January: The month of food and science adventures

January 2012 has been SOOOO much better than January 2011. My hope is that the remainder of the year continues to surprise us with even better things to come. I have truly enjoyed the past month. Having so much time with my children has been such a blessing. We have spent a lot of time at the park because we have been having an unusually warm winter. I have honed my basketball skills, but obviously not enough to beat my 10 year old :) I have also decided I need to find a Baker's Anonymous group to join! I have never baked so much in my entire life. The family has definitely been enjoying all my experimentation in cooking as well. We have tried many new pasta dishes, homemade breads, and plenty of cookies and desserts. When you give up dining out, it is a lot easier when you are cooking food at home that you truly enjoy.

I have also enjoyed making cakes for some friends. Here are some photos of some of my baking adventures:

Cupcakes for a friend's son who is away at the NC School of Science and Math:


My friend Lisa requested a blue and brown cake for her birthday:


A new recipe for banana pudding was a hit:


Annette's daughter Sarah turned 16 and loves purple like I do so it was easy to create a purple-lover's cake :)


Annette's son Samuel got married and I was happy to make their cake, he has been like a big brother to my boys:


In January we took a day trip to SciWorks, a hands-on science museum in Winston-Salem. We met cousins there and everyone had a great time. Tristan took a field trip there last year and loved the place and begged to go back. We purchased a 3 visit pass (because it was only a few dollars more than what we would have paid for one admission) so we will be making 2 more trips in the coming year. It is half-way between Auntie's house and ours so it is a great place to meet and have fun. We packed a picnic lunch and stayed for most of the day. There are lots of hands on exhibits and a few animals and the kids really had a blast:



They loved feeding and petting this deer:



This otter was beautiful:


They had a dental area where the kids could play in a large mouth structure and move teeth around, who knew teeth could be so fun?


There was an exhibit where you "raced" against various animals by racing a set of lights as they lit up in a line at the speed the animal ran. They ran a few times trying to beat various animals:


On the way home, we stopped at a Krispy Kreme donut shop. We don't have any that are very close to the house so we enjoyed the opportunity to watch donuts be made and to eat them while they were still warm. A good time was had by all (well, maybe not by my husband, he is not a fan like the rest of the family):




These photos crack me up because they had word bubbles stuck to the viewing glass and some of the bubbles are right next to the boys heads like they are saying the statements ;)




Makes ya wanna make a trip to the Krispy Kreme doesn't it?


I'll end the post with a couple of cuties....They did this on their own and I was glad to be able to grab the camera and catch them in the act:

Hello, anyone there???

Happy New Year!

I am so glad it is 2012 and 2011 is over! It was one very rough year for our family. The year ended with me losing my job where I had worked for just under 22 years. I know though that when God closes one door he opens another. So for now, I am quietly waiting to see what the next chapter in life brings. I am enjoying the time with the boys as I have never had this much time with them. Full time motherhood is one tough job! There are never enough hours in the day to do all that needs to be done.

Since it has been a while since I posted, I figured the best way was to update with pictures of the past few months:

When one gun just isn't enough...


When we visited the aquarium at the beach, we bought membership because it was just a few dollars more and it allows us to visit the zoo for free! We took a trip to the zoo in September and had a great time.

Armadillo's are a great way to get around:


As well as baby elephants...


Sometimes I feel like I live with these :)




The boys would throw acorns for the lemurs to chase, I don't know who had more fun, the boys or the lemurs...


That lion is in awe of their muscles don't ya know


Let's hope I never see this in real life..


A cutie riding a cutie..


Which is fiercer the big cat or boy? Depends on the day...


Couldn't forget about this handsome boy either!


The birds at the zoo are one of my favorite exhibits. I had my camera in the air looking upward for birds when I heard a sound and looked down and saw this. Yes, I did run from this very frightening bird because I am a wimp...


Isn't he beautiful?


We were a little freaked out when this wolf looked at Dalton like he was lunch...


Brotherly Love..


Can you spot 3 of the Davis boys (and the big Davis boy) in this photo (click to enlarge)?

We visited the most amazing Christmas lights in Virginia. This is at a couple's home and they have over 1 million lights! The pictures do not do the place justice, it was incredible! They also had little outbuildings with huge Christmas villages:


Santa was there to visit with as well...