"Honey"

as of late, it seems that ben david has developed a pet name for ben and i: "Honey"
around the house, it is rare that ben and i acutally call each other by our proper names. most often, we do refer to each other as "honey" (very sweet, i know!:)
well, ben david apparently caught on to this, and not wanting to be left out decided to start using this term himself.

here is a snipet of our conversation yesterday...it went something like this:

me: "here is your snack, ben david."
bd: "thank you, honey!"
me: (puzzled expression...followed by laughter) "no ben david, i am mommy."
bd: "no...i call you honey!" (adamant, slightly offended tone)
me: "no ben david, you call me mommy. daddy calls me honey."
bd: "NO...I SAY HONEY!"
me: no comment. unsure how to proceed...this was not in the parenting manual.
bd: satisfied look.

so there you have it! as if having a "ben and ben david" around the house wasn't confusing enough...we now have a bunch of "honeys!"
no pic on this one...was hoping for a video to prove this occured, but alas, no cooperation on that end. stay tuned for more funny antics!

Two Sweet Boys...

The "Cool" Factor

this past weekend we decided to increase our "cool factor" by a few degrees. we are convinced we became the coolest family on the block after we created our very own water park in the backyard. special thanks to nana for our pool below, and our neighbors for lending us the other one.

i promise...only ben david and james were in their birthday suits!

very fun water slide...daddy's idea!
james enjoying the pool with daddy
james...no longer enjoying the pool.
ben david...trying out the play set slide, still without clothes. he was dismayed to find that he got "stuck" halfway down. not quite the same without water.

oh, what fun summer adventures!

Turning One is Lots of Fun!!

on sunday we had a little family birthday party to celebrate james' turning one! as you can see...he had a ball. this is just a "sneak peak" of the mauling of the cake.

hanging out with poppy

deuce and uncle evan...two of our favorite uncles!

there is some kind of discussion ensuing here about whether or not the cake was within arm's reach and if so, should they go for it??

big brother enjoying his cupcake

lots of "helpers" when present time rolled around

kurt...still considering a quick getaway with the cake!!

have at it, james!! i would like to title the next following pictures:

HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO!!

in case ben david didn't already have enough icing on his face

mandatory hosing of after cake mauling

pizza picnic!

tie-dye shirts for everyone...thanks aunt anna!!

Houston...We Have Lift Off!

...and so it begins! james officially took his first few steps on monday and it would appear he has joined the ranks of two vs. four limb movers! his first few steps were a little shakey and appeared to be at a 90 degree angle as he catapulted towards me, but they were steps nonetheless! since then, he has taken a few more and is getting steadier by the minute.

on that note...we are excited to celebrate james first birthday today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!!

our "mr. smiles" has grown into quite the little charmer...full of life and energy. he is on ben david's tail all the time and already wanting to do everything his big brother does. he has a few words: bye-bye (accompained with a little wave, if you are lucky), ball, ma-ma and da-da. oh, and likes to echo the "hooting" sounds of the owls on his baby einstein movie.

while starting out as a laid-back, mild mannered little guy...he has rather come into his own over these last few weeks. i am pretty sure he is going to follow in his brother's footsteps in terms of energy level and ability to assert himself quite strongly. needless to say...he is quite able to "fend for himself."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY JAMES!!

here are a few pictures of this first wonderful year of life...

just born!

6 months old!

one whole year!

Summer Surprise!

we live in complete suburbia, and i confess...i love that! while one day, it might be nice to not have neighbors within eyesight and acres of land all around...that day is not today. i appreciate the fact that we can get practically anywhere in under 10min. this is crucial in our current stage of life in order to: avoid kids falling asleep in the car prior to naptime, make a quick getaway to my sister house for an emergency "we are all about to lose it over here" playdate, and get to the store for milk and eggs at 5pm without hitting any traffic at all.

that being said, i have also come to appreciate this little "slice" of nature that is across the street from us. the boys and i love our morning jogs around this pond! it has provided many a fun wildlife lesson from animals such as: turtles, fish, bunnies, cranes, geese and ducks.

in the spring, ben david especially enjoyed going to see the "baby quack-quacks." since that time, however, he has been a bit confused as to where all the babies have gone??

SO...we were all especially excited to see these little guys on our run a few weeks ago. they had already gotten so much bigger than the"fluff balls" they started out as before i finally remembered to take my camera with me. enjoy this summer surprise!:)

Party Like It's 1999!! (or rather) Party Like "We Don't Get Out Much!"

our friends, gray and elli got married this past saturday evening and in so doing, afforded all of us an evening of fun, food, fellowship, and yes...

even an opportunity to bust out some CRAZY DANCE MOVES!!:)

amy and i trying to act like we knew what we were doing. we did not.

i continued to embarrass my husband throughout the course of the evening by staying out on the dance floor pretty much the entire time.

just the two of us!

the girls, chatting it up all evening!!

Davis LG Reunion!!

the very next evening, we had the pleasure of hosting the davis life group reunion at our home! here are just a few pics of the crew that came..

quite a large number of us attended the "davis life group" hosted by phil and shanna for some period of time prior to their move to prague where they have since planted a church! http://philnshanna.blogspot.com/. we all reaped so many wonderful benefits from this fun group! for many of us, that included our spouses!:)

phil, ben and mark

(ben and mark were too of the VERY LUCKY men to meet their matches in this LG!:)

paul, jeff and baby piper (who belongs to phil and shanna)

phil and t

(the recently engaged couple...congrats guys!!)

christen, shanna and t

almost all the little peeps....(from the left) ruthie, lucy, piper, clark, ben david (requesting adamantly to hold piper with a very convincing..I DO IT, I DO IT!!) and stella p.!

and finally...thanks to sweet ( and very brave) shanna, ben david got his way!! here he is, holding on to piper for dear life. as he assured us all along...he could "do it!:)"

WE LOVE YOU PHIL AND SHANNA!!

COME BACK SOON!!