No, Cocoa!

One family favorite book of ours is No, David, by David Shannon.  David is a boy who is told "No" many times a day, as he is frequently getting in trouble (writing on the wall, picking his nose, jumping on the furniture, etc). However, after David gets discouraged by everyone speaking negatively to him, the book has a very sweet ending. We first bought this book because Mike and I could so relate to it, when we felt like "no" was all we were saying to the boys. Since it was a nightly ritual reading the book, the boys loved being able to "read" along with the story, inserting "no" every time the word came up and it made us not feel so bad. Fast forward a few years, and it became the perfect book for the girls too.

Now we are wondering, do they make the book in a puppy version? "No, Cocoa" is something we have constantly been saying the past few months! This winter she has completely destroyed our backyard. Seriously, it is a disaster, a war zone out there! Everything that can be chewed up, has been. Our pond that we installed a few years ago? A wading pool that gets nearly emptied of water every day. Poor fish. Umbrella for the table? Who needs that. What barbecue cover you ask???

Cocoa just turned one last week, so we know we have at least another year of this stage. But when I looked outside the other day to see this, I couldn't help but smile...

Yes, Cocoa, you are the Princess of the backyard, and we love you very much!