McWilliams Family

Preschool Celebration

2011-12-14T20:09:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add a few pictures from Jake's birthday celebration at school.

Now, I realize that I just finished saying that Jake won't sit still. Well, after seeing these next few pictures you may disagree with me but this is exactly WHY I took these pictures! He is like a different person here. So focused! :)

Sweet best friend, Ruby!

this was the snack I brought to preschool. the school has a no sweet policy (no fun!) so I had to get creative... thank you, Pinterest!

Jake is FOUR!

2011-12-14T20:00:00.000-08:00

I know every mom says this but I just cannot get over the fact that my firstborn is FOUR! Jake has brought so much joy to our life and Mark and I are beyond blessed that the Lord chose us to be his parents! We celebrated early again with daddy and the McWilliams because the boys and I were headed to Dallas a couple of days before his birthday.

***Warning*** Picture overload***

A fun new airplane!

In Dallas:

November 4, his actual birthday and the day that changed my life forever!

(Look at the grown up smile!)

After breakfast, we headed across the street to watch the ENORMOUS tractors work in the field.

I spy 2 tiny little boys!

Then we headed to Cabella's for some FUN! :)

We test drove some mules

We tested out some pretty awesome boats

We listened to the fish sing 'happy birthday' to Jake :)

And we practiced our shots

Then we were super hungry so we headed to...

Chick-fil-a, of course :)

We love uncle Jon Jon

After naps, Jake got to get his present. His very own bike to have in Texas.

FOUR YEAR OLD STATS:

Weighs 36 pounds

Is 40.75 inches tall

Vision is perfect

Hearing is perfect (I realized that he does, in fact, just ignore me at times- ha!)

He was so grownup looking to me while the nurse was doing all her measurements.

Sweet guy is really just that, sweet. So sensitive and caring about others but mostly about his little brother. Still loves everything that moves- tractors, trains, trucks, buses, airplanes. He is constantly moving, therefore doesn't really sit still for very long. Except when he wakes up from his nap and wants to snuggle. Yes, he's still going strong in the nap department (from usually 2-4:30)! He also loves going to school to do "his wuk" (work)

On the downside of being FOUR... the whining. Oh dear Jesus, help me! The whining leaves me wanting to pull my hair out. He could yell and scream all he wants and it wouldn't phase me but his bottom lip that sticks out past his chin and the fake sighs and acting like he's trying to catch his breath send me straight to a bottle of Arista :) We are also having such a frustrating time at the dinner table. The child would rather do anything but eat (he has been like that from the beginning). We will eliminate anything we can think of at the table but he will find the smallest crumb on the table and "play' with it. Yall, I'm serious! My child will not stay focused on eating. Mark and I are always saying, "jake, take a bite" or jake, man, seriously, chew your food." Once we get back from Texas I'm going to do a sticker chart or start using a timer... or anything else YOU may suggest, please :)

All that aside, I couldn't be more in love with my FOUR year old. He makes me smile, he makes me laugh, he makes me remember what it's like to be a little kid, he makes me be patient, he makes me be forgiving, he makes me so thankful for his little life.

Thank you, Jesus, for Jacob Ross McWilliams and for allowing me to be his mommy!

My second pumpkin

2011-12-13T09:27:00.000-08:00

I just had to remember him in this little pumpkin outfit. Cute thing :)

Fall Decorations

2011-12-13T09:24:00.000-08:00

It has been especially fun really getting to 'decorate' for all the holidays in our house this year. Here are a few pictures of how it was decorated for FALL!

Probably my FAVORITE fall decoration! Isn't is just beyond awesome?! I found it on Etsy and it was the best $56 I've ever spent :)

Our pumpkin collection grew as October and November went by

goof balls!

I changed the sign out and used a thanksgiving one during November

idea from Pinterest- obsessed!

boys bathroom

I must have not taken any pictures of the thanksgiving decorations... will be a problem next year when I look back at this post trying to remember how I decorated :)

Pumpkin Patch visits

2011-12-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

I'll just combine our couple visits to Grandma's Pumpkin Patch this fall. Lots of fun had by all!

Gracious! He's TWO!

2011-12-05T15:10:00.000-08:00

I've had exactly 2 months to get used to saying that but I still can't believe it! Pierce turned 2 on September 30 but we celebrated his birthday a week early because Mark was going to be traveling. Figured it's safe to do now while he doesn't know when his actual birthday is :) We had a fun day of playing with new toys, sitting and reading book in his new chair, and playing outside. Mark's family came over that night for some more presents and hamburgers.

My last post about Pierce was when he was, well, I can't find that one so who knows when it was. Can we say 'terrible mom'... sigh...

Pierce is really just the sweetest little boy. He has the most sensitive little spirit in him. He loves to snuggle. He loves to sit in your lap and read books. He LOVES his big brother, 'ake', wanting to do everything Jake does. He loves to be outside. He is so great about saying, 'chank chu' (thank you) without hardly ever being prompted. Speaking of talking, little stinker finally started saying his firsts words back in late July- 22 months old. We were a little nervous that he wasn't talking but he is definitely catching up and he has the most adorable little voice, I seriously love it! We are working on putting 3 words together now. Pierce is definitely our little scaredy cat. He wants to be held when we are outside in the dark. And thanks to big brother, Jake, he's terrified of 'osts' (ghosts)- working on convincing him they aren't real and telling Jake not to mention them. Pierce will clench his little fists and shake while saying, 'carry' (scarey). It's precious and sad and I love that he wants to be in my arms when he's scared. Pierce has started praying at dinner (in his own way) and I know that it brings the happiest tears to Jesus' eyes listening to a 2 years old talk to Him. I love that my kids know Jesus at a young age.

TWO year old stats:

Weight: 28.2 pounds (50%) Jake was 28 pounds at two

Height: 37 inches (75%) Jake was 36 3/4 inches at two

already hard at work on his new tool bench

taking a break in his new chair

birthday breakfast- mickey mouse pancake, powdered donuts and peaches from our backyard- yummo!

LOVE his expression

birthday boy's big brother - i adore his natural smile in this picture!

what a fun day celebrating our sweet little Pierce Habecker McWilliams!

Harvest Time

2011-11-25T15:38:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Harvest time! It's sorta like a love/hate kind of time. Love eating the grapes. Love knowing what those grapes will become! Love watching my kids with their daddy walking row after row learning about those grapes. Love seeing truck load after truck load of grapes (HATE being behind those trucks on a one lane road- ha!) Love smelling the smell of grapes being crushed and turning into wine. Love having friends and family come visit during those few weeks. However, I hate being a 'single mom' for a little while. Hate that Mark leaves at the crack of dawn, sometimes WAY before the crack of dawn. Hate that he sometimes comes home after the boys are asleep. But then again, I love that Mark loves his job! I love watching the excitement in his eyes when he is in the vineyard and at the winery. But I do hate that he is gone so much during harvest. But we survive, for which I'm thankful :)

Here are some pictures from picking grapes at our Mononi vineyard. Mononi, is one of our single vineyard Pinot Noirs.

As you can see, the boys love all this!

Preschool Year 2

2011-10-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

We have been so blessed by a wonderful preschool! Jake loves Live Oak. He loves his teachers and he and I have made some great friends. This year, Jake gets to go Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, 8:30-11:30.

Taking him to preschool this year was totally different from our experience last year! I was so thankful for a great morning with nothing but happiness. My heart and mind were fully focused on my precious firstborn.

His breakfast of choice- biscuits, eggs and bacon

it's RARE that i get such a sweet and natural smile so i love his picture :)

my little goof ball!

I'm trying to really treasure my time alone with him while Jake is at school. he is so great at playing by himself (probably would play alone the whole 3 hours if I'd let him!) and it's easy to get caught up in other things around the house so I'm trying to be more purposeful with my time with him.

my handsome, almost 4 year old!

now, before you think that Jake is super behind Melanie in his coloring skills, not to worry, Melanie is his teacher :)

very excited that he had a 'job' on the first day

the goodbye window!

I'm so looking forward to watching Jake grow and watching him learn this year at Live Oak!

Lake Sonoma

2011-10-05T12:00:00.000-07:00

One of the things we, the whole McWilliams family, love to do during the summer is rent a boat and spend an afternoon on Lake Sonoma. Here is the post from last summer (if you even care to take a peek). This year we rented a "double degger" boat and Jake was dying with excitement. The weather was perfect, and the water, still freezing.

he really was having a good time :)

and he's OUT

and so is he!

A result of a FUN day!

Dinner time TANTRUM

2011-10-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

All over one bite of dang quesadilla (which he loves!)

i was holding back the laughter...

then I actually laughed, which made him even madder... :)

Build-A-Bear

2011-10-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

Preschool started late this year, like the week after Labor Day late. I don't know who was more ready for school to start, Jake or his momma. I'd be willing to bet it was me though! My sweet friend, Sara, and Ruby made plans to head to Build-A-Bear one morning and I decided that it was a great idea. I love that place and have been waiting for the perfect time to take Jake.

Well, the perfect time was NOT that day! :)

I assumed that he was at a good age to go. Assumed he would love picking out a stuffed animal, filling it, dressing it, naming it, yada yada yada. He has never had a stuffed animal before that he loved so it was a good time to go.

Well I assumed wrong!

Yall, my child COULD. HAVE. CARED. LESS!

It was really quite hilarious how unamused he was. All he (and Pierce) wanted to do was chase each other around the store, digging through the basket of hearts that actually beat. I was just trying to keep the store from being destroyed. I knew the moment we walked in that it was going to be a WAY different experience than what I had pictured in my head.

And I should mention, that sweet sweet Ruby LOVED every moment of being in that store. Picking her animal out with such care, filling it with such love. I adore that girl! She kept telling Jake, "Jake, you better pay attention"- ha! She is, without a doubt, his second mother! :)

Anyways, I left exhausted and sweating but laughing at what had just gone down. I have a feeling that we won't be back for awhile, if ever.

Regardless, it was a memory I don't want to forget!

From the looks of the pictures you would think he had a great time ...

isn't that the cutest little face? (no, not his!)

Healdsburg's Water Carnival

2011-08-30T17:21:00.000-07:00

"In the summer of 1908, music, floats, parades and feats of athletic prowess made the first Healdsburg Water Carnival a smashing success."

"The day begins at 11 a.m. as the iconic White Swan float — a re-make of the original 1908 float — comes down the Russian River and passes under Memorial Bridge followed by 24 more floats. "

"The day will include live music, food trucks and old–time activities such as the ‘Whiskeroo’ and Period Bathing Suit Contest. There will also be live music, food trucks, and the city of Healdsburg's Parks and Recreation Department will be running children's activities on the beach."

this was all part of the healdsburg newspaper the week of the carnival and of course we had to go check out this historic event that hasn't happened in several years.

you can see all the people on the old railroad tracks watching the parade

this float says "russian river peace navy" (of course it does- ha!)

healdsburg tribune "float"

it was seriously such a random water carnival but it was something different and kinda cool and most importantly, the boys loved it :)

we didn't stay for the activities on the other side of the river because we were already late for a birthday party so until next year!

Camping

2011-08-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

It's not news to anyone that I don't like to camp. I don't like sleeping on the ground (and I know that is what they make air mattresses for...). I don't like being dirty. I don't like using the bathroom outside. I like my house and my bed and my shower. Not going to lie. I am a city girl all the way! And fortunately, Mark is kinda sorta on the same page as me- not so much the "city girl" type but the not a fan of camping type. But we figured that we should introduce Jake to camping for a night but that we should do it at Arista and it was going to be quick and easy. The house was close enough that they could sleep there if things didn't pan out or go there to have breakfast. Mark wasn't quite ready for Pierce to join in so I offered to stay home with him- phew!

Well, Jake. Had. A. BALL!!! Of course he did, Jennifer!! They went after dinner. Made a small campfire and had smores. Told stories. Listened for coyotes and raccoons and finally fell asleep after 10. Both of them tossed and turned and didn't sleep that great but loved it nonetheless. I don't see a weekend camping trip in our near future but it was a fun first experience for Jake and Mark!

Smiles and snuggles

2011-08-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above... James 1:17

thank you, Jesus, for my two little gifts!

"What are you boys doing out there?"

2011-08-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

i heard some giggling coming from my back patio after i asked the above question... never a good thing...as soon as i took a peek i ran to get my camera...

almost everyone asks me "where does Pierce get his BLOND hair". well, not from his parents :) my best guess is from some of our siblings who had blond hair when they were little. but it's seriously so funny to me and it's one of the things that i love most about him! i know he won't have it forever so i'm loving it LOTS now!

"ta da!" a sticker masterpiece on the legs of pierce

i hope they continue to love each other the way they do now! it's precious to my heart!

Fourth of July Flag

2011-08-30T15:48:00.000-07:00

I forgot to post a picture of the flag I made for the Fourth!

( I combined a couple of different "tutorials" to come up with it but I made it out of beadboard.)

Dallas in July

2011-08-30T15:44:00.000-07:00

We spent the first 2 weeks of July in Dallas and left just as temps were creeping into the 105+ temps. WHOA! The biggest deal for me personally on this trip was... I traveled with the boys BY MYSELF! I did it! Buying Pierce his own seat was my lifesaver. Everyone had their own seat and really we all did great :) I had enough people praying for me and I know it worked!!

We spent every morning in the pool. We spent every afternoon after naps in the pool. And we spent the last hour of the day in the pool. And many nights the later counted as baths. Does that make me a bad mom??! :) And we LOVED every second! (and i'm so mad at myself for not taking any pictures... all i have are videos- ugh!)

Here are some highlights of our 2 weeks in Dallas...

all snacked up and happy and ready to get to "dallas texas"

we spent a morning visiting the GINORMOUS cabella's store in allen- boys. loved. it!

we rode the DART train down to northpark and saw "cars" (on my birthday- my how birthdays have changed- ha!)

please look at Jake's face- priceless excitement :)

but i got to pick lunch- it was not a difficult decision! i LOVE chick-fil-a!!

spent 4th of july with my family watching fireworks from TCA (my school from 1-12 grade)

i seriously can't get enough of this little person!

had a family "first"- took the boys to their first baseball game. it wasn't the rangers but the roughriders (minor league team here in dallas) and it was just as fun!

mark and i had a date :)

and what's a trip to dallas without visiting the john deere tractor store?!?

As always, our time in Dallas goes way too fast! My parents go above and beyond in loving us and spoiling us and every moment is treasured! Until November...

Father's Day

2011-08-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful day celebrating Mark on Father's day. He is an incredible dad to both Jake and Pierce and we ALL just completely adore him!

Hot Air Balloon Classic

2011-07-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

I would say that we woke the kids up at the crack of dawn to come to this but sadly, my kids normally wake up at the crack of dawn... one day they will sleep in, right??? sigh...

Every year in Sonoma county there is a hot air balloon classic and we went for the first time this year. The boys loved it!

we found a perfect spot to sit and plopped down to watch. they were so close to us being blown up.

a little glimpse of Jesus in Sonoma County! :)

Last Day of Preschool

2011-07-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Jake's last day of preschool was the first week of June. I cannot tell you how much we have loved being at Live Oak this year. The school, the teachers, the new friends (that both Jake and I have made) all have been wonderful. And most importantly, Jake loved every minute of it.

while Twitch here looks a little whatever, the "real" twitch is a (pretend to adults) mouse that lives in a tiny house at the base of a tree on the playground here at live oak. he sleeps during the day which is why no one ever sees him and he works at night at the local pizza place here in healdsburg. the kids will write little notes/draw pictures and put them in twitch's mailbox and the next day he has written them back! it's a precious little tradition and one the kids LOVE!

jake's final job on the last day- feed the fish- his FAVORITE job! :)

there was an ice cream party at the end of the class

sweet friend, Ruby and teacher Melanie- we love her!!

Looking forward to going THREE days a week this year!

Memorial Day and a few "extras"

2011-07-27T10:55:00.000-07:00

Gracious, I'm behind on my blog.

Here is a picture of the boys from Memorial Day. And honestly, I do not even remember what we did. Sad, right?! But from the picture it looks like we hung out at Arista and spent the day with Bethany and the McWilliams clan. And this is the only picture I have from that day. Sad, again, right?! :(

and both boys got haircuts the next day :)

We also had some fun painting that afternoon

that's it for now :)

FFA Weekend

2011-07-18T16:13:00.000-07:00

The FFA parade and fair in Healdsburg was over Memorial Day. It's something that we always look forward to but this year was extra fun because Aunt "B" was here with us.

The parade is always a favorite!

i'm not really sure... once again...

my sister has all the fun pictures from the fair the next day but i can't seem to drag them from facebook to my desktop. sorry. but we petted all kinds of animals- pigs, cows, rabbits, goats, sheep, guinea pigs. We ate hot dogs. We rode a train. We jumped in bounce houses. We slid down huge slides. We had a blast and I'm so glad my sister was here with us!

Annual Arista Crawfish Boil

2011-07-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Mark's brother, Ben, for the past few years has flown in from Louisiana approx 200 pounds of crawfish and this year included some alligator- yikes! We invite fun friends and have a blast for a few hours. Jake and Pierce were super into it this year but I, on the other hand, eat my dinner beforehand and pretty much stay at a distance :)

i would love to know what Jake is saying to pierce :) can you see him pointing his little finger?

such excitement!

in case you were wondering what 200 pounds of crawfish looks like...

chowin' down- it got spicier and spicier as the night went on... or so I'm told- ha!

a little taste- wasn't a big fan...

attempting a thumbs up- you can tell that he wasn't thrilled with how it tasted :)

CUTENESS!

Until next year! Maybe one year I'll have enough courage to have a little taste... maybe...

Mother's Day Gift

2011-06-05T19:45:00.000-07:00

For Mother's Day this year, Mark gave me a photo shoot with the same girl who did Pierce's newborn/Jake's 2 year old pictures. I thought that it was the most special gift he could have given me because these pictures will last forever! He earned major points and it is probably a gift I should come to expect every Mother's Day, don't you think?! :)

She just sent me the sneak peek and I couldn't be anymore thrilled with them!

Click HERE to see them!

My Little Farm Boys

2011-06-05T19:37:00.000-07:00

Jake and Pierce LOVE LOVE LOVE spending time at Arista. They love being outside. They love digging in the dirt. They love walking the vineyard rows. They love "working on projects." They love riding on the tractor. They love being little farm boys! And I wouldn't have it any other way!

helping out in the soon-to-be goat house at Arista

Project #2

2011-05-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

The second project I wanted to work on with my dad was painting our powder room or our half bath downstairs. Everyone out here laughs when I say "powder room." It must be a southern thing. It was red when we moved in and while I would normally love a red bathroom, it just felt really small and dark. I had in my mind more of a sage-y green color but it turned out a little brighter and it has very quickly become one of my favorite little happy rooms.

I thought about my grandfather alot while I was painting the bathroom and while I was refinishing the picnic table. Those were things that he used to be great at. He was great with his hands. He was great at building things. I probably told my dad a dozen times that I wish I could pick up the phone and call him to tell him what I was doing and ask him the correct way to do it. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him. I miss him so much!

Anyways, here are a few pictures of my new powder room :)

i am in love with my new painting from Ballard Designs

and i still want to get a different light fixture too.

Project #1

2011-05-18T10:41:00.000-07:00

I had a couple of bigger projects that I was wanting my dad to help me with while he was here. The first one was refinishing a picnic table. Last year for my birthday, my sweet friend Sara's dad made me a picnic table for the boys! It is truly one of my favorites. But the weather had done a number on it and it desperately needed some help.

So, I borrowed a sander from my brother-in-law and went to ACE hardware and bought the rest of my supplies and we went to work!

here is the before. i wish i had an up close picture. sorry for the shadow!

aren't you impressed that I'm using a sander?! :)

all sanded and ready to be stained

VOILA! Ain't she purdy?!

I'm so happy how it turned out. And I used a different "top coat" that should hold up to the weather better. We've already had a few picnics and are loving it!

Thanks dad for helping me with project #1! I love you!

Mother's Day

2011-05-17T10:16:00.000-07:00

My sweet sweet boys, how I thank Jesus for you everyday! You bless me beyond belief and I am honored to be your mommy. Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He gave me you and for that I am eternally grateful! I was born to be your mommy and I will treasure that responsibility and that gift for always.

I was definitely sad that I couldn't be with my own momma on Mother's day 'cause I miss her beyond belief but was grateful to be with my dad. She is an amazing mother and I am so proud to be her daughter.

and i had to post these 2 pics...

my mommy and i on the day that i became a mommy!

and this was mother's day last year... so thankful for a different picture experience this year! :)

Tired...

2011-05-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

... looks like this at our house today...

ALL of us are going to bed early tonight!

My dad and the goats

2011-05-16T15:58:00.000-07:00

My dad was here all last week and we had just the best time together! He had been in Vancouver for a pastor's conference and hopped on a plane and came down for about 5 days. The boys and I picked him up at the airport and we all headed straight to a goat farm in Sebastopol that was having their spring open house. Mark's parents met us there because they are about to get a few goats themselves for Arista and wanted to check out everything. We all had a BALL! The boys were a little hesitant at first but it maybe lasted 2 minutes.

waiting for papa to get out of the plane- they were so excited!

dad flew right into santa rosa which is so great because you can go right out and watch the planes land behind this fence.

look at that smile on my dad's face! isn't it just the greatest?! :)

LOVE this picture!!

nibbling on jake's shirt- probably left over french fry grease :)

this was taken in the, for lack of a better word, "maternity ward"- all the goats in the barn were either pregnant or had just had babies within the past week. i bet there were about 70 goats here! dad got to test his mad milking skills. and i didn't go near it. i figure that i've "milked" enough over the past 3 years that i didn't need to test my skills :)

What a fun afternoon. We got home and I thought the boys would crash but they attempted to, and succeeded in bringing out every toy that they have ever had to show their papa! Jake would say, "cwose you eyes papa. i have something to show you. you aren't going to believe your eyes!" Loved watching the 3 of them interact! The last time they were together was over Thanksgiving so this was an extra fun trip!

Brotherly Love

2011-05-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

The other morning I was sitting at the kitchen table and I heard Jake say, "Piercey, you wanna come sit in my lap?" I quickly grabbed my camera and snapped a couple of pictures. Of course, about 5 minutes later they were wrestling on the floor...

Sweet little brothers! Oh how both of them make my heart leap with JOY!

Upstairs home tour

2011-05-05T11:42:00.000-07:00

I realized going through my Easter pictures that I never posted on the upstairs of our house. You may not even care but I thought I'd post them anyways :) All of our bedrooms are together upstairs- something at first I was against but with little kids I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now when they get older...

MASTER BEDROOM and BATH

the curtains will be going as soon as i figure out what i'm going to do.

the master closet is to the right of the vanity- not sure why the picture didn't upload but we are loving a huge walk-in closet :)

JAKE'S ROOM

(until we put in bunks for the boys this fall- can't wait!)

i'm loving their new kitchen- love that it's wood, love the colors, love the little washing machine, love that they spend a LONG time playing... TOGETHER with it :)

BOYS BATH

PIERCE'S ROOM

i changed his nursery a little when i added the rug. i had to take away all the 'blue' and brighten it up a bit. i really love it now!

GUEST ROOM that's waiting for YOU... if I know you! :)

I love the fact that we have a guest room now- no family members or friends sleeping in other places or on palates on the floor (due to Jake's persuasion!)

behind that door is the most interesting room...

currently it is holding all kinds of "stuff" but the possibilities of this finished room are endless... a wine cellar (Mark's wish), a carpeted "play room", a little study, my craft room (ha- just kidding!) but what I would love LOVE to do is put in a bathroom here. It would take a TON of work with all the plumbing etc but wouldn't that be great?!

So that's it! That's our home. Click here to see the downstairs if you missed that post. I love it and am so thankful to be living here!

Boys in their green

2011-05-04T16:35:00.000-07:00

I snapped a couple of pictures of the boys before we left for church on Sunday.

don't they look THRILLED?!? :)

I remember like it was yesterday when Jake wore what Pierce had on.

BLOWS my mind seeing Jake this little! This was in March of 2009- 16 months old!

look at that sweet little face! AND his teeth!! oh my word- makes me a little teary remembering him that little.

Easter

2011-05-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

Easter buckets this year with a fun antique truck :)

This picture is for my brother-in-law, Luke. Jake has become quite the photographer as of late :)

and the hunt begins!

this picture makes me laugh :)

on another egg hunt later that afternoon

i put this picture in to show yall the backdrop of the egg hunt- not too bad, right?!

full of eggs and tuckered out!

I forgot to leave some space above the pictures for me to write about our Easter. We had a great day celebrating the REAL reason we celebrate Easter. He is Risen! He is Risen INDEED! Praising God for his death on the cross for us and for His resurrection and for the promise of a life spent with Him! Oh come quickly Lord Jesus!

We had a fun morning with our Easter buckets. I had actually spent all day on Saturday with some stencils painting their names on them (you know, because I'm all crafty now- ha!) And when I went to pull off the stencils, the paint came right off with them- BUMMER!!! Oh well!

The truck is my absolute favorite. It's the boys favorite too... although they aren't allowed to play with it. Does that make me a bad momma because I really bought it for me?!? It currently sits on our front porch with some pretty flowers in the bed (see picture below)

We went to church and had a great service with a fun egg hunt afterwards followed by a wonderful potluck lunch.

Mark took Pierce home for a nap while Jake and I headed to another egg hunt. Jake goes to school with a little boy whose family is also in the wine business and they host a HUGE (500+ real egg) annual hunt for family and friends. We were excited to be included in that fun party.

Overall, it was a wonderful day spent as a family treasuring every moment together!

isn't that the cutest thing you ever did see?!

very appropriate for a house with all BOYS but with some pretty flowers for this momma :)

First Bloom

2011-05-01T08:26:00.000-07:00

My "perfect moment" finally gave me my first bloom. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Flight Museum

2011-04-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

As I was looking through some pictures I realized that I never posted our little trip to the flight museum here in Santa Rosa a couple weeks ago. They had a special "top gun" day with some of the real planes from the movie. Needless to say the boys loved every second of walking around those huge planes and probably would have stayed the entire day if we would have let them!

sitting where Tom Cruise actually sat :)

please ignore my crazy wind blown curly hair- blah (chopped it all off the next day!)

African Cats

2011-04-29T21:13:00.000-07:00

Mark and I took Jake to see disney's African Cats the other night. We all loved it! It was about 20 minutes too long for Jake but other than that, he sat very still switching off between our laps (because he didn't weigh enough to hold the seat down!) :)

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2011-04-29T21:04:00.000-07:00

Jake had spring break last week- not that that really means anything when you only go to preschool 2 mornings a week :) I have wanted to visit the aquarium down in Monterey for the longest time and thought it would be a perfect place to spend a couple of days during our "break." So we packed up and headed south right at nap time and timed it perfectly because the boys woke up with only about an hour to go and then I just shoved all kinds of snacks in their mouths the rest of the way- ha!

We met up with the Leffew's (our greatest friends in Healdsburg) who had spent the week down in Santa Barbara and decided to stay in Monterey and do the aquarium with us on their way home. The hotel had a fun pool which was heated so we all swam until we were shriveled up and then headed to CPK for dinner. Sorry, but no pictures from the pool or dinner :(

It was the first time all 4 of us had stayed in a hotel and while bedtime and waking up time proved to be a little bit difficult we all managed just fine but next time we will plan a little better and maybe get a second room.

The next morning, we drove into Carmel and had a very yummy breakfast at Katy's. If you are ever in the area- go there! It was delicious!

Next stop- Monterey Bay Aquarium! I think I was just as excited as Jake was :) We got there right at 10 when it opened... along with HUNDREDS of other people! I'm not kidding. The place was packed with people. Maybe coming the Friday of spring break and just 2 days before Easter wasn't such a good idea after all...

BUT the boys LOVED all of it! Pierce was WIDE EYED and Jake couldn't get enough of it. Pierce rode on Mark's shoulders most of the time and Sara and I were just trying to keep up with the other 3 kids. There was a huge area for all the kids to touch all different kinds of things- seaweed, starfish, STINGRAYS, and basically like huge water tables complete with mini waves, boats, toy water animals, etc... and I'm sure we didn't even get to 3/4 of the whole area... because of ALL the kids... did I already mention that it was CRAZY busy?!?

I did good to get the very few pictures I did. I was afraid that every time I put my camera to my face, A, someone would walk right in front of it and B, that I would lose sight of my kids. So sadly, I barely took any pictures and the pictures that I did manage to snap show the backs of their heads :)

We were all done around noon so we headed up the street for lunch at... Ghirardelli! Why not, right?! The kids shoved down the yummiest chocolate ice cream cones and then as everyone was starting to fall apart we headed to the car to head back north. Once again, timing it perfectly with naps and we were all back in Healdsburg by dinnertime.

It was a very short trip but loved it all!

So cute! :)

if you look closely at that leafy thing you will see that it's really a seahorse!! it's called a leafy dragon. makes you love God's creativity doesn't it?!? :)

the jellyfish were pretty incredible to look at- of course the pic doesn't do this tank justice...

sweet Ruby and her friend the penguin

fun at Ghirardelli :)

Unbelievable

2011-04-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

I find it pretty unbelievable that:

a. I have an eighteen (and a half) month old

b. I haven't done an update on just him since he turned ONE... yall, that was 6 months ago

c. My sweet little second born has been showing signs of a monster lately... Cue the "terrible twos."

Here are some things I want to remember about where he is right now.

*We were at the pediatrician this last week and he weighs 26.3 pounds (50%) and is 34.25 inches long (about 90%). Pediatrician discovered 2 pretty infected ears so we are on some antibiotics currently... which actually could explain some of his little "fits" which is probably more better of a word than "monster" :)

*He can be the absolute SWEETEST little person most of the time but when you do something to make him mad, his world totally and completely FALLS APART! And he will let you know it- believe me. It's seriously like he is another person. He is 100% royally P.I.S.S.E.D. He will hit you if you go to pick him up and even worse, he has been known to bite if he's mad enough. I've learned to just walk out of the room during these times. I will normally go back in the room after he's been screaming for about 10 minutes and when I pick him up he immediately stops crying and all he wants to do is snuggle- sweet guy. Then it's another 10 minutes before he's ready to be put down. Really it's frustrating, exhausting and heart melting (the snuggle time) all at the same time. But it has brought me to my knees begging for more patience from the Lord! My mom shared with me this verse this week while she was here. It's Colossians 4:6

"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."

Lord, I pray that my words to Pierce, and really to Jake as well, be full of grace and love and that I know how to handle each and every situation that is thrown in my direction.

* We have a major ball player on our hands! Pierce loves loves loves ALL things ball. He is always throwing a ball, kicking a ball, shooting a ball.

* And speaking of sports... I think we will have a left hander too! Woo Hoo! Just like his momma :) He does everything with just his left hand right now.

* Loves giving kisses to us all and will always to get/give a kiss to Jake when it comes time for bed.

* HATES taking medicine. HATES having his teeth brushed.

* Little stinker still isn't really talking. He has about 4 or 5 words. He says "ba" for 'ball'- shocker that that would be his first word! If you give him a phone, he will put it to his ear and say "oh" for 'hello'. The cutest thing he does is say (or really sound out) "ah ba" for 'all aboard'- he makes the sounds that you would say when you say it. And he will say "waaaaak", almost a combination of 'wow' and 'look' when he sees a trash truck or a firetruck or another big cool vehicle. But no mama or dada yet... sigh! And he will say "uh oh". He points to everything and wants you to tell him what it is- it's like a high pitched "this this this" and he will repeat it and get louder until you answer him :)

* He's mastered the shaking head no part- he's good at that :)

* When he's not playing with a ball he wants me to read to him. Loves books!

* He idolizes his big brother! Wants to be with him all the time. Wants to do everything Jake is doing. Wants to follow him everywhere. I LOVE the sound of both of the laughing!

* When Jake isn't around, Pierce does such a great job at playing by himself. He will sit and play with one car/truck/train for 20 minutes and making all the appropriate noises and sounds :)

* Wears size 5 diapers during the day and size 6 at night. Takes one afternoon nap- usually between 2-3 hours. Goes to sleep around 7 and will sleep until 6:45 or 7. Sleeps with 2 blankets and loves playing with the little taggies on one of them while he is taking his milk at naptime and bedtime.

he's so cute sometimes i just can't stand it!

this child fears nothing when it comes to the playground. he will do things that even Jake won't try. i'm afraid he will be my first child to the ER.

if you are going to eat pizza, why not SHOVE it in your mouth, right???

* I can't pinpoint exactly what it is but this little person tugs at my heart in an oh so special way. I love him so much that sometimes it hurts. I absolutely ADORE him and am so honored to be his mommy!

Eiffel Tower kiss

2011-04-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

I just had to share this because I think it's totally just so great and I'm in love with how it turned out!

Thanks to my brother-in-law's most talented dad, David Edmonson for making this picture amazing! If you need a photographer, I HIGHLY recommend Luke and his dad! You can check out their work here.

Here is the before...

and here it is now! Don't you just love it?!?

Can't wait to get this puppy printed and framed.

Thank you David! You are the BEST!

Easter decor and my 2nd craft

2011-04-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

Remember when I made my Valentine's wreath? Well, I found my second project to copy (ha!) and I am just as proud of this one as well. Just in time for spring and Easter too!

I got my idea from here and off I went to Michael's, the paint store and Arista for a piece of wood. The lady at Michael's was so helpful. I basically showed her a picture and she pointed me to the wreath and the flowers and showed me how to "stick" them in. I made my own stencil from stencil paper (since I don't have the $250 machine that the real crafty person used). I think everything turned out really cute. The only thing that didn't work is hanging the block from my wreath because it was too heavy so I have it sitting next to my Easter egg wreath on my front porch which I think is just as cute.

(there will be some hydrangeas sitting here too hopefully tomorrow!)

and I'm also having this little thing printed and put in a 16x20 frame (like I did with my Valentine's one) but I'm not sure where it will go just quite yet. I found it here.

And I feel like I will be making a summer, fall, and winter block in the future :)

HAPPY SPRING Y'ALL!

My 'Perfect Moment'

2011-04-02T20:12:00.000-07:00

I got my first rose bush and I can't wait until I can start cutting these flowers to have in my house!

my little helper giving it a good drink of water

what my roses will look like! won't they be pretty?!

oh, and case you were wondering... the rose is called "perfect moment" :)

Our Backyard

2011-04-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

We finally have a "real" backyard! Our other house had one but we hardly ever played there since we had a huge area out front to play in. It was also impossible for me to supervise (much less even SEE) the boys back there while I while I was in the house. All that to say that I am LOVING our backyard NOW! There is tons of room for the boys to play, a huge deck for us to entertain and plenty of fun things to do/add to over the next few years. The previous owners left us the cushions and pillows for the bench which I love as well.

Here she is!

this is what you walk out to from our family room. we will eventually add some kind of awning for shade and a bigger table

our backyard includes also some of my favorites...

a lemon tree

a little "cutie" tree

gorgeous camillias

lots of ferns... reminds me of the south! ;)

a japanese maple

a magnolia tree... can't wait for some of those flowers!

if i could do anything to the backyard i would tear this all out and add grass. mark doesn't want to tear out the sidewalk so we may mulch it and put a playset but we are not sure...

but one thing we know for sure that we all LOVE our backyard and are so thankful and know that many fun memories will be made back here!

and I, personally LOVE saying, "kids, go play in the backyard!"

(note- i'm waiting till my mom gets here next week to take pictures of the upstairs because i am needing lots of her help/expertise! so stay tuned...)

Our New Home!

2011-03-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Mark and I feel so fortunate to have been able to buy a house this past month. It was something that we thought would not happen for a couple more years but God is so great and so faithful and He has provided this amazing new home for our little family.

Want to have a little tour? Follow me!

Welcome to 216 Lorraine Court in Healdsburg, CA 95448

(please update our address)

Come on in!

(you'll get a closer look at that wreath in a future post... a new little something I'm working on)

On the left as you walk inside.

Formal living room is off to the right of the entry way. (Red rug is being moved into a different room)

Our dining room table is currently being refinished .

Powder room. Plans for this bathroom include installing bead board, a different color paint and getting rid of all the brass.

Breakfast nook

Love this little bench :)

I seriously am not knowing what to do with a kitchen this spacious! Note the double oven... LOVE!

My cute little kitchen window. Love my African violets!

My FAVORITE room in the house! Our family room.

This piece of furniture ties for first place (along with my china cabinet) as my favorite piece of furniture. My mom is coming for a visit next week and she is gonna help me "decorate" this. Can't wait!

Stay tuned for a tour of the upstairs and backyard...

Paris Day 3

2011-03-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

aka LAST day of our trip! :)

Mark and I decided to do Versailles on our last day and it couldn't have been a better last day in France. We loved it! Our feet walked and walked and walked ALL over the (massive) grounds until they literally could not take another step. It was the worst weather that we have had but it wasn't bad- just cold and windy and very drizzly! We ate lunch at Angelina (right there in the palace), the cutest little tea room/restaurant and it was DIVINE! There was another Angelina right next door to our hotel and I'm so bummed that we didn't find that place before our last day there :(

Here are just a few pictures of our day.

This was my favorite room- the hall of mirrors. Gorgeous glass chandeliers.

Marie Antoinette''s bed.

note that cute little thing on my shoulder :)

Our hotel in Paris- Hotel Brighton.

World's smallest elevator. Mark couldn't stand sideways in it- he had to back into it or ride facing the mirror- ha!

We left the next morning and flew into DFW. Had about 45 minutes in the airport with my dad (so great to see him!) and got home around midnight. Exhausted was not even close to how we felt. Seeing the boys and getting to hug my momma the next morning was so fun.

Some final thoughts about our trip and I'll wrap this up...

I had an AMAZING 2 weeks with Mark! We made lifetime memories!
Paris was my favorite (not surprising to Mark).
But surprising to both of us, the champagne region was our least favorite.
I would love to go back to Burgundy maybe for a couple more days only to be able to explore some of the little villages more. I felt like all we did was taste wine (which isn't bad) but I wish we could have spent a little more time just wandering around.
TWO weeks is a really LONG time to be gone from our kids! I don't think I want to be gone from them that long again (good news to both sets of parents) unless they are with us. But then, I don't want to go on a vacation WITH them for TWO weeks... unless it's to the beach or until they are much older :)
The boys stayed with Mark's parents the first week and then my mom flew out for the last week. All of them deserve jewels in their crowns.
Jake and Pierce did GREAT while we were gone. Mark and I left them little notes and little surprises to open each day we were gone. Surprises included... bubbles, chalk, coloring books, 55 cents for a trip to get kiddie cones from McDonalds, a valentines day goodie basket...

So that's about it! Thanks for hanging in there with me :)

Back to Paris Day 1 and 2

2011-03-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

We rode the train back to Paris and while I still felt utterly yucky I survived the trip. We made it to our hotel, which was amazing, and took a little rest. Afterwards, we walked across the street and spent a little time in the park. I should mention that looking out our hotel room, we had a perfect view of the Eiffel tower and if we looked down to the left we saw the Lourve. I had not one ounce of me that was wanting to eat but we ended up eating at the little pizza restaurant from the week before. Sadly, it just wasn't as good to me as the first time :( Sorry, no pictures from today!

Monday was Valentine's Day. Celebrating with the love of my life in the "city of love" just couldn't have been more perfect. We did the Louvre. I couldn't get over just how unbelievably MASSIVE it was! Confession: I found the building and architecture more fascinating than the art work inside. I know. I know. It was so great to see some of the most famous pieces of art in the world but I found myself looking up most of the time at the ceilings :) OK, I'm weird. Oh well.

After the Louvre, we walked the Champs de Elysee some more. We made a little stop in a certain big store and Mark said, "I want you to pick something out!" (see picture below!) Happy Valentines Day! :)

That night, we ate at a restaurant in a nearby hotel and it was really good. I was finally feeling better.

Tomorrow is our last day and we went to bed looking forward to Versailles!

do I even need to comment on this one?! :)

Woo Hoo! :)

Burgundy Day 4

2011-03-21T20:16:00.000-07:00

Man, I don't know why it is taking me so long to finish our trip- geez. Is anyone even still interested?!? :) I'm going to try and crank them all out tonight because I have lots of fun posts to share... like our new HOUSE!! And I've missed blogging about Pierce turning 16 and 17 months (did I even do a 15 month post??? hmmm) And how I'm about to venture out into being a single parent for 4 weeks as Mark is traveling. And I just have some really cute pictures of the boys that I want to share... with my 8 followers- ha!

Anyways, day 4. We woke up and actually moved out of our house in the morning. We had to return our rental car and having to take a taxi back and forth between the house and the village of Beaune would have cost a fortune. On Saturdays, Beaune has the most amazing farmers market- and this market has EVERYTHING you could even imagine... of course amazing foods, but also tons of handmade clothes, toys, pots and pans, painted dishes, baskets, little "knick knacks"... seriously, anything you can think of they had! Afterwards, we met up with a guy that Mark knows. His name is Ray and he is from Oakland and is a big fan of Arista. 2 years ago, Ray came out to Burgundy to work a harvest. He fell in love with it and came home and told his wife, who was pregnant with their first child that they were moving to France. I'm not quite sure about all these Americans who are moving to France to make wine. I told Mark on multiple occasions to NOT get ANY ideas! :) Mark and I went back to Ray's house to spend the rest of the day with him and his family. I was a little disappointed because I had really wanted to explore Beaune a little more. But it was a fun afternoon... until I got sick...

I will spare you all the details but I think it was a combination of eating some raw cheeses, a meat pie (seriously, don't ask... kinda makes me want to dry heave just thinking about it) and then getting car sick driving around several vineyards. It hit me in full force once we got to dinner. I felt so bad I couldn't even look at the food on the table. The truffles on Mark's dinner almost sent me over the edge. I'll quit now but I have never been so violently ill in my life.

We checked into a darling little hotel in Beaune for the night and I was up all night so so sick... blah! Not a fun evening and I was definitely wondering if I was going to be able to get on a 3.5 hour train back to Paris the next morning.

Our house for the past 4 days

This old church was literally right across the road from our house. The bells always woke us up at 7 am.

Just a few pictures from the market.

All olives

Mark in front of ultra ultra famous Domaine Romanee Conti

Mark and Ray.

I wish I had felt well enough to take more pictures of this little hotel we stayed in. It was so cute and old.

Burgundy Day 3

2011-03-10T20:30:00.000-08:00

We woke up to breakfast being made for us. (Did I mention the house came with a cook?! She even did our laundry- such a wonderful thing after being gone for 10 days!)

Anyways, we headed to our first tasting at Domaine Henri Gouges. They have a fairly new building that was a nice change to see. And then we went into their cellars for some outstanding wines! These wines were probably my favorite. We got to visit with the grandson who is now the main winemaker who was about Mark's age. When I needed a "break" from tasting or when my toes started to go numb I would just walk around the part of the cellar we were in at the moment. I loved looking at all the old bottles, wondering about that particular year, wondering if we will ever have a hundred year old bottle of Arista. I loved the oldness of all the cellars. Such a cool "look" and oh so different from what we have here in California.

I really never could get over how dusty these bottles were! So cool to me!

Wine from 1933.

WINE FROM 1919 (oldest bottles we saw on our trip)!!!

Wine from 1968.

After a quick bite to eat we headed to our next tasting at Faively. This winery started in 1825 and the 7th generation is running it now.

Makes me think about Arista's 7th generation :)

This particular barrel will be sold in auction at the Hospices de Beaune (my previous post mentioned this)

Ahhh! Such a nice relief to be inside (with heat) sitting down to taste :)

We had about 2 hours before our final tasting so we headed home for a break. Our last tasting was in Beaune at Alex Gambal. Alex is an American who left his job in real estate and moved his family to Beaune to start making wine. all of his wines were really good. I didn't take any pictures because we were tasting with some of Alex's investors and I felt a little weird taking them.

Afterwards, we headed to dinner but the restaurant couldn't find our reservations (imagine that!) so we ended up at this little cafe and had a wonderful dinner. The best part about this cafe was it had wifi! The first time in 4 days we had been able to get on the internet. It was heaven! Mark and I had no problem enjoying a long dinner that night- ha!

We fell asleep that night thankful for a fun day and looking forward to our last day in Burgundy!

Burgundy Day 2

2011-03-05T14:33:00.000-08:00

(Sorry this post has taken forever for me to write. It's been a little nutty at our house the past 10 days. Mark was traveling and came home sick. The next day he went to the dr and found out he had pneumonia and was bed bound for several days. And on top of all that, we are trying to close on our first home in Healdsburg and we've been dealing with all that entails. So, here it is... finally... Day 2 in Burgundy!) :)

We woke up to very thick fog just like we have in CA this time of the year. Felt like home :) And it was freezing! The fog blew off late afternoon and we were finally able to see everything- hills, vineyards etc and it was just like we had imagined. Mark loved it!

Our first tasting was at Dujac in the village of Nuits St. Georges (I've learned that all the little towns are called villages). We tasted with Diana who is an American, which that in itself was so refreshing :) She is actually from Napa. Her family owns a winery there, Snowden, which is very famous. She met and married a frenchman and is now living over here full time and is making wine with his family. She has 2 small boys close to the same ages as ours. We tasted about 8 different wines all from a barrel and they were all fabulous. Diana recommended a great little restaurant, La Cabbott and it was the best meal we have had yet in France. French food is (obviously) so different. Lots of meat and potatoes, lots of heavy cream. I don't know how they eat it so much. Sometimes you just want a little salad or a turkey sandwich but not here... :) Anyways, this lunch was delicious!

After lunch, we just went on a drive. Drove through vineyards just soaking up the area. We then met up with Max, who works at Francois Freres. We visited 2 other wineries, Anne Gros and Arlaud. Here again we tasted in the cellar out of the barrels. There are no tasting rooms here like you would see in California. You can't just walk up to a winery and go inside. You have to have appointments and even then you have to have some kind of "connection" within the industry. Since Mark is in the industry and worked for a wine distributor in Dallas he knew some contacts who could get us into these places and in this instance, Max (who sells all these people barrels) got us these appointments. Here is the wild thing, we tasted I bet, 13-15 samples at each place- all pinot noirs but all from different vineyards in the area. I got real good at "spitting" as if you actually drank all that you wouldn't be able to put one foot in front of the other. Mark loved the whole experience! Me, after about the 4th taste they all started to taste the same :) And if we are being honest, hanging out in a freezing cold cellar for 1-2 hours starts to get well, a little cold. But you know what, the best part of my day was doing just that because I was able to watch Mark and the joy that being in this area and the wines that he tasted brought him. We left the last place around 5 and was able to go home and rest for about an hour before we met Max at dinner in Beaune.

We had a wonderful dinner (5 courses) with Max at Le-Jardin des Remparts. I think we finally walked out the door around midnight. Good grief it was a loooonnnng dinner but delicious!

When Mark and I finally and literally fell into bed and he looked at me and said, "this was the best day of my life!" After I shot him a look he said, "after our wedding and the birth of our sons of course." Glad we got that cleared up sweetheart! :)

Most vineyards are behind really old gates and stone walls. The fog made everything look really cool.

I LOVED these red doors on this church.

*Interesting fact, depending on what color the door of the church is in the village depends on what color you can paint your own personal doors and shutters. You are not allowed to have the same color as the church door. So, in this particular village, you are not allowed to have a red door or red shutters.

Mark in front of probably the most famous vineyard ever- Romanee Conti.

Tasting at Anne Gros. After we tasted these 5 wines we tasted about 12 directly from the barrel!

Wine from 1992. Tastings are done in the cellar which is hundreds of years old. Bottles are NOT dusted or kept clean so there are cobwebs and dust everywhere!

Oh my! This is a terrible picture. It was taken about 12:15 am after dinner and I was so tired. But I wanted to remember this place- Le Jardin des Remparts :)

The restaurant was in this house which is right next door to the Hospices de Beaune - old hospital turned museum which holds one of the greatest wine auctions of all time.

Burgundy Day 1

2011-02-23T20:21:00.000-08:00

I really should let Mark blog the next few days (but he is traveling so it would never get done), as this was the highlight of his trip! He has always been in love with burgundy wines.

Our train ride to Dijon was about 3.5 hours. Once we got there we had to get on another train down to the town of Beaune, which was only 20 minutes. We got our rental car and then thanks to Never Lost (serious lifesaver in another country!) we drove to Saint Romain (about 15 minutes outside of Beaune) where we were staying. Mark buys all Arista's barrels from a company called Francois Ferers. All the barrels are made in St. Romain. The company was so kind to let us stay in their guesthouse, which was amazing! Anyways, Mark and I were able to tour the cooperage and it was such a neat thing to see how barrels are made. I tried to get pictures from most of the steps but I missed a few.

We had dinner back in Beaune because NOTHING is in St. R- seriously nothing! Did I mention that it's a village of only 300 people?!? Oh, and obviously NO wi-fi to be found!

Here are some pictures of the cooperage...I tried to start at the beginning of the process but I missed a few steps. Hopefully you'll get the idea or you may be BORED out of your minds...

The wood comes from all over the country.

Barrels waiting to be toasted. They had already finished the process that day. Barrels are toasted over a small fire. They sit right on top of it.

Making the tops

Lots of steps missed here... the bung hole is made, the barrel is sanded, top is placed, rings are put on...

Ready to be shipped all over the world

These pics should be at the top. Most of the wood sits here for up to 4 years before barrels are even made. This small stack where Mark is standing is enough wood for 10 barrels.

You are in luck! These must be the only pictures I took today. Enjoy that because starting tomorrow there will be a TON! :)

Reims Day 3

2011-02-22T10:37:00.000-08:00

I do NOT know how to explain it. I really don't other than the fact that Mark and I were more tired than we thought. The night before we went to bed probably around 9 or 9:30. In our hotel we have the extra thick darkening curtains so every time I opened my eyes that night I just assumed that it was still dark. Mark, who can't sleep in past 7 (ever) nudged me and said, "it's 12:45! PM!" WHAT ON EARTH?!? That made me so happy :) Good thing we didn't have any plans today! We ended up leaving our room around 2! That's what vacation is all about right???

Mostly we just walked around the city some more. We found the old abbey of Saint-Remi where King Louis IV is buried. I had the yummiest hot chocolate from a little cafe where our waiter wanted to practice his English. We so appreciated his friendliness.

I don't know what it is about the French being overall just not a happy bunch of people. Seriously. No one smiles. Hardly anyone is helpful. They look at us Americans almost with disgust. You want to say, "ok, you win. We are the foreigners. I know we don't speak your language but obviously we don't know what we are doing. Would it hurt just a little to try and be helpful? Please don't roll your eyes again at me... please" It makes me appreciate foreigners who come to America so much better. Mark and I got into the habit of saying "bonjour" to every one that passed us on the street and we, 95% of the time just got stared at- no smiles, no "bonjour" back. Kinda sad actually. Anyways, enough of that rant!

We found the Porte de Mars. Arches that were built in the 3rd century- crazy old! Right across the street we found Charles de Casanove. We know the son who runs this champagne house. He has a home not too far from us. We had called him saying that we were coming but he was going to be traveling so we hadn't planned on visiting but there is was right across the street so we popped in. We tasted about 4 different champagnes and bought 2 bottles. Can't wait to drink those back home.

We went back to the hotel (just a mere 4 hours after we left it- ha!). Mark and I decided that we needed a bit more bubbles so we went downstairs to their champagne bar and had a bottle of Pol Roger- DELICIOUS! I loved it. We ate dinner in the restaurant and then headed to bed early (I know, strange after all that sleeping). We had to be at the train station at 5:30 am the next morning.

where king Louis is buried

La Porte de Mars

It was a fun and lazy kind of day!

Reims Day 2

2011-02-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

Mark and I woke up so excited to do some champagne tastings today. Afgter breakfast in our hotel we walked to our first appointment- about a 10 minute walk. (After walking around yesterday and seeing hardly anyone the city was definitely more "alive" today!) One of our favorite sparkling wines in CA is Roederer so naturally we wanted to go to where it was originated. We met with a great girl who took us to the main cellars (they have 4 all across the country) She walked us through the whole champagne making process, showed us some pretty fascinating vintages and at the end we got to pick a bottle to taste. I was a little disappointed because I had assumed that we would get to taste several different ones but the one bottle that we decided on was fantastic! We grabbed a quick (ha! as nothing is quick in France) lunch and then headed back to our hotel to meet our driver. Our next appointment was about 45 minutes away. We arrived at the tiny tiny little village. For the next 2 hours we got to tour and taste one of the most nicest champagnes ever made, Salon. They make a more affordable champagne as well, Delamotte. At the end we got to taste 4 different champagnes... finally! The cab driver on the way home was very nice and took us on a little "tour" through Epernay where we saw some other famous champagne houses. It was so fun to see where some of our favorite beverages of choice are produced!

One interesting note that I want to remember is Mark and I were very surprised at the small amount of vineyards we saw today. We had expected to see just vineyard after vineyard after vineyard (like we do in CA). There are huge pieces of land that just sit unplanted. I’m sure that there is something that’s important that grows there it’s just not grapes.

Mark and I found a restaurant to eat at back in Reims where I ordered a hamburger… man, I miss a good USA hamburger right about now... along with a Dr Pepper! This coke is for the birds- yuck! :)

In front of Roederer.

They have 150 of these huge barrel/tanks. It equals to 1 million bottles of champagne!

Cristal anyone? Yes please! :)

Rose Cristal!

My champagne drinking partner!

Here we are at Salon. I haven't mentioned that it is FREEZING in the cellars. I wouldn't ever think of taking off my jacket! Also, these cellars are hundreds and hundreds years old- spiderwebs and dust everywhere!

Some champagne from 1943!

The 1999 vintage is just about ready to be released.

Reims- Day 1

2011-02-12T10:10:00.000-08:00

We woke up Sunday morning and after breakfast and a slight “emergency” (locking our passports and my jewelry in the hotel safe and not being able to unlock it) we took a cab to the train station. We had been warned that the train station is where a lot of theft takes place so I had the death grip on our bags. Definitely some sketchy people were there along with police with machine guns. Not my favorite place to be so far! The train ride to Reims (Champagne region) was about an hour and a half. I loved looking out the windows at the countryside at all the little towns with red roofs. You could see a chapel with a huge steeple in all of them. Wish that we could have gone to explore each and every one of them.

We made it to Reims and it was a short walk to our hotel. We stayed in another great hotel and it was right in the middle of the old downtown. Mark and I immediately set out to explore the city. It was like a ghost town as every store and most every restaurant are closed on Sundays. We walked about 10 minutes and as we rounded the corner I saw the most unbelievable structure I have ever laid my eyes on- The Cathedral of Reims. Notre Dame doesn’t hold a candle to this place. It was built over 800 years ago (which that in itself was hard to imagine- building something that large and that grand) and it was literally spectacular! Your eyes can’t see everything. The ornateness of every detail is utterly indescribable. We walked in and seeing the vastness and beauty of it all took my breath away and my eyes filled with tears. I have never seen anything like it! The pictures do not do it justice.

Anyways, we spent about an hour there and then it was getting dark so we made a stop in a little champagne shop and bought a couple of bottles and headed back to our hotel. We found a random restaurant that was open and ordered some pizza- it was fair. Mark and I had some champagne in our room and then called it a night. Definitely looking forward to tomorrow! :)

these first 2 pictures are for Jake- he loves "bullet trains" right now :)

train station in Reims

The Reims Cathedral

Paris- Day 2

2011-02-05T12:38:00.000-08:00

You remember how Mark and I both took ambien last night? Well, ambien is now my absolute FAVORITE drug! We slept 14 hours! Yes, I just said FOURTEEN hours! Just typing that makes me wonder if I really know how to count :)

So because of that we had a later than anticipated start. We were going to do the Louvre in the morning and then head to the Eiffel tower after lunch but headed straight to the tower instead. Our concierge suggested that we take a bus there. Why not?! After all, this is a major adventure for us! I asked Mark if I could take his picture (just to document it) and he very sweetly said "please don't pull out your camera on this bus!" I knew he would say that and had no intention of actually taking his picture. :)

We made it to the Eiffel tower and it was amazing! To say it is huge is an understatement. There were gobs and gobs and GOBS of people so we opted not to go to the top. It was pretty chilly and very windy today. But we enjoyed walking all around the gardens surrounding this huge attraction! Next we headed to the Arc de Triumph. I love how ornate it is- really how everything is in the city. It's amazing to me!

Next came the shopping down the famous Champs-Elysees :) Oh the shopping! We mostly just did a ton of window shopping. Of course we had to venture in the mother of all mother Louis Vuitton stores. It was huge and so great. Unfortunately half of Paris was also in the store so we didn't stay too long. But we stayed long enough for me to drop a few hints to Mark :)

I had heard from most people that we had to stop in at Laudree. We had a really good lunch and had an even greater dessert- macaroons (what they are most famous for)

Interesting story- we have been "approached" by all these ladies with a sign reading that they don't have money and are from who knows where and have a 2 month old baby yada yada yada. We are quick to turn the other way. But once we were walking and all of a sudden I saw a men's gold ring, like a wedding ring on the ground. A man suddenly picked it up and tried to give it to Mark. Mark tried to keep walking but the man basically put it in Mark's hand. I thought it was weird so we kept walking. A minute later the man was asking Mark if he could have some money since he just gave him the ring. Mark immediately gave the ring back to him and we went on our way. I didn't think twice about it. In fact, I told Mark that I thought it was sad that someone lost their wedding ring. Mark had no sympathy for the guy and said it was a scam. It wasn't 5 minutes later that another man did the SAME thing to us!

After a little more shopping we decided to head back to our hotel and take a little rest. Mark still isn't feeling too well :( Thought we'd take the metro back and once again, Mark wouldn't let me pull out my camera :) We made it back where Mark is taking a nap and I am blogging. We will head out to dinner soon.

We just got back from the most delicious dinner just right around the corner from our hotel. I know we are in France but I just had the yummiest pizza! Can't imagine it gets any better in Italy but I'm sure that it does. Mark, very nicely, encouraged me to leave my camera in the hotel room or I would have had a picture of it :)

Most of these pictures don't need explaining!

you can see how tiny the people are underneath. it's seriously HUGE!

someone snook a little bite before I took the picture... :)

Bethany, this reminded me of your wedding cake :)

This is our hotel. Le Empire Hotel. I definitely recommend it if you are in Paris!

Some more observations are...

some of my highlights of today revolved around food- a chocolate croissant, macaroons, the most delicious hot chocolate and a pizza. GREAT thing that we walked ALOT today :)

the french language is about the most difficult to speak and it's probably best if i keep my southern mouth shut and just smile :)

i only said "si" about twice today and said "gracias" just once- another reason to stay quiet :)

owning a motorcycle is the preferred method of transportation

have i already mentioned the amount of people who smoke?!?

Paris is the best place to people watch :)

public transportation was actually not that difficult to use

french men don't wear hats- seriously, you don't see really anyone wearing ball caps.

Tomorrow we are taking the train to Reims and will be there until Wednesday drinking as much champagne as our hearts desire!

Paris-Day 1

2011-02-04T11:51:00.000-08:00

Well, we are here in Paris! What a day! I can't believe we are finally here! Our flight was great- good food, good champagne, and great seats that reclined flat for us to sleep. I could get used to flying business :) We finally made it to our hotel which is in a great location and we have a great room- king sized bed, hot huge shower, and free wi fi :) We completely crashed once we got to our room after all it was 2 am in CA. When our alarm went off an hour later we both felt like we had been run over by a train but made ourselves get up, take showers and hit the streets.

We walked. And walked. And walked some more. We walked to the Louve but didn't go inside (tomorrows adventure). We walked up the Seine. Walked over to Notre Dame and did go inside- amazing. Stopped for some famous crepes and I had my first cafe creme and I actually loved it (not a coffee lover... until now!) Can't wait for another one. Walked back to our room to just rest our weary feet and then headed up the street to a little cafe for a delicious dinner. It was very grey and cold today. So there's not much color to my pictures.

Now it is 7:45 pm and we both just took an ambien and are about to hit the sheets. Tomorrow will be a fun but very filled day.

i could get used to this type of flying :)

Academie Nationale De Musique

I'm not sure what this little area is called but there were all these amazing high end jewelers... I did alot of window shopping here! Funny because in between 2 stores was randomly a Swatch store- Mark gave me permission to go in there if I wanted. No thank you sweetheart but I prefer Cartier :)

Tomorrow's adventure- inside the Louve!

So glad I get to experience this journey with the man I love!

The Seine on the Pont des Arts bridge (you can see some of the "love padlocks")

I look terrible in this picture but here is me drinking my very first cafe creme

(this picture is for you Sara!)

SERIOUS YUMMINESS was consumed here- a nutella crepe! (this picture is for you Patty!)

Notre Dame

What an incredible place this must have been to actually worship! To hear real voices, to hear the organ, to listen to the Bible and to do all that inside this magnificent place- gives me chills. They definitely don't build churches like this anymore.

My camera was giving me serious GRIEF inside and I'm super disappointed in how most of my pictures turned out! The stained glass was beautiful!

just a random pretty building :)

and another one :)

We took this picture for Jake as he is a big lover of carrousels!

So, here are my first thoughts about this city-

It's old

There is so much history all around me- makes me wish I had studied up more about this trip

The buildings are gorgeous

Everything is so intricate- all the amazing little details all around

It's very dirty!!!

It's cold (tomorrow the sun will hopefully be out!)

The French have not been too terribly rude but not overly friendly either but they do for heaven's sake take their sweet sweet time.

Makes me realize that we (Americans) like to rush through our day- go go go! These people around me today acted like they have nothing else to do or go. They walk slow. Eat slow. Drink slow. They take an hour to eat a crepe that I devoured in about 10 minutes- opps! I'll work on that tomorrow. They don't drive slow though- good grief, we were nervous wrecks in the cab ride to the hotel this morning!

2 things I miss...

I miss my boys terribly!

I miss the clean California air! Everyone here smokes- EVERYWHERE. Even inside restaurants- gag! It actually gave me a headache this afternoon :(

It was a great day in Paris. I'm so glad I'm here with Mark and we are getting to experience it together. There is no one I would rather be with than him.

And speaking of "him"- say a little prayer for him today/tonight. He's not feeling well. Sore throat and all over acheness. I just don't want him to be getting sick!

Well, this ambien is definitely kicking in.

bonne nuit

Trip of a LIFETIME!

2011-02-02T21:34:00.000-08:00

Mark and I leave in the morning for a 2 week VACATION to the "city of lights!"

I'm hoping to blog at the end of every day just so I don't have to remember everything 2 weeks later :) It's my first time to Europe and I canNOT wait to explore this country with the love of my life!

Au revoir

(I'll get around to a post about how Pierce is now SIXTEEN months sometime soon, I hope!)

It's about time...

2011-02-01T13:33:00.000-08:00

... for a haircut. Don't you think? :)

I just knew that we would have a repeat performance of Jake's first haircut...

But my sweet second born did this...

the WHOLE time!

He maybe batted the lady's hand away once. He just sat there completely still playing with this basket of little toys. I was in shock! He even let her use the clippers on his neck- unreal!

The new and improved (and much older looking) Pierce!

(i even think some of his curls may come back!)

Valentine's Decor

2011-01-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

I've totally been into all these adorable "crafty" blogs lately. They have me completely inspired. Oh how I wish I could be like one of these girls. But unfortunately, I don't have one creative ounce in me but what I can do is copy... well, most of the time... if it's easy enough :)

I don't know how I stumbled on here but I found this and thought, "now THIS looks like something I can do!" And with all the testosterone floating around my house I needed something a little girly and since Valentine's Day was right around the corner... why not! So off I went to JoAnn's. That in itself is another blog post but I'll just remember that outing in my head- it was hilarious... I have maybe been in a craft type store twice in my life :) Sweet girl that got roped into helping me had some funny stories to tell that day during her lunch break I'm sure!

VOILA!

Isn't she CUTE?!? I think it turned out so cute and I'm incredibly proud of myself :)

I also downloaded this subway art from the same site and had it printed. Just a little something to freshen up our guest bathroom in time for Valentine's day!

And lastly, last night I just whipped out (smile) this little cutie!

There are so many things I want to do now. I've had fun imagining myself going back to JoAnn's or Ace Hardware in search of the materials that I need for my next project.

Stay tuned... this may be the year I become "crafty" :)

He is Faithful!

2011-01-18T21:33:00.000-08:00

I have been really thinking back on the year 2010 lately. I found myself the other day looking through gobs and gobs of pictures on my computer. I found myself laughing and crying. But mostly I found myself thanking Jesus for what he allowed my family to go through last year. Jesus proved Himself faithful over and over again. And He will this year as well- I'm sure of it :)

I think if I had to put one song to last year it would have been Faithful One by Selah. Read the words with me...

"I find no hope within to call my own
For I am frail of heart, my strength is gone
But deep within my soul is rising up a song
Here in the comfort of the faithful one

I walk a narrow road through valleys deep
In search of higher ground, on mountains steep
And though with feet unsure, I still keep pressing on.
For I am guided by the faithful one.

Faithful, faithful to the end,
My true and precious friend,
You have been faithful,
Faithful, so faithful to me

I see your wounded hands, I touch your side
With thorns upon your brow you bled and died

But there's an empty tomb, a love for all who come
And give their hearts to you, the faithful one.

Faithful, faithful to the end,
My true and precious friend,
You have been faithful,
Faithful, so faithful to me

And when the day is dawned and when the race is run
I will bow down before God's only Son
And I will lift my hands in praise for all you've done
And I will worship you, my faithful one."

Enjoy a little "picture journey of His faithfulness" of 2010.

We started off the year with 2 less teeth! As minor as it was, He got me through my child being put under general anesthesia. Oh how quickly I fell in love with Jake's new smile! :)

A McWilliams wedding!

We were able to spend about 6 weeks in Dallas in March and April. Here my dad is dedicating Pierce (6 months) back to the Lord. What a blessing Pierce is to us and we are so thankful for him!

I got to spend Easter with my family in Dallas and was able to see my grandfather during that trip for the last time. How he and Jake loved each other!

Jake survived MDO for the first time... and mommy was so happy! :)

The Lord so graciously spared my sister's life the night of her accident. Just a mere 5 days from her wedding!

The very next day my dad got his cancer diagnosis.

And just FOUR days later we watched my favorite person in the world, my sister, get married!

He allowed Mark and I to have a little getaway to Chicago. There is nothing sweeter than a time to refresh your love for one another!

Mother's Day 2010! He is faithful to get me through times like this with a smile :)

Faithful throughout 32 years of life! Happy Birthday to me!

My dad got to come visit between his cancer surgery and his total knee replacement. What a special time with him... and Thomas the Train! :)

We all survived the "potty party" and potty training- hallelujah!

Sweet Jake started preschool!

His first day of school was also the first day my grandfather was with Jesus! I miss him so much!

Read here about his funeral (the picture i wanted to put here wouldn't upload)

Someone turned ONE!!!

Someone turned THREE!!!

Texas for Thanksgiving. So many things to be THANKFUL for this year!

Right before Christmas in Tahoe.

Well, that was our year... more or less! Thanks for hanging in there with me. My favorite line in the song is this, "And I will lift my hands in praise for all you've done
And I will worship you, my faithful one."

The Lord did great things in my family's life in 2010. Not all what I would have chosen though. There was heartache. There were anxious thoughts. But there were lots of laughs and lots of love.

My Jesus is faithful. He was in 2010. He will be in 2011. He will always be. "Faithful till the end"

Praise Jesus for His promises.

Lamentations 3: 22

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Here is to a great 2011!

Christmas

2011-01-15T21:39:00.000-08:00

Christmas this year was SO FUN! I love watching Christmas through the eyes of a child. Jake was definitely into it this year. We spent the weeks before talking about Jesus' birthday, Santa Claus, obeying or else our little elf friend would report back to Santa, talking about what kind of cookies to make, singing all kinds of Christmas songs, playing with our nativity scene and really just enjoying the season and what each new day brought. While I missed being in Dallas it was nice waking up just our little family and spending the morning together playing and just having fun.

On Christmas Eve, we went to our church and then over to Ben and Tatiana's house for dinner. Tatiana's whole family from Colombia was there and we all had a great time. Right before bed, we put out the milk and cookies and candy (what Jake wanted to add) and picture for Santa and then we planted our "donut tree" (a first tradition for us) and all went to sleep happy and completely anticipating tomorrow's FUN! :)

Planting the "seeds"

Christmas morning!

It worked! Our seeds magically turned into DONUTS!!! :)

Afterwards we headed to Al and Janis' house for the rest of the day. Santa had of course come there too and had brought the most awesome John Deere "gador."

I love seeing Jake hold his hands like this- so sweet!


"Is this thing really for ME?!?"

And they are OFF!

Are they having fun or WHAT?!?

This was our dessert! Have you ever seen anything cuter?!?

It was a fun and special day! I enjoyed every moment of being with my family, treasuring the reason we celebrate Christmas and so incredibly thankful for everything that I have been blessed with!

Lake Tahoe

2011-01-07T22:31:00.000-08:00

The week before Christmas the whole McWilliams clan drove to Tahoe to spend a few days. The snow was unbelievable (we got 8 FEET while we were there!) I had never been during the winter and to see the beauty of it all was incredible! The first 2 days it rained alot while snowing gobs so we didn't venture out much. We stayed indoors in the ginormous house we rented- thank you Al and Janis!!! Lots of games and lots of videos and lots of watching snow plows made for fun days.

The third day we were there it just plain dumped snow! We did manage to get out for a few hours though. A sleigh ride was number one on our list! "Dashing through the snow- on a one horse open sleigh..." took on a whole new meaning for us :) We had a ball! After that, the ski resort had opened the gondola and so up we went! Not to ski but just for a fun ride and for some hot chocolate at the very top. Jake LOVED LOVED LOVED it!

Mark got to ski one day and I chose to stay at home in front of the fire instead of battling high winds and snow and frigid temps. The mountain ended up closing early because of the wind. Mark and I have never skied together and I was really looking forward to finally being able to ski with him. I was a little disappointed that I didn't go but hearing him talk about how rough it was at the top made me realize that I made the right choice :) Next time!

The next day we decided to take a drive around the lake. It was still snowing and truly gorgeous. We woke up the fifth day to the bluest sky and sunshine! Too bad we were packing up to go home otherwise it would have been the perfect day to just play outside.

In my mind I had all these great pictures that I wanted to capture during the week. I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Whoever said that going to the snow with 2 small kids is a vacation doesn't know what he is talking about! Here we have 2 kids still completely dependent on us to put on their snow boots, jackets, hats, and mittens (trying to explain how to keep their thumb apart while putting them on was near impossible- I just had to laugh to keep my sanity!). Then you basically have to take everything off to put them in their carseats only to put everything back on when you get out of the car. Made me break into a sweat every time! The absolute LAST thing going through my mind was to grab my camera. But we have a few great pictures and I have about a thousand in my mind :)

Here are a few-

It was a great trip and I can't wait for next year!

ok, so it really wasn't a "one horse" but a "two horse open sleigh"

on the gondola

I bet Pierce climbed the stairs about a thousand times a day!

Jake played pool with his uncle Ben

The McWilliams- so blessed to have been married into this family!

Back row: Ben (brother #2), David (brother #3), Jake, Mark, Al (dad), Scott (brother-in-law)

Front Row: Tatiana (married to Ben), Janis (mom), me, Pierce, Mary Katherine (sister)

The most beautiful day!

(This was the view from our deck- really the first day we could see the lake. The snow was so thick that we couldn't see it most days)

Skunk Train

2010-12-21T19:46:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun last year on the Skunk Train, we knew that it was a must for this year as well. You know us and trains! :) We loaded up and headed north with some of our favorite friends for an evening train ride in our Christmas pjs.

I know I'm biased...

2010-12-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

BUT is this little guy not the cutest?!?

And I can't leave out his older brother!

I'm so thankful for these 2 little men and am so proud to be their mommy!