March-April

I finally remembered my blog log-in, kinda shows how long it's been since I have posted.

The last 2ish months have been filled with lots of great things, but also a few things that were sad and will stay with me for a long time.  Grandpa Roessler passed away in March and Grandpa Gautraud in April.  It's funny how teary eyed I can get when a memory is sparked.  I am thankful for the years I have had with them in my life!

If you know the Davis family you know that March through August we celebrate one birthday a month. We had a family birthday for Kate's 7th and a friend birthday for Lucy's 4th. Next Wednesday is Sam's 2nd birthday, firetrucks, Thomas the Train and super heroes here we come!

Lucy had 4 friends over and they made pizza and decorated cookies!

Joel and Kerry welcomed their daughter home in March, it has been so fun to share in their adoption experience.  We are very inspired by them.

My parents celebrated 33 years of marriage, we enjoyed a catered dinner from Pompilios and a night full of laughs at my parents house.  It was so wonderful of my mom to pull it all together.  My dad prayed over the food that night and it was so sweet to hear him choke up when he prays about his marriage, my mom or shows thanks for my grandparent's marriage.  I appreciate the genuine love he has for his family and the Lord. 

School is almost done and I am so excited, it's hard to continue to get up at 6:20 with great Joy, I am looking forward to May 25th!!!  In the last couple of weeks school has been far more manageable, due to a very simple schedule Ben implemented.  The kids know exactly what to do when they get home and our expectations.  Too bad I didn't figure that out a few years earlier.

     This is just a fun picture I found from one of those warm evenings in March.

Sam seems to be the entertainment/ highlight of the house lately.  A line often said to him by Ben is "Sam, don't you know your still one."  Sam often does or says things that seem so mature.  Potty training is one of my favorite examples.  If you ask my thoughts on potty training a child I will tell you that I don't even try it until 3 yrs. old because my kids weren't interested until then.  At 3 it would take a week and we would be done, instead of begging my child to use the potty.  Well Sam has decided in the last month that he is ready.  He likes to climb up on the big potty by himself and poop, yes poop on command.  All my kids were petrified to poop and especially on the big potty.  For a couple of nights in the evenings he would need to poop and while he was on the potty he wanted me to flip through a Family Fun magazine so he could look at it, those are things that make me smile.
...Last night we were putting him in bed and he said "It's too hard to be Spider man...I tried it."  Ben asked,  "How do you be Spider man?"  He then turns his hand palm side up as if shooting a web, he then says "I tried it, I watched it"  He looked pretty discouraged about the whole situation, maybe another day he can figure out how to be Spider man.

This pic is from November but the look he gives is the very same Sam look I see most everyday.

Home for the day and 1&2

What a day.  Last night Sam was up vomiting till 3 am, I think it happened to be one of those lovely Chuckie Cheese germs that caused it.  Jack and Kate woke up with warm foreheads and stomach aches, it seemed like a good day to not go to school especially after Sam's night time performance.  It was such a good and challenging day.  I love to have my kids home it's awesome to see them learn how to play together.  They spent most of the morning playing legos, watching a show, playing trains and so on.  Of course having all four home adds a different challenge to the day which on my own I have not taken that challenge very well.  I spent the first part of my morning drinking my coffee and reading my Bible preparing for my day.  I have had a rough week with my kids no fault of their own but my problem I several times a day have caught myself becoming angry and feeling out of control.  I knew this is not where I wanted to stay, and I could see my kids reflecting my behavior in the midst of it.  So with the Lord sustaining me I was able to have a really great day with my kids and enjoy them as individuals and as a little team.  We took a walk together (with no crying), made dinner and watched Good Luck Charlie.  I was able to get them off to bed with only one meltdown which occurred due to my rash words, dang-it always my fault :)  But they are all sleeping now which makes for a great evening.

I wanted to finish what I stared last night which was to update what's new with each child.

Kate is drawing non-stop still.  She shows others love by drawing them pictures.  Often she is drawing mermaids and unicorns, they are always for someone with lots of thought put into each picture.  Kate is the dominating older sister but she is learning what it looks like to love and share with Lucy and Sam.  If Kate and Lucy are left alone they can get into an imagination world for hours.  I am so glad they have each other it is fun to watch them.  Kate is also very good at math, her teacher says that she understands math concepts before she is finished teaching them (that did not come from me). Kate is learning how to speed up her reading.  She still has to sound out words but is getting faster and faster the more she practices.  Kate and Joy (Ben's little sister) love to play spies when they are together, they run around the house dressed in black watching all of us.  Kate will be 7 soon, that is wild how quick those years have gone by!

Jack, wow this boy is becoming a little man over night.  Jack got glasses recently, which I think he looks really handsome in.  He does very well in school when he works hard.  Jack has a great capacity for memory work.  He still loves to spend late nights reading.  Riddles have been a new love.  The other night our friend Braylen was over and told Jack that he would buy him a $50 dollar Lego set if he could solve a riddle that no other adult he had talked to could figure out, Jack was not scared here it goes "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet." Jack took about 2 seconds and said that's easy a lion that's what Samson told the Philistines.  Braylen and Ben's mouths hit the floor it was a great moment.  Jack is pretty excited to pick out those Legos!  Jack is a great brother to Sam it's so sweet to see him read books at night or watch them play together.  I've even caught Jack sleeping in Sam's crib before.  Sam really trusts Jack and Jack knows it.  I am enjoying this age so much, it's neat to have some really rich and meaningful talks with Jack about life.  I look forward to many more moments with him!

3&4

As of late in the Davis home, life has been full of lots of life decisions mixed with just everyday responsibilities.  We are doing our best to stay on top of the game.

Sam is full of so many words at just 21 months.  I have not come across a word he does not repeat.  Sam loves to push chairs around our kitchen and climb on everything.  I have considered finding a way to bungee the chairs to the table.  As I was getting ready yesterday morning Sam was silent and I know that is never good.  I yelled for him and up the stairs he came with a brownie he had gotten off the counter.  I can see traits in him that are great and if not used right to his determent.  Sam gets his eye and mind on something and he is not easily distracted and will not forget what he wants.  He had been asking for that brownie since the day before.  Sam has been saying "yes mom" a lot and seems to have a very soft and sensitive heart.  We have had to discipline more as of late but it's been really good to see him respond.  Sam warms all of our hearts and makes us all smile.

Lucy loves t.v. if I let her she would happily watch it all day long.  Lucy is a lot like Jack and loves the world of technology.  She often finishes a show than will ask to do play computer and than Ipad and than our iphones.  It's really hard not to fall into the trap of letting her be in front of something often.  I have enjoyed my days home with Lucy, she is really growing up.  Lucy will be four in April and can't seem to understand why we can't go to the beach on her birthday since we did last year and will remind us of it weekly.  Lucy really love little pet shops, it's fun to see her get into a imaginative state and really engage in that world.  Something that I am learning about her is that she moves very slow and in this world that is not something that is valued.  I often find myself trying to change that in her but it seems to be the way God wove her together.  I look forward to understanding that better as she grows up.  Lucy brings lots of smiles to our faces with all her very cute lines.  When I tell her to stop doing something she often tells me "I just can't get it out of my mind".  Lucy as of recent has learned how to do a puppy dog face to ask for things, boy does it make me want to give in.

Well I set out to write a bit today just about life in general but Sam is climbing all over me and taking full advantage of my attention being elsewhere...my hope is that I will get more tomorrow!