Five Brown Kids

Here are our summer flowers... My only special flower keeping skill is remembering to water.... but if you want to know where the inspiration comes from here are a few pictures my dad just sent out of their house in NS.

Tyrone and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary this weekend. Our neighbours were super kind to watch our kids for 24 hours while we escaped to the beach. We had a wonderful time. Too good to want to come home. But headed for home we were when we noticed a very large bolt/screw in the back tire of Tyrone's still very new car. After a few garage stops we were able to find a shop with the right tire and time to replace it. (At great expense). Just like life - a few hours of fun and relaxation and then back to work, expenses and kids!

We have a secret blackberry patch near the golf course, so I turned this Betty Crocker blueberry recipe into a blackberry one. Best thing besides eating them straight from the patch. Cinnamon Streusel Topping 1/4 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons firm butter Muffins 1 cup milk 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 egg 2 cups all-purpose or whole wheat flour 1/3 cup granulated sugar 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup fresh blackberries or blueberries 1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line 12 regular-size muffin cups with paper baking cups. In medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup flour, the brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut in butter, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until crumbly. 2. In large bowl, beat milk, oil, vanilla and egg until well blended. Stir in 2 cups flour, the granulated sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until flour is moistene...

Tyrone's first box of books arrived today. Twenty-eight pounds worth. Just four weeks of freedom left!

I was going to label this post WWIII but as the summer wears on the Great Depression seems more fitting. We started the summer out with a bang - our Boston road trip was awesome and the kids totally enjoyed the adventure. Then we prepped for the beach and loved every minute of our week with the Ricks. Then we came home, and the best friends down the street went to Japan for the summer. The best friend up the street, who usually spends his summers with us, went to his Dad's instead. The AC at the gym broke and a long entire HVAC overhaul is in the works. And all of a sudden it was/is just me and the boys in a face off. Where once Taye was happy with our museum, farmers market, swim team routine he is no longer content. (He is 9! now) His lone focused effort of the day comes the minute he can pack his bags and bike off to swim team. It's a long 8 hours before that blessed moment each day. Do I like teasing? NO, I do not. Do I like back talk? Nope. Get a kick out of fighti...

We love this ad!

A few weeks before my Mom came home Scotia and I picked some flowers for her nightstand and used a little ink bottle vase from my kitchen windowsill to display them. That left me with an empty space on my windowsill so when my Mom was home and unpacking I told her to keep an eye open for a little vase that she didn't need anymore and could give to Scotia. Mom did so much more than that, she put together a package of five little vases and gave them to Scotia when she handed out all the Ecuadorian gifts in New Hampshire. Vase 1 & 2, sweet little ink bottles from her collection. During the summer months my Mom always had little vases of garden flowers around. Vase 3, a large ink bottle vase (I've borrowed it from Scotia, it looks so nice in my bathroom :-) Vase 4 on the far left is the very first present that Dad (Peter) gave her. She admired it one day when they were out and about and then he went back and got it for her. Vase 5 is the green moon face. This little jug was in...