Ryan Davis

It is wonderful to have so much going on today. It keeps me from having time to be sad. It was 13 years ago today that I became a mother for the first time. I still remember that day in 1997 when I gave birth to Ryan Davis. A "silent birth" for he had died in my womb at 28 weeks of CAMS disorder. Although our sweet little boy never really joined us here on earth and I held him for only minutes, he has always had a piece of my heart. It is my prayer that one day all my children and I will be praising our Lord in Heaven together.

Just Busy.

We survived the swine flu at our house. Corynne and Lyndsey were the only ones that were sick. Corynne has to be the most pleasant sick person in the world unless you ask her to swallow a pill! That was our only issue all week!!! She did manage to swallow the 10 pills over the 5 days. Painful drama, but it is done.

Since then, we have been in fast forward with makeup work and other activities.

Last Friday, I had a 4D ultrasound. Our baby is still a girl! She is a cute little bundle and growing nicely. We have decided on a name --Coleen Mackenzie.

I have officially put Lyndsey on a list to start preschool next year. We will see if she gets into the little school. If she goes or not, I really do not care. I think she would enjoy it, but I really do not want her to grow up so fast!!!

This weekend Tyler is playing in a tennis tournament in Auburn (about 40 miles from Montgomery). I only add the mileage because we are commuting back and forth and 40 miles is hard for me EARLY in the morning! I sure wish I liked coffee!!!!

JM and the girls are home today entertaining each other because we all know that JM can not just stay at home! They are all going to a father/daughter dance tonight! I will post pics of the dance and the tennis tournament if i get any. I seem to have left home for the 2nd day in a row without a camera. Tyler said this morning that I could just bring it tomorrow when he wins the finals! He thinks positive! He has to beat his good friend tomorrow(who he plays all the time, but has only beat a few times) in the semis to play in the finals. Should be in interesting match:)

New backyard pic

Here is a recent pic of our backyard. The addition is moving along.

They start digging the pool next week. The brick fence is going up. You can not really see it in this pic. You can see the rebar sticking up. It should be finished this week. The framing will all be finished next week. Then comes plumbing and electrical. The contractor expects to be drywalling in 3-4 weeks.

I spent 2 hours this morning picking out all the plumbing fixtures, tubs, sinks, etc. Seriously, I did not realize their would be so many choices/decisions. It was interesting. Fun--not really, but interesting.

House Renovation Updates

It has been really slow over at the "broken house" (as my 3 yr old calls it now). Rain and the extreme cold have delayed the progress quite a bit. Two weeks ago they were able to get the foundation for the addition poured between the rain bursts. They were actually not able to pour all the cement because of an unusual problem -- the cement factory was frozen! Anyway, now that the temperatures are rising things are progressing in the back yard.

Our backyard went from a series of carports to barren land at the first demo stage.

Now, our new master suite is being framed.

And all of the construction has been visible from a major street here in Montgomery. Our neighbors-to-be were not to happy when we tore down an old falling down wood fence and exposed the sweet community to THE PUBLIC . We kept telling them we were going to built another fence. And finally, the work on the cement block wall has begun. This picture was taken at 11:30 Tuesday, and they had just started that morning. I am anxious to get back by there ASAP to see the wall in place. I do not understand why they dug down so deep to start building the wall. Seriously, the ditch those men are standing in is approximately 4+ feet deep. I guess it is a stability issue -- I am sure the contractor understands why and I cannot wait to ask!

For the Longhorn Fans

One of the first questions you are asked when you move to Alabama is "are you an Auburn fan or an Alabama fan?" JM and I have tried to stay neutral on that question since we really do not care. We are Baylor Bear fans, but Baylor just does not play football like its rival schools! Basketball and Track - yes! Our son has chosen to be an Longhorn fan /Auburn fan! He supports both his teams. Many days (over the last 5 years) you might see him with a Longhorn hat and an Auburn shirt. He really likes Auburn, but he is still rooted in Texas. Even when the Alabama won the National Championship last week, he proudly worn his burnt orange Texas sweatshirt to school the next day! (Brave soul!)

Anyway, I am posting these articles not because they have a thing to do with my family but because they are just great articles that I want to keep!

An article from a Mississippi newspaper on Colt McCoy.

Colt McCoy: a national champion with or without the crystal trophy
By Dr. Scott Elliott / guest columnist

January 10, 2010 12:19 am

“For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.”
--JER. 29-11

With apologies to our understandably proud and jubilant Crimson Tide faithful, the University of Alabama, to me, wasn’t the biggest winner in Thursday night’s BCS national championship football game. That distinction went to a young man from Tuscola, Texas, named Colt McCoy. Colt McCoy! Are you crazy, you say? Yes, Colt McCoy, the Longhorns’ All-American quarterback who suffered an injury on the game’s opening drive, knocking him out of the
remainder of the contest. The same Colt McCoy who won more games as a starting quarterback than anyone in the history of NCAA Division I football.

Yet, you may ask, how in the world can you argue that Colt McCoy was the game’s biggest winner? After all, he hardly even played. In reply, I would reference the young man’s post-game interview before millions upon millions of people who watched the nationally-televised matchup. The reporter asked McCoy, “How did you feel, watching the game from the sidelines?” Smarting from a shoulder injury that numbed his cannon-like throwing arm after being hit by Alabama’s Marcell Dareus, McCoy kind of gazed up in the night sky, cleared his throat a couple of times trying to
fight back emotion, and couldn’t really respond for five or six seconds. Finally, the recipient of the prestigious Maxwell Award acknowledged that “it was unfortunate that I didn’t get to play” and that he “would have given everything I had to be out there with my teammates.” He then congratulated Alabama and later called the Tide
“a tremendous football team.” But what he said next was the real clincher. Still makes me a little misty-eyed. He told the interviewer, “I always give God the glory. I never question why things happen the way they do. I know God is in
control of my life, and I also know, if nothing else, that I’m standing on the rock.”

Now, folks, let’s think about the profound nature of that response. Here’s a kid who always seemed destined to play in that national championship game. My goodness, with a name like Colt McCoy, he was born to be the gunslinging quarterback of the fabled Burnt Orange. His entire experience playing junior high, high school, and college football had been vested toward Thursday night, Jan. 7, 2010, in Pasadena, California’s Rose Bowl. And he got to play one ill-fated series. One. Now, the 6-2, 210-pound Heisman finalist completed over 70 percent of his passes and threw for 112 touchdowns and 13,253 yards in his storied college career. Just phenomenal. Those accomplishments aside, in his post-game interview, the Longhorn quarterback hurled the most important scoring pass of his life - a real “Hail, Mary,” if there ever was one. Despite his obvious and deep disappointment, Colt McCoy came through like a true champion for his God, giving praise and thanks even in bitter defeat. Notwithstanding religion, he taught the nation a
lesson in class and humility.

You know, as all of us progress through this life, we experience what some call “defining moments.” It’s those crossroads episodes that establish, for good or bad, whatever legacy we leave on this Earth. Most of us will never have a national television audience, like Colt McCoy, when our defining moments come, but I have a feeling, in God’s eyes, that a street corner ministering to just one other human being might do. Colt McCoy may never become a star in the National Football League, although I suspect he will. Nonetheless, in this age of professional athletes having well-publicized extra-marital affairs, brandishing guns in locker rooms, lying to grand juries, and using performance-enhancing drugs, Colt McCoy is a star on a stage far transcending any football field. No, he never got to hold that coveted crystal trophy, but Thursday night he made a resounding statement to the youth of America about what it really means to be a winner. And I know God will continue to bless him for that.

The following article is from the online Wikipedia Encyclopedia:

Christianity is an important part of Colt McCoy's life. He is a member of the Church of Christ, and attends Westover Hills Church of Christ in Austin, Texas.[131] When living in Buffalo Gap, Texas, Colt attended and was very involved with the Oldham Lane Church of Christ. McCoy has participated in a church youth group since 2002.[19] His work has
included landscaping yards for the elderly, visiting nursing homes, helping with meals on wheels and ministry.[19] Fellow quarterback Tim Tebow said of McCoy, "I was really proud of him because I think he represents college football and his faith extremely well, too, which I really respect as well. I think he's done a good job with everything
he's going through."[119]

He enjoys hunting, fishing, and playing golf.[19] On May 29, 2006, Colt McCoy swam 300 yards across a lake to help save the life of Ken Herrington who was having a seizure on a small dock that extended into the privately owned lake.[1][132]

While in Austin, Texas, Colt is active in the UT community service program including visits to the Austin's Children's Hospital and volunteering at the Children's Miracle Network telethon.[19]

His grandfather, Burl McCoy, is a member of the Abilene Christian University (ACU) Sports Hall of Fame for his exploits both as an athlete and as the former women's basketball coach.[133] Colt McCoy's younger brother Chance McCoy is currently a junior wide receiver at ACU, while his other brother Case McCoy is currently entering his senior year at Graham High School,[134] where Brad McCoy has coached since 2005. Case McCoy has accepted a scholarship offer from the Texas Longhorns.[135] His mother's side of the family lives near Houston and his father's
family mostly resides in Totowa, New Jersey.

Some media features on Colt McCoy refer to him jokingly as "The Real McCoy" because of his performance on the field as well as his leadership and personality.[136]

In October 2009, a personal testimony about Colt's faith in Christ was added to the "I Am Second" video testimony series which includes other famous people such as Josh Hamilton, Joe Gibbs, Tony Dungy, Stephen Baldwin, Sam Bradford, Jason Witten, Brian Welch, Darrell Waltrip, and Mike Huckabee.[137][138]

On January 11, 2010, Colt became engaged to his girlfriend, Rachel Glandorf, former middle-distance Track and Field athlete for Baylor University [139], by proposing on the screen at Darrell K. Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium [140]

An email:

I wanted to share with you an email I got from a friend. It says it all about the entire McCoy family. McCoy’s dad was the speaker at the sports banquet for the school where a friend of a friend teaches at Regents on Saturday night. “I have to share with you all our experience last night and bear with me, this email could get pretty long. Tom and I had the amazing privilege of hearing Coach Brad McCoy (Colt's dad) speak at the Regents' fall sports banquet. He had been the scheduled speaker for months - who knew that he would come to us after the three hardest weeks of his life. He has coached for 26 years, won 4 state championships and has or is raising his three sons to be Godly leaders, with humble servant hearts. He confessed to us that he speaks all the time on growing leaders and on the importance of sports, football in particular, to learning life's lessons. He also said that he had to change his talk for the night in light of what happened to Colt Thursday night. He apologized for what could sound like rambling and for having to talk about his son more than he might, usually, but he said he had to share with us how he saw God in all of this. Coach McCoy began his talk telling us of God's hand in the story of how Colt and Jordan Shipley came to live in the back house of one of our Regents' families and that was very funny and entertaining. He wanted to thank the Andersons, who were there, for providing his son with a safe home and he wanted to honor for them for who they have been in Colt's life (they hate to be publicly thanked like this but he thought it appropriate since they were part of the Regents' family). I'll share this story with you later because it's what else he talked about that was so amazing. He told us that three weeks ago his high school football team, his youngest son is a senior on it, lost the state championship by 1 point because their kicker flaked out, they had to go for two with no time left on the clock and lost 13-12. Then he and his wife join Colt in New York for the Heisman ceremony which did not go as well as they could have hoped. Then they get to Pasadena for the biggest game in Colt's life, one he has been preparing for all of his life - and he plays for three plays. He told us that as soon as Colt went down he began to pray that God would enable him to continue playing, he prayed for healing and for Colt's heart and attitude. He finally made his way down under the stadium, praying the whole way, hoping to see Colt sitting up and putting his pads back on and heading back out the tunnel. Instead, he saw him laying prone on a trainer's table, no pads, and a tear on his face. Colt looked up at him and said "Dad, I had them - I knew everything they were going to do before they did it - I could have completed every pass I threw - I could see everything and I know we could have won this game." Brad told God that Colt could have his arm! Later, Colt got up and wanted to try and throw a little, just in case he had been miraculously healed and Coach McCoy said all he could think of was when Colt was 3 or 4 and they would throw in the front yard - he could see that little boy in this big ol' quarterback and it broke his heart to watch him throw as if he was using the wrong hand, like he had to think of every step and where should his hand even be. When everyone finally decided he was not playing, Colt refused to let them put his arm in a sling, he put his pads back on and asked for a headset so he could help with the plays and help the new quarterback. All through this, Coach McCoy was dealing with lots of emotions and he told us he was pretty angry with God and God finally told him "Colt is fine, it is you that need some help." He said that God shared that with him over and over all through the night - like when the game finally turned around and the crowd was chanting "Gilbert...Gilbert" and he was so struck by the fact that this should have been Colt's stage. He just shared with us the hurts of a father who could do absolutely nothing to help his son and how God helped him to realize that Colt would make it, that it was Coach McCoy who needed God's strength at the moment. He told us his phone blew up from all the texts and messages after Colt spoke at the end of the game and that he didn't hear what Colt said until Saturday morning. He did ask Colt later that night, around 3:00 am, what he said because he was getting all these calls about it and Colt said, "Dad, I don't remember, I have no idea." Coach McCoy believes God spoke through Colt Thursday night. He also told us that Colt set out to impact the world through football at UT and he firmly believes he did that by what he said after the game in a way that Colt could never have done, even by winning the championship. He asked us to pray for Colt, not for his shoulder, because that is already getting better, but for his broken heart. He also shared with us that a non-believer who had heard Colt speak after the game recognized Coach McCoy and asked him about what he said. Coach said he had an amazing opportunity to explain "the Rock" to this person and to witness to him. Then - he said he likes to sing some and apologized because he might not make it through the song, but he sang for us the song about "...on solid rock, I stand - all other ground is sinking sand..." Anyway, it was an amazing night and I have to think we are probably the onlycommunity Coach McCoy has shared any of this with - what a story and what a privilege. He also shared with us his and his wife's philosophy on raising kids and it's that you prepare the child for the path, not try to prepare the path for the child - and this was something in Colt's path and his faith would see him through. I have never been to a sports banquet where I cried and laughed so much - he is a great speaker and was so honest and transparent - his hurt for his son and his joy and pride in his son were so evident. He also told us that he got a call from a NFL general manager yesterday who told him that what Colt said after the game just raised his stock with the NFL immensely, because if you want someone to be the face of your franchise, that is what you want their face to look like. Anyway, sounds like Colt is the real deal, which is what I have thought all along. I still can't claim to be a UT fan, but I will always be a Colt McCoyfan!! Sorry this was so long and I'm sure I didn't give his talk justice - it was just an amazing evening. “

What a weekend!

Friday was the first day it has been pretty (ie warm enough to go outside) in weeks. I think everyone was excited to get out and play. Tyler played his first round(week 1 of 5) of Team Tennis matches at a local tennis center. It was a nice evening for tennis.

Corynne ended up having a sleepover on Friday night. Her friend went home sick by noon. We found out that her older brother was diagnosed late Friday night with the SWINE FLU. Oh, no.

This friend's dad who is an OB in town calls me on Saturday evening. He told me that I was at risk (being pregnant and 30 weeks) and needed to start Tamiflu immediately. OK, but JM is out of town and I do not do medical/medicine! He was very kind to help me out! He called my OB to get permission, and then he called me in a prescription. I started it immediately, and I am fine so far!

Corynne started running a high fever late Sunday night, and her fever has continued all day today. Prescription #2 of Tamiflu called in. Now as I type Lyndsey is acting sickly and having problems sleeping. Who will fall next? This could be a LLOONNGG week.

Should we feel sorry for him?

JM left on Tuesday to go to Breckenridge, Colorado, for a ski/hernia meeting. Actually, the meeting did not start until Friday. So they got in two good days of skiing before the meeting. Then, JM wakes up with the crud - fever, cough and nausea-on Friday morning. Should we feel sorry for him being sick on his vacation (meeting)? No, get up and go to that meeting. You got to get credit for going!!!!!

Date night

This has been a wild week. It is always hard to get back into a routine, but the weather has been sooooo cold. We were suppose to wake up to ice and possible snow this morning, so the girls' school was canceled and Tyler's school is delayed. We woke up late to discover nothing but more very cold weather.

I had signed the girls up for a Parents Night Out at a local gymnastic center tonight. Tyler and I went on a date tonight since JM had to work. We went to see The Blind Side and then ate at Mellow Mushroom. We had a good time together. I think he felt like THE big kid since he did not have to go to PNO!

Who is this kid?

If yesterday after school was not enough to send me into orbit, today Tyler threw me another curve ball today. Tyler had mentioned on Monday that he did not want to go to his normal batting and pitching lesson. I just assumed it was an end-of-break protest and I had him go anyway because we had paid for the lesson. Today he made it very clear that he did not want to go to the lessons anymore.

Not only does he not want to go to the lessons, he has decided to not play spring baseball. What? I do not understand.

JM and I have tried to remain neutral on sports and let him decide what he plays. (Other than the fact that we bribed him to not play Y football with more tennis tournaments! Does that really have to count?!?!) After many conversations with Tyler, we have learned that he believes that he does not have a reasonable chance to play on the baseball team at Trinity. Whether or not it is true, he believes that there are just too many baseball players at his age level who would make the team before him. He does not want to settle for 2nd string backup. JM has tried to convince him to go ahead and play his last year of Majors anyway, but Tyler sees that as a waste of time.

Tyler wants to put all his energy into tennis and try to make the varsity team next year. The kid does not lack motivation or determination! So here we go....we have replaced Monday and Wednesday baseball practice with tennis clinics/lessons. He seems much happier to be working toward his goal!

So why am I feeling a void in my spring life? No late weeknights at the ballpark this spring. No hot dog dinners and ring pops. What will we do?

The worst parents in town

Tyler started back to school today. The first day back from Christmas break is really no different in middle school than in elementary school! You get to find out who got what from whom for Christmas. The only difference I can detect is the price of the toys!

I picked Tyler up from carpool today. The first sentence out of his mouth was, "I am one of the 3 boys in entire 6th grade who does not have a phone. And boy #1 and boy #2 are getting a phone for their birthdays. So why can I not get a phone for my birthday? I could buy it myself." Let me interject here - these kids do not have the free phone with a contract. They are walking around with the latest iphones and blackberries. Seriously!

OK. JM and I have discussed this issue many times over the last 6 months since it has become an ever so present topic around our house. We still are holding fast to our belief that a preteen does not need a phone. They (middle schoolers) are with their friends all day long, and they see each other at many after school activities. We have a home phone if he needs to call a friend, and they have our number. Our city was also hit hard at the end of October by the suicide of an 8th grader at Tyler's school. The events of that fatal weekend are recorded in the harsh texts from many of his friends and girls around town. Texts that caught this young Christian boy in a valley of his life, and he made a bad choice to end his life. Texts that said things that would not have been uttered from anyone's mouth in person, but words come easy when they are just typed.

I am the first to admit that we spoil our kids. If we thought a phone was necessary, we would probably bend. There is just no good reason why he needs a personal phone right now. It is a status symbol that he will have to live without. So I am the meanest, most unreasonable parent in town!

Happy New Year!