Some Slides and Yes I am a little behind.

I know it's really early in the morning here but I did get up even earlier; at 1am. I should be sleeping but I took some allergy medicine after breathing in all the dust from the circus tonight and the medication has woken me up. I slept about 4 hours, I should be good to go; NOT! Oh well, what can I do about it? Blog right? I should be doing laundry or something but I don't wanna! I have been blogging and making slides since 4am.
So, Our house is probably not going to sell and therefore we're beginning to wrap our minds around the possibility of renting it. We will have no choice in the end anyway. Only the future will tell what will happen with Congress, the economy, the election and so forth. I have a few more plants to get in the ground (plan to do that tomorrow, if I am not sleeping) in the front and then I will take some pictures of the out side of the house. It is really beautiful now, some of our friends have even commented about being jealous and needing to spruce up there curbsides too! We certainly can't take credit for it though. We only paid for it to look good!
Yes there are still a few things to do inside (grout in the bathroom, and closet guides in all the bedrooms), as well as, me unpacking and getting stuff stored again. Seems like a waste of time because we are moving soon but it's really not. It is no more work for me to pack it all back up again because next time someone else will do it. We are going to let the Marine Corps deal with all that headache; they will pay for moving and packing. I have this urge to get rid of some of our excess baggage anyway!


Well for the last 4 days Miss Madison has been rotten. So difficult, in fact that I made an appointment to see a pediatrician, but tonight the reason finally revealed itself. More teeth coming in! I don't really know how many she has because the little booger bites hard if you stick anything near her mouth. If it's food and she doesn't like it (which is everything), she spits it right back out. I find that with my finger though she won't let go until it thunders; just like a snapping turtle. So needless to say I just keep my fingers away from that little snapping turtles mouth! I am still going to take her to the appointment I made just to be sure nothing else is going on. . . .
We took her to the Carson & Barnes circus tonight and it's still over 100 degrees out here. It was pretty hot under the big tent. She got hot when we were standing in line but as usual she spit her water all over her shirt and that cooled her off! It was a 3-ring circus and it was so much better than the first one we took her to! They had Elephants, Camels, Poodles dogs, Horses and Ponies, and a petting zoo. . . .we did let her ride an elephant. That was amazing to say the least. Just from riding on it's back for about a minute you could feel how warm the animal was! We could have let her ride a Camel but it was time to find a good seat before they were all taken. I think we found some good one's for watching all the shows. It was hard to keep up with all that was going on, a top notch performance overall!

Last weekend we took Madi to Landers, CA and visited the Integratron. You can google it for more information but it was Tony's and Madi's first trip. Our friends Lindsey and Joey Buffamonte came with us (also their first time). It was my 4th time going but I wish we had booked a private tour it would have been more enjoyable for Tony. He didn't care for the "public soundbath" either, so he took the baby downstairs while the sounds were being played on the bowls. He conducted a self-guided tour for all the Science Fiction information regarding "The Dome". As he was doing this the baby helped herself to someone else's juice YUCK and everyone's shoes ALSO YUCK. I prayed she wouldn't get sick from the desert dwellers and foreigners looking for spiritual enlightment HA HA HA (and so far so good)! I have always wanted to take Tony to see it and I am glad he go to experience it before we leave CA this winter. . . . . .After wards we went to Pioneertown and had dinner at Pappy and Harriets then walked through the old movie set/town. We didn't realize the shows in Pioneertown didn't go on Sunday's anymore; so no show. Next, we thought we would go to Target and let the guys drive go-karts. So we dropped them off at Boomers and us gals headed across the lot to shop. The guys came and found us to tell us that Joey couldn't do the go-karts because he was wearing sandals. So we looked around a bit and then headed for home. We decided to stop at Sonic but that was a disaster from the beginning! Long story short, we waited for 45 min and I made two trips there that night because part of my order (the babies food) was missing! It was a long day of disappointments but it was enjoyed with good company! We all rolled with the punches; I can't wait to do it again soon~without all the bad parts.

Here are the pictures from our trip to Chuck E. Cheese in Oceanside too from my last blog. Enjoy!

okay well I am finally sleepy and the baby is waking up gotta go!

So much to do and So little time

Time is one of those very elusive things these days. We have gotten through 98% of the renovations done from the flood on the inside; just a few minor details to go. Even though it was stressful of course it has turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The insurance finally came last week and we put the house up for sale again with a local Realtor. She seems very motivated and has a good grasp of what the market is doing in our part of town. We have had 3 cars stop to take a flyer since listing it on Friday! I am feeling pretty hopeful. No new construction with the Casino (down the street) as we were told would be, by the paper but still good activity for the buyers market. Keeping my fingers crossed! The yard looks amazing from where it was a month ago. Even better than it did a year ago really. .. I will post some pics once all the work is completed. Baby Madison has been my little trooper during this stressful business. She has been going on as if nothing has happened; her little world was not disturbed. We will pat our backs for that as parents! Poor Tony has been in a word EXHAUSTED and that is putting it mildly. He wasn't able to take any leave during the ordeal because they were short handed at work. So in his little bit of time off he has had to work at home and move furniture, boxes, cleaning, and parenting (and husbanding). It has been rough around here lately for us both! We are getting ready for a Caravan of Brokers for Tuesday and Tony will be overnighting in the field for the next three days. I have to finish unloading our storage unit by myself by Tuesday afternoon and get the house ready to show. It is CRAZY!

So Crazy in fact that I started a new business recently too; I am a glutton! Tony and I have been talking about me starting a home based business since July and I went for it. . . .I signed up with Close to my Heart as an independent consultant. I am selling paper crafting, stamping and scrapbooking products. I have a new website too: http://scrappyville.myctmh.com/ . Please feel free to stop by and check it out. Even if you don't like stuff like that I appreciate the feedback. I still have the same email for now. I will changing over my contact in the near future. I also have my first Home Gathering tomorrow night with a great friend. I am excited and ready to go! I am making a cute card project and I look forward to a little ME time. Lately that has been less and less. . . to say the least.

Okay Okay so on Labor day we took little munch to San Diego. On Saturday we all went to a Scrapbook Expo and I got to meet up with my friend Nancy. It Rocked and I got some cool new gear to play with! Baby Madison had a great time running around the hall way of the convention center; Tony was a little miserable.

We were going to go to the beach that afternoon but we didn't make it; we went to Chuck E. Cheese instead. So we got up early and went the next morning before check out of our hotel. Baby Madison had fun splashing around in the water and getting sand in every Nook, Cranny and Fold. The water was very cold but it was still a good experience. Tony said it was too cold for him but he had a good time anyway.

After checking out of the hotel we went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It was humid and hot but I had a great time. We all did in fact. Baby Madison had a good time seeing the "KIDDY", "MUN-KE", "FUNTS", "RAF" and "burds". She got to ride on a carousel. She had a blast going round and round. When is stopped she kicked her legs and gave the sign for MORE! I would have to say her favorite part of the whole day was the Water Park Oasis. The park had a few static display animals that were actually sprinklers. She got soaked, which was a good thing because it was a hot day. It was a perfect way to cool off our little Munchkin. We had a good day and I enjoyed the park even more than the San Diego Zoo. The only thing I could complain about were the bees; they were swarming everywhere! I don't know if the park realizes what a problem the bees actually were; they didn't have any bee traps. I was pretty worried about the baby getting stung. But we all came out safe and tired!

Well hopefully we will have big news coming in the next few weeks with the house. Until then we will just keep on moving stuff! or something like that. . . . .

Love and Miss everyone and hope to hear from you soon,
Erin Davis

ONE Year Photo Shoot

I know I have been promising to load up her One Year photos. Since my friend is watching her today because of the construction at the house; I have a little bit of time on my hands. The guys are painting so I didn't want her around the fumes; gotta protect her! We got her pictures made at the end of July so they are about a month old. Don't worry Steven I am sending you one all for you; you gotta give me a little more time though, SORRY! I hope everyone enjoys them as much as I do! I gotta get back to work but hope all is well with you. . . .

MUCH LOVE FROM THE DESERT!

The Aftermath

Well today was a day for assessing damages and playing the Insurance game. I took pictures last night and more today of the aftermath. The Master Bedroom Closets (Walk-In and Side to Side door), and Master Bath got the most damage. We do have some water damage along the back wall of the house up to the Fireplace and in Madison's Closet. As you can tell, this is just enough damage to wreak havoc on our once peaceful lives. An occurrence like this, just goes to show you how awesome God truly is. Coming back home was humbling and we were relieved that our house was still standing. We decided to stay the night here but it was hard to sleep after our terrifying ordeal. I found out today that our yard and landscaping will be fully be out of our pockets. Looks like that trip to Hawaii will have to wait; JUST KIDDING~~~~ It was not in our future plans but I thought we needed some humor at this point. A little laugh break never hurts! To make the sting a little more painful we had an appointment with a realtor to list our home today~ Murphy's Law ~ but I never saw this coming. Our house is officially off the market until repairs can be completed~ Such a bummer for us! Well anyway; here are the pics and you can see the damages. Take care and thanks for keeping us in your prayers. . ."The God's Must Be Angry", or something ~HA another joke I kill me!

Outside Landscape Damage Aftermath

Inside Flood Damges

Please forgive me if I don't get back to blogging for awhile; I am legitimately busy!

When it Rains it Floods!

Well I was sitting here today enjoying the sounds of a little thunderstorm, unaware that above our house a river was raging! We live at the base of the National Park and we were aware that we bought our home in a flood zone. Tony was very Leary at the amount of rain that was falling but I was oblivious to it. I put the baby down for her afternoon nap and he came running inside to tell me that we needed to get ready to evacuate. I kind of thought he was out of his mind not knowing that the burm by house was giving way. I got ready and started to grab things we would need: Clothes~Check, Cell Phone~Check, Purse~Check, Baby~Check. He came running back in to tell me we needed to exit the back of the house, Our entire front and street were now a swift, loud raging, river. I had him cross the rising waters with Madison then I came, next he ran in to get the dog, after that each cat, one at a time. He had so much trouble with Rosie, the gray one, she bit him to peices and tore is arm up, but he managed to get her. We may end up taking him to a Dr about those bites. Maybe Brother Michael can advise him if should go or not HINT HINT! It was so loud and it reminded me of a raging rapid like back home at Buford Dam when they open the dam and let the Chattahoochee fill up. It was so terrifying. As we drove away my last thoughts were for the people in the houses below ours. I remember thinking, "I hope they got out of their homes already." Tony cut a path through our back yard all the while the waters were chasing us. We got on the main street and waded through until we hit the park center, we were covered in mud from the knee down and Tony was soaked through. I didn't have time to take many pictures of the flooding waters only with my camera phone. . .pretty good pics though for a phone. We went to a friends house for a few hours and then came back home to acess the damages.

Please do not be worried for us, we are all doing well and are very blessed by God to have each other!

That's it from the Desert~there is so much going on right now!!!

These pics are the ones from the camera phone of the waters as they were tearing through the yard





these are my dirty feet, I took them out of my mud soaked shoes EEEEEW



Thankfully we have flood insurance! I have been working on the claim since yesterday~wish us luck!

Madison's First Birthday Party

Well we celebrated Madison's birthday with her friends on Saturday the 12th. (I know it was a week ago!!!! Sorry! We got a little busy. . . .) We invited them to Sunburst Park in Joshua Tree for a Poodle in Paris turns ONE party; they have a water Sprinkler and the kids had a blast! I wanted to make sure that there would be plenty of activities to keep them all busy since all her friends were different ages. From 5 weeks old all the way upto 10 years old. I also wanted to make sure I had a water feature and shade because I knew it would be hot. However, Mother Nature had her own idea of what she wanted the weather to be and it was perfect! I couldn't have gotten a nicer day if I had ordered it myself. We grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and ate watermelon, and birthday cake. My friends were so helpful too, but even then couldn't get me to relax and enjoy their company. . .I just felt like there was so much to do the entire time. I can see why people hire someone to do these events for them; Hey now there's an idea. I wonder if I could make any money at that. . . ? HA! Madison was such a trooper through it all, she missed her morning nap and then bless her heart she was so tired she didn't even pull off her crown! She normally pulls anything that's not tied around her neck off; poor thing! I feel like the day was a blur. . After the kids played and we ate lunch, it was time for PRESENTS! Madison got a Princess Gift set: with a purse, dress, and crown with wand, a Leap Frog Radio, a Leap Frog Farm Fridge magnets, a Baby Doll, a Care Bear, Little People SUV, a Shopping Cart with tons of food, some beautiful clothes and hairbows, a gift card, a Noah's Ark musical toy and a bath time toy from her wonderful friends. Tony and I got her a ball pit, Little People Circus set, books, a DVD ~"the Sword in the Stone", and a Tea Set. I found some poodle gift wrap and I wrapped everything in pinks and purples; I got a banner personalized with poodles on it. After the presents my friend Tricia brought the cake and we sang, "Happy Birthday", then we cut the cake! It was yummy, marble with buttercream icing mmmm; I will start my diet tomorrow =) After we left the park I thought for sure Miss Madison would take a nap in the car and be out for a while but NOPE; Not at all! My child stayed awake all day until 7:30 PM!!!!!! I was thoroughly impressed; but exhausted to say the least. When we got home and unloaded our loot and gear I let her get in the ball pit; she had a blast. Peaking out the windows and going in out of them too. I tried to explain that the big holes were for going in and out but she didn't seem to care. I am a blessed mommy to have this girl and I will always remember this day as perfect! However, I do have one regret (there is always a but with me). . .I must also apologize and beat myself up over the fact that we didn't video tape any of it!! We were both so overwhelmed with the festivities we forgot to even get out our video camera! We are horrible with that thing! I know I am being rough on us but we do need to get better about that. I mean wow, how much more of a milestone can you get and we both just dropped the ball on that one! Oh well, we got lots of photos to remember the day. And of course I will have a great time Scrapbooking the party later on, when I have a chance to. Sorry if you couldn't be here with us but I Hope you enjoy the party pictures!

I will blog again soon, we took her to get her ONE year pictures today so they will be on the website in the near future! Okay we'll see when I get to it =)

Love you all,
Erin Davis

busy mom of one!

Sesame Street

Sunny Day, Chasing the Clouds away, Okay well I know it's been a week since we saw this but I wanted to post it anyways. I took Madison to see Sesame Street on the base. It was a free USO preformance. The characters came out and talked about feelings that are related to missing your parents. It was really wonderful for our kids to hear from their favorite Character about something so personal for our families! Of course, Madison hasn't had to miss her Daddy for a deployment or long trip nor did she understand what was going on. We don't watch Elmo yet, we are into another channel of educational shows. She didn't seem to be upset with them, I did take her down to the stage to see them up close but we were too close to the speaker to hang around long. I also didn't get any great pics because my camera will only do one special function at a time. So I could adjust for the light but not the movement. Those little boogers wouldn't stay still long enough for my camera to focus without blurring them and making streaks. So the pictures you see are basically the best of the blurred ones. I know I am silly we have had our camera for almost 3 years and I still don't know how to use it. Tony would have been a big help with the camera but he wasn't feeling well and decided not to come. Okay well I have to post the Birthday Party, so that's it for this post. ..

Madison turns ONE and 1st 4th of July!

On July 3rd my little baby turned 1! We celebrated her birthday here at the house. I baked a small 6 in cake and decorated it with what else? A poodle of course. I hadn't decorated or made a cake in 3 years. I as you can imagine was not happy with the artistic portion of the cake but Tony told me it was pretty anyway. I just need to practice more. . .we'll see. We had dinner and then we let her open one of her gifts. It was a poodle-in-the-box and when you turn the handle it plays "Alouette", then Fifi the poodle jumps out; too cute. The Grandmother's called to wish her a very Happy Birthday; she won't remember it but I will write it down in her scrapbook so she will know. Then Tony gave her the cake. She needed no prodding what so ever! She dug right in and made a huge mess in about 5 minutes. There was cake and icing everywhere. . . she dropped most of it into her lap and when I undressed her there was even some down her shirt. I guess she was saving that bite for a snack later on! We were so excited to watch her and the cake, we forgot to light her candle and sing to her on the video! Both her grandma's sang Happy Birthday to her, so it was part of the day =)! Tony and I are having a party for her with her little friends this Saturday so we will make sure to sing and have the candle for that. We even forgot to take close up pictures of the poodle cake, but at least I did get some of it before she destroyed it!

Baby's First 4th of July! Okay so we all know her birthday is July 3rd but since she was in the hospital last her on the 4th of July (and we were on the road to get to her), we didn't get to celebrate that holiday. I decided that we would pretend that last year's 4th of July just didn't happen and this year would be her First! For this year we decided to do something new and attened the fireworks on base. It's funny we have lived here for almost 6 years and Tony and I have never went to the event on base. We lived so close when we were on base that we could watch them from our back yard so that's what we usually did. It was a fun new experience for the whole family! We met my friend Nancy and her kids there, Taylor, Jordan and Peyton (Madison's little boyfriend). Her older kids went to watch the show with their friends and Peyton and Madison played on the grass and had a good time. I was ready for the show to start because Madison is walking now and when you put her down she is just GONE in 60 seconds HA! She has no boundaries either, she will just walk up to anyone. So it was exhausting and she didn't seem to realize that "WE are her PEOPLE; and THEY are not your PEOPLE!" "Your people are over here; not over there!" Tony and I took turns on baby patrol. She was up late, about 2 hours past her bedtime so as soon as we put her in the car she was OUT! I was impressed that she stayed awake for every bit of it; even the walk back to car in her stroller she was wide eyed! She's like her mama; she loves being social and going out in public **Oh My! We also saw some of our friends and our daughter's were wearing the same outfit. Katelynn looked so adorable and they are about the same size so I always call them "the Twins" HAhaha. Too bad they moved; we will miss them.

Today we had her 1 year well baby check up and she is doing very well. She weighs 19 lbs. 11.1 oz, and is 28 inches tall, they measured her head and it was 44 cm. She is now walking and has a pretty big vocabulary for her age. Her Dr was impressed by all the things she could do. We did have a little decline in her weight gain, no doubt from all the walking she does. It is exhausting to watch her. She never rests for a second unless she is asleep! She got 4 shots today too, that part is never fun, she cried and screamed. I hate it just as much as she does. Glad that's over with and we won't have to go back until she 15 mos.

Look out for more updates; July is turning out to be a busy month. We are going to see Sesame Street tomorrow on the base! I can't wait to see what she thinks of the big yellow bird and Elmo?! So far she is not impressed or put off by characters but we will see. . . now that she is a little older. Tony and I are both looking forward to the show.

We'll keep you posted; hope your summer is going well!
Erin Davis

Playing before bed time

Madison loves to play peek-a-boo with her Daddy. So last night I was putting her to bed and Tony came in to say good night and she started to "play" with him. It was so funny because neither of us prompted her to do it. Needless to say we were able to get some of it on video! Enjoy. . . .

An Early Birthday Surprise!

MY PINK POODLE ROCKING HORSE!!!!

Yesterday there was a large package on our front door step and it had Madison's name on it! Her Gammy sent her an early Birthday Present. So I called my mom and asked if she wanted me to save it until July for her actual birthday. She told me to go ahead and let her play with it and take lots of pictures for her to see. We opened the box and it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen; besides my most adorable baby in the world ! I let her touch it and then when I put her on it, she was like Oh My Goodness this is so much fun. She would shake her legs to try and make it "work". I had to hold onto her and make it rock at the same time. Looks like I will have toned arms if we play with this everyday. Thanks to Mom for the gift and Madison for the extra workout!

As usual all my family and friends are in my thoughts and prayers, may God continue to bless you everyday in everyway. . . . .

Much Love from our little corner of the world,
Erin Davis

Aquarium of the Pacific

We took Miss Madison to see the Fishies on Saturday. We stared off by stopping half way and having Chick-Fil-A!!!! We live an hour away so it was a big deal. We got her picture with the Cow Man and she never even cried. She was just trying to figure out what it was?? If it had been me at her age the trip would have been over! We got to the Aquarium and she woke up so it was smooth sailing. She got to see all kinds of Ocean life forms and the Sea Lions were like big water dogs. She and I leaned over the Shark Tank to get a good look and she reached her hand out. Just as she did a Great White came up out of the water to get a better look too! The people standing around had been there for a bit and they were saying that was the first time that any of them had come out of the water. So it's official Madison is a yummy temptation. I have always told her she is gonna get eaten for being so sweet. I would have had to jump in the water and "Slap a Shark" if it came any closer to my baby's hand. Madison wasn't bothered; she was like make it come up again Lady. We got to see some baby stingrays too and they didn't want to come close enough to be touched by Madison. The workers said we could "pet" them with two fingers but Madison ignored that rule to "play in the water" with both hands. They had a baby tiger shark in there too. The lady in charge told us it didn't like to be petted and it wouldn't bother us. However, every time Madison put her hand in the water it would come really close so it must have liked our baby a bit more than the lady realized. She liked the fishes and different colored lights in the exhibits. We stayed about 2 and 1/2 hours and then it was time to turn around and head home. It was short lived but it was nice to do something different. Of Course I took many many pictures that day but when I uploaded them to my computer from my camera; I had a major fiasco! I named them and the computer numbered them the same as another folder in my pictures. I was trying to organize some of my pictures and when I tried to combine them together; my Aquarium pictures were over-written. The only pictures I could recover are the ones on the slide. Unfortunately, I could only get two pics with Dada in them back. I even had one of all three of us; but the overwriting distorted it too badly to see, along with some other great shots. I am just glad they weren't all lost and I learned a big lesson! Thankfully I married a computer Geek because if he wasn't here with me I wouldn't have even recovered the ones that you are viewing now! God I love my man! Although, we took some video I still wanted my pictures and we both worked on the long process for 7 hours yesterday into the wee hours of the morning! Needless to say I was hurtin' for certain when I had to get up with 4 hours of sleep. Okay well I will write again soon. . . . .


Duck Family

Sea Lions



Sea Lions Part Two




Sharks




Baby Stingray's