About

Hello!

I'm Erin and I started this blog to help me document my first pregnancy for myself as well as family living away from us at the time. In the nine years since, my husband, Jeff, has joined me in updating or recording memories or reflections on our two boys as they grow up in the Pacific Northwest.

Both Jeff and I are English Language Arts teachers at the high school level. We are both avid readers, consuming a wide variety of books and texts. Writing these blog posts also hold us accountable as writing instructors to develop the craft (which is never easy!). As either of us drafts, we revise, we preview, we draft again, usually finding one or to more typographical errors upon publishing. While never perfect, the process of writing challenges our skills in ways that helps us relate to our students.

It's my hope that our posts help bridge distance between our readers and us. More than on social media, you'll read about our family in detail or the reflections we have as parents. Please feel free to subscribe to receive updates in your email box and also comment when you feel inspired, letting us know you stopped by.

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Christmas 2020

Have yourself a merry little Christmas Let your heart be light From now on Our troubles will be out of sight As a result of the pandemic, the model train festival we typically enjoy this time of year was canceled (thus no pictures with Santa). We missed family and friends this year. The fun energy of the last few school days before Winter Break was not quite the same over Zoom. I missed singing carols in church during month of December. As the season progressed, I couldn't help but reflect on other times in history where celebrations were small and often just a nuclear family. Times and places where travel was too difficult or too expensive to justify leaving home. For those generations of families, the traditions were as simple as reading the Christmas story together or baking a special bread. In so many ways that was our Christmas this year and by seeking the joy in each moment, we found our hearts lighter. We visited our favorite local tree farm to find THE TREE. We honored t

As Families Expand so do Cars.

And our car has certainly expanded. After much consideration and deliberation which is how we make most of our decisions, Erin and I decided on a new car. For more extensive background on our deliberation click here for my first post on the topic of cars. Erin and I knew we wanted and somewhat needed a new car. We've both driven the same two cars since we were married almost 7 years ago. However, our days of having a car payment were long gone and boy is it nice not to have a car payment. We also have made a conscious decision not to have more than one car payment at a time, and with my Honda being both just a two door vehicle and approaching 14 years old with over 150,000 miles it was the logical one to replace. Of course until recently, I had not had a full-time job and our budget was not always in the black, so the idea of purchasing even a new used car was a ways in the distance. However, I was able to pick up full-time work at school with the addition of

Nathan, 18 months

Can you believe it? Can you believe that Little Man Nate is already 18 months? Nathan's Famous Hot Dog on Halloween. At 18 months, Nathan is 33.25 inches tall and nearly 29 pounds, but mostly, he is on the go. Nathan is curious about the world around him, spending lots of time opening doors or drawers, saying "uh-oh" when he finds something new. I know for certain I will have to buy a new set of measuring cups when we move again, as Nathan has adopted some into his toy collection, while others are just plain MIA. He loves pushing his cars, trucks and lawn mower around the house. He is quickly learning to match shapes with puzzles and point to his nose, ears and belly. He uses sign language to say "please" and "more" as well as ask for "help". We have just started practicing the sign for "thank you" and he seems to be grasping that one. Nathan will put his cup in the refrigerator or sink when he is "all done", and u

The Davolts

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