Bathtime Do's

So, typically Ian does bath time with the boys.  (Thank you Ian!)  However, with Ben's fairly wild crawling and kicking one or both boys usually end up drinking quite a lot of bathwater.  So, the temporary solution is to have a double parent bath time.  While we usually all read stories as a family, it's kind of nice to have a family bath time as well.  At the end of tub time, the boys were clean, mom and dad and the rest of the bathroom were a little wet, and the boys had some pretty fancy hairstyles.  Take a look.

(Maybe this is what I should have done all along to make the boys taller!)

Smile...please

Evan is a busy kid.  He's always studying, observing, moving, and just taking in the world around him in every way that he can.  It was no different yesterday at the park.  We headed out with our friends and as usual, I tried to get some adorable pictures of my boys to document our trip. 

As I said before...he's a busy guy...

"C'mon Evan, smile!"  "No Mom, I'm too busy building a sand castle."

"Please Evan, turn around for the picture!"  "Nope sorry, must crawl through the subway tunnel."

"Hi Mom, don't worry, I'll smile for you...right before I eat some sand."

"Okay, put me on a swing and I'll smile!"

Making a Move

Little Benny is trouble, trouble on the move!  Now that he can move and get around on his own that's all he wants to do.  He's no longer happy in his exersaucer and when he's in his jumper, he jumps around too much and bashes his head into the door frame.  When he's getting his diaper or clothes changed, he wants nothing more than to flip over and crawl off half-dressed or bare-bottomed.

However, when he's crawling, that's when he's the most trouble.  He crawls to find anything he can and put it in his mouth.  He loves to climb up and down the kitchen stair onto the hard tile floor, and he gets a kick out of crawling to whatever his brother is building or creating whether it be train tracks or block towers and knocking it over.  He also loves to walk with his walker, however running into walls is proving quite problematic for him.  Take a look at our little baby on the move!

Tobacco Road Half Marathon

Well, we finally did it.  Ian and I actually managed to run a half marathon together!  We had been planning on running one before this but it seemed like injuries, work, or babies always seemed to get in the way.  But this Sunday, Gram and Gramps drove up from Charlotte to watch the boys, so at about 5am we headed out to the Tobacco Rd. half marathon.

It was a nice race to do because it was really close to our house.  Most of the race was run on the American Tobacco Trail which is where we normally do all of our runs.  It was a beautiful morning when the race started.  I always like races because there are so many people to watch.  We spent the first half of the race watching all of the other runners, happily chatting, and apparently running pretty quickly.  Unfortunately about halfway through, Ian bent down to pick up his keys that had fallen, and his pesky knee started to hurt.  So, we had to slow down a bit.  I am amazed at how he finished the race with his knee hurting like that.  I know I wouldn't have been able to go that fast with that injury.  We crossed the finish line and we were both tired and hurting, but we were so glad that we were able to do the whole race together.  On a side note, we finished with a time of 2:30 (a 10:20 pace) which, in my mind was pretty darn good!

Now, I have my sights set on a full marathon in the fall.  However, Ian has told me not to mention running to him for at least a couple of weeks, HA!  Don't worry, I'll do my best to talk him into it, and when both of our bodies have recovered we'll be back out pounding the pavement.

I have started to really enjoy running because of all of the different measures of success.  For Ian and I, and my friend Amy our goal was to finish.  For my friend Abby, she got a personal record and finished in 1 hour and 33 minutes. My friend Myong finished 2nd place in her age group.  I will never be the fastest in the race, but I can still go out there and accomplish something that I'm proud of that makes me feel good.  I hope that Ian and I are showing Evan and Ben that it's not necessarily winning that matters but just getting out there and joining in the race.

Back to Jackson-The Casey Jones Museum

When we used to head to Jackson to visit my grandparents when I was a kid, my absolute favorite place to go besides Grandma and Grandaddy's house was The Old Country Store.  We loved to head up there, shop, look around, and pick out some marbles or candy to take home.  So, when we headed up to Jackson a few weeks ago to visit Grandma Rose, it was the perfect place to take Evan on a mommy-toddler date. 

In the same complex as the Old Country Store is the Casey Jones Museum.  Yes, it has to do with TRAINS!  I knew Evan would love it.  We went in and walked around.  Evan enjoyed looking at all of the trains, and I actually got to learn who Casey Jones is after all those years.  After we walked around the museum we walked out back to the train, similar to the one Casey Jones drove, that was parked out back.  Evan actually got to climb up in the train and ring the bell!  Afterward, we had a great time perusing the gift shop and came home with some great new train gear.  We finished up the outing with a trip over to my favorite, The Old Country Store.  There, we found some chocolate covered peanuts to take home to daddy.  It was a great little outing to top off our wonderful trip to Jackson.

Thanks again for a wonderful visit Great-Grandma Rose!!

(Evan and the train--toddler happiness)

(Evan rings the bell!)

Birthday Poodle

There were several birthdays that we celebrated this weekend.  Uncle Roy celebrated his birthday, and on that very same day our little puppy celebrated his 6th birthday!  While not mentioned on this blog as much as his two human brothers, Ripple is still just as much a member of our family.  So we had to celebrate when his birthday rolled around.  There was family singing of "Happy Birthday" and lots of goodies for a happy puppy including treats, jerky, a new ball, and a rope toy! 

I can't believe that Fudge Ripple Davis (aka F. Ripple "Trouble" Davis) is six years old, and neither can anyone else that meets him.  They always assume that he's still a puppy based on the boundless energy that he has.  He goes on runs with Ian and I but is not a fan of weather that's too hot or too cold.  He can fetch a ball for HOURS!  He loves playing with the boys, especially when Evan is playing with his laser Thomas toy.  He loves his new backyard with the fence.  Rip protects his house and barks at all intruders.  He cuddles up next to you and nuzzles your hand in search of pets and love whenever you sit on the couch, and the relaxes and cozies up in our bed at the end of a day. 

A dog is a wonderful gift and Ripple is a perfect part of our little family...

Ripple thru the ages...

2005...newly adopted...

 2005...looking pretty, errr, I mean handsome...

2006...bonding with his brother Beulah...

2007...mountain climbing in the Cascades...

2008...puppy spokesmodel...

2009...thoughtful puppy...

2010...poodle bliss!

Happy Birthday Look-a-Like

We had a great time visiting Tennessee last week.  As you could see, the boys had a lot of fun playing with their "fun Uncle Roy".  I always remember playing games and thinking Uncle Roy was the funniest person ever, so it's so nice to watch my boys have the same experience. 

So, first, we would like to wish Uncle Roy a very happy birthday.  Secondly, we wanted to share what we discovered.  Since Ben was born, we've been trying to figure out who Ben looked like.  We couldn't figure out where he got his little square face and chubby cheeks from.  However, I think we figured it out.  Take a look at Benny next to these pictures of fun Uncle Roy when he was a baby...

Happy Birthday Uncle Babe!