Cooper's Birthday Party

Cooper is FIVE!

We celebrated with a party at our favorite neighborhood park. Nothing says "party" better than a Saturday morning with cupcakes, bubbles, water balloons, and a pinata!

I must say, the water balloons were a big hit. My pruny fingers from filling hundreds of water balloons were worth the fun they had at the party!

Cooper caught the balloons this way every time: arms out, eyes shut, big smile!

I was the target for all of these balloons... maybe I should have explained the game better!!

Cooper was thrilled that so many friends could come to play. We had friends from his class at school, teacher-kid friends from my school, friends from church and some from the neighborhood. How fun!

Even though it was Saturday morning, the kids ate cupcakes and ring pops happily!

Love my green-faced boy!Opening presents was hilarious... Cooper was so excited to rip the paper off that he hardly looked at the presents!This is me, mid-sentence, thanking Colin and Dayna for the gift of wailing, noise-making, light up trucks. Set of 3. Cooper loves them. Thanks, guys.

Okay, I was really excited about some of his presents. Especially the pool toys I get to play with, too!Now for the grand finale, the pinata. My dad spent an hour figuring out how to hang it from the swings and the teacher part of me spent half as long explaining the rules REALLY clearly to the kids, since I would be the one closest to the dizzy kid with the big stick.

Thankfully, it was all fun with no tears!

A couple spins...And a great big hit (or ten!)

Ta-da! Candy for everyone!

What a fun party!Thank to all of our friends for loving Cooper and helping him celebrate a special day. We're looking forward to a fantastic year of being FIVE!

Hello Summer

Nothing welcomes summer better than a new snorkel mask. Ready to hit the pool (or sprinklers).

Summer, we love you!

Oh Happy Day!

... the very very very LAST day I paid for child care for Cooper!

The arrival of summer this year also signaled another important milestone in our life - no more child care! Cooper is headed to kindergarten in the fall (can you believe it?!) and I feel richer already. : )

We were more than blessed this year by our nanny, Janet, who took care of Cooper each day before he went to pre-k in the afternoons. We first met her as an assistant teacher at Cooper's Montessori school when he was just 2! From the beginning, the two of them had a special connection and Janet was naturally my first choice for a nanny for Coop. She left her job at the school just for this year, so she could work with Cooper - an amazing blessing! She arrived bright and early each morning (6:30am!) so I could head to work and be there long before kiddos arrived. Cooper eagerly awaited her arrival each morning and proclaimed her as his best friend (and still does!) The two of them had wonderful days, spent riding bikes, playing at the park, and doing "hard work" (school work) around our kitchen table. While he napped, she faithfully folded laundry and took out the trash.We are so very grateful for Janet and the impact she made on our family this year. Cooper made amazing strides this year and I have no doubt that much of it is because of Janet's work with him.

We love you Janet!

And now it's on to the next chapter in our lives - kindergarten! It's going to be an adventure with both mom and son in the same grade level at the same school... I'm looking forward to having Cooper right next door!