A Rhyme.

Cougar: "Mom, what is a rhyme?"

Me: "You know what a rhyme is. It's two words that sound the same."

Cougar: "Oh! I know a new rhyme! Thanksgiving! Party! That rhymes!"

Me: "Yes, yes it does."

Toilet.

I have found it very hard to train Cougar to close the bathroom door behind him when he's done. He just can't be bothered with something as time consuming as shutting a door! So I find myself yelling "Phoenix! No! No toilets!" quite frequently while running to try and stop him before he gets his hands in the water. It came as a surprise today when roles were reversed.

I was scrubbing the toilet. (I know, Yay for me!) When in toddles Phoenix. He looks at me. He looks at the toilet. He looks back at me and shakes his head in a very silent, but understandable "Mommy, no, no, no." Then wobbly he turns around and heads back out of the bathroom.

Commercials

Cougar was watching some obnoxious commercial and we had the following conversation.

Cougar: "Why do they try to get us to buy their christmas stuff?"

Me: "Because they'll make lots of money if they can get people to buy their junk."

Cougar: "Mom! It's not junk. If it was junk it would have dirt on it."

I can't tell you how many different times he's quoted commercials at me. He watches Qubo and they tend to have the infomercial type commercials. He's told me all about Snuggies, Hollywood Bumpits and the Perfect Brownie Pan. If you no idea what I just said then, lucky you. Time to turn off the TV and read some books. Books never have commercial interruptions. :)

C-O-R-N-B-E-L-L-Y-S

For those of you that didn't know I've been working at Cornbelly's (the corn maze at Thanksgiving Point) it's been lots of fun and a little while ago we went and used some of the free tickets I was given (gotta love free!)

Here they are, ready for an adventure filled day!

The Duck Races! Cougar loved this! You pumped the handle and sent your little duckie down a rain gutter type contraption. I love that he's got his tongue sticking out.

Here are my boys practicing their "cowboy skills". Wait, scratch that. Mark's practicing his "cowboy skills", Cougar's practicing his "cow" skills and Phoenix is practicing his "what-the-heck-is-my-brother-doing-now?" skills. (Despite the look on his face in this picture Cougar was actually enjoying himself.)

Ahh, The Jumping Pillows. Everyone loved them. Even Mommy. Yep I did these, too. These are the attraction I get to look at the whole time I'm working. I had been dying to try them. When I grow up, I'm gonna have one in my backyard. It'll be awesome!

Cougar just jumped on this pedal cart and started racing around the track without any instruction or encouragement. It was one of the moments when I wonder what happened to my tiny baby and how he was replaced with this KID without my noticing?

These pedal karts were even better than the others. You steer with your feet. I don't know what my problem was but I had a really hard time at first. I'm going to say it's because I had the baby and couldn't get my balance right. I could not get going, or steer or avoid crashing into straw bales. The sweet worker girl there could not help laughing at me. I finally passed the baby on to Mark, who was pedaling circles around me, literally and was able to make a few laps after that. So cool! I want one of these!

Waiting for the pig races to start. In the background here you can see "The Creature" which is actually really cool and hard to fully explain. You walk inside and it's like you're walking inside well, a giant inflatable lizard. It's really dark and you wind your way down the throat around the heart (which you can hear beating), more twists and turns and you're on the outside again. Cougar wasn't brave enough to try it on this trip, but he was fascinated by the outside and could hardly take his eyes away from it. We have since been back and he found the guts to go inside. The first time piggyback on Daddy. The second time just holding Daddy's hand. I'm pretty impressed that he did it considering I was holding Daddy's hand, too, knew what to expect and was still slightly freaked out.

The pig races! If you look in the bottom left corner you can see the little piggies running. I loved this. They really did run just about as fast as they could around that little track. I fully appreciated the amount of animal training that went into this little attraction when they brought out the pygmy goats (get it? PIG-MY ha ha) for a race. I could never in a million years get my not-so-smart-weed-eaters to run like that.

Quite possibly, even more entertaining than the pig races was Budrow! This is our home teacher pretending to be the Cornbelly's pig farming idiot. His real name is not Budrow, but I may start calling him Brother Budrow, just because.

One Year Old

Phoenix had a birthday! (On the 6th, I know I'm behind) I made his cake. It was kind of crammed into a whole lot of other things I had to do I'm quite impressed it turned out so nicely.

He loved it. After digging in for a little while he started just picking off the M&Ms.

Oh My!

Phoenix has taken four steps unassisted. He's getting braver everyday. How can something fill me with joy and sadness at the same time? Why does it have to go so fast? Somebody find me a pause button!!

Ahhh...

Preschool has officially started and it also happens to be right around Phoenix's afternoon naptime. Oh, the house is so quiet and peaceful. This is going to be good.



On another note. Cougar had another soccer game today and scored 7 goals!! I'm so proud of him. He finally understands what he's supposed to be doing. Before he would run and fall down on purpose, but not any more. He chased that ball like it was made of gold. Fantastic!

I Am Officially A Soccer Mom.

And I love it! Cougar had his first soccer game today. We've been to two practices already. His first practice was on Tuesday around 5pm. I woke up to the pitter patter of little feet (on my face) before 7am. "Come on, Mom. We're gonna be late for practice!" It sure was a long day.


Here's Phoenix at Cougar's practice. He loves to chase the balls and crawl around in the grass. Look at those blue eyes. He's gonna be a heart breaker!

I don't know much about soccer, so I'm calling this a kick off. Cougar's the little orange guy with white shoes (kicking the ball). His team is the Tigers. I've heard a lot of "Go Tigers!" from Cougie while he's playing lately. They played the Cougars. I'm sure people thought I was nuts with my yelling "Go Cougar! Wahoo Tigers!"

He scored a goal during the game and has never been so proud. He says "I got a score!" Grandma and Grandpa Davis were able to come and watch his game. He was excited about that, too. He tends to really like it when people cheer for him. He's gonna be a glory hound, I know it. After the game the first thing he wanted to do was call my little sister Nikki who plays for Timpview's JV team. She was actually playing a game so gave Grandma a message. He keeps asking when Nikki's going to come watch him, so Nikki, let us know. :)

What Classic Should I Read?

I've been reading a lot lately and amazingly enough, I stay awake! It might have something to do with the fact that I'm not pregnant and both children have been sleeping through the night for several months now. I've been thinking that I haven't read "the classics". I've been reading a lot of 'grown up' books and am enjoying them. (I usually have stuck with teen fiction). My reading tastes seem to have matured and I want to read a few classics, but don't know where to start. What are some of your favorites? I'm thinking Jane Austen something, but I've also got (found them at DI, woot woot) Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Little Women, The Invisible Man. I also have access to a great library, not amazing like you Salt Lake County folks. So, tell me. Leave a comment. What do you suggest I start with? I know a lot of readers, read my blog so I expect to hear from you. Help me fall in love with a good book! Thanks!

Too Much Fun, No Time To Blog.

We've been going on trip after trip and have loved it, but haven't had much time for anything else. Maybe I'll completely update at some point, probably not, but we'll see. Until then, maybe this will give you the Davis fix you need. We're getting ready to head back out again. I feel like I've had just enough time to do laundry. This is just about the last trip we've got planned. Lava Hot Springs, here we come.

In Green River, eating melon, Phoenix's new favorite food.

In case you can't tell, my boys and Lake Powell get along just fine. In fact they are already life long friends. What a blast! Sorry for the quick end to the video, I had to catch Phoenix who wasn't stopping. By the time I got to him he was just about up to his eyeballs in water and still crawling.

Too True

A friend emailed this to me and I just had to share because I know so many of you have been there...

I asked the Lord to tell me
Why my house is such a mess.
He asked if I'd been 'computering,
And I had to answer 'yes.'


He told me to get off my fanny,
And tidy up the house.
And so I started cleaning up...
The smudges off my mouse.


I wiped and shined the topside.
That really did the trick.....
I was just admiring my good work.
I didn't mean to 'click.'


But click, I did, and oops -
I found a real absorbing site
That I got SO way into -
I was into it all night.

Nothing's changed except my mouse.
It's very, very shiny.
I guess my house will stay a mess....
While I sit here on my hiney.

You should see the other guy....

The other guy was in fact a mosquito that got me while I was peacefully slumbering (dirty fighter). Got me right on the eyelid while I was snuggled up in bed. I didn't even get the satifaction to squish him during his feast. My eye has been swollen all day. It also got me in the eyebrow of my other eye, but that's not nearly as swollen. I took the max dose of benadryl about an hour ago and am now going to zonk out. I hope I can wake up before noon tomorrow....

100th Post!!

I've been thinking a lot lately about what my children are teaching me and thought that with my 100th post (go me) I would record some of those things.


Through Cougar I have learned the importance of perspective. In his eyes, plain old seagulls become "Eagles!" Various flowery weeds become beautiful bouquets that must be shared. I see another plane in the sky making those cloudy tracks. He sees a shooting star and a reason to make a wish. I see potato bugs or worms or some other common crawly thing and he sees great scientific discoveries. I see me as being average, plain, not much and he sees a beautiful woman who can fix any problem, do anything, who knows the answer to every question. He sees things a totally different way. His way is better. I need to look through his eyes more often.


Phoenix is teaching me to never settle. As soon as you accomplish a goal move on to the next thing. Keep growing and progressing. There's always room for improvement. He shows me that simply being with the people that love you is enough.

Sweet!!

I just put on a pair of pre-pregnancy pants and can fit into them comfortably!! Can I get a woot-woot!?

Nature Day

We had the opportunity today to go to the International Peace Gardens with Heidi and her little ones for Nature Day. It was really fun and not to mention, free! I want to go back when things are actually blooming.



This was at the Swiss garden. Sweet boys! The kids really enjoyed running down the paths and picking the dandilions.


We played at a park nearby afterward, because the kids kept asking to go to the park. They didn't quite understand that the gardens were "the park". It's so nice to see that Ellie and Cougar can play nicely. Usually they see each other on Sunday evenings when they are both tired and cranky. Cougar took Phoenix on his first ride down the slide. It was going pretty well until Cougar lost control, fell over and bumped Phee-phee's head on the slide. The crying only lasted until the kids started running around and Phoenix was back to staring.

Baby Goats

With the nice weather last week we took Cougar's fort outside and had a little picnic. Phoenix loved it. He is munching on a giant pretzel stick. Most picnics are ruined by ants. Ours was ruined by pregnant goats. They ran right through it trying to taste everything we had.

On Saturday we had two goats born. I let Cougar name them... Here he is carrying Green. Yes, the goat's name is Green.

SEE!! PHOENIX DOES SMILE!! He got so excited when Purple (Green's sister) walked by and bleated. There is no question that he was sent to the right family.

Serious Update

Well, It's been quite a while since I've included a full update with pictures and everything, so here you go. Us in a nutshell! Hopefully, we're not too boring.


Two boys that couldn't come any cuter.

"Mom! Look what I did to Phoenix!" I came running, believe you me.


Cougar and I had a great date a while back. We went to the Safe Kids Fair. We got to meet Spiderman! It was so much fun. It's was great to spend sometime with Cougar, just the two of us. He's such a good kid. He couldn't make the hand shape Spiderman uses to shoot his webs. Right before it was our turn I help move his fingers into position and he held it there until we were done with pictures. He thought it was hilarious that Spiderman said "Cheese!"

Umm.... I don't even know what to say....

When the weather was nice a little while ago we got outside and started working on the yard. Mark and I burned weeds while the boys played. It was Phoenix's first real outside excursion. He loved it, mostly he watched Cougar or the goats or the dogs run around.

When I said we burned weeds do you think plants? Well, the definition of a weed is something that grows where it's not wanted, right? Just kidding, honey, you know I like the goatee.... I also like your eyebrows, sideburns, and armhair.

Phoenix has discovered two new loves, his highchair and graham crackers. He's always wanting to sit straight up so pulled this out to let him play while I was in the kitchen. He loves it and gives the biggest grins when you even look at him. And graham crackers are delicious and turn to mush in a slobbery mouth, need I say more?

Today, when I picked Cougar up from preschool we were running to the car in an attempt to spend as little time in the freezing, blowing, snowy, nastiness as possible, when Cougar stopped dead in his tracks, looked up to the sky and yelled as loudly as he could "GOD! IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE SPRING!" After I got control of my laughter we talked about how it's disrespectful to yell at Heavenly Father.

3 words.

GIRL

SCOUT

COOKIES

Thanks Mikaela and Aubrie!

Note to Self...

When your son is all snuggled up and going to bed without a fight, it's not a good idea to introduce him to the saying "Good night, Sleep tight, Don't let the bed bugs bite."

The League of Justice

We only get two tv channels here at our lovely home. Channel 11 and 13. I can't stand to have it absolutely silent all the time, it drives me crazy. So the tv is on quite a bit. Well, channel 13 has about 5 hours of court tv everyday. I realized that it's on too much when today, Cougar said "I like Judge Alex, he's my favorite. Who's your favorite, Mom?" "I like Judge Judy" "Oh, she's good too."

Maybe all this exposure to law at an early age will inspire him to be lawyer....

Let's Talk.

Cougar stayed up WAAAAY too late last night and then refused to take a nap today. The result, lots and lots of whining. I finally said to him "Why are you whining so much?" even though I already knew the answer. He replied "Let's talk about it."

"Let's talk about what?" I said.

"About my whining"

This took me by surprise. "Umm....okay, tell me why you're whining".

"Because of the pressure"

"What pressure?"

"Because of the pressure I have"

Oh what I would give to be under his pressure. I'll trade in a heartbeat.

He then went on to tell me all about how our bodies get energy from the food we eat. He's quite a little scientist, lately. I am fostering a 170 pound English Mastiff. (A really gianormous dog) It was sleeping on the floor of my parents living room. Cougar was inspecting it and I heard little things he was saying to himself like "leg, one hundred miles long." He told me he was being a scientist. "Oh, are you makings observations?" I asked. He nodded, smiling, very pleased with himself.

I have the greatest husband!

Yesterday, Mark had an interview at Little Giant Ladders (pray for us) and decided to take the ENTIRE day off! He installed a garbage disposal for me! Yay! I love him! He did a few little honey-dos around the house. He did try to get out of a few of them by asking in spanish if there was anything else I needed him to do. When I looked at him blankly he said "I'll take that as a no" and walked away laughing to himself. He helped Cougar make a mailbox for his preschool valentine party. It's a rocket ship and the top flips open so you can put things inside. He's works so much it's a little weird for us to have him home. I was so grateful for an extra set of hands while trying to make dinner. I've had sick kids for over a week now. Cougar's been feeling better for a few days, and Phoenix is working on it. My nerves have been pretty seriously frazzled. Having Mark around helps fix that. Sometimes I'm not sure why because he just loves to push my buttons. Anyway, I'm rambling. I love that man!

Protect Your Children!

I had an interesting experience tonight when I was leaving Little Dragons and it really made me realize that Cougar needs to know his phone number and address.

I was turning right on to Center Street in Orem (This was at 5:30 so it was very busy) when I noticed a little boy walking down the sidewalk in shorts, no coat and leading a little dog on a leash. I didn't see his mom anywhere, but I could pull over so I drove a little ways and turned around to check on him. By the time I found him again he had crossed Center Street and 4th West? (the road Orem Community Hospital is on). A lady was leading him across the street and it didn't look like they knew each other. I pulled over and asked if she was his mom and she wasn't. Well, to make a long story short we got his little blue body in my car and asked him all kinds of questions. He was four years old and headed to his brothers' basketball practice at a school a few more blocks down the road. We tried calling the number on the dog's tag and nobody answered, so we called the police. When the police arrived they figured out that he lived roughly a half mile away from where he was and that this was the second time in a month that he has gone on a walk by himself. It just scares me to death, that was basically Cougar crossing center street! I am bound and determined to teach him our address and phone number now! I was waiting until he could successfully count past 3 in the right order, but have decided that this is more important. Not that he will be walking anywhere without my knowing about it, but it's important anyway! Please make sure your children know your full name, address and phone number. Without the dog's tags it might have been hours before the police found out where this little boy belonged. Okay, I'm stepping off my soapbox.

Go Chickens!!!

My chickens have started laying eggs!! So far I've gotten two of these beautiful brown babies! Nice work chickens! It sure has taken you long enough! I don't know what to make to celebrate, maybe brownies, brownies would properly honor the eggs...

Week 3

Food Storage Purchase: 20lbs. White Sugar or Honey

Extra Item Purchase: Enough dish soap to last 3 months

72 Hour Kit: 1 change of clothing (pants, shirt, socks, underwear) place in ziplock bag

Family Preparation: Obtain a family utility box- Action Packer, cooler with wheels, cardboard box, etc

Spiritual Preparedness: Read Elder Bednar's article in the September 2007 Ensign; Seek Learning by Faith

Fresh Air!

We took advantage of the "warm" day today. Phoenix has been so fussy today and I didn't know what to do so I decided to take him on a walk. We got all bundled up, Cougar hopped on his bike and we were gone. Heading down our country road was so nice. We are very much outside people. Nobody in our family does well cooped up for long periods of time and we've been housebound by the cold and the yucky air. How nice to stretch our legs. Phoenix loved it, too. We were outside for an hour and he didn't make a peep, just looked around with his big eyes. I have to say that the boys really look alike when both of their noses are red from cold. Now I'm super anxious to get to my mountains. I can't wait for Memorial Day when we traditionally hike to my most favorite place in the whole world, Pittsburgh Lake.

I DON'T HAVE TO DO IT ALL!!

I just had this revelation, okay, really it was more like a DUH! moment. I realized that I don't have to do everything around the house. It's time for Cougar to have chores! I'm working on the laundry and had a full basket of Cougar's clothes. I was just getting ready to put them away when I decided to see if Cougar wanted to *earn* a matchbox car ( I had one left over from potty training) I said earn like it was a the most amazing, stupendous, excitingly magical word in the whole world and of course he was all ready to *earn* it right away. He put all his clothes in the proper drawers and his shirts on hangers. I thought he was too young. What was I thinking? I've got to think up a chore chart, now.

Keep on Chubbin'

I weighed Phoenix yesterday. He is now 16 pounds 9 ounces. HOLY COW!

Family Preparedness

Our ward is participating in a 52 weeks to Family Preparedness Plan. They are sending home little flyers telling us what to get for the week and I thought it would be good thing to blog in case any of you need any help (like I do) getting started.

Last week's flyer said:
Our Church Leaders have asked us to make a concerted effort to obtain our year's supply of food and other essentials. Here are suggestions for a 52 week plan to help us all achieve this. Amounts given are for two people. Adjust the quantities you purchase for the number of family member in your home. The items will change weekly, so keep up with us and take the challenge to become PREPARED.

Food Storage Purchase: 8 cans of Tuna

Extra Item Purchase: 8 rolls of Toilet Paper (1 roll per week for 2 months)

72 Hour Kit: Obtain a backpack or small suitcase with wheels for each family member

Family Preparation (Choose One)
Store enough water for 72 hours
Preferred water storage-2 weeks-14 gallons per person. Also store purifying agents


Spiritual Preparedness
Read D&C 137 and 138
Have church magazines in your home and study the words of the modern day prophets




Week 2

Food Storage Purchase: 8 can of cream of chicken soup

Extra Item Purchase: Laundry Soap to last 2 months

72 Hour Kit: Obtain a blanket(wool is preferred) or sleeping bag per person. Also-sleeping mat


Family Preparation
By your nightstand place a pair of gloves, flashlight and shoes in case of an emergency in the middle of the night

Spiritual Preparednes
Read John 5:39, Mosiah 1:7, and Alma 17:2
Have daily scripture study

Thanks Rice Cereal!

I just got back from teaching karate for the first time since having Phoenix. I tried to go last week but had to come home early because Phoenix won't take a bottle and was hungry. This week I fed him some rice cereal before I left and left Mark some cereal as well. Well, both boys were in bed when I got back! One is sleeping peacefully, the other is singing songs in his bedroom. Thanks Mark, for the much needed break! Thanks rice cereal for making it so Mark didn't have to deal with crying baby all night!

Eating Our Young.

My older sister, Heidi asked me a while back "Do you ever want to eat your baby?" You probably know that feeling that makes you just want to nibble on some cheeks. "You're so cute, I could just eat you up" is a common phrase. I've been thinking about this. Why do we get that urge? I'm sure that there are some wacky scientists out there that would say it is an instinct left over from when we were evolving and had to eat our young for our survival. (Like mice do, sometimes.) But, after lots of research I've come to a conclusion I'm sure you'll agree with.....

NOTHING CAN BE THIS FATTENING AND NOT TASTE HEAVENLY!

Better Late Than Never!

I'm having one of those rare moments when all seems right with the world. Both boys are peacefully snoozing. The dishwasher's running and so are the washer and dryer. It's so quiet I felt like catching up on a post that I've been meaning to do, but just haven't found the time. Phoenix was Baby Jesus for our Christmas Eve Nativity. Mark's cousin's little girls was Mary. She could barely hold Chubs, but she did a great job long enough for me to get a picture. As I stated earlier Cougar wanted to be the special present for Baby Jesus. Here he is in the costume I made him. I cut arms and head holes in a box then wrapped it. Cougar decided that he was gold. He did such a good job as the special present.


On Christmas Eve, Santa visited Grandma Steele's house. He was in rare form. I've never laughed so hard at Santa in my life! Good Job, Santa! Cougar told him he wanted a tractor and a farm.

"More food, please, Santa"

Mark's New Website

As some of you may know, Mark was elected as the Utah Pheasant Society Webmaster recently. He's been working on the new website and it's finally up. I thought some of you might like to take a look at it. There's not a whole lot on there, yet, but it will grow....

www.utahpheasantsociety.webs.com

Boys...ugh

Mommy: "Cougar, get your finger out of your nose."
Cougar: "The boogers need help getting back in!"