Getting it all in

I just can't seem to get the hang of posting things regularly on here. I am still working on our vacation post from December. I totally skipped a Christmas post, Jessica's birthday (which involved a Justin Bieber movie....enough said), and I feel like I need a picture with every post.
So this one will have no picture because I just don't have it in me to hook up the camera, download pictures and then load and post. Yeah pretty pathetic, but it is what it is.

So Spring had sprung and we are in full baseball mode, again. This year we have all three playing. Jordan is catcher on a draft team which means he had to try out and get picked. This kid is seriously the fastest kid I have ever seen and I am not just saying that because I am his mom, other people say it to. He can steal bases like nobody's business and he is an awesome catcher. One day very soon, he is going to get his home run and knock that ball over the fence. He is turning into a young man before my eyes. He takes his game very serious and I am so proud of his commitment this year.

Ryan Jr. is in his second year of tee ball. He actually got the hang of which way to run and when to run. He even likes to tell everyone else how to play the game (even when he is not so sure himself) He smile and outgoing nature are so fun to watch.

Jessica is trying softball this year. She plays on a team with girls who are just a little younger than her. We worked it out so my sister's husband, Dennis could coach her. So she is on a team with one of her favorite cousins, Arianna. She is tall to begin with and with these girls being a little younger than her, she is way taller than everyone. She says she doesn't mind too much though. So far she seems to like the idea of being on a softball team. She is not to into batting, or catching or running...but she does love to cheer on her team mates. She informed me the other day that she is not the "hustle" kinda girl. The cheers these girls come up with crack me up! Here is a sample "Down by the River, took a little walk, met up with your team, had a little talk, pushed you in the river, hung you out to dry, we can be your team any old time!" Jessica loves to dance too and she is taking a hip hop class. This girl can move to music like you would not believe. She could seriously out dance me any day of the week.

Soon, baseball will end, and the dance recital will happen and we will settle into the lazy days of summer, no school for the kids, swimming, playing outside until dark, a camping trip and a trip to Grandma Audrey and Grandpa Lee's house. Wait, didn't I say lazy days? Who am I kidding? :)

Thanksgiving

I wonder if they went around the table at the first Thanksgiving and said what they were all thankful for. I bet it was a little different than today. I imagine it went something like "I am thankful that I still have teeth" or I am thankful that I didn't get eaten by a bear" OR "I am thankful I didn't die giving birth"
My how the list has changed for people over the years. The standard answer is I am thankful for my friends or my family. I thought I would pick something different this year. It's not that I am not thankful for my friends or family because I am. Everyday I am thankful for them, not just this one time of year but everyday I am thankful for my immediate family, however crazy we may be and for my moms, dads, brothers and sister and my countless nieces and nephews. (if I was counting I am up to seven with one more on the way).

This year I am thankful for the health of my family. I think sometimes we take for granted how healthy we all really are. My kids rarely get sick and when they do, it's never that bad and almost never requires a trip to the doctor. Ryan and I rarely even get a cold. I am not even sure which hospital to go to in the event we need too.

As I watch my best friend struggle this year more than any other with health issues in their family, I realize how lucky we truly are.I know that it can change in the blink of an eye and I sometimes almost think we are in for a big one because we have been so lucky. That is why I pick our health to be thankful for this year.

On another Thanksgiving related note, I took Jordan and Jessica to help prepare Thanksgiving meals for the hungry this year. I really believe that we are all here to serve a greater good than ourselves and to many people will never teach that to their children. So after working Thanksgiving morning, I asked them what they are thankful for this year. Jordan says he is thankful for a bed to sleep in, warm clothes and food. Jessica said she is thankful for food to eat, a house to live in and shoes to wear. Ryan Jr. on the other hand is thankful that Thanksgiving is over because that means the next holiday is Christmas. Ah well 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

A Day is a Day

So every morning I wake up, and the mind starts going. There is probably a million things that run through it before I even step foot in the shower; "wake up kids" "pick out clothes" "is there baseball today?" "what's going on at work" " who needs papers signed for school" it's not a minimum day is it?" "doesn't somebody need a check up soon?" "when was the last time you actually saw Jessica brush her teeth?" "Come to think of it, when was the last time you bought them toothpaste?" and on and on and on......not to worry this is normal and I am sure just about every mom out there on any given day has a million things running through her mind too.

By some sort of miracle we make it out of the house on time most mornings, the day goes on and with it's ups, downs, twists and turns, we all make it home by the end. So we have all this crazy in our life, and so many things to do and schedule and clean and remember and keep up with, that sometimes it's a little overwhelming you know?
So I look at our refrigerator one day and start to panick because it's filthy and I see a little hand drawn picture with a house, a sun, a little blue cloud and the words:

"A Day is a Day"

I couldn't have said it better myself, no matter what kind of crazy life brings us: good, bad, disappointing, joyful, triumphant, humiliating...at the end of the day sometimes all that you can say is A day is a day. Thank you Jessica

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day Dad!!!

This year we decided that Daddy, who loves music, could use an IPod. We have never had one and I knew this would be the perfect gift for him.
Ryan Jr. is four and cannot keep a secret to save his life. We told him we were getting Dad a wallet which he promptly went home and informed his dad :)


We woke up bright and early Sunday morning to make the best Fathers Day breakfast ever...Blueberry pancakes, eggs, bacon and ranch style beans (just for Daddy because he likes them on his eggs)

We even made a pancake with the word "DAD" in it. Who knew that when you flipped the pancake the word would be backwards!

This year Ryan has had a rare opportunity that I never thought he would get to spend time with his kids. I see everyday the effect of getting to spend time with him has had on them and they will be better people because of it. We LOVE you Daddy, you're the BEST!!!

(p.s. Jordan was there...he seemed to shy away from the camera though)

My Sweet Girl turns 9

Okay okay, I know that this is 5 months late, but I gotta do it now before she turns 10.
February 8 my little princess turned 9. Oh Jessica, how on earth did you get to be nine already?! It seems like yesterday you were wobbling around with your short little brown curls.
So in honor of turning nine, here are nine great things about Jessica.
1. She has a smile that will melt your heart - just ask her dad.
2. She can convince you that your on fire if it means that she is right.
3. She has the strongest will of anybody I know
4. She never gives up
5. Her laugh makes her smile, which shows the cutest dimples I have ever seen
6. She has an imagination that doesn't quit!
7. She isn't afraid to tell you what she thinks of you.
8. Everyone she meets is her friend
9. She is hands down one of the best listeners there is.

So there you have it. Jessica is the only girl I have and I can't imagine my life without her. She is truly a blessing to our family and I can't wait to watch her grow into a wonderful young lady.
Love You Jessica!!!!

And the first broken bone goes to......

JESSICA!!! I have to say that out of the three kids I really didn't see this one coming. So lets go back to the night of the fall heard round the world (or at least around Riverbank because I am pretty sure that's how loud the scream was).
It was Thursday May 13th I was just finishing up dinner dishes, looking forward to putting some comfy clothes on, getting kids settled into bed and watching The Office with Ryan (we totally love that show and it's kinda my kick off to having a good Friday the next day) Anyway Jessica was suppose to be cleaning her room when I heard the scream and it didn't sound like the normal somebody was looking at her wrong scream. So I went running toward the hallway just to see her running towards me holding her arm. I asked what happened and the response was "I was SITTING in a chair and fell down" Really? I said wow it seems like you did a lot of damage by falling out of a chair sitting down. After about 10 minutes and a quick assessment by Dr. Dad and Mom we decided to take her to the ER. Oh, and Jessica admitted she was actually standing on a chair and it tipped and she fell backwards onto the chair and hit the wall with her arm going down. I nominated myself for the job, so off we went. We gave her Tylenol and put ice on it so it wasn't swelling and she wasn't in a whole lot of pain. She was nervous about the whole thing, she wasn't sure what to expect and to be honest I was starting to second guess if her arm was broken or not. It wasn't swelling and she was all smiles and curious questions about the ER happenings. I am sure that the system they have at the ER works for them but to me it seemed like they were doing things backwards. We signed in and I thought I should ask how long the wait was, I have heard other people's ER horror stories about long waits and such so I decided to see what we were in for. Her response was "I can tell you the longest person waiting right now has been here five hours" . YIKES! it was already 8:45 and I had to work the next day. At this point I was thinking her dang arm had better be broken because we were going to be here a long time just to find out. So we sat and waited and waited and waited some more. Then the triage nurse called her name. At this point we still weren't registered, which means they hadn't taken her name or information, insurance phone numbers ect....but whatever someone was going to asses her now to see what the problem was. So she took her age, weight and asked what happend and Jessica told her she fell off a chair, that's when I jumped in and said she was standing on a chair and fell. She let me know that the x-ray tech might call her back next to get an x-ray so that when she was called, they would already have the results. Smart, I thought on their part. So another hour later the x-ray tech called her back and took the x-ray. Then we waited and waited and waited and then they finally called her back and we got a spot in the hallway of the ER on a bed that was actually labeled "hall bed". They had so many beds back there that they had permanent beds in the hallway. It was really interesting back there because all the action is happening around you. Jessica was in pretty good spirits and she thought now would be a good time to tell me about her biography report that she was doing at school on Eleanor Rosevelt. We talked about that and we spied on the people in the rooms across from us and next to us. Finally the doctor came and said her arm was not broken, but fractured in two places. I guess kids' bones don't typically break because they are still growing and they are young. The doctor said they treat it just like a break so she would get a temporary cast now and then go see a specialist for the permanent one. So four hours and one temporary cast later, we were on our way home. Oh, and AFTER we saw the doctor, they came and registered us! Man we almost got out of there without a trace of who we were.
Jessica was pretty excited about the thought of getting to pick her own color cast and to be able to show all her friends at school and have them sign it. I was pretty excited to get home and get in bed. So here is Jessica and her new pink cast.......I signed it "you should have been cleaning your room"

Take me out to the ball game....

So this year we have two baseball players in the house. One returning player, third baseman and catcher Jordan Davidson, and one all over the field, don't know which base is which, brand new player, Ryan Davidson Jr.

It seems like this time of year we live and breath baseball. I have to admit I use to dread this time of year. The practices every night, games on week nights and weekends, late dinners, skipped baths, tired kids, blah, blah, blah. But now the kids are a little older and we are getting the hang of all of it and I am kind of enjoying it.

Jordan is an athletic kid. It seems like so far you can drop him in any sport and he does well. I love to watch him play, he's fast, pays attention and he is getting serious about it. For him it's no longer kicking dirt in the outfield or playing in the dugout, he's in it to play his best and try to win.

Ryan on the other hand is a total crack up! I am not sure if he likes it yet but he goes out there and plays. He calls all his games his practices, not sure why. When he hits the ball he runs to second or third (until he is re-directed) When he's in the outfield, he talks to anyone who will listen and I am pretty sure his favorite part about the whole game is the very end because he gets a free drink. Oh, and I LOVE that at least 10 times a game he looks for us and waves to us...I am gonna miss that because I know it won't last forever.

And Miss Jessica, she hangs in there pretty well. She is not into sports but lately has been wanting to try cheerleading so I think I see pom-poms in the near future.