Jenna Turns 2 (a few months ago)

Ok so I'm playing catch up, Ithought I would start with pictures from January of Jenna's 2nd Birthday. She had a great time and and lots of friends and family round her to celebrate. She even decided to grab a handful of frosting and take a taste. We gave Jenna a Geo Trax set and she played with it for a long time after everybody left. These are the last fee pictures where the pacifier exists, shortly after her birthday the pacifier went away.

Easter 2009

We had a nice Easter this year. We spent the day with Mother, the Luff family, and the Cagle family.

We love our family but our family is as diversly seperated in opinions and viewpoints as any family could be. But that is what makes us....well, us!

It was a fun time. We enjoyed each others company, and everyone went home.

For once it was a fairly uneventful holiday....mostly

Nothing really new

Not much going on around here, I've been back in the mortgage industry since the beginning of the month and it's never changed, even in these trying times. We are so busy that there is more work then people. With the economy in the trash people with stable jobs and homes are taking advantage of the low rates and high credit scores and the conforming market is booming. I'm not sure if it will last or if my job will but I take advantage of the hours and pay while I can.

David is loving his job, I think the detective side of him wants to come out more then it can but he seems to have fun searching out the bad guy. He has been a great help with Jenna, he has been dropping her off at daycare and picking her up everyday as we don't have daycare near home yet. we are still searching but not much luck so far.

This past week we have been hit with the flu bug, first hit Jenna really hard then me and lastly David who is upstairs still recovering. Jenna and I still can't really eat much but hopefully by the end of the weekend we will be back to normal.

Jenna is 2 now and man is she learning how to push our buttons. She is talking like crazy and coming up with new words every day and just today has started to sing the "la la" song. Look for video as soon as we can get it downloaded, it's pretty cute.

Kayla and Becca are doing great in school, Cheer is over for Kayla so now it's band, choir and a school musical coming up. Becca is in Karate and loving it and even had a spring concert where she got to play her recorder.

I still have pictures to post from Jenna's 2nd birthday and Kayla's belated birthday sleepover weekend. Just wanted to let everybody know I haven't forgotten about you.

I GOT A JOB!!!!

After several months of looking I finally got with the right agency that was able to find work for me. I am back in the mortgage industry, working in a different position then before. I will be working on the closing end rather then the processing side, hopefully it will be a nice change of pace but from what I understand this company is extremly busy with room for OT even. It all happend so fast that I start tomorrow, that's how bad they need people, so for my friends that read this and are still looking for jobs in the mortgage industry just let me know and I will be happy to pass on the info.

David loves his job, he's on I think his 3rd week and is getting his team of people together to get rolling.

I hope that this will be a good start for us, we need something good to happen for us! I'll let you know soon how the job is going.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jenna

Today our little one turns 2. I can't believe it, it seems like I just brought her home from the hospital. She is growing like crazy but still a peanut at only 23 pounds and barely in 18 month clothes. She has quite the personality now and very stubborn just like daddy and mommy. She loves to watch Dora, Cinderella, Meet the Robinson's, and a few others. I would have to say her favorite toys right now are Becca's Woody & Jessie Dolls from Toy Story 2, she has to know where they are at all times. She is starting to use 4-5 word sentences now which surprises us most times but her new favorite is "I'm doing somethin" when you ask her to do something.

Everyday I look at her in amazement as it took us 3 years to bring her into our lives.

Happy Birthday my precious little one!

We love you!

History

I sit today and watch history being made with the inauguration of Barack Obama and I do it with a heavy heart. You see today would have been Stosh's birthday and as many of you know he is not here any longer to celebrate his birthday so we celebrate it for him.

I think of him him often, I hear a song, see a picture pop up on the computer or I watch Jenna as she carries a picture of him around and says "uncle Sosh" as best as she can say it. I only wish he knew how much he would be missed. We love you Stosh and Happy Birthday!

Kayla's first cheer competition

We are proud to report Kayla had her first cheerleading competition today. Her team took 5th place! We are so proud of her and her team. They did not get a lot of time to practice like most cheer teams do so 5th place is awesome.

She was so excited and had smiles on her face the entire time!

To much snow...

And now it's really really cold. Uggg. The kids are enjoying the snow, we all went outside on Sunday to play for a bit, even Sable went out too. She loves to roll in the snow and play. Jenna got to ride around on the sled too until she was ready for a nap.

The news reports have said that we have already exceeded snow fall for the year in just a few short weeks. I think I'm done with the snow now and ready for spring aren't you?

David's new job

So far David likes his new job which is great news. He said everybody is really nice and so far the drive doesn't seem to be to bad, seems to like his boss and co workers. He has even found a long lost friend who's wife works there. It's also nice to know that his cell phone won't be ringing like crazy for work problems so he gets to relax in the evenings. Oh yah did I mention it's up the street from the Bears training camp, I think that part is really cool.

I haven't been getting as many hours as I had hoped but let me just tell you it kicks my butt when I am working. I knew it was hard work but man I guess I am in worse shape then I thought I was in. I'm so worn out by the end of the day it's all I can do to stay up until bed time. I'm sure it's only a matter of time that I get used to it.

Happy New Year!

New Year was pretty quiet for us, both Jenna and Becca were sick so we stayed home. We had lots of munchies and David and the kids made pizza's for dinner. I worked all day and was pretty tired so it was very hard to stay up until midnight but I did and this is the first year that Becca has lasted until the New Year also.

New Years day David bowled in a tournament and did really well. Read below for his take on the tournament:
Out of 356 men bowlers only, total, I landed in 12th place. My qualifying scores were: 246, 300, 211, and 268. They take your 3 highest scores plus handicap. Handicap was 72 total for 3 games. Scratch series was 814 and handicap series was 886.

Not too shabby.

He doesn't know what is prize was as they are still totaling them up but I am very proud of him finishing in the top 15.

Crazy Christmas

I'm a little behind so as you see many of the posts are dated the same day, sorry. We got the girls on the 23rd so they would be with us for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We spent Christmas Eve with David's mom and David's step-brothers family. We had yummy Italian beef sandwiches and cheezy potatos(tradition) and after we ate we opened presents. Jenna was so funny since this was her first Christmas where she started to realize that there were gifts to open. She tore right through them, throwing the clothes aside barely unwrapped.

Christmas morning we had a visit from Santa who ate all the cookies and drank most of his milk and left lots of presents. Later that afternoon we had a yummy dinner here with ham and ravioli.

Kayla turns 13!

December 14th, little Kayla turned 13. We still can't believe it. She is growing up so fast, she's not the little girl I met on her daddys shoulders at the zoo. We had a small party here for her since it was so close to Christmas none of her friends could come over so sometime in January hopefully she can have a sleep over. Kayla and my mom made a yummy cheesecake and Becca and my mom made homemade ice cream.

We had Olivia over for the evening and we kept busy, the girls decorated a ginger bread house and decorated the Christmas tree. I'll post a slide show of all our activities on her birthday as soon as I figure out how.

First visit with Santa

Our local bank was getting a visit from Santa so I took Jenna to meet him. She was very excited to see him but when it came time to talk to him she got upset and for sure wouldn't sit on his lap so quick thinking santa suggested that I sit with her for a photo. After the visit from Santa she wanted a little snack and to look around and the Christmas decorations.

Jenna's first snow play

We got about 5-6 feet of snow right when my mom got here and I was dying to get Jenna outside so the Stauners were going outside so Jenna and I went too. Yvette brought out a small sled that Jenna wanted to try so we put her in and pulled her around the street and she loved it. She didn't want to go in but finally I convinced her to go in. Her poor little butt was wet from snow and her little legs were so cold.

I got her dressed with what I had close by, nothing matched but she was warm and dry. She took a nap shortly after we got inside but she woke up, I brought her down but she was still tired so she crashed out in David's chair for a while more. I guess she had to much fun and it wore her out.

Mom's visit

My mom finally came for a visit but she came alone, Bill had to stay home to take care of some dental work, she got here on December 10th and stayed until right before her birthday, December 21st. We were not sure how Jenna would do since she hasn't seen her since she was only 6 months old and has only talked to her on the phone but she was very excited to see her.

Jenna wouldn't really let her close though, but always had to know where she was at all times. They had fun together making cookies for David to take to work and lots of shopping to get ready for Christmas. Jenna finally let her close the night before she left when she got out the bubbles. I will have more pictures when mom gets hers downloaded then I'll post them so check back later.

Uncle Buster

I got word today that one of my great uncles passed away today, Buster Davis, pictured left with the brace on his arm with his son Jerry. I have many fond memories of Uncle Buster. I spent a few summers in Vian, Oklahoma with my step dad Bill. I met Uncle Buster and Aunt Freeda in California, they live in Bellflower just about an hour from where we used to live.

One summer in Oklahoma and on Lake Tinkiller I met Uncle Buster's Grandkids Tammy and David, I think I was 15 or so, what a summer that was. We had a blast, the whole time driving around in Uncle Buster's Toyota truck, spending hours and hours on the lake and nights at the Fin and Feather Resort. Uncle Buster was very active in the Black Gum Volunteer Fire Department until a few years ago when he had a stroke and was unable to do much for them anymore. Every two years the Davis family holds their family reunion and before the reunion there is always an ice cream social that was always held at Uncle Buster's house, that's what the picture is above.

Uncle Buster is the brother of my Grandpa Benson and they are 2 of 14 in their family but unfortunately ther are only a small few left as they are getting older. I always try to make the reunion held the last Sunday in June every year because you never know when will be the last time you will see one of the brothers or sisters. Sadly about 4 or 5 days before Buster passed one of his sisters, Midge also passed away. Pictured to the right is the remaining siblings, picture taken in 2007 and Uncle Buster is in the front row first person and Midge is in the front row, third from the left (fron right is my grandpa Benson). Below is the clip from the service I have listed beside the names who the people are that are listed at least the ones I know.

Uncle Buster you will be missed!

In Loving Memory of
Mr. Buster T. Davis

Service Details
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 2pmBlackgum Baptist ChurchBox Cemetery -

North of Vian, Ok.
Viewing
Tuesday 1 - 9pm Wednesday 9 - 11amAgent Funeral Home - Sallisaw, Ok.
Officiating
Rev. Dale Ritter (distant cousin)
Pallbearers
Jim Giles, Troy Pack, Charlie Jones, Bud Reed, Red Davis(Buster's brother), and Jim Davis (my uncle)
Honorary Pallbearers
Benson Davis(My Grandpa and Buster's brother), Jack Davis (Baby Brother), Dewayne Davis(nephew),Charles Davis(nephew), Mike Davis(nephew), and Rudy Collins
Obituary
Mr. Buster T. Davis was born January 1, 1921 in Blackgum community, Oklahoma, the son of Charley A. Davis and Lula Ann McFarland Davis. He married Freeda M. Baker Davis on January 1, 1940 in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Mr. Davis was a longtime member of the Blackgum Fire Department where he served as a former Board Member. He was a former Union Organizer and served as a Military Policeman while in the Military. Mr. Davis passed this life on December 26, 2008 in Vian, Oklahoma after having attained the age of 87 years, 11 months and 25 days.Survivors are:wife: Freeda of the home1 son: Jerry Davis of Cypress, Ca.1 daughter: Sandra Hughes of El Cajon, Ca.8 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren, 3 great great grandchildren2 sisters: Mary Clairday of Blackgum, Ok.Melvin Burkhart of Seminole, Okl5 brothers: Robert Benson Davis of Blackgum, Ok.Wylie Davis of Olivehurst, Ca.Albert "Doc" Davis of Fortuna, Ca.Raymond "Red" Davis of Gore, Ok.Jack Davis of Blackgum, Ok.several nieces, nephews, cousins and other relatives and friendsHe was preceded in death by a daughter: Donna Fury in 2006, his parents, and 10 brothers and sisters

The Day that wouldn't end...

Was today. I started my new job full time today for the cleaning service and Jenna was starting her new day care. I took the truck today to get the check engine light checked at the local Auto Zone because it was easier for me to get stuck if the truck breaks since I am local then him stuck in the middle of nowhere.

We were actually leaving on time today, we pulled out of the driveway and slid a little at the end of our street, well we slid into the snow and we were now stuck. Oh Man now what, I put it in 4WD and it wouldn't move, backed it up, put it in forward, did that several times until finally we were out (thanks to Stosh for teaching me that trick). We are on our way, whoo hooo. We get to Auto Zone and they don't open until 8 and it's 7:30, oh well I'll stop later. So on our way again.

I have only been to Jenna's new daycare a couple of times and I didn't have the address with me so I was going off memory. I turned left on Gages Lake Road instead of right, darn I'm at 21 so I stop to turn around but I pull in the snow, Oh no, I'm not moving, put it in high 4WD again and I'm sinking more and more the harder I try to get out. NOW WHAT do I do! Ok don't panic, I call 911 for help. I've got Jenna with me so I can't get out within about 5 minutes Gurnee PD show up and they call for a tow for me, man $75 for a tow but I have to get out. Tow gets there and starts to pull me out but I'm watching his truck slide more and more the more the tries to pull me out. I'm thinking to myself, OMG now he's going in the ditch too. He decides to go at a different angle and with me pushing on the gas we get it out. The whole time I'm thinking, where is Stosh when I need him. I'm out of the ditch and on my way to drop off Jenna. By this time I'm an hour late for work.

I get to the house to clean just as my trainer gets there and it's a mess, wow we had our work cut out for us. We get it done and on to the next house that's HUGE, anyway, I'm cleaning my heart away and get to the last bathroom with a big shower with glass doors. I'm cleaning and move my hand towards the handle and slice my finger open on the shower door handle, my left hand even (I'm left handed), so it makes it hard to finish as my finger is bleeding all over.

Finally we are done and I get to leave, Man I thought today would never end.

One good note, Jenna had a good day at her new daycare. We got there and she heard kids, she said "Kids" and took off and that was that. I was worried that she would have trouble since she has been home with me for a few months.

I really hope tomorrow is a better day......

Pay it forward this holiday season

I always thought the saying "pay if forward" sounded a little strange until SEVERAL people helped my mom and I yesterday. You see I had to take mom to union station in the city to catch a train to go back home. It was -4 with an awful windchill that made it about -35, we were a little worried about the cold and getting inside the station. All was going well until I pulled up to Union Station only to find out there are 2 stations. OMG now what, which one do we go to, there was no place in front to drop mom and Jenna off so after driving around the block once we decided to park and walk across the street.

We got across the street ok but couldn't get up the curb, 1 nice man got out of his warm car to help us get the stroller up the curb and over the snow. We got the bags and stroller up about 5 small steps with the help of 1 more nice man and his two sons, we get inside only to discover that we are upstairs to the station with no elevator or escalator to get downstairs, again that 1 nice man and his two sons help us get the bags and stroller down not 1 but 2 flights of stairs all the while the father is pulling my moms bags all over the station for her. The nice man and his sons left us to find our way.

Then the nightmare begins, we get mom checked in and we are early but we sit in the lounge to wait for her train and the lounge starts filling up and filling up, it appears that there are several trains delayed due to the cold weather. We wait and wait and wait some more finally after about 4 hours they call moms train so she gets a red cap to assist her on the train so Jenna and I are off to find the McDonalds in the station to get some fries before we go home because she was so good with all the waiting.

We get upstairs where they say the McDonalds is and I can't find it and I couldn't find a restroom either and it's a long rid home. I knew there was a restroom in the lounge where we just spent the last few hours so back we go and the same poor people are still waiting for their delayed trains. I start talking to the bathroom attendant about how cold it is and how I have to walk back outside to the car, she asks where I parked and she asked if I took the sky walk. I told her I didn't know about it so 1 nice bathroom attendant offers to walk me all the way to the sky walk and to the parking structure to show me the way so I don't have to walk back out in the cold. Oh and yah, mom's train didn't even leave when she got on, she didn't get to leave the stations until about 9:30 pm after getting there at 12pm to catch her train.

I just couldn't believe our luck yesterday, so many nice people helping us. So I just kept thinking, PAY IT FORWARD, I will have to do a good deed the next time one arises.

So I wanted to share with everybody to PAY IT FORWARD this holiday season, do a good deed for someone. Help an elderly person with their bags in the cold, hold a door for a mom with children, buy coffee for the person behind you in line, tip the snowplow driver that plows your street (oh yah, I already did that one, gave him chocolate chip cookies for putting the snow in front of our house for the kids to play on), anyway hopefully you get my drift.

PAY IT FORWARD......

New Job and other stuff

Well, it is official today. David received a job offer from a major company. David will be managing a group of 6-8 fraud investigators. He will be working with the FBI, DEA, CIA, and local law enforcement on medical fraud investigations. David is very excited about this new job. After all, he is a paranoid freak that thinks everyone is cheating the system anyway.....just kidding.....mostly......He should be starting this new position on January 5th, 2009. He is so very thankful to be leaving Sears. They were pretty abusive to him and his crew....you know....its never enough for them. Not to mention that we will now see him on Saturdays, yippee.

On another note, I also have a job, I am working for a house cleaning service that is local. Jenna will be in daycare less and will have flexible hours that will allow me to be off by 4 pm most days. The areas that I will be working in are Gurnee, Wadsworth and Libertyville and after I am done with the job I can go home, nobody looking over my shoulder, making me tell them when I have to pee or listening to everything I do like the last place I worked.

We both have something to look forward to for the new year.

A few more hours.....

And my mom will be here for 2 weeks. We are very excited except she is coming alone, my stepdad Bill will be staying home to take care of the dogs, my grandma's husband and he has a few dental appointments that he couldn't miss. We will miss having him this trip.

We haven't seen them since Jenna was 6 months old so I can't wait for Jenna to see "Gama", she talks to her on the phone but I don't think she realizes who she is talking to. I'll post pictures of her visit but I have included a picture of our last visit, 4 generations, mom (Rosemary), my Grandma (Rozelle) and grandma is of course holding Jenna and me.