10 years ago

Today is a very special day. Bryan and I met 10 years ago today at his 25th birthday party. What an amazing 10 years it has been. Little did I know that I was going to meet my wonderful husband when my friend Emily took me along to his party. He was finishing his Masters and I was still working on my undergrad at Gonzaga.

We ended up hanging out the entire time at his party and chit chatting. He called me later in the week and invited me and Emily to go out with some friends of his to their end of the year bowling party- he he. We began doing lots of things together and having a lot of fun. We spent the summer getting to know each other before he went to Utah to start his PhD.

I am so blessed to have met the most wonderful man. He is the best person I know. I am so thankful for my passionate, caring, loving and giving husband. He is my best friend. Our life together is the BEST. Although life has changed a lot the past 10 years, it is better now than ever. Our bowling parties now consist of family and friends and our sweet little girls. Emma and Caitlyn are the best part of us. I will always remember what the doctor told us when we found out we were having another girl. He said "It takes a real man to raise girls."

To you honey, our guy. Thanks for being you.

Happy almost 35th birthday. Here is to 10 years of exciting happiness and many more to come. I love you.

Teach Emma to read in 100 easy lessons

Okay, yes, I am a very proud mama. I am so proud of Emma and all of her hard work the past two years in Montessori. She has worked hard learning her sounds and phonemes. She also worked hard building words with the sounds she knows with the movable alphabet. This is such a cool time in her little life because she can read. She sounds out words in books in her room and when we are driving around. It is so amazing to see her just soaking it all up.

So, when we started doing a lesson out of Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons 4 days a week (33 lessons ago), she just took off. It has been so exciting to see her learn to read and be so enthusiastic about it. Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is one of the parent curriculums that we learned about in our Direct Instruction Reading class at Gonzaga. Of course, we heard and read the research about Direct Instruction, Phonic based programs and I remember thinking they were just great. We also saw friends and classmates run studies on the program with successful outcomes on adults with disabilities. Let me just tell you that I have a much stronger appreciation and love of DI and Teach Your Child since I have begun it with Emma.

Every day after school Emma has quiet time in her room during the first half of Caitlyn's nap. She gets to do puzzles, paper dolls, play school or read books. When her quiet time is up she comes downstairs and we do reading while C bear is still down. She gets out our materials and loves to write our names for the Mommy vs. Emma game. She gets points for reading words independently and sitting nice and I get points when I have to help her or when she is not sitting the right way. (She always wins- we have had some close games though). After she wins, she totals her points and gets her reward- something she has chosen. Today, it was trial mix, some days it is popcorn or the ever so reinforcing M & M's.

Here is a picture of the Emma vs. Mom game

This is the story Emma read today.

First Sentence.

The second sentence was too long to upload to blogger. :(

Third sentence.

I love that when you put a data based curriculum with good instruction and a strong enough reinforcer you can teach anything.

YAY Emma. You rock girl. Keep up the good work.

Caitlyn - the little mermaid

Waiting at Miss Angelee's to do her first ISR lesson

Watching the little one year old girl before us

Caitlyn Eva ready to swim

Caitlyn just finished the first week of her Infant Swim Resource (ISR) swim/survival lessons. Angelee, Caitlyn's instructor was going through training when Emma took the lessons and we really liked her. Emma took a refresher from Angelee. She is just a natural and confident ISR instructor with a kind heart so she is perfect for Caitlyn.

Emma completed ISR lessons when she was 2 years old, right after we moved here from Atlanta. She also had two refresher courses when she was 3 and 4 years old. The skills she learned during her instruction at ISR have made it very easy for her to transition to traditional swim instruction. She is doing well at Lifetime working on her strokes.

A little background on ISR- www.infantswim.com

For more than 40 years, Infant Swimming Resource (ISR) has been teaching children critical self-rescue™ skills -- giving children the competence and confidence to safely enjoy the water. ISR’s technique teaches babies from 6 months to 6 years of age how to save themselves if they were to end up in the water alone. Going beyond traditional swim instruction, ISR teaches children how to survive in the water. Depending on your child’s age, your child will learn different levels of self-rescue skills, including a roll-back-to-float and/or a swim-float-swim.

I thought it would be fun to take video every Friday of Miss Caitlyn so we can look back and see the learning process occur. She was very excited to start lessons. She will walk around and say "I swim" and "get bar". The first thing they learn is how to pull up on a bar to safety. The next thing they learn is to grab a hand target under water, so she has also been saying "get hand", and then she will grab onto your hand. There were two days last week that I had to stay home and work so Bryan took her. When we were talking that night before bed I was asking her how swimming was and she said "Daddy watch me, Daddy watch me." She was so proud that she got to show Daddy her skills. I just love that.

It is a slow process. The lessons are only 10 minutes each day (for 6-8 weeks), but they work on specific target behaviors each day. She ended the week practicing her float. Angelee is using a shaping procedure to slowly shape/teach her floating behavior. She uses hand prompts and will eventually fade those when Caitlyn is turning over and floating on her own.

Caitlyn is still fussing when she is working with Angelee which is totally normal. She is learning something totally new and it is challenging. I know by her comments that she is doing just fine. It will be amazing to see her learn and change with each week. (so don't be alarmed) :) You have to understand the entire process. Bryan and I both agree that a little fussing is a small price to pay for her to be able to save her own life and have some strong swim/survival skills to fall back on.

Week 1- Caitlyn ISR (roll over and float)

Little Lover

Caitlyn has always been a "snuggle bug", which is what we used to call her when she was younger. Now, she is an independent little lover. She loves say "I love you Mama or Daddy or Emma." The other night when we were at dinner with the Norman fam all of the kiddos were running around after we ate. She was keeping up with the big kids and all of a sudden she ran over to me and yelled "Mommy, Mommy!" As I looked down to say "yes?", she leaned up to kiss me and say "I love you Mommy" and then she ran off to play. She just needed a little lovin. Jen and I just laughed.

Today, we got the chance to have lunch with Bryan. As he was leaving again for work, Caitlyn said "no work Daddy" and then followed him until she got a kiss. And I guess that was not quite enough loving because she kept saying "hug Daddy, hug Daddy", so we had to go catch him before he drove away to give him a hug.

I just love it. She loves to be sung to and likes to do noses.

Here is a picture of Caitlyn and Nana doing noses when we were in Disneyland.

The Easter story

I was the office working on a report for work and Emma went into Caitlyn's room to wake her up. I could hear them down the hall. She started telling her to say Jesus and told her a story. This is my best recount.

Emma told this story to Caitlyn:

"Jesus was on the cross and Mary and his disciples were sad because he was dying. But then on Easter, he rose from the dead and that was fun. Everyone was happy. Isn't that fun?"

Caitlyn said:

"yeah."

Emma also went on to tell Caitlyn the story of the annunciation when Mary was told she would have a baby and his name would be Jesus.

These are the amazing moments that I want to remember always.

6th Annual Pat's Run

Today, we ran the Pat Tillman 4.2 mile run at ASU. Over 30,000 people were there to help celebrate his life and raise money for the Pat Tillman foundation to fund scholarships for veterans. We signed Emma up for the kids .42 mile fun run and she has been so excited. She came into our room at 5:00 am this morning as we were rolling out of bed. She said she had been dreaming about her "big race." Here she is ready to jump in the car with the other thousands of runners to head to Tempe.

Doing some stretches before our corral was released.

Ready to ride.

Bryan pushed today, good job honey! Once you get Emma in there, you are pushing about 60 lbs not counting the stroller and all of the snacks.

Finish line in the Sun Devil's stadium at the 42 yard line. Pat was number 42 when he played for ASU.

Getting ready for the kids fun run. Emma and Reagan ran together. Reagan is a little friend from Montessori.

Caitlyn and her side kick the Starbucks Valentine's bear. The nice baristas at Starbucks gave her that bear after she had visited him many times. One day when we went in the manager said "she can have that bear, she is so cute with it." I was refusing to buy anymore stuffed animals- but when they offered it to her we had to take him home.

Ready to start

Caitlyn, Emma and Reagan and some of Reagan's friends after the race. The girls did such a great job. They had a wonderful time and felt such a sense of pride.

Afterwards, we went to In and Out for lunch (I know, we run and then go eat junk, but it was oh so good). We sat next to an older woman (or should I say she sat next to us, she and her husband were deciding where to sit and she said, oh let's sit here so I can look at these beautiful girls). She was talking to Emma about the run and was telling her that she did a good job. I realized that they were Catholic when they held hands and said "bless us, oh lord" before they ate. When we got ready to leave we said goodbye and the woman told Emma "have a great life and keep on running." I thought that was great advice and a great way to end the morning.

Caitlyn's run - she was having a ball doing laps around the stroller. She was entertaining a lot of people around us that is for sure. When I asked her if she had fun at the run when I was giving her a bath, she moved her arms back and forth like she was running and had a big grin on her face. She cracks us up.

When you watch this little clip, look at Emma and Reagan's faces at the very end after a guy has cheered them on, they just look at each other with the sweetest most supportive looking smiles. They look so proud of each other. I love it. This was an amazing day for Miss Emma and Miss Reagan. GILRS ROCK !!

Just some regular days...

Mommy, Emma and Caitlyn took a "mental health" day last Thursday. We have had so many fun things going on in addition to the regular stuff we just decided to take a day off. So, as I was sleeping in a bit (15 minutes- which is a lot), Emma went into Caitlyn's room to entertain her. When I walked into Caitlyn's room they were both in the crib laying down reading books. It was so sweet. I ran to get the camera and by the time I got there Caitlyn was ready to be sprung out of the crib, so this is all I could capture. Yes, that is Emma's arm.

Who needs toys when you have a laundry basket ?

Enjoy the little video to follow.

Breakfast with Emma and Caitlyn. Waffles and oatmeal. I thought they were so adorable eating and chit chatting with their little pig tails. I am so thankful that they will always have each other. I pray that they stay close and have a special bond like my little brother and I do. Oh, and they can tease the ol parents together as we all get older.

Mommy's running partners. Caitlyn has gotten really good at riding in the jogger stroller. She seems relaxed and rides for a good 10+ miles a week. That is soon to change since the heat is on the way. Today, we ran with a baby doll and two bunnies.

Tomatoes from our garden. We put them on our pasta and they were yummy. We are waiting on strawberries next.

Laundry Basket Fun

A Saturday

Miss E getting ready to swim at lifetime

Lunch at South Mountain Farm with the Corley family. Claire and Emma will be going to Kindergarten together at Gilbert Traditional Academy. They are "swimming friends".

Running at the farm after picking tons of dandelions and making lots of wishes !!

Claire and Emma in front of the garden - we bought some carrots and onions - YUM

Caitlyn and Ellie in the flower garden

Favorite Part of the Day

At night when I tuck Emma into bed I ask her what her "favorite part of the day" was. I also ask her if there were any "hard parts of the day". It is always fun to hear what her "favorite parts" are. At this point in her happy little life there are not many "hard parts of the day" and I am grateful for that. Her favorite parts of the day are things like easter egg hunts, playing outside with Ella or swimming lessons. I am hoping that this little technique works when the girls are in there teens. He he, a Mom can hope right?? I hope I can still scratch their backs and sing them Snuggle Puppy too. :)

This morning when Emma came into my room (a bit earlier) than usual, I talked her into snuggling with me. As we snuggled together, holding hands I whispered in her ear "this is my favorite part of the day." She replied "mom I love you as much as eggs." This was very meaningful to me considering she had been asking to have cut up hard boiled eggs with butter and salt and pepper since the morning before. :) I told her I loved her too and we started our day. (She did have eggs for breakfast- 3 to be exact). What a loving soul she has.

After we dropped Emma off at school we were planning to meet up with Jen JC and her little side kick, baby Ellie to do a run on the canal. Jen JC is a friend of mine who talked me into doing the sprint triathlon and is now trying to peer pressure me into training for a full marathon with her. :) I called her to reschedule our run once I saw how windy it was. Although, once I got home it was calm and I decided to see how far Caitlyn and I could go before the wind picked up again. I was just planning a run to Bashas for Starbucks and goldfish (two staples in the Davey household), but Caitlyn seemed to be in the "riding" grove, so we went about 3.5 miles. This brings me to my second "favorite part" of the day. I usually have my nano playing music on the little speaker in the jogger but today we were cruzen to the sound of nature and cars. I am glad we did...because for a good half mile Caitlyn was singing Twinkle Twinkle as she held onto her Easter bunny with a tight grip. It was so adorable and peaceful to run to the sounds of a little almost two year old.

My two favorite parts of the day...snuggles and singing -

Easter 2010

Caitlyn, Avery, Emma and Simon

We had lunch with the Norman fam on Saturday - it was a gorgeous day for the kiddos to be outside together

Time to dye eggs

Emma had fun dyeing eggs while Caitlyn took a long nap- she even added stickers

When Miss Caitlyn woke up she painted a lil' cupcake for her 2nd birthday party

The Easter bunny came !!

This year the Easter bunny hid eggs inside and out

The Easter bunny came again- opening baskets from the Burke family, Great Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Paul and Great Great Aunt Joanne

An Easter egg hunt outside at Bonnie and Paul's - thanks Mel for hiding eggs for us

Three little gifts from GOD

Caitlyn and Jazzy bear cruizen

Time for Easter cupcakes and Great Aunt Joanne's Paula Dean's carrot cake- soo yummy- Caitlyn and Mommy will have to run this off on Easter Monday

The fam- Uncle Paul, Aunt Bonnie, Bryan, Mel, Heather, Jazmine, Brian, Great Aunt Joanne, Andrea, Emma, Bryan, Caitlyn

(yes the 3 Bryan/Brian's- BT, BB and BD) he he

We had a very fun day full of family and festivities. We are very blessed and Praise Jesus, for he is risen today !!!!