Rooster Picnic~

Spencer loves button up shirts these days, and Dad's shirts are even more fun he thinks!


After Celia's session today we packed a picnic and headed out. I wanted to go relax by the river, but realized I need more adults with me and that there was no way the kids were going to stay out of the water and it wasn't quite warm enough for that! We ended up at Fair Oak park. Its a cute little strip of shops with a small park nearby that have chickens and roosters roaming freely. Emmy said it was a good thing we didn't have chicken nuggets because that's what they are made of. Luckily that went over Celia's and Spencer's heads lol. Spencer loved it as you can see.:)





Yes, I brought turkey kielbasa on a picnic lol, Joe assured me peanut butter and jelly sandwiches only wouldn't do, so we had both. It was a fun picnic and Celia made friends with a small for her age little girl named Markal Celia towered over her, but was quite social and talkative, I was happy..~



Joseph was acting like he was really interested in going to swing and slide, but we all knew he was nervous the roosters would peck at him hehe. They were too close for his comfort!

Let's go Fly a kite.

Its a beautiful day, warm and windy. Perfect for flying a kite. the neighbor's had theirs out. Ours however was sooo tangled from previous kite flying and being messed with in the cupboard. The kids had help untangling from Austin our neighbor and eventually we were up and running literally, getting the kite in the air. Emmy even figured out how to fly it on her scooter. The kids spent hours out there enjoying the afternoon.:)




I want the kite up high in the sky!





Celia was alternating kite flying with riding her bike!


Celia has SO much energy, she is loving all this movement!




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Under lock and Key..

We are under lock and key. Especially Spencer. Yesterday when Celia had her tutors over Spencer took the opportunity to take off down the street and around the corner to some other houses to explore. The door wide open is never a good sign around here. Because Celia can't be left alone with the tutor, I said " We have to take a walk." Celia was a bit concerned telling us Spencer was lost, but I was amazed and feeling blessed when two neighbors happened to be leaving to go somewhere at the same time and offered to quickly drive and find him around on nearby streets. Spencer is SO fast and doesn't look back and if he finds somewhere to go inside, he will... Jeremy our neighbor reversed his truck and yelled he found him. We were so relieved. I sprinted to the next street, I'm glad I have been running a small amount lately to even be able to do that.:), and found him at the door step of the two story house that adjoins our fence from the back yard, but is on the next street over. I'm not sure what he is thinking, but I believe he likes to go to houses that are in the same spot on the street as our house, but on a different street.

He is a puzzle and a mystery, and waiting for it to happen again is just not an option. I went and bought a double key sided dead bolt. Yes, I should have waited for my super handy husband to install it. I didn't and I hurt my hand and thrashed the lock a bit, and was completely frustrated. Brian was able to fix the deadbolt and we now have a working lock that is Spencer proof.(for now anyways) We are working on Spencer wearing his ID bracelet a little each day for a minute. As he tolerates that we will increase the time that he wears it. The hope is that we can eventually get him to wear the bracelet. It will be so nice when he does. It was Spencers first day of Tutoring for him in the afternoon too. It went well, which was a relief to me.

It was a hard day, but I feel very blessed to have such great helpful neighbors, a loving & capable husband, and children that stepped up to help with things in the afternoon. We did get to go out too. Emmy, Joseph, Bri, and I went to In-n-out for dinner and went and saw The Lightning Thief. A very cute movie! I would see it again.

I'm still in denial about being a die hard fan:)

Junior High~

I can't believe I have two children in Junior High~! I don't know where the time went. They are getting so tall too. Spence is five feet one inch and Emmy is Five feet five inches. Spence and I have fun cooking in his class every Wednesday. The last one happened to be on St. Patrick' day. Spencer made green ice cream shakes, but he wouldn't drink it. It did look weird!




Today was Emmy's jog a thon. I went to pick her up from school. I thought she would be exhausted from running so many laps! Apparently, she walked most of it lol. Her friend Lauren was really happy to get a ride home and Emmy and I really enjoyed sharing a strawberries wild Jamba Juice and a Parmesan sourdough pretzel afterwards.:)
Here are Emmy and her friends at school, I could hardly get a picture of her, she kept running off.~

Everyday Fun

Four days a week Celia has tutors come in the morning for two and a half hours and they run lessons that teach her many important things. Sometimes playtime will help her to use her language and social skills. On this day Celia was playing puppets and Stephanie, the one in front was to be the monster. The second picture shows all their reaction after the monster jumps out. Celia was very animated about the whole thing.~ Yvonne and Amy are also helping with the play as Princess Yvonne and Amy was playing King Daddy. Celia loves her people.:)




Celia and Joe playing the bongos loudly with my kitchen utensils on Brian's laundry baskets!



Our hall closet doors had trouble since we replaced the flooring last year. I liked the boys curtains so well that I tried it with this closet.:)


We're Busy Busy all the time, but it seems like we had a fun last couple of days. First of all its been warm and beautiful. I had to sneak a couple minutes of catching rays in the sun into my day. I was reading too so that counts as multitasking right?:) Emmy had a band concert and play beautifully. I'm glad she is part of the concert band at her Junior High. They have a performance at Sacramento state coming up on April 10th and they are going to have a competition at Great America later in April as well. The teacher really seems to help the group perform well with hard pieces. I'm glad Emmy can be a part of it. I say Emmy referring to Emelie a lot these days because that is what she does. I got her a facebook account and registered her as Emelie and she went back and changed it to Emmy lol. Her name in the band concert flyer last night was listed as Emmy Davis. Oh well, I guess it differentiates her from the other friends and classmates named Emily. We had a great time going for food and ice cream after the concert. Emmy And Joseph really look forward to that time each week with mom and dad.

Spencer has cooking with me at his school each Wed. Today we are going to do a St. Patricks day project.:) Should be fun.

Joseph also enjoy me being the art docent in his class. Yesterday I came and taught his third grade class about Artists painting feelings. It went well and I was glad some painted warm sunny happy scenes and people. The substitute seemed mean lol so I wasn't surprised at the sad paintings that came out. I'm grateful for all the fun and excitement that kids bring into my life even though it makes me tired.:)

A Few Little Changes.

We love how sturdy the bunk beds are and how they've held up! However, Spence was in need of a new mattress. It turned into a project for the boys room. I worked on their blinds getting them all nice and clean, and their window sparkling. I wanted to put curtains on the closet for the boys for some time since I had taken the boys doors off their closet a few years ago. We like having no doors to hang on or break, so I was pretty pleased to find some curtains that matched well and were the heavy material I wanted. I had bought too many panels for the closet so Joseph convinced me we should use them as curtains. Spencer was pretty happy about the changes. He kept hugging me and smiling and laughing. Change isn't always a good thing with him, but he slept well last night and seems to be pleased with the improvements to his room.~

Staff Development Day?

All the Kids are out of school today. Its rare we get pictures of the brothers together.



With the kids getting out in two weeks for Spring break( which is about two + weeks long) and already having minimum day this week, I am beginning to think they don't spend much time at school lol.


The kids love a day off from school. No rushing in the morning and we usually go somewhere fun. Today we are going to have two of Celia's tutoring sessions and maybe a run to a store to see what there is to see.

Sweet Spencer hands us the ingredients for the food he wants like quesadillas with corn tortillas and pancakes! He knows what it takes. I suppose he know who cooks it too because he only hands it to me! The reason could be that he doesn't want Emmy or Joseph to eat it though hehe.


Kids say and do the funniest things. These two are my characters. Celia's new funny sayings are "Bummer" and "Sup". Joseph runs around playing chase with Celia saying "Bring It". They are a hoot. Serious entertainment all the time.~


Celia loves her Daddy. This is she and him before he left for work. She didn't know why he was going to work since all of us were staying home today. Good thing we enjoy our home. Today marks our 6 year mark here in this house.:)

Yay!

We have exciting news.:) After almost two years in process of applying, getting approved, and waiting to hear. We will be getting a Canine Companion for Independence dog for Spencer. The benefits of this dog for Spencer will be therapeutic and I'm very excited to see a bond form between him and the dog. For other children with Autism it has made going out in public a possibility without scenes or breakdowns. It may help Spencer to want to stay in the home more and not try to leave to go to the neighbors house. He will help take care of the dog. It will be wonderful for him to have something to be in charge of and to do. We will get exercise! Dogs need to be walked and Spencer loves to walk, but we rarely take him out because of how hard he can be in public. As a team; Spencer, the dog, and I will venture out and keep him safe. These dogs are extremely well trained and calm and reliable. I'm excited to learn all the commands and to help benefit Spencer through this dog. I can see it improving his way of life. He will have attention and companionship, duties, and from what we've seen with him and these dogs, it will make him very happy.

Here's one outcome of a Boy named Braden and his CCI dog named Camille they had on the website for Canine Companions for Independence.

In May 2007 Robin and Braden graduated from Team Training with Skilled Companion Camille, free of charge and free of fundraising. Since then, Camille has changed Braden's life.

"Braden is much more social, calmer in public, and is developing empathy," Robin continues. "Camille gives Braden acceptance and love, without expecting him to be like everyone else."

May 14th will be our take home date for the Dog and Graduation from Training.:)

What we've been up to this month so far.

Our kids love Holidays and Celia was my buddy putting out some decorations for St. Patricks day.~ Anything to decorate and make cakes and cookies for Celia is all for! We had the Missionaries over for dinner. It was really nice and they shared a message about being nice to your brother and sister which Emmy and Joseph needed to hear.:) I've been getting out running a little. I love seeing all the blossoms on the trees around town. I'm grateful for the beautiful park area near us. Its hilly and very fun to run on despite a little mud. Its hard work and I wonder if the soreness is worth it but getting out and see the nature and moving feels great and is such a perfect way to relive stress.:)


Celia is such a character, and loves to have pictures taken of her.



Spring is in the air. I have the desire to open all the windows turn on all the fans and let the fresh air in. I want to wash all the windows and clean the walls or touch up paint. I need to do those projects when I feel that desire because it only comes in the Spring every couple years hehe. March is great, I still feel like I can start new and have new resolutions. Like today I helped the kids get all their church clothes in order and I was prepped with a box full of things for Celia and Spencer to help them get through Church. It was still a pretty wild day, but we did make some progress. They were more quiet and lasted longer then they have in a while. I also threw in the crock pot some Chili Verde for Break the Fast. It may feel like Spring, but part of me still wants the warmth and comfort food of a winter day. It smells wonderful. It reminds me of visiting my parents. They know we like Chili Verde so my Dad makes it for us each time we visit. I'm missing them and hope they are safe traveling all over South America. The Kids and I are going to visit them at the end of our Spring break and we can't wait.

A New Addition

Yes, I realize its funny I took a picture of the delivery truck, but you gotta understand my excitement!


A new addition to the Davis family laundry room is a washing machine yay. After getting the last one in 1996, it finally gave up. A few weeks ago, I had to go to the laundry mat because our dryer went out. We did a lot of loads!(~14) Four kids' laundry is a lot and we go through SO many sheets blankets and towels its ridiculous.:)We got the dryer fixed, then the washer stopped using cold water and wouldn't rinse! I was so happy when Brian went and got a new one yay. There is no way a front loader would work for our family, with the way the kids hang on doors and cupboards.This one is great for our needs. I even like the cute little gold stripe on top by the knobs.:)It will be nice to have a dependable washer and its a big deal for someone in my line of work to have the right tools hehe.