Sisterknapping

My baby sister's birthday is in early February, but we have a trifecta of complicated schedules.  My mom and I wanted to surprise Ashley with a getaway weekend, but had to do it a month early to accommodate said complicated schedules.  Brandon was in on the secret and played it off beautifully.  Mom showed up bright and early one Saturday morning in January at Ashley's house.  Mom was dressed up - which is astonishing on a Saturday morning - so Ashley immediately knew something was up. 
Mom told Ashley to shower and pack a bag before she whisked her away.  They cruised by my house to get me.
Our first surprise stop was to a fun little coffee house where we revealed our secret plans for the  weekend. Shopping, eating, drinks and a full nights rest.  Sweet!

We didn't have reservations for a hotel, but mom and I had a premeditated plan to get a swanky suite at a nice hotel and our plan worked beautifully.  We had so much fun we really didn't have time for a lot of picture taking, but we did get a quick shot of birthday girl and mom....

.....birthday girl and slightly older (and wiser) sister.

And a nice shot of the birthday girl enjoying a refreshing glass of wine while the three of us conspired about our next "girls only" weekend in April or May.  We are definitely getting used to this little plan.  I sure hope the guys don't catch on. 

More Snow Fun

When the second round of snow hit we were getting a little tired of our own house and really just needed another house to terrorize so we headed to my mom and dad's for some country-life snow fun. 

I failed to take pictures, but we hitched the saucer sled up to the four-wheeler and my dad took us on a few spins around the fields.  Brayden was a rookie so I had to show him how it was done.  There wasn't enough snow to provide appropriate shock absorption so I didn't last long.  Cow crap freezes really hard and bouncing across a frozen pile of the stuff nearly snapped my spine. 

Anyway, once we gave up sledding it was time to feed the cows.  Kennon supervised.....

while Brayden and Grayson walked Papa G through the steps of what he needed to do...i.e. fill buckets, carry to trough, dump.  Repeat five times and get really excited when the cows to chomping away before your bucket is empty.  

Then we took another spin (or 10) on the four-wheeler.

Even Kennon got in on the action at just 8 months.  

Grayson returned to the corral to work on his gate opening and closing skills before we headed to the house with five sets of frozen fingers, tired eyes and happy smiles ready for some cocoa.  

5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ....Happy New Year

In 2010, life past by in a whirlwind.  Try as we might to enjoy things, it felt like we were going through the motions just to get to the next adventure.  I wanted to change all that for 2011 and just enjoy life.  So far so good. 

We have enjoyed a lot of snow in January and February and many, many snow days.  As a mom I've been challenged to be creative with our indoor activities, break out some ugly dance moves to keep everyone energized and encourage long, long, restful naps.  When it isn't subzero we've enjoyed some great snow play and sledding. 

Brayden is a real pro with his Mu*k boots and sledding gear.  He thinks he is pretty hot stuff. 

Eleza, our neighbor, spent one day with us and the boys had a ball playing inside and sledding with her.  I love her visits because she is awesome with the boys and it takes a little entertainment pressure off me. 

Kennon enjoyed his first sled ride.  He took everything in and loved being outside, as always.

When we aren't outside or eating we practice self-portraits.  

Christmas Morning Madness

Christmas morning dawned bright and early - or dark and darker - I should say when the boys ran into our bedroom at 6:14 announcing that Santa had made an overnight stop under our Christmas tree.  Indeed, he did. 

Brian and I wiped our eyes and rolled out of bed to rescue Kennon from his crib before the older boys tore into their presents. 

I failed to get a picture of the stockings on the mantle, but they were stuffed and the boys were excited. 

I forced them to take a quick picture before we opened and they obliged.   Aren't they angelic looking?

Kennon was far more interested in eating the tree than opening presents, but eventually he got the hang of it.  

\

Brayden's highlight was Castle Grayskull.  He played with it for 11 seconds before moving to the next gift.  Thanks, Santa.

Chef Grayson was excited when he uncovered his brand new kitchen.  He quickly made me a pot of coffee.  He knows mama well. Very well.  Sweet, thoughtful boy. 

After we finished with our gifts our started breakfast and ran downstairs to get the juice only to discovery that Santa had left one final gift for all the boys. 

I giant "jumpy house".  Santa must have known mama wants them to get lots of exercise (disguised as hours of jumping fun) so they little angels will sleep good every single night.  So far, the plan is working nicely. 

Davis Family Christmas

The weekend after Christmas we celebrated with my mom's family - Grandma, Uncle Brent and our new Aunt Jackie.  Tyler stood us up for work.  We had a gourmet meal of beans and cornbread.  Weird and very non-traditional, I know. 
We laughed.  We opened gifts.  We ate cheesecake.  And laughed some more. 

Grandma Leota made a break from home and joined us.  She is a woman of few words nowadays, but we love her being there.

Brent and Jackie were very generous with great gifts for the kids and for the rest of us.  They surprised dad with a Home Brewery kit which we can't get revved up fast enough for us all to try.  Apparently, we were so excited about this gift I failed to get even one picture of it.  There will be photos to follow of the brewmaster and his processes.

This isn't a great picture considering no one is looking at the camera, but I like that it captures how much Grayson likes both Brent and Jackie - (or should I say Great Aunt Jackie).  She hates that title so we use it often.   

We had a baby swap and Kennon hung out with Auntie Bub while I hung out with....

..,,,my precious little thumb-sucking niece, Matney.  She and I have long talks about how I am counting on her to be a tomboy so she can hang out with the boys and do everything they do, but also to be a girly girl by wearing lots of pink and cute little bows and flowers in her hair.  My nieces are the only girls I will ever have.  I am ok with that.



Matney's mama very covertly attached a tiny little bow to Matney's head.  She unknowlingly wore it most of the night rather than ripping it off within 14 seconds. 

We had a super great Christmas celebrating again, and again and again.

Until next year.

Oh happy day.....

Aside from really enjoying this Christmas season because we were able to spread our celebrations out over 10 days rather than two, my favorite, favorite thing about this year was getting to be with and celebrate my mom's birthday with her. 

Mom is a Christmas Eve baby and has been forever robbed of a birthday celebration all about her.  Sure, we always acknowledge her special day in some way, but it usually gets a mention between everyone else opening their Christmas gifts and stuffing our faces with Christmas fare.

She looked pretty.  We had fun and the boys crashed our girls only party. 

The kids helped us celebrate too. 

It took us about 15 tries to get a shot of the three girls together.  We had trouble identifying our "best sides".

We had special cupcakes to share too.  They were delish.  But.....

there aren't enough cupcakes or celebrations in the world to truly celebrate this woman I get to call mom. 

Traditions for Life

Years ago mom started a tradition of sewing stockings for each of us.  The first three - my dad's, mom's and mine - are showing some age with retro fabric.  Everyone else looks a little more modern. 

Back in the old days there were just four stockings hung by the chimney with care.  This year the mantle was crowded thanks to the baby boom in the last five years. 

It all started with the first two stockings....without them the rest of us wouldn't exist.  Thanks mom and dad.

Brian and Brandon came along a couple decades later and then the explosion hit.  This year we had new additions...

First came little Matney.

And then we added little Kennon.

Our precious little elves gathered round the tree for a crazy shot with everyone looking different directions.

We usually eat first, but with four kids anxious to open gifts we thought we would enjoy our fancy, shamancy meal more if we let them open first.  It was a good plan.

Nannie B hauled a special book all the way home from Maui for the boys.

Matney was ready to roll. 

And like any girl she changed clothes often.

Matney loves Uncle Brian and it pains me a bit that she may fuss with me, but calms with him.  Hmmm....not sure about her tastes. 

Papa G played with all the kids and provided ample entertainment. 

The little ones dug into the gifts far more than we expected. 

When all the gifts were gone from under the tree.  Mom asked Ashley and I if we opened anything.  We cheerfully and humbly replied, "We got stocking presents.  We don't need anything else." 

Oh, yea, right!  We are kids too for crying out loud.

Then out from behind the couch came to identical packages.  We ripped into them and uncovered matching SEWING MACHINES.   Yea. 

Now we can create some beautiful disasters until we really hone our skills. 

After everyone took a breather from high-energy gift giving we had a great dinner of prime rib, twice baked potatoes and more.  We even turned Brandon loose with the knife.  But, that is a story for another day. 

It really is a crazy, chaotic, beautiful life.