'Twas The Night Before Easter

Here we are.....the night before Easter. We had lots to do today....things like....

Dying Easter Eggs









Taking Easter Eggs out to dry











Choosing the perfect carrots for EB (easter bunny)



Writing a letter to and drawing a picture for EB







"Dear EB, I like you. DAVIS"

Listening to the greatest story ever told



Praying, unprompted from mom or dad, from the overflow of my heart "Thank you for dying on the cross for our sins"

And now......we wait......



Just like those disciples over 2000 years ago, we are not sure what we wait for. Our "tomorrow" may hold another baby. Our "tomorrow" may hold Davis as an only child, and we will praise God for giving us that one precious gift. Our "tomorrow" may hold buying a home. Our "tomorrow" may hold staying in this rented home forever and being completely satisfied in that. Our "tomorrow" may hold lots of things that we have planned, or it may hold lots of surprises. But we may be like those disciples and have no idea what our "tomorrow" holds, and it could change our lives forever! But whatever our tomorrow holds, we hold on to this thought:


Whatever happens...whatever you see...
Whatever your eyes tell you has become of me
This is not the end...
I am making all things new again

This Is How It All Began....

Spring Break - that is!

Spring Break 2011 got off to an amazing start! The Kindergarten teachers decided to have a picnic on the Friday that started Spring Break. It was so much fun! Normally they have Kite Day - and boy am I glad they changed for Davis' Kindergarten year! I couldn't fly a kite if my life depended on it! So.....here are some of the things we did that day

We spent some time eating lunch with some of our favorite friends Mrs. Wendy and Ethan (Mrs. Wendy took that picture...so sad she is not in this pic)



Played Football



Scored a touchdown



Ran with friends




And made memories that will last a lifetime!



And obviously got a little sweaty!

A Very Special AR Reward

In Davis' Kindergarten Class, they are rewarded for every ten books they read and test on. Some examples of the rewards have been:

10 books: Lunch with A Kindergarten Friend - Davis chose Ethan
20 books: Skip Naptime - a VERY big deal to Davis
30 books: A trip to the school store where Mrs. Anderson will buy you a treat - Davis chose a pencil gripper, a pencil and other "school stuff" (that was Davis' response when I asked him because I could not remember)
40 books: sit with another grade friend at lunch - that brings us to today.

Now most Kindergarteners would choose a 1st grader, maybe even a 2nd grader. Mrs. Anderson said on occasion there have been some 3rd graders. Well, not my child that has spent his life around teenagers! He chose an 8th grader. Not just any 8th grader, a very special 8th grader, Carter Sims.



Let me tell you a little about Carter. Carter comes from a very special family, that we connected with immediately when we moved here in 2004. Carter's Dad and Mom, Mark and Jill, just kind of "took us in" and we have always felt very much a part of their family. We have laughed with this family, cried with this family and sometimes just sat in silence with this family (usually after something Carter has said) Mark and Jill have an older son, Travis, that is the cream of the crop when is comes to teenage boys. This young man is studious, caring, a great baseball player, polite, kind, handsome, almost too good to be true! I very vividly remember sitting in the balcony when Travis was in the 6th grade, telling Travis I hoped Davis grew up to be like him. Little did we know, Davis would grow up to be like Carter instead.

If Travis is all about business, Carter is all about fun! He is that kid that is so funny without really trying to be funny. They tell me when Carter was little, he was always dressed up as something. My friend Terri's favorite outfit was one summer day well over 100 degrees, Carter was in a huge Panda suit head and underwear. (if you know Davis very well, you know that sounds like something he would do) Here is our latest Carter example, when Mrs. Anderson began working this out for Carter to come to lunch, we told him the time, and he said "Oh - I am in Mrs. Ford's math class then" Mrs. Anderson emailed Mrs. Ford, they worked everything out between them, and Mrs. Ford was quite impressed. Well......Carter is not in Math at that time, he is in Music and Drama. (if you have Facebook you know that sounds very much like Davis.....remember yesterday's status update "Today was the day I finally relented and let Davis choose his clothes for school......Yesterday was was the day Davis forgot to bring home the letter saying today was Spring picture day......what are the chances?!?!?!")

Long story short, Mrs. Anderson worked out all the kinks, and Davis had a very special lunch visitor. Here are those two peas in a pod!



So a great big thank you to Mrs. Anderson and Mrs. Towns! You have made my child's day. And I think Carter was pretty excited too. His words were "YES - I get to eat TWO lunches!" Bless his heart - most people don't even eat one!

And by the way - I LOVE the way all the other kids are looking at Carter! But he was not at all concerned about that - he was just worried if his legs would fit under the table!

It's All About Perspective

As most of you know, we had to take Davis to the ER yesterday for stitches. What started out as a happy little family Easter Egg Hunt ended in tears.

Davis and my niece and nephew were hunting eggs at my parents house.....well, before I go on, let me remind you all that I have a competitive streak a MILE long and somehow this has been passed on to my sweet, laid back child. So - back to the story - Mason, Kate and Davis were hunting Easter Eggs at my mom's and my mom started giving hints..."If you know what H2O is - you can find an egg" So off go the older two towards the water hose. Davis starts running towards the other two, not exactly sure what H2O is, but running as hard as his little legs can take him. He just HAD to get that egg before them. Now let me also be clear about something else....the eggs were empty. Davis was not racing for candy....just racing for the fact of having the most eggs. Wow - he is SO much like his mother!

At some point, Davis trips and falls onto a concrete paving stone and the edge of that stone gashed his arm open. Now I really feel like a terrible mom because I was not watching (as if I could have stopped him from falling - but I feel bad none the less). You see I was taking pictures of the eggs. Matt's job was to hide the eggs. Now I may have a competitive streak a mile long, but Matt has a sense of humor a mile long. So I was capturing these little treasures hidden in the most random of places like a light fixture, the water hose "thing" on the camper, the clothes line, etc. I hear a commotion, hear my nephew say "OOHHH" and then I hear it. That sound a mother dreads. That cry that starts in the depths of your child's soul and overflows into a terrible sound. That kind of cry that you know....something bad is wrong. Davis comes running to me, we find a terrible hole in his arm, run into the house, clean off the mud, check for more cuts and head out the door for the ER.

Let me say up front the emergency staff at Jacksonville Hospital are TOPS in my book. Our Doctor was Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable (from The Cosby Show) in the flesh. He was the most precious man and SO good to Davis. When he came in, he asked Davis what happened and Davis began to squall. Not so much about the cut (but he was pretty upset about that) but because he was convinced that when he fell and his basket spilled, that Mason took some of his eggs. Wow - he is so much like his mother!

The doctor reviewed lots of options.....he could glue it, but he was afraid he would not be able to clean it out as good as he needs to and he was convinced it would start bleeding again before we got to the car. He also wanted to do x-rays because he was not comfortable with the way Davis' elbow looked. He felt the best option was two stitches. Radiology came to take x-rays and Davis was very interested in seeing his "skeleton" Then Doctor Huxtable came back in and showed Davis each and every x-ray. It was such a precious time.

Then the fun began. Davis had to lay back and let them work their magic. It was an interesting thing to watch as a person, it was a terrible thing to watch as a mom. As I watched Dr. Huxtable clean that out, I wanted to SCREAM at him to stop. But that would not have helped Davis, so I just watched those big blue eyes so fearful, yet so brave! He was such a big boy - not quite the ending he would have chosen, but he was so brave anyway! And by the way - it took four stitches instead of the two he thought it would.

Sleeping last night was not easy, it was hard for him to get comfortable. Today was the Easter Egg hunt at church, and Davis was just too scared to go, he was convinced we would suffer the same fate. The stitches have started itching and at times, the pain returns. BUT - I have come to realize it is all about perspective.

This afternoon I was reading a blog written by an acquaintance and I realized - wow! she complains an awful lot.....her kids get up before 6:30am, her kids are sick, her house is dirty, her cabinets are bare, her throat hurts, etc. I realized...hmmm I deal with those things too. Then I read a blog by a friend whose husband is battling cancer. She has a whole list of things to complain about - and she was rejoicing about being able to be home for Easter! (they are in Texas for Dave to undergo treatment) - It is all about perspective.

So - I can complain that Davis has stitches - and we had to go to the ER - and he got blood on his shorts OR I can be thankful that:
This happened in the "fat" of his arm - if this had happened on his head or face - it would have been BAD!
We have insurance to cover our visit to the ER
We have a precious friend here in town that will be able to take the stitches out
I have an amazing husband that can change the dressings so I don't have to
We had the amazing and compassionate Dr. Huxtable - we could have had Dr. Frank Burns from MASH
We could have waited three hours at the ER in comparison to an hour and a half
Davis could have screamed the entire time instead of being so brave
I could have screamed the entire time instead of looking away
It only took four stitches and not eight
His arm could have been broken and not cut
My sweet brother texted last night to let Davis know that Davis had the MOST eggs - more than even Mason
Davis did actually sleep last night instead of staying up all night
And thankful most of all that this has been a learning experience for all of us!

I will share one picture from the night (not the one of the stitches - it is not for the faint of heart) This is the picture we took after we got home and cleaned up the wound. Look at the pitiful face!



Oh - and I can be thankful that we have only had one trip to the ER, four stitches, and one pulled tooth in that past 24 hours. My heart can't take much more.

What would you do?

What would you do if:
It was Spring Break, you had a seven year old that loves US History, you found your old camera with lots of film, and Daddy had a day off? Well, we packed up our stuff and headed to a Civil War battlefield and took some really cool pics.

We also......

Learned all about the Civil War







Explored Battlefields









Climbed a tower and looked out







Learned how to shoot a cannon





And ran and played like crazy!



So, that's what we would do......if only we had days like this more often.

"The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love." ~ Bryant Gumbel, 1981

Tuesday night was Davis' first tball game. What a great night! We had so much fun. There were lots of laughs, smiles, friends, and win to top it off! For the month of April, tball rules are a little different - every batter in the lineup bats, regardless of the number of outs, but the runs after three outs don't count (confusing - I know!) And on top of that, they don't keep score (just for April) When I learned this, I went to Walmart and purchased a notebook and became the unofficial April scorekeeper for our team. In May, we play by the "real rules" with a scoreboard. Since I was busy keeping track of runs and outs and Matt was busy being the "Dugout Dad", our dear friend Briana got some wonderful pictures of the special night. It is great to have friends, but it is wonderful to have friends with great cameras!

So here is our first tball game in pictures.....and lots of them!

Davis' first at bat!



"Don't forget to swing hard, in case you hit the ball." ~ Woodie Held



Running to first base



Safe!



A little encouragement from Coach AJ



A score!



A quick reminder for the outfield



Ready to play



Next time on First, a High-Five from Coach AJ! We love AJ - he is such an encourager, but also so knowledgable about the game.



These next few pictures are to me, the highlight of the night! The last inning, Coach Chris switched up positions a little and put Davis at pitcher. This was brand new to D, but he did SO good and gave us a lifetime of memories, laughs and some really great plays!

This was the first hit while Davis was at pitcher. Davis scoops up the ball.....



Throws it to Landon at First.......



And get the OUT!



Davis was SO excited! He even gave Mom a thumbs up!



A few plays later, he catches the ball and runs it to Home to get the out! Look at that proud Daddy looking on!



Davis did the exact same thing again a few plays later, got a boy out by tagging home plate, but this time he decided to tag the little boy as well. You can never be "too out"



Lining up to give high fives to the other team



"
You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too." ~ Roy Campanell



"I've come to the conclusion that the two most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen." ~ Bob Lemon, 1981



My favorite part of each practice and game.....the team ends the night in prayer!



A quick word of advice to my most favorite ballplayer of all times:

"Life will always throw you curves, just keep fouling them off... the right pitch will come, and when it does, be prepared to run the bases." ~ Rick Maksian



The first game is now history. It was a huge win (27-4) and the beginning of a lifetime of sports with buddies. I am sure I will be posting more as the season goes on, but this game was one for the record books!