Five Brown Kids

After a romp in the sprinkler the other day my kids and their friends set up some towells on the driveway to lie down and dry off. "We're sunbathing Mom," Taye said, "like turtles."

And probably not his last! Time: 32.57

We climbed mountains at our house this week. Mon, Wed and Fri after school the boys had spring swim clinic. A few weeks of serious swim classes in preparation for summer swim team. Jaxon is making great strides and Taye is a delight to watch. He must be half fish. Happy to dive in, swims with perfect form and then laughing and smiling when he hops out. I've never seen a 7 year old swim laps with such joy. On Wednesday Jaxon's preschool class walked to a nearby elementary school to check out the kindergarten class and tour the school. That was a hike for him. Scotia also had gymnastics on Wednesday morning. Swim Wed afternoon. Thursday eve Taye had soccer practise. Friday more swim. And then today. This area of our church hosted a Day of Service: Lengthen Your Stride 5km Charity Run. Tryone worked so I showed up with my kids and neighbours and just told the boys to meet me at the food table when they were done. Taye is near the finish line, just one lap around the church left. ...

It's pleasant summer kind of weather around here - hot but not too hot and no mugginess. Friday night found half our street out playing. Lots of frisbees and footballs and bow and arrows. Yep. Tyrone's been muttering under his breath about Davey Crockett. All week the kids (by which I mean the ones who I birthed and the ones who just hang out at my house as if I had birthed them) have been creating and designing and re-working and improving on their bow and arrows. By Friday night they had a pretty sweet model, and even one of our grown up neighbours had to take a few turns shooting it at his house.

It's almost strawberry season here and this is another delicious salad - from Courtney this time. Tyrone LOVES this salad. It's just a toss together salad. one head of romaine lettuce chopped, or a few handfuls of the Costco spring mix, or a small bag of fresh spinach, chopped one cup of sliced fresh strawberries shredded Asiago cheese if you desire Mix with Briannas Blush Wine Vinaigrette . (The one with the strawberry) Top with sugared almonds just before serving. Sugared Almonds - Take a heavy pan and toss in 1/2 cup of slivered almonds, 1/4 cup of white sugar and a tbsp of butter. Put the heat on medium. Watch carefully - in about a minute the sugar will start to melt. Then you need to stir them constantly with a wooden spoon. In about 3 or 4 minutes the sugar will melt to a golden color and will coat the toasted almonds. Remove from the heat and spread on a plate until they cool. Break apart and sprinkle on salad.

Here are two funs blogs that I follow religiously.... The Meanest Mom This Mormon mom just tells it like it is with a fantastic dose of humor. Highly recommend for your daily laugh. Seriously So Blessed This blog is a ficticious account of a Mormom mom who's got it all. It's great!

Saturday morning after my long, long run the boys had soccer. It was a beautiful sunny day and they had a great time playing. Afterwards Dad left to play ball and we decided to eat our lunch at a nice park nearby before heading home. We enjoyed our lunch at the picnic table and watched some kids swimming in the lake. The boys thought that would be fun so they grabbed the keys and headed up to the van in the parking lot to change back into regular clothes. Jaxon came back first and left the keys for Taye in the van. Taye though Jaxon had the keys so he just pressed the lock all doors button and then hopped out. Lock Out!!! We borrowed some one's cell to leave a message for Dad who was busy balling and then enjoyed picking flowers and getting wet at the lake. Jax is one fearless cookie! We headed back to the van when we thought Dad would be close to finishing up with ball but he was having a banner day and playing late. Arrrghhh.... we waited for over an hour in the parking lot. We ...