Hello Muddah...

Paul and the big kids went to church camp last week.

They had a really good time. This is the second year that Paul and Carrie have gone. William went for the first time this year. Only kids from our church's 5th, 6th and 7th grade go with parents from our church as counselors. It's a fun time for them to all get to know each other better.



I stayed home with the little boys. Josh had a pretty hard time. He kept asking when his best friends were going to be home. Carrie anticipated this and took a picture of herself and Josh before she left. She then put it through the printer on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. Josh carried it around all weekend.



I tried to keep things exciting so Josh wouldn't think about how much he missed Paul, Carrie and William. Thankfully GG (Great Grandma) came and spent the night with us the first night. She has a special way of giving all her attention to the kids. She plays with them and tells them stories. Josh didn't feel quite so sad while she was here--except for a little while right before bed when it got dark outside. It was so much fun to have her here. I enjoyed being able to just sit and visit with her.



My brother, Rob, came the next day. He stayed with us the rest of the weekend. We went to Dunkin' Donuts (Josh's request--I was happy to oblige), and we went Pirate Party shopping for Josh's upcoming third birthday. We also ordered pizza and watched a video of Josh's choice. I think that Rob was happy to just sit with Josh on his lap and watch "Oswald," one of Josh's favorite TV shows.

He surprised us by riding his new motorcycle down to see us!

Oooooh! Aaaaaaaah!



Paul, Carrie and William came back home with lots of stories, sore muscles and sunburns...




William with a particularly bad sunburn...



I've never seen a sunburn blister in person before! I hope to never see one again!

Once the pain is gone, I'm sure the memories will be sweet.

Wordless Wednesday...Happy Birthday, Uncle Brian!

The Corn is Always Sweeter...

Isn't my neighbor's corn just beautful?!




I know, for anything to be better on the other side of the fence, you have to have something to compare with the "what is better."

I admit, I ain't got nothin' when it comes to corn on my side of the fence. Anyway, not of my own labor.

But I do have corn from our local orchard--and boy was it good!



Isn't it fun when you reintroduce something to a 2-year old? He was only one last summer, so he didn't remember the joy of corn-on-the-cob! He sure loved it and was telling everyone he met up with the next day about his sweet corn-on-the-cob.



My dad grows a pretty big sweet corn patch up north. When William was very young, he would tell people that Papa B was coming down and bringing sweet corn. There's just nothing like home-grown sweet corn!



And here's Carrie. She gets to cut hers off the cob this summer. Braces! It goes so slowly that way! Maybe next summer she will be able to eat it off the cob again.



And then there's Matthew. He's been joining us at the table lately. He just can't figure out what all the slurping, crunching, and mmmmmmming is all about.



Sorry, no pictures of Paul and me eating our corn.


But we'll leave you with this.



Watch out, Tonya! This bunny looks like he's hungry! I don't know how high he can hop, but he might be in for something closer to the ground.



And my dog isn't going to be much help.

Fruit Bobs

One morning as Josh and I were watching TV together, and we saw one of those little shows between shows featuring a young boy making Fruit Kabobs. Josh said, "I wanna do that Fruit Bobs."

Since I am not the model mom when it comes to feeding my kids all the fruits and vegetables that they need everyday, I thought that it would be a fun way to serve some extra fruit. I even had some skewers in one of the drawers in the kitchen.

So, off we went to the new Wal-Mart to check out their produce department. We were pleasantly surprised at the variety and quality of the fruit we found!

And I was pleasantly surprised to see what a popular idea this was!

What was especially fun was to see the combinations that the kids put together on a skewer. Some skewers had more variety than others...




And Josh just kind of ate as he went...




Everyone enjoyed Fruit Kabobs! We also served them for the family on the Fourth of July instead of a pan of brownies. Can you believe it?! I've even had the kids asking for Fruit Kabobs.



Do you think that asparagus, lima beans and brussel sprouts would be as popular?

Wordless Wednesday...Just Yesterday

Wordless Wednesday...This is what we look like on a good day.