1. Boy cousins This past week my sister-in-law’s family moved to our area. She and her husband also have 3 boys. Her boys are each exactly one year older than each of my boys. They play extremely well together.
   

   5 of the 6 boy cousins

    The other day they were together from 10 am to 8 pm without a single fight. Love that my boys not only get to experience the joy of having brothers but having boy cousins that live near by and that are good friends!

2. Eric Carle impressionistic art One afternoon this week my 5 yr old was downstairs and my other two were napping, we decided to read an Eric Carle book on his Kindergarten reading list. After reading the story we decided to create his own Eric Carle picture.
   

   the inspiration..."The Foolish Tortoise"

      We grabbed paint, paintbrushes, construction paper, tissue paper and glue. He had a vision in his mind of what he wanted to create. It was amazing to see how well it turned out.

   
   
3. Alpha-blocks: My 3 yr old and I were in the playroom and pulled out our wooden block set. Instead of building a house I decided to test his letter knowledge and created a letter with the blocks and had him identify it. Then we traded roles and he made a letter and had me guess.
   
4. Impromptu Dance Parties: Here are the boys still in their pjs having a little dance party to Trans Siberian Orchestra (perfect summertime music):

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U5KCaGkU9c?hl=en&fs=1]

5. Summer Fish I am not a lover of seafood.  Every time I was at Kroger and the fish chef offered me a sample, I avoided eye contact or politely declined. It was when I brought my oldest son with me to Kroger that I first tried the fish chef’s tilapia..Yum O! Fortunately my son was also a fan and the chef gave us the recipe. 

 I made it this week and served it with fresh pineapple (that was free at kroger…buy one, get one) and this corn recipe from my friend Leslie. All 3 boys loved dinner that night and it was healthy to boot! Here is the fish recipe:    

1 lb fish of choice (I use tilapia…up to 4 filets) 4 Tbsp olive oil 4 Tbsp white cooking wine 1-2 cloves minced garlic 1 tsp lime juice ¼ tsp blackened seasoning ¼ tsp either dry ginger or mustard 1 tsp grill time steak seasoning (I usually use Lawry’s)   Combine oil, wine, garlic and lime juice in a large frying pan with lid (I use an electric skillet). Heat these ingredients for about 2 minutes at low-medium heat. Then place fish flesh side down in mixture for 2-3 minutes. Flip fish to skin side down and season with blackened, steak seasoning and dry ginger or mustard. Cover and cook until fish is opaque or flakey. Usually 4-10 minutes, depending on thickness of fish.

6.  Orange San Pellegrino: Had this for the first time at Bible study this week and was in love with it immediately. My parents used to drink La Croix and I have some friends who do now but I like this flavored San Pellegrino much, much better. Delicious and refreshing!

What were your favorite things this week? Share them here…