Twins
Fresh & Healthy: How We Split Our First Cherry Tomato 4 Ways
- Our first tomato this year was a sweet little cherry tomato!
The garden has been a wonderful teaching opportunity for our kids in many ways from the science of preparing, planting, and maintaining it to sharing with others and many more great learning moments. One of the most exciting parts about the garden is seeing the plants start producing vegetables and fruits. The tomato plants took (months according to the girls) to turn from green to red. We have made it a point to split the first type of vegetable or fruit that comes out of the garden four ways. The first pick of lettuce, summer squash, zucchini, etc….were easy to split among the family. The first tomato happened to be a little red cherry tomato. The girls giggled thinking their was no way we could split it four ways. We teased them about making 4 sandwiches out of the tomato and they thought that would be impossible. My sweet husband came up with a great solution that was a huge hit. The girls had a blasting watching us come up with a delicious treat to share with the whole family. They were amused and excited to eat their first BLT sandwich of the summer!
Making our first "tomato" sandwiches of the summer season! We took a tortilla, small scoop and cut out 8 little circles to make our sandwiches.
Cutting up our first tomato to eat on our sandwiches! Daddy carefully cut the tomato into 4 slices.
Our first BLT sandwich - the mini version! The first cherry tomato became a mini BLT’s for the family. We had tortilla’s for the bread, fresh lettuce from the garden, the fresh cherry tomato and a small piece of bacon. Who’s ready for a BLT?!
My first BLT sandwich of the summer with fresh lettuce and our first tomato from the garden! The girls giggled while eating their bite sized BLT sandwiches. They didn’t think Mommy and Daddy could make 4 sandwiches with our first tomato since it was a cherry tomato. We did it and they tasted delicious! These would make great appetizers and you can use fresh garden veggies to put them together. Make up a few, your kids will LOVE them!
Fresh & Healthy: Our Garden – Cabbage, Tomatoes, Purple Beans, Green Beans, Strawberries, Squash, Zucchini, Cucumbers, Peppers, Lettuce, and Peas!
We are loving the fresh vegetables from our garden! I didn’t have a chance to take pictures last week with all the traveling, guests, and fun activities. This week I did better at taking pictures but the girls ate a few items before the camera came out, they have been enjoying helping more in the garden now that they are on summer break from school.
Here are some of the fresh veggies we were able to eat and share this week:
Fresh Cabbage, Tomatoes, Peppers, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Snow Peas, Green Beans, Purple Beans 
Fresh from the Garden Leafy Lettuce, Summer Squash, Cherry Tomatoes, Regular Tomatoes, Sweet Basil, Dill, Snow Peas, Beans, and Banana Pepper. 
Fresh Fruit and Veggies - Tomatoes, Zucchini, Pepper, Summer Squash, Purple Beans, our first Cucumbers, Lettuce, Strawberry, and Snow Peas A few strawberries, tomatoes, and some other veggies barely made it inside to be rinsed before they ate them so the pictures didn’t happen. After picking one day the girls informed me “we picked a rainbow of food from our garden today Mom”. We had a lot of stormy nights the past couple weeks with hail, heavy rain, and high winds. We even had a tree fall down in the yard and break our fence during one of the storms. The garden has “shifted” a little bit but thankfully continues to produce some goodies despite the damage. We haven’t gotten a lot of any one vegetable or fruit but we have a nice variety of goodies to eat every week. Plus we haven’t had to water for a couple weeks.
We were able to share some of the veggies this week with family, friends and people at our church. During the summer months our church does a “Corner Harvest” where people can share fresh produce from their garden. It is neat to see what other families are growing and share our produce.
What are you eating out of your garden this week?
Fresh & Healthy: Having Fun with Produce
Fruit and Veggie Snack The girls have enjoyed helping pick vegetables and fruits from our garden this summer. They don’t get too excited about pulling the weeds but have gotten better at spotting produce and picking it. Once the fresh produce is washed they are always fascinated at seeing all the goodies spread out on the counter. Many times they pick a variety of pieces to eat at that time. One night as they were getting into their pj’s I put together a special fruit / veggie snack from the produce we had picked that day (see picture above). They giggled as they ate their special goodies from the garden and talked about how to grow food in a garden.
Smile – sliced Green Peppers
Nose – sliced Strawberry
Eyes – halved Cherry Tomato
Eye Lashes – cut up Purple Beans
It’s a simple way to get the kids excited about eating fruits and vegetables. I love surprising them with special treats and seeing their joy at getting something fun to eat.
Book: “There’s a Wocket in My Pocket” by Dr. Seuss
Our family enjoys quite a few of Dr. Seuss’s books! His book There’s a Wocket in My Pocket! by Dr. Suess has been a favorite for a long time. When Jake and I were dating in college I purchased this book and a small stuffed frog for his “Zillow on his Pillow”. We have read the girls the book and told them the story of Daddy’s “Zillow” many times. They now have “Zillows” of their own after reading the book and hearing Daddy’s story. It is a great kids book that’s fun to read with them!
Fun Activities on the Last Few Days at School
I was able to go spend a morning volunteering at the girls school recently. Thankful that I have had a number opportunities throughout the year to participate in their classroom. One of the benefits to having twins in the same classroom is you don’t have to split your time between several different rooms. The girls LOVE it when Mommy hangs out with them at school and Mommy is excited they still want to have me be a part of their school group. The last several days of school are always busy with extra activities. One of the days I was able to help out with was their annual Field Day which is a full day outside competing in a variety of kid games.
Karlie working at a picture for one of her friends! 
Brina thrilled that Mommy is taking a moment to watch her draw while helping with their class! 
Karlie and Brina resting in between games on Field Day! 
Brina's turn to carry the bean bag in the relay for her team on Field Day! 
Karlie was one of the few kids that made it all the way hopping down and back without losing the ball between her knees. I was pretty impressed, probably couldn't do that myself! 
Brina doing the sack race, she was a trooper for her team! 
Almost to the finish line! Go KARLIE Go!!! It is hard to believe the school is done and they are out for the summer. We have many fun activities already planned for the summer and I know we’ll come up with even more stuff to do. They have already listed several things that we did last summer tat they want to do again (guess that’s good because last summers memories were positive)! Glad they enjoy hanging out with Mom because I love these months at home with the kids!
Bass Pro Shops: Free Family Summer Camp Events (Activities / Workshops / Crafts & More!)
Starting June 4th through July 10, 2011 Bass Pro Shops will be having Free Family Summer Camp Events.
There are plenty of fun activities, games, crafts, and workshops to participate in at Bass Pro Shops. Some variations may occur at the individual stores participating in the Free Family Summer Camp Events.
Free Activities (Tuesdays & Thursdays from 2 PM to 6 PM and Saturdays & Sundays from 12 PM to 4 PM):
- Free Shooting Gallery
- Free Shooting Range
- Free Casting Targets
- Free Photo (on Saturdays & Sundays)
- Free S’Mores Cookout (Saturdays – 7 to 8 PM)
Free Workshops (Tuesdays & Thursdays from 2 PM to 6 PM and Saturdays & Sundays from 12 PM to 4 PM):
- Archery
- Bird Watching
- Shooting Basics
- Camping Basics
- Plants & Insects
- Animal Identification
- Hiking Basics
- Outdoor Pets
- Fishing Basics
Free Crafts (Tuesdays & Thursdays from 4 PM to 6 PM and Saturdays & Sundays from 2 PM to 5 PM):
- Camp Scene Doorknob Hanger – June 4 & June 5
- Camping Photo Frame – June 7, June 9, June 11, June 12
- Leather Keychain – June 14, June 16, June 17, June 18
- Paint a Wiggle Fish – June 21, June 23, June 25, June 26
- Design Your Own Birdhouse – June 28, June 30, July 2, July 3
- Stamping Fun Animal Tracks – July 5, July 7, July 9, July 10
To learn more information go to Bass Pro or to find a location near you!
Pampers Gifts to Grow – 10 Free Points
Receive another 10 free points from Pampers with the a new Gifts to Grow code!This code is different from the previous codes I have given.
Use Code: 4XGHB4HPE7PB7NK
The code expires on June 4th so make sure to add it to your account within the next few days!
You can save up the rewards to purchase gifts!
For more information about the Pampers Gift to Grow Program and how you can start earning Pampers “Gifts to Grow” Rewards for your family go to Pampers Gifts to Grow!
Family Outings: Family of 4 “Playcation” Package – Greenville Drive, Children’s Museum, Camelot Cinemas, Hotdogs & Drinks ($40)
The Greenville Drive is offering a “Playcation” Package this week on Tuesday, May 31, 2011. The package is $40 for a Family of 4 which includes:
- 4 Tickets to the Greenville Drive’s Game on May 31, 2011
- 4 Hot Dogs
- 4 Soft Drinks
- 4 passes to the Children’s Museum of the Upstate
- 4 passes to the Camelot Cinemas
You can order you “Playcation” Package by going by the Fluor Field Box Office or calling them at 864-240-4528 (there is an additional $5 charge for ordering by phone). For more information please go to the Greenville Drive website.
Book: “Curious George Goes to the Chocolate Factory” by Margaret & H. A. Rey
Although we have several Curious George books the girls love reading “Curious George Goes to a Chocolate Factory” by Margaret & H.A. Rey. They enjoy watching Curious George go through the factory, eat the chocolates and help fix the mess he made. Plus, we all enjoy chocolate so that appeals to us as well. It is always an adventure when you read one of the Curious George books. If you are looking for a great book for curious kids check this one out!
Cleaning Up the Yard & Spring Bonfire
We are blessed to live in a wonderful area with a creek and woods. While the trees provide shade they also are known for dropping branches occasionally. Since we had some limbs piled up we decided to clean up the yard by building our first Spring bonfire. The girls had fun gathering the twigs and branches in the yard and bringing them to the fire. Once the fire was good and hot was roasted hotdogs, did a little more work collecting branches, followed by relaxing together and roasting marshmallows.
Sweet Sisters and Best Friends having fun gathering twigs in the yard together! 
Brina loves hanging out with her puppy - Skipper! 
Karlie telling a story while Daddy cleans the wire for her hotdog. 
Bonfire conversations with the family! 
Daddy and the girls relaxing around the bonfire! Love spending time with my family. We were able to get some work done in the yard and relax together. It was awesome having some time to talk and make new memories with the kids!
