Homemade (ish) Pizza

A quick disclaimer before we get started... I can't say it's completely homemade because we bought all of the ingredients from the store and then put them together. So I guess we'll call it "Home-assembled Pizza"... How's that?

First thing's first. You're going to need 2 adorable helpers much like these...

Next you'll need:
1 Pizza crust (we use Pillsbury)
2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/2 cup sauce (we use Prego)
1 cup of pepperoni slices (about half a package)
And a heaping scoop of PATIENCE (not pictured below)

(Oh, and maybe a Buzz Lightyear if you happen to have one handy)

Preheat oven and bake crust for 5 min. Then have one of your helpers pour the sauce and smear over crust.



Add Cheese...

Then Pepperoni...

Be sure to hold your tongue just right to get them in place...

Don't forget to try it... After all, you want to make sure it's good.

Yep, it's good.

Top with just a little more cheese and bake for 15-17 minutes...

Serve warm on Buzz Lightyear plates and enjoy!

We sure did!

Thinking outside the Basket

I love spring! I believe I might have posted about it last year but here we are again... SPRING IS HERE!

One of the things I love most about spring is the celebration of new life. Looking around seeing the new grass coming up through the old... seeing buds slowly appear on a cold, grayish brown tree that has sat naked for months... hearing the birds chirping and seeing them busily getting ready for their babies to be born... the butterflies and bees start to appear after hiding all winter... Everything seems to have a similar outcry.... NEW LIFE has come! It's as if they all know (and just in case you're wondering... they do in fact know) that this time of the year is when Christ died and rose again!!!! Their growth shouts... He is risen... He is risen... He is RISEN!

This coming Sunday is Easter Sunday. Oh what a joy to be able to share with our boys the Life, Death and Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! We often talk about God's love and that He gave His son so we could know Him (that's actually one of the things Tristan has picked up from our prayers and added to the end of his, "Thank you God that we can know you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.") but since it is Easter we will spend even more time on the story of the cross and Jesus giving His life for us.

In teaching our children about Jesus we choose not to celebrate the same way a lot of people do. For instance, Santa at Christmas and the Easter Bunny at Easter. We think these things are fun (we both celebrated them to some degree with our families growing up) but we don't see importance in them. Like... at all. Especially when the seasons of Christmas and Easter are (and they should be) ALL about Christ! I realize I might have lost a few of you just now. Please hear me out... We want our kids to LOVE Jesus and His story. It doesn't seem fair if we teach them all through out the year about who He is and then come to specific times of the year when we should celebrate beautiful highlights of His life but instead mix in things that cloud their minds and hearts (Santa and Easter Bunny) about those seasons. I imagine having this conversation with my boys,

"Mommy, is Santa real?"

"Well, no. He's not real anymore... he was a man that gave to the poor and needy a long time ago."

"But you said he was real..."

"Well, I know... but you see, we were just playing a game. A fun game for Christmas!"

"Mommy, is Jesus real?"

"YES! Jesus is real."

"But you said Santa was real and he's not... Is Jesus just a game too?"

The thought of this conversation breaks my heart. I want our boys to know Truth! Truth and only truth. I know there will be disappointments in their lives. I know I will have to sit them down at times and explain that I was wrong and mislead them over something. But I DO NOT want that to be over the Truth of who Jesus is. I want the seasons and the things we celebrate to point them to the Truth of who He is. And nothing else.

So, do we do gifts at Christmas and eggs around Easter? Yes, we give gifts at Christmas and talk about giving and how we want them to have giving hearts. And we do egg hunts... we are not calling them "Easter Eggs" because what do eggs have to do with Easter? We celebrate new life and spring with the egg hunts and baskets (and all the yummy candy:).

Here are a couple of outside the box things we are doing this year as a part of our celebration of Easter... (and let me say, I am SO EXCITED about them!)

Resurrection Cookies

You will need:
1 cup whole pecans
1 tsp vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch of salt
1 cup sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

Instructions:
These are to be made the evening before Easter. Preheat oven to 300F. ***This is important- don't wait until you are half way through with the recipe***

Place pecans in zipper baggy and let children beat them with the spoon to break into smaller pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. Read John 19:1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp vinegar into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink. Read John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. Read John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Read Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1 cup sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Read Isaiah 1:18

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto a waxed paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Read Matthew 27:57-60

Put the cookies in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Read Matthew 27:65-66

GO TO BED!

Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed . Read John 16:20-22

On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the first Easter Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty. Read Matthew 28:1-9

(the source of these cookies is unknown)

Resurrection Eggs

These are so neat! My mom bought and sent them to the boys. These colorful eggs tell the story of Jesus' death and resurrection. Each egg has a different item in it that represents a part of the story. I was actually encouraged when I read a review of this item that said a 3 year old little girl was able to tell the story with the eggs! Wow!

I have had the recipe for the resurrection cookies since before Tristan was born but haven't gotten to use it yet. I am so very excited to make it and the eggs a part of our yearly celebration of Christ's death and resurrection! I do realize since our little ones are 3, 2 and -1 years old, it will be a very condensed version of the above recipe. But I know over the years their understanding of what we are doing will grow and I pray their love for the truth of the story will grow as well.

I pray that you, however you decide to celebrate, would remember the beauty of what we are celebrating this season. Christ giving His life out of obedience and love. Dying the death we deserve. Buried in a borrowed tomb. Rose again victorious over SIN and DEATH on the third day! HE IS OUR LIVING SAVIOR!!!

He is risen! Hallelujah! He is risen indeed!

Here are some things we know about 2...

2 likes to climb the pantry shelves to see what is "up dare" on the top shelf.

2 loves to take bubble baths.

2 likes to eat crackers... any crackers... any time... anywhere.

2 says, "Kickle me!" to be tickled and then says, "Mease stop!" with a huge laugh.

2 loves it's brothers and will do just about anything they want it to.

2 likes wearing underwear over his diaper/pull up.

2 gives the sweetest hugs, for no apparent reason.

2 spends a lot of the day as a monster and then goes back to normal almost instantly reminding one of the Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

2 counts to ten in random order and throws in a couple of letters just to spice things up a bit.

2 knows most all of the colors.

2 also knows what most of the animals say.

2 does not know what volume control is.

2 is easily persuaded into naptime with the help of a few comfy friends known as "Daff, Puppy and Banket".

2 walks around the house some days wearing an empty backpack, just because.

2 likes to go teetee in the potty.

2 likes to wear the same pair of shoes with every outfit.

2 likes butter on bacon.

2 loves to be read to and quotes it's favorite books.

2 trips on air and could get a bruise from playing in a padded room.

2 is a snuggler.

2 is learning how to pray.

2 can tell you, "God made the stars."

2 looks just like it's Daddy and not much like it's Momma.

2 randomly tackles it's older brother sometimes. Don't worry... he deserves it.

2 kisses it's baby brother just about every chance it gets.

2's favorite color is red.

2 builds great towers with blocks... and then knocks them down.

2 wears nearly all size 3t clothes.

2 loves to sing the veggie tales theme song.

2 has unruly bed hair.

2 loves seeing "Choo Choo Trains" when we're out and about.

2 has big greenish grey eyes that just melt your heart.

2 has already been such a blessing!

I can only imagine the joy we will continue to receive and experience in Peyton's lifetime. He is a joy and a blessing that we praise God for everyday. What an adventure 2 will be!

Valentines.

We have been valentines for nearly 10 years now. During those 10 years we have done some really neat things for each other to show our love in unique and special ways. I can remember one year Brandon (knowing my favorite candy was skittles and that my favorite skittle was the red one) bought a box of chocolates, threw away the chocolates and filled it with red (yes only red) skittles! If you can get past the fact that he threw away perfectly good chocolate (it took me a while) then you can see how sweet this was!

I once picked seeds off of strawberries because he didn't like the seeds to get in his teeth. Now I don't know if you've ever counted how many seeds there are on strawberries but I was thinking this would be no big deal. I mean, how hard could it be? Right? Oh so wrong. I think I mutilated two or three because they wouldn't give up their seeds and over the course of a movie only successfully de-seeded 3 strawberries. I covered them and the rest of the berries, that I left unharmed by my tweezers, in chocolate. When I gave them to him I told him to eat the three to the side very slowly and enjoy every bite!

See what I mean. These are only a few of the many things we have conjured up over the years.

This year for Valentines Day I decided I was going to do something simple and sweet for hubby. Like... peanut butter cookies (one of his favorites) iced with peanut butter cream cheese icing (who wouldn't love that?!). This was my plan. Simple and sweet.

Little did I know my husband had a plan of his own... not so simple but so very sweet.

He surprised me with a date night last night! I had no intentions of doing much else but to lounge around in comfy clothes the rest of the day and make his peanut butter cookies. But he told me to get dressed because he was taking me out! We haven't gotten to go out much lately what with a new little one in the picture (not to mention the other two crazies that occupy our house!) so it was such a treat! He arranged for two of our high school students (they are such sweet girls) to watch the big boys and we took the littlest man with us. He took me to Tokyo, one of our favorites in town! We ate sushi and fried rice... sooo yummy! Then on to a movie, The Blind Side... which was great! And then (yes there's more) we went to a coffee shop and drank coffee, ate dessert and enjoyed each others company. We laughed, cried and prayed together throughout the evening. It was such a blessing to get to enjoy each other like that.

Something so simple as a date night to some, was so special to me. I am a mom of three little ones that demand a lot from me. Don't get me wrong, I love my job as a mom and wouldn't trade it for the world. But it is exhausting. And when I get to get out and enjoy time alone with the man that makes me smile bigger than anyone I know, it means a lot. It is a special and cherished time. He gave me "face time" and loved on me.

This might have been the best Valentines Day we've had yet. And I look forward to many more.

Baby, Thank you for loving me in such sweet ways. I pray as we continue to grow together in Christ, in our love and in years he would continue to bless us with great talks, arguments and make ups, inside jokes, nicknames, and lots of laughs. I love you more every day and I still melt in your big strong arms when you hold me. Thanks for doing life with me, I so love doing life with you.

P.S. Now we can enjoy your peanut butter cookies... a day late.

This little boy is growing growing growing! I can't believe how time flies more and more with each child. He is 3 months old. 3 months old!

We went to the Dr this past week for his 2 month well visit and shots (didn't get in sooner because of insurance mumbo jumbo). He got a clean bill of health! When the Dr walked in I was feeding Kohen (under my nursing cover) and so he looked over Tristan who was there to follow up on an ear infection we have been fighting (it was still infected and we are working on the 3rd round of antibiotics in 6 weeks). When I finished feeding Kohen and sat him up, The Dr saw how big he was and said "I guess you haven't had any trouble with nursing... " Haha! He kept saying, "Man, he is a big boy!"

I took this pic when we got home from the Dr. This is one of my favorite outfits on him!

He weighed 15 lbs and 12 oz (in the 95%) and was 26 in long (in the 97%). A big boy for sure!

His little personality is also growing and developing. He is liking tummy time more and more (something he HATED at first). One of his favorite toys is a deer rattle that can clip on his carseat or any other place we prop him, he coos and smiles at it like it's his little buddy. It is sweet to watch him! Of course his favorite toys are his big brothers. He spends a lot of time trying to stay focused on them as they zip by!

Another new developement... He is losing his beautiful brown hair! His Full head of hair is now resembling the head of a 50 year old man. Sigh. It will probably all come back blonde like his brothers. Even though I am sad that it probably won't be brown anymore I am thankful that unlike the 50 year old man, it WILL grow back!

That is my short update on KoKo. More on the big boys soon... Hopefully.

Brown Green and Blue

Brown.

In all my wildest dreams I would have never thought I would be re-raising my brother. But I am! Tristan looks so much like his Uncle Jeff (my older and only brother), it's scary. My mom even says so! I do realize of course that he is in fact not my brother. But there are some days when he shoots me a very mischievous grin that I have seen my whole life and I know to get ready because most of the time he's not about to do something... the deed is already been done! These beautiful browns that so easily give him away are from me. And where did I get them? My mom. Her? Oh, her mom. What about Memaw? Her Daddy, Pappaw. See where I'm going with this? It's a family thing. I'm glad at least one of my children has the Browns and will (hopefully) continue our little tradition.

Tristan is becoming such big boy. He is a helper (most days). And what a good big brother he is as well! When he is not torturing Peyton he is leading him fearlessly into a new adventure. It is precious to watch them play, when they're not trying to harm each other of course. And he is so sweet with Kohen. When Kohen cries T tells me what Kohen needs... "Mommy, you need to feed him. He's hunrgy." Apparently that's usually all that's wrong according to T. Just last night while I was finishing up my portion of dinner before I let Brandon take over, Kohen was letting us all know he was ready to eat. T and the daddy had this conversation:

T- "Mommy needs to feed Kohen."

B- "Do you think Daddy could feed him?"

T- "No... Mommy does."

B- "Well, why can't daddy feed him?"

T pulls open B's shirt and says "See daddy... they're not in there."

So true son. So true. Daddy doesn't have the goods needed to feed baby Kohen.


Green.

When I was pregnant with Peyton I just knew he was a girl! Naturally, since we already had a boy we were going to have a girl... right? Well we now know this is so not the case, even on your 3rd pregnancy after having all boys, it doesn't have to be a girl. Before we had the ultrasound to find out he was a boy I had already imagined having a little brown eyed brown haired little girl, a mini me of sorts. And instead... I got a mini Brandon! Yes the beautiful green eyes came from his daddy and I adore them. He also inherited his Daddy's large noggin and is constantly bumping into things or falling off of them! This picture above is one of the few I have of him without bruises. He also has his Daddy's ability to fall asleep almost instantly. Seriously, it's true and it never seizes to amaze me (probably because I am jealous). He is such a little lover, his love language is physical touch (again, mini Brandon). He loves to sit and cuddle and loves to be loved on.

Although he is over all quieter than his older brother he has quite the vocabulary. He says EVERYTHING Tristan says. Which is not always a good thing and often gets them both in trouble. Here are a few of our favorite words in "Peytonese":

"Mease" - Please
"O" - Open
"Murk" - Milk
"Murmurk" - Oatmeal
"Munder" - Thunder
"Kiner Keener" - Vacuum cleaner
"Byper" - Diaper
"Sysisaur!" - Dinosaur (apparently you're not allowed say this word unless you say it with a scary voice)
"Dun" - Gun
"Mermitch" - Sandwich
"I soddy" - I'm sorry
"Peepeen" - Airplane
"Brrr" - Bear
"Ret" - Red
"Wowwow" - Yellow
"Boo" - Blue
"Perpoo" - Purple
"Deen" - Green
"Tistan" - Tristan
"Tonen" and "Konen" - Kohen
"Toemeniteeaaaameeeooonnn!" - To infinity and beyond! -Buzz lightyear

This little green eyed monster is something else and he plays the roll of the middle child very well (I would know).

Blue.

Okay, I know I'm the mother of this child so I am (and have every right to be) a little bias but doesn't this just melt your heart?!?! Sigh. Kohen is our blued eyed baby! I hope they stay blue because they are just beautiful. Peyton had blue eyes up until he was 18ish months old before they turned green. So, who knows! I do know we will enjoy them while they last.

At 2 months old, Kohen weighs 15 1/2 lbs! What can I say? We raise big boys! :) He is a delight. He loves to laugh and coo. He laughs most at Daddy and big brother Tristan. He's also sleeping through the night most nights! Yay! Life is much easier with newborns when you can get some sleep.

He loves watching the big boys play. I wish I could get into his head and know what he is thinking! But I'm sure he can't wait until he can play along with them. Our boys are loud... VERY LOUD. If you have ever been around our family when the big boys are awake, you know this to be true. (just for the record I fully blame their father) But what cracks me up is that Kohen very seldom gets flustered or frightened from all the noise! Even in the first few days he was home from the hospital. So you see, I know he will fit right in. Wrestling, hunting dinosaurs, playing with cars and playing getting dirty outside... you better look out... Konan the Barbarian is coming soon!

A New Normal.

Well, I am finally blogging again. It is not only hard to find time to sit and blog... it has been hard to gather my thoughts long enough to get them out! Here are some recent pictures of all the boys.

The big boys just can't seem to get enough of our newest addition...

He still gets lot of hugs and kisses. Whether he likes it or not.

So what's been going on in the Davis home lately? Well, a lot of these are being changed and washed...

And no, that's not all thats been going on. Although I do feel that way some days.

We are adjusting to Kohen being a part of the family and our daily routine. It gets easier and more "normal" every day. A new normal I guess. The big boys go about their business most of the time. They check on Kohen on and off during their many adventures. Making sure he's still in his glider or bouncy seat. I assure them he's not going anywhere but they still like to check on him.

One of their favorite games...

They love to hide! And our suitcases have made excellent hiding spots as of late. Thanks to Daddy moving the suitcases into their closet instead of ours, this gets to be a happy game where spankings are not involved.

Kohen does this a lot... Isn't he just beautiful?! (Sigh.)

He also wakes up and hangs out too. In the last week he has started "talking" (as we call it) with his eyes and whole face. At times it seems he's going to burst out with words and then... he doesn't. Not yet anyway. He smiles and coos though and it is too sweet!


A couple of weeks ago we went to visit family and attend Brandon's sister's wedding. That weekend while we were gone, it snowed here in Beaumont! Seriously! This is the second year in a row! And even though we missed out on the Beaumont snow, we did get to see some flurries where we were.



The big boys had a blast in the "snow". You can barely see it in the pictures but it was actually snowing on us. Just the usual Texas "snow" that melts before it hits the ground. We had heard from the weather man that we could see 2-3 inches of snow that afternoon and so I told the boys that maybe after nap time there would be more snow to play in. Well, I should have kept my mouth shut on that one! The first thing T did when he woke up was go to the window to look for the snow. "Mommy, (big sigh) there's no snow." It was sad. But he got over it within a matter of seconds with Aunt JooJoo (B's littlest sis) there to distract him. I praise God for Aunts!

I didn't get many pictures at the wedding because my batteries died shortly after we got there and before the ceremony even started! But here are a few I did get...

3 of my handsome men! As you can see by the look on Pey's face, the wedding was right about nap time.

Man, I have a good looking husband!

Kohen spent almost the entire afternoon/evening tucked away in my sling. He made it out for a couple pictures and was held by very few people. After all, he was 3 weeks old that day! He liked his cozy spot...


Well. I am going to wrap this post up and head to bed! Maybe I will get around to blogging again sooner rather than later. Hmm... I guess we'll see.