi :) Some of these were difficult (for me anyways) but here we go--











Apple juice or orange juice? Orange juice! Apple juice is too watery for me. :)










What was your favorite childhood television program? Me and Shelbi used to watch P, B & J Otter on the Disney Channel when we were little. I still remember the songs!









Are you a collector of anything? I used to collect rocks, but I don't anymore. I guess I collect little brothers.








What is usually your first thought when you wake up? If it's a weekday I usually think "I don't want to get up!! " and if it's Saturday or Sunday I think, "Oh I'm so glad I get to sleep!!"









What do you think about right before you go to sleep at night? Ummm.... either what I have to do the next day, or what book I'm reading. :)










What is your favorite color? purple or dark green.










Have any bad habits? Yes, I bite my fingernails and chew my lip. (Gross I know.)









Are you a mostly clean or messy person? I am mostly clean.









What is your favorite song at the moment? Right now it would be "In Christ Alone" by The Gettys.







What is your favorite thing to do on a Saturday night? Watch a movie or have another family over.







What is your favorite thing to do on a Sunday afternoon? SLEEP!







Any hidden talents? Umm, I don't think so. :)







What would be your dream job? I don't know!!







Name one thing that not many people know about you? I have a very unusual birthmark on the underside of my left arm. It's three big pink dots. :) I guess it has something to do with being left handed!







If you HAD to change your name, what would you change it to? Cassandra or Rebbecca.







What is your favorite pizza topping? Canadian Bacon and Pineapple!







What songs do you most often sing in the shower? When I do sing in the shower, it's whatever song I've had stuck in my head all day.





What is your favorite Christmas movie? The Little House "The Christmas At Plum Creek".







Do you cry at movies? Sometimes...







Do you play an instrument? Yes, I play the piano, and I took violin for three years.







What music are you listening to right now? Right now while I am blogging, Shelbi is playing "Cavalry Gallop" on the piano.







What was the last good movie the you watched? I loved all of the movies at the Film Festival, but I think "The Penny" was my favorite.







What were you doing at midnight last night? Sleeping. Who stays up until midnight anyway?







What was the last thing that you dreamed about that you remember? A few nights ago I dreamed that I was in a corral with a bunch of horses and they started attacking me. ( That just goes to show that I'm a Texan, and I 'm afraid of attacking horses) .

I tag:

My Canadian pen-pal, Tiana

The Moore Boys Are Ready To Hunt!

The boys in our house are ready to go hunting!!

Update On, Uh, Everything

In case ya'll are wondering if I've died or something... no I have not. I have many reasons for not posting in such a long time.


1) We have moved. We moved to Airport Road, and it takes a long time for a family like us to move all of our stuff (or junk) to a different place.


















Here is our new house. We all really like it because it has alot of room. It has a pond, two living areas, and five bedrooms. God has really blessed us with this house!


2)We have been out of town alot. We went to the Semper Reformanda conference in Houston, and then the next weekend we went to San Antonio for the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. I really enjoyed both of these events.



3) In between those two things, I turned 14 on October 25th. I got a new camera; I've been saving for one for a long time. It's a Canon Power Shot Sx30IS. It has many gadgets, some or most of which I haven't learned how to use yet.

Here it is!!!



















Since my birthday was before the Film Festival, I had the camera when we went, and of course I was taking alot of pictures. Three hundred to be exact. When we got back, I was wanting to blog, and I accidentally formatted all of the pictures :( Now I can't get them back. Boohoo! At least I'll know not to do that again.



I've taken more pictures since we got back though. Here are a few.


I thought these were hilarious. ;)

































Our first thumb-sucker! He was trying to suck his thumb and smile at the same time :)


















These were taken at our grandparents' house. We went over there last night so that Daddy and Seth could hunt with Papa. They didn't shoot anything..."but they saw some rabbits." ( Not exactly what they were looking for.)



I thought the fall leaves were pretty :)



















































That's all for right now-- hope ya'll have enjoyed this update on everything!!



Savannah