It was a lovely summery day. Svea enjoyed riding in her stroller by the lake, she visited her Daddy at camp, took two naps, ate a little rice cereal but mostly enjoyed her Mama's milk as usual, went to a neighbor girl's birthday party, and was asleep before 7:00 PM. She had a happy 8th month birthday! 
The kindergartners had their end of the year program. It was a Wild West theme. Our friends the McCrady's loaned us Linnea's cowgirl vest, skirt and hat but Mara was not interested in wearing it. Bummer! But I didn't fight it. Instead I put it in a bag and brought it to school. After seeing a few of her classmates also wearing hats, Mara put hers on. But not the vest or skirt. No way. 
Notice Sonna's hands in this progression. All I can say, Svea, is that you will get your payback time when you get older should you choose!
A side story:
If I haven't mentioned it already, it has been a long winter. So today's warm temperatures and sunshine were most welcomed! When Sonna got to school her preschool teacher said, "Sonna, welcome to our outdoor classroom!". Carol had moved easels, tables and chairs outside and prepared all sorts of activities for the kids to do outside. Carol later told me that Sonna chose to be inside for part of the morning. Hmmm? 
I wish I had one good group shot but truthfully, we're lucky I managed to take pictures at all! We had 15 kids here (7 of those are sibling sets) and the weather was cold and rainy so we were inside. Several of the parents stayed as well so there were 29 of us in our living room/kitchen! The kids played some games (thank you, Aunt Becca, for the good ideas!) and had corn dogs for lunch and ate cake. This was a party of Little Things - the girls received Littlest Pet Shop sets, little necklaces, little tea sets - and just last week at Svea's check up the doctor suggested we take a refresher CPR class in case Svea would swallow and choke on such little pieces. *Sigh*
Sonna is exuberant, a good helper, a dramatic storyteller, a social butterfly, and so lovable. She loves to dress up and dance and the sign of a good dress is whether or not it twirls nicely. Sonna is eager to learn and enjoys being read to. She keeps up with the big kids and adores her sisters. I included the bottom picture because she often sits in front of the mirror and practices her facial expressions and talks to herself. (:
Mara is vivacious and kind, sensative and creative, determined and thoughtful. She is such a joy to us. She loves being the big sister. Mara has silly dances that make us all laugh and she is quite the reader. We love our Mara so much! 
