Fruits & Veggies

Here are the most notable items from our garden.

(Not featured: Scrawny, bitter carrots and catapiller-tattered, broccoli-less broccoli plants)

The first green pepper appears

Cantaloupe, softball-sized so far

Mandy, I think of you every time I eat a tomato sandwich.
Shall I overnight a few of these beauties to San Diego?

Checking the plum pit progress

Hebrews 12:2

Several weeks ago I took this video of Kate singing her Bible school memory verse, but didn't figure out how to publish it until tonight. It's destined to become a classic. Enjoy.

By popular demand, here are the lyrics:
"Let us fix, Let us fix, Our eyes on Jesus, Our eyes on Jesus, Who endured the cross, Who endured the cross, Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 12:2" Then she grins and says "Can I see?" (meaning see the video.)

First Cereal

Ballerina

Meg has been counting the weeks, days, hours, minutes until her ballet class started this morning. If you ever watched her dance you'd think she had already taken lessons--she doesn't know the real positions, but her poise and the way she moves look just like a ballerina to me. She was especially pleased that the instructor told everyone to bring a water bottle to class. She decorated hers with stickers and repeatedly told Nate and Kate, "This is my ballet water bottle."

Playmates

When you don't know many boys your own age (who live closer than a 20 minute drive, not counting traffic) you feel a little gypped in the having-a-friend-over-to-play department (especially when your big sister has had an almost weekly play date with her best friend since she was 9 months old.) Nate has two friends: Ian and Perry. He loves to play with them--especially to go to their houses. Ian came over today and Nate had the most fun he's ever had with a friend over--partly due, I'm sure, to the fact that he now lives in the "boys" room and Meg wasn't even home to intrude. In three hours they hit all the highlights: Lincoln logs, hot wheels, work bench, train table, sandbox, and an episode of "Curious George." They even spent a good 20 minutes eating their snack: 10 pistachios and a small handful of grapes each, for which (the nuts AND the grapes) they used the nutcracker.

This picture shows off his new haircut, which I love.

Gardener and Ladies' Man

Nate cut these flowers for me yesterday. He gets even more excited than I do when he sees new sprouts coming up or buds about to open. And he really likes to use the clippers. Any time we're chatting with neighbors in the front yard he picks a few flowers and hands them out to all the women. (If I remember I'll take a picture of the little flags that are marking the spots he has planted the pits of all the plums he's eaten this summer.)

Cute Caleb

Here is the cutest baby you've ever seen:

He likes to stick his tongue out :)

I took this picture this week (less than two weeks after the preceeding pictures.) He is really filling out; it's amazing what a few bottles of formula will do.

Popsicles

Swimming Finale

Tonight we were at a birthday pool party and Meg and Nate looked like little fish in the water. Here are a few highlights from the last days of this summer's swimming lessons.

Nate rang the bell! (so did Meg; see previous post).

Our annual last-day-of-swimming picnic and ice cream outing turned into a night at Chick-fil-A (we're thankful for the much needed rain). How many napkins does it take to clean up 3 kids each eating a 5-inch high ice cream cone?

On the way home we stopped at an ATM and noticed several police cars and fire engines around the bank. When we drove around to the other side of the building this is what we saw. It wasn't covered on the local news, so it probably wasn't an attempted robbery. Pretty interesting, none the less.

School Supplies

Meg and I went school shopping this week

and met Erik for lunch. Do you think she looks excited?

Weekend in North Georgia

The Lieuwens invited us to spend 4th of July weekend with them at their cabin in North Georgia. We had a great time, especially the kids.

Wading and rope-swinging at the Toccoa River

Lost at Last!

Meg finally lost her first tooth! Her permanent tooth has actually been coming in for a couple of months now, and her baby tooth finally began to loosen a few weeks ago. Erik tried several times to pull it, but Meg chickend out each time. So when it was hanging by the very last root he convinced HER to pull it. She gave it a little twist and out it came!!
Have you ever seen a tooth this small!?!
Fortunately the tooth fairy has good eyes :)

Sprinklers! (according to Nate)

Happy Birthday, America!

Attention Grandparents: please skip the next two pictures.

Crazy rides in the Lieuwens' pick up truck. Don't be fooled by the

blurry background, they are driving very slowly :)


Kate took a little snooze on day two while everyone else played in the river.

As you can see, we were hardly roughing it.

There will also be a view as soon as LumberJack Lieuwen fells enough trees.

(McBrides, these are for you; I don't think you've seen the cabin yet.)

Main cabin - nice big deck

full kitchen
family room

dining area

loft

(not pictured: bedroom and bathroom on the main floor)
guest cabin
with kitchenette, bedroom, full bath, and small deck

Swimming Lessons

2020 Olympic Freestyle Hopefulls

Nate working on his torpedo

(He's the kid in the middle next to instructor in yellow swim cap.)

Meg ringing the bell (but she can't remember why)

When a student masters a new skill, they get to ring the bell. She couldn't tell me why she got to ring the bell, but she is doing great! She has started learning real strokes and yesterday she kicked the whole length of the pool on her back.