Another year...

I cannot believe it has been an entire year since I last posted to the blog! I joined facebook during the year and did do a few postings to that along the way, but I do admit, I think I still prefer blogging for the longer stories or for capturing the year in photos.

It's hard to know where to begin. I have had such an incredible year with the boys. I believe that there were many great things that came from my being laid off from work. First, by being with the boys more, I really did see that the twins needed more help with school than I could imagine. I had them tested last Spring and they were classified as developmentally delayed. This has made a tremendous difference for them in Kindergarten. Their teachers tell me if I had waited until they started school, it would have taken months to get them evaluated and the extra help needed at school. Now from day 1 they have had extra help at school. They are still below grade level in some areas, but have made great strides in the past few months. Being home with them after school has enabled me to be able to work with them as well.

To fill my time, I have volunteered at both the elementary and charter school. I love working with and around kids and have found my time at school to be extremely rewarding. I am also serving on our local PTA board and helping with fundraisers at school. It is so amazing to do something that makes a difference and to be appreciated for what you do. It is so refreshing not to deal with all the office drama, backstabbing, and other work stresses. Sometimes you don't realize how bad something is until you step away from it for a while. I cannot believe I commuted two hours every day and worked in such a negative environment for so long. I am more relaxed than I have ever been in my life. I look forward to what the next chapter in life brings.

We have had such a great year as a family. We have made some great memories, sometimes in the simplest of things. I'll close with a bunch of photos from our past year. Hoping it won't be another year before I post again :)

The fair



At the beach.



First day of school.  First day of kindergarten for the twins...



Family fun day at church.  The boys at play with their dad...




Plenty of baseball.  Nate's first time playing ...

Halloween



The zoo. The boys were lucky to have a lot of the animals "up close and personal"

Visiting Santa at the Light display

Collin and his buddy "Little Bit"

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...

Summer 2011

I cannot believe summer is over. As a child summer seemed to last forever but as an adult it feels like the blink of an eye.

Last month we celebrated the twin's 5th birthday. Dalton picked a monster truck cake and Nathan wanted Mickey Mouse. We had their party at the gymnastics center and they had a blast. They were some tired children afterward!



On their actual birthday we took them to Chick Fil A where they were having their special children's day as they do on Tuesdays. They loved the slide and so did the Chick Fil A cow :) They were so excited when the cow came out to slide down! They call Chick Fil A the "Cow Place" and they are always so happy to see the cow!



We were able to take a whole week off and enjoy the beach and it was incredible. There is nothing like the beach!

Collin hates to have his picture taken so he was not cooperating :)

Brotherly Love

Jim had this great idea for a picture:

Beach time!




We visited the aquarium and my shark lovers were in heaven!

They loved the other fish critters as well:


Tristan being a ham bone:

A trip to the aquarium is not complete without our "crabby" pictures. See here for the 2008 pictures, my how they have grown:
They loved watching the otters play and the scuba show:


I'm glad we were able to take a family vacation and enjoy summer. Now it is time for back to school!