Five Brown Kids

At the top of the path behind our house there is a fabulous blackberry patch. We've been raiding it for a few days now and today Taye took some of his friends up to pick and eat. I took Jaxon and Scotia to the gym with me and when I got back, Tyrone was upstairs, and Taye and his friends were busy "cooking", making a blackberry dessert. When I arrived they had flour, water and an egg in a bowl and they were busy mixing. I suggested they add some sugar and oil and baking soda which they just sort of dumped in. Then they added their berries and cooked the mixture in a tiny muffin tin. The muffins were actually pretty edible. Nothing amazing but the kids were sure pleased. Later with another friend in tow they headed back up to pick more. A while later I hear Taye crying like crazy heading for the house - he'd been stung by a wasp/bee/hornet and was hurting. He told me Andrew had been stung too so I gave him a cold cloth and headed up to find the other kids. They we...

I thought you might be interested in my trip to the local Salvation Army today. I'll let you draw your own conclusions on what it's like to be poor and how you might be able to help more. Last night a friend from church called because she needed a ride to the SA this morning. Her gas tank is empty and she has no money to fill it. She was almost out of food and with three growing boys 4, 13 and 19 and one on the way - she needed food. Tyrone was off today so I didn't think it would be a big deal. She had to be at the SA at 8:30 so I picked her up early and off we went. Found a parking space and headed in. This was step one - find a way to get to the SA downtown either by car, a friend's car, foot or bus, walk in, wait for your turn to get written down on the food list for the day after showing valid ID. (I saw one person who didn't have ID and was turned away) She was given an orange ticket and instructed to come back at 1 pm for food. I dropped her off and came h...

Thanks for the fun....

And we have been busy. Taye's party, lots and lots of swimming, working out at the gym, bike riding, yummy dinners etc. Dad even squeezed in a few household tasks like a new chair rail in our dining room. Looks great. This week we hit our favorite beach and it was wonderful! Grownups and kids had a great time body surfing and jumping in the waves. I enjoyed a new book! Dinner at Pei Wei - love that place! You won't believe how well Taye and Jaxon swim. Taye is rocking the house! More later... Beach. Beach. And more beach. Ahhh, got to love the beach!

I'll try to give you a little tour of my house in the next few weeks. Here's our back deck. With cute new (very old school- with a fresh coat of paint) patio furniture and some landscaping that we did last summer that is coming in nicely.

We are lucky to have a great Dad in our house. He works hard at home and at work so we can have lots of fun, keep our fridge full, have a mom at home, decorate our home etc, etc. Spring vacation at Williamsburg, Va. It's a good life down here and Tyrone provides for it all. Thanks Tyrone....

My parents just brought this new dining table all the way down from Nova Scotia. It's a beautiful table but especially cool is that my Dad built this table for my Mom when I was just two months old. I ate three meals a day for almost 18 years at this table. And now my kids will enjoy the same. On the bottom Dad carved "Merry Christmas Deb, 1975. Love, Pete" It's a great joy to have it in my home now.

My camera died so I just have two lousy pictures of Taye's fun birthday party today. We had all of his neighbourhood friends over for a BBQ lunch, a few quick games and then an afternoon at our community pool with all his new pool toys. It was the perfect way to spend the day! You'll see my Dad's head poking over the flowers. Mom and Dad arrived yesterday in their furniture truck (little Toyota Matrix) all the way from Nova Scotia. We now have two new nightstands for the master bedroom, amazing wooden boxes for the boys to store all their treasures under thier beds and a new 8 person solid oak dining table. The very table I ate at my whole growing up. My parents, bless them and their empty nest, don't need it anymore. Dad built this table for my mom when I was just a few months old - so I'm so excited to have it in my home now. Pictures of all the new stuff as soon as I go out and buy a new camera.

Taye turned 7 on June 6. Hard to believe we have a seven year old. He's a stellar kid. Smart, kind and super athletic. And you've never met a kid who eats more broccoli, grean beans, cilantro, spicy salsa, shrimp etc than this kid. He's all around perfect. Happy Birthday Taye! Day 1 Famous Taye My favorite Taye - age 6

There's nothing better. Fresh peaches, a trip to the beach, swimming everyday. It's the mix for a perfect summer.