A Little Pomp and Circumstance

Well, the PreK Class of 2008 graduated this week. We had the official ceremony and everything. When I was a kid, we had a kindergarten graduation. (I actually had 2.) Now, since kindergarten is the new 1st grade, the graduation ceremonies are held for PreK and not for kindergarten. That would have been handy information when Grey was graduating PreK. I certainly would have shed a tear or two at his ceremony or at least paid better attention. Oh well. Anyway the kids performed and showed what they learned. I was singing along, because Holland has been singing these songs nonstop. One day I passed her room and she was singing the theme song from "Happy Days". I couldn't figure out when she had watched the show, but it turned out that that was their song to learn the days of the week. Anyway, she did really well, which was a relief, because every event with Holland is a crapshoot.

Class of 2021

Taylor and Holland

When asked on the video what she wanted to be when she grew up, she responded, "a karate girl". Funny, cause Grey said "ninja" on his PreK graduation video. Maybe we can use their college funds for that beach house after all.

In order to get this picture, I had to agree to the picture below.

They can be such children.

Accepting her diploma. And she wore the hat. I point that out because

apparently last week, Holland didn't want to wear the hat, an event which spiraled quickly into a meltdown that held up practice for the other 54 kids. I've learned that when it reaches meltdown status, cut your losses and move on, because whatever you want her to do just ain't happening. I subscribe to the theory, "choose your battles carefully." And that wasn't a hill worth dying on. I let some time pass and then we talked about it and after coming to an agreement which involved a substantial cash reward, she agreed to wear the hat for the actual graduation ceremony.

After the ceremony, the 4 distinguished classes; The Busy Bees, The Busy Bears, The Cool Cats, and The Friendly Frogs had cake. Each cake had a class picture and well wishes.

THE CAKES WERE MADE BY WALMART AND NOT THE SCHOOL.
You'll see why that's an important disclaimer.

Hmmmm..... "Congratautions"

A little closer...."Congratulitions"

Ok, they just gave up on this one.

O for 4

Anyway, Congraulations, Congratuilions, Congratulitions, Congratautions, PreK Class of 2008. You are now qualified to work at our local Walmart bakery

Channeling Elton John

Super Kids Day

Grey had his annual Super Kids' Day where each grade gets about 1 1/2 hours to run around the playground participating in different games and activities. I think it would be the equivalent of our "Field Day", only without the races. I remember I did quite well in Field Day when I was Grey's age. Looking back though, I think it wasn't my athleticism, but rather the 2 Mello Yellos my Mom packed for me. We didn't know then that that was about the equivalent of 20 cups of coffee. Hey, whatever it takes. Mac braved the 95 degree heat and humidity that hovered around 5ooo%.

Rallying the troops for more revelry.

Holland and I hung out here on the covered pavillion with Grey's towel and water bottle. We helped ourselves to both. She and I prefer our direct sunlight in small doses, preferrably after 3 pm. I think we both aquired 4 new freckles just walking from the truck to the pavillion.

Holland's Spring Recital 2008

Holland had her Spring Recital. As with most things with Holland, you can never be sure how it's going to go. Basically, every event is a crapshoot. She wasn't in the best mood when we got there, but when it came time to perform she was "on" and had a great time. Her class danced to "Spoonful of Sugar", from Mary Poppins. (Have I mentioned, we love us some Mary Poppins around here?) And we really enjoyed watching her perform. I'm working on getting the video for you. We had some technical difficulties, translated: when I checked everything out with the video camera that morning, everything was a go. However, when I put the camera in the new camera bag, it bumped the on switch so 8 hours later at showtime, the battery was dead. We did film it with our digital camera, but it's not the best quality and requires some dramamine for motion sickness. Also, we ordered the official DVD from the studio which will come in in a couple of weeks. So, we do have some footage of the event. And I will post it, as soon as I can.

Where do ballerinas go after their recitals? They mosey on over to Texas Roadhouse and dance on the peanut shells.

Happy Mother's Day

I'm not sure what's changed more, the children or my hair.

Spring Recital Pictures, 28 years apart

Holland, 5 years old.

Me, 7 years old

My ballet career ended shortly after this picture was taken.

Native American Giver

I took Holland to one of our favorite places, The Mudpie Company. You get to pick out a ceramic piece, paint it, and then the staff, glazes, bakes, and sprinkles some kind of magic fairy dust on it, 'cause when you pick it up, it looks 1000x better than when you left it. So, anyway, they had a Mother's Day Storytime project. They read a book, and then painted a tea light candle holder with roses made out of their fingerprints. A time for me to appreciate her fingerprints as works of art instead of making a dash for the Windex and a roll of papertowels. Holland really enjoyed the painting. And when we picked it up, she liked how her candle holder looked so much, she decided not to give it to me for Mother's Day, but keep it for herself. She said, "maybe, next year."

Holland had a question for every page of the book. And I've included a picture of Christy, well the back of her anyway, because she went to Mississippi State. Can I get a "go dawgs!" She saw my MSU keychain or maybe she heard the ringtone on my cell phone because it is the Mississippi State fight song, "Hail, State." Anyway, we had a bonding moment. Turns out she was in engineering and actually worked for Shell for 8 years before she decided to open this store doing what she loves and is soo talented at. I will add her to my "Really Cool Engineers" list. Besides my friend Emily, she'll be the only other one on the list.

She chose purple over pink, perhaps some Jennifer in her blood.

The roses with some staff modifications are Holland's fingerprints. It's a shame she won't give it to me. I would have been so surprised.

Photo Shoot

Holland had her end-of-the-year ballet pictures taken both with her class and individually. So, I took her to Glitz and Glam, (that's where she had her 5th birthday party), for a little hair and makeup pampering before her photo shoot. She missed her Christmas recital, because she was in Hank and Christie's wedding. In the wedding, she got to wear a princess dress and stand on a stage decorated for Christmas in front of an audience for 20 minutes. Hmmmm sounds just like a recital to me.

Ashlyn & Holland

Holland, Emma, Madison, Tori, & Ashlyn

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.