This Kid TOTALLY Understands Me

Happy Cake... Worth the wait?

Monday was my 31st birthday. In celebration, Dan brought home a yummy mint chocolate chip icecream cake. (my favorite kind of icecream!) Davis and I had been talking about it all day long and getting really excited about blowing out the candles together.
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Our rule at dinner is that you have to finish your dinner to have dessert, so I gave Davis a couple little pieces of chicken, a small amount of rice and a 2 little green beans, to ensure that he would finish his dinner. Well, dinner arrived and Davis refused to eat any dinner. All he could think about was "happy cake." He had already been reminded of the rule, therefore it had to be enforced. Ugh. I was sadder then he was I think and I shed quite a few tears after putting my little one to bed.
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Fast forward the next 2 days... Tuesday and Wednesday we didn't talk about happy cake, but he didn't finish his dinner either so therefore he didn't recieve any cake...
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Thankfully, Thursday at lunch Davis did an awesome job eating his lunch therefore I surprised him with some "happy cake." Dan and I had been eating on it all week, so we were grateful there was still some left!

The remaining happy cake.

Davis sang happy birthday to me and helped me blow out my candles. (I had refused to blow them out until Davis could do it with me!) It was a fun time!

Happy cake! Yes, it was worth the wait! I also used this time as a lesson for Davis on how to lick his plate clean, just like his mommy likes to do with her icecream cake!

Frank's wedding

A good buddy of mine, Frank (some of you call him Frankie), tied the knot last weekend in Mobile. Along with a few other Auburn guys and a future brother-in-law, I was asked to be one of the groomsmen. Ellen and I had a fun time seeing some of our old friends while the boys stayed with Grandma and Gramps.

Frank and I went to the same church as kids, were in Boy Scouts together, sang in the church choir, and were roommates together at Auburn. He also sang and played the guitar at my wedding.

Here we are with a good friend Tommy and his wife, Melody.
Some quick trivia: Frank and I were roommates and we both married an "Ellen". Tommy and my brother, Rob, were also roommates, and they both married a "Melody". Huh.

This is what we found when we went to pick up the boys. Apparently Davis played pretty hard at the lake!

Happy Easter! (official)

He is Risen!
Easter morning we had a great time looking for eggs. We've tried pretty hard to limit candy for Davis, so instead of candy in the eggs we hid little people animals inside of the eggs around the house. Davis had a blast looking for them.

Checking out his eggs.

Even though it was "just" us for Easter, I decided that I wanted to make a special meal. For the first time, I roasted a rack of lamb. It tasted really good, so I had to post a pic of my accomplishment. :)

After lunch we headed outside to plant some flowers in my little garden next to the playset. Davis and Dan were a big help in breaking up the ground. As you can see Davis really got into it!

And our precious Isaac, always the proud encourager. We assured him that next year he'd be right out there with the rest of us!

Well, I guess that just about concludes our Easter celebrations!

Easter Part 3

Saturday our church held an Easter Egg hunt and other activities for the kids. This was Davis's first egg hunt, so he was pretty much very excited about it! Once we got there he was even more excited that there would be a puppet show. (his favorite!)For the craft they made a cross with a little sign on it that says "He is Risen" Look closely above, this is a cross made by our little 2 year old. :)
Daddy and Davis time! I was with Isaac during the morning and Dan and Davis went around to the craft, facepainting and cookie decorating.

Davis made us laugh at the egg hunt. There were hundreds of eggs for the 2 and 3 year olds scattered in an open field of grass ready to be picked up! When they were able to start, Davis kept walking over dozens of eggs to get the "special" ones. He was after the ones shaped like insects or ones that were sports ball eggs. I think most kids ended up with several dozen, but Davis was perfectly happy and excited with his 6 special ones!


Isaac was ready to go home after the egg hunt! He'd had enough Easter fun for one day!

Passover 2009

One part of Easter that we have always wanted to celebrate is Passover. This year we were honored to be able to celebrate it with some of our closest friends here in Madison. Sharon and Oren graciously invited all of us over to celebrate with their family. We learned so much about Passover, were able to participate in so many traditions, and we ate some of the most delicious food that I have ever tasted!

Sharon and I often get together for playdates with our kids. They have a precious little boy who Davis (and the rest of us too) absolutely adore. She often helps me keep my sanity and is a listening ear when I haven't had any adults to talk to all day. :) I'm so thankful for her friendship!
During dinner, the kids played a lot and did really well. Dinner is a couple hours long and their are a lot of different parts too it, so we weren't sure how they would do! Here are the cuties at their toy area next to the table!

The whole visit was incredibly kid friendly and Oren's parents (our hosts) were so wonderful with the kids.
Fun times around the Passover table!

One tradition that Davis was able to participate in was the finding of the hidden Matzoh at the end of the meal. He also enjoyed sitting with all of us at the table and raising his glass of grape juice during the appropriate parts. :) Really special memories! Thanks so much Sharon and Oren!

Easter 2009 Part 1

I am a little behind on all the fun we've had this week, but am going to try to catch up!

It has been a wonderful week, full of lots of friends and activities!

Monday started off with my good friend, Hollie and her kids coming to visit. Hollie and I were roommates for 3 years at Auburn and she happens to live in Huntsville! We wish we lived closer to them, as we are still about a 30 minute drive from their house. Thankfully, we do see each other every once in awhile!

We decorated Easter Eggs together.

Here Jonah and Davis are showing off their creations. I love both of their big smiles! While Hollie was here she taught me a trick. Instead of asking the kids to "smile" for the picture, she has her kids "laugh." This made such a difference and we captured more of the real happiness on their faces!

Rock Wall Climbing

This past weekend Dan and I worked on our wonderful playset a little bit more! I painted, and Dan attached the rocks for the rock wall! As you can see, Davis is having a blast climbing, now we just need some friends to come over and play on it with us! Thank you Gramps, it is the perfect incline!

A Year Ago Today

We have now been living in Madison for 1 year! April 1st of 2008 we moved into our house! Time has flown by so fast but we have enjoyed every moment of it!

In other news, our house has been hit with ear infections. I took the boys to the doctor this morning, after this week of runny noses and coughs. Our little Isaac has infections in both ears and Davis has an infection in one ear. Regardless, they have been pretty happy and upbeat!

My big brother gave me this hat to wear. Don't I look cool?! :) Davis says I'm "looking good."