here lately...

this cannot be good...

i feel as though life has been 'gobbling me up' the past couple of weeks...i have started to post many times and just never get it finished...photos of the kids to come (we took our first trip of the summer to tybee last weekend and had a blast!!)...i promise! love to all of you who still check this lonely blog...

blanford bluejay field day

sorry, for the music. jer said it was too loud and heavy for the slide show. oh well, it took me forever to make it, and i can't change it now, so just turn the sound down if you are so inclined :) also, once you have clicked play, click the 'HD' button in the bottom right corner--the photos look very garbled for some reason if you don't.



i had a blast with leighton at field day! i only stayed for the morning and it was H.O.T but very fun to watch. i cannot beleive he is already done with kindergarten. the year really flew by. he is ready to be a first grader, though--he already let me know this fact :)

{bathtime}

{easter 2009}...better late then never...

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"
-- 2 Corinthians 9:14-15

our first year dying eggs...yes, i know, leighton is six! how awful is that?? we only dyed 9 eggs but it was fun...even mad and mill joined in the action...well, sort of (they were at the table so that counts!!) we were so glad that anne and granddad were able to come down for a short visit over easter!



we spent saturday evening making resurrection cookies and going on a resurrection egg hunt!! and all the kiddos actually DID get in on this great activity...madden loved the mixing...i gotta get this girl in my kitchen more often! my friend helena shared it with our ladies fellowship and that's how i learned about it...here's a link though:

http://www.annieshomepage.com/resurrectioncookiestext.html

i couldn't have done all this without the help of anne and granddad (jer was playing music and unavailable!)! it was a wee bit difficult with the little ones--i think it would have spurred on more conversation if i had just done it with leighton...but you live and learn...you really need more than one adult for this activity though--someone to actually mix and put the ingredients together and another to read the scripture passages (and in our case, a third adult to wrangle an 18 month old!!)

...then, hunting for the resurrection eggs that go along with our book, benjamin's box (thanks so much, mama, for picking up this wonderful story for my kiddos and collecting all the 'treasures', too!!); we just made our resurrection eggs but you can buy them premade to go along with this VERY moving book, here...

**our homemade resurrection eggs!!

here is leighton unsealing the cookies from the tomb on easter morning! He is risen indeed!!



...and finally easter morning before church! miller wasn't really displaying third child behavior as the text implies, but i couldn't resist!



mad was overjoyed with her nightgown and princess underwear...and she made it clear by immediately trying the latter on....that's my girl!



ley's loot!! he loved his indiana jones legos (these little sets provide HOURS of play for him! i need to save some $$$$ for one of the bigger sets!!) and star wars reader book! and ley made his easter 'basket' at school...his bunny can was super cute and it just so happened that i had not bought miller an easter basket last year when he was only 7 months old (call me frugal!) and had completely forgotten until this year! so, it worked out quite nicely...



finally--we did NOT get a family easter photo this year that turned out anywhere near decent...but we did try...man, do we ever try....so here are the random shots in the front yard--some with my mom, some with my dad....some with a kid here and there....crying...laughing...not looking at the camera...goofy faces....you know the drill...

"it's out!": tooth fairy to visit davis house!

and it is about time!! ley has had a loose tooth for a quite a few months now...and man, he would NOT wiggle that thing out! i kept telling him...'if you don't wiggle the tooth, it isn't going to become more loose and come out!' he didn't seem to care that much! but, today it was really on it's last leg. after our long day of sunday school then church (which we overslept for and were running around like chickens with our heads cut off!!), potluck lunch, and egg hunting (more like egg gathering :)--jeremy took leighton to the bathroom to get that little bad boy out! or so he thought...here is the video i shot of the two of them...



well, i didn't get any shots of the egg hunt at church today (like i said, we were running SO late, i was just glad everyone was fully dressed!), but we did take photos of leighton's mouth when just a mere 5 hours later, he no longer had that little baby tooth! ley did allow his daddy to pull it (with me holding his hand for moral support--ley's hand that is!!) with very little drama. he was nervous and then the blood freaked him out a bit (although he knew it was coming), but then he was over the moon excited! he can't wait for school tomorrow to show his teachers and friends!

before bed tonight, he told me that he thinks the tooth fairy builds her castle out of the teeth she collects (and he told her this in the little note we wrote for her!)--that's my leighton, his imagination never quits...and i wouldn't have it any other way! yeah for the firsts in our little ones lives--i know there will be many more little teeth to come {out}!!

ley with his tooth tucked in his pillow!

way to go leighton and dad!

messy miller

i finally have allowed mill to to start feeding himself with his own utensils...i think i put it off so long because let's face it, who wants more mess to clean up?? but i must face the facts...he is 18 months old!!! unless i plan to feed him until he is like FIVE (uh, which i DO NOT plan to do...like some other cultures, right anne?????)--i had better get on the stick. i found these handy little spoons at BRU:

he put up quite a fight and sat through half of dinner crying the first time i made him do the spooning himself. glad i didn't wait any longer, huh!?! he works these little spoons pretty well...that is until he realizes he could just use his hands instead! i was glad to happen upon these as he seems to like these a little better and definitely maneuvers them better than a regular toddler spoon. i wasn't at BRU to get specialty spoons though, i actually had to go there to buy this:

yes--turns out miller is one of those babes that turns into a beaver while teething...bless his little heart! this seems to have solved the wood chewing, paint eating problem though, thank goodness.

i am off to the AWANA grand prix to watch my oldest baby race his souped up cobra striped car! go #70!! photos to come--i hope!!

**just realized you could see him eating with his fancy-schmancy spoon in his photo and i didn't really need the big pic of the green spoon...but, oh well...**

Interview with Madden--age 2.5

i think mad is a bit young for this, but gave it a whirl anyway...pretty cute even though she didn't understand all the questions!...going to try it on leighton at some point...

---------------------------------------------

1. What is something mommy always says to you?
cute

2. What makes mommy happy?
happy!

3. What makes mommy sad?
wahhh! You say wahhh! You say that…

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
heheheehe!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
bubby’s a boy…

6. How old is your mom?
two

7. How tall is your mom?
two

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
funny

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
go night-night

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
cute, yes cute…

11. What is your mom really good at?
school

12. What is your mom not very good at?
tickle (??)

13. What does your mom do for her job?
don’t know what your job is…

14. What's your mom's favorite food?
‘ronis’ (macaroni…what we had for lunch!)

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
‘emmens’ (m&m’s…her potty prize!)

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
she be mad (??)

maddie is all about all things princess lately. she loves ariel especially. i snapped these photos when she was watching the little mermaid for the first time. her pretty princess dresses are too big right now and we have to cinch them at the back so they will somewhat stay on her little frame. she loves to dance and she will spin herself around with such great force, i fear for her safety (we will turn on dancing with the stars just to watch HER!). it is now a very common nightly ritual to sing the little mermaid song along with 'jesus, there's just something about that name'!


maddie is our little firecracker for sure! she is finally on the road to being completely potty trained. yes, i am so proud and relieved and just over-the-moon thankful! it all clicked with her a couple of weekends ago when jeremy and i went on a date and left her at the house with sweet nicole. i warned nicole that she was potty training--and that she would use the potty when she had 'no constraints' (aka nothing on her little bum!) but if she was wearing underwear or pull-up she would just use it like a diaper! to my great surprise, when we returned home, nicole told me she had pooped on the potty...twice!! and both times she had been in her pull-up and took them off to go, NO PROBLEM. i seriously teared up from joy!! turns out i should of gone out for a good time with the hubby and left her with nic weeks ago!! nicole, you are appreciated!!!! so far, since then--we have had only a few accidents. so, now i need to get her to stay dry at night...