The Davenport (not so) Daily

It's a....

2008-08-01T13:04:00.000-07:00

BOY! That's right! We seem to have a nice little pattern going, and this guy is no exception to the rule. The boys are thrilled - the girls a little disappointed. However, they quickly reminded themselves how much they've loved and enjoyed little Seth, and that cheered them right up.

Scott and I were grateful that all looked well and whole - we know that is a blessing from the Lord!

No names so far - the girl name was already picked out, but the boy was giving us more of a time. I guess it'll be an exercise in patience, compromise, team playing, and all that...

Calling all Book Lovers

2008-07-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

OK, OK, I was going to try to post at least once a month (I know, that's really pathetic, but I'm just not a good blogger...) and I'm really overdue. My excuse this time is that I'm expecting (as you can see on my sidebar) and haven't been feeling at the top of my game, to put it mildly. And then, as soon as I began to feel like a natural woman again, we went on vacation. I'm going to post about that once I get my pics downloaded and uploaded and all that jazz.

In the meantime, I have a book to recommend to all you SAHM out there, since it's summer and you have unlimited reading time, right?!? Right. Anyway, it's called Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life, by Margaret Kim Peterson. It's a great encouragement and challenge about what keeping house REALLY is, biblically and theologically, as well as practically. I'm lovin' it. Have any of you out there already read/heard of this book?!?

Till later, then.

OK, y'all.

2008-05-22T09:31:00.001-07:00

I need some help. We finish school next Friday, and I need to make a summer plan. I mean, other than going to the pool, the library, and spending a lot of time reading to my little ones. What do you guys do? Modified school? Drop it completely? Organizing tasks that you can't get done during the school year? Keep up with math only? What? I feel like the days go more smoothly with a PLAN, you know? So, if you've got a plan, I'd love to hear about it. Pretty please?!?

Ahoy there, Matey!

2008-05-01T08:17:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago my mom and grandmother were in town. They took all the kids to McDonald's and got each of them a Happy Meal (of course! what are grandparents for?). I guess "Pirates of the Carribean 3" is the latest, greatest, because all the toys were pirate-y (I know, that's not a word...). Seth's toy was a pirate do-rag with a dangley golden earring. I put it on him just for kicks, assuming he'd yank it off and throw it to the ground, just as he'd been trying to do all winter with his hats. However, it was a HIT! He must've know he looked big and bad in it (and when you're the youngest of five, I guess you need whatever clout you can get).

In other news, I just last night, ordered (hopefully) ALL my school books for next year! Last year, with Seth being a baby and all, I didn't order until...shall I admit it? August, and it was hanging over my head all summer. This year, I tried to get my act togther a little earlier. Free shipping is a nice incentive, 'cause books are HEAVY. I think we saved about $30-$40. So Woohoo! Bring on the summer vacation!

memories

2008-04-18T19:07:00.000-07:00

We were driving home from the boy's first piano recital this evening (which was a great!), and on our way home, we drove through our old neighborhood. We began reminiscing about our years there. One of the kids favorite memories was our Christmas tradition of driving through the neighborhood with hot chocolate and listening to music and looking at all the Christmas lights.

Bonnie piped up from the back seat. "My favowite part was the decowations. You know, Momma, like the Decowation of Independance."

Well, there was a lot of red, white, and blue...

Drumroll, please...

2008-04-17T19:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our final program for our Classical Conversations year. The kids were so excited - they each got up with their classes and recited some of the things that they'd learned this year. The kids all did a great job - not one case of "stage fright"! I think I was more nervous than they were! I had to lead my class in it's recitations 8-)! But...I made it!

It's wonderful and exciting to see my children learn and love learning. As Kevin took his CAT tests this week, it was neat to read through them and just marvel at how much he's learned! Some days are difficult, and it feels like we get so little accomplished...but the Lord is so kind to encourage me - and tonight was a real encouragement! It's a blessing to contribute to the raising of a godly generation, even in a small way.

But that's not how I felt this morning as Seth pulled the SECOND glass of apple juice off of the table and all over himself and the floor. I'm grateful to say that the day ended better than it began ;-)!

To Blog or Not to Blog...

2008-04-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

As y'all can tell, it's been awhile... I haven't made a post here in months. We've been in a really busy season, and I just haven't had the time to put into it.

Also, I've been reading a few other blogs, and thinking some about what my blog (if I decided to revive it, and if anyone wanted to read it!) should be like. And, to be honest, I'm still not completely sure.

All that said, I'm going to try to give it another go, with an effort to be a little more broad in what I post about.

But first, an update! We are all well, and have been enjoying the spring in our new home - the woods are starting to leaf out and the warm weather is arriving. Seth is running all around and loving exploring the great outdoors! We've been hosting a book study in our home for the past 10 weeks on Wed. nights (Scott leading, me watching the kiddos), and I've continued my tutoring for Classical Conversations on Thursday...needless to say, by Friday, I'm pretty wiped. This week is our last week of CC - complete with final program and awards in the evening! We've had an amazing year - so exciting to see all the kids have learned - even the little ones!

It's has been a great blessing to participate in all of these things, but I look forward to having an easier schedule, more flexibilty, seeking new, maybe "unscheduled" ways to serve. I hope to use the extra time wisely...

And here are some recent pics, of course ;-)!

This is the whole family on Easter Sunday...

All the kids frolicking on the air mattress after a visit from Scott's folks...

Seth enjoying his first WHOLE apple (unintentionally on my part - he swiped someone else's off the table!)...

and looking at books...

And Kev and the girls in our HUGE family room...

* SIGH* Need I say more?

2008-01-16T18:13:00.000-08:00

Weeeeelllll folks, we're back! Yes indeedy, after a rip-roaring holiday season, in which blogging not only took the back burner, but more like fell off the stove, our snorkels have been retired until summer, and our noses are emerging! Praise the Lord! Nothing like the extraordinary to make you appreciate the ordinary.

Scott has begun his job NEXT DOOR (at our church) and begins his first series of sermons this Sunday evening. We hit our full school schedule this week - and we're loving our new home! I'll have to post some pictures soon.

OK y'all that's it for now. My blogging skillz feel kinda rusty...More later!

Oh yeah, Seth turned one during our move and had the lamest birthday party ever, but hey, he won't remember! But we did take some cute pics of him digging into his first taste of chocolate - and his gifts!

Our Life - who knew it could look so good?!?

2007-11-14T16:16:00.000-08:00

The latest photos of all five mini-Davenports

2007-11-09T07:25:00.000-08:00

For those of you who aren't into Facebook...

Yes, it's true, we're moving...

2007-11-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

but thankfully just across town. That'll make it (the turmoil that is moving) a lot easier, right?!?! Our church just bought the house that adjoins the church's property to be used at some future date, but for now they are renting it out, and they want to rent it out to their year-long intern, Scott Davenport, and his lovely family! That's us, in case you're wondering...

SOOOOO, we're moving the last week of December. Should be an interesting Christmas! But, we're very excited about the new house - bigger and newer than the one we're in now. The appliances, fixtures, etc. are definitely from this decade, which is also great, and a first for us! 8-)A wrap around front porch, enormous wooded lot, and gigantic laundry room are just a few of the highlights! And incredibly convenient to Scott's work - big plus right there. And we're excited to see what the Lord has for us in this new home - how we can use it to be a blessing to our church family, being so close and all!

But...do pray for us. Moving is moving!

And Seth just took his first step two days ago. So he's moving too!

Now that October's over...

2007-11-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd post some pics of our Halloween/Reformation Day festivities. Since there are now Christmas trees and dancing Santas in Target, Old Navy, just about every place I went into today. A little behind the times, we are...seems to be a pattern lately. I gotta do something about this...

By the way, in cast you're wondering, Nathan was Nacho from the movie "Nacho Libre". Not that he's seen that movie, but he came up with the costume on his own, and we had to turn it into something half-way legit. And Scott had the incredible insight to remember Nacho! So he really was SOMEBODY, not just toy box dregs. That boy, no pre-fab costumes for him, thank you very much!

Life - It's all about Delayed Gratification

2007-10-31T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sooooo, that's just a little embarassing. You all know how old fashioned we are, that we actually believe our PAPER calendars when they tell us it's Daylight Savings. Oh well, just something to look forward to this weekend!
Last weekend wouldn't have been a good one for Daylight Savings anyway. Bonnie woke up several times that night and so my extra hour would have been wasted - just replacing the hour that I was up with her anyway.

However, our clocks were still "off". So it made for an interesting Sabbath morning - more interesting than usual, and that's saying something! Scott came into the room (ran in, more like) at what I thought was 7:15 (and I was still in bed) saying "It's not today - it's really 8:15 and we're supposed to leave for church at 9!" Try to imagine how restful it is getting seven people out of bed, dressed in Sunday clothes, fed, etc. in 45 minutes - not to mention that 5 of them require varying degrees of assistance, ranging from minimal to complete. Good thing we only live about 10 minutes from church and could "fudge" on our departure time a little...

Then, Bonnie got sick on Sunday afternoon, and Seth on Sunday night. So it's been a week of sleep deprivation, let me tell you! I'd forgotten how different it is having a sick BABY and a sick CHILD. Seth is not interested in books or videos, nor does he understand that I have other people to take care of.

BUT - we've made it! Bonnie was only a little "off" for about 24 hrs. and Seth's fever has FINALLY broken (I guess I shouldn't complain - first sickness at 10 months isn't too bad). But suffice it to say, I'm lookin' forward to my extra hour this Saturday night!

It's The Most Wonderful Night of the Year!

2007-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Anyone else excited about an extra hour of sleep?!? I can't decide which way is better to consider it: "wow, I get to sleep an extra hour in the morning!" or "Alright, it's not REALLY 11:00, it's only 10:00 - I'm getting to bed right on time!" - HA! Oh well, either way, I consider it thrilling and post-worthy. Y'all enjoy, now!

I just hope the kids enjoy it as much as their parents are planning to...

What Scott Did Last Weekend...

2007-10-23T17:47:00.000-07:00

YAY! But I never doubted it 8-)!

Those Covenant Kids

2007-10-20T12:59:00.000-07:00

Since Scott's gone, I had all the little ones at Kevin's soccer game - and I just have to say, I'm so glad I didn't miss this, even though I was a little - um, preoccupied with many things!

Bonnie and Ellie were picking up acorns from under a big oak by the side of the soccer field. Bonnie brought one to me and handed it to me - "Thanks, honey". Then she asked for it back, and told me "I'm going to dash it to pietheth...like a potter'th vethel!" I just about drowned in the sip of water I'd just taken!

Maybe we need to work a little more on application...

Rainy Friday - and other Sundries

2007-10-19T13:03:00.000-07:00

The first that we've had in AGES - it was great to see the gray clouds, and have the house still feel dark, even when the lights are on! The kids don't know what to do with themselves, after having been able to play outdoors every day for the past 6 months or so...

Scott's at presbytery this weekend and we had planned to go on a hike with our homeschool group today - however, due to rain (yay!) and the stomach flu in one of the families (ugh) it's been postponed. Made for a little anticlimax among the members of the peanut gallery. But tonight we're heading over to our friends, the Clevelands, for a pizza and a tour of their new home!

Bonnie's birthday was lots of fun (the 15th): breakfast date at Bob Evans with Daddy, corn on the cob, cake, and gifts with family in the evening. The next day we met a few families at the park for play and cake. I think her little 3-year-old self was quite pleased with the little festivities 8-). Here she is, trying to make THREE with her fingers. It's a tricky age - got to hold down your pinky with your thumb, you know!

Maybe next year we'll do the huge inflatable bouncy deal, and a clown who does tricks and facepainting, and a catered cookout...or not.

Potty Humor

2007-10-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Today when Bonnie was sitting on the potty before nap time, she decided to use this moment of having my undivided attention to tell me some...jokes.

Her first one was : "What's your name?" - Mommy
"What color is the sky?" -blue (if you were ever about 6 years old, this is sounding familiar...)
"What is down?" - up (she meant the opposite of down. Still working on her delivery)
"Now put it all together!" - Mommy blue up!

Oh that's a good one! You can tell this girlie has some early elementary aged brothers...

The rest were so diluted by giggles that they made no sense - I'm not sure they would have made sense minus the giggles. But I can stand that kind of potty humor ;-)!

The Mom Song Sung to William Tell Overture with Lyrics

2007-10-09T16:05:00.001-07:00

This is hilarious - didn't want to be the last mom in blogland to post it 8-)!

Blogger's Block

2007-10-09T12:30:00.000-07:00

I haven't been able to come up with anything exciting to post about, so this is just to get my juices flowing and let y'all know we're still alive and kickin'. Last week was Fall Break for our CC group - maybe being on break sucked my brain dry...

We had a great week - still did our school at home, but just a little more laid back, you know? Amazing how cutting one thing out makes things seem more manageable. Instead of going to class on Thursday morning, we went to the library, much to everyone's delight (a whole houseful of nerds, that's what we are). We're all excited to begin again with new zeal this week, however ;-).

Sooo, what's goin' on? Bonnie's 3rd birthday is quickly approaching. We're going to have a little park get-together with some of her friends to play and have cake/ice cream. Scott has his presbytery exam for licensure next weekend. He leaves on Thurs. morning and doesn't return until Sat. evening. YIKES! I'm trying to be prepared for that - we have a fun field trip planned with our home school group that Friday. I'm hoping that will cause the time to fly by 8-)!

Since I haven't been posting, I at least tried to jazz things up by changing my colors around. Anyone notice?

I Can't Clean Because it's TOO Messy!!!

2007-09-28T12:16:00.000-07:00

Friday is supposed to be my cleaning day - you know, vaccuum, dust, bathrooms, blah, blah, blah. Today at lunch I asked Scott - how was I going to get my cleaning done when everything is sooo messy?!? He laughed and told me I had to put that on the blog site!

How can you vaccuum when there are toys and books on the floor? How do you mop when your 8 mo. old has scattered Cheerios far and wide? etc. etc. etc. Makes perfect sense to me. Maybe it's just a housewife thing ;-)...

On a totally different subject, Scott and I watched "Stranger than Fiction" last Friday night. Pretty good flick - we enjoyed it. Anyway, it made me realize that we have a similar (although much less dramatic) situation in our own home. Ellie narrates her own (usually imaginary, and usually Little House on the Prairie) life continually! I always hear her saying to herself (and I have no idea how you should puctuate all this!) ," And Ma said "Come, Laura, it's time to make your bed", and so Laura ran off to make her bed quickly", as she runs off to make her bed. Or else she'll say to Bonnie, " "Let's go outside, Carrie" said Laura to Carrie". Maybe it makes life more interesting - poor middle child ;-).

Coram Deo Preschool

2007-09-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well, this year I decided I needed a little more structure for my little ones. And it's working out relatively well - gasp! - and has been for almost five weeks now - gasp! - so I figured I should post about it! Ellie is four (five in Dec.) so we're doing some official school with her , but not full kindergarten. Mostly just pre-reading stuff and a little handwriting (including numbers) but that's it. So I have her and Bonnie to occupy for a large portion of the morning while Seth is napping and I'm working with the boys.

I will say right here that I am NOT a huge craft person. I'd read about doing things like this before in homeschool lit. but the idea of coming up with crafts myself was just too much. So, I hit the craft section at our local Super Stuff-Mart and found a whole aisle dedicated to kids crafts - already packaged, etc. I got some foam bead jewelry, some beads that you iron together to make a design, fingerpaint, a playdoh set, and those 3-D alphabet stickers. During our first period of memory work, we're all together, but while I work on math and language stuff with the boys, the girls do a different craft each day. It's worked out great, and they LOVE it! They can't wait to see what craft they get to do, and it keeps them occupied fully up until break time - whew! I HATE having little ones running around wild while trying to school...grrrr. And it feels like they're being neglected...grrrr again. This way, they are productive, near to me and the boys, and having fun - what more could you ask for? It does take some clean-up, but not too bad, considering the benefits!

Now, who KNOWS what will happen when Seth drops his morning nap! I'm trying to repress that thought, but hey, it's GREAT while it lasts 8-).

Seth's Latest Stunts

2007-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

As you can see, Seth is learning to feed himself. He LOVES to try, and it certainly keeps him occupied so that I can eat my meal in peace (relatively speaking). But he has many near misses (such as the chin) and a few far misses (your ear is nowhere near your mouth, except it's on your head). Maybe he was trying out the goatee look, like Dad - and the earring look, like Mom???

He has also discovered TP - great fun! I would call it hours of entertainment, except it takes him WAY less that an hour to unroll a whole roll of toilet paper. As you can see, he's learned to make a quick escape after he's finished...Yeah, he looks really scared ;-)!

I'm thinkin' my ride is pretty "mommed"...

2007-09-18T19:25:00.001-07:00

Can anyone else relate to this?!? Hilarious!!!

FINALLY, Fall!

2007-09-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Today we all enjoyed being outside - for the first time in a while! It's been SO HOT that we've all been indoors (at least, I have) for a while now, especially since the pool closed.

But today was gorgeous! So after school and piano lessons, we had a nice playtime. The picture of the ornery hombre (Nathan) was taken a couple of weeks ago. I thought it best not to try to wear a back pack with a broken collarbone. I know, what a paranoid mother :-)!

Our church had Susan Hunt to speak this weekend and she was EXCELLENT. What a great reminder it was to me of so many truths of the Lord's design for us as women! It was challenging in many ways - to see my behind the scenes labors as a wife and mother as contributing to the furtherance of God's Kingdom. I KNOW that's true, but it's easy to forget during the details of living.

And again to be reminded of God's power at work in us to do what He calls us to do - I feel my weaknesses so accutely.

Anyway, a blessed time of fellowship and instruction from a Godly older woman - a treat, in other words!!!!

BABY TV

2007-09-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

He's a cutie all right...especially the hair!

Why buy Post -It notes????

2007-09-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

when you can make your own????? Yes, that's right. If you look carefully, you'll see some homemade post-it notes that Ellie made - just a little paper and a glue stick required! I told her that I like initiative, and saving sweet moolah, but let's stick to the store bought version from now on... for the sake of our living room walls.

For those interested, our first piano lesson of the year (well, of life, really) went great for the boys! With typical beginners gusto, they both wanted to practice AS SOON as we got home. We'll ride that wave as long as we can ;-)!

Excuses, excuses

2007-09-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Today at lunch, Bonnie was having a hard time polishing off her PBJ. I mean, we only have PBJ's twice a week - is that toooooo terrible?!? Apparently she thinks so (I'll ask her again when she's in my shoes ;-) ).

Anyway, she peeked inside her sandwhich and informed me that, "It has a bwooze!" Or bruise.
Obviously, hoping that I would cut off a large portion of it, like I do with a bruised banana or apple. I had a laughing fit disguised as a cough, and told her that sandwhiches don't have bruises, and she still had to finish her lunch.

And yesterday, we were listening to a classical music CD while setting the table for dinner, and Kevin asked me if the piece that was playing was "Taco Bell's Cannon." Hmmmmmmm. Good thing our first piano lesson is tomorrow.....

It's all in good fun until someone loses an eye........:-D

2007-09-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

Name that quote! No, no, rest assured - no one has lost an eye.

However, it's the first broken bone for the Davenport Family (at least this branch)! Last night at church, Nathan was rough housing with some of the older boys and somehow, during one of the "group wrestling" sessions (I guess that's the guy version of a "group hug") he got thrown down on his shoulder and broke his left collar bone. Thankfully, two of our elders are MD's and one of them went and checked him out right away, could see that it was broken, and whisked us all off to his office to get fitted for a brace and a sling. Which he has to wear for ONE MONTH.

That's a long time for a 6-year-old boy. Or his mother.

Anyway, he's been a real trooper through the whole thing. And, of course, the Lord was very merciful to allow it to be dealt with so quickly and easily!He even slept through the night, though our doctor warned us that collar bone breaks are notoriously painful. He's been pretty sore today, but still doing what he can (or what Mom lets him 8-D )! I guess it's a good thing he's right handed!

Terrific Twos

2007-09-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

OK call my weird, but I love two year olds - I think they're hilarious! They are so transparent, think (and say) the funniest things - Scott calls Bonnie a "toy" because she's so much fun.
Well, recently she's been fascinated by the potty. Thankfully, going potty is going well, she's just fascinated by the different ways people in our house use the potty (having 2 older brothers). Everytime she goes potty, she puts up the seat and says "This is a boy potty." Then she puts down the seat and says "And this is a girl potty."
Today I surprised her in the midst of trying to go "boy potty". The seat was up and she was sidling up to the potty when I found her. Sorry, no pictures! Don't want to encourage that, but it sure made me laugh (after she was gone, of course!).

You've got to watch your head around here...

2007-08-30T13:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture I got the other night of Robin Hood and his merry "men", and Maid Marian with the crown and her thumb in her mouth ;-). We're studying the Middle Ages right now and so Kev's been reading a book about the legends of Robin Hood for fun. Then they all got out their hats from Nonie, and made bows and arrows out of sticks from the back yard and rubber bands, and TA-DA! hours of entertainment. I guess a GameBoy would make less noise and less mess, but I don't think I want to trade 8)!

So our SECOND first day of Classical Conversations went off without a hitch. Everyone loves to pull out their backpacks and get their snacks, etc. Homeschooling is great, but there is something about all that kind of stuff that kids love - the pomp and circumstance of "going" to school. I'm glad we can do that in a small way.

Out with the old - a losing battle

2007-08-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of the girls with their new animals. You know, there are all kinds of sacrifices you make as a mom. One of them is not just saying "No thanks!" whenever people offer to give your kids MORE toys - actually considering whether your kids would enjoy them enough to make it worthwhile. To often I just know that I don't feel like stepping over it, cleaning it up, whatever.
So, some folks in our church offered our girls these "Fur Real" animals (Dog and Panda) since their daughter had outgrown them (thankfully, through email so I at least had the option of turning them down :-D). And, even though images of the recent attic cleanup are still dancing in my head, I agreed to take them in.
The girls are loving their little pets - they make noises and the dog walks, but they don't shed, need to be fed or let out, and so for a few days the pleas for a "real" dog have subsided! And hey, maybe when the batteries die, we'll pass them off to someone else (insert maniacal laughter here)! Just Kidding! I think...;-)

Enter baby food, exit pull-ups (we hope)!

2007-08-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

I have finally started Seth on baby food. It always takes me several days of mental prep before I begin the baby food thing. But he's so active! and when he starts waking up at 5:45, and in general being more fussy, and starts sucking on his TOES!!! it's obvious the poor child needs more substantial sustenance. Not to mention he's almost 8 months old and has been trying to grab my food off my fork for while now.
I know there are a million pics of kids all over the world with their underwear on their head, but it's a mile marker in a way. Bonnie has finally gone to "big girl" panties - only keeping the pull ups for Sudays. Maybe the transition has been hastened by the fact that her "big girl" panties have flowers and the pull ups were blue with Buzz Lightyear on them (thanks, Auntie Joy!). Another high standard crumbles... :-D!!!

One week down (not sure how many to go...35? something like that!)

2007-08-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

So we finished our first week! I realize I still have more planning to do - we're now adding in Classical Conversations every Thurs. morning and piano lessons for the boys on Tues.

The first three days went really well, but we ended our week with a sigh. I woke up Thurs morning all psyched up for our first day of CC! I had all my plans for my class together, all the kids clothes laid out, lunch packed, etc,etc,etc. But disaster struck!

Scott (at about 7:00 a.m.): "Do you have a Plan B?"

Julie: "Whatever do you mean?"

Scott: "I think Nathan has a fever, and he says his throat hurts."

You can imagine my chagrin - the first day of the year - at 7 in the morning - what to do?!?

All of the other kids had gotten this little bug and I thought we were over it, but you never know about germs, do you. So, I called up the dear friend who is our substitute tutor and had to enlist her services on the very first day of class.

Kevin and Ellie still went to their classes, and Nathan, Bonnie, Seth and I hung out and read books at home. And school with a sickie in the house is always a little...maybe "laid back" is the proper term. Thus ended the week!

It was stille great to start to get back in the fall groove. Now if we could have some cool weather to go with it!

Oh - the above photo is the entire student body of Coram Deo Christian Academy. Look like a promising bunch, don't they?!?

One of my new favorites!

2007-08-21T18:16:00.000-07:00

:

I just signed up for this a few days ago and it's already great - saved time, money, and brainpower!!! It saves a LOT of time in planning meals, and keeps you out of the "rut" that I've been in. Not every meal is something we would necessarily use, but we have some "standby" meals that we would all hate to see go, so I just fill in the gaps with those (like on Sundays, and/or with company).

True Confessions of a (budding) male gymnast

2007-08-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of Seth I took the other day as he was trying to do cartwheels on the kitchen floor. Barely seven months old and already quite the active sort. We think he wants to be a gymnast when he "grows up" - he hasn't SAID that exactly, but we're trying to read the signs 8-). But posting this picture also shows that I've once again done one of those things I said I'd never do (many young and foolish years ago), let my kids play in their diaper. I think I probably gave in a kid or two ago, but this post is concrete proof!

Today was our first day of school...Sigh. The five ring circus has officially begun!

Attic Excavation

2007-08-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

OK so today I decided to clean out our attic, or at least organize it. School is starting for ALL of the Davenports next week and the house is not as it should be. I've realized that major organizing "operations" must generally wait till a school break to get accomplished. And, as I continue to maintain, school begins next week so I am running short on TIME.

When I told a few of my friends here what I was going to do they looked ludicrous - "You're supposed to do that in February!" I'd rather have done it in February, honestly. But last Feb. Seth was one month old, and next Feb. will be too late!

So it had to be today. I have not sweated so much since I ran cross country. I was DRIPPING. And the children pretty much did as they pleased all over the house, so by the time I was finished, the rest of the house was a disaster. But, I had a LARGE pile to go to Goodwill (having learned a garage sale lesson recently from a friend), and a Large pile to throw away. And when it's time to change the clothes come cold weather, or pull out the Christmas stuff, we'll actually be able to. Imagine that! All in all, a good days work.

It was hard for Kevin, especially, to see some of our extra goods head out the door. He's got a bright idea for how every extraneous belonging could be put to some use! Well, they'll be put to use all right, just not in our house 8-)!

HELP! I've crawled in and I can't crawl out!!!

2007-08-11T18:52:00.000-07:00

Seth is now very mobile. I think I'm still in a little bit of denial. I often leave him on the floor in the toy room to play and forget he's there while I go off to make lunch, etc. A new, but now regular occurence is for one of the other children to come rushing in with the cry that "Seth needs you, Mom!". Here's what I found yesterday!

Poor guy, he'd crawled into the bottom of the exersaucer to retrieve a toy, but he couldn't figure out how to get out again. Very traumatic for him, but I had to capture it on digital (since you can't say film anymore)!

And here's just a cute picture of Ellie belle (can't figure out how to turn it - sorry!), since she got left out of my last post by accident...

another week flies by!

2007-08-11T18:11:00.000-07:00

Weeeelllll, it's been quite a week here on the Davenport home front. Bug collections, princess birthday parties, dart wars, and a baby crawling in the midst of it all were just a few of the highlights! Even though each day is busy and often CRAZY I want to enjoy each one. I'll try to post some pics of our week to show you what we've been up to.

Kevin and Nathan each have an insect pet in a jar that lives on our kitchen table - except during meals, I mean, I have to draw the line somewhere. Kevin has a praying mantis and Nathan has a ladybug. They are out early each morning catching bugs for their little guys to eat for breakfast (cause it's easier to catch bugs early in the morning, or so I'm told). Nathan even took his to church on Wed. night and one of the toddlers let it escape. He was completely broken up! But Super Dad found it (whew!) and even took the boys to get some fly paper to help them in their feeding responsibilities. What is fly paper, exactly? Not sure I want to know!

Ellie and Bonnie have been busy wavering between two extremes. One minute they're wearing the boys dart war stuff, the next they have on feather boas and high heels and are off to a princess birthday party. They are like couple of curly blond puppies, always (well almost) happy and underfoot 8-)!

Seth is crawling really well now - has been for a few weeks. Just tonight he pulled up on the bottom stair, and so I am officially a lot busier than I was yesterday. It's weird to have to worry about little stuff on the floor, etc. again. I guess each time there's more people to leave little things lying around. And two-year-olds don't seem really conscious of things like that!

I'm still trying to get ready for the next school year.

You know, each day is so full already, I'm wondering where we're going to fit school, much less my finding time to organize school! Oh well, we don't start for another week, I've got plenty of time! 8-)

Seriously though, I've been able to talk to some of my dear friends here at church who are a little farther down the road than I am, and it's been so helpful! It's a blessing not to have to always start from scratch as you try to fulfill all your responsibilities. "What did you do about......." a million different things, from schedules to Latin to occupying preschoolers while you school your schoolers, to not losing sight of your REAL priorities. Titus 2, I guess!

Off my chest

2007-08-07T21:05:00.000-07:00

Before we begin the onslaught of fall activities, I thought I'd update all on our summer trip - before the amount of new material drives it from my mind, more like 8-)!

We had a lovely time with the Cummings, our dear family friends in Gurley, AL. Their place was incredible - beautiful view, mountian to hike, pool, dirt, animals, friends, sweet fellowship - everything that you need for a great visit for adults and children alike!

Then we were off to Chattanooga for a visit with Steve and Lesley and their girls (thanks again, y'all!), and to attend Jacob and Lindsey Skogen's wedding. We had lots of fun with S&L - the cousins had a blast together. Maybe they've recovered by now - it's been, what, three weeks?!?

Jake and Lindsey's wedding was one of the most beautiful I've ever been to. Everything was perfect - and Lindsey seemed to feel well and she looked georgeous. It was a great time of celebration and rejoicing, even in the midst of all they've been through, and are going through. We enjoyed reuniting with all our old friends from Lookout Mtn. It's been over two years since we were there, and um, just a few things/people have changed!

Our last stop was Great Gee's condo in Charleston where we enjoyed a week of the beach, the pool, the waterpark, and the beach again, with a little excursion to the Battery Park thrown in. We all had much fun, and spent many hours applying sunscreen to many people 8-)! The picture in my first post was in Gee's living room. Connect Four was the game of choice for our holiday.

School begins on August 22 - I have finally decided when we're going to take the plunge (at least, I THINK I've decided...). Our Classical Conversations group (hereafter CC) starts up the 23, so we don't have much choice. I'm trying to get my school ducks in a row as well as going through the throes of schedule making - seems to be a part time job these days! And part of my new schedule is to get to bed at a decent time (of course). And so, good night!

PS -Excuse the horrible layout - still trying to figure all this out!

going through an introspective stage late in life

2007-08-07T08:52:00.000-07:00

So, I should've been a movie star instead of a mother???? Or maybe gone into marketing???? It seems to be the thing to put your personality on your blogsite (in my recent experience, at least) and it is interesting...Hard to answer some of those questions - haven't really thought much about what kind of person I am (aren't you supposed to do that as a teen?), and sometimes it was hard to answer what you actually are, as opposed to what you wish you were. I guess it must be my personality ;-)!
Maybe I should get all my kiddos to take the test - the latest parenting technique! I mean, I certainly don't always understand why they do what they do...

A new way to keep in touch - how hard can it be?!?

2007-08-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well, after being behind the technology curve for the past, say, nine years (give or take...) I'm trying to catch up. Actually, it's purely a stab at some more efficiency in my life! I figure it'll be easier to keep up with folks and share pics of the kiddos etc. without spending hours (OK, so many hours) on the phone! We'll see how it goes ;-)...