Family Game Night

Now that the rains have started and we are no longer watching TV on school nights, we have been finding things for the family to do together inside the house in the evenings. Tonight the activity was Lincoln Logs. I think Jason enjoyed it as much as the kids. I even heard him instructing Emma Jo on how to build an energy efficient house.

Awana

Last night I took the girls to their first Awana meeting. Awana is a cool club that young people can attend where they learn God's word in a fun and exciting way. Last night was the annual Family Pizza Night and B.A.R.F. night, so I got to stay and walk through the program with the Grace (Emma Jo went with her age group on her own).
There are three age groups for Awana, Cubbies (PreSchool), Sparks (K-2nd), T&T (3rd-6th). The Awana night is divided into three sections, Games, Large Group and Small Group. Games is just what you would think. Everyone in that age group meets in the Gym and plays games. The Sparks played Dodge Ball (and really enjoyed trying to get the leaders). The T&Ts played kickball (and Emma Jo's team won!).
During Large Group everyone in that age group meets in the Chapel and sings songs and learns a Bible lesson. Last nights lesson involved a colorful bracelet which can be an aid to help spread the message of Christianity. The leader explained what each of the colors represented, gave a Bible verse to support it and then passed out bracelets to each of the children.
This was also where Grace found out what B.A.R.F. night is. It stands for Bring A Real Friend. Since Katrina brought Grace, they each got $20 Awana Dollars! Next week is "Store Night" where the kids get to buy prizes with the Awana Bucks they have earned.
The last part of the evening was Small Groups. During this time the kids go over their workbooks and practice their verses and activities. Successful memorization of a verse or completion of an activity earns them Awana Bucks and jewels or patches for their vest or shirt. Emma Jo ended the night with $31 Awana Bucks because she completed two activities.
They talked about the night all the way home and then had to share each of the details with Daddy. The only concern I have is the time. My kids are pretty well trained to go to bed at 8pm and get up at 6:30am every day. Last night we didn't get to bed until 8:30 and the kids didn't fall asleep until 9. We'll see how today goes...

A Visit from Oregon & Rain

This morning I'm sitting here in my quiet family room listening to the rain. It is coming down pretty hard out there and I love it! It has been quite some time since we had rain here. We definitely need the rain here in Northern California, but the timing might not be the best since Jason still has about 40% of his ranches waiting to be picked. It is supposed to last just 24 hours, so hopefully the grapes will weather the storm and still be in good shape to pick later this week.
Now it is time for me to buy warm clothes and jackets for the kids and pull my winter stuff out from its summertime hiding place.

Yesterday morning, before the rain, Joe and Bette headed back to Oregon. They came down over the weekend to watch the girls play soccer. The kids were so excited to see them and Cooper was disappointed when we got home from school last night that they were gone. I think the grandparents were amazed to see how big each of the children has gotten since our last visit.

Cutie Patotie?

This morning as I got Cooper out of his crib I called him my Little Cutie Patotie. He indignantly told me he was not a Cutie Patotie, he is a "Big Boy". I asked him if he could be both a big boy and a cutie patotie and he responded that "Booper a Big Boy!".

I can't hardly believe how much I love that little boy!

More Soccer

Jason had to pick this morning and Emma Jo has been home sick since Thursday, so I took the little kids to soccer this morning by myself.
We were a little early since I never can tell how long it will take to get 2 or 3 kids out of the house. While we waited for the early game to finish, Grace and Cooper entertained themselves on the playground.

Cooper, our little monkey, has to do everything that Grace does, so he was swinging on the bar at the top of the slide.

The Royal Pixies did a great job today. Grace was paying attention to the game and kicked the ball whenever she had a chance.

Harvest Fair

Today was Grace's first official Field Trip. Her Kindergarten class when to the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. She has been looking forward to her first field trip since school started and has been counting down the days all week. I took the day off work so that we could spend it together.

Grace fed carrots to a horse, milked a plastic cow, and hugged Clo, the most famous cow in Sonoma County.

We learned about cows and what it means to chew the cud. We saw giant award winning pumpkins (605 lbs!) and navigated a hay maze.

One of the biggest things Grace was looking forward to was a "fair lunch". She eagerly ate her entire Giant Corn Dog. Then we fed leaves to a goat (they think they are chips!), and hunted for eggs in a huge pile of straw.

Our last stop before we left was the "Barnyard Scramble". There played pumpkin bowling (Grace knocked down 6 pins!), had a potato sack race and did somersaults. I'm not sure what we were supposed to do with the plastic animals in the red barn, but Gracie chose to throw them out of the window (don't worry I made her pick them up and put them away).
There wasn't as much to do at this year's Harvest Fair, but we still had a good time spending some Mommy-Gracie time with no other siblings.

Soccer or Keep-Away?

At half-time of Emma Jo's soccer game on Sunday, Gracie and Cooper decided to have a game of their own. Gracie thought they were playing soccer so she set down the ball and tried to teach Cooper how to kick it. Cooper tried for a couple of minutes, but they he decided Keep-Away was a much more fun.