School Days

Summer is officially over now that school is back in session. Calla has been thrilled about going back. Seeing friends and art class and riding the bus are all she has talked about for the last several weeks. Now that it is here, she is ecstatic. Her first day went great, meeting new friends and catching up with old ones, getting a new teacher and having bragging rights to the 2nd grade hallway (quite a promotion from the K-1st hall). Every night she comes home bubbling with new, exciting stories. On the other hand, Noah was not looking forward to school at all. He has been dreading his first day for weeks with constant pleas that I look into home schooling. As his first day neared, his nervous anticipation increased as his fingernails decreased. Jeff and I had several long talks about how much he would love school and the fun of learning and making new friends, but to no avail. Finally, the day dawned and after an enjoyable morning of picking out his favorite breakfast and packing a special lunch, I took him in to school. Once there he seemed to be just fine and went with his teacher happily. When he got off the bus, he was all smiles. Turns out he really had a great time on his first day and was actually looking forward to going back. Amen. On a lighter note, when I arrived at the school to drop Noah off I ran into Calla's Kindergarten teacher. She made the comment "another one?". Thinking that she meant my burgeoning belly, I giggled and said "I guess I look the same to you as I did two years ago on Calla's first day!". Turns out she was talking about Noah being in school already and didn't even notice my pregnant stomach until I had said something. Now there is a teacher who is really focused on the children! After a good laugh, I told her that we would be back down this hall dropping off a Kindergartner every two years until 2015...at least. This was actually Calla's second day, hence the different outfit, since Kindergartners have different start days.

Making sure everything is accounted for.

Friends at the bus stop. Emma, Sydney, Calla, Taylor and Noah.

Beach Memories

This weekend we celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary as well as taking our annual trip to the beach. We try at least once a year to head over to Sunset Beach on the coast of NC. It is very small and quiet and perfect for families. One reason Sunset Beach is so unique is that it is rather difficult to get on to. They have a very old pontoon bridge or swing bridge that swings out every hour on the hour to let boats through. If you are lucky enough to be stopped in your car during that time, it can be a long wait indeed (as we were several times this weekend). Still, the kids enjoyed watching the bridge swing out and the boats pass through, so we will call it an educational stop. The other reason Sunset Beach is so unspoiled is that there is very little commercialism on the island. There are only two or three small hotels and no gas stations or pizza parlors. Mostly just beach homes and beautiful soft sand. Because it is a peninsula, you get a chance to see the sunset over the intercoastal waterway, making for some very lovely sunsets. Saturday we split our time spending most of the morning at the beach and then on to our favorite Calabash fish place, Ella's. After lunch we headed for an afternoon at the pool and then back to the beach to fly kites. Kite flying is a Davis family tradition and something we enjoy every time we go to the beach. Everyone, even the kids have their own kites and Mommy and Daddy have the big kites. Unfortunately this year there was not enough wind on the beach to keep the big kite up, but the kids kites flew great. So well in fact that we decided to introduce Micah into the fine art of kite flying. He got his own kite and was a natural. He kept it up around 20 feet in the air for about ten minutes. In true Davis fashion, he was able to eat a snack with one hand and still keep his kite flying in the other, a feat for any 21-month old. On Sunday we journeyed over to the next closest beach, Ocean Isle. Ocean Isle is bigger and you must cross a large and somewhat scary bridge to get on the island. It is still a great island for finding seashells and making sand castles. We stayed and played until the sun wore us down and we traveled back home. While vacation is always fun, and the beach is especially great, I am glad Jeff had Monday off so that we could rest and relax from our vacation!!

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WARNING: Pregnancy Hormones Ahead

Well this week certainly had its ups and downs. We had a fabulous time at a friends lake house on Saturday enjoying some great fellowship and delicious food. The kids got to try a lot of new things like riding on a boat, jet ski and tubing. Sunday we were so beat that after church the whole family came home and slept. On Monday, the real fun began. My Mom offered to take Calla and Noah for another sleep over which worked out perfectly for Jeff and I. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary this week and wanted to go out to dinner. It is so much easier to find childcare for two than four. So, Monday started out simply enough, get up, eat breakfast, get dressed and drop kids off at Grandma's. When we got home, Bella and Micah were extra ornery and if you add that to my highly charged hormonal state, it turned out to be a rough day. No naps and a lot of misbehavior and I was ready for dinner and down time. When I finally got to sneak away for two minutes to change my clothes for our evening out, Bella and Micah decided to "spruce up" Micah's room with baby powder (2 full bottles). With no time to spare, they went to our wonderful friends house, who were sitting for us, covered in powder with one emotional stressed mom tagging behind. After a lovely dinner and some much needed couple time I was ready to start again fresh. The cheesecake we had for dessert didn't hurt either. Cheesecake heals all wounds! On a brighter side, Calla and Noah had a wonderful couple days with Grandpa and Grandma. They got to go bowling again, see a movie, play putt putt and lots of other fun games. The little ones and I had a nice relaxing Tuesday with our highlight being a trip to the grocery store. Although, can you really call Harris Teeter a grocery store? To our kids it is a mini amusement park. We picked up a redbox, got cookies, balloons and yummy treats. Now that the whole family is back home, we have settled quickly back into our old routine. I think we will enjoy the park tomorrow and then get home and pack for our anniversary/family beach trip. Once I get a little ocean air I can't help but be in a great mood, or at least my family hopes so:)

Picture Perfect

Professional pictures of our children are certainly something I have always enjoyed having done. With Calla, we had pictures made every three months. With Noah, it was every 4-5 months. With Bella, maybe twice a year if we were lucky and with poor little Micah, who is now 20 months, we only have baby, one year and now his almost two year pictures. I have good intentions of getting everyone to the portrait studio on a more consistent basis. It's just that when I think about if I have matching clothes, if they will all sit and pay attention, and hardest of all, will I get time to pick out my favorite shots while they all wait patiently, I get a bit overwhelmed. Well this week I just decided that we would go for it no matter what. After many long hours of trying to find cute matching clothes (I gave up all together and just put each of them in their favorites) and a promise to stop at the park for a picnic after and a prayer that the pictures would be quick and well done, we were off. Turns out God heard my pleas and was with me. The kids did great, the photographer was amazing and we were in and out in less than 40 minutes. Quite a feat with four young children. We even got out of there well under budget, so a success all around. And best of all, beautiful pictures that we can cherish for many years to come. Enjoy the pictures.

Davis Pictures

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