June 2006 Archives

Okay, so it's a bit early ... his real birthday isn't until next Tuesday ... but we had to take advantage of the situation. What situation? Well, since you asked ...

I was scheduled to help Josh film a wedding so we made arrangements for the kids to go stay with Granny and Papa for the weekend. This was the first time the kids have been away from us for more than a few hours. I knew Granny (and Papa) whoud take good care of them. Afterall, they had raised five children with one being Josh. Myra and Noah would be easy for them.

So, the kids are gone and we have the twin bed with trundle that Uncle BooBoo was kind enough to give and Granny and Papa were kind enough to deliver to Noah. We moved everything around just the way I wanted it and then placed the bedding (from Grandma and Toni) just right. We even moved in the lighthouse toy chest that Josh and I had purchased for Noah's big day. It's perfect ... so far. I'd like some sort of window treatment in there. I just can't figure out what.

So how is Noah doing with his new big boy room? He enjoys opening and dropping the lid to his toy chest and he loves his bed. He tried sleeping in it the first night home but he wasn't quite ready. Josh and I tucked him in and closed the door as usual. Noah cried for a bit and then nothing. After about 5-10 minutes, I decided to check on him. Poor little guy was laying in his big boy bed crying quietly to himself. Mommy to the rescue. We cuddled for about five minutes on the couch and then it was off to the crib.

The next night, I let him have his choice of beds. He picked the crib. Oh well, we're not going to force it on him.

Last night, Noah picked the big boy bed and actually slept in it! That is, until about 4am. We had placed several ... okay, all the pillows from the sofa on the floor by the bed and I had set up the baby monitor. I heard Noah fussing and I got up to make sure he hadn't fallen out. He was fine but ready for the crib again. Like I said, we're not going to force it on him. Honestly, he's "making the transfer" faster than I thought I he would. That's good because I don't know how much weight that crib can hold. That's our boy!

Added later the same day ....
We're having some issues with naptime. Until now, Noah hasn't realized that he can get out of bed and simply walk out of his room. At the moment, he's crying because he now has this knowledge but Mommy won't let him use it. I know, I'm so mean.

We didn't get to do a whole lot of touristy stuff while we were in Corpus because of the nature of our trip and the fact that it was somewhat short. However, the spots we did visit were well worth it.

Our first stop (Friday morning) was a visit to the USS Lexington ... the Blue Ghost ... the Museum on the Sea. We arrived just as they opened so we pretty much had full run over the ship. Thank goodness they had signs pointing you in the right direction. Without a tourguide we would have been completely lost. How these sailors survived is beyond me. They had to be some tough (and skinny) men.

After our trip to the ship, it was off to the beach! Okay, so the boys squeezed in a quick nap and the girls did a little shopping but then ... SURF'S UP DUDE! Noah pretty much dove right in realizing too late that it might not have been the best idea. A wave came and knocked him flat on his hiney. Everytime he tried to get up, another wave would knock him right back down. He kept his distance from there on out. Myra was the complete opposite. It took her a while to warm up to the ocean and all the waves. After that, it was nearly impossible to get her out. Josh ... he's a whole 'nother story. He spent quite a bit of time diving into the biggest waves he could find. I let him have his moment. Afterall, it was his first time swimming in the Big Blue.

Saturday morning, we headed to Cole Park. It was one of those big wooden playgrounds that we've played on many times before but this one was on the shore mking it totally different. We took a break from playing to walk down this very long pier to get another view of the ocean. On the way to the end and back, we saw several jellyfish! Too bad Mommy forgot the camera and Daddy forgot to remind Mommy to bring the camera.

After the park it was back to the beach (after some more shopping ... this time to buy clothes to wear to the reception). We didn't take as many pictures this time which gave us more time to enjoy the sea.

That evening, Josh went to the wedding, Noah took a nap and Mommy and Myra took lots of time to "put on our faces" for the reception. Noah woke up just in time to head out the door. The reception was small but nice. Myra danced her little heart out saying "Mommy, I've got some moves!" and Noah ran around and around and around. Both kids were sad to leave.

Sunday morning we had a special breakfast planned. We were going to Whataburger by the Bay! I know what you're thinking ... Don't y'all have Whataburgers there in Fort Worth? A little background why we did this ... we usually go out for breakfast every Sunday morning at our local Whataburger. They have a picture of this really cool, two story Whataburger located on a beach there. Upon taking a closer look, we realized that this Whataburger was located in Corpus Christi! We just had to go ... so we did.

After breakfast it was back to Fort Worth. I don't think any of us really wanted to leave. We could have all gone for some more touristy activities but we have things to do here (like prepare for somebody's second birthday) so we had to come home. We'll definately be planning another trip to the beach ... maybe someplace new next time.

The Davis Family at Whataburger by the Bay!

To view our pics from the USS Lexington and the beach, click here.

That was Myra's one line in her first school program. It also happens to be one of the cities we had to drive through to get to Corpus Christi. Myra was so excited just to be in Austin and when we told her "There's the capital" she could barely contain herself. I've never known any child to be so excited about their state capital ... or any other state's capital. Someday, we'll have to actually stop and maybe take a tour.

This is just a building that I thought was pretty. It looks almost like a crystal.

The mothers of both the bride and groom were kind enough to invite us to the attend the wedding that we had traveled all the way down to Corpus Christi for Josh (and Ricky) to film. We didn't go to the wedding ceremony for a couple reasons but we did make it for the first half of the reception ... that included dinner! BTW, we are very greatful for the invite with or without dinner being included. Anyway ... the point. I just couldn't resist this perfect opportunity to play with Myra's "new short hair". Along with the derss she had picked out, it looks like we have our own little Barbie.

BTW, there's more on our Corpus Christi trip to come. It wasn't all about playing dress-up with Sissy.

That was our exact reaction when we opened the estimate on our house (for the 2006 tax year) from Tarrant County. There is no way our house is worth that much. At least not at the moment. There's so much work to be done ... the master bath needs to be reomodeled, the carpet needs to be replaced, and we still have to patch up cracks in the walls (both inside and out) from when we had foundation work done three years ago. I know, that last one just shows that we're slightly lazy. We decided to protest.

I was going to have to "plead our case" in front of the Tarrant County Appraisal Board and hear/see the District Appraisal's "eveidence" as to why they valued our house so high. I knew that they based their values on the price that surrounding houses had been selling for. I saw a few of those prices before our hearing and I admit, it made me a little more nervous. Maybe the $105,000 was right. However, deep down we know that asking for that amount just wouldn't be right. So ... it was off to Lowe's to collect my evedence.

The Appraisal Board's office sent us a little "protest hints" letter in the mail stating that the best way to protest is to have extimates from contractors or to have your house appraised by a "professional". We didn't want to mess with either. Good thing Lowe's will print out a supply (with prices) list. They also have a guy there that knows pretty much everything there is to know about building anything. (James at the White Settlement store ... I'm documenting his name here so that when we are ready to start our repairs, we'll know who to talk to.) He was able to look at our pictures (another suggestion in what to bring to your protest) and type up a list in about 15min.

Yesterday afternoon, I headed to Staples to make copies of our settlement statement (showing what we originally paid for the house), foundation repair warranty (showing where and when peirs were installed), my own estimate for repairs and the estimate I got from Lowe's. Afterwards, it was off to the Tarrant County Appraisal Board Building. I was very nervous. I walked into a room where three board memebers and one distric representative were seated. Before beginning, they took a moment to inform me of how things were going to work ... I had 5min to plead my case and present any evidence, then the distric would have 5min to do the same, and then there would be 5 more min for the board to ask any questions they might have.

I took my 5min stating that we had about $10K worth of work to do and that those expenses should be deducted from the total value making our house value $95K. While pleading my side, the distric rep was looking over the pictures I had brought for evidence. After my five minutes was up, the board turned the floor over to the distric. The man said ... "I agree."

Huh? That was it? I worked so hard getting all these written documents and estimates together and all he had to say was "Okay"? He didn't even look at anything other than those pictures ... all that work. Oh well ..

WE WON!!

So I was sitting in the balcony of a wedding yesterday and I was struck by this image. From this angle, it looks like the short-lived but very popular church gimmick "Bring Your Wife to Church Naked Day." I counted 11 possibly naked women in this picture. Alas, it was not to be. When they stood up for the bride's entrance, I noticed that they all wore strapless dresses. :(

Myra's only had trims, never a true CUT. Yesterday, that all changed. Myra said "I want my hair just like Aunt DooDoo's hair" sooooooo ...

She loves it. She looks so different ... older even. Thank goodness Aunt DooDoo didn't have crazy blue hair or anything like that. Our little girl is quite the young lady.

It's been a while since we've made a post that consisted of more than just a blurp. This past couple of weeks has been full of activities. I may not list eveyone of them but I'll try to get the big ones.

Wednesday, May 17, we dropped off our poor beatup Saturn at the body shop. The owner told us that he and his men would try to have our car done the following Monday but more than likely it would be Tuesday evening. For us, four days sounded a lot better than the two weeks another shop had estimated for the work to be completed.

That Friday, Davis Day Care headed out to Burger's Lake (with a lift from Uncle Ricky) to join Ricky and his class for a fun day in the sun. Hannah wasn't much into playing in the water but I do think she enjoyed just being out of the house (afterall, we had been trapped here for two whole days by then). Noah ... that boy sure does love the water.

Fast forward to the next Wednesday (5/24) ... Davis Day Care took a short trip to the duck pond to feed those hungry ducks. Lucky for us, I had a friend from my moms' group to help us get there ... the black car still wasn't back from the shop but I won't get into details on that.

Thursday night, we headed to Enterprise Rent-A-Car to pick up a rental (Nissan Altima - VERY NICE) courtesy of the body shop. That's right, our car still was not done. Something about the buffer not liking the paint job so he sent it back to be repainted? Josh and I are convinced that the shop screwed up royally and they were trying to fix it.

Friday, Davis Day Care visited Daddy/Uncie Josh at work. Afterwards, we headed over to Myra's school to pick her up from her last day of pre-school. Her classmates were CRAZY that afternoon and so was Myra. Some were very dramatic about it all ... "I'm going to miss you .... we'll never ever never ever see each other again ... I'm going to be sad for the rest of my life ... you're always my best friend forever" Kids. That night, we finally got our car back from the shop just in time for the Stuever's visit. They stayed overnight waking early the next morning to go to the zoo.

We all had fun at the Fort Worth Zoo Saturday morning. I think we saw everything! The kids seemed more interested in the dinosaurs they have scattered throughout. It was like a scavenger hunt trying to find all those things just to get a lousy stamp on their card. Oh well, it kept them busy for about three or four hours. We definately got our money's worth out of this trip. After seeing all the animals and finding all the dinos, it was time for some of Josh's World Famous Brats and swimming. Not at the same time of course.

Sunday and Monday, we took it easy. Then Tuesday Hannah came for her last day. We decided to celebrate by going swimming. Again, Hannah wasn't much into the whole water part of swimming BUT I did get her laughing when I pushed her through this mushroom waterfall thingy. As mean as it sounds, she was laughing.

For the rest of the week, Josh has been preparing for summer school while finishing up the first of many weddings he and Ricky have booked for the summer. I've been trying to line things up to try to keep the kids entertained. So far, we have "homework time" for Myra during Noah's naptime everyday. She's been having so much fun with it. I had to stop her yesterday because she had completed 20 pages of her workbook in only 30 minutes. She's so smart. I just hope she doesn't get bored with all these Kindergarten workbooks. We may have to look into some first grade books. Hmmm....

Well, that concludes our game of catch up. We'll work on an album and get that posted this weekend so be sure to check back for that. Hopedfully, we won't wait so long before we post again. (I want to appologize now for any typos I most certainly have. I feel like a child trying to write a "What I Did This Vaction" report. English was never my strong point.)

Update ... the photo album is now ready for viewing. Click here to check it out!