Pam's birthday cake and party

The kids helped me make Pam's birthday cake, Pistachio chocolate chip!

We cook together a lot, they like to stand on the tower and help anyway they can. Delaney can now climb up by her self. She hasn't figured out how to get down. They both enjoy the ending! This was Delaney's first time licking a spatula, I didn't have to teach her at all, I have always had to remind Blake how to do it.

The first Williams kid's table! All 5 cousins eat without adults there with them! Ahhh, what an accomplishment!

We sang to Pam and everyone helped blow out the candles. I love Williams family dinner nights. This was a first in a long time, we don't get to do it with all of us often, but it's special and fun when we do!

Everyone loves the "birthday cupcakes". There weren't many crumbs to clean up.  Blake and Cousin Coalson are best buddies, they are enjoying their's together.

Mommy's babies...

Determination

Determined little girl. Delaney would not let me feed her the green beans, she grabbed the fork from me, slid the plate onto her tray and went for them. She stabbed them and put them in her mouth very well for a first time. She was so proud!

This is the little garden Blake planted inside, notice the bird feeders just outside our kitchen table window we watch everyday. It's so much fun to watch everything in nature! My kids are enjoying it, I hope am able to keep their attention and they keep loving it over the years.

Climbing still...

Delaney has now learned how to climb on everything. She pulls the lapdesk out from under the sofa and steps on it to get right on up. She knows how to do things and where things are, it's amazing. Today she went and got a shirt out of my room, took it in her room, then I said let's go and she threw a fit until I finally figured out that she wanted to put it back.

can't get the picture to turn, will work on it later

This tea set was given to her by her Anut Diane and Uncle Tom. She plays with it everyday, it's definately a favorite toy! She knows how to pour the tea into the cup, pretending of course. She loves to put everything on as hats, like this lid, pocketbooks, actual hats, she just won't leave them on to go out. She puts on the cowboy hat everytime she wants to get on the horse, I think she thinks she has to have it on.

But, hats that will protect her poor little white bald head she does not like. I thought maybe this one that velcroed under her chin would stay on...nope! Notice her boo boo? Between her eyes, it's not a shawdow, it's a cut and black eye, she hit it on a shelf in the playroom. I was right there, you just can't stop them from every bump and bruise, I sure wish I could!

She's still climbing on everything, but doing good at getting down too. I don't worry quite as much anymore.

The Children's Museum downtown...

This is one of our favorite places to go on a rainy day, which is was today. We called Callie and Brandy and headed over for the morning. Delaney moves around to everything, back and forth, back and forth.

Blake loves the train table. He likes getting inside of it and playing, playing, playing. However he was not in the mood to have his picture taken. I showed him this a couple days later and asked him why he was mad, he said "you take my picture again". I think it was Kevin that time though.

The side of the boat has a bell they all love to ring, you have to climb up on the net to ring it though, guess who did it all by herself? Imagine that! And guess who needed support? But he did make it to the top and was very proud of himself when he did!

This is Callie Cason, our neighbor and good friend. She loved to dress up in all the clothes. There are so many different princess outftis, I think she tried them all on.

The first Davis Family Day Trip

Kevin had a furlough day today, so we took full advantage of it!  We left at 8:30 with hopes of Delaney taking a nap in the car, oh well, was a hope.  We got to the zoo and the fun began! 

All the animals were out and active...

After seeing the animals, watching the penguins dive in and getting up close to all the fish tanks we went down by the river for a picnic lunch.  Delaney didn't stay put long.

Then we were off to Nanny and Grandpa's house for a nap and more fun.  They went to visit Nanny's co-workers, then we walked to the park.  Blake was taking slow steps, so the walk there was much longer than the walk back.  They loved the slides, Delaney is fearless on them.  The swings were a hit for a short time.  But the sand was a favorite part.  That was only the beginning of the sand.

When we got back we had dinner when the cousins arrived then headed in the backyard for more fun in the sand.  A quick pet of Polly, their bird, which was great because he's studying about birds and butterflies at school this week.  A bath was a must before we left and both kids were asleep by the time the sun went down about 8pm in the car 30 minutes into the trip.  Thanks for a great afternoon Chris and Larry!  

Now, they are peacefully sleeping in their beds at home, ready for another fun day with Daddy at home.  

The Honeymoon

Make sure to go back over the past week or so of blogs, I finally added pictures to them.  I noticed that I started taking digital photos and saving them on my computer a few months before Blake.  I had to go back and find CD's and scan in for the rest of these, what a pain!

Our waiter behind us was a blast!  We celebrated
our engagement anniversary this night.

We went on a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean.  Here are some pictures from that unforgettable trip!  Our favorite part was tubing through the caves, I'll try to find a picture to add on here about that soon.

We had a great view off the balcony of our room, I believe
this was taken on it in port just before leaving.
A pretty good
self-portrait!

The garden is started...

We planted our garden today.  We have tomatoes, peppers, arugala, squash, asparagus, strawberries, grapes, and blueberries.  I hope the fruits will come out this year, we've been working on them a few years now.  Blake loves to help me, and Delaney digs her hands right into the dirt whether she's supposed to or not!  I really hope that as they help with these, pick them, help me cook them, etc. they'll want to EAT THEM more and more.  Just one of the things I've always wanted to "teach" my kids.  My Granddaddy Caldwell (who passed away at 91 before I was in high school) loved gardening, I know he's proud of me.  I just wish I could have gotten more tips from him.  My mom is good about remembering some and telling me a few things he always said.  He's defiantly one person that I would love to have a conversation with that is already in heaven.  I feel like I have so much in common with him and from the stories I hear, he had LOTS of advice and stories to share.

He loved wearing the gloves and kept them on the whole time while using the tools too.  It was so funny, guess he needs some his size.  He has a pumpkin seed we planted inside in a little cup too, it'll be fun to watch it grow with the garden, maybe we'll get a pumpkin out of it for the fall.

  I ordered my bulbs yesterday and can't wait to get them in the ground for year after year color.  My grandmother and granddaddy both loved their flowers.  Here is a picture of them (probably when I was a toddler) in their garden.  And one of Granddaddy in his pumpkin patch.  We always got to pick a pumpkin each Halloween from him.  He was also a coupon clipper and recycler, before it was even talked about.  He could reuse a hardee's cup for years and years for all kinds of things.  He saved everything and always shared his crops with family and friends.  They were so wonderful!

Blake went to the dentist today for the first time, with sister Delaney tagging along. He did a great job, he wanted to sit in the big chair by himeslef and he let Ms. Brenda (Lyndon's mom who is in his preschool class) brush his teeth, won't let mom and dad as easily and scrape his teeth! Yes, I said scrape! He had plaque or calcium buildup, what ever it's called on his bottom teeth that has always been there, we can bever get it off when brushing. He got his bag of goodies and his new toothbrush and was so proud of himself. Delaney got to sit up in the big chair and Dr. Chuck even looked at her teeth real quick. She only has 4 and two other breaking through up top. Blake doesn't have his 2 year-old molars yet, they'll be coming soon! They said the teeth he has look great, keep up the good work! Great first report. He had to have his picture sitting on the table with him when he ate lunch today, he is so proud of how well he did! And I'm even prouder!

The Wedding...

March 19, 2005, one of the best days of my life!  I married my best friend and soul mate.  We only dated 4.5 short months before he proposed.  The weekend was wonderful, we  had a fun Jimmy Buffet themed rehearsal dinner after my 9 month pregnant boss was my surprise stand in bride.  The whole wedding party, family, and close friends were there to celebrate with us.  Kevin drove me home to my parents house that night and we talked til midnight.

The next morning we had a tasty Bridal Luncheon at the County Club, then my bridesmaids all came over to help me get ready at my parent's house.  About 2:00 the photographer arrived and captured the whole day.  I walked down the stairs to Kevin with the girls and our parents all present.  It was a beautiful moment and great that seeing each other that day was a little more private and we had some time together instead of it being in front of everyone at the church.  That was a wonderful decision!  We took pictures, more pictures, and more pictures, then went to the church and took even more.  Then the moment arrived.  I had about 30 min to myself before I walked down the aisle.  I practice my memorized vows over and over.  I thought about what I was about to do and how excited and happy I was.  I peeked around the corner up the stairs to watch Peyton and Kaitlyn walk it at only 2 years old.

The moment was then there, my dad took my arm, kissed me and we walked down that aisle.  The rest was what would become the beginning of the rest of my life.  I was barefoot giving me freedom to bounce and just be myself.  I was the happiest bride in the world and showed it!
We wrote our own vows and said them perfectly by memory.

He said to me:
I vow to love you more tomorrow than I do today.
I vow to cherish you more in the years to come than I have in the past.
I vow each day to treat you more tenderly than the day before, until our last day on Earth.
With these vows I promise to build a strong family with the help of God and you my true love.

I said to him:
Kevin, I choose you tonight to be the love of my life.  When God created you, He was already answering all my prayers.  Through your love all my dreams have come true.  Your love just does something to me, I'm better than I was and more than I thought I ever could be.  I am so proud to become your wife (laughter in audience I said it so happily) and establish a family with you.  I promise to go to sleep each night with you in my prayers.  Through our love and through the combination of values and morals that we have been taught I promise with all of my heart and soul to love you forever.

The night followed with us leaving the church through a flame of sparklers (which I stepped on a hot one with my bare feet, my bridesmaids that were right there thought I was on fire), then a trolley ride to Laurel Creek.  We sat in my parents driveway and had a toast to our wedding party while we waited on guests to arrive.  Then we headed over to the Magnolia Room to celebrate with the almost 500 guests.  I was so grateful to everyone that came that night.  Friends from work in Columbia, from college, from high school, church, etc.  We left in a White Cloud car and headed to our hotel room for the night, where we pigged out on food!
The next day we had a Bloody Mary breakfast party with the guests at the hotel before they left.  We opened presents all day and headed back to our house in Columbia.  We got Kevin all settle in to the house that week and left for our week cruise on Sat to the Western Caribbean where we had the time of our lives watching sunsets on the back of the boat from our balcony off our room.

A beautiful start to the rest of our lives...this began the Davis Days...