Summer Fun

Whew!  I didn't do so good at updating the blog over the summer.  In no small part, it is a result of a certain 3 year old making me work (HARD!) at staying sane.  He pushed every button, tested every threat I gave him, threw every temper tantrum his little body could muster, and tried as hard as he possibly could to frustrate me.  He was unfortunately successful in this area on several occasions.  After saying how badly I want my kiddos to stop growing and slow down, this is the first phase I've actually wanted to fast forward through!  That said, I do love him to pieces and of course I loved every single second I shared with my bright-eyed beauty Madiana.  We did manage to squeeze some fun in between time outs and fights and potty training disasters.....

A typical summer afternoon found Madiana working on her independent reading.....

Brecken and I cooked LOTS of yummy treasts this summer!

Despite his other areas of difficulty, Brecken is a proud and amazing big brother to a fault.  He loves on his little sister, protetcts her, shares his toys with her and as you can tell, he enjoys feeding Madiana her solids :)

Our little escape artist could get out of any situation if she wanted to badly enough!  Luckily, I had her strapped in!

Baby girl got a beautiful new blanket from Great Grandma Gott and she LOVES it!

Madiana turned 6 months over the summer..... And then 7 months???  How can she be getting so old???

Dinosaurs at the zoo!

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The Amundsons came up for a weekend and we had a great time catching up!

Brother and Sister love :)

Madiana and her new friend, Kaia

Brecken has really tapped into his "computer geek" DNA and does an AWESOME job matching colors, identifying certain letters (B for Brecken, M for Mommy and Madiana, D for Daddy)..... He does much better with a touch screen tablet than when on a computer with a mouse, but we're working on it!

We did lots of painting in all forms at our house..... Water color, acrylic, dot, and his favorite - Finger painting!

More painting

We also tried to make different sensory boxes, which Brecken LOOOOOOOOOOOVED!  Here he is playing with the colored spaghetti that he made.

My beauty...

My beauty loving her walker!  She gets the biggest smile on her face as soon as we set her in it and then she zooms away!  She likes to chase the dog, grab brother's toys from the coffee table, and have access to the many fun things she can grab from the refrigerator!  All the while, she is working those leg muscles in preparation for when her real walking starts :)