Davises Daily

Maybe it should be Davises Annually...

2010-06-26T17:58:00.000-05:00

Well, as much as I hate to admit it, I think I'm just going to call it quits on Davises Daily, at least for now. As you can see, Two Thrifty Sisters takes up about all the computer time I'm willing to spend away from my children these days. It's turning into quite a job, but one that I love. I am so grateful that Rachel and I have this opportunity to do something that helps others and helps our own families, too!

I'm making this official because I'm tired of feeling so guilty about getting ever-more behind on Davises Daily. If there's one thing a Mommy does not need any more of, it's guilt! Especially this Mommy.

So...

If you are truly interested in keeping up with the Davis family, I'd love to be your "Friend." I do quick updates and post photos on my Facebook page because, quite honestly, it's a lot quicker and easier than doing it on the blog. You can go here to friend me, or here to friend Nathan. We'd like to be able to keep up with you, too!

And hopefully this hiaitus won't be permanent. Thanks for reading along!

Orange Beach Day Two: Sunny Days! (Maybe a little TOO sunny)

2010-05-12T23:42:00.000-05:00

We all hit the beach Tuesday, our first full day at Orange Beach, and had so much fun playing in the waves, building sand castles, and soaking up the sun.

Ben and Marley take a Capri Sun break.

Nathan builds a sand castle long after the boys have lost interest.

Ben's still digging.

Ready to go eat out: Me and Marley.

Funny joke!

Me and my Benny Boy.

Ben's a little burned...

But not as bad as his Daddy!

If you're thinking, "Wow, that looks bad," you're right. Perhaps next tme we head out in the blazing sun, Nathan will stop just a moment to apply sunscreen! We have really gone through the homemade burn cream on this trip!

Orange Beach Vacation! Day One - Marley's first ocean experience!

2010-05-12T23:19:00.000-05:00

So I obviously don't get around to updating the old Davises Daily anymore, mostly because of this, but this week I'm taking a week off from my "regular job" to chill at the beach so why not update with some great beach photos?

We went to Orange Beach, AL, this week, our first family beach trip in three years, and the first trip ever for Marley. It's pretty much a first for Ben, too, since he was too little to remember the last time we came down - for Josh and Leigh's wedding! Two babies for Josh later, and we're finally back, and boy, was it worth the wait! We're so glad we came early in the season, too, before the oil slick from from the Deepwater Horizon has a chance to make it all the way to the sugar-sand beaches of the Alabama coast. The weather has been just perfect, and we've all had a wonderful time.

Some shots from Day One:

Only been in town an hour or so and the kids can't wait to hit the beach!

Brody running for the water.

Marley and her Daddy

These waves are so funny!

Brody running in the surf.

Ben and his Daddy

Marley loves playing with fistfuls of sand - and throwing them at her Mommy.

Ben the Sea Monster emerging from the ocean.

Catch a wave!

Brody loves to play in the waves

Marley's so happy as long as her Daddy has her.

Ben throws shells into the surf

And runs in the surf

Brody catches a ride

This moment alone was worth the trip:

I love to see my babies so happy!

Valentine's party for us!

2010-02-13T23:50:00.000-06:00

Tonight Nathan and I got to go to a Valentine's dinner with the other "grownups" at Elm St. church. We had a delicious meal, a chance to dress nice, and of course, a really fun time playing games and visiting with friends! Here's some photos from the night:
Some of the couples!
Me and Nathan. :-)

Danny and Marian.

Jonathan and Kristi.

Billy and Emily.

Nick and Lacy.

Russell and Ella.

Mickey and Teresa.

Chad and Lori.

More photos from the night:
Russell and Tony demonstrate the "bro hug."

Jackie, Marinel, Marian and Deborah.

Cheryl, Ella and Jessica.

Christa, Tammy and Ronna.

Ross and Nathan.

"Senior Moment and George." ;-) Nathan surprised me with a singing Valentine from them on Friday! They sang to their own sweethearts during the dinner.

Battle of the Sexes! The girls:

The guys:

Ross and Nick collaborating with Nathan. They beat us! :-P

It was such a nice night spent with people we love!

Valentine's party for Brody!

2010-02-13T23:29:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, Brody's class at school walked to the Athens State post office to mail valentines, and then they had a Valentine's party after they came back. Ben, Marley came for the party, and I snapped a quick photo of two of my little sweethearts before we went to his classroom. I love this little dress Mom made for Marley!

Ben thinks he's one of the "big kids," joining in the party.

Marley gets her own seat at the "little kids'" table.

Brody and Ben look over the Valentines and candy.

The nicest part for us was when I went to the mailbox the next day and had a card from Brody waiting for me and Nathan!

Snowman-worthy snow day!

2010-02-13T23:08:00.000-06:00

As far as North Alabama winters go, this one has been quite wintery! We got another snowfall on Monday, and this one was a big surprise. I didn't even know it was supposed to snow until I looked outside and saw big fat flakes coming down. So the kids and I dropped everything, bundled up and went outside to play. Good thing we did, too because it all melted away by the afternoon. We had just enough to time to take some photos of the snow...

...throw a few snowballs...
(Brody was less than happy about getting hit with one!)

...run around making tracks in the snow...

...do a little sliding on cardboard...

...and of course, build a snowman! Our snowman rocked a circus hat, googly glasses, vampire teeth and a pirate-sash scarf. Nice.

Marley picked up the style.

All three kids posed with their new buddy... just two days before the boys had a big time beating him up with their plastic baseball bats! This family will remain safe from menacing snowmen.

When we all got cold enough, we went inside for some snow cream for lunch.

Yep, we got all our snow fun done in one big morning. Now let's bring on the spring!

Happy Birthday to Brody!

2010-01-26T00:17:00.000-06:00

My first baby is 5 years old! I don't know what it is about age 5 that sounds so old, but it seems like the "bye-bye to babyhood" age. Maybe it's because 5 is when you know you're going to send them to school in the fall, I don't know. But I know Brody is getting so big!

Brody has always been the... umm... spunky one, and Brody at 5 is no exception. He loves to entertain, and if he's not getting your attention by singing silly songs, then he'll get a little mischevious to get a rise out of you. But he has so much fun with everything he does, and he does it all FULL ON.

I know I've said it before, but Brody and Ben are partners in crime. They're either giggling together, getting in trouble together, or coming to me crying that the other one kicked them in the teeth! But they're best buds. And Brody is such a good big brother to Marley. He watches out for her and he's so sweet to her, and she loves her "Brrr-dy."

We're so grateful to have our happy, healthy, crazy Brody Boy in our lives, and so we celebrated on his birthday with all his little friends at a choo-choo train party at the Elkmont Depot. Brody had a big time, and I think all the other kids did, too. Thanks to everyone who came and helped us celebrate!

My lovely assistants helped me get everything ready for the party. Thanks, Mom and Dad! And thanks to Doodaddy for keeping the kids during the day so we could get ready.

The kids decorated their own "box cars" to make a train. Carlie gets some help with her car.

Charity and Vivian work on their box cars.

Nathan gives Brody a little help finishing his box car.

Kyle with his finished car.

Dawson tries his car on for size.

The popular corner of the room - the train table. Thanks to Amy and Emily for letting us borrow your table and train sets!

Cousins - Marley and Aaron build a track.

Dad reads "The Little Engine that Could" to the kids in the library that's in one end of the Depot.

Brody was pretty into the story.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...

The cake! It wasn't as elaborate as the train cake I made for his third birthday, but still, it was a job. Totally worth it, though, when he first saw it and his face lit up and he jumped up and down and said, "It's a train!"

Everybody's ready for a slice.

And Brody gets more sugar than anybody! I LOVE this photo of this big ol' kiss Kharma planted on Brody, just because he's so awkward with it all! Maybe this is why he told me today: "Kissing is GROSS!"

After cake and ice cream, all the kids put on their box cars and made a train around the room to the sound of "C'mon Ride the Train."

Dylan chugs down the track.

The kids go around a time or two more.

Brody opens presents.

The kids check out the new Zhu Zhu pet. Brody's loving "Mr. Squiggles!"

Andrew has some fun with Grandma Penny.

Fun times!

Snow much fun

2010-01-25T23:07:00.000-06:00

We had our second snowfall of the winter on Jan. 7, which is pretty amazing in a place where we might go a few years without a flurry. It was so cold in early January we didn't get out and play in it much, but we did take a few minutes to enjoy the snow before it disappeared this time around.
Marley checked out the scene from the comfort of her footie pjs.

Ben on the front sidewalk, ready to play.

Snow!

Snow the holly bush and furniture.

Nathan shows Ben and Marley how to make a snowball. Brody missed this lesson - he was at Grannie and Doodaddy's - but maybe he got a lesson there. :-)

My little homeless baby, ready to go with her Wal-Mart buggy.

Playing in the snow.

Neighborhood snow scene.

"Wii" had a fun New Year's Eve!

2010-01-25T22:50:00.000-06:00

For New Year's, John and Sandra took off to Florida to watch Auburn's bowl game, so we stayed at their house for a couple days so Thomas wouldn't be alone. Plus, we got to play with the new Wii!
Anthony and Amanda came over to help us ring in the New Year, and it was so fun to hang out with them again.

Nathan's ready to get his game on.

Bowling a strike!

Amanda's intense at tennis!

Either doing the happy dance or trying to hit the ball... either way it's awkward! :-D

Must be the happy dance.

We had a great time. I miss hanging out with Anthony and Amanda, but I'm so glad we got to start 2010 with them!

Christmas 2009: Thompson Lane

2010-01-16T22:55:00.000-06:00

We did the Thompson family Christmas the day after Christmas this year, and we had such a nice day for a walk in the woods.
Nathan bundled Marley up good before we set out.

Alayna rocking Granddaddy Longlegs' gloves and her bright yellow whistle.

Ben found a good spot to squat.

The kids with Granddaddy and Nathan at the campsite.

Me, Nate and the kids on the big fallen tree.

Ben, Brody and Marley take in the views.

Marley's red-headed temper coming out. I love Alayna's look: "What's up with that kid?"

Nathan, Alayna, Marley and Granddaddy.

Nathan gives Alayna a lift.

Marley's turn.

Ben and Alayna, walking with Granddaddy.

Some of the sights along the way:
A neighbor's barn beside the pond.

The moon rising through the trees.

Back at the house: Grandma Penny and Rachel.

Opening gifts: The "big kids" - Marley, Alayna, Ben, Aaron and Brody.

The girls with their new scarves.

The big boys open their gifts.

Aaron helps Granddaddy open his gifts.

Mom with the necklace I made her, mostly out of beads from Grandma Thompson's and Grandma Wolff's old necklaces.

Rachel with the necklace I made her.

My new scarf and gloves from Rachel.

Nathan's new Auburn hat from Rachel.

Mom counting her money from Dad. Scary. ;-)

Aaron trying out his new glow writer.

Ben and Nathan have a little art time.

Chad and Rachel get ready to head out on a date.

The big kids ready to eat some dinner.

Grandma Penny feeds Andrew his first round of dinner.

Full tummy = happy baby!

But now he's ready for round two, with a little help from Granddaddy and Marley.

Finally all that eating tuckered the baby out!

And all that fun tuckered us out, too. It was another great Christmas Day!

Christmas 2009: The Davises

2010-01-12T00:13:00.001-06:00

We spent most of Christmas Day at Grannie and Doodaddy's house with Nathan's family. Of course, we had a great time!
We took some family photos:
Nathan, Rebekah, Brody, Ben and Marley

Anthony and Amanda

Nathan and Rebekah

Josh, Leigh and Coleby

Hmmn... no photos of John and Sandra! :-( Ah well, we have photos of them enjoying the grandkids!

Doodaddy and Marley

Grannie and Coleby

Thomas and Marley

The kids opened their presents first, so they could have a ball playing with all their new stuff. Among other things:

A remote control truck for Brody

Ben opening up...

A robot dinosaur!

... that he was TERRIFIED of. He finally let it get somewhat near him when he was safely with his Daddy.

Brody thought it was great, though. I think more than anything, he loved being able to terrorize his brother with it.

A pink poofy puppy for Marley.

A trampoline for Coleby!

All the kids loved taking a bounce or two on that.

Grannie and Doodaddy help Marley open her new backpack, just perfect for those overnight visits.

Nathan looks over Brody's new learning computer.

Opening more gifts...

The real photographer takes a shot of the scene.

Hmmm... wonder what this could be?

Ben wastes no time finding a hard head to test the hammer on.

Spongebob game - right up Ben's alley!

Coleby takes it all in.

Brody finds a new use for one of the many boxes.

Nathan ties Coleby's new shoes.

The grownups opening gifts:
Doodaddy wasn't quite sure what to make of his Auburn Snuggie.

Amanda shows Anthony the "Lola" necklace I made her.

I think she likes it!

Nathan was, obviously, excited about his new table saw.

Sweet mother-son moment. Awwww...

My gift from Josh: A gift certificate to Dantera. Can't wait to use that!

Anthony framed a photo of Josh from back when he coached Kobe. ;-)

Finally Leigh brought out Doodaddy's real gift - Tiger Woods Golf for his new Wii. He was much more excited about that!

Testing it out - Wii Bowling.

Golf... that better be the only thing you're doing like Tiger, buddy! ;-)

The boys play together with their new toys.

Marley reaching for Doodaddy.

Snack time - the black olive penguins the kids helped me make.

It was such a fun day, one of the happiest Christmases I can remember. I am so blessed to have married into such a great family!
Up next: Christmas on Thompson Lane!

Christmas 2009: Christmas Morning

2010-01-11T22:55:00.001-06:00

Alright, now that it's fair to say that Christmas 2009 is finally, completely, officially, over, let's look back on it, shall we?

Nathan gave me the greatest gift: A brand-new camera! I love it as much as I HATED my old camera, and that was more than words can ever express. Even for me. And the proof is in the great photos that I was able to get this holiday... so many it's taken me a while to get around to posting them. So I'll just do it bit by bit, starting with right after I got the camera - Christmas morning.
Christmas is so much more fun with kids, I have to say. Just seeing them get so excited about all these little things and about the surprises that Santa leaves is the best gift of all.

Ben started "going fishing" with his new game right away.

Marley's first Barbie! Whose hair is already irrevocably tangled... ;-)

Brody had to don his new dragon suit right away.

Beyond cool in his new Superman suit and Spiderman sunglasses.

Check out these muscles!

Brody and Marley playing with new toys together.

Nathan models his new clothes.

My little knights defending their princess's honor.

The "princess" - with Mommy painting on her new shade of nail polish.

Up next: Christmas Day!

Thompson kids Christmas photos!

2009-12-20T12:17:00.000-06:00

So, in all the hubbub over Brody, I forgot to post more of the photos that Tanjie took of Rachel and me and our kids. She did such a great job, as always!
We couldn't convince Andy to join in, but the rest of the kids still looked cute all lined up.

The stairsteps: 4-month-old Andrew Reavis Petty.

18-month-old Marley Joy Davis.

2-year-old Alayna Christine Petty.

3-year-old Benjamin Estill Davis.

4-year-old Chad Aaron Petty, Jr.

4-year-old Broderick Ethan Davis. 5 next month!

The photo that almost worked.

Whaddup, cuz?

It's alright, sissy...

Ready to roll!

Look what I found!

And the Thompson girls who created all this insanity.

So blessed to have my sister and all these crazy kids!

Happy Birthday to Avery!

2009-12-20T00:58:00.000-06:00

Friday night was Avery's birthday party at Onyx, and the boys had so much fun that Brody wants to go back for his birthday next month. We'll see, buddy... anybody know of any coupons for that place? ;-)
Avery smiled graciously at her adoring public as they sang her the Happy Birthday song. She cracks me up.

The boys had a blast on the slide...

...but the block pit was the all-time favorite! It did look awfully fun!

Happy Birthday, Avery!

Preschool program and party time!

2009-12-20T00:51:00.000-06:00

Thursday was Brody's Christmas program and party before they're out for Christmas. I just love those little programs! The kids are always so cute, and of course you can count on Brody to entertain. Unplanned. In the middle of a quiet moment during this one, he loudly announced, "I'M TIRED!" Maybe all that singing about baby Jesus sleeping in a manger just had too much power of suggestion.

Brody walking in... I guess this is his game face?

During the program. As much as he loves to sing, you'd think he would be belting them out, but he tends to clam up during the songs. Nerves, maybe? Oh no, that's right... exhaustion. ;-)

After the program, it was party time!

Ben fit right in at the little siblings table.

Marley had the best seat in the house.

Then they all got to open presents. Logan handed out reindeer food to sprinkle on the lawn Christmas Eve to make sure Santa's reindeer can fly.

Brody waited patiently for a gift - and got a set of Lightning McQueen dominoes! Perfect for the boy who loves to line 'em up and knock 'em down. We've played some rounds of dominoes together since then, too.

Hope all his little buddies and Mrs. Randolph have a happy holiday!

Around the house

2009-12-20T00:24:00.000-06:00

Here lately, we've been...

Doing art projects together

Watching Christmas movies together

Getting really in to our train sets

And trying new hairstyles!

We're just a few well-placed ponytail holders away from the Sanjaya faux-hawk.

Dean family Christmas

2009-12-20T00:10:00.002-06:00

We had Dean family Christmas early this year so we would conflict with anybody's plans, and we still had to shuffle it so it wouldn't conflict with the big Florida-Alabama game! I'm glad we did, though, because just about the whole family came. Grandmama would have loved seeing all those little ones! We were missing a couple, but we still got Mackenzi, Aiden, Anna Grace, Ben, Coleby, Marley and Brody.

Captured Marley sharing her cookie with Coleby. Sweet girl.

Curtis and Sheila had gotten all the kids gifts, and they loved them.

Marley had to show Grannie while she was helping Coleby with his.

And Ben showed his to Doodaddy.

Brody got one, too.

The boys couldn't wait to try out all their new art supplies.

And of course, what's a party without cake? Green icing? All the better!

It was just about too much fun for Marley.

And it definitely was for Aiden.

The best part of the whole event: We got to sort through Grandmama's treasure trove of family photos and keep what we wanted. Check out these photos of the Davis boys from about 30 years ago. Are Brody and Marley not the spitting image of Anthony and Nathan?

Amazing.

The Great Blizzard of '09

2009-12-19T23:40:00.000-06:00

Alright, so it was just a light dusting that had already nearly all melted by the time I got the kids bundled up and out the door, but it may be the only snow we get all winter, so I have to talk it up! There really was more snow early in the morning, but we were late getting up and at 'em that Saturday morning - I guess it was the one after Thanksgiving? - so this is what we had left to enjoy.

What my kids enjoy is pelting me with snowballs.

Or snow fluff, as the case may be.

Wonder where they get that?

But they like the snow, too, for about 5 minutes until they decide their hands are too cold.

Snow eaten off a lawn mower... mmm, tasty!

New explanation for crop circles?

May be the only White Christmas we get. Ah, well, we'll take it!

QTS cuties

2009-12-19T23:23:00.000-06:00

Well, other than Nathan, Brian and Darin, of course. Ha! :-)

Nathan's uncle and boss Gene had all the QTS families over to their house again this year for the company Christmas party, and once again we had wonderful food and a great time. The kids were so excited about all their little gifts.

"Wook! It's a dinosaur and a tam-bo-ween!"

"How does this thing work?"

"Ti-guh!"

While the kids played with all their new toys and some oldies-but-goodies in Gene and Marilyn's extra room, the grownups and some of the older kids played round after round of Catch Phrase. It was so much fun, though, we didn't finally call it quits until long after our munchkins should have been in bed. Glad we got to get together again this year, and once again, I am so grateful that Nathan has his job!

Apple butter all around

2009-12-19T23:14:00.000-06:00

This was a fun one. I may just have to give out little jars of apple butter again next year. Looks like I'll be hitting up Rachel for all Andy's used baby food jars!

I'm a big girl now!

2009-12-19T23:10:00.000-06:00

No, she's not in the big girl panties yet (oh, how I wish), but we did make the move to a big girl bed! This is Marley's first night in it, when she was sleeping on some hand-me-down navy sheets from the boys. The next day her Grannie found her a pretty sheet and comforter set with butterflies and flowers on it, so I need to get another photo of her sleeping in that. Marley's done great in the big girl bed, although she did fall out a couple mornings ago. :-( Nathan heard a thud from her room while was getting ready for work and went in to find her on the floor, still asleep. Can you believe that? Other than that, though, she sleeps in it just fine, and she still doesn't seem to realize that when she wakes up, she can climb out of the bed instead of calling for one of us to come get her. That's fine with me, though! The sooner they realize they can get out of bed, the harder it is to keep them in the bed at naptime and bedtime!

Getting ready for Christmas

2009-12-19T23:05:00.000-06:00

You know it's almost Christmas when you break out the reindeer sweaters and the candy cane dress! Oh, I so wish this photo was in focus. Those boys just adore their baby sister.
And of course, the iconic Christmas symbol... O Tannenbaum.

That hat says "I've Been Good." We'll let Santa be the judge of that.
Ben was so proud to help me decorate the Christmas tree. I waited until after he had gone to bed to do a little rearranging, however. Do you really need 26 ornaments on 2 branches?

Brody's big bike wreck

2009-12-19T22:58:00.000-06:00

In case you haven't heard about it already, let's just say it's a good thing we had the kids' Christmas photos made when we did, because those are the last official proof that Brody did have three front teeth at one time! Three days later, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, he had a terrible bike wreck at Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Longlegs' house in Cullman.
Brody and Nathan were riding bikes down that steep gravel driveway after our Thompson family Thanksgiving lunch when Brody lost control, wiped out, and split his lip badly and knocked out his teeth. Nathan and Dad jumped in the car before we womenfolks even knew anything had happened and raced him to Cullman Regional Medical Center's ER, calling us on the way to let us know what was going on. I got there pretty soon behind them and he was still bleeding and crying, in a lot of pain, so they gave him some morphine. After that, he was pretty happy! He had a big time playing with the little glove friend I made for him, but he was still so pitiful.

He was such a brave boy, though, riding in the wheelchair to have a scan done.

When it was over, he said, "I wanna ride that ride again!"
His lip and gum were split so bad - almost to his nose - that Brody had to be put to sleep for emergency surgery. He came through it fine, and the surgeon did a really good job of stitching him back together. We even got a bonus - when they checked him out pre-op, they discovered he had a piece of crayon in his ear! We remembered him telling us he had a crayon in his ear a couple months ago, but Nathan saw it, then swished Brody's head around in the tub a couple times and we didn't see it anymore, so we figured it washed out. Nope. So while he was asleep, they went ahead and got the crayon tip out of his ear. We have a souvenier from the whole ordeal - a jar with the crayon tip and the one tooth that was barely hanging in there that they had to go ahead and pull during surgery. Nice.
Even though he did good, that Saturday night Nathan and I spent with Brody in the hospital was still a long one. Between the anesthesia and all that blood he swallowed, he threw up a lot, and I don't think anybody got any sleep. Brody still looked pretty pitiful when he woke up.

It didn't take him long, though, before he started running around the room with his inflatable giraffe they had given him in surgery. He named it "Affie."

And since then, we have been amazed at how quickly he has healed. Of course, he won't have those teeth for a while, but the stitches on his lip were gone within a week, and the scar has already started to fade. It hasn't slowed him down any, either. He's already out riding his bike all the time... just hopefully not down any more steep gravel hills!

Christmas photos: A sneak peek!

2009-11-18T22:00:00.000-06:00

Rachel and I took all six of our crazy young'uns over to Tanjie's house today for a Christmas photo session. Insanity does not even begin to describe our attempts to get all of our children happily smiling for the camera! Thank goodness for a kitty who ran across the yard during the last pose; that got all of them at least perky and looking in the same direction! Tanjie did an awesome job, though, and she's already shared a couple shots with us. Take a look at this one of all six:

Rachel and I had her take a new photo of us for Two Thrifty Sisters, too. (So we could justify it as a business expense, hee hee!) Tanjie has been so great to offer a discount to Two Thrifty Sisters readers (and to us, too!), and her prices are really reasonable as it is, so if you're interested, check out this post for details on how to book a Christmas session and get a discount, too. Thanks for doing such a great job, Tanjie! Can't wait to see the rest!

What's been keeping me so busy...

2009-11-17T14:52:00.000-06:00

But it's fun! I'm loving these workshops. It's so nice to get together with a bunch of people with like interests and swap info about saving money and finding great deals. And it seems like each one leads to two more. It's such a wonderful feeling to think that we might be helping other people by doing what we were already doing anyway. If y'all get a chance, you ought to check out one of our next workshops: We've got one Thursday night, 11/19, at Cash Point Baptist Church outside Ardmore, Tenn., and the next one is a "girls night out" shindig Friday night, 12/11, at Suzanne's Bakery and Eatery in Athens. We'll be announcing all about it soon on Two Thrifty Sisters. Thanks so much to all my friends and family who have supported mine and Rachel's efforts!

Walkin' in high cotton

2009-11-17T14:43:00.000-06:00

I just love this photo of my three sweet young'uns!
Now that the weather is finally cool and clear, we've been spending a lot of mornings going for walks through the neighborhoods in our part of town. Brody rides his bike - training-wheels-free! - and Ben and Marley hop in the wagon for a sweet ride. Let me tell you, even though it's gotten too cold and dark in the mornings for a run, I'm still getting my workout! You try pulling 60 pounds worth of little kids up and down hills for a couple miles!
Along one route is a cotton field at a street's dead-end. It's just one of those things I love about living in a small, Southern town... where else can you get photos like this inside city limits?

The boys look over this year's crop.

This is soft... just like Blank-Blank!

Pondering God's creation... is it true my shirt and pants really came from this?

Happy Birthday to Alayna!

2009-11-17T14:34:00.000-06:00

My little niece is 2! I can't believe she's so quickly gone from being a little baby to a little girl. She's so big! We celebrated Thursday night with a Strawberry Shortcake party with family. All I had was my phone, so the pictures aren't that great, but still, it was fun!
Getting ready to blow out those two candles.

The strawberry cake Rachel made.

Marley's looking at the world through rose-colored, strawberry-shaped glasses.

So are Rachel and I! Yes, we're dorks.

Alayna in her finest regalia. She got lots of pretty dress-up clothes and accessories for her birthday. Pretty girl!

After-dinner entertainment: Pile onto Granddaddy Longlegs' lap for storytime!

Happy Birthday, Alayna! We love you, sweet girl!

Goodies from the Smokies

2009-11-17T14:22:00.000-06:00

Doodaddy and Grannie came back from their annual fall trip to the Smokies and brought back some fun stuff for the kids. In addition to some cool new clothes, they brought:
-Tractors with trailers for the boys.

-An Indian papoose dollie for Marley.

-Some rockin' moccasins.

-T-shirts that perfectly sum up my kids' daily sentiments! Every time the boys get to go and Marley doesn't, we all get the tearful "I'un go! I'un go!" pleas from Marley. They LOVE their DoDaddy and Granny!

Backyard camping adventure

2009-11-17T14:08:00.000-06:00

OK, so they didn't really camp out, but the kids did have a lot of fun when I popped up the Lightning McQueen tent I got them at the end of the summer.

It gave me a good couple hours of uninterrupted relaxing work time!

The view from above.

Locked and loaded.

The great escape!

The fun was short-lived, though: The tent was only up for two days before Ben and Marley broke the tent poles. :-( Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted!

You're not going to see them without their...

2009-11-17T13:40:00.000-06:00

Spiderman costume, on Brody, and "Blank-Blank", in Marley's little fist.

Brody's stylin' in his Daddy's size 15's, too, isn't he? This is what he wants to wear every day. Thankfully, though, I haven't had to argue with him too much about not wearing it to town!
And as far Marley, her "Blank-Blank" goes with her wherever she goes. One hand on the Blank-Blank, the other thumb in her mouth. She switches between this one and her pink one, which is awfully convenient when one goes missing or is in the wash. Marley is my only baby who really has had a "lovey", and I think it's great. It's so nice to be able to put her down wide awake and see her curl up with her Blank-Blank, stick her thumb in her mouth and go right to sleep. Plus she looks so cute toddling through the house, dragging her Blank-Blank!

What a cutie!

Playtime in the park

2009-11-17T11:09:00.000-06:00

Oh, how I LOVE fall in the Tennessee Valley! Once we finally got through the monsoon season this fall, we've had one gorgeous day after another. So the kids and I took advantage of one of those days to play at the duck pond park.
On the bridge: If this thing just had bars on either end, I think I could use it at home. ;-)

Who can run across the bridge the fastest? Ready, set, GO!

"Duck! Duck! Kack Kack Kack!"

"I throw a rock!"

"I find a feather!"

The Three Amigos

The Amazing Spiderman and his Sidekick Skeleton

2009-11-17T10:49:00.000-06:00

So before I hit up the KMart Halloween clearance, I found the clearance rack at Walgreens and grabbed a few goodies for the kids at 75% off. The boys were so excited to have new costumes. Ben thought his skeleton costume was so funny, but Brody fell in love with his Spiderman costume. He wants to wear it every day, and he runs around playing Spiderman. He even calls the mask "Masky." Yes, my child is weird. ;-)

I'm thinking the costume will be just a memory by the time next Halloween rolls around. It's already developed a few rips in the seams, and the sleeves are starting to fray. I'm thinking these things are really only designed for one-time use. But we've certainly got our $4 worth out of this one!

Halloween: Trick or Treat!

2009-11-17T10:37:00.000-06:00

I was so excited to take the kids trick-or-treating this year! It seems like every year, we ended up running around visiting instead of trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, and I wanted my kids to know what it was like to trick-or-treat like we did when I was a kid. Of course, it's all different now. Less than half the houses on our street had their lights on, and when people would come to the door, they would tell us we were the only trick-or-treaters they had seen. I know people are more into trunk-or-treats and church/community functions now, but it's still sad to me. Trick-or-treating was one of those ways you got to know your neighbors and let them see how cute your kids are and how much they've grown. I think we'd be a lot less scared of our neighbors if we actually knew them, don't you? I'm so glad we went, because especially the older people on our street were delighted to see our kids. They loaded them down with goodies, to the point I had to come up with some creative baking to use up all that candy! And the kids had a big time, too.
We got ready at Doodaddy and Grannie's house, so they got the prime costume experience: Seeing the kids before they rubbed off all their makeup and lost their hats/antenna/fangs!
We had a Captain Ben Pointybeard, the pirate, who defended his ship at all costs.

Aaarrrgh! I spy the treasure, me hearties!

A little ladybug, flitting around the flowers.

And of course, our scary vampire.
The red-eye really makes this one, doesn't it?

Ooooh! Scary!

Check out the spiky 'do!

All three of them posed on the front porch before we left.

After hitting up our neighborhood, we went over to the Melvins' house, where they had decked it out as a pirate ship. Ben fit right in!

It was lots of fun. Halloween... one of those holidays you have kids for. How else could you justify walking around the neighborhood dressed as a pirate and eating way more candy than you should? :-)

Halloween: Party Time!

2009-11-17T09:48:00.042-06:00

I think I've reached the age already that my kids have a more exciting social life than I do. Before we could have trick-or-treating on Halloween, we did the class party at Brody's preschool. The kids were so cute all dressed up in their costumes!

Of course, Brody thought Karma was the cutest. He leaned in to Karma and told her, "Karma, you are SOOOO cute!" Then he looked at me, pointed at Karma and said, "I love her." Karma just giggled. She's got the right idea, though: If you ever want to get a 4-year-old boy's attention, skip the fairy princess costumes and go straight for Thomas the Tank Engine!

Brody was quite the dashing vampire, I thought. Yes, he was old-school, but we still gave him a little Twilight spikiness!

Ben was gone to Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Longlegs' house, but Marley joined Brody's class in munching on some party snacks. She thinks she rules the school.

After snacks, the kids all got to go to the "pumpkin patch" and pick out a pumpkin to take home.

Natalee was very proud of her pumpkin.

Brody and his buddy Dawson the Dragon.

Ever since the party, Brody's been talking about wanting a red dragon costume like Dawson's. Well, if you can keep a secret, I'll tell you: I found one on the 75% off rack after Halloween at KMart! Cheapskate that I am, I put it back for a Christmas present. He'll have some fun with dress-up after Christmas, though!

Happy Birthday to Coleby! (and Cody and Riley and Davis!)

2009-11-17T09:42:00.000-06:00

Coleby and Cody's first birthday rolled around in October, so since Riley and Davis's birthdays are in October, too, the "Pettus girls" had one big party for all their little boys. Just family was a crowd!
They set up a bouncy house slide in the Strouds' backyard, and all the kids had a big time on it.
Ben and Marley take off.

Marley takes her turn with Brody.

Wheeeee!

Brody, pushing Avery down before she's ready! Busted, Brody!

Grannie helps the birthday boy open a present that's bigger than he is.

Marley gets a little Grannie time, too.

Doodaddy helps Ben with his belated birthday present from Anthony and Amanda: An Indian set with a bow and arrows, knife and headdress.

Ben thought it was his birthday party, too!

Happy Birthday, Coleby! You're getting to be quite the big boy!

My little punkins

2009-11-17T09:27:00.000-06:00

We actually got around to carving a pumpkin this year, which is pretty good for us. Too bad I forgot to take a photo of the finished project, a monster silhouetted in the light! Ah, well, you can use your imagination.
Ben was so proud of the nice, big pumpkin.

He and Brody thought it was great.

And of course, they all watched with interest when Daddy dug in.

Only Halloween can give you the excuse to get all slimy digging the guts out of a gourd!

October: The Highlights

2009-11-16T22:53:00.009-06:00

Here's a little bit about what we've been up to the past month or so:

-Watching Brody play soccer. So maybe his team wasn't the best in the league, and maybe he wasn't the most... um.... enthusiastic player out there, but hey, he still got his trophy. And he scored his team's only goal in one of the games, so woo-hoo! The boys all got their trophies at a little party at Chick-fil-A, and as you can see, Brody was quite proud.

Pardon the poor quality - I have the choice of either a cell phone camera or a terrible, barely-works digital camera these days. Better than nothing? Just barely.

We also learned the danger of watching soccer in the cold: Hat Head!

-Visiting Daddy at work.

My kids think Nathan has the coolest job. He gets to play with blacklights and hosepipes; he can drive a forklift, and there's balloons everywhere! He made them all balloon animals last time we were there.

-Visiting the doctor.

Marley had to get a round of shots, and they all jumped on the scales: 25 lbs., 35 lbs., and 45 lbs. I knew that wagon was getting heavy when I'm pulling Ben and Marley up and down hills!
I've figured out a little trick to keeping the kids occupied and their hands off the stirrups and various assorted paraphernalia at the doctor's office: Bring crayons and let them go to town on the table liner.

A book or two for "storytime" doesn't hurt, either!

-Representin'.

Apparently, Brody was attempting to flash up gang signs. Where we live, I'm guessing we should learn the sign for Barrio 18. Hee hee.

-Meeting celebrities.

The Pig is a celebrity, right? He was at The News-Courier's customer appreciation day, and Brody was delighted to shake his hand. Marley and Ben were a little wary, but Marley thought he was funny from a distance.

And Marley got her 15 minutes of fame, too! Check it out: http://www.enewscourier.com/local/local_story_294193747.html. The photo ran on The News-Courier's front page. Cute, right?

More celebrities: The Athens firefighters. Brody's class toured the AFD, and Ben and Marley got to tag along, too.

-Four-wheelin'.

My kids love their four-wheelers at Grannie and Doodaddy's house more than ever, and they've had some pretty days to get out there here lately.

-Being all-around cute.

My two favorite red-heads! Don't remember what Marley had all over her mouth, but she still looks precious in her Daddy's ballcap, doesn't she?

And enjoying a cookie at the Fiddlers Convention.

And playing with a smooshy ball.

And all the kids with their Doodaddy at the Fiddlers Convention.

Whew! I'm just getting started! Still have lots of cute Halloween photos to post! I'll call it a night, though... let's see if I can do some more blog catchup tomorrow!

All original artwork copyright 2009, Benjamin E. Davis

2009-11-16T22:40:00.002-06:00

So...
It's been a while since I've gotten on Davises Daily, hasn't it? I may have to change the name to Davises Quarterly! If you've been keeping up with Two Thrifty Sisters, though, you know why: We've been keeping it updated and getting out there for workshops, too. It's getting to be a lot of fun, but it doesn't leave a whole lot of computer time for keeping up with my version of my kids' baby book!
However, I've had a little photo-downloading session, so maybe I can play a little catch-up over the next few days.
For starters, it's reallly cool to see Ben's artwork evolve from undefinable scribblings to something you can actually recognize. Check out this piece, which he named "Crazy Boy":Pretty well-named, don't you think? :-)

He dabbles in other media in addition to his marker-on-construction-paper pieces. Here are a couple of his chalk-on-concrete pieces.
And here's the artist, hard at work.

You have to be comfortable when you're creating this good art!

Happy Birthday to Ben!

2009-10-01T21:35:00.000-05:00

My baby boy is THREE! Happy Birthday, my Benny Boy!
Ben turned 3 on Sunday, so we celebrated with a Spongebob Squarepants party at the park. Good thing Spongebob lives under the sea, because the weather sure fit. It POURED on Saturday, and I thought for a while there we might just have to call the whole thing off. But it slacked off by party time, and about halfway through the party it quit raining altogether. So we still weren't able to do the planned party activity, which was letting the kids run wild on the playground, but thanks to the plethora of Spongebob party sites out there, we still had some fun stuff to do. We blew bubbles like Spongebob and Patrick...

and we pinned the Squarepants on Spongebob, caught "jellyfish" (pink balloons with pink ribbons attached) with butterfly nets, put on Spongebob tattoos, colored pictures and colored with sidewalk chalk.
And then of course, we ate cake and opened presents!
Check out the Spongebob cake I made for this party! Isn't it fun?
On the one hand, a Spongebob cake is easy because, hello, it's square, but on the other hand, you have to do it just so, so that it doesn't turn out looking like some strange generic dollar-store version of Spongebob: SpongeBill FlatPants. I think this one turned out pretty good, though.
And as you can see, Ben was thrilled.
Hee hee... he really did like it, he's just so shy that I think it overwhelmed him a little to have all those people staring at him while we were singing "Happy Birthday." Sound familiar, Rachel? ;-)
He dug in with gusto, though!

It was a mighty tasty cake, too! We ate every last crumb at the party!
Then he got to open lots of fun gifts from friends and family. He's been having a blast playing with them all since Saturday, but his favorite has been the pirate sword, hat, hook and eyepatch. He couldn't wait to get those on!
And Brody had to try them out, too. See how well he's defending his castle?I'm thinking Halloween costumes ought to be easy this year, as long as we can have TWO Captain Hooks! Nobody in this house wants to be Peter Pan or Mr. Smee! I think Marley would make an adorable Tinkerbell, don't you? Anyone know where I can find a Tinkerbell costume cheap?

Ben at 3

Let me tell you a little about Ben, now that he's three. Ben is my sweet boy, always willing to give me a big hug and a kiss... and then try to tackle me and push me down! He and Brody are two little partners in crime, and you know it's time to see what they're getting into when you start hearing Ben cackle. The more trouble they're getting into, the more Ben cackles. They fight every day, but Ben LOVES his brother and he LOVES his sister, too.

Ben's just about as tall as Brody, but he's so skinny we have a hard time keeping his pants up on those little hips sometimes! He can match Brody step for step, though, and he's getting good at hitting a plastic baseball and kicking a soccer ball. He can pedal his tricycle now, too, and I figure it won't be long before he'll be riding the little bike with training wheels. He's been potty-trained for a few months, which is wonderful! It's the craziest thing... he went from having accidents every day to making it to the potty every time, overnight. Somebody just flipped a switch in that kid. I'm so glad they did! Two down, one to go!

Ben loves stickers, Play-doh, markers, blocks... pretty much anything that is creative and makes a mess. He likes to go on walks, riding with Marley in the wagon. He loves PB&Js, but he hates the crust, so I often top off my lunch with an after-dinner snack of Ben's peeled crusts. He loves to eat "worms" (spaghetti) for dinner and eggs for breakfast. Or well, make that egg whites. He always leaves a perfectly intact, round little egg yolk on his plate. And he is a candy fanatic. We have to hide anything with sugar out of sight and out of reach, and he still sniffs it out.

He's got the cutest way of saying things in his little baby-boy voice, and I know I'll miss that when he's all grown up and saying everything just right.
It's hard for me to believe that next year Ben will be in preschool too, and Brody will be kindergarten. My babies are growing up so fast! Not fast enough some days, ;-) but I know it will be awfully quiet around here when they're all off doing their own thing and they don't need Mommy every moment of the day. Being a stay-at-home Mommy hasn't been the easiest job, (understatement of the year!) but when I think about all the moments I've been able to enjoy with Ben during the last three years, and with Brody and Marley too of course, then I think about how much I would have missed if I had been off earning money and letting someone else raise my kids. I have the rest of my life to be a successful career-woman. I only have a few short years to be Mommy.

What Not to Wear with Ben Davis

2009-10-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

When it comes to preschooler fashion, this is the epitome:
-Dinosaur T-shirt - I've heard it referred to as the little black dress of the preschool boy world.
-Thomas the Tank Engine pants - The perfect combination of comfort and style.
-Pirate hat, eyepatch, hook and sword - Because what is the perfect outfit without the right accessories?
Looks like Ben's got all the bases covered. He's ready to get out there and knock 'em dead!

Aaargh! Me hearties!

2009-09-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

I'll post up some pictures from Ben's third birthday in the next day or so, but I had to go ahead and share how much fun the kids had with the birthday present he got from the Woodalls today - a pirate play tent! Nathan set it up in the living room when he came home, and Ben put on the headscarf and eyepatch so he could get in it like a REAL pirate. That boy is all about some swords and pirates these days. They both are! Brody's soccer team even named themselves the Karate Pirates! How's that for an awesome team name?
So yes, the pirate tent was a big hit with Ben...

...Marley......and Brody.Brody loved it so much he wanted to sleep in it tonight! Which was convenient, because as you can see, I still hadn't made the bed from having to wash it all up this morning after Ben "tee-teed" in the bed. So we put the tent in their tiny room, and look how it filled up what little space was left! Hilarious! Good thing it folds up for storage! He was so happy to camp-IN in the pirate tent.

And Ben slept on the top bunk like a big boy.

It was the perfect ending to our Adventure Day. What a great day!

Adventure Day!

2009-09-30T22:30:00.002-05:00

Fall in Alabama... Way too gorgeous not to get out and tackle the day! So that's what we did when Emily Woodall asked if we wanted to meet her and her "little girls" at the duck pond for a playdate today. Brody has been doing so great on his bicycle - he actually rode with me while I jogged yesterday! - that I decided we could handle the mile or so walk through town while I pulled Ben and Marley in the wagon. I am so proud of Brody. He really paid attention to me and to the traffic and rode his bicycle (without training wheels, I might add) all the way to the park and back like such a big boy.
I could have easily just jumped in the van and zipped right on over to the park, but it really felt like an adventure to get out there and walk with my kiddos. And we had such a fun time!
Marley had her own little adventure on the playground... look how high she climbed all by herself!

Too scary for me. I had to run up there after her and slide down with her. She was making me nervous up there!
Brody, Vivian and Ben fed the ducks.
And sampled the "duck food."And the adventure continued after the park, when we stopped by the Alabama Veterans Museum. I thought the kids might have been a little too young for it, but they loved seeing the panoramas of battle scenes, the guns and swords, and all the model airplanes and tanks. And one of the veterans up there was so nice to them, pointing out things they would be interested in and talking to them. He gave each of the kids an American flag pinwheel when we left, too.

Any time my kids can be in a room full of artifacts and not tear up a single thing, I consider that a near-miracle!

What a fun day! If we did this more often, I might lose some weight - and the kids might actually start napping again!

Learning new words

2009-09-22T22:52:00.002-05:00

(Handing Marley a pickle)

"Marley, say pickle."
"Appa."
"No, not apple, pickle."
"Appa."
"Pickle."
"Appa."
"PICK. ELLL."
"AP. AAAAH."
*Sigh.*
"Say pickle."
"Yay-bah."

Good enough. I'll take it. :-)

Happy Birthday to Aaron!

2009-09-18T23:03:00.003-05:00

Our biggest little nephew is 4! Happy Birthday, Aaron! We celebrated at Chad and Rachel's house last night with a dinosaur party.
Check out the cake Rachel decorated. Isn't this great?

Best part about being the birthday boy: Calling dibs on licking the frosting off the candles!Aaron reads his card from us. Yes, he's been reading since he was 3. Stinkin' genius. :-)
Grandma Penny's having as much fun watching as Aaron is opening.

Aaron loves his new microphone. The rest of the kids did, too.

The little girls, Alayna and Marley, snack before supper.

And admire each other's "hairbows" after dessert.Even Andrew had a blast!

Thanks for the great party, Rachel and Chad. Hope you have a great year, Aaron! We love you!

Just for kicks: Brody's first soccer game

2009-09-18T22:53:00.002-05:00

Yes, I am now officially a soccer mom. Well, sort of. I don't know if you can call what Brody does "soccer." But he has lots of fun watching the other boys chase the ball. And he LOVES water breaks! :-)
Brody's first game was on Saturday, so we got him all suited up and ready to go.Warmups: The most attention Brody paid to the ball.He even kicked it into the goal!In action, running after the ball.Action is a relative term most of the time. But he's making new friends!Brody's favorite part of the game!Henry and William Woodall were on the opposing team for his first game, so it was fun to watch them, too.
So maybe soccer's not his thing. That's O.K. He's having fun and learning all about it, and that's what it's all about, right? It's still lots of fun!

Fun Friday in Cullman!

2009-09-18T22:00:00.010-05:00

Last Friday, the kids and I took a day to hang out in Cullman with Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Longlegs. It's been forever since we went down there, and we had such a good time! We stopped in Decatur to visit Grandpa Wolff first, and then we moseyed on down south to Thompson Lane. Mom fixed us a delicious lunch, and then we worked it off hiking in the woods.
It didn't take Brody long to run back for his bicycle instead.
Ben got the better end of this deal, I'm thinking.
A fallen log in the woods made a great photo spot:
Granddaddy Longlegs and Grandma Penny.
Me and the kids.

Granddaddy and Grandma with the kids.Walking on the log:

Granddaddy and Marley.Brody.Quite pleased with himself.Taking a break at the bench in the woods.And the boys take a potty break. It was so picturesque, I just couldn't resist! Take a closer look at Ben's drawers. He put them on himself. Backwards.Brody on the swing. Front porch sittin': Marley in the yellow chair.

Brody, Grandma and Marley.Marley suckered Granddaddy Longlegs into pushing her all over the place. She loved the Caterpillar more than the boys did!

Ben takes a closer look at Grandma's pretty flowers... and the bunny in the middle of it all.

Ben finds a stump to sit on.
Gametime back at the house:

Marley "helps" Granddaddy play Rummikub.Brody and Ben play Sequence by their own rules.

We got to see Stan and Sheri for a little bit, too, when they rolled into town on their way cross-country for their move from Florida to Idaho. We capped it off with marshmallows roasted over a campfire, and three soundly sleeping babies on the ride home. What a great day!

Pigtails and bicyles

2009-09-18T21:30:00.005-05:00

We've had some really fun "firsts" around here lately. First, Marley's hair finally got long enough for her first pigtails. So cute!
At Grannie and Doodaddy's house on Labor Day. At Grandma Penny and Granddaddy Longleg's house later that week.

And SO exciting: Brody learned to ride his bike without training wheels! Go Brody! Here's a video of him doing it on Thursday last week, a couple of days after he started:

He's been doing great with the training wheels, and then last week his buddy Jacob across the street up and started riding without them. So Brody couldn't let Jacob outdo him. Nathan took Brody's training wheels off his bike, and Brody just took off. It was so exciting! Now all Brody wants to do is ride his bike. I can understand, too: What a great feeling of independence and accomplishment for a 4-year-old! He's so fast, too, I'm going to have to start taking him with me to keep motivated when I go jogging. Of course, that would neccesitate me actually beginning to JOG again...

So proud of you, Brody!

Fish + Family + Four-Wheelers = Fantastic!

2009-09-18T21:00:00.000-05:00

Alright, people, after Labor Day weekend, I have the recipe for the perfect family fish fry:
1. Get up a mess-a-fish and grab an uncle or two to fry it all up in the shade under the trees.
Good work, Gene!2. Get all the aunts and the rest of the womenfolk to cook up a batch of baked beans, slaw, and the rest of the fixins', and spread it all out under Uncle Johnny and Aunt Sandra's brand-spankin'-new carport. Then everybody gather 'round to say grace and dig in!3. Set a spell and chat while you let dinner "settle."
Gene, Marilyn, Roger, Sue, Patricia and John. All the siblings made it this time! Jerry, Mildred and Shirley were there with their families, too. So nice to them all.
Bob and Patricia with Nathan and Marley.Brody, Nathan, Marley, Jan-Claire, Claire and Reid. And one strong swing. ;-)Nathan with Marley and Brody.

4. Get a nap, if you can find a soft shoulder where you can squeeze one in.

Marilyn G. and Coleby.5. Go for a ride! The four-wheelers and go-cart were a big hit with everybody.

Ben, Brody and I get ready to take off on Doodaddy's four-wheeler.Brody zips around on his gas-powered four-wheeler.Ben's right behind him on his battery four-wheeler.Wade and Marilyn take Coleby for a ride.

Ryan takes Brody out on the go-cart.5. Claim your stake in a favorite toy.

As soon as Josh brought out the boat for Coleby to play in, Marley took over. But Coleby was not to be outdone. While Marley (a.k.a. The Drama Queen) fussed, Coleby (a.k.a. Iceman) cooly took over the boat.

Round One: Coleby attempts to climb in from one side.Round Two: He finds more leverage from the other side. Marley's feeling the pressure.Round Three: Marley's ousted! To the victor go the spoils!

We had a wonderful day at the Davis family fish fry. Thank you for having us all, John and Sandra!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!

2009-09-05T10:39:00.004-05:00

We sure are! And dove hunting, too, all on the same day. And church get-togethers tomorrow! And a family fish fry on Monday! Whew, what a weekend. Bring it on! And WAAAAARRRRRR EAGLE!!!

Lakeside fun

2009-09-04T21:59:00.012-05:00

A couple weekends ago, Nathan spent most of Sunday afternoon trying to help Anthony get a boat going on Smith Lake in Cullman County. For once, instead of hanging around at home wondering when on earth Nathan was coming home, we tagged along. Let me tell you, we got the better end of that deal. While Nathan and Anthony spent hours trying to get the boat cranked, unsucessfully I might add, Brody, Ben, Marley and I played on the playground. It was so fun! I can't believe we never hung out at Smith Lake Park the entire time we lived in Cullman County. Check out these photos of the kids:

Brody on the rocks.

Ben: I'm the King of the World!Marley: Rocks are so funny!Not so much when Big Bubba jumps in, though...The Terrible/Terrific ThreesomeLakeside... Marley

Mmmm.... sand... tasty!
Ben throwing in rocks.The boys...All three...On the playground: Brody shows off his mad skills on the jungle gym.Miss Priss poses.All three playing with pebbles on the slide.
All three climbing, or at least trying to climb, the jungle gym.

Brody on the tire swing.

Brody bracing himself as he slides.

Look, Mama! Brody's on top!

Ben balancing on the landscape timbers.

Who can climb higher?

Ben: Jumping into the pebbles!Ben climbing on the jungle gym.

And last but not least, Anthony paddling the motorboat to the boat ramp after it wouldn't crank. Bless him.

Maybe the guys didn't have fun, but for me and the kids, it sure was a great wrapup to summer!

Shrimp boil

2009-08-22T21:29:00.002-05:00

The new fun dinner in the Davis house: Shrimp boil! And what makes it so fun, you ask? Heads on!
Some friends of ours picked us up some shrimp during a trip to the Gulf last weekend, and being the cheapskate I am and wanting to save $1.50 a pound, I opted for the ones with the heads on. So worth it! The kids thought it was hilarious that their food was looking at them. I boiled up the shrimp with some brats, potatoes, corn on the cob and onions, and left the heads on a few just for the boys. When Brody blessed the food, he prayed, "Thank you for Grannie and Doodaddy, and thank you for the shrimp's eyeballs..."

Brody checking out the shrimp.
Ben: "Wooooo!!!"

Baby Andrew is here!

2009-08-22T17:59:00.005-05:00

Welcome to the world, Andrew Reavis Petty! 'Bout stinkin' time! :-)
Yep, our little nephew Andrew was born at 4:32 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 18, which just so happens to be Rachel's birthday! How's that for a birthday present? And at 9 lbs., 11 oz. (same birth weight as his big sister, btw), he's not all that little, either. I guess it's good they gave him a name that means "Man" or "Warrior"! And Reavis, that's his great-granddaddy's name.
Wook at his widdle face...Being born is so exhausting!

Happy Birthday, Rachel! Wait, you mean you were expecting more than this?

Daddy, Mommy and Baby.
Alayna holds her baby brother. Precious...

Aaron checks out Baby Bro while Nana Vickie holds Andrew.

Andrew with his Papa Bruce.

Andrew with Granddaddy Longlegs and Grandma Penny.
Me and Andrew. New babies are fun! Well, you know, when you can hand them off when they're sleepy, hungry, fussy or smelly! Rachel with her two big kids.

Alayna's still Mommy's little girl.

Marley finds the sweet spot: Her thumb, her blankie and her Granddaddy Longlegs. The little girls check out the new kid on the block.

Not so little anymore, are you girls?

Dean family reunion

2009-08-22T17:35:00.006-05:00

Last Saturday was also the Dean family reunion, Nathan's mama's side of the family. So we all went down to one of the cousin's river house that evening to eat and play and catch up.

Small world - Emily is one of my best friends from school, and she ended up marrying Nathan's cousin Steve. So they were there with their kids, and Brody especially had a big time playing with Jacob and Abbie.
Steve and Emily.
Abbie, Jacob and Brody. Nathan and Logan took on Candy and Danielle in washers. Still not sure who won...
Candy watches while Logan tosses the washer.

Nathan's turn.

Marley loved this little slide.She loved having her Daddy catch her at the bottom of the big slide, too!Doodaddy, Grannie and Marley swing down by the river. Coleby with Danielle.

Random, but we thought it looked cool: Cloud with a silver lining on the way home.

You had to be there. :-)

Athens Sweatfest, aka Funfest

2009-08-18T17:01:00.004-05:00

I took the kids to the Athens Funfest at the Sportsplex last Saturday afternoon, but we only lasted a little over an hour because it was HOT! My kids looked like little beets on legs by the time we left. But they had fun, though, and walked home with lots of fun loot from all the little games.

The boys sporting their new flying guitar rocker tats. The new Frisbees they won at the Frisbee toss.

They also came home with parachuting frogs, "eyepoppers," and everyone's all-time favorite: whoopee cushions! The gift that keeps on giving... until somebody stomps on an inflated one and it pops, giving rise to a massive meltdown.
They also played a little golf, with some help from Tim.

Great form on Brody's part, right? But then again, see the ball?Jumpin' and movin' in the bounce-around.

The boys loved the balloon stomp!

Ben knocked down some milk bottles.

Back to school!

2009-08-16T21:28:00.002-05:00

Brody started back to school on Thursday, and he was so excited! I was, too, especially when I saw that some of his friends were back in his class, and some of my friends had kids in his class. And he has Mrs. Randolph again, so we're happy about that. When I dropped him off at school, he was so happy to be there he didn't even wave goodbye, just made a beeline for the toys and his friends. I'm so glad he loves school, though - I can't imagine if I had a cryer!

And they lived happily ever after...

2009-08-16T20:48:00.003-05:00

We shall see, but at least I can tell you it's been a happy eight years! Almost 14, if you count the years since we started dating. That's right, Nathan and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary on Monday. I use the term "celebrated" loosely - he came home with a card and a box of Fudge Rounds for me, and we took Marley with us for supper at Maria Bonita while the boys were spending the night with Grannie and Doodaddy. Still, good times!
And more to come, too, after an interesting night out on Friday. Have you ever gotten one of those invitations to get a free hotel stay or plane tickets in return for listening to a sales pitch for Timeshare or something similar? Well, Nathan and I decided to take them up on it. We figured it didn't matter how high-pressure it was, you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip! So we went to Huntsville for it Friday night and it really wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. It's easy to say no to plunking down a few thousand dollars when you don't even have a few hundred in the bank. But they gave us a voucher to send off to get our free plane tickets, so the jury's still out on whether it was a waste of time or not.
I'm really hoping we do get our tickets, though, because we're planning a belated anniversary celebration: A FUN, almost-FREE trip in the spring! We're going to take our free round-trip tickets to anywhere in the continental U.S. and fly to MALIBU!!! Or well, L.A., but we'll stay in Malibu with James Allen and Candice for a few days! I can't wait! J.A. was in town last weekend and offered to let Nathan and me stay in their apartment, on Pepperdine University campus, a short walk from the beach. So now I'm super-pumped about seeing the West Coast, Santa Barbara, Beverly Hills, Hollywood... can we fit all this in? We'll try! Leaving the kids back in Alabama - we might just fall in love all over again!

Random fun stuff

2009-08-16T20:27:00.003-05:00

Nothing in particular here, just some random cute photos of the kids being all kid-like.

Brody and Ben love our huge crape myrtle - I would say bush, but it's really a tree now - in the backyard. Depending on what kind of mood they're in, the thing either becomes a "treehouse" or a jail or a stage. The other day, it was mostly a stage, and the lollipops Nathan brought home for them were their microphones. Ben was quite proud of his banana-flavored microphone.
Posing. I guess this is the sultry look?

And the cheesy happy smiley look. I took the boys to get their hair cut the other day because they both were getting pretty shaggy. They really did great, but Ben wasn't so sure about this whole business.

They were so proud, though, when they left and the lady gave them bright red calculators they could clip on their belt loops. It's the new necessity around the Davis house.

Best spot in the house to watch Veggietales:

I took the kids to Big Spring Park for lunch one day last week, and the flower bed there was so pretty I had to snap a photo. Somebody with Park and Rec is doing a great job with the upkeep of those flowers!

Classy Baby 2009.Might be just about time to hand that tank top down!

Birthday #31, Part II

2009-08-16T20:15:00.002-05:00

I got to celebrate my birthday for two days this time around! Fun! Mom and Dad came up the day after my birthday and brought some delicious BBQ and all the fixin's for the family to enjoy for lunch. Mom made a yummy chocolate cake, too, so I would have gotten to blow out the candles if the boys hadn't beaten me to it! Crazy kids.

And then Rachel and I dumped the kids off with Mom, Dad and Chad while we got to enjoy the nicest treat! Carolyn Camp at A Touch of Class gave us both complementary pedicures for birthday/baby, just because we've saved her so much money on the Two Thrifty Sisters site! Isn't that awesome? I snapped this photo with my cell phone, so it isn't that great, but we had so much fun getting cutsie tooties and laughing with Carolyn. Thanks for the special treat, Carolyn!

Summer's last wet-n-wild hurrah!

2009-08-16T13:50:00.007-05:00

Happy Birthday to me! I turned 31 on Aug. 6, and what better way to celebrate getting older than by playing in a kiddie water park all day? I can't think of anything better. Grannie and Doodaddy were already wanting to take the kids - and by extension, their Mommy - to Alabama Adventure that day, so we made that a birthday celebration, too, and it was so fun! I wish Nathan could have joined us, but somebody has to work like a dog all day so I can spend my day and his money having fun, right? Hee hee, I owe you one, Nate.

Me and the kids at the waterfall.

Brody, Grannie and Marley swim in the wave pool.

Brody spinning in the wave pool.

Ben watching the waves roll in at the wave pool.

Look, Marley! See Grannie, Marley? See? Look right there! See? OK, I don't blame you, the fountains really ARE more interesting...

Oh yeah, now we're having fun!

Splash time!

Grannie and Marley at a fountain.

Doodaddy and Marley keeping cool.

Brody sticking out his nose like a little turtle.

Ben climbed to the top of one slide, but then he was too scared to climb down. So he played Traffic Cop instead, standing on the platform and directing all the other little kids to the slide! Poor little timid thing!

Taking Marley down the slide! Wheeee!!! Even more fun was going down the tall tunnel slides with Brody and Ben. Brody wouldn't even let me hold him, he wanted to go on his own! So big! I had to break into Mean Mommy mode one time to call out a teenage boy who was breaking in line, but hey, you do what you gotta do. You know it's an interesting conversation when it starts with "Young Man!" and ends with, "You can wait in line like all these little kids, and I don't care how big you are!" Yes, I am one of those moms.

Ben was so tired and hot he fell asleep on the lounge chair.

Precious, right? Until he threw up on himself in Grannie and Doodaddy's nice, practically-new van on the way home. :-P Sorry that new car smell has been replaced with Eau de Littlekid, y'all!

Brody saw how much attention Ben was getting for being so cute and asleep, so he "fell asleep" too. So realistic, is it not?

They all really did fall asleep on the way home, and I came home to an Edible Arrangement from Nathan and a card from him with a note so nice it made me cry.
Nice, huh?It was such a great birthday! I don't mind getting older one bit if this is what comes with the territory!

The roof, the roof, the roof is...

2009-08-16T13:36:00.004-05:00

...gone? At least part of it is, now! I've been thanking the Lord, literally, for hail damage, ever since it started raining INside our house! The problem really was a faulty design for a decorative vent on our roof that allowed rain to blow in and crack the ceiling and drip down, but we had an insurance adjuster take a look anyway last month and whaddyaknow, hail damage! So, minus the deductible, insurance covered a replacement roof for our house and our shed, too. They got it all done in half a day, can you believe that? And I didn't realize just how awful it looked "before"... ...until we saw the "after." If you ever need roofing, I recommend Nick Hamlin and Sam Gates with Hamlin Homes. They did a great job, included the extra work to get rid of the vent, and were super-nice, too, even when the dumpster guy accidentally cracked our driveway! Oops! That's OK, they brought in their concrete guys to fix it, and the work kept two little boys mesmerized for a couple of hours!
Which is all well and good until the guys left and before I knew it, my little guys had run to the wet concrete to "help" smooth it out and make a great impression - of the bottom of two little pairs of Crocs! I had to call them back over to the house to repair what Brody and Ben had "fixed!" It looks good now, though, and no more gouges in the driveway. Now I just need to clean and paint my front porch awning. It looks even more terrible now next to the nice new roof! Anybody got a nice tall ladder I can borrow for a couple days?

Blog catchup day!

2009-08-16T13:14:00.005-05:00

Once again, this poor blog has suffered on account of all the craziness that is our lives right now, but I find myself on a Sunday afternoon with Nathan and Brody off to Doodaddy and Grannie's, Marley napping, and Ben happily cutting leaves off the bushes in the yard with a pair of kid scissors. In other words, quiet time! Rare, indeed. Maybe I should hand Ben a Weedwhacker while I'm at it. So here we go with a little catchup of the past month's events:

Late July, in this family, means it's time to get down and dirty. At mud volleyball, of course! Nathan played again on the team that was the overall runner-up last year, but they didn't have quite such good luck this year. They didn't make it past net play, but they still had fun! And the kids had fun watching Daddy get dirty.

Then we celebrated Doodaddy's birthday with everybody's favorite: Steak-n-cake! Mmm-mmm! The boys just love helping blow out the candles. They don't even get the whole make-a-wish part yet.

Singing "Happy Birthday to You."Blowing out candles is so funny!Just a-swingin'. Doodaddy's girl.
Ben finds a bug.

We love you, Doodaddy!

Fun on the Fourth

2009-07-12T02:32:00.004-05:00

Better late than never... we had such a great Fourth of July weekend! It has to be my favorite holiday: Swimming in the river and the pool, visiting and eating yummy food with family and friends, and capping it all off with fireworks! And this holiday was no exception.
Perhaps the most thrilling event, we didn't even get a picture or video of - Marley started walking on her own! On Sunday, 13 months old to the day, she just suddenly started walking toward me across the living room like she had been doing it all along! No one else was there to see it, and she didn't want to show her Daddy when he came home that day, but she's been testing those legs out quite a bit in the week since. What am I going to do with THREE kids running around? Lose my last marble, I guess.
Ah, well, kids are good for something, I suppose... like having an excuse to go to the Lions Club Kiddie Carnival!
We got an early start on the festivities by taking the kids to the Kiddie Carnival that Thursday night. Where else can you treat the entire family to an evening of fun for 10 bucks?
The kids all rode on the train. That brings back memories!

Marley tested her driving skills.The boys took flight.Riding the umbrellas.A favorite ride: Daddy!Marley got her first taste of cotton candy! Can you say sugar high?On Friday night, we all went out on the Davises' boat and found a nice spot to picnic and swim on the Elk River. Even Marley was loving swimming in that warm river water, and the boys are turning into two little fish! They were jumping right off the back of the boat into the river. No fear!
All of us swimming.Daddy's girl.On Saturday, we all went over to Gene and Marilyn's for the annual Davis family cookout. I didn't get a single photo because we were all having too much fun in the pool! We got to see some great old family videos of the sideburns and leisure suit days, too. Priceless. We left from there and came back to Athens for the fireworks. After battling the crowds at Disneyworld to see their fireworks last Fourth of July, I'll take fireworks over the Athens High School stadium any day!
Nothing says "redneck" like sitting on a cooler in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot, waiting for fireworks to start! :-D

Ben was so tired. Five hours of pretty much nonstop swimming will do that to you!Marley and Doodaddy are ready for fireworks.Marley got the best seat in the house, but I don't know how great it was for Doodaddy. Every time the fireworks exploded, she was so excited that instead of clapping, she would smack him in the head! She loved it, though!
It was a great weekend. Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

Smoky Mountain Vacation, Part V - Putting and wading

2009-06-29T22:24:00.005-05:00

Our last full day in the Smokies was a great way to wrap it all up. Josh, Leigh, Nathan and I took Brody along to go tubing in the river again, and it was so relaxing just to drift downstream. It was perfect for Brody, too - we got a tube with a bottom in it for him, so he just hung onto it like a little boat, rapids and all. It's crazy to think that if we wait to go back until year after next, even Marley will be big enough to do that!
We came back and ate supper with the family, and then some of us went and played putt-putt for the annual bragging rights. Josh claimed them this time, and I was the piggie tail, as usual. If we were bowling, I'd be doing great with my highest score, though!

The putt-putt place had way too many cheesy sets not to take some silly photos.
John and Nathan found their long-lost cousin!
I found a new boyfriend! Isn't he hot?

Gail and Amanda walk like an Egyptian.Are you my mummy?Run, Amanda!Who drank all the rum?Pirate's gold! Aarrgh!Oh, and we putted a few, too.

Too soon, it was Saturday. What a week! We moseyed on home, stopping for one last ice cream cone from Kilwin's on the Gatlinburg strip, one last picnic lunch by the river in Townsend, and one last chance to dip in our toes.

Marley loved it! She's our little water baby.

It was such a fun week, and a busy one. It seems like it flew by even faster than when we go to the beach! It was so nice to get away, and it's nice to be back home, too. Thanks to the Davises for such a great vacation!

Smoky Mountain Vacation, Part IV - Dollywood

2009-06-29T21:31:00.007-05:00

On Thursday we went to Dollywood. Thanks so much to Gail for hooking us up with free passes! You rock, Gail! We really had a good time, we got to listen to some great bluegrass music, and we got to enjoy the fun of seeing the kids have so much fun, too.

Brody's ready to ride his horse.
Marley started off alright on the carousel, but by the end of the ride, she had had enough of this horse!Brody on the ducky ride. Ben rides a duck, too. The boys loved the bumblebee ride!

The Smoky Mountain String Band... they were really good!
Brody would have loved it, but he was just soooo tired.While he slept...

Ben played on the kiddie playground.

Silly hat time!Can you believe this sculpture is made entirely of sand?

Brody woke up, ready to roll with Ben at the Rockin' Roadway!
Brody's concentrating hard on the road.

Ben loved driving.

What a fun day!

Smoky Mountain Vacation, Part III - Chimney Tops

2009-06-28T13:58:00.002-05:00

Wednesday was my favorite, favorite day of this vacation. The family all drove into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park for a fun day of hiking, picnicking and playing in the water. The COLD water! Holy cow! 50 degrees or so is awfully cold when it hits you! We walked down the Chimney Tops trail a little way to a little waterfall, and Nathan, Josh and I all dared each other to jump into the pool at the bottom. Man alive! You talk about an adrenaline rush! I was tingling all over by the time I got out of there! But I had to do it, just to say I did it. Then Nathan found the perfect picnic spot right by a creek and we all had a picnic lunch, grilling up our sandwiches on a grill someone had left burning there. Yum! On the way back, we went through Townsend so Josh, Leigh, Nathan and I could tube down the river. We only had time to go once, but I could have spent a whole day doing just that! It was so relaxing, and the water was warmer there, too. We ended up going back there with Brody on Friday to tube some more, and I definitely recommend it if you're heading up that way. Don't go on a hot, sunny Saturday, though - we passed by there on the way out Saturday, and it was CROWDED! You'd be playing bumper tubes going down the river.

Me, Nathan, the boys and the Davises at the entrance to the park. Marley had fallen asleep in the car.
Doodaddy, Grannie and the boys.Hiking to the falls: Grannie, Nathan, Brody, Marley and Ben.Ben peers over the bridge.Me and Brody and the view from the bridge.Creekside: Marley in a tree root......Ben on the rocks.Josh jumps in!Too cold for Nathan.

Swimming in the cold!

Josh going under the falls.

Nathan and Josh under the falls.Goofing off with a downed tree at the picnic area: Nathan and Doodaddy.Me and Brody.

Nathan and Ben.

Aaaaahhhh! Don't fall!!!

Playing in the creek: Me and Ben.

Brody and Doodaddy.

What a fun day!

Smoky Mountain Vacation, Part II - Family fun

2009-06-28T13:50:00.003-05:00

Have I ever mentioned that the Davis guys are competitive? Actually, that word seems a little mild... let's see... cutthroat might be a little closer to the truth! John and Nathan had to grab Josh and meet Roger and Richard for a rematch pool game on Monday night so they could reclaim bragging rights. I'm still not sure who won, but I know I did hear a lot of clarification of the rules from the upper loft pool room at the cabin where Roger and Sue were staying with Richard and Shirley! And then on Tuesday, our guys all went golfing. They were all set to take Brody along, but the people at the course said no way, so he shopped with us womenfolks instead. He seemed like he still had fun. And then we women and kids all swam in the pool when we came back, and the family grilled out burgers and dogs on the balcony for supper, so it was a fun day.
The guys ready to go golfing on Tuesday.
Nathan lines up a shot.

Richard's secret strategy: Laugh at everyone until they're too flustered to hit a shot straight!

The cousins all play around while the guys shoot pool.

Brody puts on a show on the fireplace.

Smoky Mountain Vacation, Part I

2009-06-26T10:32:00.006-05:00

I can't believe it's already Friday! This vacation week has FLOWN by! It's our last full day here, and the week is ending like it started - cloudy and rainy. We had some sunny days in the middle, though, and we've had a ton of fun all week long. Here's some photos from our first day or two in the mountains.

Nathan "drinking" from a mountain waterfall.
See Nathan on the right? Little guy, big falls. All that rain had all the creeks and falls roaring and rushing.

A kiss for Grannie!

Doodaddy and Grannie. Awwwww.....

My two favorite redheads in the hot tub.

My three crazy boys in the hot tub.

Me and Marley with the view from our cabin balcony.

Nathan and I pose with the view from a scenic overlook in the park.

Brody, Ben and me in a hollow tree.

The boys run around in the "spooky cabin."

The cabin from the outside... not so spooky after all! At least, not as long as you're with Doodaddy.

Brody stops where we had to turn back from hiking to Grotto Falls. The rain had swollen the creeks, making them hard to cross, and then it started thundering, too. Don't wanna be at the top of a mountain in a lightning storm!

Ben liked this tree stump.

More photos to come!

Happy Father's Day to the Bestest Daddies Ever!

2009-06-21T08:26:00.003-05:00

We're up in the Smokies today on vacation, YAY!, and I can't think of any better way to celebrate Father's Day than by letting the kids have fun with their Daddy and Doodaddy. They already had a big time with their Granddaddy Longlegs, too, in an early Father's Day celebration at the park on Thursday.
What can I say about these three wonderful men except that I am so blessed to have each of them in my life? I know that there would be a lot of things broken and rundown around my house if it weren't for each of their handyman skills, and I know that I wouldn't be able to be home taking care of my children if it weren't for Nathan's hard work - both paid at work and not paid at home - and the many, many times Dad and John have pitched in to help. They are all Christian men, loving husbands, fathers and grandfathers, who teach my boys what it means to love your family and my baby girl what it means to have a man in your life that you can respect. We love you guys! Happy Father's Day!

The kids and I visited Nathan at work on our "Free Play Day" Tuesday. (Free breakfast at Chick-fil-A, free movie at Hollywood 18, fun!) The boys think their Daddy has the coolest job ever. He gets to play with blacklights and dye, he has big boxes there they can climb on, and he even drives a forklift!

And just when you think it couldn't get any better... balloons!
We topped off Free Play Day with a walk to the park after Daddy got home. I love my family!What would we do without Doodaddy? I reckon not have a cozy place to sit while you suck your thumb!And Granddaddy Longlegs' lap is the best spot for reading a book or looking over family pictures.The family with Granddaddy LL... we love you!

Date night

2009-06-14T22:26:00.004-05:00

We had to get up bright and early to sell off stuff that didn't belong to us at the Dean family yard sale Saturday, so the Davises kept the kids overnight. Date night! We went to Maria Bonita again - couldn't resist the lure of a shiny new coupon! - and then came home to watch a Clint Eastwood movie. It's so nice to pretend we aren't a couple of boring parents with way too many crazy kids every now and then! And then we had a good yard sale, rain and all, on Saturday, so now we have a little money in hand for our family vacation to the Smokies in a week. Woo hoo!
Btw, I look exceptionally short next to Nathan, don't I? Note to self: Wear heels next time!

Mmmm... watermelon

2009-06-14T22:25:00.001-05:00

Another great way to beat the heat: Fresh watermelon!

Kiddies in the pool

2009-06-14T22:12:00.004-05:00

Marley's new kiddie pool has been perfect for these hot, sunny days! We've been filling it up just about every day, and Marley gets right in there and splashes with the boys.Ben had a big time jumping in the other day.

Squatting down...

Going up...

Jump!

Splashdown!

More photos from Tanjie

2009-06-08T11:12:00.002-05:00

Tanjie threw in a few extras with Marley's photos, too. The boys weren't exactly "portrait-dressed," but I still think the photos are cute!

Marley's 1-year photos

2009-06-08T10:54:00.006-05:00

I took Marley for her 1-year photos on Saturday, thanks to Tanjie Nash Photography. I worked with Tanjie at The News-Courier, and I think it's great that she's starting this new venture. I also think it's great that she offered a discount to Two Thrifty Sisters readers, including me! We found some great spots to take photos in the Beatty Historic District and at the covered bridge at the Sportsplex. Thanks for the photos, Tanjie! They turned out great!

Happy Birthday to Marley!

2009-06-07T22:30:00.007-05:00

Our little baby girl is a year old! Happy, happy birthday, Marley Joy!

Marley turned 1 on Friday, and we celebrated with a "Queen Bee" party for her. Her cousins and friends were super-helpful, opening gifts for her and testing all her new toys for her, too. As for Marley? Well, you should have known what would happen with a little girl who has two big brothers. She turned her baby doll upside down, shook it around a little bit, and then tossed it aside in favor of pushing her new rolling doggie toy like a toy truck! Poor baby may never have a nurturing bone in her body, but then again, she might become the next Danica Patrick, so that's just fine.

Marley in her cute little bee suit.

Marley and Me. (No, we did not name our child after a dog.)

Changing into a slightly cooler bee suit.Marley with Grandma Penny.Gift time... Marley was more interested in the bags at first."Loving" (i.e. smacking around) her dollie. Checking out her new ride.Ready to shop for groceries just like Mommy!
All the kids hovered around her new stuff like vultures. Meanwhile Marley sat back in her little chair and let them all do her dirty work for her. Queen Bee, indeed!Coleby was all about the boxes.

Ben shows Marley how to work her new kitchen.Ben and Aaron check it out.All the kids gave Marley's new kiddie pool a test run. Water? Who needs water?

The Queen Bee cake I made for the party, and the Baby Bee cake just for Marley. Marley's not too sure about this cake. She swatted out the candle instead of blowing it out! She didn't burn herself, but we all gasped so loud it scared her and she soured up and didn't want to eat her cake. Poor baby!Daddy tries to convince her cake is good.She tests it out.Several bites later... no fear here!

What can I say about how much we love, love, love our sweet little girl? Oh, she's going to be so ROTTEN because we all just treat her like our little baby doll. Even the boys, who pick on each other all the time, just love on their Marley Joy.

Joy... what a perfect middle name that has turned out to be. She really does bring so much joy, with that sweet smile and her cute little ways. Marley has her moments, but mostly she's just a happy baby, whether she's crawling around, tagging along behind the boys, snuggling with me or Nathan, or grinning at somebody while she rides a buggy in the store. She's getting to be a talker, too, calling for "Mama" or "Dada" or "Bubba." She loves to play "Uh-Oh" and "Here You Go, Thank You" with anything you hand her. And she loves her thumb and her soft, silky blankie. She can be so cranky, but lay her down in her bed with her blankie and she'll grab the blankie, stick her thumb in her mouth and go right to sleep.

Marley's getting so big now. A grin full of teeth (seven now!) and a head full of beautiful copper-red hair that glows in the sunlight. She gets so much attention for that hair already - people double-take when we're out and about together and they comment on how pretty it is. I know some redheads don't like their hair color (hello, Nathan!), but I hope Marley always appreciates the beauty and uniqueness of her red hair and hazel eyes. Or are they green? Or light brown? It depends on the light, really, so I guess we'll just say hazel.

And she's sooo close to walking! She'll stand without holding on to anything for a minute, but as soon as she realizes it, PLOP! back down on her bottom she goes. She can make some pretty good time without walking, anyway, moving along on her little hands and knees. I'm in no hurry for her to walk anyway - just one more kid getting into more trouble than I can keep up with!

With each child, the first year is more and more of a blur. I'm glad I have this blog, so at least I can look back and be reminded of all those things I wouldn't remember otherwise. While I was making Marley's own little cake, I got a little sad, thinking, "Awww, this is the last first birthday smash cake I'll make for one of my kids..." Then I thought, "Hey! This is the LAST first birthday smash cake I'll make for one of my kids! Wooo-Hooooooo!!!!" I told Nathan, "You know what's the best part about this birthday? Knowing I won't find out I'm pregnant two days from now!" :-D
I am so grateful for each one of the precious souls that God placed into our care, and I'm also grateful that with Marley, our family is perfectly complete. I can't imagine it any other way. We are so blessed.

We love you, our Marley Joy, and we hope you have many, many more Happy Birthdays to come!

Swimming in the "big" pool

2009-06-06T22:20:00.003-05:00

It was so hot and sunny on Wednesday, I told the boys I would see if we could go over to Grannie and Doodaddy's and let them play in their kiddie pool. But when we called Doodaddy, he had a better idea: We went over to Nathan's Uncle Roger and Aunt Sue's house to swim in their pool! I just love Roger and Sue. The first time I met all of Nathan's Davis kinfolks was the July 4 cookout at their house, and they all just welcomed me as family, and have ever since. They were so nice to let us come over and swim, and the water was perfect! I told Sue what Brody would say the next day, and sure enough, the first words out of his mouth Thursday morning were, "Can we swim in Aunt Sue's pool today?" He loved it! Ben couldn't quite get up the nerve to swim this time, but he had fun splashing on the stairs. And Marley loved floating around in her fishie float. Thanks for having us over, Roger and Sue! And thanks for taking us, Doodaddy!

There's a little gir-el, in our neighborho-od... just a swangin'... Ben on the steps.

Marley with Sue.

All this swimming is so tiring!

Brody swam like a fish, all over the pool, and jumped off the diving board, too!