To play catch-up on the blog, I have a few pictures to share with news on what we've been up to the last couple of weeks...
Drew was part of another research study. This one was an EEG (Electroencephalogram) study at Duke, studying brain wave activity in four and five year olds. It took close to an hour to prepare the cap. Then the study itself lasted 40 minutes, plus an additional 15 minutes spent trying to fix a problem with one of the electrodes. It was a long process but Drew was super cooperative and even a bit funny. The lady in charge commented that he was one of the best participants they've had! I was proud :) She said that with kids this age they have to double the amount of participants because so much of the data can't be used due to kids moving their heads, etc. Even a quick blink blurs the data so you can imagine what results they must get from most squirming preschoolers! I watched the whole thing from a viewing room next door. That's where I took the picture above. A student entertained Drew with cars, books and stickers while he remained still and looked straight forward during the capping process. Each of the 32 electrodes on his cap had to be filled with gel and hooked up to wires. Then the study began which consisted of Drew watching objects flash on a screen (two dogs, four chairs, one banana, etc) and a voice in his ear bud would call out what he was seeing. But sometimes the number of objects shown and the number said were different. They were trying to determine the connection with what kids see and what they hear. Pretty interesting. Come to find out, you don't need the brain waves to figure out whether Drew noticed the numbers were different. He let us know by rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. It was pretty funny. The research folks keep the kids interested in the video by playing clips of Toy Story in between. It gets them focused so when the lame pictures start popping up again they will continue to focus on the screen. It was two minutes of Toy Story followed by two minutes of pictures and that continued for forty minutes. They took two breaks as well in which Drew was showered with compliments and bribed with Goldfish and M&M's. One of the students asked us before they began if Drew would like Goldfish or M&M's to enjoy on the breaks. He happily said both. Of course he did! When it was all finished, Drew got to pick a toy from the toy chest and then we headed home. During the drive home I asked Drew what he thought of the research study and his response cracked me up. "Well, it was a little bit boring because there were so many commercials in Toy Story and I really wanted to watch Toy Story. And the commercials were kind of annoying Mom because sometimes the guy couldn't even count. He said, 'Look it! Three chairs' and you know what Mom? There were only two chairs. Isn't that annoying? May I have more M&M's Mom?" They gave us the leftover snacks which we happily munched on the whole way home. We were glad to help with the study and hope it's a success!
Geaux Tigers! We had such a great day on November 5th when LSU played Alabama. George cranked up the Tiger tunes first thing in the morning and we got more and more excited as the day went on! The boys were dressed in their Tiger gear and looked pretty darn cute :) We made a couple of cajun snacks and settled in to watch the Tigers win! David watched the first quarter and Drew stayed up till halftime. That was pretty late here on the east coast!
Big news for our family!!! Day Day retired on November 4th and he and CC moved permanently to their house in Myrtle Beach. Whoop whoop!!! They came through on their way and we celebrated with a homecoming, retirement and birthday celebration (Day Day's 64th) at the Watson's. So fun! In this picture, the boys are excited about opening Day Day's gifts for him.
Welcome to the Carolinas Mom and Dad! We are SO HAPPY you are here!!!
CC and Whitley sing Happy Birthday.
Soccer is over for the fall and as much as Drew loved it, he may love this trophy even more! The ball spins (cool stuff!) and his name is on it - what's not to love?! The season ended kind of crappy though because the last two games were rained out. Due to tournaments and other scheduled games on the field, Drew's games weren't made up. What a bummer! Guess the U5's get the short end of the stick when it comes to game importance. Can't say I'm surprised! Looking forward to the spring season already!
We went to see Mom and Dad the weekend before Thanksgiving. It was a gorgeous weekend so the boys were able to play at the beach for a bit.
The Davis family went out for the Cary Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day. Drew ran his first mile as a participant in the fun run! Way to go Drew! Then I ran the 8k. I placed in my age group and won a gift card to Inside Out Sports! It wasn't much but covered my entry for the race.
Drew proudly showing off his participation ribbon.
The David's didn't run but sweetly came out to cheer us on! We missed having CC there but it was nice of her to offer to stay behind and get the turkey started.
David wanted a shirt like Drew so I gave him mine :)
The first of two delicious Thanksgiving meals. Thanksgiving day warmed up and we had a great afternoon outside. We dug into our first turkey, a fried one, as soon as it hit the table. After pigging out, we played and hung out, hoping to work up an appetite for round 2, a more formal sit down dinner. I can't believe how much we ate!
Sweet Cristie brought Christmas ornaments for the kids to decorate. They were really into it! We also had some other crafts which kept them busy. Cristie did an awesome job of entertaining the kids which earned her a seat at the head table for dinner, meaning the non-kids table :) It was a funny story! Mom, Dad and I sat with the kids but actually had a very nice meal and good conversations. Well, except for one little incident. We went around the table and shared what we are thankful for. I broke Drew's heart when I didn't say his name first during my turn. I didn't name people, I just mentioned some things I was thankful for. When I looked at him I could see the hurt as he started to tear up and I realized what I had done. It was hard to explain to him that as a Mom, of course he and David are what I'm most thankful for. All he kept saying was, "Well, if you are most thankful for me than why didn't you say it first?" I couldn't dig my way out of it! I spent the next few days reminding him how thankful I am for him and he eventually got over it. Whew! 
David and Me-Ma preparing the whipped topping for pies. David always makes his way to the kitchen, stool in hand, if he hears someone cooking!
I love this picture!
Whitley with her Uncle Dave and Aunt Terri.
Silly Drew making us laugh.
Had to get a picture of Tom and George.
We put a movie on after dinner and those little rascals asked for popcorn. Day Day delivered of course, not one but two bags of movie theater butter.
We worked on Christmas decorations over Thanksgiving weekend. Had to share this picture of the tree after the boys put the ornaments on. They were so proud of their work. Their work is very clear, David's ornaments are all at the very bottom and Drew's are about a foot higher. It's been three days and I'm embarrassed to share that I haven't gotten around to fixing it. Hope it doesn't tip over before I do! 
The kids enjoyed the human-propelled rides. Pretty neat!
