the human card

it was thursday afternoon. allison is about to wake up from her nap. davis is watching cartoons and playing with puzzles. it's sunny outside so i decide we are going to retake some holiday photos for the christmas card. our first shoot did not produce one good picture. i gather their clothes for the photo. allison's dress needs ironing. so i iron it.

turn around. yellow marker on the kitchen floor. no big deal. yellow marker doesn't have a top on it. big deal.

davis, where are you? go into the spare bedroom and find this:

well, so much for the christmas card photos. guess we'll just have to make a birthday card instead.

Happy Birthday Daddy and Mamie!

davis makes cents

i'm always saying what silly boy davis is. a great sense of humor that child. well today the joke's on me.

davis often tells me when he needs changing. usually by telling me his diaper is wet. but this morning, he tells me "change. change." while pulling at his diaper. great! vocabulary use is building! to my surprise when i open his diaper to remove, well, all i see is three pennies.

life according to darby

a couple weeks ago we lost darby for about 3-4 hours. after a couple hours of searching and worrying, a neighbor received a call from friends in the neighborhood adjacent to ours to inquire if they knew who the dog on their porch may belong to. i think the following story perfectly describes what darby must have been thinking that day.

An older, tired-looking dog wandered into my yard; I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home and was well taken care of. He calmly came over to me, I gave him a few pats on his head; he then followed me into my house, slowly walked down the hall, curled up in the corner and fell asleep. An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out. The next day he was back, greeted me in my yard, walked inside and resumed his spot in the hall and again slept for about an hour. This continued off and on for several weeks. Curious I pinned a note to his collar: ' I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.' The next day he arrived for his nap, with a different note pinned to his collar: 'He lives in a home with young children, 2 under the age of 3 - he's trying to catch up on his sleep. Can I come with him tomorrow?'

i've attached several random pictures tonight. one of allison walking in mommy's shoes. she actually did very well shuffling along in my crocs. managing to bend over and toss aside random cable cords that were in her path.

second picture was taken at davis's direction after seeing another picture like it on the computer.

another of davis reading dad's rotarian magazine after taking a bath. he's starting early on mapping his plan for world peace.

a couple pictures from picking out a christmas tree. here i am reminded that no matter how hard you try to keep everything in order, have everyone dressed, ready to go and out the door on time, nothing in our life is ever in order. always turned upside down, backwards or inside out. (motion to admit: davis's non-reversible hat and tag.) welcome to our crazy life.

from the mouth of a child

having a child gives you a new outlook on life.

having a child who is learning to speak gives you a new outlook on your own speech and vocabulary.

davis walked in from the bedroom this morning. "mommy, i ( *#^%# ) daddy glasses on." how proud he was to be just like his dad. between my moment of surprise (another full sentence), terror (please don't break those glasses, please don't break those glasses) and joy (what a cute kid!), i said a quick prayer for a moment of stillness and hold the cuteness while i grabbed the camera.

what a whirlwind these last few weeks have been. zach's work schedule seems busier than ever. davis is speaking in full sentences and trying to say anything that passes by his ears. we lost grandaddy almond last saturday, nov. 22. i feel as though we lost one great talker and are now gaining another one. even in our sadness, we felt so much joy as davis ran in grandaddy's house, turned towards his chair, turned back to us and asked, "where's gandaddaddy?" how thankful we are that he knew and loved him too even if he can't comprehend the circle of life just yet.

allison, well, she is......just allison. starting to form her own little personality all at once. dog-lover. tom-boy. little turkey. did i mention she's a dog lover? must love dogs. that is what any friend of hers must be. she loves on darby non-stop. always giving hugs and pets. she points out all "Dawh!" on tv, books and even on the street. doesn't matter whose dog or what kind, allison will chase him down for hugs and love. she loves dogs so much in fact she has a sixth sense about where to find the dog food and treats. and yes, she then proceeds to eat whatever dog food or dog treat she finds. last week she threw a fit because i took away a nasty chewy dog treat out of her mouth at granny darlene's house. even ten minutes later, she ran back to the counter reaching up to see if the stinky, soggy morsel was still where mommy put it. oh well. gross as it is, it hasn't hurt her yet. i'm glad she loves dogs even more than i do.

granmom and dad winslett have a new roommate. his name was anchor, but now it is pinto because my granmom says i found her a little horse not a black lab. i've attached a photo of the kids playing in pinto's new crate because his was too small. pinto easily made himself at home in his new house and yard. and i'm sure he is getting all the love and attention in the world spending his days with granmom. lucky dog.

new accomplishments

the proud sitter and potty maker. and yes there is actually a good amount of yellow liquid in the potty! it's probably best for you that the picture didn't turn out as well. but we are all so proud of davis.

we have been working on the potty for a while, but this was the first time davis told us he needed to go and practically walked us through the process.

each day i question the halloween costumes. each day davis asks to watch the 'hat' movie. tells me he was thing, allison was thing two, and daddy was hat. granted mike myers is funny. there's only so much 'hat' we can take. but davis loves it.

fun-in-a-box

a big red wood box

it was shut with a hook

now look at this trick,

said the cat.

take a look!

then he got up on top

with a tip of his hat.
i call this game fun-in-a-box,

said the cat.

in this box are two things
i will show to you now.
you will like these two things,
said the cat with a bow.

i will pick up the hook.
you will see something new.

two things. and i call them.....

Thing One and Thing Two!

just around the corner

everything is just around the corner.

halloween! if you have been reading this blog from the beginning, you know we love to dress up. a lot. but, i've finally settled on just ONE costume per child this year. and boy are we excited! we'll keep it a suprise until the big day. hint: think red, white and blue. a king size reese's cup to the one who can guess correctly first. until then, you will have to wait until friday for the big reveal.

allison is growing up too fast. i love being with her more everyday to catch those moments of her growing up right before my eyes. the other week, i caught her climbing on davis's chair at the table. i quickly told her "good luck, monkey" knowing her eyes were bigger than her appetite. (or at least bigger than her ability.) so i left her alone taking advantage of the time to put away some laundry. much to my surprise, i walked back in from around the corner and there was the child standing on the table. that's our allison. tell her she can't do something, and she'll do it to prove you wrong.

just a couple days later, i was about to put lunch on the table. i told the kids to go take their seats at the table. allison will walk over to her latch on seat and hold on to the side until you come and pick her up to put her in. well again, i turn around to go help her and the girl is in her chair. now, this chair is actually suspended on the table. it's a latch on chair, not your typical high chair. she did use another chair to balance as she pulled herself in, but again i was very surprised to see how coordinated she was to manuever this skill.

i've included some pictures from our trip to atlanta, the varsity and the zoo. allison loved every minute of it all. for a child who is always moving. all the motion of the varsity and all the excitement of the zoo was right up her alley. stay tuned for more zoo pics later!

the natural

what form. what concentration. and what a natural. our left-handed natural. not like his mom who liked to pick daisies in the outfield and only signed up for softball as soon as i could just to get a tshirt with a number and my name on the back. i was number 9 on "the doves". the back of my little black tshirt was not wide enough to hold all the letters of my name. they asked me if i wanted a nickname put on the back. no. i wanted my name. my whole name. so, the s, t, i and e ended up running over onto the sleeves. but it was official. i was part of the team. the doves. beside our team color, we were not very intimidating. i now wonder how many teams, mascots and uniforms we are going to run through in the future. and if they will allow girls on those teams too. because allison will want to take part too. and i have a feeling that nothing else will do except whatever davis will be doing.

here's our little triple threat: athlete, musician and comic. don't mess with davis's music. he loves the piano, booms (drums), coldplay and drumlines. not quite the most graceful dancer. but you have to give him credit for spunk and rhythm. he's got the beat.

lost and found

we thought they were lost forever. photos from davis and allison's first trip to the beach. but alas! after a couple of searches we found them. then it just took another couple hours to find a way to unlock the files' properties so we could transfer to discs.

a boy and his dog:

sleeping beauty:

relaxing with daddy:

halloween is just around the corner. davis and allison's costumes are hanging in the closet awaiting a night of fun! all we need now is to buy the candy, ask for candy and eat the candy. :)

24

one of my favorite shows is 24. maybe when the next season begins, i will stop recording our own household based on 24

4:37
(sound of feet pattering across the hardwoods.)
mom-mee, mom-mee. mom-mee, mom-mee. mom-mee.
yes, davis. come on up.
no. no. mom-mee, mom-mee. mom-mee, mom-mee. (tugging me out of bed.)
are you wet?
(soaked, change diaper while davis cries out to warn me of his boo boo.)

zach: happy anniversary.
oh yes, thank you. you, too.

okay, davis. back to sleep. (getting in bed.)
no. no. mom-mee, momee. mom-mee. mom-mee. (still tugging me out of bed.)
okay, i got it. milk. lets go get you some milk.
(back to bed....)
mom-mee, mom-mee, mom-mee, mom-mee.
no, davis. go back to sleep.
mom-mee. mom-mee. buuuuhk. mom-mee, buuuuhk.
davis, its too dark to read. go to sleep.
(getting out of bed to get a book.) mom-mee, ,mom-mee. buhk.
zach: alright davis. let's go in the other room.

thank you zach for getting up to encourage our little reader! i got to sneak in a few more hours of sleep, really, i am so excited to see davis's love of books. but at 4:30 in the morning????

23:00
usual routine, end of day. zach and i are reading in bed and we here distant cries. who's that? he asks. i think it's allison. we wait a few moments more hoping she'll turn over and all will be okay.

no. still crying.

go check on allison. wide awake. clutches on when picked up. okay, you're going to bed with us. allison flip-flops for the next two hours.

1:12
get allison milk. davis wakes up and cries for milk too.
davis: mom-meeeeeee!
okay, i'll come lay down with you for a minute.
put allison in crib with milk. close door and say a prayer that she will go back to sleep on her own.

1:25
laying in davis's bed. hugging legs and feet next to my head to get him to sleep. thinking didn't it all started with feet 24 hours ago?

1:35
back to my own bed.

merci

4 years of dating

2 dogs

6 foster dogs

5 cars

9 residences

12 trips across the atlantic

who knows how many trips to/from charleston and back

4 years of marriage

2 great kids in 2 dazed years

joyeux anniversaire de mariage

rain rain saves the day, come again another day

whoever knew rainy days could be so much fun? thank you children's museum! this morning we packed up an early lunch, threw on some play clothes and headed out the door. for the next 40 minutes we bopped to baby einstein tunes and made our way down the road. all the backseat drivers had milk in hand and were in a very good mood. zach and i are surprised each day with how much they both understand. and today, davis and allison seemed to know the final destination would be a great reward. they were both in happy spirits.

davis recognized the playplace as soon as we drove slowly by looking for a parking place. when i passed it, he made sure to point out that our destination had passed us by. i reassured him not too worry, i was turning back around.

enter museum. head straight to the market. davis plays the savvy shopper. allison plays bumper buggy rollerderby. thankfully, she only hit shelves and displays of plastic fruit and empty bottles and boxes in her ongoing circular route.

























next its over to the foam room for some laps around a table and jumps over the blocks. and then to younger tots area. where we were busy reading books, rowing a kayak, painting a barn, tending the garden, climbing in trees, playing with puzzles, rocking in a rocking chair and sliding down the mountain. a couple tumbles and falls, but nothing a kiss on the boo boo and quick hug couldn't fix.






















davis whipped allison up a great taco, a glass of milk and some juice in the cafe. we washed dishes, cleaned the counters and promised to return again very soon.