Random Picture Challenge 7.0

Brittany at 4littlemen chose the 11th picture from September 2007 for this week's Random Picture Challenge. Unfortunately that was right before my old laptop crashed and I haven't yet (still) copied my pictures onto this laptop. So, I'm fudging the rules and sharing one of the only 2007 pictures I have on this computer.

I think this was actually taken in San Diego in the spring before we knew about Cooper.

No. No. No.

Cooper John has gotten great at saying "no" lately. So great in fact that sometimes it hurts my feelings. There have been several times lately that when I go to get him out of his crib in the morning he tells me "no". Sometimes he will even back himself into the corner away from my reach. I'm pretty sure he tells me no because he much prefers it when Emma Jo gets him in the morning. Just about every morning she asks "can I get Cooper when he wakes up?". When she goes in to get him he smiles and sometimes even laughs. He sure does love her. After being so upset when he told me no one morning, I decided to leave him in his crib. He wasn't upset and happily played with his blanket and bumper.

From my bedroom I can see right into his room and could see him playing "peek-a-boo" with me through his crib. I thought it was so cute and totally took away the unhappy feeling I had from him not wanting me to pick him up in the morning.

Grace Louise on the other hand is always happy to see me in the morning, especially when she wakes up early enough to get to cuddle with me in bed for a few minutes. We always say we are just waiting to watch the weather before we start our day so that we know how to dress.

The Heavens Rejoice and Sing

This morning Grace's Preschool had a Tile-a-Memory Fundraiser. It was nice to spend some time together as a family with other families from the school. The girls each got to design and paint their own tiles. Gracie worked hard on her smiling sun and rainbow. Emma Jo made a Popcorn box and theater ticket. Grammie designed three in honor of the 3 kids. Cooper just played and ate while he patiently waited since Mommy wouldn't let him get any paint on his brush. The tiles will eventually line the walkway into the preschool and will help pay for a brand new playground.

Ladies Man

Cooper sure does know how to charm the ladies. Each morning when he sees his sisters for the first time his eyes light up and he smiles. Sometimes he even squeals with delight.
This morning he and I were cuddling on the bed when Emma Jo woke up. She crawled onto the bed next to us. Cooper noticed the Taylor Swift t-shirt she was wearing and immediately pointed at the picture and said "girl". (It sounds like "gurl" but we knew what he was saying.) Then he leaned over and kissed Taylor. The girls and I thought it was adorable and clapped for him. Of course Cooper loved the attention so he repeated his actions at least a half dozen times. Then Emma Jo asked for a kiss and Cooper very willingly gave each of us a couple of kisses.
A great way to start the day...

Storybook Recommendation

Before heading to the pet store on Saturday morning, I happened upon a recommendation for the Jesus Storybook Bible on the blog 4tunate. Since the Christian store is right across the street from the pet store I decided to go check it out. I've never been happy with the Little Eye's Bible we had for the girls so I was excited to see what this book would offer for bedtime stories. The book lived up to the recommendation and I purchased the last copy in the store.

When we got home on Saturday afternoon, Grace had requests for two different stories, Noah's Ark and Jesus' birth. I wasn't surprised by her request because she loves to recount the story of Noah every time it rains (like it has been all weekend). Whenever it rains we have to look for the rainbow and she reminds me that a rainbow is God's promise that he will never again flood the earth. Later in the weekend I saw Emma Jo reading the story of Jonah and the Big Fish to Grace and Cooper. I think this will be a great addition to our bedtime storybook collection.

Report Card

Grace Louise got her report card last week. She is doing great and is ready for Kindergarten in the fall.
Mrs. Winter reports: Grace is on track. She knows all 15 letters introduced and almost all of the sounds. She can count to 100 and knows numbers 0-11. Grace enjoys coloring and playing in housekeeping. Grace is a great helper and a good friend to all the kids in the class. Keep up the good work.

Rainy Saturday Morning

What do you do on a rainy Saturday morning? Since Daddy was gone we headed to the pet store. I wish we had a Children's Museum or Aquarium close by, but since we don't PetCo will do. We spent over an hour there looking at the birds, critters, fish and reptiles. The finches were our favorite birds. They were so busy flitting around and singing. Emma Jo loved the mice and asked at least a dozen times if she could get one some day. Grace was happy to find Nemo, Dory, the turtles and the tortises. She was quick to tell me the difference between a turtle and a tortoise is that tortoises live on land and turtles live in the water. Cooper was wide-eyed looking at everything. As we were touring the store I noticed several other families doing the same thing to pass away the day.

Bath Time

Cooper John loves bath time! It is probably his favorite activity of the day, followed closely by eating, climbing in his toy basket, and playing hide-and-seek. He can splash harder than any kid I've ever seen. When he is done taking a bath Mommy is soaked, the floor is soaked, the walls are soaked and Cooper is adorable. I never knew what other parents were complaining about when they said the kids destroyed the bathroom at bath time. The girls were always very calm in the bath.

Last night Cooper discovered a new game to play in the bath. He would bend over until his face went into the water. Most of the time he would either blow bubbles or lick the water. A couple of times he accidentally inhaled some of the water and then started coughing and looking at mommy with that "what did you do to me" look. I'm thinking he is going to like swimming in the pool this summer.

Father-Daughter Dance

Friday night was the annual Girl Scouts Father-Daughter Dance. Emma Jo was adorable and she and Jason made a cute couple. The evening started with Jason picking Emma up from school and taking her to a "real" salon to get her hair cut and styled. Then they got dressed, Jason gave her a corsage, I took pictures and they were off. At the dance they waited in line for pictures, waited in line for food, dance and played games. When it was time for dessert there was yet another line. They decided to leave the dance early and head to the Town Green for Baskin-Robbins.

Emma and Jason each seemed to have had a good time and Emma Jo looked so grown up!

Random Picture Challenge 5.0

Hopefully Brittany over at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins won't mind that I'm a day late this week. Here is the 5th picture from the last from March 2008.

It seems a little ironic that I was working at Silver Oak's Release Day yesterday and this random picture chosen by Brittany is of Grace working at Pina Napa Valley's Release Day last March.

Silver Oak Release Day

Today's the Day! Silver Oak is releasing their 2004 Napa Valley Cabernet and hosting the Grand Opening of the new Oakville Winery. It promises to be a very eventful day. There will be food from local chefs, Cindy's, Mustards, AKA, Barber's Q to name a few. There will be live music and plenty of wine, including the 04Napa, 99Napa and Twomey Merlot. If you are in the valley and looking for something to do, come check it out. I'll be working in the wine pickup area so stop by and say "hi".



You can find more details on the website. Hope to see you there!

Meeup Sling Giveaway

If you've ever had any interest in babywearing, check out 4littlemen. Brittany is currently hosting a Meeup Sling Giveaway.

I hardly wore Emma Jo at all because all I had was a Snuggly and it was so un-snuggly. With Grace I splurged on a Bjorn and loved it. It was so easy to pop her in and be able to keep up with Emma Jo. When Cooper was born I hurried out and bought a Bjorn. It was okay, but he was such a big baby it wasn't as comfy has it had been with Grace. I then proceeded to get a Hotsling, Peanut Shell, Maya Wrap and a New Native. None of them were quite right. Finally when Cooper John was about 7 months old I bought an Ergo, what I had wanted from the beginning. Since that day in June I've worn him often in the Ergo. Even now at 14 months and over 25 pounds it is quick and easy to pop him in the Ergo and do whatever needs to be done.

Tractors and Dirt!

25 Random Things about Me

1. My family is the most important thing in the world to me, especially my husband, my kids, my parents, my brother, my nephews...
2. I always wanted sons and when Emma Jo was born I was shocked. I couldn't believe I had a daughter. Then I fell madly in love and I couldn't imagine my life without her.
3. I still want to be a teacher when I "grow up". High School Calculus - Mr. A inspired me.
4. I hope that rearing my children will be my biggest accomplishment but I always worry that I'm not doing a good enough job.
5. My brain moves so fast it is often difficult for me to concentrate on one thing at a time. I'm much better at multi-tasking.
6. I can only keep a job position for about 2 years before I become completely bored in it and start seeking out new challenges.
7. I want to watch professional baseball games in every major league stadium and am so bummed that some of the most famous have closed before I had a chance to visit.
8. There are times I get overwhelmed with the children and Jason takes them out of the house to give me a break. It is great for about 30 minutes and then I miss them like crazy.
9. I love watching movies in the movie theatre and prefer to go alone - then I get all the popcorn.
10. I regret that I didn't stay in contact with my friends from college.
11. I was an exchange student in France in High School. I wish I still spoke French fluently.
12. I cringe when I read improper grammar. Mr. Ainsle and Mrs. Williamson made a huge impression on me.
13. I wish there was a church in my area with Saturday services. I would love to attend with the kids but Sunday morning is our only morning together as a family.
14. I am eternally grateful for my parents. They have always shown that family is the most important thing to them. I judge my parenting by the standard they set.
15. I still don't feel like a "grown up" even though I've been I married for 13+ years and have 3 children.
16. I really want to go sky-diving.
17. I wish my hair was red.
18. I hope to run the family winery someday.
19. I'd love to take a vacation with just my husband, but I know I wouldn't enjoy it because I'd miss the kids too much.
20. I work in the wine industry but I really have no palate for wine.
21. I secretly wish someone would nominate me for What Not to Wear so that I could get a whole new wardrobe that looks good on me.
22. I love to watch Jon & Kate plus 8 even though I would go insane if I had 8 children and I would never speak to my spouse the way that Kate does. It is still fun to watch how they live.
23. I never filled out the baby books for any of the kids.
24. The mornings when the house is quiet and all the kids are asleep is my favorite time of the day.
25. I hate to wear socks and would prefer to be barefoot.
26. Bad drivers are a huge pet peeve of mine. Get in the correct lane and don't cut me off because you failed to plan ahead or you wanted to get one car ahead. We'll all get there at the same time!
27. When my children are loving towards each other it melts my heart and makes me so proud.
28. My children's laughter is my favorite sound.

Family Day

Yesterday we had a great day as a family. The kids and I went to the library on the Town Green. Then Daddy met us as we played on the playground.

After lunch Cooper took a long nap while Jason and the girls made homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies.

When Cooper woke up we headed up to Grammie and Grampa's for a glass of wine and ended up staying for an impromptu dinner of pizza.

The weather was beautiful, in the 60s, and we enjoyed spending as much of the day and evening outside as possible.