growing younger...

I just hit 700 friends on facebook and I joined twitter tonight. I can literally feel the years shedding away. Now if I could just get rid of some of these gray hairs...

is this thing still on?

Wow, I feel like it's been too long. I've had a hard time as of late logging on and getting a chance to blog. This blogging stuff is therapeutic and I miss it! There's nothing like getting out deep thoughts for a million of your closest friends to see! Here's what's been happening:

1. I hit my blog-o-versary! That's right, as of January 13, I've been blogging for a year now. 181 posts later, I'm still running strong. When I first started, I thought this blog might end up getting trashed like a treadmill that someone buys and only uses twice. But like I said, I've found blogging therapeutic1

2. Photography is booming! That's actually the main reason I haven't blogged much recently. My free time has been taken up with photography - but I am certainly not complaining, I love it! I recently shot team pictures at my school, I'm shooting a wedding tonight (crazy story you have to read about!) and another in April. I've got a Bar-Mitvah lined up as well as a few other possible weddings in the spring and a few other gigs in the works. Not too bad for a side business. I truly feel blessed!

3. I'm planning out my first photography workshops! I've been having a lot of conversations lately with people who buy fancy new digital cameras but don't really know how to use them. So I've been cooking an idea of teaching several workshops this spring to help amateurs build their skills. I have a lot of it together except for the dates and the people! You can check the info out on my website. They're called Beyond the Snapshot: Surpassing 1,000 words with each picture and Going Further. If you'd like to attend or know someone who would, let me know! I hope to have it all hammered out by the end of next week!

4. The Philippines! We're still hoping to move this summer to the Philippines for mission work. We're putting as much money as possible from my photography towards our moving costs to help us get there. Our church, Next Level Church, also agreed to act as our sending agency and are willing to collect the money we raise! We did have one huge answer to prayer recently! Our good friends behind us told us that her brother is moving to Charlotte this summer and would possibly like to rent our house! Is that awesomely perfect God-like timing or what??? Keep praying!

new hobby...

The girls got some great musical instruments for Christmas and I think I've been having a better time with them than they have! I began by mastering the kazoo/guitar combo for a few days, then I moved onto the recorder where I sounded out "Stairway to Heaven" for a pretty rocking performance. My latest addiction, however, has been the harmonica. I quickly sounded out "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and "Oh Susanna." I later moved onto "Bad to the Bone" and other various blues tunes. In trying to find some new songs to play, I ran across this video which gives me a whole new motivation! This guy is crazy on the harmonica. It's Buddy Greene playing in Carnegie Hall. He's the guy who co-wrote the Christmas song, "Mary did you know," by the way in case you didn't know that tidbit of trivia. If you can't sit through the entire 4 minute video, at least skip to about 2:08 or so and watch through the end. It's well worth it!

Rain drops on roses...

Whiskers on kittens. Something and something and warm woolen mittens. These are a few of my favorite things. As we hit the New Year tonight, I thought I'd wrap up the old year with a look at a few of my favorite things from 2008. It's been a wild ride, but I'll see if I can fit it into one readable blog post!

In no particular order, here are my favorite things from 2008:

1. Next Level Church - We started going to our new church this summer and have loved every minute! They are such a warm, real, and open group of people who are willing to do all they can to help. The church is also dedicated to serving and helping the poor which is something we value very highly.

2. Avery's condition - Our youngest daughter has had a horrible bout with eczema which has created a nightmare for us over the last 1.5 years since we moved to Charlotte. The good news is that ever since we started a treatment called NAET with an acupuncturist, her eczema has been improving and her demeanor has improved drastically and I realized a few months ago that I was finally able to truly enjoy getting to know my daughter. We still have our rough days, but they are fewer than last year!

3. A FREE Car!!! - Some friends gave us an awesome Volvo station wagon last spring and it has been a lifesaver! We made it through last school year (barely) with one car, but we are so blessed to have two cars now so that Sarah can take Kyla to preschool this year and she is able to take Avery to the park and run errands during the day.
4. My wife - Sarah has embarked on some new roles this year and I am super proud of her! She taught her first two series of Bradley Childbirth classes this year and did a superb job. Her students loved the classes and she got some rave reviews! She also became a doula and has been picking up business over the past few weeks. She's started a "Babies and Coffee" get-together for the new moms she works with and she's making a real difference in families' lives. She does this all while handling the stay-at-home-mom duties! Way to go Sarah!
5. Photography business - I've been so blessed this year to have been able to shoot 4 weddings and a boat load of portraits. It's been so much fun to do what I love and get paid for it. I've learned and grown so much and I look forward to what the new year holds!
6. Woodworking - I've had a chance to get out in our garage and build quite a few things this year. I've built a double bed for Kyla, some floating shelves for the living room, night stands for our bedroom, and various other projects like putting up a storm door and crown molding with my dad.
7. The kids - Sarah spent 2.5 weeks in the Philippines this summer and I had the chance to hang with the kiddos on my own for that time! It was challenging and tiring, but I feel like it just exploded my relationship with them! They continue to amaze me with their imaginations and how much they love being with each other. They are best friends and it is a blast watching them grow up although I can't believe I'll have a 5 year old soon and our youngest is now 2 1/2!
8. My Job - Teachers are complainers by nature, and I can join in with the best of them on my weaker days. The pay stinks, the kids stink after activity time, and the responsibilities get piled on higher and higher with little to no opportunity for promotion. But having said that, I love my job. I love teaching middle school. My coworkers are outstanding and my kids are well behaved (for the most part). My school has nearly every bit of technology I could think of using. And when it comes down to it, I don't have to fear losing my job in this difficult economy.

I'm sure there are many other things that I have missed here, but my coffee cup is empty and I need a refill. Plus, if I keep writing, you'll probably quit reading! Happy New Year!!!!

a little mid-week encouragement...

I read a passage from Galations 5 this morning out of the Message translation that I thought I'd share. I sometimes find all of the bickering, back-biting, pain, and suffering around me kind of depressing at times. It's also easy for me to fall into the same kind of behavior that I see around me. This passage reminds me of the change that can and shout take place in me when I allow the Spirit to change me.

It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time; repetetive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional baggage, frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper;an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addicitons; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inheret God's kingdom.

But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in lfe, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. The passage goes on to tell us that we need to not just hold onto a Spirit-filled life as an idea, but work out it's implication in every aspect of our lives.

What a great summation of the Gospel of Christ. Is believing in Jesus about getting into Heaven? Well, yes that's part of it. But it's so much more. It's so much about change in your life and making the brief time we have here on Earth count.

the cobbler's son has no shoes...

The landscaper's yard is in shambles. The computer engineer has no working computers at home. And at our house, the photographer's family has no family portrait...except for the few awesome shots we have from our great friend Veronique. The only problem is that she lives in California. So we set out Sunday afternoon in search of a few good family shots...of course none would include all of us. I always seem to be able to capture great shots of other people's families, but always have the toughest time with my own. I guess the kids get sick of me sticking a camera in their faces or something. Anyway, below are a few of the shots we captured. It was a freezing cold day so we didn't brave the elements too long. We did manage to capture one shot of us all too which turned out pretty good. SPOILER ALERT!!!! If you're one of the lucky few on our Christmas card list, you might see these pictures again. Enjoy!

swamped...

I know I've kind of left you hanging after my previous posts about decision making and the future of the Davis family. I promise it's not on purpose! I've been completely swamped in photography! I'm certainly not complaining here because this is exactly what I've been wanting to happen for quite some time. Sarah and I shot two weddings last month and in the last week, I've had 5 portrait sessions and I've got 6 or 7 in the next week! I'm hoping that this keeps rolling, but it is quite tiring! It seems like every waking moment that I'm not teaching or taking care of the kids, I'm working on photos. Ok, I'll even admit I've worked on pictures even while I'm taking care of the kids...

Anyway, I'm sure it'll slow down sometime soon as we get closer to Christmas. I'll try to get some more writing done as I can, but in the meantime, check out my photography site to see what I've been up to! But seeing that I'm up to midnight yet another night, I should go to bed.

show your work!

If I've said it once on this blog, I've said it at least twice...getting old is getting old.

I teach 6th grade math to special ed kids. I was going nuts this morning trying to teach them how to put decimals in order (i.e. 3.001, 3.01, 3.1). They kept coming to me with wrong answer after wrong answer. It's not that they couldn't understand it, it was just that they were trying to cram their work into the tiny little space in their workbooks and they were writing so small they couldn't even read it...I've become pretty much able to decipher the most intricate hieroglyphics, but it was getting ridiculous.

So finally, after about the 10th time saying "show your work neatly on another sheet of paper," I flipped my lid. I made everyone clear their desks and I gave them all a giant (and we're talking giant) sheet of paper. I gave them a new problem to work on and told them they had to use rulers and write big enough that the entire paper was covered.

Once we were done and they got my point, and as I was delivering the ever-inspiring "you have to show your work" lecture, I got a flashback to my childhood. I envisioned a younger Peter sitting at the dining room table with his dad. His dad had grown a little irritated with young Peter because he was not writing his work to his math problems legibly. He was taking shortcuts and getting problems wrong. So I ended the lecture with that little story of my childhood and I mentioned how I should probably call my dad and apologize for all I put him through because now I realize he was right...I felt pretty old just saying those words...Dad was right.

One of my favorite kids, J, looked at me and said, "Why don't you call him now?" First, I laughed it off, but quickly reconsidered. Why not now? So I whipped out the cell phone and called my dad in front of the class. As it was ringing, the kids eyes opened wider and wider and J blurted out, "put it on speaker phone!"

My dad answered with, "what are you doing calling me at this time of day?" I asked him if I could put him on speaker phone with my class and he gladly obliged...he's a brave soul! I proceeded to remind him of the days around the dining room table and he quickly remembered! I then, to the applause of my students, apologized for all the heartache I had caused him in regards to the math. No wonder my high school students used to call me Dr. Phil. I ended the call and wrapped up class. I jokingly told them their homework for the weekend was to consider apologizing to me on Monday.

It is mornings like today that make me love my job even if it makes me feel old and makes me have to go back and apologize for being a stubborn teenager!

faster than a 12-year-old girl...

Getting old is getting old. Three examples:

1 - I found myself having to join the young men's small group at our church simply because this is the last year I can be considered a twenty-something.

The other two examples are from my day at school today...

2 - I was having a difficult time today having my kids understand that line graphs show how data changes over time. So I was put on the spot to come up with an example that was less-boring than the ones in the book. What did I come up with? The number of gray hairs on Mr. Davis' head from 2002 - 2008. They walked away understanding the concept. I walked away depressed.

3 - During activity time with my sixth graders today, I made an exciting discovery. One girl wanted to race me and I kindly obliged. I smoked her! I mean, it wasn't even close. So I still have a little speed - at least enough to beat a 12-year-old girl. So why is this an example of getting old sucking? Well, I pulled my left quad while I was running and spent the rest of the day hobbling around.

eulogies...

I just got finished delivering my first eulogy at a funeral. We traveled to Richmond last night to attend the funeral of a young man who was in the youth group Sarah and I led about 9 years ago. He died in a wreck last weekend.

I wrote a eulogy for my mom's memorial service two years ago but was unable to attend the service becuase I got food poisoning the night before. So, in a way, I guess this was my second eulogy, but first time delivering it.

I'd say it went well and I feel that God gave me good words of comfort, but I hope I don't have to do that again for a long time, or ever again...whichever comes first.

One funny note from the day though, was that I received a promotion to Reverend! Evidently, whoever wrote the bulletin thought I was ordained and it read like this:

Officiating:
Rev. Brian Hughes
Rev. Pete Davis

After the ceremony, one guy shook my hand and said, "Nice job, Reverend." I was caught off guard and somehow squeaked out a thanks.

I'm still here...

I haven't disappeared. I've been sick. The last week and a half I had a pretty rough cold, sore throat thing going on. Then the girls got colds, and now Sarah's sick. Sarah also spent last weekend in Asheville, NC getting trained to be a doula (labor assistant). I've been tutoring twice a week and Sarah just wrapped up a Bradley class. My dad was here this weekend helping me with a few projects around the house (I'll post pictures later). So anyway, I hate excuses, but I just needed to share why I haven't written much as of late. To quote one of my favorite movies, "I'm not dead yet." And to shamelessly quote another, "I'll be back."

a great birthday...

I turned 29 yesterday and I have to say it was a fantastic birthday...much better than last year! Last year's birthday was a little rough. We had spent the week at the beach with my family (that part was great), but on my actual birthday, we embarked on a nightmarish 8 hour drive home. Avery screamed about 75% of the way home, Kyla was cranky from listening to her sister, it was about 110 degrees outside, and we were all stressed out. The best part of the trip was a stop at Chili's for dinner and a $3 Margarita.

That is why I had to chuckle yesterday when Sarah told me our fantastic neighbors, Stacie and Matt, were giving us a gift card to Chili's for my birthda! We made the connection about last year and decided to make Chili's a birthday tradition!

So anyway, Sarah let me sleep in yesterday and I awoke to a breakfast of fruit-filled crepes! What a great way to start the day! We enjoyed the beautiful morning with a stroll through the neighborhood and I returned for a cup of coffee.

After spending the late morning and afternoon working on some photography, we hopped in the car and drove just across the state line to a small goat farm. What birthday is complete without goats??? Actually, we sometimes get Avery's goat milk from the farm because it's cheaper and healthier (in case you're wondering, our daughter is allergic to cow dairy). Plus, the owners of the farm love kids and our girls come alive when they see all the goats, chickens, cats, and dogs.

On the way back from the farm, we stopped at Chili's and had a great dinner. We quickly headed home, though, because it was getting close to bedtime and I had plans to go bowling with the guys from our Lifegroup. Upon arriving home, I checked the mail and got a good laugh from my Dad's Obama birthday card. On the cover beside a cartoon picture of Obama, it reads "Can you have a great birthday? Yes you can!" On the inside, "Did I get you a present? No I didn't!" Nice choice Dad!

So I grabbed my socks and my camera and headed with Patrick to the lanes. It had been a while since I bowled, but I was quite proud of my 136 on the first round. I got a little tired on the second round and only bowled a 101. We finished up and it was still quite early, so we headed over to a nearby bar, The Beantown Tavern, for a beer and nachos. Much to our surprise it was Karaoke night!

I had always secretly dreamed of rocking it out on some Karaoke, but I had never had the chance outside of the high school parties at a friend's house where we would use her dad's laser disc karaoke setup to scream "Welcome to the Jungle" in order to impress the ladies. So with a little coercion from the guys, I hit the stage. The only problem? I froze when it came time to pick a song. The only one that popped in my mind was Georgia Satellite's "Keep Your Hands to Yourself!" It's one of my favorites and I must say I did a rather fine job. But then again, I think everyone thinks they sound good while singing karaoke.

A little while later, an older guy who had tried his best to sing a few songs came over to wish me a happy birthday (the DJ made mention of that fact before I sang). This guy cracked me up because he looked extremely similar to Hank on King of the Hill, but with a big cowboy hat! He shook my hand and asked me how old I was. When I replied, "29," he turned away, rolled his eyes as to say, "you good-fer-nuthin whipper snapper," and then he flicked me off with a smile! I lost it and said to Patrick, "now my birthday is complete. Crepes, goats, fajitas, a margarita, bowling, karaoke, and now I've gotten the finger from an old cowboy!" Here are a few pictures from the day:

happy birthday...now back to work (paradoxes of life)

Now that it is past midnight, I guess I am officially 29 years old. Sheesh. Thirty minus 1. In some ways, it feels old. Other ways, young. For instance, when I realize that my sixth grade students this year were born at about the same time I was graduating from high school, I feel old. But when I talk to my neighbor who has sons my age, I feel young. When I realize that I've lived for nearly a third of a century, old. When I talk to the 105-year-old lady and her 80-year-old daughter at the nursing home where we visit with our small group, young. When I get a haircut and see more gray hair than brown, old. Life's pretty cool that way. We get to walk through life with people from all stages of life; those ahead and those behind, sharing our experiences and trying to teach and learn all at the same time.

At any rate, one week from today, I head back to work. I always get bittersweet feelings around this time of year. I enjoy my job, so I look forward to starting a new year. In fact, that's the best part of teaching. I get a fresh start every year to fix mistakes and capitalize on improvements I made in the previous year. I've got some great ideas to make life easier this year and I'm looking forward to giving them a shot. However, I must say that I enjoy not having to handle the drama of sixth-grade life during the summer. But I've been feeling a sense that this year will be different. I've been feeling like I really need to focus on extending extra gobs of grace to my students and coworkers this year. I also hope to get a stronger start since I'm not the new guy at my school this year and I have a pretty good lay of the land.

But having said that, this year I'll be teaching all math. And if you know me well, you know how crazy that is. I majored in journalism and I love writing (thus the blog). Math for me growing up was not too hard, I just didn't like it. I co-taught last year with a great teacher and thankfully got a crash course in teaching math. And doubly thankfully, I'm coteaching with her for two classes again this year so I can copy all of her good ideas. Triply thankfully, we're talking sixth grade, special education math, and not algebra 2 or trig. It should be fun (in some kind of weird, ironic, surreal kind of way).

earthquake...

It seems as though our friends out in Los Angeles got a little shakeup today. We never really felt a big one while we were living in LA for four years, though we felt a few quick jolts...enough to get the heart racing. From what I read, there weren't any big injuries or major damage. Hope you're all doing ok out there!

single-fatherhoodliness

So I thought, for sure, I'd have more time on my hands in the evenings and such to blog some more and get some more lively discussion going since Sarah's in the Philippines. But for some strange reason, by the time the night comes I feel rather drained. I've been staying up late still and having time to myself, but I just don't have the mental capacity to write anything meaningful. I've never been one to think that a stay-at-home mom has it easy. In fact, I'd say that I probably do a lot more around the house than the typical dad (not bragging, but it makes sense b/c I am home for two months in the summer). But I will say a huge Hat's Off to all you single parents out there. It's a tough gig. I ran a bunch of errands this morning with the girls and had to cut it short because they were getting tired of going in and out of stores. At any rate, the girls and I are doing fine. I took a few funny pictures today I'll have to post in the morning and tomorrow I'm taking Kyla to check out a preschool she might possibly attend in the fall. I'll let you know how that goes.

And if you haven't been following Sarah's blog, do it! She's got some wild stories and I've enjoyed talking and chatting online with her everyday!

lovin' Guitar Hero...

I'm tutoring a rising 9th grade student this summer and we've been chatting about music and such as we go along. He was generous enough to loan me his Playstation and guitar so that I could play Guitar Hero! Man, it is awesome! What a great idea for a game.

I've been wanting to buy another guitar since mine got stolen while we were in LA for Thanksgiving (yeah, in case you didn't hear, someone broke in our house and all they took was my guitar!). However, maybe instead I'll buy a setup to play Guitar Hero. I can rock it out a lot better on a video game, plus my finger tips don't hurt after playing for 3 hours!!!

(I thought this picture kind of looked like me playing!)

Happy 4th!

The past 2 July 4ths have been pretty big for our family. Two years ago, we sat in the front yard of our apartment with Kyla and watched the Culver City fireworks while Sarah was in labor with Avery...she was born the next evening! Last year, we had just moved into our new house in Charlotte and were properly welcomed into the neighborhood North Carolina style with a firework display in every neighbor's backyard! This year, I thought, "What's July 4th without some crowds, sweat, and a parade?"

So we headed to downtown Indian Trail about 2 miles away for the annual celebration and parade. I hadn't been to a Southern, small town parade in quite some time, so we were treated to some local flavor!!! Sarah had flashbacks of the Powhatan parade, but the important part was that the girls had a good time. Kyla quickly decided she loves parades despite the loud engines and fire truck horns...mostly because nearly every float/car/tractor/truck was filled with candy-throwing paraders! It was fun to get out and enjoy the festivities! Below are some pictures from the day!

Kyla and her friend Ella quickly figured out that the best way to get candy was to jump up and down and waive their hands in the air!
Still holding onto the past...

Hangin' wth the Creehans!

Future NASCAR champ

No comment...

Avery tried her best to beat the heat...

Music from the flatbed..."I'm a member of a country club. Country music is what I love. I drive an old Ford pickup truck. I do my drinkin' from a Dixie cup."

Kyla loves dancing to whatever music there is to hear!

Dad was proud to have her wear a VT hat!

green thumbing it...

When we moved into our townhouse last year, I really wanted to get into growing flowers, bushes, veggies, etc. I've always enjoyed gardening, but I've never had much chance to do it. Last summer was incredibly dry, though, and I didn't think it was best to start anything in the middle of a drought. So this spring, I started planting some things here and there and I've had a blast! Everything is doing pretty well...I haven't killed anything yet! If I had a little more money in the budget for gardening, I'd certainly put a lot more in, but we're sprucing our place up little by little! Here are a few pictures.

This is the only picture I could find out what our backyard looked like when we moved in...pretty boring.

The sunflowers have been the most fun because the girls and I planted the seeds just a few months ago and they've shot up and given us a ton of beautiful blooms!

The tomatoes are finally starting to come in!

i <3 craigslist...

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I love Craigslist! I was reminded of my love for it tonight when I scored a bunch of free lumber and plywood from a guy clearing out his garage! In addition to my free wood, so far to date, through Craigslist we have:

-rented an apartment
-sold a couch
-sold an entertainment center
-sold some end tables
-sold a coffee table
-bought 2 dressers
-sold one of those dressers because we didn't like it
-bought a bed
-bought a pack 'n play
-bought a high chair
-sold two kidneys (ok, that one was see who really pays attention to what I write)
-booked three weddings to photograph
-sold a desk
-bought moving blankets
-sold cloth diapers
-applied for jobs

our car...

As promised, here are a few shots of our new-to-us-FREE-car we got a few weeks ago...

The best part for me is that I now have a car that is big enough to haul the wood for my various woodworking projects!!! What a huge miracle this car has been!