Making Progress.

There is so much Joy in seeing my children learn something they didn't know how to do before. Children with special needs seem to take a bit of extra teaching in areas like pedaling a bicycle. I knew summer was coming up and I made myself a goal that with a bit of preparation, a lot of diligence, I would teach Celia to pedal on her bike by June. I had this goal written down. Well to my delight and surprise, today she hopped on her bike and started to pedal. Good thing her tutor was there to let her try it out herself. We didn't answer her usual pleas for pushing.

Look at Me!

Starting to feel pretty happy about making it go all by herself!

Rounding the corner and going faster!

Another corner!

Celia bear is making progress! I'm am very excited to see her being such a big girl with Toileting. She says I'll be right back. She runs and does her business. We really did work hard on it everyday. Each little step broken down. We had timers, treats, all sorts of gadgets and helpers. It really was getting to be quite the chore. Once I said only in the toilet. Something seemed to click and Celia realized how to do it and where it all belonged. She would say to herself, only in the toilet! Hip Hip Hooray! She does well washing her hands and everything. Phew, I am pretty ecstatic about all this progress.:)

What to Wear?

So this post is for my sister in law Dawn. I need your opinion on an outfit! Bri and I are going to a wedding reception on Saturday. Its at a super nice place. We are calling it our Valentines dinner since its close and we have to get a babysitter to go to the event. I wanna dress up, but don't wanna wear my church clothes, and seeing as you always say you'd wear pants. What do ya think?

Do you guys know how hard it is to get a picture of an outfit by yourself?

With these shoes??

Yes, I realize I am quite silly. How am I supposed to get input from a girlfriend that lives miles and miles away on what to wear unless I somehow document it hehe.

Twilight~ Review

Team Edward or Team Jacob? I just don't know. Last year Brian and I went and saw Twilight in the discount movie theatre. It was a cute little show that intrigued me. I liked the music, and the setting and cinematography was nice. It came to be determined why Edward this Vampire was so appealing to the crowds of girls that read the book and saw the movie. He is the handsome protector who has almost unlimited self restraint. He is very focused on her and wants every thing good for this human named Bella. How could she be so lucky to catch the attention of a rich, confident, powerful vampire?

Two personalities conflicts I see between this couple are her lack of self confidence and his worry that his being a vampire will ruin her life or that he might take it from her, including its normalcy. In the second book/movie New Moon Edward leaves her and makes it very clear he doesn't want her around, and that he won't come back. She gets very depressed and somewhat psychotic about the whole breakup, however she finds peace and security in visiting a friend Jacob Black. He is her ticket to adrenaline rushes that induce hallucinations of Edward that is nowhere to be found. Bella goes to crazy heights to get that feeling of Edward being back in her life. So then there becomes an added love/friendship with Jacob Black while Edward is away. I think this part of the story is appealing because friends can really fill a void in our lives, especially when we are heartbroken. Its too bad and rather funny when these boys all vi for Bella's attention though.

I think the movie Twilight Saga:New Moon followed the book well. It did however seem to skip around after reading the book and seeing the movie again, spots were filled for me and more of the story made sense. I liked being able to know what the differences were in how they told the story. I really appreciate Stephanie Meyers' way of writing. You can tell others agree by the books' popularity. The stories grab and pull you in and help you view the characters in such a way that you can relate to the character's lives or sympathize with them(except for the fact that we are talking about Werewolves and Vampires of course.) Plus, a lot of the interactions, especially in Eclipse ( the third book) are fun and entertaining. I caught myself smiling a lot while reading the book and rolling my eyes, and gasping in unbelief at how someone was acting. There is more there than a few teenagers in a drama or trying to figure out what they are going to do about the rest of their lives.

Brian and I took Emelie and Joseph to see Twilight Saga: New Moon last night. The kids really seemed to like it. I was glad it was more clean then most PG 13 movies these days. When I got the first movie on DVD I watched it with Joseph. He really liked it and wanted to watch it over and over hehe. He has seen it a lot and did really well on our Twilight Trivia board game. He knows the names of the vampires better then anyone in the family. In the game there were questions about the players too. For instance, one card read: Which player is most likely to place a poster of Edward up in their room? Everyone wrote their answers on a piece of paper then we reached a verdict. All but me said that I would be most likely to have the poster. Lol I laughed so hard. I guess that's what they think about it!~ They are the ones that try to get me Twilight candy all the time and try to push the memorabillas on me! I do always say Edward is better then Jacob though.

I suppose that means I am Team Edward?! I am awaiting the last book, Breaking Dawn, to be arriving in the mail soon. I didn't know the name of the last book and Joseph told Brian the title so they could look for it for me while searching through books. I can't wait to read it. Its kind of fun to see what will happen next. Yes, I am excited about Eclipse the movie coming out in June, but just like most situations like these, the books are better then the movies and they don't do the characters much Justice. I'm no die hard, but these little books have been fun and I might be sad to see the series end.:)

Schedule Changes, That's Just Fine.~

Poor Celia, the Friday before last she seemed to have watery eyes and a little cough. Next thing we knew, she had pink eye in both eyes and a pretty mean cold. Everyone in our family has caught this terrible cold. I cancelled all the meetings and appointments I had all week that weren't cancelled already from others being sick too! Lots of rain, relaxing, and nursing everyone back to health has been just fine. I hope we are going to be up and running and back to normal soon, but I feel we are still blessed to have our long term health intact. I'm grateful for priesthood blessings, different cozy comfort foods, and even the little flavored water pouches I got at Costco with a coupon last week.:) I enjoyed watching Julie and Julia while eating the stew featured in the movie made by Rah Rah.

I was happy to be able to get a babysitter for our Ward Dance on Friday Night. I thought it sounded cute that our ward was going to have a dance. Apparently, they had a ward dance a few years back in February and it went over well. I'm glad we went. It was really fun to dance among friends, all older folks like us. Just kidding. Its seems like they only have those for the youth! We just couldn't remember the last time we we went to a dance! They had us share "Our Song" and there was a paper to guess whose was who's. I was happy that many of our friends guessed ours. Cozann said I knew that was yours because you guys are the only cool ones who would have Talking Heads be the group that has your song. Its Sugar on my tongue, not exactly mushy, but its fun & we like it.:) I'm sure people there were surprised at our dance moves, but when I realized we were just amongst friends, I cut loose a little hehe. It was way after ten when we left and it seemed like the party was just getting started.

On Saturday, we went out to lunch at La Bou's. I can't believe I've never gone there. It was totally my type of place. Cranberry Turkey Sandwich Panini with Country Potato Soup mmmm. It was perfect for that recovering from a cold comfort food I was talking about. My mom was talking to me about how they had been sick and she had made Chicken Tetrazini. I got the recipe from her and made it that day. It was a hit, especially with Emelie. She had it as an after school snack the next day.:) I put the recipe on our Davis Family Cookbook blog.~I didn't get as much done during the week as I planned, but I was glad as the kids stayed home from school, we had one on one time, they napped, and I was happy to help cheer up , sing songs, and give medicine for all their discomforts. We aren't out of the woods yet, We missed Stake Temple day because we didn't want to get folks sick and Only a few of us get to attend church, but it makes us grateful for family time, a warm home, food, and our health that I'm sure will be at full soon.~

Front Yard Football Fun!

Action Shot! It was cute when I came outside the neighbors were playing catch in the front yard. Celia joined them and she seemed to want to run while throwing. I mentioned they should play football and Austin our neighbor jumped on that idea. He kept shouting instruction and rules and stuff like first and ten and incomplete! They must have folks who watch football because they seemed to know the game right away except my kids lol. I was helping Joe and Emmy. I love football and I had to learn the game as a cheerleader long ago because you can't cheer at the wrong times ya know.:) It was so fun to watch I had to take pictures! The little kids won. 18 to 12. We only counted touchdowns since they couldn't kick a field goal without hitting cars and houses as Austin noted.:)

Emmy and Austin grouping up to play football!

The big kids team! Celia was their cheerleader singing Hey Hey Hey.

The little kids were serious about huddling and making game plans!

They had a blast as you can tell from the photos! Emmy confuses volleyball with football a little, but she was catching on near the end. She hiked the ball a little hard to Austin though, it was hilarious!

Sweet Happy Celia.

Celia sees the world through rose colored glasses. Everything is pink to her. She wants pink water which is pink lemonade. She wants pink hair, pink marshmallows( which we use as a special treat), pink pillows , blankets, dresses, gloves, and shoes. Everyday should be her birthday she thinks and all days should have cupcakes and treats. I see now why she can think that. I made cupcakes this morning and in the evening Emmy and Rah Rah came over with a present they made for Celia Bear, a pink cape.:)

Bri with the girls. Celia in her new cape Rah Rah and Emmy made her when Emmy spent the night over there.

Celia loves to sing just like her mama and sister. Here is her smiling after rocking out on guitar hero. She fell asleep almost immediately after this picture was taken.:)

Celia is such a Joy and is so very happy. Tonight I went into Jamba Juice and got a power size strawberry surf rider and had it split into four cups for Emmy Celia, Spence and I. You'd think it was Christmas by the way Celia reacted. Ooh is that for me?? It was pink of course.:) She and Emmy had been singing in the car while they waited which she also loved. She now sings the lyrics to a very cute teeny bopper song called Sadie Hawkins Dance by Relient K. Its amazing how much the kids follow and copy each other. I know Emmy is pretty happy to have a sister. Celia had the idea to make mommy a CD. Since Emelie is very into music, it was her great pleasure to make me one. It is a great CD I love it and Celia talks about Mama's Surprise CD all the time. The girls felt great for giving a gift to me and I love that little Celia thought to do it. Emmy would be lost just having those brothers to bother her hehe and we all love having sweet Celia Jean around.~

Kiddo Date Night~

Celia doesn't usually get to come on kiddos date night, she so busy out in public! She always get a treat brought home though. Here is her holding her basket full of new Dora underwear.:)

Joseph is so loving.~

We've implemented a Davis morning schedule at our house.:) It is a pretty busy time and its really nice when those who can do things independently actually do them for themselves. The reward is a date night with Mom and Dad if they got all their checks for the week. The list has things like make bed, brush teeth, eat breakfast, make lunch and pack backpack. I have seen an amazing change in Joseph. He does the routine well and with out complaining. He has definitely been our star schedule follower.:) I mentioned I may make an afternoon one for doing chores and homework after school and he has already asked me if I've made that two times. I better get working on that.:)

So Tuesday came and papers were looked over. Emelie and Joseph earned a date out with Mom and Dad. Emmy belongs to a club called CJSF California Junior Scholarship Federation. They have activities and fun events for these kids who do well academically. Yesterday they had a fundraiser at Red Robin. 15% of the meal purchased their would go to their group. We went and it was packed full of people we knew from church, and school. We saw Celia's preschool teacher there too. She is a such a great lady and I loved hearing how wonderful Celia is doing in class from her teacher; Rebbecca Blevins. Rebecca's mom was there too who looked like she could be just her older sister. Her Mom hugged me when I told her that and gave Joseph change to play the arcade games there. A little compliment goes pretty far I think hehe.

Speaking of compliments. On the way to Red Robin we were talking about Emelie's CJSF activity she attended in the afternoon. They took personality tests. She was telling us what color she was and what it meant. I asked if there were any description words attached to it. She didn't remember, but I said something like mine would be Spiritual Extroverted, and suddenly Joseph says Wondrous!!! outta the back seat. I couldn't have been more happy lol. I was like Oh really?" and he said, "Yup and Loving too". Needless to say I was happy and couldn't argue when Brian pointed out the perfect shirt for Joe at Target that read " Mama's Boy". This date night was a great reinforcing experience for all.:)

Playdoh People

Those playdoh people are Liam, a boy from her preschool class, and Celia. We have an L for Liam and C for Celia on the shirt. I had a great time making them for her. She gave input on what they needed and how they should be dressed. She even had them have frowny faces and changed them for a smile after we sang the song.:) If you chance to meet a frown, do not let it stay, quickly turn it upside down and smile that frown away. No one likes a frowny face, change it for a smile. Make the world a better place by smiling all the while..

Megan is Celia's tutor twice a week. She comes to the house for 2 and 1/2 hours and they work on language and a myriad of self help skills. They make a schedule and put sensory activities in there and it all seems like play time to Celia!

Celia is such a crack up with her many expressions. She can be appalled if someone says something isn't pink! However, she is the one who teases and acts like she doesn't know and they will say Nooooo all cute and smile.:)

Haircuts~

Celia is such a happy girl. For the new year she and I went and got new haircuts. She asked for a pretty haircut and did a super job holding still for over 20 minutes to get an "A line " cut. It goes great with her super straight hair. I love how she wiggles all around and it falls back in place.:) I got bangs and about 4 inches off my hair. It feels healthier.

Debut Digital Scrapbook Page~

Hunington Beach.

We were so happy my folks watched Spence and Celia so Tanya and I could go to the beach to ride along the coast. She brought her Rollerblades which i think she should have been in the movie "Whip it" by how well she skated around on them hehe. I love this picture. It looks they are ready to race even with the yellow car behind them!

Emmy & Joe headin' to the beach~

Can you tell Joe loves being with the cousins?

Our Suri without the fringe on top!

I wanted to rent a tandem bike for Emmy and I, but this car bike was all they had. It turned out to be very fun and a lot of exercise. It could seat three so Joseph and the nephews took turns taking a ride between Emmy and I and putting their scooter in the basket.

I've gone to this beach for as long as I remember. It has changed a lot recently. There are many more touristy things to see and participate in. Apparently, every Tuesday they have all the streets around the shops closed off and they run a train through town for the kids and do other activities. We didn't know about this and parked on the street by a meter. Luckily, a store owner near our car told us of Towaway Tuesday and we were spared the discomfort of being stranded with four kids and their scooters and roller blades.:) As we were leaving we were watching other cars get towed! phew.