First Day of School

Some children look forward to the first day of school. Parker isn't one of them. He does fine academically and socially. He just hates giving up all that playing time. Whenever any one asked him if he was excited for school, he responded, "I don't think my vacation was long enough." Yesterday he told me, "You know what was wrong with this summer vacation? All we did was work."

This morning Parker asks, "Mom, why are you taking my picture? You already took my picture on the first day of first grade."

As we are walking out the door, "Here goes another horrible day."

After school I ask, "How was school?"

Parker: "O.k."

Me: "What was the best part?"

Parker: "Recess."

McKay: "I missed you, Buddy, while you were at school."

Parker: "Someday you'll learn school isn't that great."

He's Going to Need a Bath

Water + Sand + Blood = One Very Dirty Little Boy

Which Came First?

As we were driving to the library, McKay asks, "Mom, Jesus made everything, right?"
"Right."
"So which did he make? Do he make a big chicken or did he put a baby chick inside a egg?"
"Ummm...."
Did she really just ask me which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Daily Chores

Chore Time. I collected Parker from the neighbor's house, where he was about to go swimming for the second time of the day. Of course the standard tears started. "I was about to go swimming, and now I have to do chores, and it will take forever, and I'll never get to go play at Jacob's again, and MY LIFE WILL BE RUINED."

McKay: "I don't like chores, either. I don't like things that take forever."

A Week's Worth of Pictures

Deacon hugging his cousin, Gideon.

The entire neighborhood playing in my backyard. Ever since we got the kittens, we have been the most popular house on the street. One day I was in the kitchen when I heard the front door open. I peeked out to see if Parker had coming in from playing, only to see my neighbor, Maddi, walking through my front door. She walked straight through, and out into the backyard where the kittens were, and where her sister was climbing over the fence. "Hello, Maddi," I called. She didn't respond. "Don't mind me. I just live here."

Nephi (Parker), Sam (McKay), and Lehi (Deacon) building a ship, shocking Laman and Lemuel, and sailing to the promised land.

Parker to McKay, "We only have one other righteous brother, Jacob."
Me: "That's not true you also have Joseph."

Parker: "He's not in the movie." (Living Scriptures)

Me: "Yes, but he's in the real scriptures."

Parker: "Are you sure?"

(Later there was weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth when told they had to clean up the ship.)

A mother quail and her chicks on my back fence.

McKay and Deacon being kitties. They ate their dinner on the floor, and drank their milk out of bowls.

Other events of the week not pictured: children sitting in comatose state in front of the t.v., Deacon dumping somewhere around 42 glasses of milk and water on the floor, daily meltdown at chore time, and the following conversation I had with McKay this morning.

McKay: "Mommy, I wish I didn't look like me. I wish I looked like my friends."

Me: "Why? You're beautiful."

McKay: "Because they have cuter clothes than me. Do these clothes you put on me even match?"

Please, please, please can I not go through this stage for eight, nine more years?

Reverence is, At the Very Least, Quietly Sitting

We have eleven o'clock church. This is not the best time for small children or a diabetic husband, because something occurs between the hours of eleven and two. That something is lunch. Usually we manage by having a snack before we leave the house, but today we were running late. Instead I passed out fruit snacks to eat in the car on the way to church.

This tided everyone over until somewhere in the middle of the sacrament, when Chris said his blood sugar was low. I was sure I had sugar in the van, so I ran out and found half a tube of liquid glucose that was no longer liquid. Not exactly an overflowing supply. So I ran back in, handed the tube to Chris to crunch on, and then got up to find my friend in the ward who also has a diabetic husband to beg sugar off her. When I got back to my family, McKay was having a meltdown because she was "so, so, so thirsty." Feeling that I should stay with Chris to make sure he lived through sacrament meeting, I sent Parker out with McKay. They were back in a few minutes with McKay still in meltdown mode, because Parker wasn't tall enough to lift her up. So back up I popped to take McKay out, with Deacon following at my heels. Drinks done, I sent McKay back in and stayed out in the hall with Deacon who was now having his very own meltdown. While I tried to calm Deacon, who should come walking out of the doors of the chapel, but Parker. "What are you doing?" I exclaimed. Parker shrugged. "I had to go to the bathroom."

Finally, Chris, Parker, and McKay are all sitting in Sacrament meeting, Deacon is running back and forth in the breezeway, and I have a chance to listen to the talks. The bishopric is having a special sacrament meeting about reverence. The first counselor has just stated that parents should teach their children that there is no reason they need to leave the chapel during sacrament meeting, when who should pop through the chapel doors, but my oldest son. "What now?!?"

"McKay stepped on a fruit snack, and there is fruit snack goo spread all over the floor. Dad sent me out for a wet paper towel."

So if you were counting--times we should leave sacrament meeting: zero; times Davis members got out of their seats: six. At this point it's now the Bishop's turn, and he is talking about attending a friend's ward last Sunday. He said the mom in front of him passed out Lunchables and Capri Suns to her children. Of course, I thought, this is the answer to the Davis family's need for reverence. If I bring Lunchables and Capri Suns next week, everyone will have food, a drink, and be happily contained for a good twenty, thirty minutes. This is the way to go! Then the Bishop burst my bubble by stating, "I think Cheerios are one thing. But meat product--that's going too far."

Dang. I wonder if they make vegetarian Lunchables...

Primary Activity

Parker and McKay had a primary activity, and they invited our neighbor, MaKenna, to come with them. On the drive to the church, however, Parker started getting nervous. "Mom, I don't think this is a good idea. MaKenna's not Mormon. I don't think she can come inside." I tried to reassure him that it was fine. Being the rule Nazi child that he is, he was anxious that it was against some sort of code. MaKenna was also trying to smooth things over with him. "I love Mormons. They're awesome. When I grow up I'm going to marry one." Parker thought this over for a second and said, "Well, you could marry me."

And this is when I realized my gospel teaching has been less than stellar. In Parker's mind it is much better to marry a non-member than allow one to step inside a Mormon church.

Coupon Crazy

I never used to coupon. I always said my time was worth more than the money I would save couponing. Then it struck me. What was I doing with my time? Changing diapers? Scrubbing toilets? Maybe couponing wouldn't be so bad...

So I started in on my couponing adventures, and before I knew it, I was addicted. It has become a game to see how much I can get for little to nothing. Chris can't understand how excited I get over grocery shopping. However, he was very supportive during the Dr. Pepper sale. When I got 4 12-packs of Diet Dr. Pepper for $1.22 (That price includes tax!), he told me, "This is the best thing you've ever got couponing!" So 28 cases later, we have our year supply of Caffeine-Free Diet Dr. Pepper. Hey, we're just trying to follow the prophet here.

But on to yesterday. I took a picture of all the groceries I bought. Chris told me, "Someday you're going to look back at that picture, and think, 'I'm such a dork.'" He's probably right. Here's the picture.

Guess how much this cost. O.k. before coupons it cost $32.22. Then I had $15 of coupons, so I paid $17.22. But wait--there's more! Then coupons for $15 of store vouchers printed off. So it was like I'd got all those groceries for $2.22. But wait--there's even more! Then a survey printed off, which I did online, which gave me two more dollars of free groceries! So I paid $17.22, and I now have coupons for $17 of free groceries. It's like I bought all those groceries for $.22!

O.k. I got that out of my system. Now I promise to never post the details of my grocery shopping trips again.

How the Davis Family Spends a Saturday

Deacon: Making the kittens wish for their quiet life before they met us.

McKay: Dancing with her ballet class at the Meridian Farmer's Market.

Parker: Whining about how much he hates doing chores.

Chris: Taking care of the kids and doing yard work to balance out the two days spent golfing this week.

Kodie: School clothes, school supplies, and grocery shopping. Highlight: Getting the supreme first parking spot, directly in front of the doors, Saturday night. That never happens to me. Walmart? Saturday? I almost took a picture, it was so amazing.

Could it get any more exciting at our house? Parking spots? Yard work? What a great day.