Are 2 Hours Enough Of A Buffer?

Not only has Mac's Elvis hit the small screen, but apparently he's making the Victoria paper which naturally leads to personal appearances, complete with grand entrances, live radio spots, songs, and photo ops. All in an afternoon's work for a salesman. I mean, this is what all furniture salesman do, isn't it? Hello?

Back in the world of the non-impersonating members of the Davis household.

Grey had a soccer game which Holland was clearly pumped up about. Can't you just feel her excitement?

However, after some Diet Mountain Dew and some Sponge Bob Cheez Its, her attitude took a dramatic shift to the positive, and she spent the rest of the game dancing and singing to herself.

Grey played all but 2 minutes of the game because one of his teammates wasn't there, so he was exhausted by the end of the game. All that work, and the game ended in a tie. So goes the game of soccer.

Grey, Juan, & Avery


After the game, the kids and I hit the Movie Tavern which combines dinner and a movie into one place. For us, it was lunch and a matinee (Nim's Island).

Holland partaking in her fine cuisine, chicken tenders a la french fries while enjoying the movie.

Grey sampling the macaroni and cheese and washing down with his usual beverage of choice, root beer.

They are so cute. Hard to believe they can actually drive you up the wall. And they can, people, oh yes, they can.

The Satellite Office

The Davis 4 has temporarily moved to our satellite office... aka I'm having lunch at Panera, today. When I walked in with my laptop, granted it was in one of Grey's briefcase bags complete with a pack of generic crayons in the front pocket, I felt like I had such purpose. I felt the laptop said "working lunch". That I was here for greater things than just fueling my addiction to french baguettes not to mention the tea to which I generously spike with Splenda. (I'm all about the healthy lifestyle..well, for today, anyway.) For all anybody knows I could be balancing the National Budget, solving world hunger, or writing the next great novel that high school seniors will be forced to read and write term papers on. To keep the mystery alive I've got my back and screen facing the wall. The true nature of my writings would probably shatter the aforementioned possibilities. Hold on just a second while I pause, tilt my head slightly, gaze off into the distance, lay my hand slightly against my mouth as if in deep thought and then resume typing. I have to keep my audience/fellow diners intrigued. Well, I was going to write something deep and meaningful or perhaps inspiring, but I just finished my gigantic tea and I have to got to the bathroom ,and I'm not leaving my laptop unattended. So until next time......

Should I Be Worried?

I'm concerned about Mac's relationship with his Blackberry.

I think a line may have been crossed.

Happy Birthday, Mac!

Happy Birthday, Mac!

One of Mac's birthday gifts was tickets to the Astros vs Rockies game. We had a great time, especially when there was a controversial call late in the game. We stood up, booed, yelled, and threw our hands up in disgust and even applauded with pride when the Astros manager got thrown out 'cause they're supposed to get thrown out arguing over such injustice. Honestly, we couldn't see if it was a bad call or not, but it was fun to be a part of the angry mob. After the fans simmered down, Mac looked at me and said, "That was great! What a stress reliever." And that was the main reason I got him the tickets.

Here we are sporting our "free to the first 10,000 fans" black Astros hats. As Mac says "if it's free, it's me." We sure needed them with our 1st baseline tickets facing the setting sun.

The massive glare in the corner of the picture is the sun. It took it's sweet time dipping behind that building.

Technical Difficulties

Ok, so we had some technical difficulties today here at The Davis 4 corporate office. I was trying to post the 2nd and final Elvis installment when all of a sudden my sidebar either went on strike, ran off with my footer, was amputated in some horrible fashion, or just od'ed on Elvis. Whatever the case, it was gone, and I was, and I'm not going to sugarcoat it, in GREAT DESPAIR. This blog is like one of my children. I'm not saying it's my favorite child. I'm just saying it's a tight race. Fortunately, The Davis 4 Emergency Response Team went into action....Translation: I emailed my fantabulous (Holland and I use that word when "fabulous" just isn't enough.) blog designer, Lindsay at Splat designs, who did all of my MSU blog design and recently updated the photos in my header which nobody has bothered to comment on. Hello? Anyway, she fixed it! I was totally dancing around the house singing, "go Lindsay, go Lindsay, go Lindsay". Of course, wild dancing and singing is pretty much the norm at this house. It's nothing for us to break into the"cabbage patch", or "roger rabbit", and usually for no reason at all. But watch out, if we have a reason. Anywho, I have added Lindsay to my Favorite People of All Time list which is an automatic in to the Christmas List which means one of you family members got bumped. Just consider it your personal sacrifice to The Davis 4 blog.


So, if you would like to see the latest Elvis commercial, it is in the sidebar, if the sidebar is still there, under videos and slideshows. The original title of the post was:

"Just When The City Of Victoria Thought It Was Safe To Turn On Their TVs Again..."

Elvis Has Not Left The Blog

If you missed Mac's Elvis commercial or for some reason you want to watch it again, don't panic. It's not gone or banned from blogger. It just has a new home. You can find the commercial in the sidebar under Videos and Slideshows. I didn't realize when I had the template designed I was going to need a category for commercials. Very shortsighted on my part. Clearly, someone in this family was bound for the entertainment industry or at least the 6:00 news.
So, scroll on down and click on the link, and you'll be set. Also, this version is a lot larger than the original post. I thought you might want to know that so you can prepare yourself.

Not So Smokin' Fast

So, we had the 2008 AWANA Grand Prix races. This year there were some changes to the competition. Instead of receiving a block of wood and designing, sanding, cutting, yada yada yada, the kids chose from about 10 precut models, and then all they had to do was decorate it. The underlying message was: Parents keep your hands off and let the kids do it. You know last year, we enlisted the services of an engineer/friend who helped create "Gator Raid". Oh, fond memories there.

So, anyway Grey chooses his model type and sets out to paint it, only the design in his head was a bit ambitious. I'm not sure even Michelangelo could have translated that vision from his head to the car. So, we had to regroup and come up with a new design plan. We found this smoke "skin" and some flame rub-ons, that were very 8-year old friendly. Stick it on, apply water with a sponge and peel off the backing. If only the wheels and axles had been that easy. Let's just say we had some issues that required some wood bonding glue that left us with a bum wheel. It's a good thing Grey was happy with the way it looked 'cause it had a dismal showing at the races. I was sitting by the track just willing it to cross the finish line. I think Grey has since "let me go" from his pit crew.

At least Holland will hire me for her pit crew for next year. I think she's interested in participating next year since the Grand Champion this year was a Cinderella car complete with a plastic Cinderella behind the wheel. Not only did Cinderella smoke the competition, she did it with fashion sense and not a single hair out of place. That's my kind of racing.

actual speed of car shown

What You All Have Been Waiting For....

Dare I say it.......the floor is now open for comments.

Soccer Daze

After basketball ended, which by the way was a lot of fun and the Red Raiders ended with a 5-2 record, I had the perfect opportunity to take a couple of months off from sports. Did I use the opportunity wisely? Of course not. I asked Grey if he wanted to play soccer at the church where he just wrapped up his basketball season, and he said, yes. (Man, the kid loves to be doing something. That definitely comes from his father.) So, here we are once again on the soccer field which by the way, this church has the most beautiful soccer/softball fields. I mean I just want to roll in this grass. The fields at our church are new and well, rough. There are dips and holes, ant hills and the eternal mud puddle. Seriously, if it rains 2 towns over, a mud puddle spontaneously forms in the middle of one of our fields. But Grey, being a typical boy, actually loves a little mud in his game. Of course, the floormats in my truck have seen better days.
But I digress, but then again I always digress. See, there I go again.
Anyway, his team is the Galaxy and the first game is this Saturday so we'll get to see just what this team is made of.
Holland is really into soccer practice. (Excuse me, let me wipe up some of that sarcasm I spilled.) Half the time I don't tell her where we're going 'cause it always brings out the drama. She gives this dramatic sigh and a, "(insert sport here), not again! I'm tired of Grey's (insert sport here)." Hand to the forehead, then head to her lap. Curtain falls.

That's Grey in the back, not the one with the long hair, cause, that just isn't happening.

I'm not sure if he's saying the pledge or if that's some new soccer move.

After answering 4000 questions about the sky, I gave Holland my camera to entertain herself with. It bought me 20 minutes of peace. This picture is much better than the one of my left nostril.

Playgroup In The Hot Tub........Rated G

Playgroup hit the hot tub at Mia's house this week. Ok, it was more like the warm tub because it was only heated to a nice bath water temperature.
Perfect for this crew, especially since none of us moms was putting on a swimsuit and getting in the swimming pool.

Holland, Mia, and Kendall

All they need now are some cold Capri Suns and a couple of cabana boys......

Trying to make a whirlpool.

Having lost their first tooth within a couple of days of each other, Faith and Holland proudly show off their gaps. Being toothless is all the rage around here.

Lovin' the hot tub and being outside...until she saw a bug and called it quits and went inside to play by herself. Yet another fun outdoor activity cut short by a bug. I wonder what she will think when she finds out her grandfather is a famous entomologist. (you're gonna have to look that word up, just like everyone else.)

After some hot tubbing, the assembly line of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches was set into motion....

Thanks, Mia for having us over. Of course now it's going to be hard to go to the park after this. The bar for playgroups has been raised.

The Whole Tooth And Nothing But The Tooth

Some days I come up with clever titles for my posts, and then some days I come up with ones like the one above. Let me take a moment to extend my apologies.
Now on with the post.

So, today was preschool for Holland and though I work the morning shift of an exclusive carpool, (ok, only 2 of us moms wanted to be in it, but I like the way "exclusive" flowed in the sentence.) I wanted to pick her up this afternoon myself. So, when I get there, her teachers tell me she lost a tooth. This would be her first tooth which is still one of those great milestones we get real excited over. She was so proud and happy. I have to say teeth are a lot more pleasant coming out than coming in.

The tooth is somewhere in that cute little hand. And wouldn't you know it, this week she's studying the letter "T". Is she dedicated to her education or what?

The new tooth is already coming in. It is just behind where the baby tooth came out. Better go ahead and start the orthodontist fund now.

Though rising fuel costs and a potential economic recession weigh heavy on her mind, she is hopeful for a good return from the tooth fairy on her investment.

Sweet Dreams!

The New Suit

In Mac's job, he does have several occasions when he has to dress up. In other words, he has to wear a suit. Fortunately, that is not very often since we live in such a hot and humid city.

But he does have a special occasion coming up. One of his furniture dealers has asked him to be in a commercial for his store. Naturally, Mac agreed.

However, we both decided, that he should invest in a new suit for the commercial. I mean the city he's filming in has a population of around 60,000, and he wants to look his best.

I wanted to show just how handsome he looks in his new suit.

Oh, did I forget to mention that his new suit is an Elvis suit and that Mac is going to be Elvis in the commercial? 'Cause he is and he couldn't be any more excited about it. People, we are about 1 gig away from business cards...

I know what you're thinking....you're gonna need to see that commercial. I'll see what I can do...

Happy Easter!

Saturday

The Davis 4 headed out to our Town Center park where there was an Easter extravaganza going on. There was a little egg-hunting, moonwalks, food, karaoke, a petting zoo/hepatitis breeding ground, and all kinds of booths selling stuff, even rabbits. Naturally, we found ourselves drawn to the karaoke platform where we ran into our good friends, Frank and Jessica and the triplets. Let me warn you before you look at the picture, the triplets have only gotten more adorable!

Then we had to break the party up, because it was naptime for them, and Holland saw a bug and went into bug terror mode. Of course it didn't help that Grey kept showing her where an ant bit his finger and telling her how the ant had devoured his finger. I sure am glad school resumes next week.

Matthew, Jordyn, Nathan and a whole lot of Girl Scout Shortbread cookies

First Rule of Being A Kid....Never Say "I'm bored..."

"Oh you're bored, are you? Let me find something for you to do.....how about pulling weeds?"

Before you start googling the phone number for CPS, this is actually a paying gig. Mac told Grey he would pay him if he did a good job pulling the weeds. A couple of times I checked up on him, and he had some neighbor kids helping him...for free.

The Wyoming Camping Trip

We had such a good time on our Wyoming camping trip. Our trail guides Cookie, (who took the photos) and Doc (pictured below) cooked out for us and set up a marshmallow toasting for us on Saturday night. We had a lot of fun and nobody burned their eyebrows off.

Oh, alright we were actually cooking out with our good friends, Pat and Gary at their house which is only about a mile from our house. It sounded so much better to say we were toasting marshallows on a camping trip in Wyoming than we were toasting marshmallows in Houston in 88 degree weather.

Pet or Person

Easter Party

Today, Holland had her Easter party at Pre-K, which included an Easter Egg Hunt which is pretty standard for an Easter Party. The hunt confirms what we pretty much already knew, Holland does not have a competitive bone in her body. When the teacher said, "go", kids went everywhere, snatching up eggs right and left. Holland kind of glided around waiting for the eggs to jump into her basket. My friend, Liz, Grey (who was out of school sick), Holland's good friend, Faith, and myself kept pointing eggs out to her. Even with all our help, the child came away with only 4 eggs, 1 Faith gave to her from her basket. A pity egg, if you will. But, honestly, she was just fine with her 4 eggs.

You can see Faith did quite well in the hunt. Holland's 4 eggs aren't even visible. However, in the spirit of keeping everything equal, the teachers redistributed the eggs, so each child got about 10 each. Enjoy it now, kiddos, cause life doesn't work that way.

Who cares about hunting Easter eggs when you're this cute.

Check "Paint" Off The List...

So, we finally decided on a paint color. Though Winter Delta looked like she might be the one, she turned out to be too dark and brooding. So, we opted for her more light-hearted sister, Lyndhurst Mushroom. There is no shame in that. I mean we loved Winter Delta, we just weren't in love with her.
So, Mac and I painted the living room ourselves. We were originally going to hire someone to paint it, but we decided we could do it ourselves. I mean how hard could it be? That was before I was introduced to painting curved, textured walls. Was that the best decision? I'll let you know, if I ever stop doing "touchups".
During our painting weekend, Holland serenaded us from the kitchen table, then from the landing on the stairs where the acoustics were much better. She sang us a blend of "We are the champions.." with songs about Jesus' love. At one point, Mac looked at me and said, " Should she really mix Freddie Mercury and songs about Jesus? To that I said, " Freddie needed Jesus, too." And Mac agreed I had a point. Then I began to wonder just how long we had been inhaling paint fumes and would the damage be permanent.
And finally we finished....
Check "paint the living room" off the home improvement list. Alright now, this picture was from when we moved in a little over 2 years ago. (Back when "get furniture for the living room" was at the top of the list.) This is all the furniture we had in here for a little while. Plus, this was the best pic I could find to show the original color, ok, ok it was the first pic I found, and I didn't feel like looking for a more recent pic. Cut me some slack, I have spent many hours painting, and I am tired.

Hello, Lyndhurst Mushroom. Welcome to the Davis house.
(The gap between our tv and the entertainment center is barely noticeable, don't you think?)

This color really warms us the room.....
Oh, man, now we need window treatments. sigh. Let me go put that on the list.

Since I already had all the painting paraphernalia out, I went ahead and painted Holland's room. (This pic is also from when we first moved in.)

When the sunlight comes in, the room actually glows pink.

After all the work, Holland told me she just wanted a white room. I was too tired to cry.

(She loves it now.)