Social Summer

I've felt the desire to invite people over lately. Since Emmy has many things going on with her friends, she has had them over. Before her first ever piano performance, Emmy had Alyssa and Trace over. They made the brownies from scratch thatI was unable to make for Father's Day due to my tumbling scooter accident outside of CVS..lol. My forearm was sprained, but all these helpers were able to make a delicious dessert to bring to Emmy's performance.  She did a great job. Better in person than even the video I took seem to portray. It was a great evening of listening to bright piano players. Celia has interest in the piano, but we are going to start with swimming lessons first and she how she does learning a new skill with someone other than her parents.

Joseph is off to scout camp( He left at 4am on Monday and won't be back until Sat! I sent him a letter, I hope he gets it.) and Emmy to Girls camp. She had to say by to all her friends she texts for a week without electronics in the mountains.  What will she do without her music?!

Emmy is crazy for Dimple Records( a used music/book store). We went by Folsom to the American river the other day, but only after we checked out the Folsom Dimple and she spent all her money and then some on CDs..She also got grounded from her car for being out all day Dimple Records hopping when I expected and needed her home! When not grounded though, she is having friends over, and I'm driving her and her posse to church dances on Saturday nights. It is kind of fun, actually!

With Spencer back in school, Celia and I have a lot of time together. We play imaginary, do science experiments, and shop. She cooks with me and reads all sorts of Phineas and Ferb books Brian got her that are third grade level! Spence and the tutors and I have been going on community outings. I'm glad Spence is a bit more calm and is getting out a bit more. He was refusing to go into public places for quite some time. Too much sensory overload , I think. We are still working on church. He has shunned the building since they replaced all the carpet.

It looks like I may have another bone graft oral surgery coming up soon, I'm such a pro at them(a lot of experience)that I'm sure it will go fine. I did have an MRI the other day. That was pretty interesting and I was proud to make it through without too much claustrophobia. I have been watching a show on Netflix called "Alphas". Brian says it sound like a spin off of X-men. It probably is , but I like that they have an autistic boy on there using his extraordinary gifts to help solve mysteries, and find other people who aren't neuro-typical. They show MRI's on there too and brain images. It is all quite interesting to me.

Fourth of July is around the corner and I can't believe Tanya has pretty much moved to Hawaii. I'll go and still visit my folks and experience our tradition of fireworks at the Mulesteins, ribs, and celebrating Grandpa's birthday early. Times change and those traditions fade and new ones begin. All time together is precious and fond memories with the family are so important to me.

Davis Dad

Brian is a great Dad. He loves to tease and tickle. We went for a family ride today. We had a picnic at a park nearby under some tall sequoias. It was so beautiful out. Spence was done so we road around in the car some more. We picked up strawberries form the local stand(grandma's) and they are delicious. Emmy took some pictures for me and they turned out cute. Happy Father's day to my Great husband. He is a getting a drill to do that honey do list hehe and a mini fridge to keep those cool drinks nearby.~

The Good in Playing Music

Time away doing something he loves and we've had a productive week, what a good deal. Joseph loved band camp. He didn't even play video games. He went Monday thru Friday 8:30 am to 11:30 pm. He was in an intermediate band class, had fun activities, snacks, and learned a lot as assistant to the counselors. He a lot learned a little percussion on top of playing his prime instrument, the trumpet. After camp each day we would do a help organizing the house activity. We had a lot of fun working together. Joseph got a new desk and it was a great find since it look almost exactly like Emmy's desk which he had been hoping to have.

 Spencer went with me one day to get him a new mattress for his bed. He sat in the front seat on the way home and was pretty pleased with the mommy son time. Pedicure and haircut, lunch out. Those were some of the busy activities. I'm a little excited to get back into the quiet time of having Spencer in summer school.  Emmy is teaching guitar to my friend Laurie's daughter. Now Celia wants to learn the guitar. It will be nice to have so many musicians in the house. Emmy has her first piano recital on Monday evening. I'm hoping it will be a nice, happy and memorable summer.

Around town

On Friday, I took Spencer to school. We all were a little sleepy and it was nice to drive out to his school. They have a beautiful garden on campus, and seeing all those special children is heartwarming to me. They are aided and loved and many are patient with them. I'm glad Spencer attends Odyssey Learning center.

It is pretty close to the temple too. I have been throwing on a skirt and visiting the temple after I take Spencer to school. I was able to do family names this last time and loved the feeling and spirit I felt there. I forgot my recommend in a different purse and they checked online that I had a current one and was able to get in. There was a gentleman waiting to see if he could get in since his recommend was expired and he was there to see a friend be married. I love the temple and am glad I can go and go inside and help those who cannot help themselves. It is heartwarming as well.  The beautiful grounds there are inspiring; the flowers, trees, and fountain are conducive to peace and loving feelings.

After the temple, Joseph Celia and I went to Round Table to redeem Celia's coupons for free personal pan pepperoni pizza. She got it for her achievement in reading. She shared a free pizza coupon with Joseph. We sat at the one round table in the restaurant and Celia had an ornate carved wooden chair. I reminded her of the high chair she had at my mom's house. She now wants to go visit grandma and sit in a princess chair there.  We visited the Library and the recycling museum. The kids did all the activities so they received a earth protector wrist band.  Emmy and I went to the mall and got t-shirts(an Edward one for me, haha) and got this cute hat that is used to block out the sun like SPF 50!

Spending Time with the kiddos

Emmy has been outta school for a few days and we have been productive and had fun. Ross was nearby and we hit hot topic. I forgot how much I love to shop when its just Emmy and I.:) Today we took Emmy's car to be fixed. it is making a rattling sound. I put oil, gas, and coolant in it yesterday. I am getting to spoiled by having her drive her self around, we have to keep that car alive! Joseph and Celia have their last day of school today. It has been a great year and it will be nice to not have to be so many places. We all have our own goals for summer, so it should be great! We will be gathering pioneer clothes for Emmy's Youth trek and finding a family name to walk in honor of on the trek. it should be a great experience for her!

Celia and Joseph are my buddies. We dance around and play games. We took a few candid photos in my bathroom yesterday,. I love all the happy smiles!

Finishing Up. Time to Reap What We've Sown.

Summer is coming. The end of the school year rush was here. Emmy had flute section senior celebrations, performance at graduation, and a pool party at a friend's(Trace) house for his graduation.  Emmy also raised  grade up in Honors English two marks through hard work and mom nagging a lot.:) Joseph had a court of honor where he got his tenderfoot rank. He also had to make a board game project, and had a great Spring band concert.

Celia graduated from in home programming. She met 100 percent of her goals last quarter including ,among other things; riding a bike without training wheels, tying her shoes, and coping with her brother teaser her without her punching him.:) I went to her IEP yesterday where she will be getting adapted PE on top of general ed PE. They will be having her do plank exercises for her core(we'll see how that goes) and helping her aim when hitting and kicking a ball. Everything we teach her takes extra effort, but is so exciting when she learns it and does well!  I attended her school LUAU..those are crowded activities, I'm glad it was just her and I.

Spence has been unpredictable in his behavior. He hulks out sometimes, so we are having him try a new medicine during the day. So far so good. He loves his IPAD and communicates with us on it when we model or when he clearly has something to say. I'm happy it is June. It seemed like May 31st was the deadline for too many things. I'm feeling accomplished and ready for this month.

Relaxing Memorial Day Afternoon

The cooler weather crept up on us this Memorial Day. We were going to have a picnic at the park with the cousins, we went to Rah Rah's and enjoyed a nice afternoon there. The food and conversation was great, and it was good to have a bunch of the family together. My kids weren't big on getting their picture taken, but we were able to get a few. There were photo albums out. Time has flown by and all have grown older.  Spence was pretty calm and quiet then he had enough and nicely put on Brian's hat on him and pulled him to the car. We did get one game of Seven Wonders in with Jeremiah, Joseph, Emmy ,and I. I'm glad we have this time to get to make more memories together.~

A Few Fun Times

I was happy to be asked by my friend Lisa Jeffers to go to Rock in the vineyard, a FEAT (families' for early intervention of Autism) event. It was located at beautiful Young Vineyard. There was live music, yummy food, I had a spicy chicken taco salad and even little snicker doodle cupcakes. We talked to other parents, walked around the vineyards and lake. It was a beautiful rest from a hectic previous day. Young, our respite worker, made an extra effort to move things around to come and watch the kids.  Lisa won a raffle and received all kinds of great vouchers for various museums and activities in San Francisco, she was so happy. I was glad I could see the beauty of this area and that our "Local Honey" I purchased to help with the terrible allergy season this year came from Plymouth California, right where we were for this event.

Bri was out of town from Thursday to Monday in Utah for Logan's farewell, so I was happy to hear he had River Cats tickets for Tuesday Night. It was an unusual game. Joseph's favorite part was the concessioners. He talked about the food the entire time even when someone did something good, Joseph would holler "Hot Dog! then look at me smiling. Good thing hot dogs and desserts were only a dollar that night.

It was a somewhat uneventful game until a bat came whirling at our heads. I was pulling on Joseph's arm to put his head down and move to the left. He didn't see the bat, so he was resisting. It hit where no one was sitting on the first row maybe 5 feet from us. You just never know when accidents can happen and affect you. I was glad no one was hurt and we were unaffected. Bri put his finger in his nose for a picture I took on my phone and I posted it on Facebook. He was so proud. Tanya thought it was a unique family photo!

 Lately, I've been fighting off stress with trying to take time to do service, talk to friends(while out to lunch), and enjoy nature. It has been helping a little. This week I talked to my buddy Patty for hours, attended a session at the temple after having turned in my family file sheet to get family names printed. I went to lunch with my friends; Alex(Althea) and Shelley. We talked of how we met our husbands and that started me on this reminiscent journey. Through reading my journals I realized there really is a time and a season for every for everything. Those times at college or in my youth were wonderful and so are the times I am making now. Every time has it's challenges, but hopefully I can capture the memories of the fun, spiritual, meaningful times, and look back fondly on them later.

Sixth Grade Trip to Museums!

I  said I could possibly be a chaperone for Joseph's sixth grade class' field trip to an Egyptian museum in San Jose. I  was told they had enough parents and would call me if anything changed. Well, it did and I was able to move things around, get a respite worker for after school and embark on a 13 hour adventure with Joseph. I loved the gardens and Museums. the tech museum was so fun. We saw Under the sea at the IMAX theater, it was a little to relaxing a dozed for a minute.:) We were blessed to have our snack, our fun and great interesting sights throughout the day and I loved that I was there for free for watching out for 8 sixth graders hehe. Our transportation was a tour bus( T.V. and bathroom included) we took so we were higher up and I could really get a feel for Sacramento and the Bay area, how green it is and how beautiful the bridges are and the rivers. What a great time. We were toasted tired of course afterwards, but Joseph was excited for the next big thing which was traveling to Utah with Brian for Logan's mission farewell!