Davidson's Defrost Day

It's not that we actually set today aside to clean the refrigerator. I mean, who actually says "Today I think I'll empty my whole icebox and see how much stuff I've accumulated over the last 4 years"?? But that's what we're doing today.
This morning as I'm trying to herd all 4 children out the door to meet our friends at the library I reached inside to grab some milk for Ruth. Hmmm, I thought, this is kind of stinky stale air in here. Then I started feeling the containers. Odd how warm they feel today. So I check the freezer and everything is nice and frozen. So, why is the ice frozen and the milk warm? I know nothing about refrigeration and that's one thing Curtis knows nothing about as well.

We're doomed!
How can we afford a new refrigerator? (the man just said "oh boy"... I don't think that's a good sign!) Speaking of man... there's one here at the moment and it's not Curtis. He's checking out the damage.
Back to this morning... the 3 walking children helped carry everything that was perishable downstairs to pack into the other fridge in the basement. We looked like little ants with our treasures all marching in a line up and down the stairs. I'm so thankful God has provided us with a second fridge and freezer for moments just like this. We then headed out to the library and on to Burger King for yet another healthy lunch.

So, now the man is here. I had to empty out the freezer as well so he could get to the frozen coils, damaged defroster, and replace the no longer functioning safety thermostat. Apparently it cuts off the fridge on a timed basis to defrost and prevent the coils from becoming frozen up. It didn't work. He says we had 2 inches of ice on our coils and the safety thing did not reset itself to warm the coils. Whatever... it's broken! $ So I wonder $ what the rest of $ the day will $ hold for $ us around here$. The humming of his wet vac and his heat gun blower thing have lulled all 4 children into a much needed nap.
So I shall throw out the 4 year old food. Wipe up the sticky spots. And reassess the need for such "plenty" in my iceboxes (plural!). I asked for a frozen January day... but we have 60's instead. Time to clean the meltdown.

Now, if I could only get to the heaping piles of laundry on the other side of the wall...

Scrapping Day

Or Croppin' Day... it's a girl thing!
I spent the weekend with my girlfriends in a cabin far, far away! I did take Lydia with me and she so enjoyed the one on one time with her mommy. She told the nursery workers all about it on Sunday. I digress. Back to the cabin.
It rained. A PERFECT cropping day. We sat around the table from sun-up until well into the wee hours of the next day. Didn't miss a thing... except that the ground outside was becoming quite saturated from all the lovely rain. The van sank deeper and deeper into a soft mudpit and not one of us even thought to look.

Well, Saturday night we tried to go to dinner and realized our dilemma. The funniest part (now) is how motivated and intense Anne became. She WAS going to get that van out... and she did. I kept thinking just as soon as those tires catch some solid ground she's getting flung into the lake.

Jill kept thinking just as soon as those tires catch some solid ground she's coming through my windshield.














I searched the basement and found a very small "jump rope" type rope. There were no chains. I thought IF we can get it tied to both vans there is no way it will pull and not snap clean in two pieces. Like I said, Anne was very determined. She tied "four knots" on either end and was very proud of them.
We flung mud everywhere, smoked the tires in the wet grass and made the evening fun instead of the disaster it could have been. I really was concerned that I might be buying Jill a new front end to her van. Apparently, they (the cabin owners) have recently dug a trench for power and/or water lines to a new building next to the cabin. We were unaware that underneath that innocent layer of crabgrass was a mudpit silently awaiting my two front tires. Ah, all I wanted was my two front tires, my two front tires, see my two front tires. Gee if I could only have my two front tires, then we could go and eat some dinner. Gosh oh gee, how happy we would be if.... ok, I digress yet again.
The pictures don't do it justice. If we had only had a video camera we would certainly be the $10,000 winner of America's Funniest Videos!

We finally ate dinner at a lovely hole-in-the-wall "grill" in Hartwell, GA. We laughed until someone wet her pants, but that could have been Lydia! :)

Enjoy our moments of ... (fill in the blank)

By the way, I did get my cruise album completed!

MONSTER Trucks...

This past weekend we took the older two kids to the Superbowl of Motorsports Monster Truck show at the Georgia Dome. Now, this is not my ideal of a good time in the big city but the kids had a good time watching the trucks. We went with Curtis' friend Chad, his son Tanner, and his Dad. We, along with 65, 993 other fine folk of GA hooped and hollered as these trucks roared around the floor for 3.5 hours. There were also several thousand folk in town for a Hawks/Wizard game as well as a Boat Show. (Traffic was thick!) The kids were thrilled about going and couldn't take naps in the antiaption. It was 35 degrees and had a wicked wind blowing. We searched for the "perfect" parking spot (Chad was driving) and finally jumped out on a corner so we wouldn't have to walk as far with the kids. After 2 or 3 trucks ran Maggie told me she was ready to go home. She enjoyed what she saw, but was over it within 30 minutes. Her favorite truck was "Cowboy" because it was black. Bennett's favorite truck was "War Wizard" because it had spikes on the back and "it lost a wheel and an axle and it could STILL drive". Apparently that was something that happened on one of my several trips to the potty with Maggie. She wanted to explore after she got bored with her seat. We went on a pretzel and Sprite run too and saw some young men pushing and shoving. I was glad she still had her earplugs in and couldn't hear their words.


This is a picture of one of the motorcycles that put on a mini-show between rounds. This driver is doing a "superman" I think... where they hold onto the seat and fly behind the bike. They did some pretty cool tricks and were in the same corner as our seats so we were able to see really well. Our camera just isn't fast enough to catch them. (if you click on the picture it should pull it up bigger so you can see it better)
It was very loud so we wore our earplugs while the big trucks ran their races. Curtis had a hard time focusing the camera at such close range... but this is about the only picture we got of the kids. There are lots of truck photos... but most are blury. We didn't do the pit pass thing, mostly because we couldn't get there early enough. We left the house shortly after 4pm and were late for the start of the 7:30 show. We had to stop for NY style pizza for Chad and then the traffic coming into town was stop and go after the toll booth on 400 and all the way into town. Good thing Chad and his Dad are TECH grads and know all the backroads and hidden parking spots.

Anyway, Ruth and Lydia got to spend the evening with Grammy and Papa and got quite a bit more sleep than the rest of us! I decided if we return to the Truck show again it will be when Lydia is old enough to enjoy it... so 4 years from now. The Dome was sold out this year so I assume it will only get worse as the years go on... buy now if you want to go! :)

and Christmas continues

We celebrated Christmas with Curtis' grandparents this week. The kids always enjoy seeing Greatgrandpa and Greatgrandma... or Grand Mama/GrandPapa, depending on their moods. Ruth was sitting in her seat by the window when they drove up and she exclaimed "the people are here!". Then Maggie yelled for Bennett to come quick because Steve was here. Steve always listens to whatever they tell him and is so patient with them.

The kids struggled through lunch because they knew there were gifts waiting for them to open. They each got a new outfit. Aren't the girls such lovely models?

Ruth and Grandpapa played a quick game of peek-a-boo around the kitchen corners. It was very cute and I wish a picture would do half the justice of the joy in her eyes.

Naptime came quickly so the visit was short. It was a good time though

Two Little Princesses Jumping on the Bed!

"I just love my room", Maggie uttered as I was placing new Princess stickers on her wall. "It is so beautiful", she says. The little things that please them so. They are like Pete and Repeat today. Bennett and Curtis went off together so Ruth is doing (and saying) everything like Maggie. Oh, to love your older sister!

Maggie yells as she runs to her room "Come on Ruthie, let's jump some more"... "Ok", she answers with a squeal of delight. We just peered out the window at the Big Brown Truck which brought a salt cellar for the professional chef in the house. That's what the box says! So their bed-jumping was interrupted by the big brown man in the big brown truck. Maggie's room is now turning into a Princess room despite our first intentions. Has the Princess theme always been around or did I just never pay attention before now? Everything is pink and has a Disney Princess on it somewhere... and thus, we MUST have it. I finally got some stickers for her wall and she's elated. I had permission because they are removable stickers and we aren't locked into having Princesses all over the wall for more than a mere second. She got lots of pink stuff for Christmas and birthday too so it seems we're suddenly overwhelmingly PINK. Curtis loves it! :)

When do they suddenly start making conversation?

Ruth... just started making sentences that any adult would understand. It's not just her parents that know what she's saying. Today at church she told Judy "my mommy gave it to me" when asked about her water bottle. Then tonight she informed Daddy that "I'm going to take off my stockings... and my diaper TOO". She's so cute! Why do they have to grow up and get attitudes? :) I love my kids.
I almost have my Christmas letters ready to mail! What day is today?

Family Photo 

Bedheads all around

I guess the whole point of this blog is to keep you updated with the goings and comings of the family. You can read at your leisure (if you leisure!) and I won't fill your inbox with frequent emails and photos.


It's Saturday morning here at the Davidson house and the kids are still running around with bedheads and PJ's on... and I don't even care! We got up late and had a big breakfast of eggs & bacon for those who can eat eggs, waffles for Ruth. Now they are either playing LeapPads or Barbies... can you guess which ones are doing what? Bennett is very proud of his new airplane he got from his cousin for Christmas... can you tell?




Curtis and the kids got to go ride the Pink Pig just before Christmas. Grammy took them one day I was working. If you don't know... it seems to be an Atlanta tradition from the old Rich's days and now it's at Macy's in Buckhead. The kids enjoyed it and have talked about it several times since.

We took a Christmas trip to PA with the whole Wallace family. Lara found a house in nearby Montrose that we would all fit in comfortably. It was like our summer at the beach all over again, only cold and snowy instead of hot and sandy. Everyone behaved themselves and it really was a good Christmas together. Each year gets more exciting as the kids begin to realize the whole point of it. I couldn't count the number of times we sang "happy birthday" to Jesus over the course of the month. On our way up VA state patrol decided I was driving too fast and gave me a souveniour for our trip. On our way home we stopped in Roanoke to stay the night with a good friend and her family who recently relocated there. It is nice to have a half-way point stopover and be able to use them as a bed and breakfast! :) We may drive to PA more often now! Actually, the kids did tremendously on the trip. We had a DVD for frequent movies and games for when the movies were over. No one complained!

(the above pictures are of Curtis and Bennett sledding)

Alrighty then. Here are some pictures from our trip to PA. I know I'm rambling today as I've been interrupted numerous times by 4 little urchins. There is no real flow to today... it's my first post here so forgive my flight of ideas. Hopefully you can follow them! Let's see... some of these shots are from the Discovery Center in Binghamton, NY, just north of where we were staying. I stayed home that day with Lydia and Grandma. Everyone else got to go play "pretend".

Grandpa was eating something with Briella and Zack. I think Marci was preparing it but we don't know what it was. Maybe one can comment with the answers! :)

Tyler got to take a ride with Grandpa in the firetruck.

Ruth was grocery shopping in this shot.









And this one is Jared, Adam, Maggie, Bennett and Micah doing a newscast on TV. I'm sure they had a great story to tell!








Here's a shot of all 15 grandkids gathered together after Christmas morning mayhem. The shirts were from Grandma (of course) and said "What happens at Grandma's stays at Grandma's". Go figure! She had to explain it to Em or Mo and used cookies as an example... "see, I could give you cookies anytime and we wouldn't have to tell Mom. It would be our little secret about what happens at my house". I think the conversation went a little like that.

We've been home for over a week and the Christmas stuff is still sitting out. Curtis said it would take him 10 minutes to put it all away, he just didn't say WHICH 10 minutes it would take. The kids are enjoying their new toys. Maggie got several Barbie dolls that she is sharing with Ruth most of the time. Bennett got a really noisy truck from Grandma that I just put new batteries in for some odd reason. He also has a new LeapPad that records his voice and makes a story with whatever words he puts in. Sort of like those OLD games we used to play where we would give so many nouns and verbs and then make a funny story out of them. We had to use pens and paper! He has most enjoyed saying funny words and noises and then see how it makes a crazy story. All 3 of the big kids have been found sitting in his bed and giggling about some funny word he recorded. It seems to have been a good investmentOk then... I guess I should close this particular edition out for the day.

Curtis is still gone. He had to go to a funeral today for a good friend's father. I didn't want to take the kids but it would have been nice to go as well. I hope he's home soon. I have lots of projects for him! :) Oh, speaking of projects I'll have to take a picture of his latest. A new Jeep that he'll be able to take to Tellico and climb the rocks and trails. Bennett is excited about being about to ride in it.. "it won't be as bumpy and you can turn the heater on so I won't be cold". Not like riding on a 4-wheeler all day!

Time for dishes and laundry... or a nap. Hmmmm, let's see!