Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

The Davis Family ended 2007 on a fun trip. We visited Grandma and Grandma Davis in Henderson, NC. It was a long overdue trip and we had a wonderful time.












Hope and Micah especially enjoyed their time with G & G Davis! A little relaxing in front of the TV and a little bird watching.



















Grandma and Grandpa even gave them a few golf lessons!















One day Grandpa, Daddy, Micah and Mommy wanted to go to movie. But, Hope was having so much fun playing with Grandma she did not want to leave. So... Grandma and Hope stayed behind and played and played with the Disney figures. Apparently there were several weddings, an arrest and even a jail sentence. I think I even heard that they serve chili in the jail. My children have very rich imaginations. The rest of us went to see Alvin and the Chipmunks... pretty cute... right down Micah's alley.

The highlight of our trip was a really great, new, hand's on children's museum that Grandma and Grandpa found right in the heart of downtown Hendersonville. That deserves a post of it's own. More about that later.

So many changes this year ~ I can't wait to see what 2008 brings! wink wink Brad.
Happy New Year!

Monday, December 24, 2007

The Nut Doesn't Fall Far From the Tree


I have no idea who this person is!
It's true ~ there is no way to deny this is my kid.
We share the same cheesy smile and power brows.
This was taken at the Ponchot Family Christmas Party.

Tonight is Christmas Eve ~ Hope and Micah are Crazy excited! They are lying in sleeping bags resting and watching TV... waiting to go to the 11:00 pm Service @ church. We've also been tracking Santa's progress on the internet. Can't WAIT!!

Friday, December 21, 2007

School's Out ~ Yikes!!


Hope and Micah came home from school just a little while ago...
Treat Bags = Sugar HIgh ~ you can see it in their eyes.

Now I am ready for Christmas. Presents bought... grocery shopping done. I'm ready to get domestic and start cooking for the Ponchot Family Christmas Party tomorrow night. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Davis house!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Hold Dat Reindeer - Crank That Remix (with Lyrics)

This is the hilarious video that our Student Minister, Jaki created. I'm afraid the Hip-Hop dance line is quite disturbing... our church staff ~ yikes! LOL

Sunday, December 16, 2007

Christingle


A Christingle.
This is a really cool activity that we did in Jr Worship today. My favorite part was how proud Micah was of his. He carried it around for a very long time.

A Christingle is a symbolic object used in advent services in churches of many Christian denominations. It has its origins in the Moravian Church , with the first recorded use, in Germany, in 1747.
This is the story of the first Christingle:

One Christmas time back in 1747 at a town in Germany, Pastor John sat at home in front of his fire. He was thinking how he could explain the love of Jesus, and what Christmas really meant to the children in the church. He decided to prepare a simple symbol to help make the message of Christmas fresh and lively for them. Pastor John gave each child a lighted candle wrapped in a red ribbon, with a prayer that said “Lord Jesus, kindle a flame in these dear children‘s hearts”. This was the first ever Christingle service.
Many years later, in 1968, Christingle services were introduced to the Anglican Church in Britain by John Pensom of The Children’s Society, and the custom spread quickly; each year there are more and more Christingle services in England and Wales, although today‘s Christingles are a little different.
The Christingle consists of:

• an orange representing the world
• a red ribbon around it representing the blood of Jesus
• fruits and sweets skewered on 4 cocktail sticks which
are pushed into the orange representing the fruits of
the earth and the four seasons
• a lighted candle is pushed into the center of the orange
representing Jesus Christ, the light of the world

Thursday, December 13, 2007

My Secret Mannequin

I heard a funny story yesterday. My mom warned me of this... you will find out "secrets" about your children years and years after the incidents. Thankfully ~ this is a cute and funny one.

I was telling Brad about the difference between Hope and Micah when I take them to work with me. As I'm telling him this I realized that Hope reminds me of Brad so much. Anyway, he said, "I went to work with you A LOT!" It's true... he spent a lot of time at Montgomery Cyclery. The nice thing was that he could ride bicycles in the lower level. Then he made a confession...

He told me that he would stand in the window (facing Montgomery Road) and pretend to be a mannequin. When people would pass by, especially older ladies, he would move just a tiny bit or smile and freak them out! He never told me this because he was afraid that he would get in trouble. He was between kindergarten and forth grade when I worked at Montgomery Cyclery.
It was the best and worst of times ~ LOL.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Really Big Show!




Last night we had the pleasure of seeing my nephews in their Christmas musical.
As always... Jacob stole the show with his humorous line delivery! He is really talented!!
Unfortunately I couldn't get a great picture of Nathan - trust me... he is cute as a button and was awesome in the angel choir.
Aunt Robin was very proud!

Pretty Girl


Can't resist. I love having a little girl :)

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Faith

There is a little boy in our church family that is fighting a mighty huge battle... cancer.
Many times a day Mick and his family come to my mind and I pray for strength, courage and most of all a miracle. Mick's dad, Tom is quite faithful in updating the CarePage that has been set up to communicate with family and friends. His words help keep Mick in my heart and mind and my prayers fresh. His words convey a sense of optimism and peace that only God can give in such a stressful season of life. The message boards have also been very touching to read. I wish I could find the entry that was posted early in Mick's battle... Someone mentioned another child, Elizabeth Daniels who was struggling with cancer miles away and suggested reading the blog dedicated to sharing the Daniels family journey through cancer.

http://www.danielsfamilyupdate.blogspot.com/
I have been keeping up with this blog and have been amazed by the faith of this family. They truly count on God to take care of them. By reading the entries, there is no doubt that God's providential care is fully at work. So... even though I have never met them and probably never will. I pray.

So much as been said about the negative consequences of our technology. It's true. Many disturbing things abound. But, it is also true that it makes the world a smaller place. A smaller place where we can encourage each other merely by our sharing our words of faith. And so... I will continue to pray.

Big Kids!

It's a big night at the Davis house! Hope and Micah have been sharing a room since Micah was born. It has been my goal all year to get Hope moved into Brad's old room. I promised her I'd get it ready by Christmas. There is still much to do, but we are clearly on the way to a very girly room. Micah on the other hand was not as excited to loose his roommate. He has been dreaming of a room dedicated to penguins. No, I have no idea where that come from. For the past week or so he has decided that he would love a Christmas room. I'm sure that I would not be able to stomach a year-round Christmas room - ANYWHERE. But, since Hope's room looks so pretty, I had to do something for him this special night. So.... when I went to the grocery tonight (we are expecting snow, need bread and milk) I though I'd get him a decoration for his room. I found a perfect addition for his giant bed. A Christmas throw pillow with a penguin on it. Micah was so happy!

So tonight, my little sweeties are sleeping in their own rooms for the very first time. Hope looks like a little princess in her Laura Ashley bedding... so warm and cozy. BTW I didn't get it a Kroger - Kohl's 85% off! seriously! Was $179.00 - Now $35.00. Micah looks so sweet and small in his queen-size bed... But! There are lots and lots of stuffed friends to join him!!

Sweet Dreams to all...
Robin

Monday, November 26, 2007

Uh Oh ~ Holidays


I refuse to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving.
Well... Thanksgiving has come and gone.
It was a relaxing, fun and of course delicious day! My mom cooked everything. I'm spoiled. Without a doubt, she makes the best pumpkin pie. My family played a game that proved we are all idiots. Great fun... then we watched "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

Seems Thanksgiving is over ~ as soon as dinner is over.

I can feel my blood pressure rise.
So many things to plan. So many things to buy!!
We even have to buy a new Christmas tree! We "retired" our old tree this summer when we let the church borrow it for VBS. Instead of dragging it home... we dragged it to the dumpster. He lived a long and decorated life.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Date with Daddy


This morning Hope was so excited about having a date with daddy. They were heading to Cracker Barrel with plans to eat a lot of bacon for breakfast. She was also calculating ways to get Daddy to go shopping and buy her something... every little girl's dream. I think every little girl could benefit with a few more "Daddy Dates." Let's face it, much of how we view men and our expectations of our relationships with them are built on that precious relationship with Daddy. I guess we never outgrow that desire for a "Daddy Date." A couple of weeks ago, my dad stopped my office just to see me... a pretty nice bright spot in my busy week.

Pilgrim Hats


Yesterday was the Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast. The parents were asked to send fun finger foods. So we made "Pilgrim Hat" cookies. They turned out pretty cute.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Mental Ping Pong


I am involved in the most ridiculous sport. Mental Ping Pong. Makes me crazy. I had a hard time getting to sleep last night due to this insipid game. Ping - I love my job. Pong. It's too hard. Ping. It's what I am meant to do. Pong. Maybe I should be doing something else. Ping. It's great for my family. Pong. It's hard on my family. Ping. I'm the best person for this job. Pong. Someone else could do it better.

Anyone can play this game! You can apply it to any aspect of your life!! Being a parent, housework, money, marriage. Believe me, I've tried them all! Other people call this game, self doubt, insecurity, etc...

Well... once I went to sleep I slept very well. But... and that's a really big butt :) This morning I awoke from a very disturbing dream. My family and I were on our way to church. Sitting in the car I realized we were 30 MINUTES LATE!! This is really bad for the Interim Director of Children's Ministries. LOL The weird thing was that Ray did not see this as any problem at all. We get to church. Apparently, all children's classes had been cancelled. No one seemed upset... quite a matter of fact. All the kids were in adult worship, which had a very low attendance. Then... my boss found me. He said, "Maybe we should pray before we chat."
Then I - thankfully - woke up.

I think too much.
Does that make sense?
Perhaps I need a new sport... maybe tennis? Don't know much about it. Don't they talk about love? LOL

Sunday, November 18, 2007

A New Cousin?



Yesterday was very fun! We got to meet a new family member. Pedro Ponchot. Shaun, Jane and Darci's new puppy. He is so cute - He looks like a toy. You may know that Hope and Micah have a very love/hate relationship with little animals. Mostly, if they are in the same room... forget about it! But they both fell in love with Pedro. Even Micah.

A couple of years ago, when Micah was very small we went to the playground across the street. There were lots of other little children there. All very comfortable with dogs. Well, there are two very nice german shepherds that live up the street. They are very well behaved and never walk on a leash. However, there are signs in our park that say dogs must be on a leash. When Hope and Micah saw the dogs coming to the playground with their owner they trembled with fear! Micah screamed at the top of his lungs, "Can't they read the signs?!!! They are supposed to be on a leash!" Micah wasn't quite 3 years old. There was lots of weeping and screaming. sigh.

Last year, in preschool a very nice family brought a little bunny to share with the classroom. It was at the end of the day so I was waiting in the hall to pick Micah up. I turned around and there was Mrs. Dozier with Micah in the air ready for me to take him. All she said was, "Bunny in the room." then rushed back to class. Needless to say, Micah was in tears terrified of the bunny.

So... we are very happy that Hope and Micah have made great progress! As you can see, Hope was quite found of the little guy.

Today was another fun day at church. I'm so excited! The River Kids Worship kids, will be singing in adult worship on December 23rd. I introduced one of the songs that we will be singing. They began picking it up lickety split. I am so proud of them. I think they are going to be GREAT! I can't wait to introduce them to the other song!

Budding Photographer



Micah has been enjoying taking pictures with my camera. Seems like he may have a future in photography... or at least a shot at being the creative director of Davis Family Movies. You can see for yourself... the boy loves Halloween toys!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Star Wars version of Jacob and Esau




This video came from a Christian Church in IL. It was perfect for River Kids Worship this week. We were talking about God forgiving Jacob. The kids are learning Bible stories by drawing simple pictures while they hear the story. Hopefully, they will be able to retell the story by drawing ~ BUT, what if kid's used their toys to tell great Bible truths... I guess it might look a little like this video. It was our first "Bring Your Parent to Church Day." The Kindergarteners and 1st graders brought their parents this week. I think the parents enjoyed this video more than the kids did. My favorite part is Chewie a.k.a Esau!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

What is a promise?



Here's the video we showed last week to get us thinking about what it means to keep a promise. The "Big Picture Point" was that God keeps his promises to show us He is faithful. Our story this week was about God's promise to Abrahan that he would have a child even in his old age. Interesting... his wife Sarah was twice my age! Yikes!

Monday, November 5, 2007

Spinning Plates


I guess I'm not alone. Every woman in America probably feels like she is spinning plates. On a great day she may even feel like she has all the plates spinning! I have not feft like that in a very long time. Today... seems like I only have a few plates spinning. My house? Yikes! I won't even go there. In case you didn't know, I'm the interim Director of Children's Ministies at my church. I've been seeing my work there as at least eight plates that need spinning. I can even hear the silly carnival music. The problem is that I can only seem to get 3 or 4 of those plates spinning at one time. The second I leave one alone to get a fifth one going one of the others drops to the ground. I guess it's so frustrating because I believe a healthy children's ministry is incredibly important to the over-all health of a church family. I really want to see all of the plates spinning joyfully! Maybe even with a little more peaceful music too!

I really should think about my house and my home... same problem. Like every mom - the laundry plate, dinner plate, grocery plate, homework plate, paying the bills plate, quality time with my husband plate, diet plate, exercise plate, house work plate, mountain of messy toys plate, MAN! see why I didn't wanna go there? How do we decide exactly how many plates we should be spinning? How many plates we should let others help us spin?

Quite a while ago I jokingly created a list of rules for myself - I'm quick to share them with others.
Rule #1 NOT MY JOB
Rule #2 LET IT GO LOUIE
Rule #3 REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE
Rule #4 REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

Ray and I tease each other with the rules. When things get us going we will just say, "that's rule #1" or "remember rule #2" But seriously, I have really thought about these rules - especially when I feel overwhelmed.
NOT MY JOB. Sometimes I waste so much energy worrying about someone else's responsibility.
LET IT GO LOUIE. I can get so bogged down with past mistakes or hurts.
REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE. I use this rule when I realize my expectations are out of wack or when I am out of my comfort zone.
Last but not least - when all else fails. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. I am a child of God. He loves me so much. Even when... hummmm especially when I have trouble keeping the plates spinning.
Does that make sense?
Can you hear the silly carnival music?

Friday, November 2, 2007

Halloween



Halloween was a lot of fun at our house. Nobody loves Halloween more than Micah. His favorite toy is a little witch he named Witchie-Poo. He loves everything about it ~ the toys, the scary stories, TV shows, the candy, the decorations (but not the REALLY SCARY ones... he has not been in Krogers in a month!) But, he is VERY afraid of the scary costumes - especially the older kids. For the past 3 years he has planned to be a ghost. The first year we cut the appropriate holes in a piece of polar fleece... but at the last minute he changed his mind and wore his spiderman outfit from the year before. Last year he as very excited to be a ghost again. But, he was very sick and rested on the couch the whole evening. THIS year again he was very excited to be a ghost. He even took his "outift" to school. Bit, when it was time for trick or treat... the doorbell rang... our first little beggar. Where was Micah? Behind the chair. Poor little guy.

So... he decided to stay home with daddy. Daddy sat on the porch and passed out candy and glow bracelets. Micah watched from the window. Once and while daddy would come in the house to check on Micah. Micah would say, "Okay daddy, I'm fine. You can go back outside again." He really did not want that doorbell to ring again!

The trick or treating champ is Hope. What a cutie! She wore the fox tail and ears I made for a program I did for the library. She wore it all day to school and told me that she was so proud. She would hug her tail and tell her friends that her mommy made her tail! We were out trick or treating for over a hour and a half. We found a school friend and she walked together... so much giggling. I think they were speaking their own language... very high and squeaky. I didn't understand a word. They didn't stop talking all evening... I'm not sure they even took a breath. The sweetest thing about my little girl though? The whole time she was collecting candy it never occured to her that it was all her candy. It was ALWAYS for her and Micah. She could not wait to get home and show him what she had collected. Not a selfish bone in her little body. Reminded me so much of "The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." Hope was so much like Lucy collecting candy for her brother Linus, who was waiting for the Great Pumplin. Of course, Hope never called her brother stupid like Lucy did.
I'm quite proud of my little girl and her sweet little heart.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Noah's Ark



This YouTube video clip is from Disney's Fantasia 2000. We used it for today's lesson on Noah's Ark...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Buffy and Muffy go to the Mall




This is the video Ray and I made for Jr Worship. It is a great example of the over-use of the word LOVE.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Evening News and a Worship Service

What does the evening news and a worship service have in common?
I just watched an interview with Howard Kurtz regarding his new book, Reality Show. His book talks about the influence on the network evening news on society and whether or not it will continue to remain relevant in the next generation. The funny thing to me was how much it sounded like the discussions we have pertaining to our worship services. How do we balance the important issues, keeping people interested and yes, entertained? One of the things I found most interesting about their discussion was the fact that network news needs to consider content - are there too many stories about menopause and retirement? Reminded he of our talks about whether we should keep hymns in our services or are we too seeker sensitive. Does that make sense? I think too much.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Birthday Bash


Last night was our yearly Birthday Bash for my dad. Tradition calls for the whole clan to get together and Mom makes her famous apple dumplins. They are awesome and labor intensive - so it's a very special treat - once a year! One trick to eating this wonderful food is making sure that you have enough ice cream to evenly distibute a little with each bite. If you do not budget your ice cream properly you may come up short - which is unfortunate - but frankly, the dumplins are delicious with or without the ice cream.

This year was extra special because my little sister and her family were in town! So we were all together!! As you can see Dad has quite a cute bunch of grandkids. Here they all are minus Brad, who had to run off to his new young adult small group (Bible Study)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

The big one


So you have "met" Ray, Hope and Micah. Now it is time to meet Brad. I'm currently twice his age - but he'll always be my baby. I could not be more proud of him. Poor thing, he has certainly inherited many things from me. Most notably, power brows, dimples and my giggle - don't get him started. The best thing about him is his love for the Lord and passion for people. I hope in some small way he got a little bit of that from me. Although I think Uncle Danny has had a powerful influence on that.

It's funny, this year we both became staff members of churches... he beat me though, his picture is already on Loveland's website - http://lovedtolove.com - note the power brows :) Our churches are opposite sides of the Little Miami River, yet both are Loveland addresses. Lots of fun!

The pretty girl with him is his girlfriend, Hilary. She has power brows too :)

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Trolls

Well, you've seen a picture of Ray and Hope together - Now here's the little guy. Yesterday as usual I took him to the bus stop for his ride to kindergarten. It was such a beautiful day I decided to go a little early and sit in the sunshine. To help ease the wait, I began telling Micah a story about a troll that lived under the street where the drainage grate is. He was very lonely as he watched the children get on the bus everyday. So his parents suggested he dress up like a human child and ride the bus to school. This story went on until the bus came.

My little man marched across the street to the bus. He seemed to linger a bit with the bus driver. She popped her head out and said, "Nice story Mom!" then she rolled the bus up the street a bit, popped her head out again and said, "Good luck with the trolls!" Wow! in just a few seconds she got all that from Micah... my shy little guy! Silly me - I worried he might not quite be ready for kindergarten.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Bad Habit


I should explain the whole, "Does that make sense?" thing. My sweet husband has pointed out to me that I OFTEN say, "Does that make sense?" after I explain something or tell a story. The funny thing is, to him it sounds like I'm saying, "You idiot, do you understand me?" But, the truth is I'm usually feeling pretty insecure and don't feel like I'm explaining myself very well. So in my head it sounds like, "I'm such an idiot. Do you understand me?"
Guess I better work on that.

It's a start

Well, now I've done it. I've been enjoying other people's blog for some time now. It's my turn.
I wonder if anyone is interested in what I have to say and as always...
I'll wonder, "Does that make sense?"