Davidson Kids Declare "Best Christmas Ever!"

As seen in the following pics. . . (these are especially for our awesome cousins in Indiana!)

Pink and White Nikes - what all the fourth grade girls are wearing these days!



The beloved American Girl Doll - who thought you'd could aquire the national debt for a doll??????  This is called a Just Like Me Doll - because you order them to look just like you.  Notice the skin , eye, hair color ands curls.  Pretty good likeness, huh???



Cars Race-O-Rama PSP Game!  Hours of fun - well 15 minutes anyway as that is our daily limit!!



Their own netbooks!



Notice the handsome sleep attire Justin is wearing!



The trunk with three complete outfits for the American Girl Doll!

Unwrapping one of about a thousand gifts! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS DAY!  On to Grandmas to open a few hundred gifts!

TWO YEARS ALREADY!

Two years ago today we brought our kids home to live!  It has been an amazing two years of delight and humility!  Who would have thought that two kids can make this much difference in two lives, a marriage, a house, a family.  We definitely have changed many things about the way we always did things.  One thing I notice more and more is how much like our own parents James and I have become.  I often see James' mom or dad coming out in him when he explains something.  I hear my mom coming through my voice nearly daily - scary, very scary!  The one thing I truly believed I would never do is say something like - "When I was a kid we didn't get to do this or that"  - how is it that those types of expression just come out without even thinking!!!! 

Enough of that - James had continuing education class in LA today so Justin, Andrea, and I  are on our way to meet Dad in Universal City tonight to spend the night at the Universal City Sheraton. We plan to go to Universal Studios tomorrow - the 13 loads of laundry at home can wait until next week! 

We are looking forward to many more celebrations of this special day!

He's the BOMB!

That was Andrea's comment after her brother delivered his 3 minute speech to the School Board on Tuesday evening!  We were so proud I could barely contain the tears of joy!  How blessed we are with two incredible children, who are also so bright!  We couldn't get a decent picture in the auditorium due to poor lighting - so here's a pic taken at home in his "I'm going to deliver my speech to the School Board" outfit.

First Broken Bone!

Today was a day that every parent dreads, but most assuredly will happen in the course of 18 years.  Having just been parents for two years, James and I  were just bragging about how neither of the kids had had any mishaps requiring a visit to the emergency room.  Well that ended today! 

About 10 minutes before school got out for the day Justin hurt his hand (right one of course) and the nurse thought it could be broken - well that nursing school paid off - she made a correct diagnosis.  Of course we headed to the emergency room where the MD, with many more years of medical training than the school nurse, took just four and a  half hours to determine the same thing. 
So, we leave the hospital having had  two different sets of xrays - one to determine the diagnosis and one later to be sure that the doctor had set the bone properly, lots of questions - including are you safe at home - which cracked me up since it happened at school, a splint, an ace bandage, and 5 sheets of instructions including a page on the benefits of quitting smoking (I guess that is information required to be given to all 11 year olds who break a bone), and the peace of mind knowing that in 6 weeks his hand will be back to normal. 
At least it wasn't anything worse~ Justin's big concern is not the pain or the healing or the not being able to take a shower without a big plastic bag around his hand . . .no!  It is "How do you expect me to just sit there and watch the other kids do PE or play at recess??????? This is not FAIR!"

The Phone Rings . . .

. . . and the school number pops up and it is not one of the daily annoying robo calls reminding me that it is early dismissal day or they are selling 500 calorie, $3.00 ice cream bars after school in the rain - no it is the principal - loud and clear - not on a recording asking for MRS. DAVIDSON!  Now the kids had been home for about an hour and neither had confessed to any wrongdoing at school so I did respond softly and hesitantly with "This is she."  Fortunately, the principal quickly assured me that nothing was wrong and I could resume breathing.  So here's how it went . . .

Justin has been nominated by his teacher of 4 days to speak at the school board meeting on September 28th.  He needs to write an essay on they joys of being a student at his school for the past 2+ years and and then deliver that in a speech to the school board, oh and by the way Mrs. Davidson you and your husband MAY attend the meeting.  Are you nuts (I'm thinking) we will have his whole fan club there!!!!!
Of course, I say, we will clear our busy schedule (dinner, bedtime, etc.) and Justin will be happy to spend the next 20 days writing the perfect speech and delivering it to the school board and anyone else who just happens to be there.  And is there anything else my perfect children can do for you Mrs. Principal???? Just let us know . . .
Another proud mama moment  . . .

First Day of School (or Bragging Mother)

Believe it or not this is already our third year at our local elementary school and it will be just 2 years on October 22nd that the kids came home to live.  When they entered school with us Andrea was in the second grade and Justin was in third.  Each school year has been amazing as we have watched them develop emotionally, socially, and academically. 

We feel so blessed to have very bright children - Justin was placed in the GATE class this year and Andrea is with a very strong teacher with high expectations.  They both did extremely well on their STAR testing. James and I are constantly amazed that despite their less than desirable beginnings, and the adjustment to a permanent adoptive home, that they are both demonstrating the love of learning, and are enormously successful students.  Oh no,  am I turning into "ONE OF THOSE PARENTS" again . . .  now I get it . . . you just can't help yourself!!  So proud!

Oh and by the way did I mention they are beautiful, too? ? ? See for yourself as you view their first day of fourth and fifth grades!

Happy Birthday, Justin!

When parents say time flies and they are grown up before you know it - I know what they mean.  Why it seems like only yesterday we brought him home (actually 21 months ago), and wasn't it only last month that he was 9 and in the third grade????????

Well here is what 11 means in our house -

He will begin 5th grade in September - which means he will be the BMOC (BIG MAN ON CAMPUS) as this is the last year in our elementary school before you go to the (dreaded by mom) MIDDLE SCHOOL!

In many restaurants he no longer qualifies for the kid's menu and moves on to the adult menu and at the amusement parks he is now an adult.  I'm never sure at what age  adulthood is defined - legally isn't 18?

And what did Justin ask for as a birthday gift?  Just more independence (I guess he is the victim of an overprotective mother), and a plethora of other gifts that kids of today want . . . a PSP, a WII, a DSI, a DVD . . .I guess everything is defined by just letters nowadays.  As for a parent from the dark ages . . .if I don't know what the letters stand for I don't buy it!

All that being said we wish the best son (the only one) the happiest 11th birthday ever!

Off to Indy

Well today James and  will head out for Indy for the 9th time to see the Indy 500 - it's the kid's first time.  After we got the darlings we thought our Indy 500 days were over, but it seems Justin has taken a little interest in racing or should I say a certain race car driver (see previous blog - "That's My Boy!") and Andrea loves all the different foods at an event like that - so . . .here we go again.  We'll see how they do at an all day race event - we did go to the Long Beach Grand Prix for about 2 hours this year and  that turned out well -so we are hopeful!

Of course one of the major highlights of this trip is getting to see relatives that transplanted to the Indy area.  Our kids got to meet my cousin's family while they were  in LA last year - so they are anxious to see Grant again and meet their new cousin Grace.
Andrea is especially excited about getting to help with the little ones - she is such a natural and wherever we go she gravitates towards the little guys that she can "mother"!
She'll make a great babysitter when she is older!

Did I mention that packing for 4 is much different than for two????  It has taken me DAYS and I'm sure that I have forgotten some very important item or two . . .
Oh well . . .

SURPRISE . . .SURPRISE . . .SURPRISE!

On a sad note before I begin the Surpise post I must tell you that we lost our little Sophie dog on March 5th!  It was one of the saddest days for our family - she had become such a part of our family and with the loss (death) of both our cat, Tigger and our bird, Brodie last fall she really filled a void in the pet population of  our family.  We posted signs everywhere, and even sent our 500 robo-calls to our neighbors,  searched the local animal shelters daily, but to no avail.  We just hope that someone else found her and couldn't bring themselves to part with the adorable dog!

And now . . .

Fast forward two months to May 5th

The telephone rings - conversation follows . . .

Q - Did you lose a dog named Sophie?

A - YES . . did you find her??????????

Q - No, but I found another dog a few days ago, definitely a stray.  I've had her groomed and a vet visit including shots. I even have an appointment for her be spayed in two days.  The vet says she is not pregnant but she should be spayed. She's a poodle mix about 2 years old. Are you interested, because I CANNOT KEEP HER!

A - Let me talk to my husband and kids and see if they are ready to move on.

Of course we said yes, went to see Molly that night and upon the encouragement of the LADY we brought her home right then and there.  After a quick and expensive visit to PETCO (of course she couldn't use Sophie's stuff - what are you thinking . . .) we came home and stayed up half the night oohing and aahing over the cuteness of this little 9 lb. poodle mix - definitely not as cute as Sophie, but cute.  We are IN LOVE.

Next morning - we get an email from the LADY - she wants her back - decided she was lonely and before we got attached she wanted her back . . .!  We held a family conference that night and explained to the kids and after 30 minutes of tears (and wailing) we decided that our children's emotional well-being outranked this 40 something divorcee's loneliness.

So . . .we called the vet for an appointment for her second round of shots and spaying (June 15th), and then set it up with our neighbor to pet sit while we are in Indianapolis later in May.

Whew . . . now we can sit back, enjoy the dog, and get into a little "there's a new dog in the house" routine.

SURPRISE. . . nine days after we got her, I went to the store and 2 hours later when I returned we had not one poodle mix, but 3.  YES, I SAID THREE!  Sweet Molly now weighs only 6 lbs as she had 3 lbs of puppies, handled the whole thing, and cleaned everything up so well there was no evidence except that of two very squirmy, white bundles of fluff.  Of course being the city girl that I am - I went online and found out that had we known that she was having pups we would have needed about 20 items on hand to assist in the delivery - I guess it is better we didn't know!!!!

Do you remember the adoption of our hamster when a week later we came back from vacation and had 5 more hamsters . . .what is it about us?? 

Who votes that the LADY knew???

Anyway we decided this is a gift because . . .

NO we wouldn't even have considered taking her had we known she was pregnant!

YES we are having a blast watching the development of these 5 day old puppies!

NO we wouldn't have had her spayed had we known!

YES we will be looking for two great homes for the two cute puppies!

ANY TAKERS?????

That's My Boy!

We had the chance to meet Danica Patrick and Helio Castraneves last night. Check out the previous post to see what happened!  Be sure to see all the photos and you'll see why I say (with enormous pride) "That's My Boy"!  What 10 year old would ask that little hottie for his first kiss??????  He caught her completely off guard, had the crowd in an uproar and obviously the media in a frenzy as more camera bulbs were flashed for "the kiss" than at any other time! The kid's got hootzpah!

Danica Patrick and Mark Wahlberg meet fans in Costa Mesa | wahlberg, mark, patrick - Entertainment - The Orange County Register

Danica Patrick and Mark Wahlberg meet fans in Costa Mesa | wahlberg, mark, patrick - Entertainment - The Orange County Register

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Six Month Hiatus

Well, I guess I have taken a six month hiatus from our blog - it seems impossible that it has been that long and I have no excuse except the same one everyone else has - WE ARE CRAZY BUSY!!!!!

Highlights of the past six months . . .

OCTOBER

We had a few birthday celebrations - my mom's, my sister-in-laws and mine

We as a new family had our "firsts" celebrations - the day we met the kids, the day we brought them home, their first day of school with us, my first birthday with the kids, the day they first met my mom and family . . .we celebrated them all!

NOVEMBER

We took our annual anniversary trip - but instead of a trip for the two of us to some exotic, foreign getaway - it was good old Williams, Arizona, to stay at the Grand Canyon Railway Hotel, go on the Polar Express, meet Santa at the North Pole, and visit the Grand Canyon the next day with my sister and her family. Thankfully the cousins get along fabulously - so that made it especially fun! I highly recommend this trip for those with children who would love to meet the real Santa. It was a great trip!

We also had another life changing event in our family during the month of November - our last name was legally changed from David to Davidson. The kids had been going by that name since last spring - so it wasn't as much of a big deal to them as it has been for James and me. I still can't remember who I am - maybe old age is setting in!

We made our yearly trek up to Santa Maria to James' sister and brother-in-laws home for Thanksgiving. As always Jack and Diana outdo themselves. It seems every year I remark that the dinner and the company are better than the year before. (No pressure guys for next year!) The kids love the visit and so do we!

DECEMBER

We did all of the usual Christmas activities - guests over for holiday dinners, going out to see the lights, Christmas eve and Christmas Day at my mom's house, Christmas carols, Church Christmas program in which Justin and Andrea had very cute parts, etc., etcc Overall it was a great holiday season!

JANUARY

Back to school after a two week break, I was back to work in the office and busier than ever. All of the official name change activities are under way, and tax season has officially begun. Put those two things together and it is wonder I even have the sense to be able to jot down these few thoughts . . .

We started a marketing campaign, I have a new job title (Director of Client Administration), and we hired two new employees. James is trying to at last move into the 21st Century technologically, which may do him in. He is a very progressive person in many ways, but moving from paper to paperless is a real challenge for a 50 something CPA.

FEBRUARY

February continues to be super busy with client work, etc.

The kids looked forward to the visit from Cupid (kinda like when the Easter Bunny comes), we spent Valentine's evening with our friends for dinner. They also have a nine year old daughter - so the kids have a built in playmate!

MARCH

James and I are glad that 5/7 of the tax season is over and we can look forward to normalcy in just a few weeks.

The weekends have been crazy with Dad having to work part of each one, Justin is in baseball now and has one game every Saturday ( and one game and a couple of practices during the week days), Andrea and I have been sorely in need of a girls weekend day out . . .but our boys have had such hectic schedules we haven't been able to. (Read: Andrea and I haven't had a pedicure for weeks!)

I have begun working remotely from home a few days a week. My job doesn't have to be done in the office, whereas the other employees can use the room at the office. It also allows me more time to get things done for the kids! A real balancing act!

Well, folks I think that about catches you up on the past six months. I'll try to do better and catch up with pics as soon as I get a new camera (the old one went kaput!)