Brayden...

About a week ago my mom started her "Grandma's Cousin Camp" this summer. This year the girls got to go first.

With the girls gone the house was a bit quieter, the house stayed a bit cleaner and I didn't miss the extra laundry I other wise would have had.

I missed them though!

I missed hearing Emily's clump, clump, clump down the stairs as her leg cast hits each step on the stairs. I missed Madelyn's cheerful voice in the mornings asking what's for breakfast?

I missed Madelyn's eager help to change Kylie's diapers by herself and to get her dressed each morning and night! I missed Emily's volunteering to pray at each meal. I missed Emily asking if she could try to hold Kylie and sing her to sleep. I missed hearing them sing in there room together at the top of their lungs to Taylor Swift songs. I even missed the hustle and bustle each sunday morning brings trying to get everyone's hair done.

What can I say, I just missed them for the week that they were gone.

Both girls LOVE being in the kitchen with me. It is not uncommon to have both of them especially at dinner time helping get everything ready for the table. They help chop vegetables and fruit, they're great at frying up hamburger or sausage. They know how to get the water boiling and then adding the noodles. Their great at helping make homemade rolls. About the only thing I don't let them do or help with is when I'm working with HOT oil. I'm just not comfortable with that yet.

Having the girls gone for a few days gave Brayden a chance to jump in with both feet. At every meal time he was asking if he could help make "dinner" which he calls every meal. At the beginning of the week I was very cautious with what I allowed him to do, he is only 3!  By the end of the week this mom started to loosen the apron strings and give him more space. One paticular night I was chopping up celery and he asked to help. He grabbed a BUTER knife and started chopping beside me. I soon had enough and walked my bowl of celery to the other side of the island. When I came back around this little man had grabbed the kitchen knife I had been using and finished the last stick of celery.   

 He knew the knife was sharp and kept telling me he had to be careful so he didn't get any blood.

 I love the two hands and such hard concentration!

 He was quite thrilled when he was done! He kept telling me he was so big like Maddie.

One morning for breakfast he helped by flipping the pancakes. Having the girls gone gave us a great opportunity to do things we normally don't do together. I learned that he really LOVES to help his mom in the kitchen. We made cookies together, bread, cinnamon rolls, lasagna, chicken enchilada's and granola bars just to name a few. He was quite helpful, made a bit bigger mess than the girls would have but it was fun to spend some one on one time with him. Where was Hunter during all this? He volunteered to be on baby duty! I think he too learned a lot with out the girls here always willing to jump in to help Miss Kylie when he can't figure it out. He did good with her. He even got comfortable enough with her to take her on a short walk by himself! He's a great big brother to his younger siblings.