Tomatoes!!!

This week we harvested our first tomatoes. We made tomato, basil, mozzarella cheese salad and BLT sandwiches and they were delicious!
Today we made a trip to the farmer's market for more goodies. Check out our loot!Beans, Carrots, Berries, Corn, Bread, Peppers and Honey Sticks. Yummmm!

No More Braces!

Today Claire got her braces off. She was a little (read a lot) nervous about the removal, but Dr. Hannipal did a great job talking her through the whole thing.Once the braces were off he polished them all up and she has a beautiful white smile!


We go back in about 2 weeks to pick up her retainer. She chose bright pink with gold glitter. Who woulda thunk?!?

Do you think Lilly likes to cook?

While Claire was fishing, Lilly was baking. This girl loves to cook, bake, anything in the kitchen - even dishes. I love her smile in this picture. Pure joy!

Beach Tea Party

After the rain cleared on Saturday, we decided it would be a nice night for a beach tea party. I thought I'd get some great shots of the girls, but it turned out they were not interested for very long.

Soon the chairs moved into the water and it became a free for all!

Not really what I had planned, but they had fun and that is what matters most.

Most Recent Sewing Purchase

I love Farbenmix. I have loved it for a few years, but never splurged on a pattern because they run around $15 and NEVER go on sale. So, when I was introduced to the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love by the founder of Farbenmix it was a done deal. Great photos, clear instructions and 10 - yes10 - full size patterns. I ordered it and have been soaking up each detail for the last few days. I love it! I don't know when I will have time to actually tackle any of the pieces, but I am excited none the less.When I was on the site, it recommended some kids craft books to look at. I was immediately interested in Ed Emberley's Complete Funprint Drawing Book. I took it up north with some ink and cards and let the girls go to town. It was fun watching them look at each page and deciding which designs they would make. We ended up with lots of inky fingers, but they had a blast.

I would highly recommend each of these purchases. And BTW, Walmart had good prices and 97cent shipping per item. It was on my doorstep in 48 hours. Not bad!

First Tomato!

We picked our first heirloom tomato yesterday. It was delicious! We all had some and agreed that we can't wait for the rest of them to ripen.

A Mixed Weekend Up North

This past weekend the girls and I made the trek up north to visit with my parents and spend some time on the beach.
Friday was great. Lots of swimming, and fishing.
Saturday was rainy. Dad and Uncle Russ took Claire (8) and Brody (3) fishing. They caught about 100 fish. Yes, read that right 100 fish. Only the little ones fished. Incredible! Russ' pond is stocked! Claire's favorite part - wait for it - peeing in a bucket on the boat. Unbelievable!

We swam in the middle of the lake. This was a highlight!