Pumpkin Patch 2010

Every year since Dominic was about 18 mo old we have gone to the Clayton Valley Pumkin Farm. We usually go a couple of weeks before Halloween. Not this year. A couple of weeks ago we planned to go. It was too hot. Last weekend we planned to go. It rained. Our only day left was this past Thursday. In case you didn't know, the Giants were playing. We had a small window of time between Dominic getting home from school and the Giants game start time. We made it!!!

We don't usually do the extra activities, except the train ride. If you know me, you know that I am somewhat frugal, to put it nicely. And I don't like to pay for the extra stuff that seems way over-priced. This year I went all out!! I must apologize ahead of time...I LOVE pictures at the pumpkin patch, so there are MANY!

Dominic and Connor at the beginning of the hay maze.

Connor making his way out.

The "Bean Pit." Emma Kate didn't know what to think of all those things.

Connor loved the tubes where you drop the ball through and wait for it to come out down below.

Daddy and Emma Kate hangin' out waiting for the boys.

Mommy and Daddy waiting for the boys.

Of course...the train ride.

Even Emma got into the action on this one!

I LOVE this one of the kids!

Emma way too enthralled with the mini pumpkins to look at me.





Why do my boys have to pick the largest, most expensive pumpkins in the patch?!?!

Next year I should tell them they can only get it if they can carry it:)

Just kidding-kind of...I told you I was frugal!

And the yearly height measurement...

The boys were happy with their picks.

And this year...I'm pretty happy with my pics!

Now I have to think about carving those suckers!

8 Months

Today you are 8 months old, Emma. My, how the time goes so quickly. Everyday you amaze me at how beautiful you are and remind me how blessed I am to have you in my life.

This is how I found you when you woke up this morning...happy...as usual...about 6:30am.

You are still not sleeping through the night. In fact, many nights you wake up twice to eat. Your pediatrician says you shouldn't need to eat during the night anymore. I think you would disagree with that if you could speak.

You spent the day with Bunga, Daddy's mom, today while we were at work. You go to her house every Monday and some Saturday's. Today I asked her to record your 8 month birthday in pictures. I think she did a wonderful job!

You are sitting up now, very steadily. You roll wherever you want to go and twist your body around in a circle. You now lie on your belly with hands and legs flailing, trying to go somewhere. It's fun to watch you try to figure it all out. I never know which position I am going to find you in when I come get you out of bed.

You LOVE your lovey and blanket. Gotta have those to go ni-night! You are usually very easy to get to sleep...

milk...check.

lovey...check.

blanket...check.

You are a great eater as well. You are now eating any veggie or fruit baby food, as well as baby oatmeal. Tonight I pureed some veggies to try tomorrow. I usually don't do the home-made baby food thing, but I thought I'd give it a whirl. We'll see how you like it! We're also going to start yogurt and some other new foods soon.

You are such an "easy" baby! You love to watch the world around you. You love music and enjoy dancing with Mommy or Daddy. You always enjoy being outside, especially for our evening walks around the neighborhood. You don't say much among the craziness of the house. But when it's quiet, you babble a little or scream your "happy scream."

Oh, how you love your brothers! You love to study Dominic and all his hair. You can't get enough Connor action. He is always running all over the place. You are content to just sit and watch him play. He is always kissing and hugging you, not very gently, I might add! And you are patient with it all. Connor calls you "My Emmies" and "Precious."

I came home from work today and found you hanging out with Daddy. You are definitely a Daddy's Girl. When he is in the room, you can't take your eyes off of him!

I gave you your evening bottle. Mommy doesn't have much milk anymore in the afternoon and evening, so you get formula as well. You always put your hand or your lovey over your face when you are falling asleep.

And...out!

Usually you don't fall asleep in my arms, but you were a tired girl tonight! I LOVED it! You go to sleep anywhere between 6:30 and 7:00pm.

I wish you slept longer. Mommy is certainly sleep-deprived! Between you and your brother, there isn't much sleeping going on lately.

You are an amazing little girl. I am so thankful that the Lord chose me to be your mother and I pray everyday for you and the life you have ahead of you. I love the new dynamic that you add to the family.

Happy 8 month birthday!

Happy Birthday Papa Bob

Tonight we went to Jeff's parents' house for dinner to celebrate his dad's birthday. We decided to attempt to get a good picture of the birthday boy with all of his grandchildren. Connor and Cale (on the ends) are 2 months apart in age. Emma and Corben (the babies) are 5 months apart. And Dominic...well Dom is the "older one." Often times when we get together I feel bad for him. He has no one his age to hang out with. He's right in between the adults and the "little kids." We love him so much, for he is a really good sport. We had a great time tonight and thank the Lord that "Bunga" and "Papa" live so close and are so involved in the children's lives.

I thought I'd include the "not-so-good" attempts at getting 4 young children, a teenager, and Papa all looking my way with smiles on their faces....

And finally....!!!

Good enough for me! I love those faces!

A Shower to Remember

Early this past Spring I threw Shawna (my then sister-in-law-to-be) a bridal shower. This past Sunday I had the honor of throwing her a baby shower! I am so excited to meet my nephew, Harley, in December (maybe January.) Those little guys have a way of showing up when they want to!

This shower was not a shower to remember necessarily because of anything I had control of, but because of what God had control of- the rain! It DID shower for the shower. That morning I prayed that God would hold off the rain for a little while-he did. Just long enough to get some tarps pulled over the back patio overhang. Then the rain began, and didn't stop until after the party was over. I got lots of pictures of the party details. What I did not capture, were the leaks that sprung in the tarps above, causing steady drips coming down on place settings at the table, Amanda and I putting up plastic and drying off chairs to control the leakage, and the panic in my heart as I looked out at wilting orange pom poms hanging in the air. In case you didn't know, tissue paper doesn't hold up very well when wet! (These are what I was working on last week with my glass of wine.)

Nonetheless, we celebrated Shawna and Harley! We went outside to have lunch and then brought our chairs inside for some warmth for the rest of the shower.

Doesn't she look amazing?!?!

These are the menus. They did NOT look like this in the end!

Before the rain.

Most people opted for the hot cider. We used my grandmother's old tea cups.

The colors were orange and baby blue, which normally I would not think of together, but it worked. I really wanted to incorporate the colors of the season and Shawna wanted it to reflect her baby boy. I loved how it turned out. (I ordered the bright orange Gerber Daisies from Costco.)

I have started buying a book for every birthday party for Connor which I also use as a guest book. Everyone at the party writes a message to remember the event. So I bought one for Baby Harley. I was very excited when I found this one...Shawna is a huge Snoopy fan and the pumpkin theme matched the shower perfectly!

My friend, Lisa, used her Cricut machine to cut out these little pumpkins. Amanda and I glued baby clothespins to the back to make name tags.

Another project done on Lisa's Cricut. It was so much fun working with her on this!

And of course...the food!
Two of Shawna's friends, Amy and Vickie, made the quiches.

I found a really cute mold at Crate & Barrel for the pumpkin bread.

Another of Shawna's friends made the cupcakes.

Very festive!

Shawna received a lot of wonderful presents for the baby, and all-in-all, we had a great time!

After all- life is about expecting the unexpected and being flexible right?

(Both of which, I need to work on.)

Thank you to everyone who helped and

Congratulations to Scott and Shawna!

I am so excited for your growing family!

(Stay tuned for more events from that day...)

Columbus Day

Columbus Day...oh Columbus! So you may not have discovered America, but you DID give me a day off of work in which my boys are not off of school...thank you!

This is the ONE holiday that I get a day OFF...well...until Emma Kate was born. But that's ok, because we both love to shop! Today we took the boys to school and headed out for some girl time. Ok, so it consisted of The Dollar Tree, Marshall's, Starbucks (of course! My coffee from 5:30am had LONG worn off!) and Costco. Costco at this time of year is so much fun...Fall clothes. Halloween costumes. Christmas stuff coming in.

I am throwing a baby shower for my sister-in-law this Sunday, so there is a lot of running around to be done. We had a BLAST!

Clearly...she is comfortable!

We, then picked up Connor, had lunch, and "naptime." Naptime really consists of my telling Connor he has to stay in his room for an hour...ok..most of the time I stretch it to an hour and a half. He needs some down time...just go with it...we all know who really needs some down time!

Sometimes I get REALLY lucky and Emma will sleep at the same time...not today.

This afternoon I did some vaccuuming to show the hubby I DID do SOMETHING today!

This is what inevitably happens when I move the dining room chairs...

LEAP FROG!!!

While Emma Kate watched and Dominic was bunkered down in his room doing homework.

She just started sitting up a couple of weeks ago. She still falls down once in a while. We just make sure the area around her is clear!

I had to get a picture of Connor after he dressed himself after nap.

This is an accomplishment...he doesn't like to get dressed on his own.

I was so happy, I even let him go to the store with me like this...I'm not talking dowtown Walnut Creek or anything...but...the store!

And tonight after dinner, a great Giants win, and bedtimes, I worked on a project, accompanied by a glass of wine...or maybe 2...

You'll see next week what this turned out to be!

Thanks Kim! I LOVE the Sterling! And it IS cheaper!

I'm just sayin'...