Pumpkin Pickers

My kids love a pumpkin patch. So when a friend called and asked if we wanted to meet up and check out a pumpkin patch and mini carnival, I put orange shirts on the kids and headed right over. (Today's pumpkin pickers are: Grey, Holland, Trent, & Mia.)



Hammering golf tees in a large pumpkin is a lost art. Good to see it brought back.

Teacher Inservice/Student Holiday

Oh, such sweet music to the kids of the Humble Independent School District; a whole Friday off. Soooo we took the paroled schoolchildren and their siblings to the Houston Zoo. The crew today was my friend Deborah, her two girls, Emily (6yrs old) and Amy (3yrs old), my friend Liz, her two girls, Hope (6yrs old), and Faith (3yrs old) and Grey and Holland. It was a beautiful day, full of sunshine which was a nice change after all the rain we have been getting. Fortunately, the rain brought in a cool front. I think it dipped down into the low 70s. (Brrrrr! Break out the goosedown jackets and fire up the gas fireplace, Fall has descended on Houston.) Anyway, we had a great time!!

I think this picture clearly speaks for itself.

Grey and The Goat discuss the finer points of and the impact of the Pythagorean Theorem on Western Civilization and Greek Architecture.
Grey mingles with the bats.


The first graders in the Prairie Dog Exhibit.

Emily, Grey, and Hope in the Piranha tunnel.
Emily, Grey, Hope, Amy, and Faith in the Piranha tunnel. (Holland doesn't do Piranha or tunnels.)

AWANA

Wed. nights are AWANA nights at church. AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed. It is a kids' program for ages 3 through the 5th grade. They work through handbooks memorizing lots of scriptures, and learning the books of the bible which I personally could work on. (As a joke, a leader told me to look up Hezekiah, and I tried in vain. There is no Hezekiah, although it sounds legit.) The kids earn patches or jewels or stickers for their badge depending on which group they are in. It still amazes me to hear 3 and 4 year olds who can't read and most can't pronounce words very well reciting bible verses. What a foundation that is being built. They divide the kids into three groups. Cubbies in the blue vests are made up of 3 and 4 year olds, Sparks, (red vests) are K-2nd grade, and Truth-N-Training are 3rd -5th grade. This is Grey's 4th year and Holland's 1st. At this point, for Holland, it's all about wearing the vest. Whatever gets her excited about going works for me. I get to work with the Sparks as they work through their handbooks. I really like it. I got some great kids I'm working with. So if you are looking for us on a Wed night that's where are.

K-House

Tuesday mornings are the days we go to our women's bible study at our church. This session I am doing "Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering" by Angela Thomas, and it is great! While I'm in my study, Holland goes to "K-House". I could explain what K-House stands for, but I was just be making it up because I don't know. What I do know is that they are studying the bible on their own level. I love hearing her tell me in her own words what she learned. I know God's Word is being planted in her heart. All the kids wear matching yellow T-shirts that read, "They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42

Who ARE these people?

I thought I would give a you the 411 on the links I recently added.

Meet The Wallings:
This is my good friend Sheri. She originally started her blog to document their experience with adopting from China. They adopted a little girl, Mia and she is just as feisty as the rest of the Wallings. One of the things I like most about Sheri is that she is real. ( I just stole her word.) She tells me things as she sees them and I believe she would call me out if I was wrong about something, but since I'm never wrong, it's a non-issue. (I'm kidding, of course). She is the type that doesn't ask if you need help, she just goes ahead and helps. She is also a fountain of information. If she doesn't know, she can find out for you in record time. To tell you how much I like her; if I recognize her number on my caller ID, I will pick up the phone. That's big for me.

Meet The Cavenders:
This is my first cousin and closest thing I have to a sister, Jennifer. We look just like twins except she has brown hair, brown eyes, more petite, a couple of inches shorter, a darker complexion, and no freckles. Other than that, you can't tell us apart. She and her family just moved to North Carolina and she documents their son, Will's adventures for all the family left behind in Mississippi and Alabama and us out here in Texas where everything is bigger and better (I'm giving in to the propoganda). She and I can not see each other for a year or so and still pick up right where we left off. We have the same sense of humor. (Scary, huh?) You will only see me write good things about her and her family, not only because they are true, but also because she has access to numerous pictures of me from my "awkward decade."

Meet The Barclays:
I met Laurie in the 7th grade and we became good friends through high school and our first year of college. After that we kind of went our own way, but remained friends. Her blog starts back in January 2005 and documents her struggle with infertility and going through the IVF process, living in Gulfport, Ms during Hurricane Katrina and goes through her pregnancy and birth of Annie Catherine. Now she details their life in Nashville and life with Annie. To let you know how popular her blog is, she has had over 11,000 hits since 01/05. (Makes my 45 kinda pathetic looking.)

Meet The Durhams:
This is my good friend Suzanne She moved to Kingwood shortly before we did. She is originally from North Carolina so she knows all the Southern Etiquette rules. Like if you say something not so nice, you always follow it with, "bless her heart." For example, " That girl is just not right in the head, bless her heart." Also, Suzanne's little girl Madison is Holland's good friend. They were part of the same playgroup posse and I also got to be around right after Jack was born, one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. Sadly, for me, they moved to Spartanburg, SC last week. Suzanne always wanted to get back close to her family and now she is so I am grudgingly happy for her. Fortunately I can keep up with them through their blog. Miss you, Suzanne!

Well, those are the people behind the links. You can click on the link and visit their blogs.

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Sir Mac has returned from the Furniture Market Battlefield in Carolina of the North where he slayed dealers and buyers with great products and prices and his magnetic personality. But now he has returned 7 days later home to his castle where he is absence is always deeply felt. Oh how the peasants danced with joy when it was learned he would return a day earlier than expected! And now the Davis Castle is back to its normal order, (whatever that is).

Miss Holland, the teacher

Holland loves to play school. And as you can see it is a very diverse group. She reads books to them, sings, and quiets them down with a "guys,guys,guys". I'm not sure why they have no chairs in the last picture, but I guess that's what happens when education funding is cut.
















The class consists of Sock Monkey, Skunk, Lucy, Baby, Little Bear, and Minnie Mouse.

Halloween Past, Part 3

The theme continues......Beware of the Red Ninja and the Cat with the pacifier. Each is dangerous in his/her own way.
Halloween 2005

Halloween Past, Part 2

The hulk and a bumblebee trick or treating on Halloween 2003 in Joplin, Mo.









Grey, 4 yrs old
Holland, 10 months old

Halloween Past

As Halloween 2006 approaches, I thought I would take a look at some of the past Halloweens. This picture is Halloween 2000 in Joplin, Mo. Grey is a "Black-Eyed P(ea)." I know, I know it didn't require a lot of effort to make, but it was very economical. The really sad part is I did the same thing the next year.

Lucky Number 7

Grey had a great birthday Wednesday. I went to wake him up for school and his first question is, "Can I open my gift?". So he opened his gift. He got a Nintendo GameCube with some accessories and a game from us. Then he reluctantly went to school. Mac, Holland, and I ate with him in his school cafeteria for lunch and got to meet his buddies from his class. Then he came home and we had his Pirate-themed birthday cookie. (Grey doesn't like cake, some sort of defect in his DNA.) We rounded the day out with dinner and then AWANA at church. He went to bed a happy 7 year old. Now it's only 363 days till his next birthday........

Sick Leave

When I signed on to be a stay-at-home mom (domestic engineer) 7 years ago, I forgot to ask about sick days and paid vacations. Turns out there aren't any. I sure could have used some sick days this week. I have been fighting a sinus and middle & outer ear infection. When I asked Holland if I could be off a couple of days, she said "nope". However, she did play by herself for several hours and give me a break. After the meds kicked in and it no longer felt like someone was shoving nails in my ear or that my head might implode, I was able to return to full-time mom.....well I was making sure she at least had some food and water and the toilet seat was down for her. Some days you just have to operate in survival mode.

Grey Day

Grey Day continued....

The last couple of years we have given Grey a choice for his birthday. He can either have a big party with all his friends and get a small gift from us, or he can get a big gift and have "Grey Day." Grey Day is pretty much what it sounds like; a day to do things that Grey wants to do. He even gets to pick where we eat lunch and dinner. Last year, he had the big party so this year he opted for "Grey Day" and the bigger gift. (I'm going to be honest and say I was lobbying for "Grey Day".) Since his birthday falls on a Wednesday which is school and then AWANA at church, we held Grey Day on Saturday. After his soccer game, he wanted to eat lunch at the Cracker Barrel. He loves chicken and dumplings. (My good southern boy) and then we went to Incredible Pizza. He played video games, air hockey, rode the bumper cars, and raced the indoor race cars, where we smoked the competition including Mac and Holland to take home the first place ribbon. Then we ate dinner at H.B., which is our favorite Japanese steakhouse. He got to wear the birthday hat and hold the Samauri sword. Then we got home and let him open one gift. Grey Day was definitely a success, and we all went to bed exhausted.

Under Pressure

Grey had his school picture taken a couple of weeks ago. Grey is notorious for messing up pictures. You would be hard pressed to find a family or group picture of him where he is not pointing, head lolled to one side, mouth wide open or leg kicked out. In his preschool class graduation picture, he is on the front row with his head tilted and tongue out. I know every parent looks at it and says, "See that kid, there's just something not right with him. Most likely, bad parenting." So this year, instead of picking a package, writing a check and hoping for the best, I warned him not to be silly or the TV would be cut off. Apparently, he took it to heart, because on picture day when I asked him how it went, he kept saying, "I was nervous, Mom. I was so nervous." So this is the picture we got. It's hard to be natural when you're under pressure.
Next year, I'll keep my mouth shut and let my handsome boy be himself.

FREE AT LAST, FREE AT LAST

My foot has been released from its fiberglass prison! It took the saw, some sort of metal pliers, scissors, a nurse and eventually Mac and myself pulling to remove the cast, but we got it. And when they tell you the saw only cuts the cast and not you, they lie. I have a cut, several nicks, a little bit of a burn and some bruising just from taking that sucker off. But who cares? It's off!!
Walking is still a little bit of a slow-go, but who cares? The cast is off! I want to say thanks to all who prayed, all the door-openers, the girl that would always help me get my tea at Panera, the waitress that caught me when my crutch slipped at Humble City Cafe, Sheri for carrying my stuff, loading my kids in the car, valeting my car for me, all my friends that helped me out, Mac for becoming Mr. Mom without ever complaining, (this is beginning to sound like an Academy Award speech and I hear the music so I will wrap it up), and all those who gave me encouragement, Thanks! Your kindness touched me.

Thanks, Annie

"Just thinking about tomorrow,
clears away the cobwebs and the sorrow,
till there's none.................
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya, tomorrow
You're only a day away........"


As I think about getting the cast off tomorrow, I reflect on this song.
Thanks, Annie for the words of encouragement, and for always making me feel better about my own hair.

Ladybug Boots

It was love at first sight between Holland and these Ladybug rain boots. She wears them all over the house. Maybe one day she'll wear them outside when it is actually raining.

4 MORE DAYS, 4 MORE DAYS

That's the song we're singing at the Davis' house, because the cast is scheduled to come off in 4 more days. In anticipation of that moment, I have compiled a short list of the things I am looking forward to doing again:

10. Not carrying a plastic bag with me just in case it rains and I have to wrap the cast.
9. Making the beds without having to roll over them to get from side to side.
8. Opening a door without assistance.
7. Being able to carry a bowl of cereal from the kitchen to the table.
6. Taking a bath without hanging my leg out the side of the tub.
5. Carrying a purse (Holland has been most gracious in letting me borrow her shiny, red backpack for the past 5 weeks.)
4. Vacuuming (o.k., not really, but I thought it sounded good.)
3. Wearing a left shoe.
2. Walking up and down the stairs instead of crawling. (The 6:30 am crawls are the worst.)
1. Holding Holland's hand when she asks me to.