Time to celebrate!!

Bob and I host an annual 4th of July party at our house. We started doing this the first year we were in our old house and have continued doing it ever since. I love to have friends and family over to celebrate. We always have a great time and the kids look forward to it every year. I personally think they just like that they get to stay up late, eat all evening long, and set stuff on fire!


Unfortunately, this year started off with a day full of rain. It was till pouring while we were eating, so we were trying to prepare the kids for the fact that fireworks just might not happen this year. The kids found a way to entertain themselves and make the most of the rain. We had a canopy set up just outside of our garage and the kids used it to take cover after dashing in and out of the rain. They were having a blast!

Brennen, Josh, Lily, and Preston enjoying the rain!

The neighbor girls brought over some boxes of the "snappers" for the kids. They love those things.

The boys had prayed a few times during the day that the rain would stop. And their prayers were answered. Right about 8:00, the rains stopped and this was the view out our back door. Beautiful!!

The crowd quickly congregated in the back yard to check out the view.

Super happy little campers!!

Aren't they a cute bunch?!

And then it was time to start blowing things up!

Smoke bomb time!

And then it was time for parachutes! These kids are serious about their parachutes!

The hunt is on for the parachutes. At least nobody can say we littered!

Some of the "parachutes" had streamers instead of regular parachutes. These were great, except that they got wet and then stained the kids' skin. Oh well, made them look more festive, I guess!

Maddox, my little "hunter and gatherer"!

Here comes another one! Look out below!!!

Racquel diving for some streamers and losing her shoe in the process. Did I mention they are serious about these things?!!

Madison got quite the haul!

Caden was happier to catch a leftover rocket!

Sparkler time!

Sparks between brothers!

And of course there has to be a few shots of Ella's very first 4th of July celebration!

I fell in love with this dress when I was pregnant with her and bought it and the shoes before she was even born. I think she looked just beautiful in it! (But I also think she can make a diaper look chic!)

What started out as an evening where were weren't sure what it was even going to end up becoming, ended up an absolute fun, success. Everybody had a wonderful time, and we can't wait to do it again next year!!

4th of July Parade

Every year, our neighborhood puts on a 4th of July parade. This year, the parade had to be held on Saturday morning, due to the holiday falling on Sunday.

Here is Preston and Ella setting out for the parade. Bob used red, white, and blue streamers, and made stars with red glitter to decorate the wagon. I'm pretty sure that we may be finding glitter on Ella for about the next year!

Here is the line up for the parade. There are people who decorated golf carts, kids on bikes, kids in wagons, cars decorated, kids on scooters, babies in strollers, decorated pets, and even just those wearing fun holiday clothing.

It's not the longest parade, but the kids all have a great time. It circles the block and then everybody congregates at the end house for treats.

Here is Brennen and his scooter. His scooter did not end up making it around the block, and was just left at the beginning/end house, because he tired of it in about the first minute!

Caden was all pumped for the parade. He felt like we were slowing him down, as did Maddox, so they just went on and left us during the parade!

Brennen ended up joining Preston and Ella in the wagon. Ella would gladly have given up her seat to him, as she wanted to get out so badly!

Here is a picture of Ella wearing her July 4th tutu that a great friend made for her. This is her first tutu and she looked absolutely adorable if I do say so myself!!!

My son, the comedian!

Maddox came into our bedroom today. Bob and I happened to be in there having a discussion. I'm sure you can understand that a productive discussion cannot occur in a room with 5 children! Anyway, Maddox walks in and says, "Dad, what do you think about an indoor pool?" Well, our children propose all kind of preposterous ideas all the time, so I thought nothing of this. Noticing that Bob was not listening to him, I said, "I would like an indoor pool." His response was not at all what I suspected. It was, "Well that's good, because Preston's making a huge mess in the kitchen with water!" I love the way that kid tries to break even bad news with a humorous spin!

Never a dull moment!