Monkey See Monkey Do

Just one of the many benefits of having older siblings! I love that Anna's book is upside down :-P

The Buddy Walk

This is the sixth year in a row that the Sonoma County Down Syndrome Support Group has hosted a Buddy Walk at a local park. It is a one mile walk to raise funds for Down syndrome awareness and programs to help those blessed with an extra 21st chromosome. It is a wonderful event that features the one mile walk, a tasty lunch, information booths, games, a talent show by guys/gals with Down syndrome, and plenty of friendly faces! We feel so honored to be part of our local Down syndrome community. It is full of such wonderful people!!!

Colton is all decked out in his Buddy Walk gear and ready to go! This year's theme was "Hawaiian".

We made "Team Matty" shirts for the Buddy Walk this year. We are so proud of how well our little guy is doing! The back of Matty's shirt said Team Leader and the back of Colton's shirt said Co-Leader. Colton didn't want to be left out of the whole "leader" business. :-)

Daddy and Matty before the Buddy Walk started. This was the third year that we participated. Last year we stayed home because of the H1N1 outbreak. We didn't want to take our chances getting sick. Matty was a little afraid of the loud music this year, which hasn't bothered him in the past. I guess he is getting more award of his surroundings and is quite good at expressing his "opinions".

The Simple Things

I love how little boys can take something like an empty paper towel roll and turn it into something fun to play with! Matty and Colton were yelling through the roll on each other's tummies. I guess it tickled because they were giggling and playing with it for a long time. Ah, the simple things!

Zucchini Bread

Yesterday we baked zucchini bread with the zucchini we picked from our garden. This particular zucchini was ENORMOUS- so big, in fact, that we nicknamed it "Big Frank". Here's my recipe:

3 eggs

1 c. oil

2 c. sugar

2 c. peeled and grated zucchini

3 tsp. vanilla extract

3 c. flour, sifted

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. cinnamon

pinch of all spice

Mix first 5 ingredients then add the dry ingredients. Bake at 350 for 45-60min or until fork comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves or 1 loaf and 12 muffins. Delicious!

Up And At 'Em

Anna has finally started learning how to walk using her new walker! She didn't seem motivated to learn on her own so we thought this would be good for her. She's nearing 15mo. at is not even close to taking her first steps without the walker. She is however starting to let go of the walker for a couple seconds while standing to stand on her own. That's progress! With a face that cute- who needs to walk, right? Everyone would be happy to snuggle her and carry her around all the time. Little stinker!!!

Silly Colton!

Colton said, while making an apple pie out of sand in the backyard, "This apple pie is so good you can taste its history!" I don't know where he comes up with this stuff but he says the funniest things all the time! We have been learning about the meaning of history and the story of creation in homeschool, so maybe that explains it.

Raising Readers

I think the most important part of raising readers is reading yourself.....a lot.....and in front of your kids. When they see how much you love to read, they think it's something they want to do too. I've always got my nose tucked into a book in between daily tasks and playing with the kids. I think that being a reader myself makes all the difference in the world for my kids!