Strawberry Freckled Lemonade

On the 4th of July Roz requested this tasty beverage. I tracked down the recipe (via Google, of course) after having Red Robin's "Freckled Lemonade" a couple years ago. It has become a family favorite. It is a delicious, kid friendly drink. And it looks pretty in a glass!

Strawberry Freckled Lemonade
2/3 c. lemon juice (fresh or from the bottle)
3/4 c. sugar
Cold water--to fill a 2 quart pitcher
1 c. sliced strawberries (fresh)
1 c. smashed strawberries (fresh)

To smash strawberries: place in pitcher, and mash with potato masher. Add remaining ingredients. Mix all together, and let chill for 2 - 3 hours. Stir before serving.

We sipped this and munched kettle corn while watching Jer light off the fireworks!

Exciting Developments

A few quick things of note from today's adventures...

Hayden went all day (including nap time) with big boy underwear on! Not one accident. He finally sat (and went) on his little potty chair Wednesday evening. When he woke up this morning he went right away and has been dry since. I haven't had only one in diapers since before the twins were born!

Today during swimming lessons Hayden did much better. He still mostly stuck to the stairs but he did join in (without whining) a few times and even blew bubbles. Eli, after standing on the edge building up his courage for a minute or so, jumped off the diving board.

Eli had his regular eye check up today and his left eye improved so much with the patching that his eyes are nearly equal now. He will still need glasses, of course, but we get to stop wearing the patch for now!! We have to go back for a re-check in four months and if his vision in the formerly patched eye gets worse we'll have to patch it again, but for now he is patch free!

I have a story to share about Wesley's latest medical adventures but I'm going to save that for a separate post in the near future.

Diving Board Video

Here is the video of the twins jumping off the diving board. Eli goes first with the help of his instructor. Justus jumps on his own. You'll see Hayden sitting on the edge with his teacher. I had to yell at him once (sorry about that) because I thought for sure he was going to wiggle himself right off into the deep end!

Speaking of Hayden, he had a substitute teacher yesterday who made him get in and he did really well. He whined some but did whatever she told him (jumped off the edge, etc.). Today his regular teacher was back and he is a bit more patient so he didn't push him, although he did get in farther today than Monday.

Wesley also went of the diving board today and I got a video of that to share. I'll get it up later today or tomorrow. He was very excited about it and wanted me to post it for you to see.

How the Garden Grows: Early July

Anyone need lettuce? We've got more lettuce than we know what to do with! The radishes are ready too, but we didn't plant too many of those.

Everything else is growing nicely but not ready to eat just yet. I am anxiously awaiting the snap peas (or "pea socks" as Justus calls them) that will be ready in the near future. The tomatoes and peppers are slow but I'm guessing that's because it's been so cool.

We, and by "we" I mean Jerry, have had to water quite a bit since it's been so dry. Despite that, the garden sure looks great. Looking at it you might even think we know what we are doing.

Some Assembly Required

Jerry decided to use his long weekend to do a few projects. Friday he put ceiling fans in the boys bedrooms. I should have taken pictures but I didn't think of it until just now. He started in J.D.'s room and it went well. When he moved into the "blue" room we discovered that the electrical box was put a little too deep into the drywall and it caused all sorts of trouble with the installation. But after a few curse words, and several hours, it was in and functioning.

Saturday was full of grilling, eating, and fireworks. The weather has been glorious! Perfect in my opinion. With the exception of about four days a couple weeks ago we haven't run the AC. It has been about 80 in the day and in the 50's at night. I am sure those who like summer a bit warmer are disappointed, but not me! It has been dry too, not humid at all, in fact we could use some rain.

On Saturday night, while we were waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks, Roz said she wished we had a basketball hoop. I took her over to the van and opened the doors to show her the one Jer had just purchased! Then I suggested she wish for something else to see if would magically appear in the back of the van....maybe a million dollars or a car!

Sunday afternoon Jerry put together our new BIG basketball hoop. We have been wanting to get one for the boys for awhile. Wesley especially is ready to graduate from the Little Tikes hoop. After having no luck finding one on Craigslist, we finally just bought a new one.

Once it was put together everyone had to try it out:

Swimming Lessons 2009

Today was the first day of swimming lessons for the boys, for this summer anyway. I didn't sign them up for the first session because the pool is always so cold. Long time blog readers will remember that swimming lessons a few years ago started out fine but quickly spiraled out of control until they ended with Eli being withdrawn from the class and Justus sitting in the fetal position on the edge of the pool. Fun times. We decided to take last year off. But time heals all wounds and we were ready to give it another try.

It went well. Again, a thousand thanks to the man (or woman) who invented spray on sunscreen...God Bless you whoever you are! Wesley did great, as always. He seems to really enjoy his lessons.

Can you tell Wesley hasn't been out in the sun much?

The twins also did great. Both Eli and Justus got in the water without hesitation and even got their faces wet. At the end of class they both jumped off the diving board. Well, Justus jumped...Eli was dropped. (Video to follow.) There was not one tear between them.

Eli (to the left of the hand rail) and Justus (to the right of the teacher)

The only complaint they had was that they couldn't get to their towels and were "freezing" while waiting in line for the diving board. The teacher let them borrow her towel, they were more than happy to share...

Can you tell they are twins?

Hayden on the other hand wasn't in the mood for a swim today. He was very good and didn't cry but he didn't get anything above his ankles wet. His teacher was very patient and didn't push him. When I asked him why he didn't get in he told me it was too cold and that maybe he'd get in "tomorrow". This from the boy who keeps telling me he'll use the toilet "next spring".

This is as far in as Hayden got.

J.D. came along just for fun but he's too little even for the first level class. He didn't seem to mind watching from the fence. He played with his bear and visited with Grandma Linda who is in town this week.

Brothers? Where are my brothers?

The sessions run three weeks so if you're looking for us...we'll be spending a good portion of the morning the next several weeks at the pool!