Summer Catch-up 2

More summer catch-up.....

"I think we have a broken Portuguese Water Dog." -Arnie

 

 

Haddie's first swim!

 

 Gracie and Lauren got to have a sleepover (and so did their Pandas)!

 

we went for a walk and it started raining! Silly me, I thought we should hurry home, they just wanted to "get a drink"

 

Poor Haddie!

 

 

Gracie tried 6 weeks of gymnastics. She had a good time but decided to try
dance for the 2nd six weeks instead of more gymnastics.

 

She's growing like crazy! At her 2 week appointment she weighed 12 lbs 12 oz (88th percentile) and was 23" tall (94th percentile).
Just this week we had her at the doctor and she was over 15 lbs. already!

 

 

Maggie and I saw a whole rainbow one night on our run.

 

This kid is still dragging me out of bed most mornings to run. We aren't quiet ready for a 5k yet, but we're getting closer!
It's a good thing she's motivated, I'd be easily convinced to sleep in these days.

 

Wrigley got a swimming pool. She loves to play in the water.

 

 

 

Notice Arnie in the tree and how far Gracie moved the ladder :)

 

BIG girl!

 

story time!

 

Maggie got to go to vet camp in June. She really enjoyed it. They spent 3 days learning about different animals and
getting to "practice" some things they do in a vet office.  On the last day they "scrubbed in" and did surgery on a stuffed animal.
Maggie choose a whale, her whale had a mass on it's right hip- surgery revealed it had grown a brown marble :) she removed it and stitched him up.

 

 

Summer Catch-Up 1

I'm going to try and catch up on our summer pictures and adventures in a few posts. We've had a great summer, I can't believe how quickly it is going. About this time each year I find myself considering home schooling my kids, not because I really want to or because I think I'd make a very good teacher, but because I want every moment I can have with them, I want to show them more of the world and experience so many more things with each of them before they're grown. We have about a month before school starts....I hope we can use it wisely.

A few weeks ago Arnie was out of town for the evening so we decided on Frozen Yogurt for dinner :)

Haddie has found her smiles, she's working hard on laughing.

While it's not very good for my tape measure, Gracie is really proud of herself for counting to 144 :)

Maggie's horse trainer had a baby in mid June, so she hasn't had any lessons for awhile. I think she's enjoying just riding on her own
without instruction. She and Jude love the days they can be outside!

Maggie has been AWESOME with Wrigley. She has really done most of her care all summer. She and Wrigley
are going to be the best of friends. This girl loves animals.

Gracie has been begging to try on my wedding dress for awhile. One afternoon we unpacked it from the box and they both put it on. I'm sure it will seem like we blink and they will be trying on wedding dresses for real.

Zootopia at the Drive-In!

Look how much Gracie has grown from March to June! She complains occasionally about her legs hurting....of course they do they're growing like crazy.

Fair Prep

The Madison County Fair is next week! Last summer we were ready, we had plenty of time to spare. This summer Maggie has been a little unsure of what she wanted to enter and with the addition of a baby we haven't had much spare time to prepare. Since Gracie stayed in Omaha for the week, we finally made it a priority to get ready.....

 

 

 

Maggie has also decided she's going to show Wrigley in the dog show. Wrigley is fairly well behaved but I'm not sure what to expect in a dog show, Oy! Next year Maggie will finally be old enough to take Jude to the fair (she can't wait!), I guess I should be glad all I have to haul this time is a puppy!

So important....

My blog has gotten embarrassingly behind, but sometimes something happens that is so significant it has to be documented, right now. I have a list of posts to catch up on, in time I'll get them all done.

 

On July 1st, we lost an amazing woman. Gramma Lea's health hasn't been great, but I don't think anyone expected this.

I know I don't have the words to do her legacy justice, so I'll just say that my big girls are lucky to have had her for as long as they did.  I'm grateful they've been able to have a relationship with her and both will have lots of fond memories. I've never questioned Haddie's middle name, but now I'm so relieved to know that even though Gramma Lea only had the chance to hold her once, Haddie Lea will forever share a special connection with her. Gramma Lea welcomed me into her family the day we met, I've never called her anything else. She never questioned me, she was a quiet encourager of me as a person, a wife and a mom. She will be missed from the depths of our souls.

 

We enjoyed time in Lincoln over the weekend with family. Gramma Lea would have loved the laughter and the stories. Her service was beautifully done. The girls went with us and while the pain and sadness was excruciating I'm glad they were there. They needed to see how many people loved her and in turn loved them, they needed to hear the stories. I think having little people around did us all some good, they were able to lift our spirits and remind us that Gramma Lea's life left a legacy of people that will continue. That's what she would want us to remember.

Happy Birthday America!

We spent most of the weekend in Lincoln with family celebrating Gramma Lea's life, then Sunday afternoon we headed for Blair to enjoy swimming and fireworks at Aunt Trisha and Uncle Jeff's. After a pretty grownup weekend it was good for the girls to play and relax. Maggie hasn't always loved fireworks but apparently she's over it....I'm not sure how the 4th of July turns even the most careful child into a complete pyromaniac!

 

 

 

Grandma Westerfield and all 11 of her Great Grands! Have I mentioned lately how lucky my kids are!

 

 

 

 

 

Gracie found me later in the evening and asked for some ice cream. She told me she missed it when we were eating it the
first time. I got the ice cream out and gave her a dish....then the next morning Grandma found this picture from the 1st round of dessert....
that kids is such a scam artist (and proud of it!)! Watch out or she'll get you!

 

We spent most of Monday swimming at Grandma and Grandpas. Gracie got to stay in Omaha and have her Grandma and Grandpa days this week, so mid afternoon the rest of us loaded up and headed home.

Of course we had to blow up a few more things before the 5th (while Maggie is thrilled to light fireworks she is not willing to break the law, so everything had to be done on the 4th).