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

my apologies

to everyone who received an invitation to Allison's 3rd birthday party.

she has just informed me yesterday that she does not want people at her party. if there was a phobia of someone else blowing out your birthday candles, she would qualify. no people at her party! then who may attend, you ask? dogs. only doggies. derby. pinto. duchess. finnegan.

what about oscar?- i asked.

yes! oscar can come. he's a good cat. - her response.

so if allison is aloof, uninterested and antisocial at her party, it's not you. well it kind of is...............................if you're not a dog.

we are siamese if you please

ba dum dum dum - we are siamese if you don't please - da dum dum dum

these kids were born 15 months apart but do everything the same at the exact same time a lot of the time. it's uncanny.

we're back from a ggggggrrrGREAT! vacation at the beach. so many wonderful memories going back. so many new wonderful memories made.

speaks for itself

cream and sugar please

there's something about watching a child enjoy an ice cream cone. pure delight. pure contentment. pure simplicity.

davis bites into his ice cream from the top to the cone. it takes only a few bites for him to give the cone a flat top. then he inserts the entire circular rim in his mouth and sucks. like he is sucking the marrow out of life.

allison is more deliberate. savoring every little bite being especially careful not to drop one little morsel. she also adds commentary between bites. "mmmm.", "ice cream is cold." or "ice cream is good." of course i forgot her usual statement for anything she takes a liking to..."i love ice cream, mommy. do you love ice cream?" (it's not unlike her to insert spiders, tigers, doggies or puppies in the blank either.)

back to the cold stuff. davis finishes his ice cream with sticky hands and a chocolate goatee. allison might have a little freckle of ice cream or chocolate above her lip upon completion. otherwise, no sign of ice cream in sight.

here's a little video from a few weeks ago:

there's a surprise around every corner

or mountain. a few weeks ago we decided to go hike south mountain. little did we know how steep the terrain would be. little did we know ALLISON was going to be the hiking leader all the way to the top. now, let me paint a picture for you. THIS is my child who always wants to be carried. whether it be two feet to the bathroom, ten feet to the sofa or two miles on a walk. was THIS my same child telling us how to climb to over 2000 ft elevation?

davis was more careful on the way up. telling us which rocks and stairs were "tricky" and that "we need to be careful." but, on the way down it was trail-running all the way. well, once we got past those tricky parts and stairs again.

quite the hikers they are. and yes, zach and i learned our lesson. when the kids insist on wearing their insulated hiking boots on a 90 degree summer day for what we originally thought would be a leisurely 2 mile loop in the mountain canopy....go with it and put our boots on too. they were more well-prepared in their boots than our slick, rubbery soled tennis shoes.

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