Chuck E Cheese, Santa, and Build a Bear--All in one day!

Last Saturday Collin was invited to a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. The kids love it there so we usually pack up the whole family and take the other kids to play while Collin is at the party. They all had a blast. Here are the twins hard at play:





We headed over to the mall to see Santa. As we neared Santa, one of his elves told us that he was going to feed the reindeer and would be back in one hour. So, to fill the time, we went to build a bear. Last year we used money my grandma sent us to take the kids to build a bear for the first time. We got a deal last year in that we also received gift cards for a fraction of their price. We used those gift cards to buy each a new bear this year. They could only get a bear, no clothes, etc. and they had a blast. They love picking them out and putting the heart in and stuffing him. Here is a picture of the little ones "washing" their new animal:




We had to stand in a long line to see Santa, but it was worth it. This year the twins weren't afraid like last year http://4boys2luv.blogspot.com/2008/12/its-most-wonderful-time-of-year.html. Here are a couple of photos with the boys with Santa. I loved it because Santa told them they needed to get along and not fight and I told them that he was definitely watching them :)





Of course after all this activity, they were very tired on the way home. Is this not the sweetest picture?

Turkeys and trees

We had a great Thanksgiving at cousin's house and hope that you all had a great one as well. I love Thanksgiving because it is the countdown to my favorite holiday, Christmas. We started a new tradition last year by cutting a tree off a mountainside on Thankgiving weekend. This year, I had to capture the event on film to share with you. The kids just love climbing the mountain and searching for the perfect tree.

Here are the troops arriving at the tree farm:

The climb up the mountain

The adventures along the way


Ah, there it is, the perfect tree

TIIIIMMMMBBEEER!

Tristan is now old enough to help carry the tree down the mountain. Of course, Collin thought he could as well. He ended up stuck under a tree at one point and I just missed that picture:

Loading it up


Before we left for Cousin's, Collin had a play at preschool. He was such a cute little indian. Here are some clips:

I thought this little clip of him was hysterical, he was really into the hand motions:



Some photos of family fun:

Pancakes and Steamed Broccoli

I had to do a quick post...Anyone who has toddlers can tell you that getting them to eat can be a challenge sometimes. Tonight I decided to choose my "battles" wisely. The boys noticed some pancakes in the refrigerator that were left from yesterday. So, it was pancakes for dinner. Not feeling like that was enough, I fixed one of their other favorite dishes, steamed broccoli. I know, the sound of the two together is nauseating! I did wait some time between entrees I assure you. I let them eat the broccoli later as they were watching Dora. They enjoyed both immensely and ate a pretty healthy meal in the process so weird as it may be, try some pancakes and broccoli one night, it comes highly recommended by the Davis boys ;)

October adventures

Since I've waited over a month to post, I think I'll try for a marathon post tonight to try to make up for the past month :) There have been many events the past month. Some good, some bad. I'm still trying to take it all in and wrap it around my ever confused brain.

I was at a Women of Faith conference this past weekend and was really moved and inspired by the women there. Hearing the difficulties these women have been through in life and how they relied on their faith to get them through was amazing. These women were beautiful, successful women. You might look at them at think their life is wonderful, a dream. They all talked about how difficult life can be. I was moved from laughter to tears many times. I thought about my own life and the lives of women around me who have experienced some difficult times recently. It made me realize even more how important my faith is and how I hope that each person can find their way to God. I cannot imagine my life without Him in it. These incredible people have Him in their life, and they have been blessed with an incredible voice and a gift of sharing their faith through music, who you might ask? Why none other than Mandisa and Steven Curtis Chapman. Wow, they were amazing:





Other events of the past month include the big boys first trip to a Nascar race, two school field trips, and a trip to Auntie's house. Here is a photographic retelling of these journeys:

The "Boys" at the Race. Notice their "clean" pants:



But I am thankful they didn't come home looking like this at least :)


Tristan's class went to Maple View Farms Agricultural Center. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

The kids loved petting this sweet calf


They also enjoyed when the pigs were given pumpkins. The pigs love pumpkins and run to eat the pumpkins as fast as the farmers throw them to them.

I wish I had taken a video at one point when the pig was standing at the fence "talking back" to the kids who were talking to him. It was very cute. I managed to get a picture of him peering through the fence though:


The calves are kept in these little "barns/houses".



Tristan petting the Llama






Another "attraction" was "Charlotte" who was found above one of the animal pens :)



The kids also loved watching the goats play fight. I think the goats enjoyed having an audience as well ;)



Collin's preschool went to Brown's Pumpkin Farm and we had a blast there as well. You start by picking your own corn and soybeans from the field. Here is my little farmer in the field gathering crops:



Of course he loved feeding the crops to the animals too:





He was also fascinated by all the bees on the sunflowers and some that had been caught by spiders on the flowers:



He had a good chuckle too when I fed this huge slobbering cow and she left a pile of slobber on my hand, sorry no photos of the slobber, just the cow ;)


One of the exciting moments for the kids was when our tractor pulling our hay ride became stuck in this mud:


This is a picture of the tractors being traded out between hay wagons. Our original tractor was the smaller one on the left, we then had the big tractor on the right come to pull us out of the muck. The kids were loving the extra adventure!


Here are some more photos of the trip:

No words for this one ;)



Feed ME!


And if you haven't had enough of the animal shots, here is my cupcake impression of a zebra and a pink zebra :) I did these for Annette's daughter's 16th Birthday:




When we went to Auntie's house, we traveled into Tennessee. We were originally going to go to a pumpkin farm, but we were rained out. Instead we visited a train and a covered bridge. Just having fun together as a family comes naturally to this group:







<





What were they looking at you might ask?

Why the river flowing below:


I personally was wanting to live in this awesome purple house next to the bridge:

But then again, either of these two neighboring houses would have suited me fine as well :)




Isn't this bridge and surrounding area beautiful?





Collin kept trying to throw rocks to get the ducks to move. Thankfully he didn't hit them with any. I finally convinced him that was not the way to get them to move!






We ended our day by trick or treating in downtown Boone. Here is our motley crue :)



Whew, I think that is enough for one night, don't you? Hope it makes up for my hiatus...