Happy New Year 2008

Wishing all our family and friends a blessed 2008! We thank God for the people in our life. Peace and God bless.

Merry Christmas 2007

Just another day in the Davis house. I say that not to put down Christmas and what it might signify in your family, but for me the 'meaning' has really changed. This change is very liberating.

I was taught that we celebrate the birth of Christ at Christmas and the tree and lights all had some significance. I decided to do some reading..well after God got me to open the bible and just start reading I found out that there is no mention of December 25th, Christmas, and instruction to celebrate Christ's birth. I'm still reading in Matthew so if I am corrected I will post it. So now what...I have two other members who enjoy putting up the tree, lights, etc. I do too, but it doesn't seem that important to me. I can go either way...so we have a tree up, decorations, and even hosted a Christmas party. We say 'Merry Christmas'. We have done the local tree lighting; toured the decorated farms and parks; and even done Santa's shopping. But I still feel like I'm in a state of limbo as far as what I want our daughter to get out of all this.

I've already told our 3 1/2 yr old that 'baby Jesus' is not a baby anymore, but he is our living savior. He was a baby born of a woman named Mary. She immediately wanted to be Mary and act it out. lol. I've also told her we might not do things like other families because we need to obey God in all that we do. Next year we may or may not put up a tree. We may or may not exchange gifts. If I'm obeying God then none of this will be an issue. I will work out my salvation today, tomorrow, and on Christmas day. I'm thankful Jesus obeyed his father so myself and the world can have everlasting life. This is my celebration.

Merry Christmas and God's blessings to you all!

A lot of turkey and a hometown tree lighting....

What more can you ask for in Southern Maryland! We had a nice Thanksgiving. Of course I cooked a lot of food for three adults and a 3 yr old. lol. We are thankful for the time we get to spend with family. After we filled our bellies, we all played a bowling game on the Wii. Mom loved it and we laughed a lot.

The day after Thanksgiving there is a tree lighting/festival in Leonardtown, which includes Santa nonetheless. So after our turkey pot pie dinner, we bundled ourselves up for the cold to check out the festivities. We got there just in time to find a spot on the sidewalk to watch the parade of firetrucks along with Mr. McGruff and Sparky the fire dog (Caroline's favorite). Then Santa came by and helped light the tree in the center of the Leonardtown square. I'm glad I had my hot chocolate because it was SOOO cold. Needless to say, we walked around the square and headed home. We finished our evening with a slice of homemade cherry pie with whipped topping. YUMMY.

This weekend also starts the holiday season shopping frenzy. I only went to one store, got what I needed and headed home. It wasn't crowded either-I was thankful. Steve went to Best Buys-not the best idea. They were out of what he went after and the lines snaked around the store. He saw a friend of ours and she had been standing in line for 45 minutes (you go Jen!). Steve even said IF they had what he wanted he probably wouldn't of got it b/c the wait wasn't worth his time. Amen!

We also put up the christmas tree and got all the holiday decorations out. Caroline is so excited about the tree. She enjoys the lights and the train!

My favorite is 'candy popcorn'

Caroline tasted candy corn for the first time and that became her favorite and informed me she loves candy 'popcorn'...see the connection? lol.

At O-dark thirty Caroline wakes me up and says, 'mommy it's Halloween' and I replied yes, it is. She talked all day about dressing up as a princess (insert any princess name and she was happy, but Cinderella I think is the favorite). After dinner we got her all dressed up and went to a few houses of people we know. Caroline got to meet another 'Cinderella' and was in heaven. Then we ventured down to the local library for their 'not-so-scary' children's halloween party. I have to say it was pretty good. It started off with a few stories, songs, and games. Then the kids got to go around the library and get candy at different stations. They even got a book, pencils, and coupon for Chick-Fil-A (that's for mommy!). We met up with some friends and the girls had a ball at the library. Afterwards, we walked over to the fire station and the kids got more candy and got to check out the firetrucks. We were home by 8pm and Caroline was asleep by 8:30.

I'm not sure what my take is on this Halloween 'holiday'...basically it means nothing to me. In our house Caroline has the opportunity to dress up everyday and we seem to always have some kind of sugary treat stashed in the house. So to dedicate a day/night to say trick or treat seems useless. I will say that maybe this is due to my Halloweens as a kid...it wasn't a big deal really and I remember getting tired, my costume falling off, and ended up crying for some reason. So will Halloween become a yearly tradition in our family, don't know, but I bet we will continue to dress up as a princess and enjoy sugary treats for the next few weeks!

Happy Fall Y'all.

Granola anyone?

Me and my 3.5 yr old attended a local 'Nature Time' activity at a state park. We had a lovely time. The fall crisp air was invigorating. We had 2.5 hours of outdoor fun. We made a nature journal and then filled it with our findings from the field and corn crop. We saw beautiful flowers and leaves; various birds flying above; and animal tracks left in the mud. After we completed our nature journal it was time for a game. The instructor played mice and eagle..the kids were the mice and instructor the eagle. When the eagle tapped the mice on the head they turned into an eagle...well guess who didn't like being chased by the eagle, yep you guessed it our Caroline. She said she was scared, so be it. On to another game, Simon Says. A few rounds of that stirred up an appetite! The kids had a nice 'healthy' (see funny below) snack of soy nuts, puffed wheat, apples, carrots, and potato sticks. It was food so Caroline was in heaven.

Here's the funny part...

Funny #1: Caroline and the two other kids around her age (girl and boy) were looking at a daddy- longleg and my Caroline stomps on it. The other little girl started to ball. She comes running to her mommy all upset b/c that GIRL killed the daddy-longleg. I explained to Caroline that we don't kill the bugs/animals at the park (so not a nature girl here-lol).

Funny #2: Then we had a scavenger hunt..Caroline finds an ant hill and proceeds to DESTROY IT by stomping on it. Once again, I explained we don't destroy the animals home. I'm thinking to myself how the very nice instructor (nature lady) is ready for us to leave, but all was well and we didn't get kicked out of the park.

Funny #3: The final funny happened when Caroline asked the instructor if they are getting gummy snacks! The instructor explained that since they don't give out stuff with sugar in it (only healthy snacks) they won't be eating gummy snacks. Oh, ok, by now I'm cracking up inside.

By the way, the soy nuts were very tasty. We plan on going to the next Nature Time.

October Adventures and Overcomings

It's October and it's that time of year to say goodbye to the summer heat and hello to cool, crisp days....unless you're in Southern Maryland. haha. We went to the pumpkin patch on one of the hottest days in October that I can remember. We all had a great time finding our way through the corn maze, taking a wagon ride, checking out the animals, and most of all playing in the corn box (aka sand box but with corn).

For the past week Caroline has been fighting a cold. She developed a cough and it caused her some restlessness. She was in bed and I started to pray and before long I said, "Lord loose her from this cough and congestion." Caroline immediately began to cough up the crud that was making her feel so bad. Then the Lord put on my heart to NOT be afraid of what I saw, because what came out of her was pretty gross looking. I was thankful and Caroline was too. She got back into bed and I continued to pray. Mainly thanking God for his mercy on ME b/c he answered my prayer. Caroline opened her eyes, looked at me, and smiled. She slept peacefully all night.

St. Mary's County Fair 2007

It's that time of year around here...the air is getting cooler and the leaves are starting to change color. After a busy weekend of getting stuff done on our 'to-do list' we ventured to the fair. We picked a great day. Caroline is old enough and tall enough to get on the rides this year. She was so eager and brave. She even rode her first roller coaster-she didn't like it too much because it went too fast. But all the other rides were great fun. We checked out the animals, but couldn't leave until Caroline tasted some cotton candy. She was in spun sugar bliss. Watching Caroline brought back a lot of great memories of myself as a child at the fair.

I'm 3 yrs old and have sparkley shoes

This week in the Davis house has been exciting. First off, Caroline informed me and her daddy that she didn't want to wear pull ups at night anymore-just panties. As a treat we purchased some 'princess' panties to wear at night. The first two nights she had an accident and after that she's been dry all night. Although, I have noticed that it upsets her to have to wake up and use the toilet. I think all of us who have had to make the 3 am potty break understands this, but I've explained to her that she has to overcome that because that is just how it is and it's better to be dry then sleep in pee.

Another exciting event is that I have been approached about a job. This job is my OLD job I had before leaving after Caroline was born. Steve and I are endeavoring to pray and trust God on this.

Today we are just enjoying some football and munching on some football food.

It's been a while since I last posted anything on here. I guess we are getting back into our routine since Oma left. When Oma is here I get so spoiled with the extra help that when she leaves it's a shock to my system. lol.

Steve and I have been pondering the whole preschool issue for Caroline. We've come to the conclusion that she doesn't need preschool to learn anything-she's smart. I think she would benefit from the structure of a classroom and what is expected of her. With that said, as a parent our job is to provide structure where learning to sharing, follow directions, teaching respect, and self control is taught, right? So why would we need to put her in preschool? Here it is folks...for me it's the pressure that she won't be 'ready' for kindergarten like most of her peers. She would be the child labeled 'didn't go to preschool' in the class. As ridiculous as that sounds, it's true, and this social pressure is heavy in the mommy circles. I never thought it would happen to me.

So...as of right now I have started Caroline on the Letter of the week and we are in week three. We have put together her Learning Poster and she loves adding the pictures under the corresponding headings. She will go around the house or while in the car and pick out the letter we have been learning. She wants to know what every word says and how to spell stuff too. She is even doing some basic math-addition and subtraction. We don't plan on homeschooling her, in fact, we might try to get her into the public school preK program for next fall. If that doesn't work then we will look into a private preK program OR just wait till Kindy time. God has put in my heart to be still and not hasty.

Baltimore Aquarium

What a great time we all had at the Baltimore Aquarium. Erica (Oma) took this picture of us before the dolphin show started. It was a blessing to spend this time with my family. Caroline loved the dolphins and even picked out a stuffed animal dolphin she named 'Splash' see pictures in our album! God bless.

Biker Babes

Our latest family hobby-bike riding. We got Caroline one of those trailers that attaches to the back of Steve's bike. We haven't ventured any great distances yet, but enjoying riding around the neighborhoods. It's nice to be able to do something as a family. Happy riding!

Happy 4th of July 2007

As you can see we had a great July 4th family gathering. Caroline loved having both gramma and oma here. We enjoyed a nice meal of hot dogs and brats, baked beans, german potato salad, cucumber salad, and a berry shortcake to round out the meal. After the sun set, we set off some of our fireworks we purchased locally AND got to watch a real firework display in our neighborhood. It was awesome. Caroline didn't like the loud boom of the fireworks so she watched from inside at the window. I thank God for family and the times we get to share together.

Wow...

That's all I can say about the things the Lord has enabled us to do lately. He really does know the desires and wants of our heart. As I was praying last night, I thanked God for these things, and asked if it be his will that we use these newly finished areas in our house (basement and deck) to fellowship and worship with others and share the gospel-the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I welcome this opportunity and look forward to the awesome things God has planned for us. God bless.

Mom's birthday lunch

Bettie, Jean, and myself took mom out for a birthday lunch. We went to mom's favorite place, the tea cozy in Leonardtown. We had a wonderful lunch. We even got to share a complementary chocolate cake. Another surprise was a special gift from the tea cozy to mom! She received a floral tea cup and saucer. After the good food and many laughs we headed over to Leonardtown square to check out some of the shops. A fun time was had by all. Happy birthday mom!

I took Caroline to the beach/park today. The weather is just so beautiful...we didn't want to leave. After we played, collected some shells and beach glass we met Steve for lunch. We had a nice morning. I thank God for today.

Beach/Park Day!

This picture says it all!

In Memory of Cheryl Lynn Young (James)

A few weeks back I get a call and my sister left me a few messages saying she was going to the doctors and probably getting admitted to the hospital. I really didn't think anything of it since I knew some things going on with her lately. I called her back and she was resting in her hospital bed. The doctors wanted to run some tests and it looked as if she was going to go home at the end of the week. Well the weekend came and went and she was still in the hospital. Then I get a call from my brother in law and Cheryl was moved to ICU. Things were going downhill fast. Her family made it to Indiana in time to talk to her, even her 3 yr old niece got to see her and tell her she loved her. What was really neat was how God worked in this situation. The day we left MD to drive to IN my sister was in kidney failure and even the nurses said it wasn't looking too good, but God sustained her life long enough for her whole family to see her and fellowship with her. Another awesome event was that she was moved from ICU to another floor where visitation wasn't restricted so Cheryl got to see and talk to her niece. After that there was a great sense of peace in my heart and come to find out the rest of my family was feeling this too. We knew Cheryl would be with the Lord soon. A few days later her husband and his family were in Cheryl's hospital room and she peacefully left this earth to be with the Lord. All of us thank God for Cheryl's life and the time we have had to know her, love her, and fellowship in the Lord with her.

Happy 3rd Birthday Caroline

Wow we have a three year old! Yep today is Caroline's birthday. For not doing 'much' we have done a lot today. This morning we woke up to a beautiful snow. Then Caroline spotted her birthday cake on the counter and promptly asked to have it for breakfast. Part of me wanted to say SURE...but I told her we needed to wait. Gramma was coming over and we were all going to eat it then. She was happy to eat waffles with mom. Gramma showed up and Caroline was ready to open PRESENTS. We gave her some books and a jumprope. Caroline also got a beautiful dress with flowers on the top and a gingham skirt, a swim suit with hawaiian flowers and cover up skirt, a knitted sweater/skirt/scarf set, money, and various toys. Then it was cake time and the lemon cake with lemon icing with sprinkles went over great with everyone. Caroline wanted more but I figured it might be nice to get some lunch. So we all piled in the Jeep and went to LoneStar-Caroline's favorite place to eat. We all had a nice time enjoying each others company. Now the birthday girl is fast asleep. I'm sure when she wakes up she will request more cake and mom will say 'after dinner' lol. It's a blessing to have Caroline in our lives and we thank God for each day we have together.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

Steve purchased two kites a few weeks ago and we have been waiting for a good windy day. That day was today. After dinner we headed to a local park and it was perfect wind condition for kite flying...at least we thought so. The memories of flying kites as kids didn't seem so involved. lol. After about 30 minutes Steve got his kite in the air for about 2 seconds. The operator says that lack of air lift was due to a faulty design and will engineer a new kite that WILL fly. Needless to say Caroline loved running around in the field even though it was so cold. I ended up wrapping her scarf around her ears. *side note* scarf and sweater was made by Oma for Caroline.

Just another fun day in Southern Maryland

What a blessing it is to be able to live in an rural area where farms of all sorts are right around the corner. First we were invited to do breakfast at our friends' house. After a lovely time there we got to venture down the street to a local sheep farm. The sheep just had babies too-here are the triplets in the picture. Caroline got to feed one of them and as you can see she loved it. The owners were so nice to let us come over and not only see the sheep but check out their gardens. It was just beautiful. My mom (Carole) even got a cutting of a pussy willow tree!

Passing of the keys

It happened..Steve's Jeep Wrangler was SOLD this weekend. This was something that was long coming but it just had to be the right time. We all know what it's like to part with something that has sentimental meaning to us. I thank God for being patient with us and continue to minister his truth to us.

Got Nap?

Who says you don't need a nap. Since the construction is a bit louder in her room, she has resorted to napping in our bed.

Leprechaun Lilley Consignment Sale

While playing outside yesterday, Caroline gets her red wagon and asks me to help her put her scooter inside the wagon. She then begins to pull the wagon across the yard, then stops and yells to me, 'mom come on we're going to the Leprechaun Lilley sale'. I ask her what is she going to sell and she replied, 'my scooter'. I asked, why? She said, 'so another little person can have it.' I then asked, how much are you selling it for? She holds up three fingers and says $13.00! Needless to say we have been talking a lot about this sale which will commence this weekend, but it's taken me a month to get all the stuff together to sell. It's a process but worth it.

Basement...almost finished

The painters were here all day and finished painting! It looks awesome...see the little movie in our photo album. The plumber should be here tomorrow to finish the bathroom. Steve and Jerry are going to install the carpet this weekend and the electrician needs to come back and finish up some of the outlets....then move IN day will commence. We are all very excited about that, even Maisie our cat. She's not sure what is going on. More pictures and movies to come.

Basement Project 2007

The basement is getting done and we are so excited and thankful. I'll recap what has been completed to date: all framing, plumbing lines, most of the electrical, and the drywall has been hung on the ceiling and some of the walls. Hopefully the drywall guys will be back today to get more done. Over the weekend Steve and I along with some friends picked out the carpets and vinyl floor for the bathroom. I know you all want to know what color is the carpet...well I will just say green, but not a mint green nor it is a forest green. The solid color is more of moss green and the other carpet is multi-colored in the coordinating greens. The bathroom floor has a marble affect going on with a green going through it. Once you see it, it will all make sense. Steve's friend, Jerry, will help him lay the carpet and bathroom floor. Now we need to find some paint. That shouldn't be too hard. Last night Steve ordered the movie screen for the media room and it should be here today. There are a few movie clips of the basement in our photo album labeled 'basement project 2007'. Enjoy!

Website Feedback

A few of you have mentioned how much you have enjoyed reading our blog blurbs. Thank you for reading and providing feedback-it's always welcome. In fact, when I sit down to write an entry I do hope to provide some encouragement wherever it needs to be in your life and a little humor. How we do things in our family might not be what someone else needs to do since we all might be at different places in life. Over the past few years my faith and relationship with Jesus has become stronger. I've always considered myself a Christian, but this is different. My relationship with the Lord is a daily walk, not only for myself but my family. I will continue to post journal entries as the Lord leads Steve and myself. God Bless us all.

Where's Caroline?

Lately Caroline hasn't been taking her usual 'naps' but I do insist she needs a rest-and so do I. Caroline has always loved snuggling up with pillows and blankets. The more the merrier. Today as I was changing her bedding, she collected her pillows and comforter and made a little 'nest' for herself. She asked if she could sleep there. Sure, why not I said. She was asleep in no time! Do you remember making a tent or fort out of your mom's sheets and blankets and how much fun that was? I remember turning our living room into a giant fort and that was my 'house'. What fun it is to enjoy the simple things.