To Blog a Davidson: Friday Facts and Photos

Things got busy last week, and I didn't do a Friday post, so I have two weeks of catching up to do.

Last Week:

Last Saturday was spent doing something I typically dread: picking out and buying flowers and plants. Before building our house, I was never interested in flowers, especially the constant upkeep. Jason is certainly the more landscape-oriented of the two of us, but typically leaves me to pick out flowers on my own and then complains about them later. :) This day, however, he went with me to the Amish greenhouse, where we had great a time with Connor picking out flowers for our pots, as well as buying a hydrangea bush, a couple of evergreen trees for the corners of the back porch, and a hanging basket (which ended up being too heavy for our shepherd's hook). We then spent the remainder of the morning/early afternoon planting and watering, all while Lindsay entertained Connor in the yard. It was a tiring day, but very productive and actually much more fun than I anticipated.

inspecting the landscaping

"helping" Daddy plant the hydrangea

Mommy helping Connor not stab Daddy's foot with the metal rake

hanging out with Aunt Linds

my first fresh-cut flowers from the hydrangea bush

Memorial Day weekend was spent at home, with a visit from Jason's parents and brother. It was a fun weekend, filled with a cookout with the Davidsons, Finches, and family friends, lots of time spent outside, and great grilled foods.

Memorial Day Weekend -- Square Oak Church

with Jordan after Square Oak's Memorial Day service

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (for both Jason and myself) were spent at school, working on revamping curriculum due to the entirely new ELA (English/Language Arts) standards Kentucky has adopted and which we will be accountable for NEXT YEAR. This has been an extremely overwhelming process, but much work was done on these days, including choosing new pieces, rearranging and even deleting units, editing unit organizers, and even so far as editing the PowerPoint presentations for next year. I was definitely ready when Thursday afternoon arrived to have a break from school work for a little while. (On a side note, I was able to shop the Giggles and Grace children's consignment presale on Thursday evening, and it was FABULOUS! I got Connor some awesome deals on clothes and shoes for upcoming sizes.)

Friday was our first "real" day of summer break, and we spent the majority of it playing outside with Connor, relaxing, and avoiding everything around the house we knew we needed to get to. It was a much needed lazy day. My mom and dad were very gracious and watched Connor that evening so Jason and I could have a lazy, at-home date night. We ate junk food and watched movies...it was great.

This Week:

On Saturday, Jason had a music event in Campbellsville to play at with the praise band, and I was headed to the wedding of a colleague and friend. The day was a success, despite the fact that Jason's band caused a breaker to blow and the power went it. The wedding was beautiful (outdoor), and the people I spent it with were such fun.

two of my favorite touches from the wedding: handmade fans and lemonade

the bride arriving in a beautiful carriage

walking down the aisle with her gorgeous daughter

Sunday was a busy, wonderful day. We went to early service (as usual), Sunday school, and then home. However, that afternoon was spent enjoying a piano recital performed by my grandmother's students. One of my former students, Ben, was performing in his last ever recital, and as always, his talent brought tears to my eyes. Not only did he play a solo piece and a duet with my grandmother, but he also performed a duet with her that he composed himself. I was beyond impressed. Right after the recital, we headed to Louisville for a short visit with Jason's family.

On Monday, Jason, his brother, and dad spent most of the day golfing, so Connor and I hung out outside, played in the sprinkler, made a quick trip to Walmart and McDonald's, and just enjoyed the sunny day. Once Jason got home we took a quick trip to the Highlands where we walked around, hit my favorite consignment store, and then we headed back home for a delicious meal with the Davidsons.

Tuesday morning was spent visiting Nanny and Lyle, and experiencing her delicious breakfast and good conversation. Later that morning we headed to the mall where Jason found some cheap sunglasses to replace the ones Connor had destroyed, and then went out for a belated birthday lunch at Rafferty's with Veronica.

We also had a Groupon to Cake Flour, one of our new favorite Louisville spots. It is a delicious bakery, which you can find online here. For only $5, we got three delicious treats: flourless chocolate cake (for Jason), vanilla cupcake with buttercream icing (for me), and a chocolate ganache cupcake (for Linds). We will definitely be back again.

flourless chocolate cake

vanilla cupcake with buttercream icing

chocolate ganache cupcake

We got home by early afternoon, and I was able to head to kickboxing for our first experience with a new instructor. It was...different. By far the best part of the day was coming home, sweaty and tired, to find Jason had cooked dinner and all I had to do what sit down and eat. It reminded me again why I married this man.

Jason had yet another PD day on Wednesday, so Connor and I were the only ones at home. Thankfully, he slept until 7 and took a good morning nap, so I got lots of packing (for Alaska), organizing (of the consignment clothes I got for Connor) and a little bit of cleaning done throughout the day. We also spent a good chunk of the afternoon at Mom and Dad's pool, which he loves. I thought the sun and water might make the likelihood good for an afternoon nap, but no such luck. My son never stops, it seems.

Thursday morning was mostly spent catching up on laundry and packing for a short trip to Richmond. A couple building a house came by to look at our cabinets, and Connor loved playing with their son. He was definitely geared up after they left. After his nap, we had lunch, packed up, and headed to Richmond for a visit with the Jessops. Carrie-Nell and I assembled bacon-wrapped shrimp to be grilled, along with chicken she had already marinated, as well as rice and asparagus, which made a delicious dinner. The kiddos played until they were exhausted, and all of them slept well.

Friday morning we hung around lazily, enjoying watching Connor and Leila play (I loved holding Luke.), and having an amazing Greek lunch. We headed home in the early afternoon. Visits with the Jessops always seem to short but are filled with lots of fun and laughter, so it was a good 24 hour trip. The fact that Carrie-Nell sent me home with all the leftover baklava is thoughtful, but my waistline is already not appreciative.

playing with Leila

He is a madman when pushing a shopping cart.

Jason juggling all three babies.

three handsome guys

with blankies and Gabba in the morning

adding Muno, Brobee, elephant, and monster to the mix

Precious friends

That basically covers the last two weeks of life in the Davidson family. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks, because we have a very exciting journey to Alaska that I will be excited to share...once I get over the anticipation of Connor on his first plane ride (I'm actually more nervous that he'll disturb other passengers than I am scared of anything else.). I'm sure I'll have lots of photos and stories to tell, good, bad, and funny. :)

Other random happenings/Connor updates:

- Connor is now regularly putting together full sentences, such as, "I hold it" (He wants to hold/be in control of most everything.).

- Connor now LOVES to color. He says, "Draw" or "Color" several times per day, and while it is mostly scribble, I love seeing his creative side.

- He also now tries to "read" by himself. He grabs a book and jabbers away.

- Every train he sees/hears he now refers to as, "Thomas." We also heard a train whistle while in Louisville, and I asked Connor where the train was going. He replied, "Home." When I asked him why the train was going home, he said, "Munch" (His version of lunch.). I guess trains go home for lunch, just like Connor does. :)

- Last week Connor and I were playing outside when he started running toward the road. I yelled out, "Connor, stay away from the road! It's dangerous!" He ran back to me and said, "Dan-jus," and has been repeating it ever since.

- Mimi bought Connor an adorable Bobblehead baseball chicken (pictured below), and when I asked Connor what his name was, he said, "Batman," which was semi-accurate and quite hilarious. :)