New couch, for the win!

It feels Christmas like to me as I bask in the happiness of getting something I've desired for quite some time. I think it was 5 or so years ago when I started to mention we needed a new couch. Recently, the old couch has been falling apart. I bought upholstery hooks in hopes of sewing up ripped patches, but with so much use, my sewn areas didn't stay cinched together. I washed the seat covers and cleaned it often, but it was getting too old to brighten back up.

Brian saw that this seating, after 15 years, needed to go the way of all the earth. He mentioned we should call the neighborhood clean up where you can set big items in front of the house and the disposal trucks will come and pick it up. Then, he mentioned we could find a replacement couch. That was my green light, go a head to shop for one cue!..

I knew what I wanted and Emmy and I went out and searched for 3 hours and found what we were looking for. On my list of things it needed were; stain resistant, water resistant, durable, comfortable, hides dirt, fits in the area, and I had a budget. It was an amazing find with a seller that was willing to deliver and come down in price. We got the deal of the century and I am so elated over this purchase. I must be such a homemaker to have this be so exciting, but it really is.

Fairies and Friends

I didn't realize how much we like to dress up around here.:) Emmy was invited to a youth Halloween party with a friend. Good thing her costume was just waiting to be worn.~ I have my camera back from the camera shop, the lens was replaced. Its very exciting to be back in business of taking photos not on my phone only.~

A few weeks ago Emmy was a purple prankster drawing on Celia and Joseph with purple permanent marker. Joseph had a curly mustache on half his face and scribbles on various body parts that were showing while he was asleep. Emmy tagged Celia with a Emmy was here sign on Celia's arm saying "I love you"! Emmy loves purple and her sneaking around at night reminded me of a fairy of some sort causing mischief. I found a costume on line and ordered it for her. It was a great surprise and I am pretty proud of my self for finding the perfect size. Although Emmy can fit into almost everything.

The other day Emmy and I watched a cute show called "You're So Cupid" on Netflix. It reminded me so much of my friend Lisa. She was so into creative dating and matchmaking. After Emmy and I watched the show together we were reminiscing of being in Lisa's wedding and we pulled out the dresses we wore in it. Emmy was a flower girl, but somehow she was able to get the dress on and we took a few pictures. Dressing up is fun to do.. We had a great time reminiscing and remembering Lisa. Lisa made sure we each had tiaras and beautiful jewelry to go with our classy dresses. I was extremely happy to be in her wedding and have Joseph be the ring bearer and Emmy, the flower girl. Years pass by so quickly and things change, but it is fun to dress up!

Staff Devel Getaway

Spencer, Joseph, and Celia didn't have school on Friday. It is staff development day. That is a longtime to entertain these kiddos at home so we went for a ride! I told Celia we were going to go to King's Beach. She asked if we needed crowns. She is such a cutie.:) The beach is located about 2 hours from us in the Sierra Nevadas. Its Lake Tahoe, but what a beautiful beach on the Lake it is.

It was great for the kids to play around in the sand. I loved hearing the water wake against the sand while seeing the beautiful sun reflecting on the water. The mountains and trees add to the views. It really is the best of both worlds to have the beach like atmosphere mixed with the water and sand. Maybe that is why I love Muir Woods and Stinson Beach so much.

There were only a handful of people around. That is my style. We heard a man playing guitar. He was playing "Brown eyed girl". I love that song. Actually, we were serenaded by a few people around us having fun with their guitars. We saw a few people who kayaked by and it looked like someone was decorating for a beach wedding with gorgeous flowers near the clubhouse. The best part about our getaway

was how calm and happy we all were there. The kids built volcanoes and commented about the sand being like gold! I discovered a crab leg and a dried mini jelly fish. Joseph and Celia found wands that looked like they should be in the Harry Potter movies. I didn't want to leave. Spencer was loving the sand so much he took off his shirt to feel it on his body, so that was my cue it was time to go, hehe. As we were leaving the view from my rear view mirror was perfect. I'm sure we will visit again.:)

Advocate

Transitions are hard for our little Spencer Doodle. Apparently, it is tough on his school staff as well. Spencer has had rough week and a half at his new placement for school. We are collaborating though which helps and I pick him up each day, and work with him and he is on a shorter schedule. I go from 11:30 am to noon then drive him home. The behaviorist assistant has been taking copious notes on how I interact with Spencer and successfully direct him around the room and to the car. So far the first two days we have seen significant improvement in Spencer's school day. This is my work to help Spencer to learn and grow and get appropriate education in a positive way. Its not unattainable, but takes quite a bit of determination, education, emotional strength, and stamina. I am grateful Brian's support. His presence at Spencer's IEP was invaluable. I am glad he and I are a team with the same purpose, idea, and love for Spencer.


Emmy and I got to go get pedicures last night. I loved doing that with her. She chose dark purple toes, shes my teen and even though we didn't talk the whole time like I would with another girlfriend, it was a great time. I needed the backrub from the big chairs they sit you in for spa pedicures. It helped me to sleep better last night, sleep which makes everything a little easier. Today Celia and I went to the gym. Exercise is a great de-stressing tool for me as well. I am going to eat healthy, rest, and take time to renew my mind spiritually. balancing hard work for a great cause, and rest may just bring long lasting fulfillment in the end, I hope it does.:)

Meeting Maggie

Spence asked for a ride yesterday afternoon. Celia, Spence and I went to the Village park in Fair Oaks where year round hens and rooster cluck and cock a doodle do around town. It was so peaceful there. I was worried about taking both the kids out by myself, but it turned out to be a fun time. Spencer swung a little and Celia went on the slide several times. Spence and Celia both chased the chickens, but it was when a lady came over and asked if Spencer could play with her dog, that the real fun started. The beautiful black lab retriever's name is Maggie. She let Spencer throw her ball, which I helped with first then Spencer was doing it on his own.H e loved the feeling of Maggie's fur and liked her tongue sticking out while she was panting from all the great exercise she was having. Spence did act a little rough with her sometimes, but the dog was calm and would voluntarily bring the ball to Spencer even when other kids were gathered around, wanting a turn.

I'm glad we stayed long enough to have Patti ( Maggie's owner) come up and ask if Spencer could play with her dog. She told of of how Maggie was a retired service dog. She was very calm and good, being seven years old probably attributed to her mellow, patience away of being. It was too bad when we were turned away form Spencer getting his own Canine Companion because he was too rough with him. It has worked out alright for our family not having one more member to clean up after, but it was very nice to have Spencer get to play with this lovely dog. It was definitely a high light of the day for Spencer.:)

Pumpkin Pickin'

I heard from my friend Laurie that we had a pumpkin farm near our house. The ones we have gone to in the past are far and take a bit of time. Celia and I had an hour before we would need to go to her Kindergarten Class so we though it was a great time to pick a pumpkin. It is a serious business ya know. I love the one that Celia picked. It is perfect for making a jack o lantern with. She also picked a small one that is just her size. I loved the sunflowers and cornstalks, they were amazing, no pun intended.:) I love the fall and the photos taken around harvest time are always so colorful which is one reason I love it. I am going to miss our alone time when Celia goes to first grade next year so I am enjoying it as much as I can now.

We go to Jamba Juice almost weekly, and the gym, and the cupcake store together. Celia is doing a good job staying by me in public, which helps a lot. Celia had to go potty at the farm and they had a cute little blue and white house as the restroom. It only had a sign for girls and Celia said the boys have to go in the grass. It was pretty cute. She is always so aware of her surrounding and comments on things. Her tutor Lindsay changed schedules for her college classes and isn't able to come any more. Celia said she was lost. It was sad then she decided out of nowhere she isn't lost, she got married! Her primary teacher got married and moved and isn't her teacher anymore so she generalized that to her tutor. We sure love having Celia and all our precious children in our family. They make our lives full.~

Halloween Prep~

I can't believe it is almost the middle of October. I do however have some costumes picked out for the kids for Halloween. Emmy assured me she was not too old to go trick or treating and they are able to wear costumes to her high school. Celia and I decorated for Halloween and took out a bin full of our old costumes from previous year. It was fun to dress up with her especially on a rainy day. I love time with just her in the morning before afternoon kindergarten. She liked the muscle Batman costume the best. She did a little shaking/dancing in the hula costume and was a little nervous when I showed her Joseph's old pterodactyl costume. She told me that it was too scary. I did get her to try it on and she flew around the house in it.

Celia is going to be a Harajuku cutie. She looks like a super cute mini geisha. Joe is going to be an army guy and Emmy is going to be a purple fairy. I surprised her with that costume. She reminded me of a fairy because she went into Joseph's room while he was sleeping and gave him half of a curly mustache in purple permanent marker. She also wrote" Emmy was here, I love you!" on Celia's arm. Emmy is like a tooth fairy , but instead of giving money she marks you with permanent purple marker. The costume fits her prankster personality. Spencer is adding to his collection of Halloween t- shirts that he wears all year round for his costume. I am going to be a firefighter. Bri will Probably find something to be right before his work party, which he usually does. He went as Dwight Shroot from "The Office" last year. It was funny and he looked great in those big nerdy glasses. Dressing up is fun to do and all the holidays are great with kids. They get so excited.

Purple Paintin'

Emmy has been asking me to paint her room for about a year. She wanted a dark purple room, but I insisted it would make her room look smaller and finally we compromised on a light color on top and a dark eggplant color to act as a low border in the room.

With Joseph's new room being built and the reorganizing of the garage, the painting project was put off. I finished on Friday and the girls were very pleased. We moved the bunk bed to a different spot in the room. It feels open and nice and smells like a new home. I love the new paint smell in a room.

Now we have three kids rooms that are painted and organized. Now the job is to keep it that way. Emmy is a great girl and we want her to be happy. I'm so glad she loves her room now.~

Fun Little Celia

Celia is so cute. She is a joy to be around and cracks us up with all the fun imaginary play she starts. Tonight she called me on the phone from the one in my room. She said "Hi, Its me Celia bear, and told me to pretend she was a dentist. We talked about brushing our teeth before bed and other things. She told on Joseph for something. I love all her language. She has such a great personality. Being so full of craftsiness she made bathroom decorations while I was on the phone the other day. I Love how its color coordinated and the puff balls were raised up even further by using a cheerio to add depth and dimension. We love to hear her sing and talk about Pierre a lead singer of Simple plan. Celia loves her Halloween costume and her newly painted room. She runs around so smiley and happy. What a joy she is!

Memory Making

We love birthdays around here. Celia and I went and got helium filled balloons for Brian's birthday. Celia insisted she needed a Mylar balloon for her too which I agreed to. Celia and Bri had picked out a cake mix so I just used our round tins I use to make our tall cakes with and put chocolate pudding in the middle. We had a nice relaxing evening at home watching a movie( it was a romantic comedy called "Midway to Heaven") with the family, eating cake and teasing each other. Brian got a nice card and money from my parents and my gift to him is my blog in book form that is on its way in the mail.~I want to capture so much of our family's life in the blog that I have to make the book half way through the year, then make another at the end of the year. I feel happy about having the pictures and my thoughts printed, it feels like finished scrapbooks of memories to me. We all love Brian and are grateful we could celebrate his birthday with him.:) We went out on Monday together, Tuesday cake at home, Wednesday celebrating with his parents. Maybe we can make a week of celebrating him.:) I took pictures and the kids started making faces and being silly and it made for great smiles.

Watching Joseph

Last night Brian, Emmy, Joseph and I went and saw "Joseph Smith and The Golden Plates" in a movie theatre in Rocklin. It was a great movie experience. There were a lot of people there and so many people dressed so modestly, it felt like we were at BYU again.:)

We had refillable soda and popcorn since I hadn't eaten in a while and needed to have a little something. We saw a few people we knew there (Emmy saw her good friend Kimberly Snelson and Shelby Griffiths, Katelyn's sister.) and I really liked being there with the family.

The movie starts in on Joseph's life as he is working towards acquiring the golden plates. I liked the actors they chose and the storyline is true to the historical happenings of that day. I liked the parts with Emma and it was very informative for those who are learning about the early church.

Emmy wanted to know why all of the actors had crooked teeth, lol. We talked a lot about the olden days and I think she was happy to be born in this time period. We went to In N Out after, so yummy. It was a great early birthday celebration for Brian. He said this was best movie on Joseph Smith he has seen so far. I'm glad we were all able to go together and that we could support this movie effort. We bought the DVD and maybe there will be another part of Joseph's life portrayed soon.