Right At This Moment: School Day

     It's that time of year again. Time to break out the math DVDs and science books. Was it just me, or did this summer seem way shorter than it was last year? I feel like it just flew by and I hardly had a chance to relax. I also realized that this was my last summer as a high school student. How weird is that? Well, probably not that weird for you... but it's weird for me.
    Anyway, I thought I'd do a quick blog about what we're all doing at this moment in the school day.

It is 10:15 a.m.. 

Ally is doing economics. 

Emma is breaking out the biology.

Mom is watching a video about Mackinaw Island with Landon, Kate, Isaac, and Jackson while eating M&Ms. We usually have some type of candy to eat during the first week of school.

 It helps motivate us. 

I am working through my school list in my newly rearranged room while watching my favorite 9 month old...

Jonah! Oh. My. Word. I love him. Even when he dumps my trash out and takes the books off my shelves. 

This is our school day. Obviously, it's going to vary from day to day, but the setup is usually something like this. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Mental Dates

This is Julie today!

Awhile back, Bryan was complaining that he couldn't keep dates straight in his head and was telling me how he basically lived in 15-20 minute increments.  During his day, he just concentrates on the next patient and doesn't really look at his whole day let alone his whole week.  When he needs to see what event comes next, he looks at his phone.  I was amazed.  I can't operate like that.  So, I went about telling him how I "see" dates in my head and tried to convert him to my way of thinking.

This is how I explained it.  I see two weeks at a time in my head.  The weekends are like bookends and the weekdays are in between.  I made a diagram to show the family.  They pretty much think I'm weird.  Oh well.  It works for me.  These dates represent August.  Right now, I am on the 16th and after tomorrow I will be in the red and then round the corner into Monday.  Magically, the days continue to change.  What's funny is if someone asks me about a date outside this two week frame, I just can't place it.

I do still use a calendar, but I really don't need to look at it every day because I see this in my mind.

                                I find stuff like this so interesting.  How do you see dates in your head?

Oh, and by the way, Bryan just doesn't think this will work for him. :) That's ok.  Maybe he'll convert to the way I see numbers in my head.  I'll share that some other time!!

Kayaking Adventure

     My dad has always wanted to take canoes or kayaks down the Arkansas River. On Saturday, he finally got his wish. Ally, Emma, Isaac, Jackson, and Dad took a 5 hour kayak ride on a 7 mile stretch of the river. I decided to stay at home for two reasons. The first reason was that my mom had a list of stuff for me to do, and I really wanted to deep clean my room. The second reason was that I just couldn't resist the draw of a nearly empty house. Landon also stayed home. He had a friend who had to sleep in an outdoor shelter for Boy Scouts. So, they slept in Landon's Air Soft fort. They say they only got one hour of sleep, and that might be true considering he crashed most of the next day. We figured it'd be ok to let him stay home this time.

There they go! How exciting. 

After I watched them go under the bridge, I hopped in the van and drove home. After 5 hours of waiting, I got the call. They had finally made it to the bridge. 

Here's Ally to tell you how the trip went: 

     I'm glad I went even though it took a lot longer than I expected. I didn't have any plans for the day, so why not kayak down the river for 5 hours? 

     Anyway, it was a hard trip. The river was so low that we kept getting stuck in the sand. We tried scooting through it, but sometimes it was so bad we had to stand up and walk. Oh, and there are gar in the river. They're scary 2 foot long fish that are supposed to have a long snout like an alligator. 

     Halfway through I was in despair. I kept hoping to see the bridge around every curve, but we still had about 2 hours to go. Ah! Finally, despite sore arms and aching legs we reached the bridge. And called for our ride. The end. 

I'm thinking we should wait until the river rises to try that again. Maybe next time I'll go with them. 

I hope you guys have a great day! 

Right At This Moment

     I have received a request. A dedicated reader has asked that I post another Right At This Moment blog. You know who you are, and this is for you. :) 

     It is 11:15 in the morning, and several things are happening right at this moment in the Davis house. 

Emma is reading in her newly redecorated room. 

(I'm pretty sure we will be doing a blog about this project fairly soon.)

Mom and the younger kids are outside playing badminton...

...while Jonah watches on. He's unhappy about not being big enough to play. 

Badminton with tennis rackets. I know, I know. We're crazy. But, hey, it works. 

Mom gets into the game. Really into the game. 

Isaac's eating breakfast - Froot Loops - right out of the box. 

Landon's just chillin' before heading off to build some more on his Air Soft fort. 

Dad's busy walking around and inspecting the construction of the badminton net. Apparently, we weren't supposed to use the tent stakes... Oh, well. 

Ally was doing laundry... for about 5 minutes. Then she came downstairs to read her book. 

And lastly, I am writing this blog. Didn't see that one coming, did you? Didn't think so. 

Well, I hope this satisfies your desire for a Right At This Moment blog! 

If you have ideas or things you would like to see on the blog, comment or email me at glynne.a.davis@gmail.com. 

Birthdays!

     First off, I'd like to apologize for the lack of updates lately. Things have been a bit hectic for a while and I just haven't found the time to sit down and write something. So, I'm going to squeeze two blogs worth into this one!
     August is our month of birthdays. Emma's is the 6th, Kate's the 8th (today), and Ally's the 29th. For Emma's birthday we invited some close friends and family over to eat and play some "classic" Davis birthday games.

We (Grandma Jeannie, Ally, Emma, and I) spent about 6 hours making this cake. There were several mistakes, but overall we liked how it turned out. 

Here I am playing one of the Davis birthday games. The goal of the game is to take the one pen from other players by rolling a six and write from 1 to 100 before someone steals the pen from you. It's a LOT harder than it sounds. 

Aww. This would have been a great picture if my dad was being serious and not acting like a goof. 

Anyway, Emma's party was great! We had one day of rest (not really) before preparing for Kate's day.

On the day between birthdays, Kate and I spent several more hours making these tutu cupcakes. The idea is from Pinterest. I love Pinterest. 

Ally, Emma, and I planned a girls' surprise day for Kate the morning of her birthday. We took her to meet Grandma Candy at a jewelry store to pick out a ring, and then went to get feather extensions in our hair. After that, we took her to eat out at Sonic. Mozzarella sticks. Yummy. Then we went shopping! It was a fun day. 

Once we came home, Kate had a friend over to play until dinner when the rest of the family came over to eat. 

Whew. It was fun, but I'm glad we'll have a break from birthdays for a few weeks...