4th of July-Part 2

So on the way home from picking the garden and eating lunch at Gramma Evie's and Papa Hoyt's, Josh is BEGGING to buy fireworks.  

I'm thinking....how the heck did he know it's the 4th?  Uh.....the spectacular display the night before as he's probably watching it till 11 when he decided to come in to our bedroom and tell us he needed earplugs.

Anyway, Grandma Evie had given us some money to buy fireworks.  God bless them....I mean really....God bless them.  They know how tight Chad and I are and how hard we are trying to make this one income thing work and they knew that we wouldn't spend our money on fireworks.  I really appreciated that.

Anyway, we say, okay Josh.  We'll buy fireworks, but only if you promise no more eating boogers.  Yep.  You read that right.  Mom and I caught him eating boogers as we were leaving Grandma Evie's.  We scolded him and did the 'ew gross' thing, but then he yelled, "I LOVE BOOGERS!" 

Yeah, tell your girlfriend that in 15 years!

Anyway, that was the deal.  No booger eatin'=fireworks!

Josh could hardly wait to do fireworks, and after about an hour and a half of putting him off, we finally started about 7.  

Even though it wasn't dark enough to really see the colors of the fountains and such, he had such a good time.

And that's all that matters, right?  If the kids have a good time?  Who cares if you can't see all the colors?  If he's jumping up and down and yelling, "This is the best day EVER!" it's a good time!

Macey did the snap fireworks with Papa and Grandma.  Ya know....the kind you throw on the ground and they snap?  

Except sometimes she had to jump on them.  Only 'jump' is used loosely. 

More like a caterpillar being slowly electrocuted while on top of a washboard.

Mom and Josh started off with some tanks.  The kind that look like an Army tank and go about 2 inches then do something and you think, "I paid WAY to much for that."

And then, for those of you concerned about safety....never fear.  We had our own safety monitor/police. 

He was so stinkin' concerned about safety and trash and mucking up the cement on the driveway, I don't think he stopped to enjoy the pure joy coming from the kids.

Macey stayed busy with those snap fireworks for a good 45 minutes.  

Here he is jumping for joy.

And then running back to get more fireworks.  

(Notice the safety police in the background.  I'm sure he had a couple of Xanax after the whole ordeal.)

Mama made her stop and say, "CHEESE!"

And then she figured out where I was keeping the box of fireworks and they started to disappear a whole lot faster.

A little windy.

Kickin' up his heels on his way to get me another firework to light.

Then we had to stop lighting fireworks in an effort to wait until it got darker.  

So he started building a trap.  

Not sure what, but ever since the whole skunk ordeal at our house, he's been really into building traps.

 

Then I saw a rabbit and we decided to go and see if we could track it down. 

We got within 2 feet of it.  It was eating the small, white flowered weeds. 

The kids really liked seeing it.  Josh really liked chasing it.

Sorry Bugs.  Had to take one for the team!

Then we came back to light more fireworks.  The patience of a 4 year old and the Mama being hounded about it is not very long.

We were right out in front of the garage sitting on chairs.  No shame.

He loved every minute of it.  He watched each firework. 

I even started telling him the name of the firework, if it was appropriate.  He'd always reply, "That's my favorite!"

Notice Macey is wearing outfit #2.  

She spilled Sunny D down the front of her.  You'd've thought someone just threw poo on her, but it was just juice.

Drama Queen.

And her favorite spot is with Papa.  

Whenever we pull into Mimi's driveway, the first thing she yells is 'Papa' with this southern twang and really loud acoustics.

I think Macey had the best time being the center of attention for individuals.  

While Josh was busy with the fireworks, she enjoyed being loved on, squeezed, and smiled at by the adults.  

It got to the point where after each firework, Josh would clap....

And hoot and holler...

And it rubbed off on Macey.  Towards the very end, she really got to screaming for joy at the fireworks!

Showing off her dance moves.  (She sure doesn't get them from her Mama or her Daddy!)

And then we ended the night with Sparklers. 

They were supposed to be neon sparklers, but they were poor at best.  

One burned smoke, not sparkles. 

One didn't light well.

One went too slow.

One went too fast.

Made in China.  Oh..........

Josh had fun writing his name with the Sparklers.  

I remember doing that when I was little. 

So much better when it's dark, though.

And it wouldn't be complete with out.....

The Safety Police.

Making sure all the trash was picked up, all the hot fireworks were properly disposed of, etc.

We had a GREAT TIME!!!!

My Foodie!

We officially have a foodie at our house!  And I'll give you 3 guesses as to who it is and you'll only need one.

MACEY!

She likes to try new things.  Especially if she sees someone else eating it.

And sometimes, she just does it on her own.

The other day we were making cookies.  (Chad had staffed, and I always bake him something yummy when he staffs-such as cookies, marble squares, or bubble bread.)

I had only put the butter in.....and she tried to eat the butter!

I then added the shortening, and she ate the shortening.  

Yes, ate it.  She actually made it to her mouth before I could tell her no.  She's a quick one!

Then I watched her much closer as I added the rest of the ingredients.  

Finally, at the end, she at the cookie dough.  

And she's my kinda gal.  Not afraid to get messy for the good stuff!!!!

Then at dinners, she's been eating what Chad and I eat.

She's eaten steak, chicken, seafood alfredo (!), and corn.  

Tonight we had corn on the cob.

 So did Macey!

She's getting more adventurous.  

Can ya tell she's trying to say 'cheese'?

And of course, Josh wanted to have his picture taken, too.

And then Macey decided that she wanted to hold the cob herself!!!

Everyone was encouraging her.  

Even Josh.  He started chanting, "Go Macey, Go!"

She ate a whole cob and a half!  

Here's the carnage:

My little girl-the foodie!

4th of July Celebration-Part One

Chad was working the 4th, and since we no longer live close, we weren't able to go see him.  (It's still tricky working around naps and such.)

So......we spent the day having fun!

First, we went to Papa Hoyt's 'garden', even though it's more of a mini farm.  He has everything in it!  I'm putting in a request from Josh to plant watermelon next year.  Josh has wanted to grow watermelon for at least 2 years now.

Of course, we had to stop working to help rescue the lady bugs. 

I'm not sure if in this picture he is waving bye at the lady bugs, or she had help flying....

Then we went to go pick squash.  Yellow squash.  The kind that tastes DEEEE-licious fried.  Of course.

If you look close behind and in front of Josh in the picture above, you'll see the yellow blooms that will eventually in a couple of days turn into squash.  

Um, yes.  We will be back to pick!

Macey didn't do much helping, but a lot of following!!!

Then I lose my helper to something more adventurous, and then I turn around and see this:

Mimi was bent over thinning out the okra plants and Josh decided he wasn't going to pass up a horsey ride. 

And then Macey has been TERRIFIED of bugs lately.  (Add that to the list of thing she's recently  become scared of.)

So, we're trying to show her that not all bugs are mean/gross/scary.  

And since there seem to be a TON of lady bugs, we started there.  Actually, Mimi did.  Lady bugs are her thing.

Notice her arms.  Keepin' 'em back from that icky bug.

Getting closer.......

And then really close!!

And we may just touch it.....but no.  I don't think she ever did.  But good for her!

Then she followed Papa and I over to fence the cucumbers in.  

And Zoey even got to come along!  She never gets to go anywhere very much.  It was cool enough out that she stayed outside with us.  

Look how far she's come.  5 years ago, you would've have NEVER seen this.  

And yet, she gets lovin' anywhere she can now.

Then we went inside for lunch. 

Grandma is such a gracious host.  She had a full-on buffet for the kids and us.  Josh had a  large selection of fruit (with LOTS of extras to take home) and Grandma even made a chicken noodle casserole for Macey.  Macey will scarf that in nothing flat!

It was a great morning!