My Buddy and Me

Earlier this month, my eldest sister Kasmira stopped by for a quick visit while driving her beloved college piano across the country with her boyfriend Dan.


I hadn't seen her since my wedding and was eager to show off my adorable children.




Mira is just as goofy as I am so Amidala adored her and is still asking about her Aunt Buddy.

Better than Your Baby Can Read

I haven't blogged in a while, partly because of now having to share the computer with Amidala. While at the public library, a fellow mother of two friend of mine suggested I check out starfall.com. It's a free, phonics based, learn-to-read program. Lots of animation and singing so Ami was hooked immediately.

An adult computer mouse was difficult and confusing for her so I had to search for a kid's mouse. At first, I thought I could just go down to my local department store and pick one up. I mean, a small mouse with just one button for toddlers, that is an everyday item, right? Not in this po' dunk town. I had to order it over the Internet (those little buggers are over $20!) from WallyWorld. I used their site-to-store service to avoid shipping charges but still had to drive to Vancouver to pick it up.

But, OMG!, it was so worth it! She is learning so much, so fast. The website also has lots of free printables with activities and homemade flashcards are a cinch. She could already name all of the letters before we discovered the site, but now is really grasping capital and lowercase and their sounds. Of course, I love how much Ami's learning, but the gobs of time it frees up for me is awesome, too! I highly recommend the website and toddler mouse for any momma who is looking to teach her child to read. Especially, those with another one one the way.

Unicorn ghost

Amidala wanted to be a unicorn for Halloween, but after two different costumes (the first being too small and the second she just didn't like), she changed her mind to a ghost instead. Great, I'll just cut up an old pillow case! After a few adjustments like an added tie to keep it stable, she was happily practicing her trick or treat methods. Later, Ami asked me to get her unicorn costume back out of the car but I had already returned it to Fred Meyer. So I quickly asked her if she wanted a unicorn horn instead and she could be a unicorn ghost. I even gave her a choice of colors and she, of course, picked pink. Here is the end result. She ran around like this for about an hour. So adorable!


She immediately wanted her horn this morning and happily settled for a unicorn horn hat instead of the whole ensamble.


Just how many unicorns does she have? Six and counting.

The not so itsy bitsy spider

Everyday Ami looks forward to feeding the spiders. She loves to watch the them pounce on the craneflies we throw in their webs. The big ones are especially aggressive. She likes to collect the arachnids in her bug house and lately has been calling them her pets.


My little spider whisperer literally plays with them to death.

Happy kids

The beans are back!


My heart melts everytime Husband and Tinyman mow the lawn.

The Davis Bunch

Husband's parents returned from their 18 mo. mission in Malaysia this week and were greeted by all their children and grandchildren. Wednesday evening there were 31 members of the Davis clan and their spouses. Ami was so excited to see the chickens and eggs and dogs and cousins.


It was nice spending time together as a huge family. The 18 children all played easily with each other; no one was ever bored or left out.


The kids had an absolute blast! Ami adores her older girl cousins and Calvin loves running around with the boys. Anna, Cami and Lauralee came to our house the next day with 4 beloved cousins and Ami about exploded with joy.


I want to say that I feel lucky to have married into such a large, loving, supportive family...but it feels more like a blessing. Those Davises are good people.

Hurray for the public library!

As I've stated before, Ami loves books. It just amazes me that while all of her other obsessions run their course, she never tires of books. She keeps piles of them everywhere, and everytime I sit down it's always, "Mama, read."


She wants me to read her favorites over and over again until she's memorized them and reads them herself or to brother. Before getting into the car, she insists on bringing a load.


Now Calvin is starting to get in on this action.


When it's quiet (y'know too quiet, so they must be up to no good), I find them on Ami's bed softly narrating the pages.


During one of my teaching practicums, I was in a Kindergarten class and met a little red-haired girl who could read. Not one of those See Jane Run books, but A Bad Case of the Stripes; a book your average second grader would stumble over. I remember thinking, "I hope own my daughter will be this bright." She's on her way and I'd like to think I had something to do with that.