The coolest mom ever....for a short while, anyway.

Friday was an early dismissal day for Grey. He was scheduled to get out at 1:00. However, Holland and I went to the school to check him out early for a little family fun day. Mac has been gone all week, and Holland and I have been battling sinus/allergy wars so we haven't done a lot this week. (I believe there is a fine green layer of pollen covering my lungs.) Anyway, after we got past the school's Front Desk Nazi, ["Did you send a NOTE this morning with your son?" paired with the evil eye and then followed with the exasperated sigh.] Grey was busted out at 10:00 am. We giggled all the way to the car. Then, I took the two of them to Target to pick out a toy. Mac tries to bring them something back when he is gone this long, but his days at market are long, and he doesn't have any wheels so I let them pick out something. Then, we went to eat at one of Grey's favorite resteraunts, The Olive Garden, which just so happens to be one of my favorite. Hmmmm..coincidence? After that we caught the 12:25 movie of Meet The Robinsons in 3D. We all loved it, and Holland wore her 3D glasses on top of her head until she went to bed. They went to bed thinking I was the coolest mom ever! Then this morning, we got up and I had them help me clean the house. My cool factor has dipped some.

I'm going to be a 2nd cousin on my mama's side (again)

I know that doesn't have the nice ring of "aunt", "grandmother", or "big sibling", but I am just as excited. My identical first cousin, Jennifer, is expecting her 2nd child in September. pause... allow applause to die down. The Cavender Fan Club, a division of TheDavis4 corporate office sends out a hearty congratulations to Matt, Jenn, and Will!
Since this takes the "pregnant women I know" toll up to 6, (and I believe there is one more out there holding out on us) you may think that it would make me want one myself. Honestly? No. Mac and I are quite content with the 2 we have. We are running a man-to-man defense that's working quite well. If we add another child, we would have to move to a zone defense. We'll stick with our current game plan. Besides, if we add one more then we have to change the name of the blog to The Davis 5 which would cause confusion and mass hysteria. Do we really want to pull at that thread?

The Packers

We don't let much time pass between our sports. The day of Grey's last basketball game (undefeated, undefeated....just like saying it) was the same day as his first flag football practice. He is playing for The Packers. (Mac is considering buying a cheesehead hat to wear to the games.) Today was his first official flag football game. Though the word "football" is in the name of the sport, there are so many modifications and rule adjustments, we, the fans, aka the parents, are confused most of the game. When the referee throws down a penalty flag, we all pull out our Upwards Rules of the Game brochure and try to figure out what the penalty is for. I think everyone, including the players, will get it once we get a few games under our flag football belts. Unfortunately, we start this season with a loss, a close one, but alas, still a loss.

Packers 6 Patriots 7

"Houston, we have a problem"

As I mentioned in a previous blog, we took the kids to The Houston Space Center, NASA. This time we made sure we got on the right tour tram, (there are 3). We wanted to be sure to see the Mission Control room. It was in use from the 1960's up until 1996. It was the famous place for "Houston, we have a problem" (obviously) for Apollo 13. We got to sit in the viewing room where all the presidents of the U.S. since Johnson have sat along with several celebrities. We learned a lot of interesting facts about historical space events and got to see all kinds of artifacts. Of course, we are going to have to watch Apollo 13 again now that we are equipped with all this new knowledge.

Mac wanted to make sure you got the point.

Mac at Mission Control.

Holland refuses to go to into space without her "slicky".

A Zoo within a zoo

We wrangle our snakes in Texas.

Spring Break is a great time to grab your friends and head to the zoo. Of course, everyone else thought the same thing. It was packed! It really was a zoo within a zoo. However, the weather was really nice. All the animals moved around and acted like they were enjoying life. Usually when we go it's so hot, they lay like slugs or hide out in the shade. I used to think that some of them might just be stuffed, but my theory was proved wrong. In fact the Albino Alligator that has never moved in the 3 years we have visited this zoo actually yawned. I call that a successful visit.




The Lion King






I wonder if they do home installations.















Finding Nemo

Tree Hugger

The Zoo Posse:

Grey, Hope, Madison, & Holland

Spring Break 2007

Fear not blogger fans, thedavis4 is back in full swing. (I haven't forgotten my peeps.) We have been on spring break and it has seriously cut into my blogging time. Sleep in and relax for the week? No such luck.
MONDAY, Day 1
Ceramic Painting with friends, Hope & Faith. Grey painted a tiger salamander (can't be a plain old lizard) and Holland opted for Wilbur from Charlotte's Web.

Tuesday, Day 2

We took Grey and 2 of his classmates, Hope and Madison, Holland and her good buddy Faith and respective moms to the Children's Museum in The Woodlands which always includes a carousel ride and checking out the Disney Store. I'm embarrassed to say I forgot my camera so you are going to have to use your imagination for the visuals.

Wednesday, Day 3

We originally had bowling scheduled with the same motley crew, but Faith was sick, and I needed to run some errands, much to Grey's dismay. However there was a consolation prize of pizza and the promise of a visit to the zoo.

Coming up:

Thursday, Day 4 The zoo (with pictures)

Friday, Day 5 YMCA, movie rentals, and dinner at our favorite Japanese steakhouse. (no pics) (Did you really want to see me on the elliptical machine?)

Saturday, Day 6 Daddy's pick: The Houston Space Center, NASA (lots of pics)

Playgroup Does The Houston Rodeo

Hangin' on the fence like real cowpokes.

The token boot picture
(Trent, Mia, Holland, Kendall, & Kaylee)

Playgroup, this week moseyed on down to the Houston Rodeo. As you can imagine, the rodeo is a big deal around here. Besides all the exhibits with animals, there is a huge carnival, tons of food booths, big name concerts with attendances that get as high as 70,000. But for playgroup we focused on the kid stuff. We saw a cow milking show, and yes, it's every bit as glamorous as it sounds. We saw chicks hatching, bee hives, horse rides, and other "hands-on" exhibits. Naturally, there was a petting zoo,(check your germ phobias at the door) with a variety of animals and an in-your-face llama that freaked me out when I turned around and it was an inch from my face. I need a comfort zone of 2 feet between my face and that of a heavy-breathing farm animal. I think the best part was the pig races. They raced several races, each with 4 pigs. The pigs had names like Britney Spareribs, Kevin Bacon, Hillary Rod Ham, Tony Porker (Spurs), Sow Ming (Rockets), Shaquil O' Squeal, Arnold Shwartzenhogger, and so on. It was a lot of fun.

Enjoying a nice foot massage...it's probably even better if your feet actually touch the massage foot pad.

Texas Chicks (on both sides of the glass)

Meeting the star of the "Cow Milking Exhibit"
You can see the cow's head and the utter end. (Hey, it was their joke, not mine.)

Kendall, Holland and I grab good seats for the "Cow Milking" show.

When It All Started.....

"Mom, he's touching me. She touched me first. No, I didn't.

Yes, she did....."

"Unofficially" 2007 Division Champs

Well, the Falcons took on the Bears in their last game of the season. They beat them 38-17, ending with a perfect record of 8-0. Of course, in Upwards sports, at this age level, they don't officially keep score, but we, the fans, sure did. Grey actually got hurt in this game. While trying to steal the ball, he got some fingers either jammed or bent back. His daddy happened to be standing by the bench filming the game and attended to the injury. I stayed in my seat. I figured no 7 yr old boy wants his mama running across the court and kissing his boo-boo. During half-time, the sports trainer on staff at the church checked it out for us and said it was fine. And Grey asked coach to put him back in the game, so in he went. He racked up 2 fouls while he was out there. After the game, the team went to Incredible Pizza for the after-season party. They consumed mass quantities of pizza and root beer, played games, rode go-carts, played mini-golf, and rode bumper cars. Then, on Sunday, they had their awards ceremony. Junction Jack, the Houston Astros mascot was there, (Mac was way more excited than Grey), and the CEO of the Houston Rockets spoke to the kids and gave his testimony. It was a lot of fun and a great season. In fact, Coach Nick said he wanted the same exact team next year. Yeah right, like they aren't going to break up this powerhouse.

And they're off.........

The AWANA Grand Prix was held Saturday evening. Gator Raid weighed in at 4.3 oz (max was 5 oz) and Grey had the option of adding more weight, but decided not to. He didn't like the way the extra weights looked on it. Grey competed against the other 1st graders, including "Tow Mater" by Shelby Streater, also from the Jim Streater Collection which, by the way, won Best Design. How the race worked: Each car raced in 4 heats. Then the the times were averaged to come up with overall 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. We didn't place overall but we did win one of our heats which thrilled Grey. It really was a lot of fun! Grey is already thinking about next year's design. I better see if Jim can pencil us in on his calendar.

Here are Gator Raid and Tow Mater talking a little smack before the race.
Here is one of the heats where Gator Raid and Tow Mater went head to head. Tow Mater came in 1st and Gator Raid took a close second.

And this is the heat Grey came in 1st. (Yes, we did a little victory dance, a small Baptist-approved victory dance.)

AWANA Grand Prix

It's time for the annual AWANA Grand Prix or Pinewood Derby, whichever name you prefer. This is Grey's first year to participate, and we were a little in the dark as to what all this entails. But we bought our kit thinking all this would require is paint and wheel attachment. I didn't realize we would be receiving a block of wood we had to design, cut, glue, sand and so on. At the Davis house if something can't be done with a screwdriver, hammer, or a plunger, we have to outsource the job. Fortunately, our friends, Darla and Jim Streater took pity on our sawless selves and offered to help. When I say help, I mean Jim helped Grey pick the design, sketch it, cut it, sand it, add the structural details, weigh it, offer suggestions on how to paint it and make it even more aerodynamic, and Darla fixed us a nice lunch and put up with us for 3 or so hours. We're thinking about asking them to adopt us.

Here is the design we had on our own. I call it the Houston Metro Bus design. (Hey, I've seen them move pretty fast, well, sorta fast once they got going)
Here is what Jim did, using the same block of wood, with the design Grey picked. Grey was all excited.

Here is a comparison between the two. You make up your own mind.

Since we obviously went with the far superior race car, the next challenge was painting and giving it some of Grey's personality. So this is what we came up with. We call her:

"Gator Raid"

(We weigh in tonight and race tomorrow afternoon.)

Where the swings are like comfy recliners...

Playgroup made its way back to Angel Park for a warm and very windy morning/early afternoon. This time Holland brought her friend Deanna. Deanna prepares her dismount from the balance beam.

Holland and Deanna work on their Spiderman skills.

aaahhhhh yes, this is the life. Of course, I have cramps in my arms from the endless pushing. I plan on reminding Holland of that when I'm old and gray and need someone to push my wheelchair.

A Morning of Basketball.....Falcon Style

I can't tell you how much I enjoy watching this team play. Their games are so much fun and not just because they win, (although that is a really nice part of it) but because they truly love to play. You can see it. There's not one slacker on the team. They all give 100 %. This week was another victory.
Falcons 24 Panthers 2

Team photo:
L-R front row: Grey, TJ, Daniel
L-R back row: Asst. Coach Clayton, Jake, Mark, Nichalas, Coach Nick
not pictured: Kristopher and Kiernan

Fuzzy Math

When we order basketball pictures, we usually order the trader cards. Below is last year's basketball trader card when Grey played for the Hurricane Hoops. Below are the stats for Grey's 2006 trader cards. I was in charge of filling out the details for the stats.

Here is Grey's trader card for this 2007 season with the Falcons. Mac filled out the details for the stats this year. Does anybody notice a slight descrepancy, like maybe Grey grew 13 inches and put on almost 30 pounds in the off season?

The Streak Continues....

Falcons 28 Bulldogs 2

Happy Valentine's Day!

Holland loves Valentine's Day! She has been carrying her bag of valentines from her party at school Monday with her everywhere. She asks me a hundred times to read who they are from. She even slept with some clutched in her hand. She also got a card in the mail from Granddaddy and Carole yesterday with a paperdoll cuttout. That's tucked safely in her free hand. She dances around singing, "happy palentines day". (yes, that's valentines with a "p".) Grey, on the other hand, tolerates the day for the candy. (Of course, he was pretty happy about the $5 in his valentines card from G & C and another $5 from Ran & Papa.) He had to take a single rose to his teacher (the whole class did) via the bus. First he tried shoving it in his backpack, which I quickly nixed that idea. Then I watched him walk to the bus and get on desperately trying to hide it behind his back so no one would see it. Boys and girls; night and day.

Miracle x 3

Congratulations to Frank and Jessica on their 3 beautiful and most precious miracles!

Truly, your faith and strength have been a blessing to us!

Matthew, Nathan, Jordyn

5lbs .08oz / 5lbs 3.3 oz / 4lb 14.9oz

(Let the parade of casseroles begin......)

It's all in the headband.....

This week's basketball game was against the Bears. Coach Nick gave them all headbands to wear for the game. The boys loved them. (Grey wanted to wear his to church today...Uh NO.) I'm not saying the headbands had anything to do with it, but they did win the game 28-22.
The winning streak continues. 5-0. Go Falcons!

We had one referee who was a big kid. As the boys lined up for the 2nd half, he pulled the headbands down over the boys' eyes.