Fourth of July

Happy belated Fourth of July! This is one of my favorite holidays. I love the all-American feel of apple pie, watermelon, corn on the cob, and the melody of red, white, and blue colors.

Almost every year we join my in-laws for their block party. This year we had a smaller crowd, but enjoyed ourselves just the same. Down the street there was a community jumper, which Kaeley loved! She has blossomed from the shy and serious girl to a very loud and usually bold about trying new things, so she would bounce like a crazy woman in this big balloon house and scream on the top of her lungs! They had an ice cream buffet. Her ice cream bowl consisted of one scoop of ice cream that was completely hidden in miscellaneous candies and sprinkles. Without prompting she squeaked, "Nathan, come 'ere! Come 'ere, Nathan!" She would insist he sign "please" first. When he'd complied she'd give him a nice sized spoon of ice cream. It was so funny to watch, because while she aimed it for his mouth, she'd open her mouth wide and make all those funny faces while she encouraged him to eat off the spoon. Also, she later shared the beloved icing off her cupcake with him. Boy, that little kid is so lucky to have a big sister like her!

Kaeley would go back and forth between the jumper down the street and the swimming pool. Nathan spent most of his time harassing my sister-in-law's dog, eating to the point where people would marvel, "I think he's been eating since I got here!", and whining. The party started right when he would usually be taking a nap.

Yes, Kaeley and Nathan have been taking naps, as they're supposed to. Nathan's aren't always as long as they're supposed to be, so I let him play in the room until it's officially time to get out of the room. However, these two days in a row he's woken up at 6:30am. This morning he was all smiles and giggles. I was in good spirits, too, as I did my Bible studies with him in the living room. Now, however, two hours have passed and we have both crashed. I'm exhausted and he's having meltdowns. Sigh. I don't get this whole wacky sleep thing with these kids! Oh well. We'll get through it... even if we all are cranky.

Okay, back to Fourth of July... we spent the entire afternoon and part of the evening with the family. When we got back home I figured a warm soapy bath would help in calming down the children. Thank goodness I decided to do that! I had no clue how dirty my "tan" children were! When we drained the tub I was left with a dirty stain of popped bath bubbles. As usual we all stood in the kids' bedroom to watch the local park's firework display. Well, Brad and I stood. The kids were so wired they wiggled and talked all the way through.

I was thinking for sure Nathan would sleep until 9:00am today with getting up early yesterday and having a cat nap late in the afternoon and then not going back to bed until late. No such luck, as I already said. Oh, I'm so tired!