4thGenJim

 This year Davis' birthday was at Chuck E. Cheese.  He'd never had a party there and was wanting his turn in the ticket blaster!! We had more fun than we expected as it wasn't crowded at all!! Thanks to everyone for making it during this busy time of year!!    Great memories!!

There can be plenty of reasons to wear many-sizes-ago clothing. Sibling-sorting mixup. Bottom of drawer stow-away. Wishing child to forever remain toddler size. Deemed too cute to pass-along. Won't ever find anything as soft. Child's most-favorite article of clothing. (some of those don't apply to DJ) In this case, I think the PJ pants may have been borderline too-short last winter. Combo that with his recent 'growing-like-a-weed' phase, and wallah...

= Warm & Cozy Holiday Feeling!

Christmas! (and Birthday, too!)

What great singing!  Davis delivered an awesome performance! We spent quite a while listening to his songs on the CD player leading up to the big day. Going to school.  On the way home.  Going anywhere else. Two Christmas songs. Over and over. In the end, it was so worth it! (And, Davis really enjoyed to the music... He has asked the whereabouts of the CD so we can keep listening to the same songs)

A cutter is thrown most effectively with a three-quarters delivery and a heavy snap of the wrist. A left-handed pitcher has an inherent advantage against left-handed hitters with pure fastballs, so the development of a cutter to throw to RH hitters is imperative. An ideal cut curve ball will look like a pitch outside and only 'cut' into the strike zone in the last four feet of its flight towards the catcher's mitt. Once the pitch is dialed-in, the ball goes from being a 'take-all-the-way' pitch because it's high and outside, to being called a strike on the inside edge of the plate with the catcher digging it out of the dirt. It's a devastating pitch that often causes a right handed batter's knees to buckle and only able to generate a hapless swing out of pure futility.

Davis' trip to the dentist started a little shaky. He saw the assortment of tools and became nervous and unsure of everything. The dental assistant quickly reassured him and began explaining the simple procedure in a kid-friendly manner. No worries = no problems.

Congrats DJ! At least for a few minutes, Davis was a Gold Glove winner!  (then it had to be returned to the display case)   It was a cool experience, though. Davis said it weighed about 50 lbs! Saturday, we attended the Open House at Arvest Ballpark. We were lucky enough to have a nice visit  with the new Naturals' manager, Vance Wilson . He's a real personable guy with lots of stories to tell! Davis was enthralled by the coach's story about his favorite Natural, Matt Fields.  We got a good deal on Opening Day tickets, and even did some crafting! Can't wait till April 10th!

Happy Chinese Tomorrow! Of course, tomorrow never truly arrives.  But for us, every 13th of December is Chinese Tomorrow. A time to recognize the power of procrastination. And, to get started right away by having a tasty meal! Our 3rd Annual Chinese Tomorrow was as delightful as a nice, steamy bowl of egg drop soup. We arrived early -before it got too crowded. We talked about some school stuff and friend stuff, but mainly we talked about how nice it was to take a pause on everything and relax by enjoying some good food. Davis sampled the fried green beans  and ate more than his share of clam strips. Once the fortune cookies arrived at the table, Davis chose his cookie and read his fortune aloud. It was probably the most fitting fortune, but we will never know for sure. The other fortune cookies will have to wait until tomorrow to be opened. 欢乐中国的明天！

How about having Chinese food tomorrow? Great! December 13th is Chinese Tomorrow! What is Chinese Tomorrow? When families get together for Chinese food and celebrate everything that is 'put-off' until tomorrow. Here are a few rules: Everyone wears black (the actual day 'tomorrow' is dark & never sees a sunrise) Celebrate things that are put-off until tomorrow (find joy in those normally unpleasant procrastinations) Choose just one person to open a single fortune cookie (everyone else must wait until tomorrow ) Blog about it (post the fortune's lucky numbers as the title) Enjoy the great food! (Chinese food buffets are the best!) 欢乐中国的明天！

An amazing display of lights at the Square in Downtown Fayetteville!

What does it take to be an icicle champ? It takes a keen eye to spot the grandiose oddity. Davis has a calibrated system of scanning that can quickly discern between normal and full-on freak of nature. 

your hair was a little shorter August, 2013

Along with an All Star infielder with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization, there seems to be a long-lost Astronaut cousin as well:

is what to call a group of these ferocious felines. Davis knows a long list of animal congregation terminologies. Crossword puzzles or general trivia challenges, beware!

the child has access to our smart phones: thanks for keeping it rated  G   (or at least G-ish) if video player is not working, click HERE to watch on YouTube

it's up & decorated!