Christmas cookies

It's our normal tradition to make Halloween sugar cookies from scratch...but I was just too darn tired during October. Well, now that I've gotten some energy back, when Davis was out of school for Veteran's day, I decided we would make Christmas sugar cookies. Davis had a blast, but I was exhausted by the end of it all. But, I must say, there's nothing better than a homemade sugar cookies with homemade icing and dinosaur sprinkles!!!!

It's Beginning to Look alot like Christmas!....

Well, we just couldn't wait. Davis actually put up his tree a week and a half ago! I just couldn't hold him back any longer! Then last weekend, I begged Keith to be able to put up the big tree. (like mother, like son I guess) But since we are going to my parents' for Christmas this year, we are not getting a real tree, which means we can put up the fake tree anytime we like! I bought it after Christmas last year at a huge steal. Can i say I LOVE that it's pre-lit! What a great invention. It knocks the most frustrating part of decorating the tree right off! It's fabulous. So, we put up the tree and cranked up the Christmas music and drank hot chocolate. What a great way to spend a Saturday before hectic December arrives...

It still cracks me up how Davis wants to put every single ornament on the same limb of his tiny tree! Precious!

Oh- and the ornament is our 2008 family ornament. It's tradition that we get one each year. This year shows my pregnant belly and little Davis peaking around from behind. Too cute!

Halloween 2008

Halloween 2008-

We made it further this year, than last. I guess it comes with age, but Davis made it all the way down our street and back this year, and then we ventured into the Preserve neighborhood behind our house hoping they were giving away gas cards! (it's a wealthy neighborhood...the neighbors behind our house have just put in a full size tennis court and full size basketball court in their back yard! WOW!)

Davis was the "Red, Jungle Fury, Power Ranger"...and I was Sarah Palin. I won my costume contest at work! YAHOO!

It was a fun-filled day and now we have more candy that we can ever eat! Although the baby seems to LOVE chocolate. (wonder where that comes from) he he he...

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Davis' class went on a field trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Clanton. It was the first of the cold snaps and was quite chilly!

We had a fun day...we did the bouncy area, the petting zoo, rode a pony, rode the "Twactor Train", and then went off in search of the perfect pumpkin.

Oh- and the part Davis was the most excited about? Bringing his lunch. I guess because he eats at school, this was a novel idea to be able to pack his lunch. He carried that lunch sachel around for weeks. Even on the way home, it was in a death grip!

Interesting fact: one of the other parents on the trip knows the owners of the farm and they said that they have so many visitors each year, that they can only grow enough pumpkins for the opening day! After that, they have to truck in the pumpkins! So, if you were wondering how all of those perfect pumpkins are sitting so neatly and already cut from the vine, now you know!

New Baby!

Well, for those of you who don't know...we are expecting baby #2! Yes, we finally took the plunge. I am currently 9 weeks and counting. Feeling tired and yucky most of the time. Oh...and the hormones! Yes, the hormones. Oh how I forgot the rage of hormones! Laughing one minute, crying the next! Oh joy...
I digress...
Davis is so excited about his new baby. For the record, he wants a baby brother! He is going to teach it everything he knows, so he says! We'll see about that! But I think first on his list, is teaching him karate. That should be interesting!
But the story I had to share is this:
I went to pick Davis up from school last Friday and on the bulletin board, the teacher had the typical Fall motif with the big tree and each student had made handprints with paint in different colors to put on the tree for the leaves. Well inside each hand, the kids got to write something they were thankful for. In Davis' hand, he had written "New Baby". Isn't that the sweetest thing ever. I almost cried right there! He really is excited. I hope he can last another 31 weeks!

Bella Turns 3!

Davis' friend Bella had her 3rd Birthday party at Pump It Up. The kids (and adults) played very hard! It was a ton of fun.
Happy Birthday, Bella!

Katherine turns 1

My friend Samantha's daughter, Katherine celebrated her first birthday Fiesta-Style!
We had dinner at Habaneros and ate strawberry cupcakes from Edgars. Everyone had a blast!
Happy Birthday, Katherine!

Concert Night

Keith and I were married 8 years ago in July. "Our dance" was to the song "True Companion" by Marc Cohn. If this doesn't sound familiar to you, he is well know for the song "Walking in Memphis". Anyway...our local Hoover library has an awesome theatre and they bring fantastic acts during the year. And to my surprise, Marc Cohn was on the list this time! I marked my calendar for the tickets to go on sale and casually sent Keith and Davis to go and "pick them up". Well...Keith called an hour later and said the line was wrapped around the building and it would be at least another hour! I was shocked. I mean, it's the Hoover library for goodness sake! But- they were selling tickets for the entire Fall Season. Anyway, Keith so graciously stood in line (and Davis too) and brought home the tickets. The concert was last Thursday and was FABULOUS! Oh, and did I mention we ended up getting front row tickets!!! Oh Yeah! Then afterwards, we got to meet him and get his autograph. It was very cool. If you are interested, he has a really cool song on his new album about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. If you like music, you should check it out.

Play Dough on a Rainy Day!

It was kinda dreary...so we dug out the play dough! There's nothing better than making pretend food or snakes with a little dough every once in a while. The only problem, Davis has these Play Dough guys that when they "eat" they grow hair. The hair looks pretty cool, but it still kinda creeps me out!

Fall Ball 2008

Yes, that right...we signed up for Fall Ball. Which is basically T-ball, without teams....more like a T-ball camp. This season they are practicing from 1-3 on Sunday afternoons. (not the best time plus it's HOT!) They practice doing drills for an hour and then play a "game" for the last hour. It's really too much for 4 year olds. Their attention spans and even energy are gone after about 30 minutes. So far, it's been a trying season. Needless to say, I'm not so sure Fall Ball is in our future!

Baron's Game with Dora!

We went to the Baron's game last night. We had a blast!

As soon as we sat down in our seats, Davis won us a free pizza!

Then we had a guest appearance and had a picture made with Dora! WOW! (She's bigger in person than I thought she would be!)

Then Daddy caught a fly ball! YAHOO!

It was a fun evening for all. Plus, you can't beat 25 cent hotdog night!

Togan's Restaurant

Last weekend, my mom came to town. Davis loves to play "cooker" and pretend he has his own restaurant. He is the only employee...he takes orders, cooks the food, waits on the tables, and also takes the money! What a man! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago, Davis and I made a menu with cut outs of food from the Sunday paper. We glued it all on and then he named his restaurant Togans. (I believe this is a take-off of his favorite restaurant Logans- and only because he can throw peanut shells on the floor. It has nothing to do with the food quality!)

So then my mom came to town and we started reminiscing about the old days, when we made things out of cardboard boxes. So, we got a little ambitious and went to the garage (which is full of boxes from our potential move). We made Davis a stove and a refrigerator. He LOVED it! He had more fun playing restaurant and of course we were stuck in the garage all day, eating pretend food. I think he played with his new kitchen for at least 4-6 hours that afteroon. We did break for lunch (where we ate real food at the restaurant table). Man, things were so exciting when we were young and had to make our own toys. I can give Fisher Price a run for their money any day!

Davis' Accident!

Well...I was telling a friend of mine at work that "It is only a matter of time before Davis has his first broken bone"... Well, that afternoon, I kid you not, I got a phone call from the school. It went something like this: "Mom: Don't panic, BUT, Davis ran into a brick wall. He hit his thumb and it is swollen and turning purple and he can't bend it and he says it hurts." So, GREAT! We have a broken thumb. So, I leave work and call the pediatrician who says to bring him in for xrays. We go to the doc, but while in the waiting room, he is totally using his thumb and not complaining of any pain... I'm thinking he's fine. So we go ahead with the xray. No broken bones. I guess we've made it another day without one! HA! That night, he ended up getting a HUGE knot in the middle of his head. Apparently the thumb didn't catch his fall, but his head did too! But no complaints. All was well.

So then, about a week later, I am getting him out of the tub and notice that he now has 2 black eyes. So I call the pediatrician...seems that with head injurys, kids can get "raccoon eyes" that show up 4-5 days later. Hmmm.... I guess Boys will be Boys. Oh Boy! :)

1st day of Pre-K!

I can't believe Davis is starting Pre-K! My baby is all grown up. He has moved to his new class with his new teacher Ms. Laura. By the end of the year, Davis will be able to do the following:

Read

Add and Subtract

Know numbers 1-100

Know all 50 states in alphabetical order (I can't even do that!)

Know all of our past Presidents (again...we might have to hire a tutor! HA)

Should be a busy year! Looking forward to it!

More Swim lesson pics!

We finally finished up swim lessons! Check out the shots of Davis SHOOTING out of the water slide. Pretty cool!

Baron's Game

We went to a B'ham Barons game tonight! It was HOT! Good thing the games start at 7 pm when the sun has subsided a little! It was 25 cent hot dog night, so guess what? We ate HOT DOGS!

It's amazing to me that we go watch a Minor League Baseball game basically right in our back yard!

Chuck E. Cheese!

Heaven forbid...we finally gave in and took Davis to Chuck E. Cheese. Boy, it's not quite what I remembered. But the things that were the same: the bad pizza, the crappy broken games that steal your tokens, and the worthless prizes. I guess it's a good thing that kids don't really care about those things! I was disappointed that the whole time we were there...there was NO singing mouse! What is up with that??? Anyway, it really was fun to be a kid again and we had a blast! Maybe next pay raise- we'll go again! :)

Swim Lessons!

Well, we finally signed Davis up for swim lessons. He is taking at the local YMCA. I'm sure you can tell by the pictures that Davis wont stop talking long enough to listen to his teacher (Mr. Alex) or even swim. Mr. Alex says he's a "natural sinker"...whatever that means! There are 2 other little swimmers in his class (aka: The Eels!) Their names are David and Ella. Davis loves going to the pool every day after school. He hates to leave when class is over. I guess he's a natural "eel", as long as he can keep his mouth shut long enough to hold his breath! I wonder where he gets that from...Hmmmmm

Day at Big Pop's

Davis had so much fun at Big Pop's last weekend. We "chunked" the watermelon in the River to cool it off. Then the icecream boat came by and of course we had to get some!

It was a blast. I think Davis swam for 6 hours straight!