Reminders of the importance of GOOD food....

We have eaten quite a bit of boxed mac and cheese lately. Not alone, of course- but with tuna added sometimes, and always some fruit and other sides. Snacks have often been cheese... or the occasional cheesy corn puffs. These aren't normally a staple of Tyrel's diet... or mine!
Today Tyrel had a genuine meltdown. Becky reminded me how Daniel used to do the same, within hours of consuming brightly colored orange (or green) artificially colored foods. These dayglo- orange cheeses really are not "natural" color! So we are back to taking a lot more care about what we are eating. yes, Nickole IS eating lots more vegetables and fruits.... but we haven't really eliminated some of the things we should.
On the FUN side... we have picked blackberries a couple of times in the past week. This morning, we finally had enough to make JELLY! It seems to have turned out PERFECTLY, already starting to jell. The kids got plenty of (not so good for you) sugar in gobbling up the last few scrapes of the pan.
 Yesterday, Mr C and I took the kids hiking at the Tanyard Creek Wildlife Area over in Bella Vista. It was the kids my second time there, Tom's first. We were pretty appalled at heading up the trail, the kids dashing ahead... to come upon a grown man  urinating right there on the trail! Had Nickole been a bit faster, she would of been 'exposed' to his exposure. We called the kids back in time, and went another route.
Tanyard Creek has been here, all the time we have... but we only just learned of it! It is a great hike along a broad, shallow creek. Wading is allowed. There is a suspension bridge, and a recently fallen sycamore tree spanning the creek. There are benches... and SHADE. I did mention the shade, right?
VERY nice when the day is 94* and hiking is about the last thing you want to think about.