Independence Day

I love Independence Day. I don't know totally why. Maybe it's the colors associated with it. Maybe it's because I share my birth month with our nation. Maybe it's just my fond memories of watching fireworks as a kid. Maybe it's all of the above. But I just love it, so every year I take pics of the kids in their red, white, and blues. Usually I make them something new, but not so this year. They just wore what they had.

Starting out on the trampoline, the sun was completely in their eyes, so no good shots there.

We headed to the front yard for some shade and a different direction. Liam didn't want to take pics, so he kept pulling up his shirt and running away. You can see on his face how he's getting upset.

Our neighborhood had a little parade -- kids on bikes, et cetera.

All in a row.

Later that night we did sparklers. Good idea. Give your kids burning sticks and tell them to run around with them. We had a few "forest fires" as the kids call them, but we still have a lot of grass left in the yard.

Kellen especially thought "doing the fire" was fun. He's just a little too enthusiastic about this.

"Isee mew" = "I see the moon."

You know it's not a real holiday without a big wrestling match on the trampoline afterwards. Despite all the running and tackling, we had an injury-free day.

The kids went to bed, and Michael and I watched the fireworks from our back yard. It was a quiet evening, very relaxing. Next year I think we'll be a little more boisterous and do it up big. Hope you all had a fun holiday!

You're not going to believe this . . .

Yes, it happened again. The kids came and got me to tell me Liam had fallen asleep in his high chair again. Good grief!

We had been out at our friends' house till 10:00 the night before -- WAAAYYYY past his bedtime. We had a blast (Liam too), but the poor kid had a rough time of it the next day. He woke up while I was taking his picture and wasn't too happy at first.

Just so you know he's not always sleeping -- here are my boys doing one of their favorite activities. Reading? No, pulling everything off the bookshelf (or out of a bin will do fine for them too).

Just kidding. They do like to read the books too. I think they're going to fit right in here.

Birthdays

This is the youngest digital pic I have of Finn (no scanner here) taken from my friend's camera phone when he was 2 1/2. It's crazy how you forget.

At the zoo when he was 4.

Now 8, and so grown up. He is turning into such a helpful young man. He is a good worker and likes to take care of his younger brothers. He is still all about the fun, though. If there's a party, Finn is there. Kids love to play with him because he's so fun. He is so filled with imagination too. I've never seen a kid able to make believe so well. He is an excellent student and very, very sweet. All his teachers just love him. I love you too, buddy!


Since their birthdays are three days apart, I did one cake and celebration for Finn and Liam. Here's Liam blowing out the candles -- age two. Such a big boy -- runs everywhere, always wants to laugh. He has such a sweet smile. He loves to play trucks and jump on the trampoline. He loves babies, and he talks a blue streak. We just had a cute conversation about how the pizza was all gone. (We had it like four days ago.)

Here he is three weeks old.

And two days old.

Oh, they grow so fast.

Joining the ranks . . .

We often watch AFV together as a family, and I am often surprised by the inordinate amount of children on there that are falling asleep on the potty or in their high chairs. I don't understand it. I am very consistent about naptime and bedtime, so my children are very well-rested. They never fall asleep in odd places like that. Until now.

I made the kids' lunch and then got on the computer to see if I could get onto my boss's new ftp site, since it wasn't working for me. Of course, I expect the older kids to look after the younger ones, but if I don't explicitly say it, it doesn't get done. We had gone to the pool today and got back late, ate lunch late -- but only half an hour.

I guess the swimming wore him out. Of course, all the kids had scattered or were watching TV and didn't notice my poor little guy. He's fast asleep in his bed now with his "monkey" (which is what he calls his lovey -- which is our word for the security blankets around here).

So now I'm just like all the other moms.

A first

What are you trying to show me, buddy? Smile big for me.

Bigger, smile bigger.

What's that in your hand?

Smile even bigger, dude.

Whatcha got in your hand?

Is that a tooth?

Why, yes, it is!
A very tiny tooth.

Where did it come from?

Oh, yep, there it was!

Cade's bottom tooth was so loose that he and Dad worked on it and got it right out about a week and a half ago. He lost the second one just about a week later. It felt pretty loose to him, so at lunch he just pulled it out. After that, Kellen kept trying to pull his teeth out too. He kept saying, "I can't." Yeah, no kidding, buddy. No more teeth-losing, please. Makenzie and Brandon each lost a tooth last week too. Poor tooth fairy. I hope the recession isn't giving her any trouble!

Laughter

This kid just loves to laugh. I was taking some pictures of some of my quilting projects, and he came and sat down by me and just started laughing and smiling. He actually wanted me to take his picture. He doesn't talk that much, so he didn't say it, but I could see it in the way he held his head and in his eyes. Non-verbal communication is quite effective at times.

What a love! He would have let me keep taking pictures of him for a long time, but I had to go back to my quilting projects. And yes, that gun is almost as big as he is.

Carjacked!

Well, what do we have here? Michael was cleaning out his car and was at the back cleaning out the trunk. When he came out from behind the car, he discovered people in his car.

The driver.

The navigator.

Uh-oh. Busted!

Photographs by Brandon.