Summer has ended, bring on Fall

Warning: The following post has a lot of pictures.... Feel free to skim. Long story short, we had a fun summer! :)

The warm weather is changing into my favorite time of year. I love this season..... "Summall"? It isn't officially fall and it isn't really summer (I don't think needing a sweatshirt in the morning and frost on my grass should be considered summer) And it is my favorite. I love cool morning with crisp fresh air, and I love that it still gets warm enough during the day to feel the need to cool off in the shade. But I wanted to sum up our summer and document the pics and the memories before they were gone. So here they are.....

I love popcicles, and I love that kids think they have hit the jackpot if they get one

The grass is always greener on the other side

I think this picture very well describes both of them

Seriously too cute and fun!

Brian bought us another dirt bike. It is suppose to be for me, but I have learned along the way that it is more of a way for him to justify these types of purchases.... But it is a great bike and I'm pretty excited about the deal he found. Its a CR 150, so a little bigger than the one I was riding. But the day he bought it we went out to the track here in Hardin to take it for a test spin. :) Here are some pics from that adventure.

I think I have made her take too many pictures... These are the faces I get now.

Look at that beast :)

Madi loves... LOVES... taking pictures, and I showed her how to use my camera and she loved it. So I let her take it for a little bit to see what she could do. Here are the results... 

It was pretty nice to BE in some of the pictures and not just behind the camera! ha ha ha nice to have proof I actually do hang out with my family. My "selfies" are usually pretty wretched.

Madi says that the bike is hers, but that she will let me borrow it while she is still growing up. :) So kind and thoughtful of her.

In case you can't tell, she is loving this adventure.

We told Madi there is no way to ride the dirt bike if she still can't ride her bike with no training wheels, which meant (If you give a mouse a cookie...) we had to go home and take the training wheels off and give it a whirl. So the next day that is what we did...I'm not sure how long it will take, but seems like it could be some time before she is on a dirt bike.... I don't think we are the best teachers for riding bikes either, so it is probably the combo.

She thought she was doing so well... but she is pretty dependent on her dad balancing for her.... Other parents, do you have any tips???

Madison's facial expressions have so much emotion in them. It is amazing to me. Her eyes are very telling.

More of Madi's photo work:

We took pictures of each other taking pictures! buah ha ha

The rockstar

I have a friend that always referred to clouds like this as toy story clouds, and that is what it felt like to me. It was a toy story sky.

Here you can see my garden. It survived and it has done pretty well actually! We have gotten a lot of beans, and then a little bit of corn, peas, tomatoes, carrots, and 2 peppers so far! My onions are dwindling. I'm not exactly sure they will make the cut. I guess we will find out soon enough.

The following pictures are from our Labor Day. We went to Dayton, we all love that little town and the fantastic park that it has. It is about an hour away and it was a perfect day. A little bit cooler but by no means cold, there was no wind (I really could go the rest of my life with no wind) and the sun was shinning brightly! We took some food for a BBQ dinner and brought some of the kids toys for them to play with while we were there. It was a super fun day. Some of these pictures are repeats from Mason's post... because well it was his 1/2 birthday. Worth celebrating right? But sorry about the duplicates... 

The Roxy moe got to come. She was so excited. 

Getting ready to get the grill going

I realized the poor child really hasn't been around many trees. We go to parks and such, but big established trees are not common. And at our house we have one little tree that missed a crucial pruning so it looks more like a bush. I wonder what he is thinking?

Bubble Fun!!

She was diving after the bubbles she just made

I love this pic!

And sometimes cranky kids need to be transported like this.

Poor guy was ready for a nap, and it just didn't happen. He was tired and therefore cranky. Carrying him this way prevented a lot of hitting and biting..... I should probably clarify, him hitting and biting us, not the other way around. 

Good ol' Roxy chased a squirrel... and I love how Brian and Madi look almost the same.

She can be so much fun!

This my friends is how my family feels about pictures

The big papa..

makes a splash!

Madi was holding onto some creature, a bug, or worm... I don't remember now, but we told her it wouldn't survive if she kept it and held it all the way home. We made her put it back where she found it...

And this was her sad walk back to us

It is so hard to be 4 sometimes...

Fall will  be here before we even know it. Hoping I can get some things done in my new free time I have acquired. Madison is still loving school and her teacher really likes her (At least she tells me she does) and when I pick her up from school the other teachers also comment on how much fun she is. She comes home with new songs she learned and all kinds of stories. It has been a lot of fun. Mason and I have had some fun mornings just him and I. We were even doing some painting the other day! Poor kid has  been deprived, I feel like I did a lot better with giving Madison opportunities for crafts and such, but it is finally Mason's turn. :) Hopefully I can step up my mom game. :)

Mason turns 18 months old!

Mr. Mason Man turned 18 months old yesterday! Officially a toddler.... I guess... I feel as though he has been toddling for quite some time, but by the books he hit the mark- a toddler. :) Mason is a growing boy, but he seems to be growing taller and not wider at this last check-in. 

Weight: 23.8 lbs - 19%

Height: 32.5" - 50%

Head: 20" - 99%

So he still has a big head... but the chunkster must be going through a growth spurt as he lost about a pound from the last weigh in... but still doing good and growing well. :) 

He finally got the last two teeth in on the bottom, so I am pretty sure he has all of the teeth that he can get right now. :) He was drooly for a long time and cranky because of them... So lately we haven't had that, and it has been great. :)

He still has quite the attitude and is getting more stubborn in his demands. If he wants something he makes sure people know about it and doesn't easily drop the quest. He and Madi have had quite a few rounds of pushing and pulling on a toy, and Mason holds his own against his sister... I'm worried for her, it won't be long and he will be able to really show her who he feels is boss. He has started hitting, which I'm not very keen on as I am sure most mothers would be. If he gets mad and I pick him up to take him away from the situation, he smacks my face... and if he feels he hasn't gotten his point across well enough sometimes he will try and bite my shoulder. Ya... I'm not too fond of his little attitude, but we are working on curbing it. Brian tries to have Mason touch Brian's cheek soft after Mason has wailed on him once or twice... Sometimes it goes ok, other time he just gets hit a few more times... It's a big no-no... Hopefully we can get it under control. :)

Mason still doesn't use a whole lot of words, but man he sure talks a lot. Some words he does say are:

Mommy: said like momm-eeee (he says it very consistently, always going to a higher pitch at the end too, and very dramatic momm part)

Dad: said daa

Madi: said a lot like momm-ee but there is more of a maaa-eee to it.

No: said very loud and clear... and he shakes his head... he also shakes his head no when he means yes though...

Yucky: said uck with lots of rasp in the voice, and the face, you have to scrunch up your face to say yuck, Mason pulls it off well.

He signs the words: More, all done, please and eat. I'm still holding out for the ah-ha moment when the rest of them click.. We shall see, probably about the same time all his jabbering just become words. 

He does love to talk, he absolutely loves talking on the phone, and if he ever sees me on the phone he wants  needs to talk too. My favorite is how he will walk around with the phone between his shoulder and ear, just like I do, and jabber jabber jabbers. Sometimes he feels he is hilarious and gives the person listening his fake laugh. It is very fake and forced but seems to make me laugh every time. Funny kid. 

He is getting really good at following directions. He can take things and put them in the garbage, or go and grab his shoes or blanket. I will ask him if he wants to eat and he will book it for the high chair ( He still is a big fan of eating) and he will go pet Roxy or Panda when we ask him too. He also "chases" Madison when we tell him too as well. He loves chasing! Loves being chased or feeling like he is chasing you, or pushing you. Sometimes I stop and try to reverse the chase and he just keeps coming after me and starts pushing on my legs, he loves it if you move like he is really pushing you. Loves it!! He is pretty clumsy, I'm not sure if it is a boy thing or he is going through a fast growth spurt or what, but he has some pretty funny trips and tips that make us all laugh. He thinks it is great fun to be covered up by a blanket, and then he will take off running and run right into a wall! He laughs and laughs..... One time we were at Brian's parents house and we were getting ready for bed, and I don't know if he was tired or confused but Brian was putting his pj's on and stood him up, and he started running towards the wall and just kept going. Smacked the wall hard enough to make him fall backwards, no bruise, but boy he had a bruised ego... he was mighty offended we were all laughing, but sheesh it was really hard not to.. Still not sure what happened on that one. But he goes a mile a minute and there is no such thing as a leisurely pace for him, speed walking, that is what he does everywhere. And many falls, tip overs, and trips along the way.

Overall he is such a great boy! He loves taking naps and goes to sleep so well. When it is nap time he still gets his binky and has a favorite blanket, and all I have to do is put the binky in and rock him a few times with his silky blanket and lay him down and he goes right down. For naps and bedtime. IT IS AWESOME. No complaints there. :) He is a very tender hearted boy just like his Daddy. Overall he is very sweet, with a side of attitude, but it makes him well rounded :) He has crazy hair that seems to stick straight up in the back and has some crazy cowlicks in the front. We love him to pieces and are very grateful for him. Here are a few pics of the little man himself! Enjoy!

Madi will be turning 5 in October! Can't believe it! But we will have an update coming on her soon! Stay tuned. :)

Enjoying a popsicle on the back porch during a hot summer day.

He loves corn on the cob

He loves to sit on daddy's bike

Still rather clumsy as you can see the shiner he has on the corner of his head.

Watching Dad ride at the track here in Hardin

Checking out the ruts

This is the recovery stance right after an almost fall

And this is my favorite little kid pose. I love when they just squat down to play. 

He loves to sit on the bike, but has yet to want to ride it... He was not going to do it!

Who can't love that face?

Really mom? Another one?

This is the mischievous face he has when he is doing something he shouldn't

Loves graham crackers... a lot. 

Yup he did shove that whole piece in... unstoppable

Loves bubbles, but still trying to figure out how they work exactly

I love how he wears overalls, he stick his hands inside like pockets and just walks around.

But only after attempting to get one arm out.

All day long.