The Blog Post I Never Thought I'd Write

Hope that title didn't freak anybody out. It's just that, well, I never did.

MY expectations were that a) we would FINALLY sell our beautiful home in the Villages of Wellington (which we did in May of 2013), b) we would buy some land (we didn't--long story), and c) right about now, we would be in our custom-built, just-the-way-I-wanted-it home on our lovely land, off-the-grid, with a cow and some chickens and ducks milling about and me wearing a vintage apron and canning homegrown vegetables. We were MADE to be homesteaders!  ::sigh::

God had other ideas.

Instead of life in the country, He has for us............life in the city of Dallas.

Yes, DALLAS!!

Uh........BIG. Difference.

This Arkansas-born-and-bred gal is actually moving to Texas, of all places. 

Paul got a job there, so here we go. We leave behind our two Arkansas hometowns (small as all get-out), our extended Arkansas families, our beloved college where we met, and all the wonderful friends we made (who have BECOME our family) here in Little Rock where we've lived for the last seventeen years. 

Not until now did I realize just how deeply I had planted my "roots."

Understandably, I am quite apprehensive, and my heart is heavy because I love so many people here. In fact, a giant CHUNK of my heart will be left behind! But I'm also a little excited to see what all the Lord has in store for us. Besides, I'm ready to be reunited with my man. He's been working there during the week for two and a half months now, only coming home on the weekends! And let me just tell you, raising four kids alone isn't at all natural. Or lovely. Or desirous.

So despite not having found a home YET in the DFW area, we gave our (flexible) 30-day notice yesterday to the company that manages the rental home we are currently in. 

Which means the clock is now officially ticking.           !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If anyone needs me, I'll be elbow-deep in boxes and bubble wrap.

The kids on their first trip to visit Dallas, enjoying their first-ever game of mini-golf
#watchthedavidsonsmovetodallas

Throwback Thursday - Winter 2013

I left off with my rewind posts around the holidays of 2012. (This sad excuse for a blog is depressing, I know.) So I'm picking up with the winter of 2013. Let's breeze through right quick!

We started the new year with a plan: to prepare our house to sell...once again!! DEEP BREATH........

We spent lots of time clearing stuff out, organizing, and shopping for household items to help us "stage" our home a little better this time around. Certainly, some of our candid photos reflect that. And we had some heavy duty remodeling done, as well.

Good riddance, shiny black granite tiles! I have never loved you.

Early February, we actually moved OUT of our house, while we got it ready to sell. (We were refinishing the front door, painting most of the interior, refinishing our huge retaining wall, blah, blah, blah. It just wasn't conducive for actual LIVING.) And I highly recommend doing so, if you can swing it financially. We were blessed to be able to stay in the guest house where our good friends, The Rackleys, had just been staying while on furlough. For THREE WHOLE MONTHS we stayed. I'll admit, though, I was swamped with getting us moved and trying to do school remotely with just a little of what we own. Who knows where my camera was? I often had to snag a mere iPhone photo--when I remembered to get IT out! Pitiful, I know. It was just craaaaay-zaaaaay. But while we were definitely busy, we also did regular ol' Davidson stuff.

Like play. (still in our own home)

And school. (Yep, still in our own home...prepping this room for staging DURING class time, 'cause I'm amazing that way.)

Ballet. (Isn't she lovely?)

And Scouts.

Our last-minute (as in, we made it the night before) Pinewood Derby car creation ended up winning second place overall!! What in the world?!

We took a couple of family outings to see the Bisons play basketball--and Cousin Claire play in the band.

We had a special Valentine's Day luncheon. At Old Mill. Yum!

Uh. And in case you didn't know, when you are remodeling and packing and perfecting your home for numerous onlookers, you eat out a lot. Sad, but true. So...

We ALSO had a special Valentine's Day dinner. At Larry's Pizza. And the kiddos opened their luv cards from their grandparents, which is always fun.

Stay tuned for our spring activities and final pics of our house at its most spectacular.

Melancholy Moment OR In Which I Linger Over a Bit of Poetry

I don't typically like to post about my kiddos ON their birthdays. Partly because I'm...uh...more than a little busy, usually. But also partly because I feel a plethora of emotions, and they consume me. Birthdays are kinda rough.

But it's worse lately. I've been feeling this whole jumble of emotions MOST days, not just on birthdays. Right now, I am really struggling with the hard things. The cancers. The tornadoes. The wrongness and atrocities and things I'd like to shield my children from ever knowing. The aging. The dwindling. The sickness. The sadness. The sin. The bittersweetness of life.

I guess I tend to focus a LOT on the "bitter" and not quite so much on the "sweet." Which stinks, because there's a whole lot of sweet!! I know. I used to count. And...my kiddos ARE sweet.

It's just that they keep on growing!! And I sort of wish they wouldn't. Sometimes, deep down, I think I actually HATE their birthdays. I don't want to. I want to enjoy the day and honor my children and be grateful for their little lives!! And I DO think and feel those things...

But.

I also feel deep, deep sorrow. This is hard and a bit humiliating for me to say "out loud," but it is the truth.

Today on my little Gabriel's birthday, we were having a yard sale--of all things! And while I was hanging out in my least favorite portion of our home, the garage (yech!), I came upon ANOTHER box we hadn't managed to unpack after we moved. And it was FULL of books. In fact, more than half of my poetry collection was in there, so I did what anybody who would like to avoid the realities of yard sale-ing would do. I got busy reading poems. Ahhhh.......

But then there was this one. By David Coy.


Wednesday Massacre 

Our pup has chewed on the faces
of the stuffed animals,
unravelled those fixed expressions
with sharp teeth,
then tore their bodies asunder.
"No, no, bad dog!" we scold.
Bear, Rabbit, Owl
are all dismembered.

Cotton litters the yard,
twisted bits of cloth.
We wonder what to tell the boy
whose body we remember holding
as he held on his lap
these soft toys.

But it was he
who baited the dog,
who left these sacrifices 
one at a time
in flagrant disregard of the past.


Cute, huh? But also cutting. At least to me--a mama raw with emotions on this particular day.

Plus it's true. It doesn't even have to be a Wednesday. And one certainly doesn't have to HAVE a puppy (and we don't) that goes around destroying precious stuff-memories. Kiddos on their life's journey just have a way of sacrificing their past all on their own. Heartlessly. Because they change and they grow, and they change and they grow, and they don't even remember those sweet-smelling, midnight-feeding, awe-inspiring cuddle moments in which your heart enveloped every. single. thing. about them and was utterly and completely filled to the brim.

They have never acknowledged the danger in which YOU have been ever since that filling. Danger of losing them. A little bit...at a heart-wrenching time.

My baby is 7. Agonizingly 7.

The Best Asparagus You've Ever Had

Want a "quick 'n easy" yet healthful vegetable dish for your repertoire? Then this is the one.

Start with a clean bunch of vitamin-packed asparagus, perhaps my favorite vegetable of all time. I try not to buy the very thick ones, though. The thinner, the better. Trim off approximately one inch from the bottom and then halve them. Actually, the spear-end should be just a little bit longer, because it will cook faster. Basically, you want to even the score.

Because that's only fair.

Necessarily Rewinding: The Holidays (Part 4)

December 2012 started out pretty stinkin' snazzy. Check it out.

Christmas tree shopping.

It's a serious business.

This is what the boys do EVERY time!!

Necessarily Rewinding: Part 3

(October - November 2012)

Playing soccer at the neighborhood park with our friends from across the street...

Necessarily Rewinding: Part 2

Most of these events occurred JUST during the month of October 2012. (We have crazy busy Octobers.)

There were a handful of sweet moments our kids experienced during their brief stint in public school. Cute crafts, for instance.

And being recognized for good character in the area of "responsibility":

Two Boys at the Pumpkin Patch

Giving Thanks

How I Send Real Food When My Kids Are on the Go

If you've been wondering about our bodacious lunchboxes seen in my previous post, I'm here to tell you all about them. Perhaps you too have had difficulty finding a SAFE way to send lunch for your kiddos, what with all the scary plastic chemicals that leach and off-gas on and around your food. Yuck! Well, after much searching and REsearching last year, I finally ended up with what I think just may be the best lunchbox ever: the PlanetBox.

There are three styles. We have the PlanetBox Rover, because my children like a little bit of everything in their lunch meal. This Bento box style is right up their alley. (See how they love Muffin Tin Meals here and here and here.) The Rover has several dividers, like a real lunch tray, which gives me more options for sending a variety of food...withOUT having to send fourteen little plastic baggies per child! I love that they can be personalized with cool magnet sets that go on the outside of the tray. I love the durable carrying bags, which come in several colors. AND I love that the trays can go right in the dishwasher!! No fuss.

Now, they are NOT cheap. Especially when you are buying for multiple children.  :ahem:  However, they are durable and will last much, much longer than the boxes you might buy at Wal-Mart. I fully intend to see my grandchildren toting these suckers around one day. Your child won't grow out of them, either. These are easily sophisticated enough to be carried by adults! Which means I guess I'm going to have to stop carrying my metal Strawberry Shortcake box with the ruby red handle and the matching thermos...(dates me, doesn't it?)