Summer Produce --
Cucumbers from our garden:
Lots of tomatoes:
And some sweet corn (store-purchased, but good):
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Strawberry Pie --
I taught Sophia the fine art of making a pie and she was a complete natural.
Cutting off the excess dough (which was later rolled into strips and baked with butter and cinnamon sugar for the kids):
Filling the pie shell:
My personal favorite part, "fluting the edges:"
She needs a tad more practice on it (and maybe larger fingers), but she was certainly getting the hang of it:
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Knitting --
Samantha learned to knit and it is the perfect activity for her. She is now on her second scarf!
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Papa's 70th birthday --
We celebrated my dad's birthday at our house, complete with grilled shish-kabobs, some sides and cupcakes. The rest of the time was spent down at the beach, hence the wet hair and swimsuit cover-ups:
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The Sandbox --
The backyard sandbox has been in full use this summer, especially with the boys.
They play pretty nicely together, but every once is a while, I hear a bit of yelling and find that Jimmy has been banned from the tire sandbox and forced to the other sandbox under the slide. Brotherly love.
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Downtown Pancake Breakfast--
The girls begged to have these balloon octopi at the annual downtown Pancake Breakfast (pancakes and sausage served out in the street) and I obliged. Honestly, I pictured them popping before we even made it home, but they surprisingly lasted for several days.
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Chillin' --
Partners in crime. They are never too far away from one another. And I love that.
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Book bags --
New book bags and matching lunch bags (purchased every other year) all ready for my full-time learners this year:
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Crafting --
Our summertime crafting game was strong this year. So many fun projects ...
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Sidewalk Chalk --
Truth be known, Steve loathes sidewalk chalk. He hates seeing it all over the place and especially doesn't like running over it with vehicles.
But I love it. I secretly keep adding to our stash because I have been known to do many drawings out there, sometimes even without the kids. I just love seeing their creativity in action.
(As a side note, Sophia's hair is starting to get so much longer and thicker these days):
So many pieces and so many colors to choose from:
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Miss Diane --
Celebrating Miss Diane's birthday with Grandpa at our house, complete with a homemade chocolate cherry cake:
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Summertime S'mores --
This might possibly be one of Jack's favorite things ...
It combines his love of fire and dessert.
Jimmy needed a little assistance obviously, so I happily jumped in.
He was pleased with the outcome, of course.
The girls are pros now.
No assistance needed.
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