Time to move, AGAIN!

We have had somewhat of a "rough" winter. We've been pounded with snow several times and lots of wind has caused travel issues. Needless to say, we are all restless and ready to get the heck outta the house!!!! I mean that in a literal AND figurative way :) We found out last week that we were successful in our attempt at getting the short-sale home and we will officially be moving in two weeks!!!!!! I am super excited and ready to decorate. It seems like yesterday we were moving in and getting settled into our current home. It has been a great house for us over the past four years but we are ready to move on up! I will try to post some pictures in the next few weeks of the new place. It's on a great triple culdesac lot and the boys will love the "freedom" they will get outside (right now we're on a corner and I watch them like a hawk :( ). It's very close to our current home (about two miles east) and is in an excellent Blue Valley School District. I am exited for them to grow up the way their dad did. It will be neat to see what they do with all of the opportunities they get.

Jack had his first "parent/teacher" conference last week. I now know how my parent's felt before attending mine. Even though Jack is just a preschooler, I couldn't help but feel nervous and a little uneasy. Does he respect the teacher? Is he good at following directions? Does he give the kids wedgies like he does his little brother? All of these things were crossing my mind in the hour leading up to the meeting with his teacher, Mrs. Shurling. MUCH to my happiness, as it turns out, Jack appears to be an OUTSTANDING little preschooler (sigh of relief :)) Mrs. Shurling couldn't have been happier with him, and although he does have a few "quirks" (he's very impatient and sometimes has a hard time walking in the halls), her over-all "review" of him was wonderful! She said he is a super quick learner and has a great desire to please. Our family and friends have always commented on Jack's excellent "physical" abilities, but to hear it from a preschool teacher with 10 years of experience was kind of neat! She couldn't say enough about how great he is during gym class and how "in touch" he is with his body. She said his physical ability is amazing for his age and she went on about how important it is that we take advantage of it now by having him involved in as many sports as possible. She was also impressed that his friends look to him as a leader and his abilities are a great example for them to follow. Needless to say, anyone who knows JP and I, knows that these special "abilities" did NOT come from me :)

In a nutshell, all is well. We are ready to send this crappy weather back to where it came from. The weather looks pretty great for the next 10 days, lets hope it stays that way for the big move!!

Merry Christmas!

Things are crazy around here and there has been no time to blog!!!

Jack is still enjoying preschool and just had his Christmas program last week. He did well and was very proud to be up on stage singing about Jesus and Christmas. He has begun to understand what Christmas is all about this year. Of course, like any four year old, he is also excited for presents and has a list as long as the Nile River!! Mostly Thomas accessories and cars, trucks and Nano bug gadgets. He is writing his name well and is showing lots of interest in playing the guitar, so we'll see what Santa brings this year.

Grayson is talking up a storm and really beginning to hold his own against his big brother. He has skipped right over all of those toys we tried to hand down to him and right into the Thomas Trains!! The boys fight constantly over them, which means Santa will have to bring him some of his own. I always thought it was nice to have another boy b/c he would play with the same toys as the other, however, it's turning out to be a struggle between them for those darn trains!! Oh well, at least we get our moneys worth.

We have our house on the market and have put in an offer on another. We spent two years looking and looking for the perfect place and we FINALLY found it. Only trouble is, it's a short-sale so everything depends on the bank and their acceptance of the offer. We should be hearing back in the next couple of weeks!! We are very excited and hope to be successful in our efforts to get it. It's a wonderful home on a huge triple culdesac lot. There are 4 bedrooms with two additional offices which will be nice for JP to work from home and the boys to have their own playroom. We will miss a finished basement (like we have now) but plan to finish it within a couple years. I am talking like we already got the house. . . keeping my fingers crossed. . . !!!!

Just wanting to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! To those friends and family members that we only get to see once or twice a year, I hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season.

No More Cribs in the Davies House!!

Summer is winding down and the weather is cooling off. Seems like this one has really flown by... almost as fast as my little BABY boy is growing up! After weeks of him crawling in and back out of his crib, we decided that it was time for him to take over the toddler bed. In return, Jack gets the crib which turns into a footboard/headboard for a full bed. Needless to say, the transition was effortless. Gray crawls into his toddler bed with no fuss at all. Some days he even puts himself down for a nap!! I am sad to see the crib go, but am happy that Gray likes his new sleeping situation better.

As for the past couple of months, we have had a pretty action packed time!! We took a GREAT vacation to Mexico, had several weddings (one of which was in a FABULOUS home near the Plaza), been back and forth to Crete a couple of times and had a nice visit from my parents. Jack began preschool last week and is settling in well. He has some pretty BIG questions for me these days... "Who made God?" and "I remember when Gray wasn't here, how did he get here?". Aside from that, life has been pretty easy-breezy. We love the Fall and are excited to do some Halloween decorating in the next few weeks.

JP has convinced me to get rid of all of the baby stuff. We are having a garage sale next weekend. If it all sells, we'll just have to get new stuff when # 3 comes along. . .I have A LOT of convincing to do before that will become a realtiy, though :) Wish me luck :)

Summertime = Busy

Summer has been great so far!! The boys and I have spent lots of time at the park and checking out all the stuff at Deanna Rose Farmstead. It is so nice to have a facility like that for free! Jack has been bugging me about going to the pool in our subdivision for a few weeks now b/c we walk by it on our daily stroll. I am not convinced that taking two rambunctious little boys who don't know how to swim to a pool all by myself is a great idea. It was fine when it was just Jack and me, but with Gray I think we'll have to wait till daddy can come with us. In the meantime, our little pool in the backyard will have to do.

JP is heading to Chicago for the weekend to participate in some strange strong man marathon, and I plan to "deep" clean this house while he's gone; Blinds, ceiling fans, light fixtures. . . Something I try to do twice a year.

Jack will start gymnastics in a few weeks and then soccer again in the fall. He is very excited to try something new and I think gymnastics will be good for him. Gray is busy gabbing away with real words here and there, and his "own" words in between. He knows most all of his body parts and follows many simple directions. He has mastered his fork and spoon and really insists on using them.

We are looking forward to attending some friends' weddings and our upcomming trips in July and August, as well as my parents' visit here over the 4th of July! Hope everyone else is having a great summer too!!! Here are a few pictures I took of the boys at the Overland Park Arboretum:

A Quick Update

It's been a LONG while since I've had the time to blog. When the weather gets nice, the Davies clan is OUTSIDE!!! This past winter was such a long, horrid one that being in front of the computer for more than a couple of minutes at a time is difficult. Especially when we can see the sun shining and the lush green grass that we work so hard to keep tip-top :) (I should say I, not we :) the hubby hates lawn work. haha!)

The past few months have been full of new stuff. For starters, we have added a new addition to our family. He has not been completely accepted by all (JP does not consider anything under 30 lbs to be a dog), however, the rest of us LOVE LOVE LOVE him! Walter is a PooChon (Toy Poodle/Bichon) and He's the sweetest. He is non-shedding and will grow to be about 9 lbs. If you know our family, you know that we already have 2 BIG dogs. You are probably thinking OMG how could someone have 3?!?! Well, I have always been an animal lover and have also always been obsessively clean. This means that I get to do two of my favorite things ALL OF THE TIME: clean AND have lots of pets. haha!

In addition to the new puppy, we decided to paint the exterior of our home and update the ceramic tile in our master bath. We have been looking "leisurely" at homes with land (at least 3 acres) and are still looking to find the "perfect one". We will probably be here for another year and are slowly making little upgrades here and there to keep up with the rest of the competition on the housing market here. There are so many nice homes for people to choose from that we don't want to have to wait forever to sell ours when the time is right!

Over the past 3 years I have completed the landscaping around our home and have planted several trees which have grown fairly fast!! I am slightly sad this year b/c there isn't as much for me to do outside. The boys and I have planted our flower pots and filled the bird feeders (several times). I have a few Hosta's to add to my shade garden and have fully enjoyed the tulips I planted last fall. What a great way to add Spring color!!! This year the only addition we'll be making landscape wise is to add some flowering mounding plants around each of our trees to add a little color. Other than that, our house looks pretty spiffy!!!

JP has two business trips to go on in the up-coming months--one to Boston and the other to Tempe. The boys and I will head back to Nebraska during one of them (not sure which one). JP and I are EXCITED to take our first REAL vacation since Jack was born. We are heading on an all inclusive trip to Riviera Maya in August. Should be sweet!!!

Jack is enjoying his 1 day a week preschool. His social skills have improved greatly and he's always looking forward to Tuesdays with Ms. Kyanna, and his new best friend Matthew.

Gray has been in exploration mode. He LOVES to be outside. When he's not outside, he's constantly trying to give everyone hugs. He is SOOOOO sweet natured. We are so lucky to have had such great boys!!!