Catching Up...

Happy 30 Uncle Sean!

Tons of snow in Dallas!

Olivia!!

Sweet Papa G and Delani

Cleveland Indians Stadium

State Fair
The Grown up Girls

Grammi and the kids

For real?
It's been about a year since I blogged....so I will try to highlight a year in one post:
1) Sept 201o The State Fair of Texas. We look forward to this every year for two reasons. One because it signifies the end of the heat...we are now at 70 days of over 100 this summer, and two because my Mom loves the fair, and has been able to come every year!!
2) Christmas and summer in O-H-I-O. Family, especially cousins. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our third Skulski cousin, due in October. Will the baby be a girl or boy?
3) The end of Pre-K. So, I thought it would be great not sending Braden and Delani to Woodbridge anymore. Gosh, was I wrong. It was soo sad for me to leave the school, and its been quite an adjustment this year.
4) The best part of this year...KINDERGARTEN! The kids are loving their classes and making new friends. It has been soo fun!!
More to come.....

2010

I just looked at my blog, and thought well the holidays are coming up so wouldn't it be great to try to start posting...So here I go, in the next few days (or weeks) I will highlight 2010, just so I can get teary eyed later when I look at how much my twins have grown up:)

Happy 4th of July

We had a fantastic 4th of July. The day started with me running in a race. The Flagpole Hill 8K. It was the first race I have ever participated in, and I placed 2nd in my age group. Not bad, for the first time. Then we played at Papa and Ghee's where the kids got their great 4th of July accessories. As seen above.

After naps we headed to Betsy's house and swam all day long. It was so much fun, bc her sister Amy was in town, and a whole bunch of kids were there too! The kids swam until about 8pm then played with sparklers and were so exhausted by the time we got home. Thanks Betsy for such a great day!!

Here I am with my 2nd place medal.

New Camera

It's been a long time since I entered a blog. We got this fancy camera that is really big and I am afraid it has not been as effective as I hoped. It's a Canon and takes awesome photos- the only problem is that it doesn't fit in my purse. As a result, it gets left at home A LOT. The kids' birthday has come and gone, my Mom came to visit, Adam is back home, and there are only two weeks of school left. Check back soon as I will try my hardest to get some photso up soon.

Little Debbie

My Dad finally has someone to eat his favorite treats with!!!

BPS Hats

This picture sums up our Thursday morning. Braden loves to make these silly faces all the time. I am glad I was able to catch one on camera. And Delani was mad.

This was the best picture I could take of Delani....

She did not want her picture taken, so most of the photos looked more like this one...

And sweet Braden did not mind getting his picture taken at all. Doesn't he look so adorable.

Although it may not look like it, the kids really were excited to wear their Bass Pro Hats and t-shirts to school!

Evening Brandy

The title may conjure up thoughts of a girl's nite out. No scratch that- a guy's evening out. Well, at our house Evening Brandy means- the color lipstick Braden and Delani found in the drawer and applied while Mom was using the restroom. Priceless.

Daddy's in Georgia

It has been awhile since I last posted. A lot has happened since the beginning of February. Daddy has begun his new career with the ARMY. Yep, he's old to be going, but this is something he has thought about for a long time, and I believe is a great fit for him. Adam is in Fort Benning going to Basic Training, Airborne, and then Ranger School. His ultimate goal is to be a Ranger based in Georgia.

Having only been gone two days, we are managing. The kids have a picture of Dad next to their beds, so they have talk to him. They also know he is in Georgia climbing mountains, and sleeping with the Army guys. I have missed him dearly and had no idea how difficult his leaving would be. I think that if we keep busy on the weekends the weeks will fly by. And I am looking forward to being able to talk to Adam on the phone.

Conversations, Potties, Playdate

Matching potties!! No fighting!

While Braden went with Papa for a haircut (which looks terrific) I just failed to take a picture, Delani had a playdate. Her friend Carter came over. They had a great time eating Doritos and watching Batman (Carter's pick). I wanted to post some of their conversation:

Delani "Carter, do you want to sit in my red chair"

Carter keeps playing - no reponse

Delani " Carter, do you want to color?" As she pulls out all her cool Twistables.

Carter still no reponse

Delani "Carter, do you want some Boritos?"

Carter "YES"

They had fun playing by themselves until it was TV time- thanks to Daddy, I would never turn on TV in the midst of a play date:)

Another conversation from today, I needed to write down

It was time to leave Papa's house and this is what Braden said,"Thanks for having me Papa, thanks for making dinner" with NO PROMPTING from Mom or Dad. Braden is such a SWEET little boy:)

Songs I Can't Get Enough Of

I have two new songs that I can't get enough of. When I was young, I would tape songs off the radio and play them over and over. When my Dad had a pizza shop he and I would do the same thing except mostly we just listened to Buffet over and over. This silly habit has continued except now I use the internet, and then sing to Braden and Delani:)

The first terrific song is by Kenny Chesney and Mr. Mac McAnally, titled Down the Road. A few of my closest friends will know who Mac is. The second tune is a Brooks and Dunn and Reba song with a fitting title Cowgirls Don't Cry.
Click on the website I am attaching for some listening enjoyment:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9wPAkJhSMw
http://www.cmt.com/videos/brooks-dunn/320234/cowgirls-dont-cry.jhtml

Markers and Dress Up

Just thought I 'd put some fun photos up. Braden was very into "dressing up " this weekend. Jammies photo includes my socks- he put them on himself- gardening gloves and Cinderella's shoes. The other photo is of Braden wearing Delani's Tinkerbell sunglasses and his "grill" teeth. Funny funny boy:)

Now the story behind Delani. Tonight we thought she needed a haircut, and being the clever (ha!) Mom that I am, I thought she would sit still if she had a marker. A dry erase marker to be exact. With this marker Delani could write on the mirror and not squirm when Daddy trimmed her hair. Obviously there was not enough mirror, so why not color her legs and arms.?? Hey its dry erase marker- it comes right off the dry erase board, why not a child's legs/arms...Lesson learned no marker period on any part of a child's body!

As I sat at school today in a training session while the rest of the country enjoyed MLK Day I wanted to jot down some words about the kids before I forgot. I need to discuss how sweet Braden has been to Delani lately. He hugs her a lot, and her response is well, not so nice. Lately she has wanted to be the only child, and yesterday when she and I went to Wal-Mart (she wanted new tights) and Starbucks, Delani was soo happy to not be with Bubba:( Makes me sad, but I know she will grow out of this stage. Now back to Braden, he hugs her and takes care of Delani's dolls too:) Braden always has kisses for Daddy and Mommy and worries when anyone is upset. He is such a super sweet boy, I hope that Braden stays that way:)

Real Snow!!!

It may only be 2 inches, but yes kids it is real snow in Papa G and Grammi's backyard!
Our future ballerina

Caden and Delani cheering on Braden as they play t-ball in Ryan's basement. I LOVE the look on Caden's face. This is what going home is all about.

A precious photo of 2/3 of my favorite boys!!

Today- yes we have been home for 13 days, but today, I finally downloaded my camera with Cleveland photos. These are just a few more that I thought were great!!

OH-IO

On Christmas Eve we were given the best Christmas present. Tickets to see my family in Cleveland Ohio. We did so many wonderful things. I just posted a couple of photos of our activities.
The Lake FarmParks has a Santa Workshop where the kids were able to pick out a toy and help an elf build the toy. Then they were on their own to decorate. Braden and Delani picked helicopters. And they both loved the glitter!!

Braden painted his helicopter blue, and what you see is how much they both painted. Just the top. After the kids created their helicopters it was off to see the live animals. The night before piglets were born, baby lambs were in their stall, we saw some huge horses, and even had the opportunity to milk a cow (no one wanted to). The best part was getting to ride in a "sleigh" that was pulled by a John Deere tractor!

Braden, Delani, and Caden sang "Jesus Loves Me" with their great grandma, such a special treat for all.

The musicians. Caden got a ukulele from Santa and just happened to have two other guitars for his cousins to play with too. The kids had soo much fun together!!

Here is a photo of the whole family (Dad taking the photo). A little smaller than the Davenport clan, but fun just the same.

One of our few and I mean few family photos. Pretty sweet faces the kids are making!! Thanks Mom and Dad for such a memorable trip to OH-IO!!!

T'was the Night Before Christmas

Ready for Santa

Santa 2008

We had such a busy week. After our awesome time Wednesday at Ben and Julie's house and Thursday at Aunt Martha's how could we have had any more fun. Well, according to Delani the fun ended Friday at Bass Pro. Braden and Delani saw Santa! Bubba LOVED looking at Santa, but Delani, well the picture says it all. The photo doesn't do the "stage" justice. They have this whole winter wonderland set up. Two areas to try out the Daisy Red Rider BB Guns, two trains set up, coloring areas and some big ole' reindeer. It is just awesome!! Although our picture may look otherwise, Delani did have a ball playing in the winter wonderland area!!

Thanksgiving 2008

We spent the day at Aunt Martha's!

There were 5 grandparents, 19 adults, and 24 kids.

I love this photo of all the Davenport kids. If you look closely you can see their grandmother and Uncle Andy!!

Delani (2), Braden(2), Jane (7), Ayla(4 weeks), Anna Gray(5 next month), Max(5), Asher(3)

Smores

Last night we made s'mores. Braden loved them, and after a good bite (you know chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker) Delani enjoyed the treats too!

Preparing the delicous pre-dinner treats!

Braden tasting

Delani tasting for a second time, and deciding that she liked the treats!

Scanning Photos Can Be Fun!

March 2002
Homecoming 1991

Prom 1994

July 1976

February 1976

Tonight I was scanning photos for some kind of Christmas gift assigned to me by my sister in law. It was funny looking thru the old photos, and sadly I couldn't find many of Adam because his are in a foot locker in the attic. A place so difficult to get to we may not be able to get our Christmas decorations down. Seriously- the whole garage may come tumbling down if Adam tries to open the attic door. I am now having visions of Christmas Vacation- you know the part when Clark is stuck in the attic. Man, that is the all time best holiday movie! Anyways, thought I would post some of the photos I scanned.

It's Cold Outside

It's about 55 degrees today. The coldest its been since last year! The kids love wearing their hats!!