por fin!

davis just asked me, "mom, how do you speak spanish?"

how tickled am i!

please understand my delight comes after many, many, MANY conversations with the kids trying to incorporate spanish words in their vocabulary only to hear the response, "mom! ugh! stop speaking spanish!"

so i asked him what did he want to say in spanish and he asked, "how do i count again?" a simple hint of uno and he completed 1 to 10 perfectly. verbal osmosis. even if they are not listening, it sinks in somehow. yippee!

hats

we all wear different hats. mommy hat. chef hat. chauffeur hat. baseball hat. coach hat. soccer hat. dance hat. meeting hats. choir hat church hat. daddy hat. police hat. volunteer hat. time out enforcer hat. seems like this week we've been switching hats 100 times a day. which reminded me of this:

davis and peyton at tball:

playing on the NEW computer (daddy started this):

our not-so-honest babe, but boy is he cute!:

camp parade day:

vacation bible school w/our best bud, rowan:

random things

it's not unusual to walk in our house and see something surprising. just today i walked in from having to go back to church to find davis's lost car in his classroom. granted we paid $3.60 for a happy meal in which this car arrived in his possession. but now, it is a prize possession. one to be toted everywhere, slept with and cried about if it is at all....left behind. back to my original point. i walked in to see this........

our sweet derby dog draped in mardi gras beads and duck whistle. i'll give you one hint who it was: not zach and davis was with me. as much as we love our kids and brag about them, we love derby just the same and we are so extremely pleased with the kindness and patience he shows the kids. if they need a step stool? use derby. a wrestling partner? it's derby. an under-the-table veggie eater? derby. someone to be 'it' in a game of tag? derby. baby doll? derby. mannequin? derby. guinea pig? yep, derby. vacuum? derby. napkin? derby. pillow? derby..... derby. derby. derby. a dog of all trades. and (usually) most happy to oblige.

the kids also found a spider. a spider i have never seen before. lucky for the spider, one of the kids' favorite movie is charlotte's web. we're not allowed to kill it. i looked it up. it is supposed to be a harmless garden spider. okay, spider, you'll live for now. but seriously, charlotte's friend is bigger than the width of a brick and it looks like it has a skull tattooed on his back.

now, allison definitely makes our life more interesting. she wakes up the morning of davis's first day of school crying. not crying like the other 9 out of 1o times because she didn't want to wake up, but she cries because "she doesn't want davis to leave her." sweet thing. she had the hardest time of all of us watching davis go off to school. on the walk to school, she was crying because the grass was wet and getting all over her shoes and feet. solution? at that moment? carry her up the grassy hill. later? buy rain boots. now she walks davis to and from school in her rain boots. mind you, grass is dry in afternoon heat of 85 plus degrees. but sweaty boots are still a must. she quickly got over her sadness of davis leaving her for the day after that very, first day. you see, she got to play with all the toys by herself. no one to share them with, take turns with and no threat of having the toys taken away.

this is what i saw as we walked out the door to take the kids and derby walking on saturday morning.

P.S.!!! - how soon they start you on school fundraisers! call davis today to place your wrapping paper, garden flag, magazine, cookie dough, candy or fudge order :)

jump like an elephant

clip 1 and 2 of 3. allison never took her eyes off of ms. beth. now you know i had to get proof of that!

allison's first dance class with beth mayo. the entire time I thought to myself like a broken record...this is the best $40 we've ever spent, this is the best $40 we've ever spent...

sonshine

i try to split posts and stories evenly between davis and allison on here. but recently allison has been hogging the spotlight. so it seems. oh! there will be more. jest you wait. our little twinkletoes had her first dance lesson today. so while i wait for my videos to complete uploading, i'm going to swing that lamp around on my little early bird.

davis is always up at the first peep of sunlight. if you have seen charlotte's web recently (which we not only watched recently but also frequently), wilbur lays still on the barn floor with only his eyes open saying, "wait for it, wait for it.....and now!" when the sun pokes up over the trees, the little pig jumps up and wakes all the others. that is our boy.

so while at the beach, i figured why not take davis out to his first sunrise? i wake up, tap him on the shoulder and nudge him out the door in pjs while its still dark. i tell him we have to walk to the beach and we'll get to see the sun come up for the start of the day. what was he most concerned about? finding out where exactly was the pool. can we see the pool from the beach? better yet, can we see the sunrise from the pool? and best of all = how soon can we go swimming in the pool?

despite the pool interrogation and a good little rain shower, davis remained true to his sunny morning disposition and brought in a new day taking a walk on the beach looking for shells. and of course, counting down the minutes to jumping in the pool.

trying to hold hands on the beach:

pouting because davis won't hold hands:

dancing on the beach:

finally holding hands!:

that's what its all about

now you see her. now you don't. i think that is my new motto for allison. she flits. she flitters. she skips. she scoots. she puts her whole self in and then, just as quickly, takes her whole self out.

what am i referring to? well, mainly pictures. to try a capture a picture of this flutterbug is like trying to take a picture while driving down a cobblestone street. 'bout impossible. and then the moments you convince her to be still? yes, well, the stinker turns her back to you.

i am calling her party a success even though we had a couple of friends not check their mail and come to the park two weeks early. (you shall remain nameless! if it helps, i've missed the same flight twice, but that's another story.) allison forgot about uninviting everyone except dogs to her party and became quite the little hostess.....making sure she thoughtfully inspected every present, said thank yous and distributed hugs before moving on to the next colorfully wrapped package. even the boys were on their best behavior and served as doting onlookers rather than a bothersome bunch.

so much has been going on these last few weeks, i can't keep my mind wrapped around it much less find time to sit at the computer and punch a blog entry out.

let's see......allison turned 3. you knew this. davis started school yesterday! yes! YESTERDAY!!! how i am not sobbing on here, i don't know. i believe part is due to how much is going on, i don't have time to sit, sulk, and weep. allison gets to join davis in wednesday church activities (choir & mission friends class) which started 2 weeks ago. tball and soccer start next week. and allison starts dance tomorrow!!! playgroup started back up today and it was great to see a lot of friends of allison's and mine that we hadn't seen all summer.

so yes, i still have pictures to share from the 4th of july, beach vacay, visit to rockville, bday party, school, and more.... but listen to this.....davis has now shown interest in playing games on the computer via pbs kids, noggin, disney and (my favorite) starfall websites. he is so apt at navigating his way around with a mouse, zach has set him up with his own user key and password. and the kid gets it. logs in. plays. logs out. turns the computer off. so i'm having to working my blogging in around davis' gaming.

well i hope you all find yourselves with wonderfully cooler weather. winning football teams. and moments for yourself. thanks for taking the time to check in on us!

davis discussing lunchbox contents with allison and darby