Ten on Tuesday.

1. Summer is up and running!

2. Fisher - first day/last day comparison. I'm not sure about growth-wise, but I definitely see a need for a haircut and some teeth.

3. Alla - 1st day/last day comparison. She looks like the same kid from September to June, to me. Thank God.

4. So, summer. I always feel like the first two weeks are just a different animal, because we do the everyday swim lessons thing these first two weeks, which takes up our whole morning. Alla really wants to keep swimming for more of the summer, and Fisher needs to, so I may see about a private lesson for him so that we can be in and out of there in less time. Currently we have Fisher's lesson, then wait 40 minutes, then Alla's. It's a long morning.

5. Currently we are having our first 90 degree day and I am listening to the hose being turned on and off and child delight and screams and water balloons being popped and it is wonderful.

6. I think summer may be slightly more relaxed this year with only one kid playing an evening sport. Ah, baseball, the quintessential summer sport.

7. Our new deck is lovely and might soon have furniture on it for the enjoying. Ron has bought some sort of chair dealies that protect your deck. Even your plastic deck.

8. Are you looking for summer reading lists for your kiddos? Look no further! Alla started with Little House and is now almost done with the Chicken book. Fisher started with Sideways Stories, then read Endurance, and is now onto Derek Jeter. I must catch up!

9. The catch to our summer reading lists this year is that by July 31st each kid must make a recommendation to each parent and each parent must then read those [two] books before the family activity can be done!

10. Summer also means summer eating, which means that by the end of summer I have often forgotten how to cook. So I was glad to come across a few new recipes recently that have just been so easy, also approved by all family members, and also kind of cooking. One favorite: Chicken sandwiches. Put two pounds chicken in crockpot. Season with salt and pepper. Drizzle 1/2 cup BBQ sauce on top. Put 15 oz. crushed pineapple on top of that. At the end shred the chicken and stir in some diced red onion. Serve on buns, or whatever. I had mine over rice and quinoa. Delish.