Favorite meal

I was just reading a thread over at Ravelry about favorite childhood meals. I think the one I miss the most is country ham, grits, with pan fried sweet potatoes and fried okra. No one can cook country ham like my grandfather could and he made sweet potato fries before the were trendy. I miss my grandfather and his cooking too!

I don't have any photos of my grandfather on my computer and my scanner isn't working right now :(

How does my garden grow?

I really wanted to have a garden this year, so I decided to get containers and found these at Wal-mart for $5 each. Chase drilled holes in the bottom for me, I added a layer of gravel and then filled them with soil. I have a Japanese Black Heirloom Tomato, squash and cucumber planted in the first one. A Creole Heirloom tomato, squash, and cucumber in the second one. In the third one I have a Rose Heirloom tomato, eggplant, sweet pepper, and a basil plant.

I am excited to see if they do well. I already have some tomatoes getting ripe and several squash and cucumbers starting. The boys seem to like to check on the plants with me but I don't think they will eat any of what I planted. I may have to get some more container next year so I can plant some cantaloupe and watermelon.

Summer reading

I LOVE to read and my kids love to read ... so reading the books is not a problem. I think that if the kids are on vacation from school then any summer reading should be optional.
va·ca·tion- noun

a period of suspension of work, study, or other activity, usually used for rest, recreation, or travel; recess or holiday: Schoolchildren are on vacation now.

HUMM key words here suspension of work

My kids will be the first to tell you we are the mean parents we make our kids do some kind of school work over the summer just to keep their little brains going. We do a lot of reading on our own. This year my oldest is going to take two classes over the summer one on grammar ( which I could use myself) and one on writing. They only last a week and are two hours a day.

I think having the option of having summer assignment is great BUT it should not count against them if they don't do it. Have them write a paper on the book or take a test and then use that as an EXTRA grade. If you want the whole class to read something together then do it during the school year....I'm just saying

6th grade
The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster
The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan

9th grade
Animal Farm, by George Orwell
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding