Davenport Dandelions

The Rainy Month of May

2010-05-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

May has been a busy month at the Davenport household, without mentioning the doctor and dental appointments and the never ending projects in the house and yard. My ward has finally decided to put me to work as a substitute primary chorister. This I have never done and wish that all my other friends in many of the previous wards could bestow some of their talent. (my sis, Emily, Becky, Beth, and Ang) It has really made me want to get a piano for my blank front room. We will see. I don't know how much junk I can talk Mike into getting, not that a piano is junk. But the one that we could afford at the moment would not be 25,000 that's for sure. Anyway, speaking of junk. Lately my favorite past time is going on KSL classifieds. And I have talked Mike into getting some pretty good junk. We have been looking into buying Lillie a bed for awhile. I was hoping to get her a trundle on the Costco website but still it was a little more than we could afford at the moment. So I decided to settle for this set.

It came with the desk, a tea pot light fixture, and some other fun things to spice up this little girls room that only consisted of elephant pink walls. I don't know who was more excited the little girl or her mommy.

We were also lucky enough to be invited to go to the aquarium with Aunt Joanne, Grandma, and Aunt Carolyn. The children loved it and Lillie keeps on asking when can we go back and visit the fish. Claire stayed home with Mike. Having three extra adults and three children was a real treat for me. I really enjoyed the outing.
Isaac trying to explain about the fish he sees in the aquarium. Ari's new and official camera smile. Or maybe she is just trying to imitate the fish.

Sweet Little girl.

Isaac is always refering himself as a Daddy sea serpent, especially when it comes to taking hime out of the bathtub. I now understand that he would be one of those underwater sea creatures that you would probably never see because he would be hiding in rock and crevises. This child could probaby have stayed all day in his hiding place.

Yes.. who doesn't enjoy the stingrays!

Mike is a man of many talents. He put this little playhouse up for the kids in a matter of days.
All the children enjoy their new playhouse and are looking forward to getting the swingset soon.

With a fabulous job on the playhouse we have to go professional on the roof. :)
Our neighbors even remarked--"They sure went all out on that playhouse they even hired a professional roofer."

I just missed my dad by 5 min. He was up there putting the drip edge. Gordon is pictured here. And the kids love Gordon.

No need to fear, Super Gray Man is here!

2010-04-12T10:00:00.001-07:00

Meet my Super Gray Man! His outfit is perfectly planned down to the last article of clothing.
Gray man.. features white shoes, camouflage gray socks (which you can't see). Fleece hand me down pants. (Thank you Zion and Dallin). Target Pirate shirt that I bought while we lived in Camarillo.. Size 4T. Under the pirate shirt is a t shirt that he picked up from preschool that has hands prints in puff paint. (Also from Camarillo).
A Super man cape which was made by his grandma.. with his I initial on back,
You also do not see that Isaac wears three pairs of underwear simutaneously. His star wars underwear.. For extra super power strength. Or so he tells me.
Last week, Isaac could only find two pairs of underwear and overturned every laundry basket trying to find his third star wars pair. I asked him if he could wear only two that day. He told me that if he can't wear three... one or two pair make him a bad guy. After a major meltdown.. we finally found the other pair in Lillie's closet.

One last detail.. the only thing that does change is the head gear. In this pic, its true he is wearing blue barrets.

At night, Mike and I will go and check on him and sometimes he has changed out of his pjs and into a Sleeping super grayman. "Supergray man has night adventures too" or so I am told.
I love my son with the active imagination.

Spring Baking

2010-04-08T20:59:00.001-07:00

After contemplating whether or not I should do sugar cookies this year....

White chocolate dipped

And regular! Eat em up!

Spring Planting

2010-04-08T20:23:00.001-07:00

Yes! Finally.. I nice warm day. We have Spring Fever over at the Davenport household. These children are natural born dirt diggers. They like to find worms, bugs, and other creepy crawlies. They like rocks, gravel, dirt clods, and Isaac can find a stick anywhere and wield it like a light saber. Anakin Skywalker has just taken over my sons body. (Especially on the days when Super Grayman is getting laundered).

....Now for my project. My own herb garden or atleast the start.

My labeling system. Not as super organized as Mike's.

This was just one of those days that was smooth and Happy.

More January adventures!

2010-03-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

Marisa's birthday celebration.. Pad Thai

Marisa and her nameste cake!

Grandma and Talmage..wearing Isaac's old outfit.. (sigh)!!

The new itty bitty bug.. I call all my kids bugs from some reason. It all started with Lillie bug.

Marisa practicing

Every day is a new adventure of motherhood... keeps on going and going.

These are the two that keep mommy up at night. Daddy snores through it! Ari has been getting her teeth.. more and more keep on coming. I keep on worrying that its her ears but so far it hasn't been.

And this is one of those nights.. The one to the right is deceiving. She takes kitty naps..

which are smaller than cat naps. She is doing better at night however.

Cici aka Claire

Sisters.. sisters... There could never be better sisters.

Ari's owies! Don't you love the days. One thing is for sure.. when your kids are really close you visit your doctor more. I was just in yesterday.. I can't believe that it has been 6 weeks since I took Ari in. Mike came with us and I don't think you could put anyone else into one of those little doctor rooms. All of our kids had shots given to them. Isaac and Lillie received a flu shot. Guess who was the worst.. or should I say cried the most... the oldest.

Baby visitors

2010-03-06T09:19:00.000-08:00

We have been so happy to have so many visitors to welcome Cici into our home. We have loved getting diapers and wipes from Costco. It is ultimately the best gift.

Lillie, Mike, Martha, Claire, Puppy, Ari, Ron and Grandma Parrish. Isaac was being obstinate and refused to be in the picture. Martha and Ron came up from Santa Cruz, CA. We love seeing them. Hopefully we will go down and visit them soon.

Sundays at our house. Since my parents house is getting remodeled we have been lucky to have all the get togethers at ours. We love visiting with family and our kids love it too. Sundays are our favorite day.
My sisters Marisa and Kalise. Brother in law Brian and of course.. Baby Talmage.
Marisa will be expection her first in August. We are so excited for another Summer baby.

Me, Cici, and Isaac.

having cousin time with baby Talmage with the supervision of Grandpa and Brian.

Claire and her siblings

2010-03-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Claire meets her family.. Soon after coming home from the hospital. Ari the snake eater, Lillie ballerina, Isaac alias Super gray man.

Ari learing to be gentle with the baby. Notice the tear.. I think daddy accidently hurt her feelings.

Lillie loving her sister.

Claire Cesily Davenport

2010-03-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has taken so long to post these pics. of our new little one. I have been trying to cope with having four children...:) many days are pretty crazy. I will try to keep up to date. We are all doing really well. I can't believe it has already been two months ago that we brought our fourth child home from the hospital. She is doing well and the children love their new sibling. She gets kissed, patted, pulled, hugged, more pats and is just all around loved by her brother and sisters.

Welcome to the Davenport Clan! Claire Cesily Davenport. Your father named you.. I will have to tell you the story sometime. I chose your middle name.. after my wonderful sister and friend Cesily. May you grow up to be just like her or atleast be blessed with some of her admiring qualities.

Claire was my smallest baby by far. 6lbs and 12 oz., 17 inches long.. Grandma didn't know that babies came that small.. but they do. Claire has made up for it. She is now 10lbs 1oz. in the 30 percentile rather than the fifteenth that she was born in. Her doctor and I are very happy.

Fall 2009 Family Pics

2009-10-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

We are excited to get our family pictures done. Now I have current pics to put all over the house. :) Thank you Jeni Boston. I think we are our own worst critic. I guess I don't look too bad being almost 8 mos. pregnant. Enjoy!

Isaac when he does look at the camera is so photogenic. His personality really shines through a lens.

Lillie was very serious during our photo shoot. Love this pic. of her. The angelic 2 year old. ha! ha!

Sweet pixie Arianne!

Wee Witches Witch Hunt!

2009-10-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

After carving pumpkins.. we decided to go on the witch hunt at Gardner Village.

Mike starting the hunt!

Ari.. going for the ride. This is her preferred way to ride in the stroller lately.

Lillie enjoying Witchy Poo!

Isaac having fun with the witch hanging upside down!

Lillie was frightened of the witch who was lonely on the bench waiting for a hug.

Daddy and James Jr.

Lillie's favorite witch was the one that had the cat chasing a mouse under her skirt. I thought this look was pretty cute.

Nearing the end of the hunt. We really enjoyed searching for the witches and of course we had to stop at Naborhood bakery and pick up the cookie for finishing the witch hunt.

Carving Pumpkins with the Cousins

2009-10-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Mike and James went to a small apple and pumpkin farm in Sandy and picked out 2 huge pumpkins to carve. The boys were so excited and couldn't wait to carve these huge pumpkins. Lillie needed her own pumpkin and thankgoodness I did have one on hand. She loves to draw and enjoyed drawing on her pumpkin. She was so intent. It was so fun to watch her.

Isaac loved having fun with his Uncle James.

It was so much fun having James and his boys come visit. Isaac loved playing legos and playing with the toys that Colton willingly shared.

Lillie Kate and Daddy. Daddy carved a big scary spider.

Our cousin James jr. I can't believe how big these kids are getting.

James and Colton and their big scary face... a Vampire Skeleton

Ari was there only half the time.. She ended up going down for a nap.

Colton showing us big pumpkin guts! :)

Isaac scooping out his Big Pumpkin GUts!

Alta Snow fun!

2009-10-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

We were so happy to have Mike's brother James and his boys come for a visit. We tried to plan out a whole bunch of activities for them to do. One of the activities was to go up Little Cottonwood Canyon and go on the Tram. Well... the Tram was out of commission until the 31st. But James' boys were excited to go up to Alta and play in the snow. They hiked up further than our little clan did so I wasn't able to get any pictures of them playing in the snow. But these little ones enjoyed it too.

Ari bundled up. Daddy kept on throwing her snowballs to play with. She really wanted to crawl around and explore. I just didn't want her to roll down the hill.

Isaac making snow Angels!

Not quite ready for ski season..

View of the Mtns.!

Fall cookie making and Apple steaming

2009-10-25T14:52:00.000-07:00

October has always been one of my favorite months. We have enjoyed canning peaches, grape juice and apple juice. It is also my favorite baking month. Sugar Cookies are a favorite cut out in all the fun Halloween shapes. This year I tried a different cookie recipe, it was alright but I think I am still getting used to baking in our new oven. I really enjoy a soft sugar cookie.. these turned out to be a little crunchy but my children loved to decorate and eat them anyway.

Tasting the wares! Isaac and Lillie Kate loved to sprinkle as many sprinkles as a cookie possibly could hold. I let them. Last year we didn't make sugar cookies so all the decorations needed to be used. The black sugar was a definate hit!

Our organic apple juice made from a combonation of golden and red delicious apples. Straight from the two trees in my parents yard. The brown one is spiced.. and it is so good!

I think the cookies turned out great.. Like the snake? Isaac artistically made and decorated it himself.

More and More Birthdays!!!

2009-10-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Arianne celebrated her 1st birthday on September 18th. I made her cupcakes with 7 minute frosting. We had a nice quiet celebration and invited only a few guests.

The guests. We also had a pizza party to help celebrate.

Enjoying the birthday cupcake

The gifts. Her brother and sister enjoyed them more that she did.

The favorite- Vteck magnetic farm "You made a match..."

A smile!!!

Sunday after we invited extended family to celebrate Ari and Mike's birthday. Great Grandma even came bringing bubbles for the little ones.

Mike opening up his gifts! BOOKS OFCOURSE! Which he picked out!

Happy 35th!

For Mike's birthday we always have his favorite.. Pumpkin Pie!

Great Grandma, Mike, Arianne, and Aunt Joanne.

Birthdays at the Davenport household are done for awhile!!!

Guess Where We Are???

2009-09-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

For Labor Day I thought it would be fun to take the kids to see the animals at Wheeler Farm. The kids really enjoyed seeing and feeding the horses, watching the pigs wallow in the mud, the cows and all the other fun and exciting animals that can be found on the farm. Lillie was hoping to catch a duck near the pond. Isaac was fascinated by the rushing water and putting grass and rocks in it and see it go under the bridge. Simple, Simple and fun! I remember going to Wheeler Farm when I was a kid with my Pond cousins in tow. I loved it then just like my children love it now.

Okay.. so getting three kids to smile at the camera is just.. hard. Now adding one more beginning of the year will be difficult. Four kids age four and under.. what were these parents thinking? :)

This pic was best out of 8 or was it 10? :)

Watching the Chickens..

Ari.. she will stay still the longest. Isn't she growing up?

Isaac doing what Isaac likes to do best.. Lillie tagging along for the ride.

Trying to play with a duck. The water is just in the way.

Isaac showing his true silly self.

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Many of you wanted to see some pics of our new home. Here are a few that Mike took to show his family back East. We finally have all the carpet installed on the main level which has been really nice. It was done just in time for my sister's baby shower.

The Front

The Back.. and the view of the Wasatch

The Playroom

Mike's project... undoing the basement layer by layer.

The living room and Dining room were all one room. Mike took down a wall and then put up one. So that we have a place to sit and eat without feeling that we are on display from the entryway. Mike has been very handy and amazes me at all the things he has been doing to our home in such a short time. I just cannot keep up.

Summer Updates

2009-08-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Wow! I cannot believe how fast this summer has flown by. We have been so busy trying to get the new house ready so that we can move our family in. Finally, we have moved in, it took about 2 mos. of work. We are so blessed and so happy. We have truly enjoyed our new home.

The children outside on our front porch getting ready to go to our new ward!

Gargling the pool water in our new backyard. I love having a backyard!!

Ari finding out what it means to be the youngest child. After moving into the new home Ari has decided that she needs to be mobile and started crawling. But that is not all she enjoys climbing and getting up on things. I wonder how long it will take for her to learn how to walk. ????

And ofcourse summer is not complete without the birthday celebrations.

We celebrated Lillie's 2nd and Isaac's 4th together again. Isaac enjoyed his Jet cake made out of

a Hershey's chocolate bar engineered by Dad!

Lillie enjoyed her Kitty cake! Pink of course. Lillie is very fond of cats and sometimes pretends she is one.

Opening presents with the cousins. We were so blessed to have my sister's family stay for the whole summer while her husband was getting treatment at the Hunstman Cancer insitute. Isaac has loved being with his cousins and has enjoyed learning about Star Wars, R2D2, wrestling and playing mock light saber fights.

House Hunting

2009-05-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

Here we go a househunting.. a house hunting .. a house hunting we go. After deciding that it will take some time to see what happens to the offers we put on short sales, we finally found something that wasn't a short sale that we liked. The closing day is May 28th! Yea! We are really excited to finally have a place of our own. We have been searching for the right house for sometime. I can't believe how much time it has taken. And we have seen some wrecks! The lucky one is a Rambler.. with 4 bedrooms on the main floor, which is perfect for our young family.

Mike is currently out of town again on business. I think this is his fourth DC trip this year. He has been working very hard trying to pull together a contract. I think he has every episode but three taped of Tom and Jerry. Soo.. Cate, if Collin would like some Tom and Jerry.. Let me know. We also have some Scooby Doo. Thank goodness for Cartoon Network. ( My parents don't get TCM or we would be taping more black and white movies)

Isaac is enjoying living with Gwamma and Gwampa. Yesterday, for the first time he asked when we would be going on the big airplane to go home. I told him that we live here now. He said, That's good!" He seems to be taken the move well. EE still comes up in conversation. We talked about him the other day as well as Kelsey a couple of days ago. I miss them too. Isaac is enjoying digging in the yard and loves to find worms and make worm homes. I love how he says his prayers and blesses that Jesus will come soon! What a testimony! I wonder what would happen if I and everyone else had that kind of faith. Maybe HE would come.

Lillie is our mischievous wonder. She is always getting into trouble and everything so quickly. Isaac wasn't as mischievous as this child. The worst thing is Lillie starts it and Isaac copies. Such as pouring out a whole container of conditioner in Grandma's shower and sliding all over the shower floor. Or how about breaking as many eggs against the concrete in the garage. Or hiding in closets and throwing down clothes. She keeps me so so busy.

Arianne is our angel. She is so so good. So mellow. Her latest face she pulls is the Cheesy squinty smile that makes you laugh. She enjoys grabbing everything and can scoot pretty good on the floor. I am sure one day she will enjoy making trouble with her other two siblings.

Visiting the cousins in.. Indiana

2009-04-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

Mike had a conference in Chicago the first week of April and me and the kids were lucky to tag along. The kids and I were able to visit my sister Cesily and her family while Mike attended his conference in the Windy city. Or should I say the snowy city. :) We loved visiting our cousins. We enjoyed seeing the sites and seeing Aunt Ces-a-wee at work being the extraordinary mother that she is. They live in a beautiful home and we enjoyed catching up on playmobil, barbie, princess, little people, and play kitchen galore. The kids were in heaven with all the new toys and Isaac was completely entertained by his older cousins.. it was great.

The Babies rolling on the floor together.

The gang. Eden is a true princess.. She always wore a tiara and jewelry. I can hardly wait for Lillie and Ari to be interested in dress up and princesses. What fun!

Easter Sugar Cookie making. Ces made the best sugar cookies. The kids were in heaven.

The frosting was probably the best part.. 2nd, 5th,.. 10 licks good enough?
What a beautiful Smile!!!!!!!

Isaac had the cookie making down to a science. It takes lots of concentration.

The park.. All the kiddos love to swing.

The icecream eating

What yumminess! Ces and Jared's two boys.. what cuties.

They definately will be taller than our kids.

The rest of the darling family. It was so much fun to be with them.

My sis and I and are attached munchkins.

Didn't You Know....

2009-03-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

That the perm was coming back in style!

Oh, Cupcake Happyness!

2009-03-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

Mike is out of town, again, on business. My parents went to Arizona to visit Josh, Abbie and Tienna. Which has left me with a three year old wondering why he can't go on a plane too.
"I want to go on a big blue plane" "I want to go with Daddy too." "Where is Gwamma and Papa?"
Thank goodness, Kalise came over and gave the kids a little cheering up. Kalise made these cupcakes for her YW activity.

Aren't they so cute! They have given me the idea to do cupcakes for the kids birthdays! The Cookie Monster one was Isaac's favorite.

Total Happiness!

Lillie eating her 2nd! This one is the worm in dirt.

Gotta eat the yummiest part first!

March comes in Like a Lion!

2009-03-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

It sure has been windy lately. I must have forgotten how windy the month of March can be. The wind has been howling and blowing for several days. Finally.. they did what they came to do and left this...

Isaac has been asking everyday if we could turn on the snowblower. This snow was wet but luckily it didn't stick. Isaac enjoyed eating the snow and helping Kalise get all the snow off the trees so that the branches wouldn't break. Lillie.. well.. she wasn't too sure if she liked the snow.

We Made It!!!

2009-02-27T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Penske truck made it! My children barely made it! And the move is over for a little while anyway. We had to put some of our stuff in storage. Thank you, Thank you to all of those wonderful priesthood holders that have helped us load and unload. We couldn't have done it without you.

It takes a good while to get the children back on their schedules. The biggest highlight of the last couple of days is that Ari is currently sleeping through the night. YES! I can't believe it! I still have to get up and check on her and make sure that she is still breathing. Our schedules have been a little full since we have moved. We have been able to see Lisa ( Mike's sister) and her family, Hang out with several of the Davenports in Syracuse (Mike has beautiful cousins, I truly know now where Lillie gets those dreamy eyes), and go to the Dinosaur Museum with Aunt Joanne. I finally went in and got my hair fixed so that now it resembles a normal hairstyle. Thanks to my friend, Jen. Another highlight of this week was that I was able to get together with Ang, Shannon and Melanie and go see a movie. That just doesn't happen every day.

We went and saw this movie...

It was pretty cute! Hope we do it again soon.

All Aboard the Davenport Train!

2009-02-03T15:02:00.001-08:00

All Aboard! The Isaac and Lillie train is just about to take off. You should see the knot that Mike used to put these Tike toys together. It's a work of Art! We just added Isaac's truck a few weeks ago. We found it at a thrift store, it was brand new and was only 20 bucks! Isaac loves it and has a difficult time giving Lillie a turn at the wheel. Having another big bulky toy has made the space a little more cramped.. but hey! We are moving! I will miss our neighborhood it is so quiet and peaceful. I will even miss hearing those crazy coyotes howling at night.

The trees here are starting to bud. Now we get to go to Utah and experience it all again. I don't think we will be taking to many rides in the neighborhood like this for awhile.

The many stances of Toddlerhood! Don't you love 18 month olds!

Look at this stance and expression in this picture!

Love it!! Love Her!!!

No one can make me smile the way....

MOMMY CAN!!!!!!

25 Random Things about me

2009-02-02T21:20:00.001-08:00

Me and My Sweet Girls

I got tagged on facebook but I thought this would be interesting to put on my blog too. I am not one to write about myself. I do not like the attention and hate any type of attention drawn personally to myself. Anyway, with some prodding from my cuz I joined facebook a couple of months ago. It has been fun and exciting to meet long lost friends again and reconnect with them.

Here are 25 random things about me.

What I forgot to include is the reoccurring nightmare I experience when I left Isaac's Winnie the Pooh blanket on the plane. (It was in a plastic bag in the overhead bin along with an outfit because he threw up all over it coming home from Maryland) I tried everything in my power to get it back but to no avail Southwest Airlines was able to track it down. I really am traumatized and feel awful about it.

We are moving this month and I will definitely miss Cali. My ward and friends especially. The ocean being so close. The weather, of course. And the wonderful exciting places I was able to visit. California is a beautiful State! However we didn't make it to Sea World or San Diego zoo.

1. I thought turning 30 would mean that I would finally feel grown up. I now realize that I will never grow up. I will always remain my same crazy goofy self.

2. My husband wonders what I did the first 25 years without him. I did fine. I just managed things differently.

3. I thought I really enjoyed old movies until I married someone who REALLY REALLY REALLY enjoys old movies.

4. I love my sisters! They are an inspiration in my life. I have the best family in the world.

5. I really think my grandparents left me with the greatest legacy possible. I am truly blessed to have such wonderful cousins.

6. I talk to my mom almost everyday. I need the support with the three wee widdle ones.

7. I am going to miss my friend Cate when I move. I really hope she comes up and sees me.

8. My sister and I always dreamed of running an orphanage in England when we were younger. Now that orphanage would be full of all of our own children. :)

9. I always thought I wanted to live in Vermont (with all that snow! inspired by White Christmas) until I moved to Buffalo, NY. That was cold enough with that negative windchill. Plus there was no Danny Kaye or Bing to sing with. It was a beautiful green in the summer.

10. I am a good cook as long as I don't get distracted.

11. I love the sound and the smell of rain. It makes me so happy! I love the rain you hear on your rooftop at night when you are all snuggled up in bed.

12. I would love to go to Europe! I would especially like to visit England. Maybe I will just move there and raise some sheep in Scotland on the moor.

13. My favorite getaway is a remote tropical island with picturesque beaches faraway from tourist traps!

14. I am so grateful that my father works for the airlines and has given my the opportunity to travel to different places. Even if its just traveling to Utah and visiting family.

15. I am so happy that I was able to listen to Julie B. Beck last Saturday at my stake center. She is truly an inspiration! I hope I can be a better mother and woman.

16. I wish Cesily didn't live so far away!

17. I keep my cupboards stocked with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Hello, what is a pantry with out those two staples.

18. I love hearing ocean waves crash on the beach or staring out into the sea. It is so therapeutic. It really makes you think about the BIG perspective!

19. I wish I got more sleep at night. I wish I was one of those people who went right to sleep the second their head hit the pillow, slept through children crying and woke up feeling fully rejuvenated at 7 AM.

20. I really do think patience is a virtue. I wish I had more of it. I would truly be a miracle worker.

21. I love my children! They bring such a joy to my life. I love hearing Isaac's laugh. Lillie's cackle and seeing Ari's smile with Rock Star stick up hair.

22. I am sporting the worst hair cut I have gotten in my entire life! I haven't gotten my hair recut because I want to grow it out. Even sporting the curly do, it still looks really bad.

23. I believe laughing is the best remedy!

24. I have truly enjoyed finding lost friends on facebook.

25. I don't like people that don't clean up after their dog.

Isaac's Last Days of Preschool

2009-01-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

It was Isaac's last week in the co-op preschool. I really don't think he is able to comprehend that he well never go back. I don't know if he will ever ask. He really has enjoyed going to school and making projects and watering the garden and playing with the dumptruck. We have the fisher price "little people school" at home and one time he found the teacher and said "Look, its Teacher Annie!"
I am sad to see preschool come to an end. Isaac's teacher was terrific as well as all the other moms that I met and worked with. I was finally getting the hang of coming back to preschool.

On Tuesday, we made t-shirts for every child in the class. It was a fun and crazy project painting Isaac's hand and going around to 15 other shirts in the class. They turned out really great! I thought that this was a perfect project for Isaac to complete on his last day so that he can remember preschool in Cali.

On Thursday, Isaac and his class took a field trip to the Camarillo Helipad. I knew that he was going be fascinated by the police car, ambulance, fire engine and helicopter. I have said before Isaac loves all transportation and rescue transportation is just a bonus!

Isaac was able to be the volunteer to show the everyone how this helicopter rescues people! I love how his tongue is sticking out. Totally, my boy!!

Mike said that when Isaac was able to tour the helicopter he immediately went to the passenger side and put on his seat belt hoping to go on a helicopter ride. The Ventura rescue people were amazed and had a good laugh.

Isaac being a passenger in an ambulance. When he got home he was so excited to show me his pack of goodies and fire hat. Thank you co-op preschool for giving my son an opportunity to have fun away from home.

At the Doctor's Office

2009-01-24T10:20:00.000-08:00

One night, Isaac cried uncontrollably when he was three months old. Nothing, it seemed would appease him. I, a new mom was at a loss to know what to do. I just moved here to California and everything was new. I was tired, Mike was tired so we ended up calling our doctor's office at 2 am. And this is the Doctor that answered. I will never forget that night or that morning when we went in to see what was the matter with Isaac. Of course, Nothing was. He told me that sometimes babies cry for a long period of time. But the way he handled the situation and his true concern about Isaac and my welfare has made me come to
him ever since.

So.. it's time for check-ups! My two girls have made it to their milestones of 4 mos. and 18 mos. The nicest thing about having them this close it that we can do their check ups together.

Ari waiting patiently to get weighed and measured.

Silly Lillie waiting for the same thing

I am very sad to leave the clinic that I have taken my children to ever since Isaac was 2 1/2 months old. We have still come even after we have moved a good half hour away two years ago. All the staff and Doctors have been wonderful and fantastic, even though we see this one especially. Here is our doctor that sees my kids on a regular basis, the man I will miss coming to see about my children's welfare. He has been so good and even asks me how I am doing. I remember coming in for Ari's first check up, he turned to me and asked, so.. do the grandparents live close? Nothing gets past him. In other words, I am sure you are overwhelmed and need help. (Yeah, I need help.) He also gave me some great advice.. Enjoy my children they don't stay small for long. Sometimes.. I do deserve a pat on the back, I found a good clinic and an awesome doctor. He has made me so happy!

Isaac training to be like Dr. Maclaren. He is learning from the greatest.

Dr. Maclaren is from Scotland so it has always been fun to listen to his bur of and accent.

Now it's Lillie Kate's turn

It hasn't been a secret that we have all been sick for 3 1/2 weeks. We are currently now are on the mend. Yea!!!! For Us!!! I am now the only one that has is taking antibiotics for an ear and sinus infection. Taking three children to the Urgent Care by yourself with your three year old screaming like a banshee because his ear hurt was the ultimate highlight of Mike being gone on his business trip.

Happy Inauguration Day!

2009-01-19T22:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Inauguration Day! I am sure you are thinking where are those million, trillion people that the news channels have broadcasted that would be there on Obama's inauguration Day. As you can see this day was rather peaceful. I am happy to say that we were able to make it to DC with Mike's brother James and his family (minus Emma) during the holiday season. DC has got to be one of my favorite places to visit. Our Capitol is beautiful and I am very proud of the history and culture that you witness when you are able to walk the mall and see all the buildings, monuments and smithsonians.

This is our crowd coming out of one of the museums. The Museum of Natural History to be exact. Vanessa just bought our crowd popcorn and the mall is just not the mall without popcorn.

Isaac and I posing in front of the Washington Monument. My nephew Colton who is 5 told me that this is where all the hockey players live as we drove by it. I didn't correct him, I enjoy children who are free thinkers and especially those who have an imagination.

Cousin Play at the Park

2009-01-03T18:33:00.000-08:00

Finding time to blog has been a little bit difficult. It is really sad to say that the only time I have found to do this is at a quarter to ten. Everyone here in the house is asleep. The last several days have been a yucky mess.. everyone has been sick. And it doesn't end there my kids have been the culprits. We have had the flu and have no idea where we picked it up and have gotten other people sick at the Davenport home. I could totally die. Mike has been very ill today, the kids are getting better, and I hope that I will be able to have a restful night of sleep, without anyone barfing, midnight baths or diarrhea. We have also have extended our trip a whole week due to Mike taking a last minute business trip to Florida. My Father-in-law, the wonderful man he is, has offered to let us stay another week and help me with the children while Mike hits the state of Sunshine. It is easier for him to leave from here rather than flying across the country twice in one day.

We haven't been sick the whole time and have been able to enjoy special one on one time with several of Mike's siblings and their families. Here are some fun photos taken by Alan, my father-in-law at the Park on Christmas Eve before the festivities. I am not at the park but am busy slaving away in the kitchen, with all the women, which I am totally happy to do. The men found themselves kicked out of the home and decided to go to the park to play basketball.

I loved this photo of Mike in the air. Here he is with his nephews and brother-in-law.

Isaac on the slide

Lillie being pushed by cousin Michael. Yes, this is Mike's namesake. His middle name is even our last name. I enjoy Katherine telling me the story of why she named him after Mike. Michael is 12 and is the best sitter. I wish we lived close so that I could use him more often. Lillie and Isaac loved playing with him and all their N. cousins.

Isaac playing basketball.
Isaac and Lillie being pushed by cousin Mike and Daniel.

Lillie in the music room. What you don't see in the photo is the many plants that are to the left that she enjoys gardening. Grandpa probably caught her in this photo.

Ari was not at the park that day but enjoyed a long nap on Grandma's couch.

Return of the Bubble Eaters!!

2009-01-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

Yes.. they are here. They are there. They can be anywhere. These last several weeks they have been found happily eating the bubbles in Grandma and Papa's bathtub back East. Lillie is often found with Santa beard. But this time it got everywhere...

Merry Christmas from Maryland!!!

2008-12-23T19:30:00.000-08:00

We made it to Maryland.. it was a little bit of a Nightmare getting out of LAX flying the wonderful airline.. Southwest. The kids were great putting up with the fiasco. We are enjoying the time we are spending with the Davenport side of the family. Lillie has really enjoyed the Christmas tree and now all the ornaments start two feet from the bottom. She IS FASCINATED with all the many colorful balls and lights which Isaac never bothered with when he was her age. She also enjoys digging or should I say gardening, as Grandpa Davenport calls it, all the many plants in the music room. Most of the plants are now out of her reach. She keeps all of us very busy.
Isaac is enjoying a wooden train that he found under the tree and also a playmobil nativity set. He loves watching the birds in Grandpa's yard and can even pick out the woodpeckers that come to feed at the feeder. He loves going on special errands with PawPaw to the store and picking up Grandma from the train.

Arianne our night owl is enjoying special holding time from each Grandma and Grandpa.

We are excited to see everyone that is coming over tomorrow for Christmas Eve and also for Santa to come. We love our Savior and enjoy this time of year that we are able to celebrate his Life. Merry Chirstmas!

MY BFF!!!

2008-12-16T22:02:00.000-08:00

One of our jobs as co-op parents at Isaac's preschool is to take photos of the children and scrapbook it for Me book that they receive at the end of the year. Thanks to Cate I was able to get this job done in two days. She came over to my house yesterday and saw how many photos and pages I had to do and how I was doing it.. and KNEW.. I NEEDED HELP! She completely organized everything and we were able to whip these out in an hour or so.. I just added the comments and finishing touches that night. We did two events and two pages of each child so 40 pages or so... I think we did great. I really thought I wouldn't complete this task until the end of January. Thank you, Thank you Cate. You are my BFF! :)

Hometown Christmas Parade

2008-12-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

Saturday..Mike and I decided to take the children to the hometown Christmas parade. Lillie and Isaac loved every minute of it and I thought that it was a perfect parade through the eyes of a child who is in love with TRANSPORTATION!!! You know anything that moves trains, planes, automobiles, trucks, and more. We did not bring our camera but I thought the description of this parade was worth a journal or blog entry. The Theme for the parade was....(THINK GREEN) a recycleable christmas. Everything it seems is green these days, I feel like you can't get away from GREEN. Anyway.. I want to describe this parade, okay, you have got to imagine yourself as a three year old.

The parade started with a sign of the theme followed by the first vehicle a GARBAGE truck decked out in holiday attire. Isaac is in love with garbage trucks so this was awesome in his eyes. This garbage truck was very shiny and new and looked as if they only drive it each year for the parade. It definately didn't stink. They also had lots of fun looking vintage cars, trucks and tractors. Followed by BIGGER cars, trucks, tractors and FIRETRUCKS. The firetrucks came in three different colors red, vintage red, and yellow. Then there was a finale of more cars, trucks, and tractors and tractors and tractors and firetrucks. The last vehicle was a long flatbed truck with Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus (sporting sunglasses) and his sleigh inside. To me, a better finish would have been for Santa Claus being in a firetruck or tractor it would have been true to the area. :)!!!

We driveby many tractors wherever we go. And California needs firetrucks to help it stop going up in flame. A California Santa Claus should come in a tractor.

We also had a person dressed up in a recycled Elmo costume that had seen better times. Let's just leave it at that. LOL!!! Some things after awhile don't look well and should be thrown away don't you agree?

December Daze!

2008-12-12T23:51:00.000-08:00

Arianne trying out her first smiles in front of the camera. Daddy is doing the taking!

We had the Meyrings over for a little while last week which was great fun. Isaac and Kelsey play really good together. Collin and Kelsey love Lillie and think of her as there little sister so I didn't have to play referee that much. Maybe five is the magic number! Kelsey came to us wearing the most outrageous outfit.. She wore Collin's shoes and socks, a ballet tutu, and princess shoulder pads on her arms complete with chopsticks in her hair. What am I in for when Lillie and Ari get this big. I am already having a hard time keeping Lillie outfitted with her diaper intact during the night and at naptime. Could this possibly be the beginning?

The children watching Rudolph this lasted for the first 15 minutes before Mike got out the popcorn.

I am falling behind in my posts.. I have felt this week has been truly crazy and that we have had a million things going on. Well, maybe not a million but a lot of things needed attention this week.

Last Saturday, Isaac had his Christmas program for his preschool. We dressed him up in church dress so that he would be a star in his first debut on stage. Isaac and his class did three songs.. Sesame Street (Sesame Street, Sesame Street I want to live on Sesame Street with Big Bird, followed by Count Dracula 1-2-3!, Sleeping Elmo, and Cookie Monster),

Two Hand up and Two hands down, and Jingle Bells. My son knows the words to the songs but refuses to sing. If you sing to him he will fill in the blanks when you pause. He will however do all the actions. Jingle bells was a hit! Each child was given their own jingle bell to ring and boy did they know how to use those jingle bells. I just wish the audience was much more curteous.

Isaac with his preschool class and his teacher

I love this pic of him! I took it right before he performed..Stagefright?

Putting on 3year old shoes

2008-12-05T13:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning, Isaac and I had the opportunity to attend preschool together. Isaac's job was to have fun and enjoy every opportunity that came along that day in 3 year old form. My job was to try ( I emphasize on try) to help Isaac, his fellow classmates and teacher enjoy an unstressful, uneventful day in the classroom filled with fun. As I was working in the classroom, I was guided to think about several things. 1) I sometimes don't take the time to really sit back and observe about what in the world is going on around me. Motherhood sometimes overwhelms me and I am sometimes completely lost in my own bubble called ... My LIFE (survival mode). I am not going to make excuses. 2) I really have got to brush up on my teaching skills. I taught preschool a long time ago and was very good at it. For some reason all those skills that I once had have become very rusty. I know that if I helped out in the classroom consistently I would get them back. 3) From Teacher to Me and my son: If you guide him back to his chair by his shoulders rather than pulling him by his hand he will feel that he is doing the walking. I used to know that! 4) I sometimes get overwhelmed at the things that my son can't or won't do rather than thinking about all the wonderful things that he can do. What an amazing gift! I am thankful for the opportunity that I was able to observe and watch my son without too many interruptions and remember what it was like to be three. He is so easy going and happy. As I watched him play outside I was so proud of him and so proud that he was my son.

Sweet ending of November

2008-12-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

Kalise and Brian imitating the first Thanksgiving!

It has been 5 years since I was able to have Thanksgiving with my family. I am not counting the year that we went to Vegas and saw Marisa play Volleyball for the Y on Thanksgiving day. That did not feel like Thanksgiving at all. Thanksgiving day in my mind should be traditional. A day that children come to their grandparents house and learn about the first Thanksgiving and the 5 kernels of corn. Along with what a Turkey should look like when its done. And how much seasoning should be put in the gravy or how many lemons are used to make the Yams and Apples. It is a day that children are taught how to cook-- how their grandmothers and great grand mothers cooked long before they were born. Thanksgiving is time that those long ago cooks are honored and the traditional dishes come out. And when we cook a traditional dish we remember. We remember those Thanksgivings long ago that happened when we shared dinner with grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. I love thanksgiving because it is a time for making memories along with reminiscing with family about those memories of the past.

Ari was already full and napped during the feast.

Our traditional Thankgiving dinner!

We blessed Arianne Bernice Davenport on Thanksgiving Day which made the day extra special!

Family photo

Lillie and Mommy!

Our Anniversary!

2008-11-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

November 8th 2003- November 8th 2008

Happy Anniversary Michael!!

We have been married for 5 years and have 3 children.. 3 years and under.

We have lived in two States and have moved four times.

We will be gearing up for another move real soon....

It's How-wee-ween Time!!!!

2008-11-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

THE BAT!!!

THE LADY!!!

AND THE BABY!!!

the How-wee-ween time meal the children really enjoyed. They loved eating this witches brew with pumpkin and leaf noodles

Trick or Treat

It How-wee-ween Time as Isaac calls it.

We started the morning early with a visit to the doctor. It was Lillie's 15 month appointment and Ari's 1 week appointment. Lillie is in the 90th percentile for heighth and 60th for weight. Ari is in the 60th percentile for heighth and the 90th for weight. At 6 weeks Ari weighs 11 pounds all those night feedings or snack times that last up until midnight have really paid off.. for her. Me.. tired of course.

10 am we left the doctor with Lillie and Isaac sporting their breakfast in their mouth.. a tootsie pop sucker. It's How-wee-ween Time.

We stopped on the way home for breakfast at IHOP. Kid and family friendly. Where the kids picked up more candy which they ate it and the wrappers on the way home. It's How-wa-ween Time.

The Late breakfast paid off because at a little after three I started making dinner and we were able to make a head start trick or treating after baths from dinner of course. We were ready at 5:30 and lasted one hour. The children were in bed by 7:30. It's How-wee-ween Time.. and it is over.

5 Days of Pumpkins

2008-10-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

What kind of face should I carve a happy face or a scarry one?

I guess it doesn't matter since Daddy does all the carving anyway.

I thought I would try to make this week special by making something with pumpkin or some other type of squash each night . So far I have been able to keep to the plan. Monday night I out did myself by making a sweet potato casserole and a Turtle Pumpkin Pie among the main meal and biscuits. Tuesday we had spaghetti and spaghetti squash, Thursday I made those lowfat pumpkin cookies and we carved pumpkins which Lillie tried to eat the top off of hers.

Anyway, the Sweet potato casserole comes from the cooking light magazine which I am a total fan of. I love getting the magazine in the mail and dreaming about the meals that I might one day cook once we get passed the noodle and the peanut butter and honey stage. But, I do however try to make a meal once or twice a month out of the ordinary.. I usually end up substituting ingredients because I don't have them on hand but I have learned from the Queen of Improvising and Substituting (My mom) so many of these recipes end up tasting well.

This is a Vandersteen family favorite and has even won over my Grandmother's recipe of Yams and Apples.This one is now part of our Thanksgiving menu.

Sweet Potato Casserole (go to this link for a picture since I didn't take a picture of ours)

Yield
16 servings
Ingredients
Potatoes:
2 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup half-and-half
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Cooking spray
Topping:
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 ounces)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
To prepare potatoes, place potatoes in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until very tender. Drain; cool slightly.
Place potatoes in a large bowl. Add half-and-half, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and vanilla. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add eggs; beat well (mixture will be thin). Scrape mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.
To prepare topping, sprinkle miniature marshmallows over top of casserole. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in pecans, and sprinkle over potato mixture and marshmallows. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Our Turtle Pumpkin Pie

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp. caramel ice cream topping, divided
1 honey Maid Graham cracker crust (which I didn't have on hand I ended up making a nilla wafer crust)
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp of pecan pieces, divided
1 cup cold milk
2 pkg (3.4 oz.) Vanilla Instant pudding
1 cup of canned pumpkin
1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tub (8 oz) whipped topping
Pour 1/4 cup caramel topping into crust; sprinkle with 1/2 cup pecans, Beat milk, pudding mixes and spices with a whisk until blended. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of whipped topping. Spread into crust. Refigerate at least 1 hour. Top with remaining whipped topping, caramel topping and pecans before serving. Makes 10 servings.

Sunday's Fall Walk

2008-10-28T21:36:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday... a day that we usually go on our family walk. Today I decided to take along our camera hoping to get some candid photos of the children and possibly some with fall leaves for an Enrichment project that is coming up. I enlisted Mike to help me with this project.. he of course started to take pictures of this up on the hillside.
We did eventually get all the kids together for this one.
Lillie in the grass

Isaac in his cave

Books, Books, and more books!

2008-10-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

What have you been reading for this season? I am addicted to scholastic and all their catalogs so I have got a collection of Halloween Books for the children. My ultimate favorite Halloween book is "Big Pumpkin" by Erica Silverman though I don't have it yet. I am still looking for the song that goes with it. Isaac's favorites are "Ten Timid Ghosts", "Big Green Monster", and "5 Little Pumpkins." Lillie's favorite is "Skeleton Hiccups." We also have favorites that need to be read everyday such as "Goodnight Gorilla"(5 times from me. I don't know how many times Mike read it for her), "We're going on a Bear Hunt", and "I am a Crane" :)!!!

We are gearing up for the big night... Halloween!

For family night, Mike worked on Isaac's Bat costume. It is really neat to see an engineering mind to wings for a bat costume.

Sycamore Canyon

2008-10-23T07:03:00.000-07:00

A DAY AT THE BEACH

Friday Oct. 17th we all headed out to the beach. It was Mike's parents last day here. We thought we were going to go tidepooling but instead ended up at Sycamore Canyon State Beach. It was a beautiful day to go to the beach. If I planned the day better I would have brought the beach towels, a change of clothing for Isaac and Lillie, the beach quilt and of course.. lunch. Plans do happen to change suddenly but it was a good day at the beach.

Grandpa, Ari, Mike and Lillie

Isaac playing in the sand and trying to climb trees

Ari's first day at the beach and is 1 month old!

Isaac getting a ride from Daddy

Lillie caught eating the sand..again! Smug grin!

Lillie enjoyed her time with Grandma. She loved getting her feet wet and watch the waves crash.

What a beautiful Day! The water and sky were a beautiful blue.

Isaac preferred to find treasures in the sand rather than get his feet wet. I thought this pic was a real treasure. He got himself dressed that morning. Can you tell?

Proposition 8

2008-10-22T16:43:00.001-07:00

This is from an email that an Oakland Temple ordinance worker sent to people in our ward]

Dear family and friends, I had a very disturbing experience yesterday ... Early Friday morning I received a call from the second counselor in our bishopric to let me know that there would be numerous protesters outside the temple.... The beautiful Oakland Temple is located right across the bay from San Francisco, very close to the city of Berkeley. Apparently the opposition to proposition 8 ... has realized the deep involvement of the Church and begun to protest right outside of the temple and harass temple patrons.... As we approached the offramp, I realized there would be trouble. There was a backup onto the freeway from cars stalled on the offramp. As we moved forward inches at a time, we realized this was due to a large group of loud protesters who were standing on both sides of the street, yelling, screaming and waving signs. When we got to the top of the offramp, ready to make our turn, one protester jumped out right in front of our car. It took my husband all his self control to carefully maneuver around him to the left and proceed to the temple. I tried not to listen to all they were shouting at us, but I was shaking as I got to the temple front door. Several of the sisters, especially the ones driving on their own, were crying ... Later, as I was sitting in the perfect quiet of the chapel, I couldn't help but think of Lehi's dream, and the people who mocked the Saints from the big spacious building but "we heeded them not." It was a truly surreal experience, I'd never thought that I would have to go through an angry crowd to get to the temple. As we left late at night, the protesters had dispersed, temple security (who all looked very large and Tongan) stood by the gates. I never saw a single police man. Please pray for those of us in California fighting for prop 8--it's getting kind of scary out here!

It's true.. it is getting scary here in California. Many people have had signs stolen or vandalized on their lawn. Mike is currently working on calls while I get the kids bathed and ready for bed. We are trying to do are part to get this passed. We hope and pray that it does and your prayers will help us too.

Vote YES on Prop 8
Here are just a few examples of how this will affect us if it does not pass.
1. Children in public schools will be taught that the marriage model encompasses any combination of genders. This would be taught as early as Kindergarten. (Already happening in Massachusetts, watch the video below if you don't believe me)
2. Churches could be sued if they refuse to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies.
3. Religious Adoption agencies will be challenged by gov agencies to give up their long-held right to place children only in homes with both a mother and a father. (Already happening in Massachusetts)
4. Ministers who preach against same-sex marriages (i.e. the plan of salvation and eternal marriage) will be sued for "hate speech" and could be fined by the gov (Already happening in Canada)
5. It will cost you money. All of these lawsuits and court cases will have to be paid by someone. And with the type of judges we have today, do you really think we would win?
I know it is a tough fight we are facing, but the consequences of this proposition not passing scares me more than the fight I must give in the next month.
Please help us pull together as a society to pass Proposition 8!!!!!
Go to http://www.protectmarriage.com/ to see what you can do to help or to get more information about it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is the link to the movie about teaching kindergartners about same sex marriage in a public school in Massachusetts.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1815825713/bctid1819819843

The Day at the Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Patch Pickin'

On Monday the 13th, Mike's parents and I packed up the children and headed to Underwood Family Farms. It was a very windy day. The farm was packed with people when we first got there until everyone received word about a fire breaking out on highway 118, then the farm turned into a ghost town all you needed were big tumble weeds to blow through it. Isaac and Lillie enjoyed themselves anyway. They enjoyed looking at the animals, climbing hay bales, looking for perfect pumpkins and of course riding tractors.

Lillie looking right at the camera.. Yea! you have got to take what you can get.

The littlest Pumpkin slept throught the whole visit. I tried to cover her the best I could with all the dust and dirt blowing.

In the hay.. They had a big pyramid there for the kids to climb. Grandma helped Isaac and Lillie climb all the way to the top.

In the train that all the kids loved to climb on.

IF you can drive it he will come. Isaac loves driving everything. Underwood Family Farms had many and many tractors that Isaac loved to look at. Three of them children could ride and pretend to drive them. Isaac, as his grandparents pointed out could do this all day.. who cares about pumpkins. I agreed. At the farm they also had several animals.. in the goat pen was an old truck. This goat happened to be in the truck. Isaac kept on saying that he wanted to drive this truck with the goat. Grandma tried to tell him that this truck was the goats truck.

Grandma and Grandpa took Isaac on a real Tractor ride through the pumpkin patch which Isaac truly enjoyed.

Grandma and Grandpa come for a visit

2008-10-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

Ari with Grandma and Grandpa Davenport. I really wanted to get a picture of them together and with the children but it never happened. Oh well.. There's always Christmas.

We were so excited to have Mike's parents come visit us for a whole week from Maryland. They arrived on the 11th and were happy to meet the new arrival. We were able to actually go and do several fun things while packing along three small children. I feel very grounded having three.. I don't know when the time will arrive that I will be able to take all three children alone and feel that I am in control as a mother. Picking up Isaac from preschool, walking in with a newborn and 1 year old to sing closing circle songs, shooing Isaac out the door and trying to hold his hand while carrying Lillie and Ari in her carseat at the same time and walk across street without Isaac being hit by a car is about enough for me. I usually feel on top of things.. but I don't know if I will ever feel on top for a long time.

Anyway.. Mike's parents were alot of help. Isaac enjoyed getting them up at 5:30 am rather than us. They helped cook and clean up after the children. They took them on long walks. I was able to have several breaks from all those "Mommy" moments. I even caught up on some sleep and took a few uninterrupted luxerious baths. I cried when they left. I wish they lived closer.

Easy Pumpkin Cookies

2008-10-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

Tis' the season for pumpkins, ghosts, and witches
Frankenstein, and vampire bats
we love making cookies for neighbors and friends
and leaving them signed by the phantom.

Easy Pumpkin Cookies!

15oz. can of pumpkin

1 spice cake mix

1 bag of chocolate chips

Mix ingredients together. Grease cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 min. until brown on edges.

And that's it. No egg or butter. One cookie is one point for you weight watcher fans.

Superman and a Birthday Celebration

2008-10-10T22:03:00.000-07:00

Isaac loves wearing his superman pajamas which he received from his cousin Dallin after he outgrew them. Wearing the Cape is an absolute must! Here he is holding his new sis, Ari with some help from Daddy.We celebrated Mike's 34th birthday on the 26th of September. He had no presents to open because we either ordered them late or it was on back order. He finally received his book on Oct. 6th. The pumpkin pie did get made by me. Mike loves his pumpkin pie and we have had it every year for his birthday complete with all the whip cream. We also had home-made vanilla ice cream. Mike did put all 34 candles on his pie it took me awhile to light them.. He is getting so old. (ha ha!!!)
Lillie eating pie

Isaac..where this expression came from I haven't a clue. Its totally hilarious! Its all about the whip cream.

Welcome Arianne!!

2008-09-27T16:54:00.001-07:00

Arianne Bernice Davenport was born on Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 6:20 AM. I was very tired from not sleeping at all the following night and doing all those exercises that my mom made me do. But finally after having one false alarm on the 14th Ari decided to truly come. I was so happy to have her here and be able to touch my toes. She showed a few signs of having jaundice so the pediatrician would not release us until her bilirubin count was down. We were released Saturday, 20th. We were happy to have visits from Daddy, Grandma, Lillie, Isaac, Cate and Kelsey. Thanks for coming and visiting us.

Our Latest Family Picture

Ari Davenport one week old. So far she has been really good but what newborn isn't. All they do is sleep, eat, and the other. I am just getting used to doing those midnight feedings and the feedings that come in the wee hours of the mornings (again). Sometimes.. we stay up watching Law and Order reruns. Thank you TNT. So who do you think this little cutie looks like?

The two sisters. Lillie loves her new little sister she loves kissing her and laying her head on her tummy. She also enjoys patting her head and her back. Some pats are just a little more agressive than others but what can you do.. the child is 14 months. This pic was taken at 10:30 pm.. Lillie has been waking up late at night due to two teeth coming in.

Grandma Comes To Town!!!

2008-09-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

I was so excited to have my mom come and help me out for a week. She flew in on the 15th and sadly left on the 21st. I really wished she was able to stay longer but the goal was accomplished. She came out to be with the children while Mike and I were at the hospital. While she was here I was able to do things that I haven't been able to do for awhile. Thanks to Mike for being with the kids and putting up with our enormous hours gone shopping excursions and athletic jaunts to get Ari here. We even went to Home Goods which is my favorite store ever! My mom was a great coach and made me hike up mountains (literally), jog on a dirt trail all over CSUCI campus (several times), Run up and down the stairs, and do laps and jump up and down in the swimming pool. The last forced my water to break in which I didn't really know it at the time until my midwife broke my water and nothing happened. Thanks Mom!

Isaac giving Grandma a pedicure. He did a really good job too. He knew exactly what tool helped take calluses off grandma's heels. Lillie was just excited that she was able to eat Isaac's plane uninterupted while Isaac's attention was focused on something else.

This photo was taken before we left for the hospital early that morning. (1:30 AM or so). I knew this baby would be coming in the middle of the night. My hair is a little crazy from jogging and hiking up stairs at 10:30 PM. Crazy I know!

Belly Update..

2008-09-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd save you from seeing the real thing. I have been having false labor and inconsistent contractions for several days now. I went to the doctor today and I was dilated to a 2. Yea!! What I was hoping for. I asked the midwife if she could strip my membranes but she refused saying that none of them were on call that weekend at the hospital and I would have to go with a different doctor. AaHHH!!!! The excuse she gave me was that the doctor on call was all medical and not warm and fuzzy. I wish I spoke up and told her that I don't care for warm and fuzzy. This is my third.. I just want this baby out. Needless to say.. I was a little upset and unhappy. I am all about emotions here. I did shed a few tears at home on the phone to my mom. Mike just patted my arm as if to say "there, there.. you will get through this" It is so much easier for him when he isn't the one pregnant. My next appointment is Monday at 9 am. let's see if I make it til then.

So, I guess I have a couple more days to get ready before the baby comes. We are still thinking about naming this new little girl Ari or Arianne. Her middle name will be Bernice after my wonderful Grandmother.

First Steps with some brotherly love!

2008-09-09T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lillie is walking! She has been very determined to do it herself. Here is a movie of some of her first steps. Isaac of course is doing his part to help her succeed. :) Just Like a three year old brother should. Lillie and I went to Stride Rite today to get her some new shoes. She hasn't been able to take them off yet so that is a good sign. And yes.. we like to parade in our underwear and Lillie enjoys wearing her brother's hand me down pj's. Totally typical of us! Knock your socks off!

Isaac the Preschooler!

2008-09-09T20:11:00.001-07:00

Isaac started Preschool on September 2. The preschool that he is going to is a co-op so once in awhile Mike and I will go in and help out. He is such a happy and easy going kid! He reminds me of my brother Josh. Loves to be in his own La La Happy land! I love the songs he comes home and sings, most of the words are made up but I can pick out the tune. "Three Little Monkeys",
"Wheels on the bus" and "Itsy bitsy Spider". It brings me back to a time where I taught preschool at the Children's Center in Utah. I would love to do a preschool program someday.. crazy right! but right now is not the time so Isaac happily goes to preschool where he can learn fun new and exciting things about the world around him.
Isaac is showing off his postcard that his teacher Annie sent him. Here he is posing with one of his friends Kelsey. Kelsey was able to see him off and I am sure that she would have wanted to go to preschool too.

Labor Day at the Beach

2008-09-07T08:04:00.000-07:00

Well... September is finally here! The season of change is about to come. To be honest we haven't been to the beach for a long time, even though it is so close. Going there on Labor Day, made me realize why. Lillie is at the age that she loves the sand so much that she puts it into her mouth. YUCK! and this happens again and again. Isaac loves the sand too but he does a better job just playing in it. It was a beautiful day but the waves were big. The lifeguard warned us not to go too near the waves that day with the children because it was too dangerous. These kids had to opt to digging and swimming in the sand. Which they enjoyed. Sand, Sand, and Sand got everywhere.

Isaac playing in the sand

Lillie eating the sand.

Isaac playing in the sand.

Lillie looking for more sand to eat. Look at her stand up.. isn't she getting so big.

The Hoodlums!!

2008-08-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the hoodlums! Isaac and Lillie love to play in the bathtub and since the Olympics are over they are determined to practice a synchronized swimming routine complete with synchronized diving. There favorite toy currently is the shower curtain they love to hide and put it in the water. Our bathmats are always soaked and the parent watching their whale or shark movements (according to Isaac) looks like they have taken a bath fully clothed.

Update on these two:

Isaac:

Favorite Drink: Orange Juice

Favorite Food: Peanut Butter and Honey

Favorite Activity: Playing with his trucks, vans, cars or airplanes

Favorite Movie: The Kittycat movie (Aristocats) or Pink Panther

He enjoys praying to his Heavenly Father at meal time, go on walks in his wagon, visit with his friends.

He will currently be starting Preschool on Tuesday!

He is learning how to put his clothes on, especially underwear, without help.

His favorite expression is "Oh my Goodness!!"

Lillie:

Favorite Drink: water, milk or Daddy's rootbeer

Favorite Food: Fruit snacks

Favorite Activity: Playing with her dolls or trying to play with her brothers trucks.

She enjoys getting into Daddy's office, the bathroom, mommy and daddy's room or rearranging the linen closet. She also enjoys pulling out all the books she can reach from the book shelf in her room.

Favorite Expression: She says thank you after you give her something.

She is currently learning how to walk and can walk 5 to 7 steps on her own. She loves to stand and dance.

I've been tagged....

2008-08-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

THE RULES
1.Post these rules
2.Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
3.Tag 6 fellow bloggers by linking them(honestly i am not sure what the linking part is supposed to mean!)

Ha! Ha! Rach. 6 unspectacular quirks... It took me sometime to think of what I should post. And Longer to post it but here they go.

1. I still talk to my mom everyday. :)!!! She's my life coach. She helps me make it through many of these days that I call life.. My Life! :). Thank you for the motivation mom.
2. At my bedside table I have a bottle of tums, glass of water, and mentholatum. I hope that the bottle of tums, glass of water will go away sometime after I am pregnant. But the mentholatum is there to stay. Its really a generational habbit.. Thanks mom and Grandma Gundry. I have no idea how many of my cousins have this quirk too.
3. I shower twice a day.. Morning and Night. After the kids are in bed it is my time to wind down. I also feel that I need to shower to get clean from all the things that have been wiped on me during the day.
4. I love Bath and Body works lotion.
5. I don't make my bed as often as I should.
6. I have flat feet so I am usually wearing athletic shoes. I can't wear any cute shoes that don't support my feet.
I tag:
Cate, Angela, Emily, Janelle, Cesily, and Violet

Huntington Library and Gardens

2008-08-26T23:01:00.000-07:00

An Outing Finally... Mike was out of town for a whole week and several days the previous week in August. There are just a few things that being as huge as I am and with my children so young I can do on my own. Target, Park, tot lot, walks, stores, this I can do. Fun, away from home excursions I need Mike to help out.

There are still so many places I want to visit while we live here in California. Many of them I know that we won't make it to but it is fun to dream. Some of the places that I would love to take the children to before this next baby is due are the Long Beach Aquarium, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, LA Zoo, and the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens. As you well know.. I am running out of time and most of these places won't be happening for awhile. However, I finally persuaded Mike to consider and excursion to the Huntington Library. Sometimes.. you just need to experience some culture in mommy world even if the children don't last too long. And of course we spent more time in the Botanical Gardens than we did in the Library studying art, books, and furniture but the experience was well worth it. I told Mike that I would love to go back and experience the Library without the children. His reply was "Maybe in 25 years." Ha! Ha! I didn't think it was too funny.

Isaac running towards the fountain in the children's Garden

Lillie, Mike and Isaac looking at gigantic Koi fish

Lillie pointing out a fish in the rain forest of the Botanical gardens.

Lillie cooling off in the children's botanical garden. This was the kids favorite spot... it had water. It had water in fountains that you could play in, it sprayed water from sprinklers, it also had a little stream with rocks that the kids could play in. It was funny to watch most of these soaked kids leave the garden and overhear their parents wonder if they would be able to see anymore of the Library because they did not bring an extra change of clothing.

My Boy Isaac.

He did not want to pose for the camera for mommy but he smiled big for daddy when he took this picture. Oh well, Atleast he is standing still and smiling.

Lillie walking through the children's arbor

Keeping Cool in the Heat of Summer

2008-08-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine told me about these sprinklers at a park nearby. I couldn't believe my find! I have been missing our fountain park in Calabasas each summer but I didn't know that there was one similar to it so close to us. My children love the sprinklers.. well.. they love water, period.

This park made the early afternoon a terrific success.

Isaac and his beloved friend EE!!!

Lillie the girl with flower power!

The County Fair!!!

2008-08-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

We took the children to the Ventura County fair last Friday. Isaac's favorite part was taking a school bus to the fair. He also enjoyed seeing all the animals. His favorites were the baby pigs as well as the bunnies. I enjoyed looking at all the rabbits too. They brought me back to my childhood. I once had twenty rabbits at one time. My favorite rabbits were miniature lops named Thumper and Butterscotch. I also had some dutch and norwegian dwarfs too. I should have entered a few of my rabbits into the fair.. I know I would have taken a blue ribbon or two home. :)

Lillie enjoyed petting the sheep and feeling their wet noses.

Isaac also enjoyed his plane ride!
You've got to sample the food too! The Funnel Cake was a hit.

Happy Birthday Isaac !!!!

2008-07-31T13:56:00.000-07:00

Happy THIRD Birthday Isaac! We love you a ton! Isaac was born on the 25th of July 2005, in Amherst, New York. Woa!!! Things sure have changed since then. He was born in the most hot and humid weather ever! It was a record breaking summer for Western New York. I am not joking. Every store even Home Depot were out of window air conditioners. In New York there was no such think as real air conditioners or central air. I was so hot.. I remember telling Mike we better get two of those window air coolers or I was going home (flying home that is). You can only take so many cold showers to keep cool. Well, I was miserable. But.. Finally our little boy was born!

Isaac was a really sweet baby. He loved being held by his mommy and daddy. He also liked to eat.

Isaac two week portrait

And here is the sweet kid today! We didn't get to do to much on his birthday this year because Mike had to go into work last minute but we already did the whole birthday shbang on Lillie's birthday. Isaac wanted to go to the park and swing. And so that's what we did. Isaac can swing and swing and swing all day.

We also took him to Cold Stone for his favorite kind of Ice cream... Blue Ice cream

Blowing out candles

2008-07-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

Lillie Kate's First Birthday!!!!!

2008-07-19T20:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Lillie!! You are One today!!! We decided to somewhat celebrate Isaac's birthday too by letting him open his presents early. His birthday is 6 days away. I cried last night because I cannot believe that my children are getting so big. My daughter is turning one and my son will be three. They won't be little babies forever. I love them both so much and they bring the greatest joy in my life. Lillie's first word was Uh-oh! She is a great repeater and can speak very clearly. I am surprised. Her favorite word is "daddy" or "dada" which is totally fine by me. "Honey, she wants you!" (See how this goes :) She also says doggie, mama, hot, and several more. She is a great repeater. Her ultimate favorite sound to make is her cackle. And all animal sounds are roars or growls. (I thought girls might be a little different but then she has got a good brother.)

The Cake and presents!

The one year old!

Isn't she so sweet!

Posing for the camera!

One of the many presents.. Two babies! I hope she loves these just as much as she likes playing with Isaac's cabbage patch. It been a little bit of a trial. Cross your fingers for us.

Isaac and friends

2008-07-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

These are two of Isaac's favorite people. EE! and Kelsey.

EE! lately has become an imaginary friend who is there when he really isn't.

We were sitting at the table ready to eat our dinner when Isaac told us that we had to wait for EE! because he was coming over for dinner. "Save some for EE! He will want some.!" When we go anywhere Isaac replies that EE! wants to come too. And his favorite place to go is EE's house.

EE! and Isaac watching "Little Einsteins." EE's favorite pastime to do when he comes over to our house is to watch "Little Einsteins" Isaac is very happy to oblige. We have 36 episodes taped..Craziness right. And no, we do not watch them all in one day.

Family Home Evening Davenport Style

2008-07-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 14th, we are home as a family trying to hold somewhat of a family home evening. Mike was in charge this time and decided it would be fun to sing primary songs. And these two pictures will show you how it went. Lillie is helping Mike play the keyboard while Isaac is doing his best to help his firetruck do his part. Notice the first and then second photo and how the truck drives his way across the keyboard. I am sure you can imagine how those primary songs sounded. I did my best to sing. :) Gotta love the little ones. Oh and we are adding another to the mix. I think our family home evenings will be this way for a long time. :)

There goes the little red fire truck driving across the keyboard.

Our Small Town 4th of July!!!

2008-07-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

Mike's Uncle Ron and Aunt Martha live really close to a place called Wilder Ranch State Park. On the Fourth of July they put on a 1908 celebration where they had a parade and a live band that was dressed in 1908 clothing. The parade consisted of women and children holding signs that read "let the mothers of the country vote." It really made you think how different things would have been if you lived back during that time and how much our country has progressed. It also made you think of all the changes that will come in the future. I am proud to live in this country.
Anyway, all the treats like homemade ice cream, rootbeer, strawberry shortcake all had to be puchased in 1908 money. Isaac was able to brush a horse and then go on a hayride which he really enjoyed. I think he had two ice cream cones for lunch that day.. thanks uncle Ron. :)!!

Our Vacation Highlights

2008-07-08T06:18:00.000-07:00

Our Summer Trip Up North

2008-07-07T20:45:00.000-07:00

Our Summer vacation started Monday, June 30 and went to Saturday, July 5th. We packed up a car and drove North where we stayed in Cambria for two nights. Tuesday, I was very excited to get up early and see Hearst Castle. It was definately a highlight of our trip. Mike strapped Isaac to his back and I had Lillie Kate in the baby bjorn over my very huge protruding tummy. I must have been a real spectacle because in most of the pictures I look like I am about to fall over backward. This is us heading up the mountain to Hearst Castle. I though Hearst was a mansion on the beach, I was wrong.

Isaac excited to get into the "school bus" for a drive

The outside pool. Another thing I learned is that William Hearst imported Art from all over the world to decorate his home.
Part of Hearst Castle.. there are many different buildings to Hearst castle and each building is built in a different style of architecture. The stories, the paintings, the wall hangings were outstanding. I really enjoyed hearing about all the different people that came to visit William Hearst in his remote mansion... Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earheart, the Wright brothers, Bing Crosby, Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill and so many others.

Mike and Isaac in front of one of the guest quarters. Isn't he photogenic?

Lillie and I infront of an Egyption statue of Ra. And I am not tilting in this one.

A few more miles down the road we were able to go to the elephant seal rookery near San Simeon. Isaac enjoyed looking at the seals and hear them snort at each other. Most of them were males and were starting to molt. The females during the month of July are usually out to sea.

Further down the road we were able to see the harbor seals in their habitat. Unlike the elephants seals these ones perfer to layout on the rocks.
We thought these two harbor seals were so cute that we did the unthinkable and took them home.
On Wednesday, we decided to continue up route one. We hoped to take a look at Big Sur but the road was still closed from the fires. In these pics you can kind of see how smoky it was.
Isaac the avid rock climber.
Mike and Lillie touring a rocky beach in Los Padres National Forest.

Rocky beaches mean great tide pools if your timing is right. We love tide pooling! This starfish was among one of our finds that included a sea anenome, crabs, crabs, and more crabs.

Happy Fourth Everyone!!!

2008-06-29T20:48:00.000-07:00

The last days of June

2008-06-29T20:29:00.000-07:00

Lillie is now 11 mos.! I tried to do her hair before church by putting in blue perm rods and covering them with hot sets. It lasted 10 min. before Lillie Kate pulled out her headband. She pulls everything out that I try to put in. She will have to learn one day.. won't she Marisa and Kalise. :)!!! Isaac will be three the end of next month he is getting so big. Toilet training is still in the process. His Nursery teacher tells me how much he loves music and playing instruments. And how he loves to sing. Thanks to Disney's "Little Einsteins." He loves the show. Thanks again Ces! Can you believe it has almost been a year since you gave him "Our Huge Adventure" for his birthday! He has loved it ever since. We are excited to be going on a trip up North for Mike's vacation. We will be visiting Cambria and Santa Cruz. We hope everyone has a happy Fourth! And we are proud to be living in such a wonderful country. We are grateful to those who have given their lives for our freedom.

Father's Day

2008-06-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

Isaac making a cake for his daddy for Father's Day. His favorite part was licking the beaters clean. Happy Father's Day, Mike!!!

There was a little girl

2008-06-24T03:06:00.000-07:00

I was looking through Lillie Kate's baby book and there is a page that you put in pictures of her eating. I haven't taking pictures of her eating yet. I feel like a slacker. Isaac has tonz of them. This is what happened on Father's Day. Daddy decided to give her the mashed potatoes and let her fend for herself. Lillie enjoys putting everything in her hair while she is eating especially on the sides. This it looks like she smeared it on as if it was lotion. We have take atleast two baths a day. After Dinner was all over, Daddy put her in the bathtub just like that! I asked Mike why she was in the bathtub with her clothes on and he explained that there wasn't a safe place to put her. You can take this comment two ways...
Mike didn't want everything painted with mashed potatoe hands or you can take it literally. Lillie loves to get into everything and really there isn't a safe place to put her because she always finds something to get into. Lillie turned ll months on the 19th! I can't believe she will be one in July.
..................And Mom of course was the lucky one to give her the bath she so deserved.

There was a little boy

2008-06-23T16:14:00.000-07:00

Well, These pictures are self explanatory. We have been at this for two weeks. Or should I say we have been home for two weeks. Isaac is doing good. He has had one day without any accidents.

This was the end of the first week ... He really enjoyed the fish stickers and the Halloween ones.

One Upon A Potty!

2008-06-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, so we relaxed a couple of days and then I decided that it was time to stop procrastinating and toilet train Isaac. We started Friday, June 6th. Mike is home on Fridays and I really thought that Isaac and I could use his support. Isaac was able to get two stickers on his chart the first day. He is in big underwear. I hope I can get through the next week and so on. I decided to make a very simple chart in which by the time he fills it in he will be potty trained and able earn his tricycle or bike.

The Last of the Wedding Daze of May!

2008-06-08T18:14:00.000-07:00

The last several days of May led us to travel down to Temecula, California for Austin and Marisa's second reception. It was at Austin's grandmother's vineyard. Wow!!! What a fairytale. I had no idea that Temecula was known for their vineyards just like Napa Valley. Austin's grandmother took over Keyways two years ago and it is a very upscale place. Marisa had her reception in a new part of it. The flowers, lighting, and decorations were very elegant. I decided to put a few more photos for my dearest family members that couldn't come so that they would know what it was like to be there.

We were also able to have Marisa all to ourselves for a few hours before the reception. Austin had to help his parents set up and of course Marisa needed help getting ready. So.. Here we are in Old Town Temecula. Yes, Cesily and Josh we actually got dad to go into a Tourist Trap. My Dad doesn't like to go where the people are. We always spent vacations growing up driving as fast as you can through the tourist traps or on our own very private beach. But, he is the one that made the suggestion to go to the rootbeer factory. And.. of course tourist traps are somewhat misleading in their advertising but we enjoyed it anyway. I had an American Black Cherry. It was the best Black Cherry Soda I ever tasted. Marisa is sporting the newest style Hot Sticks Heavy on the Hot Sets.

Our Family

Modeling our prizes from the Root beer factory.
The Reception at Keyways Vineyard: The wedding couple

Isaac

Marisa and Austin were lucky to get another cake. Okay well 2 cakes, three cakes counting the one in Salt Lake. Here they are cutting the chocolate GLUTEN FREE Cake. Yes, Cesily, Josh, and Kalise they had cake just for you. The other cake was Mango and it was the best cake I ever tasted. Everyone liked it so much it Austin's parents did not go home with leftovers.

Lillie with Grandma and Grandpa Vandersteen

Daddy with his hands full. He and I are planning to grow another arm before September comes.

The wedding couple. Marisa's hair was able to stay in throughout all the whirling and twirling on the dance floor.

Daddy whirled and twirled Isaac around on the dance floor.

Then, he moved up in the world and was even granted a dance by the lovely bride.

Marisa Dancing with Lillie.. my wonderful parents watching.

All the children decided to move outside and dance. Grandpa took Lillie for a twirl. Lillie of course being the Cinderella lost her shoe.

Isaac running among the grapes. Isn't it picturesque.

Lillie and Isaac in the vineyard

I even was able to get my picture with the bride. I had to make up for all the lost pictures on her wedding day in Utah.

And of course after the fun filled day.. My boys decided to head back to the hotel for some hamburgers, shakes and relaxation. How they came home hungry.. I have no clue.

The Lazy Days of May: Memorial Day!

2008-06-02T11:36:00.000-07:00

Daddy showing Isaac a starfish

Well...Isaac, Lillie, and I were only home for a week and a half the whole month of May. Mike left on a business trip several days after we got home to go to Boston. We were lucky that he was able to take a long four day weekend. On the morning of Memorial Day we decided to go tidepooling as a family. Hiking up steep hills and through rocky beaches we were able to see tonz of starfish, crabs, and a few different kinds of sea urchins. The beach was beautiful.. We Love the Beach!!!

Mike found a little crevice between the big rocks that the kids enjoyed wading and splashing in. It actually sported a few sea creatures. Lillie Kate enjoyed trying to touch several of the creatures in the small tide pool. Anything that involves water makes Isaac a happy child. Isn't he sporting the world's most cheesiest grin.

Splashing, Spashing and more Splashing.

On the rocky beach.

Daddy and Isaac with their hats.

The Wedding Daze!

2008-06-02T08:50:00.001-07:00

Marisa married Austin on May 17, 2008 at the Salt Lake Temple. The day was beautiful! It was followed by a luncheon at Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

The family.. they were great sports throughout the wonderful event. We of course forgot our camera. Josh and Abbie did a better job so refer to their blog.

The Lazy Days of May: Waterfight Anyone???

2008-06-02T07:42:00.000-07:00

The day before the wedding we all met together to have brunch at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandpa of course was responsible for the entertainment. Here he is passing out waterguns to Zion, Dallin, Jacob, and Emily.
Grandma and Grandpa's yard also happens to have a drinking fountain in which all their grandchildren enjoy. It was very helpful in providing the ammunition for the waterfight. (Until, Zion, the oldest thought about the hose. They get to be so resourceful. :)!!) Most of the little ones, Isaac included thought that it was the best place to hang out.

Mike is never one to pass up a chance to get in on all the fun. They had a difficult time getting him too.

Isaac doing his part during the waterfight. He is solely responsible in getting himself wet too. But boy, do you blame him it is the only chance he has in serving himself his own drink.

It is such a serious matter.

And so much fun! I wonder if he is aware of the waterfight going on.

He had a difficult time when it all came to an end.

The Lazy Days of May!

2008-06-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Isaac, Lillie Kate and I were able to go to Utah early and celebrate my sisters graduation, wedding and birthday. We also loved playing with our cousins. This is Lillie and Tienna who are about one month apart. Tienna is so cute and has gotten so big. We loved seeing her parents as well. On May 10th we were able to celebrate Cesily's birthday. Happy 29th Ces! My sister Kalise is holding Lillie, Isaac is a super hero with a bubble wrap cape, thanks to his cousins Dallin and Zion who helped him learn the super power of flying around the house. Zion is sporting the red shirt.

Isaac modeling his mother's mascara on his eyelids right before church.

Reality Bites too!

2008-04-20T19:00:00.000-07:00

Well, April has come and so did my birthday! My brother had to call me and tell me congratulations for entering a new decade. The horrors! I just wish that blowing out the candles gave more wisdom as well as grace and possibly more patience. Isaac has developed into being a small Picasso. I feel like everywhere I turn there is some new picture on the wall. My favorite were the two huge portraits he drew during his nap time when Daddy forgot to take out the crayons he put in Isaac's pocket earlier. Picasso.. need I say more. Not Monet. As for my birthday I had cheesecake. I have had three different kinds of cheesecake in the last week. I don't know if this is a confession or some type of craving but as the guy said at the Cheesecake Factory.. The vanilla bean cheesecake compliments the Godiva. By the way.. Godiva cheesecake is GLUTEN FREE!!!!!
Lilllie bug is so much fun and is such a good little girl. She loves to laugh and to smile. She is now crawling around and prefers to eat our Friend magazines. They must be tastier than the Ensign or the Cooking Light. She also likes to play with the blinds and get into Daddy's cords that lay so neatly under the computer. :) We are trying to help her walk or atleast practice putting one foot in front of the other instead of putting one foot on top of the other. I love my children.. I am so blessed to have them in my life. They are definately my gift from a loving Heavenly Father.

Reality Bites!!!

2008-04-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well, It has been a month and then some since my last post. Abbie, I've got to hand it to you for the push. I was hoping to post my Easter pics of the children on time. Mike has been able to get a few Fridays off and we have been able to make a few trips. The tar pits, the soda pop shop, and to San Diego to watch Marisa play volleyball. During the last trip we were also able to meet up with my parents which was great. Isaac loved to see PaPa again as well as Grammy. But of course the trip was way too short.

Lillie's First Easter... Isaac's 2nd official Easter egg hunt. Daddy helping with the candy.

Lillie's eight month photo! So happy!

Here we are at La Brie Tar pits!
It was fun to drive into the middle
of LA. LA is a big city. Mike's highlight
was going to a soda pop shop up by
Pasadena where they have about 34 different kinds of
Root beer along with many many different kinds of soda. No Kidding! I think we bought 2-3 different kinds and tasteda rose petal and a cucumber soda. On the way to San Diego we had to stop by again and pick up more root beer, along with a black cherry, mexican sarsparilla, vanilla and chocolate soda. Well, now Mike is very particular about his rootbeer. The only Rootbeer that you can drink should come from a real tree and sweetened with sugar cane and not corn syrup.

March Madness......

2008-03-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

I promised my sister weeks ago that I would post new pics of the children. Well here they are in all their glory.. I actually got Isaac to stay still for a couple of seconds because he was otherwise engaged in the finishing of his daddy's shake, even after he had finished his icecream cone. What can I say he really enjoys his icecream enough to wear it and redecorate his carseat. Soo..Baskin Robbins Anyone????

Lillie 71/2 months old. She is a very happy little girl. She just got her first tooth a week ago and wasn't really that fussy. Issac on the other hand had fevers and was up most of the night. Two things that Mike said about her was.. she likes to eat and empty out all the toys from her bucket. Which is true but she also likes to laugh and loves it when Isaac plays peekaboo.

Mike took Isaac to scout camp last weekend. So here he is in the tent. He was really good and loved camping in the "big house."

Where Did February Go... Can I get my mind back?

2008-03-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Hello family and friends,

We are all doing well. Yes, the rumors are true! We are expecting our third child in September!

Isaac is starting to put more sentences together which are usually commands, commands that he uses towards Lillie. "Lillie, mommy says no! Mommy says no, Lillie." and "No touching Lillie." What can I say, he must have gotten those commands from somewhere. :). Lillie has the damsel in distress act down so don't feel sorry for her. When Isaac takes her toy away she already cries and screams as if her whole world has come to an end. And maybe in a 7 1/2 month old it really has.
Several of Isaac's goals are learning how to share, learning that all the toys are not his, and he can't play with every toy at the same time. LOL!

Two year olds you have got to love them and the motto that they all live by: "What's mine is mine, what's yours is mine, what you came in with is mine, if I want it it's mine, if I don't want it it's mine...."

Last Saturday, Mike and I took our children to the Santa Barbara Zoo. It was a little bit chilly but we wanted to take the children anyway. Isaac's favorite part was probably seeing the snakes, monkeys, elephants, parrots, and the McCaws. Santa Barbara is a small zoo so we were able to see all of it in 2 hours. We stopped and ate a picnic lunch at the beach where we watched the boats come into the harbor. The beach wasn't crowded at all because of the weather.

2008-01-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

Lillie Kate's 6 mos. picture
Isaac discovered the baby powder when he was supposed to be sleeping. He dumped it all over his bed and made sure all his stuffed animals were white and smelled nice. Isaac loves baby powder and enjoys putting it on after his bath. I guess he just thought that it might make him sleep better.
At the park
Isaac on his swing
The children loaded up in the stroller ready for their naps.

Celebrate 2008!!

2008-01-18T13:20:00.000-08:00

Well.. It happened. I ran a few errands after Mike came home from work, I came home and Isaac's pacifier days were over. Mike took it away. I hope the days aren't too rough to follow. Today, I took Isaac and Lillie to Valle Lindo Park, Isaac could swing himself silly. He loves to swing and swing and swing. He always ask for a rocket ship push, sometimes he will even ask for rocket soup. (Little Einsteins)

Lillie will be six months tomorrow. HAPPY half- BIRTHDAY Lillie Kate. She can sit up for a little while and gets to point A to point B by rolling. She enjoys eating her cereal and I can never feed it to her fast enough. Lillie enjoys having a very full tummy and after eating will lay on the floor and cackle and laugh.

Highlights of 2007

2008-01-13T14:32:00.000-08:00

January 2007 we had a visit from Marisa and Grandma and Grandpa Steen. Isaac enjoyed walking along the beach with his Grandpa. He loves both his Grandpas very much and they drive "big" trucks too. When I was driving home from the airport Isaac was very upset to see his granparents and Marisa leave all he could say was No! which was a new word in his vocabulary then... Now, he says it daily and has picked up the new expression.. NO WAY!!! Gotta love the two year old who is trying to figure out his autonomy. February 2007.. We went to the beach again this time in Oxnard. Isaac also loved being pushed by daddy on his yellow dump truck. Mike would pull him around the neighborhood.

March 2007.. we went to the park and went on a few easter egg hunts. Isaac enjoyed picking up easter eggs and putting them in other children's easter egg basket. family photo.. thanks Cate! Isaac and his friends Kelsey and Collin.

April 2007, Isaac Easter Morning.. He was really excited to get his Mickey Mouse airplane. In order to ride his airplane he needs keys first. Grandpa Steen put together a pair of keys that he doesn't use anymore. Thanks.. Grandpa. Easter family photo as you can tell Isaac isn't to happy to be sitting still for longer than a second.

May 2007, this beach is about 10 minutes away from our house. Mike and Isaac enjoy playing in the sand while I sat on the blanket and watched the waves come in. I wasn't moving to fast because I was pregnant with Lillie Kate at the time (actually I felt more like a beached whale) but going to the beach is always fun. The other three images are at Kelsey's one year old birthday party.

Lillie Katharina Davenport was born on July 19th, 2007 5:46 pm, 8lbs and 21 1/2 inches long!!!

My sister Cesily was able to be with us and take care of Isaac while I was in Labor. I will forever be grateful for her. I was so happy to have her come for a visit. She even left her three children in Utah to be tended by grandma and grandpa to come visit me and take care of another child. I wish I could have offered her a get away such as a warm sunny beach, a good book and no children. Maybe in the future we can make our getaway together. It might have to be when one of us reaches the big FOUR O!! Years from now.

My mother also came to see Lillie Kate. I am so happy that she was able to come. She also made Isaac his two year old birthday cake.. Choo! Choo! Thank you Mom!

Grandma Steen and Lillie Kate by the fountain

Isaac blowing out his candles

August 2007: Isaac enjoying his ice cream cone. Isaac and Lillie cuddling.

We were also happy to have Grandma and Grandpa Davenport come for a visit. Isaac was again really excited to be with his Grandpa. Mike's Uncle Ron also came down from Santa Cruz to come see us. We love having family come visit. We also blessed Lillie Kate when they came. I finally was able to use that baby girl blessing dress that I bought in New York City. Yes!!!

Uncle Ron, Grandma and Grandpa Davenport

Grandma and Isaac discober a big climbing tree!! Grandma and Lillie Kate.

September 2007: Mike went to the Netherlands for a work conference. I was very jealous. My mom was very happy to come back and stay with me and help. Mike loved the Netherlands and told me that one day he would take me there.
These are some pictures from his trip.

Lillie Kate and Grandma Steen. I love her face it makes me laugh. Mike and our two little munchkins the mimi suckers. (Isaac calls his pacifier his mimi).

Mike's 33rd birthday!!!

October 2007: Lillie Kate 3 mos. old.

October 2007: Halloween with the family. Lillie Kate the whimsical fairy and Isaac the dragon.

November 2007: We were able to get pictures taken of the children. It was very difficult to get them to pose together. But we did get the one. Isaac in his suit and Lillie in her blessing dress. Aren't they Cute!

We also took a family trip to Santa Cruz to see Mike's Uncle Ron and Aunt Martha. It was so much fun. They live in a beautiful area of California. They also treated us like Kings. They even tended Lillie Kate and Isaac so that Mike and I could go out for our 4rth anniversary. We also were able to see Redwoods, Monterey Aquarium, and tide pools. We loved spending time with Ron and Martha and we can't wait to see them again. Ron was trying to talk to Mike about moving up to Northern California.

Isaac enjoys driving cars especially ones that are
different from the ones his parents own. If the
auto is truck or a SUV it has got to be driven.
Big Trucks are cool!!!

Ron, Mike and Isaac at the Coastline. Lillie, Uncle Ron, Aunt Martha, Mike and Isaac posing
infront of Ron and Martha's beautiful home.

December 2007: Isaac posing as Santa with his big white beard that Daddy put on him. Lillie laughing!! SO Happy!!

I took Isaac and Lillie to see Santa at the Mall. Lillie didn't mind cuddling up with Santa Claus..Isaac was a different story. He didn't want anything to do with Santa Claus but he sure loved the Antlers that Santa gave him. They almost took the place of his turtle hat that he has to wear in order to go anywhere.

Michael, Jessica, Isaac and Lillie Kate

2008-01-13T14:21:00.001-08:00