So this picture was a complete setup – but I still love it.  I had to bribe the boys with a booster pack of Magic cards for them to pose with the Cone of Shame but how am I supposed to go into the pet aisle of Goodwill and see THREE Cones of Shame and not capture the moment?  It was fate.

One of my favorite places to be this summer was sitting in the garden in the late afternoon listening to the kids play and enjoying the surroundings.  It’s funny, when we were getting ready to build our fence we realized that our garden area is actually bigger than the square footage of our house (which obviously isn’t all that big).  The fence is wooden posts, with wire pulled around and sticks and twigs interwoven to make it see through yet private.
This year we have successfully grown lettuce, tomatoes (my favorite), green beans, strawberries, raspberries, zucchini, carrots, tomatillos, artichokes and the winter garden is planted with broccoli, spinach, lettuce, carrots, peas and kale.
It’s fun that the boys want to help out and are excited to go out and pick what’s ready.  They are learning how different fresh foods taste from the foods we get at the store.  There’s really nothing quite like it.
I feel so grateful they can learn about the work it takes to create and tend to a garden and also the rewards you get from fresh produce.
Here are some pictures from my little slice of paradise.

the cutting garden – which I never could cut from because I love how they look

Playing in the birdbath

Maymay’s favorite – almost blooming and gorgeous

first year for artichokes – super cool plants

zucchini – a staple in every NW garden

Erin talking with the bedazzled gnomes

yum – tomatillos!

these are my absolute favorite tomatoes, they taste like candy

my beans have finally figured out how to climb the ladder!

Carlos’ garden still has pansies

this was taken earlier in the summer

So I’m starting to prepare for school lunches.  We pack our own, there is no school lunch program at the boy’s school even if they wanted to buy…which I think would be an interesting venture to take on…you think parents would buy pre-made brown bag lunches?  How much would you spend for a tasty, healthy lunch for your kid that you didn’t have to make?  I’m seriously pondering it…
Anyhow, back on track.  We use Laptop Lunchboxes and they usually look something like this minus the cookies and candy:

A sandwich (homemade uncrustables – see previous post), veggie of some sort, fruit, crackers and a string cheese of protein bar on the side.  I like that our school doesn’t allow kids to throw their garbage away there, so the parents can actually see what the kids are eating and what they are skipping.  No matter how healthy it is, there’s no point in putting carrots in each day if your kid’s going to throw them away or not eat them.  It’s just that simple.
I’m always interested in what others do for lunches – anyone willing to share?
I love the laptop lunches and it seems a decent amount of food (sometimes if one’s complaining there isn’t enough, I’ll put an extra piece of fruit or something in the carrying case to add to it) and it’s green and all, which is great, but honestly I do it because it’s easy and it flows with my Type A personality.

So I’ve been going through the house room by room and making a list of all the things that need to get done.  I am only on the 4th room and there are over 50 items on the list!  Some are big (replace cracked window) and some are small (dust picture frames) but all need to get done.  I figure if we go at it and plan to accomplish one item per day, eventually we will have our house looking the way we (well, OCD me at least) wants.
With our tiny house, 5 kids (at the moment) makes it a necessity to be uber organized in order for it to run smoothly.  The kids help out with chores and we try to stay on top of things, but so many things get put off until later.  Not anymore! 
Guessing most people won’t see the difference at all, but I will know it’s done and that will feel good.  When I open my tiny closet, I would love to be able to just see clothes instead of random electronics, a bin of photos that needs to be sorted, too big clothes and “hidden” presents for the kids. 
The kitchen counter has been repainted as well as the cabinets so I’m off and running.  I also plan on a MAJOR purge and many trips to Goodwill.  If we haven’t used it in X number of years, even though it’s cool it’s gonna be gone.

We have a new addition in our family, a sweet kitten we have named Esmé.  I first heard the name back in high school when my chemistry teacher would take a break from the periodic table and read a story to us.  It always ended in tears and one that stuck out in my mind was a short story by J.D. Salinger called “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor” 
Can’t wait to see this little kitten grow, she’s sweet and playful and the boys are being incredible with her!

 We are SO lucky to be able to easy go see the USS Stennis as it departs.  It is always so majestic to see a giant Navy ship leave through Rich Passage, with it’s crew on deck and so close you can almost touch it. 
Be safe and return home soon!

 Nothing says summertime fun like a trip to the fair!  Linda, Scott and the girls joined us for the trip (thank God, because the water pump went out on the van yesterday and we don’t all fit in the car!) to make it even more fun.
Highlights were: Dee got her funnel cake, Carlos  a raibow shave ice, Levi wanted to ride the Gravitron, Erin tried a corn dog from Crazy Eric’s, Trey won a blow up hammer when he did the sledgehammer strong man game, Linda, Scott and the girls like the pregnant cow and I went off diet and had a waffle cone sundae (so worth it!).
This year, there were no tears about Carlos not being too small to ride the rides, so that was a relief.
We were there for hours, did all we wanted to do and left before anyone had a meltdown.  A great day!

Stongman Trey

Baby J riding in the stroller and taking in the sights

You are never too old to love the Merry Go Round

Cousins

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Not sure how she feels about her first corn dog