Happy Birthday America!

Summer is so much fun through the eyes of a child! You almost forget the heat, humidity, and mosquitos when you see your kids eyes light up at the sight of fireworks. Or chase their friends around smearing popsicles on each others faces until they fall face first in the sand at the beach. The older my kids get, the more I realize how much there is to be learned from the sweet innocent spirit of a child!

A bit of background before I share our weekend - We were so blessed to have a great group of friends when we lived in Tampa. We had a teriffic Sunday School class called DINKS - Double Income No Kids. Our weekends were filled with trips to the local pizza place, bowling, and hanging out at each others house. Needless to say, we've all aged a bit and most of us have kids now. We've managed to all get together with all of our crazy kiddos for the past two years for a reunion. This year we went to St. Pete beach and the adults sat around and visited while the little ones entertained each other!

No smiles from me Daddy! Notice the kid in the background with the popsicle all over his face. That was because ...

He and his friend chased each other around with a melting popsicle!

So then I thought I could get a picture of the kids. I bribed with cookies which worked until ...

Jay realized he was out of cookie but Lily still had some. So ...

I gave him another one and this was as good as it gets!

Sunday brought church and again the idea that I could get both kids to look at me without a scowl for a picture. (I don't think I'll ever stop trying to get a good shot!)

We spent some great time with our family and Lily took her cousin in a car race!

Monday brought the question - where am I going today? I explained that Mommy & Daddy were staying home because it was a holiday - America's birthday.

And of course the next question was - can we have a party? With cake? And sprinkles? So I obliged and we made red, white, and blue cupcakes (with sprinkes!).

I really wish I had gotten a good picture of Lily during this. Jay was putting the sprinkles on himself so of course they were all over the floor. I turned around to find Lily under Jay's feet picking them up and eating them! She loves cupcakes. Today I was sharing one with her and she kept signing 'more' and saying 'mo'. Too cute - she's definintely got spunk!

We topped off our hoilday weekend with fireworks compliments of Uncle Josh! Jay liked the 'pretty colors' but didn't really care for the 'scary noises'.



It was a great weekend and good time to remember what we were celebrating. We're blessed to live in a free country and I'm so thankful for all of those who sacrifice time with their families and sometimes their lives to defend our freedom! We so often take for granted if we call the police - they come, if we attend Sunday worship we aren't persecuted or tortured for our beliefs, and we are free to speak our mind. So many people don't have such luxuries. 

God bless America!