My Story in Photos: Patriotic Edition {how we spent the day}

first a big shout out to all the military men and women past and present who fought and gave their time and lives so we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. thanks to the family members too. what a sacrifice you give to others every day. so we had no money to go away for the fourth. but we weren't planning on it either. daddy-o had to work on the 3rd and i had to work on the 4th. i work from 11p to 7a and we weren't sure if there would be time in the day for me to see the kids enjoy fireworks or not, so when daddy-o got home at 3:30a on sat morning, we woke the girls and lit fireworks. yea for walmart and combo pack for $7. the fireworks were lots of fun. this is us lit by one of the fireworks. we are sitting on the back deck wrapped in blankets to keep the skeeters away. (Jam is in bed. i did not feel like dealing with a cranky 7 month old, so we let him sleep, he would not remember it anyway) and yes we are in our pajamas

of course there must be a kissing pic too. i am glad we have the independence to marry whomever we see fit. and i am glad to be married to daddy-o.

i really like the fountainy effect of this one.

sparklers have always been my favorite. here is Yah. you can just see her face.

she is concentrating hard on not letting any sparks get on her. looks like she is not having fun, but she said she loves "sparkers."

Ehm did not know what to think, but daddy-o convinced her it was ok.

then she went crazy flinging sparks everywhere. (notice the glow of  Yah's face on the left)

of course you have to try to make a perfect circle with your "sparker."

now it is my turn. i have a remote shutter in one hand and the sparkler in the other. i absolutely love sparklers. you can take away all the rest of the fireworks, just leave me some sparklers and i'm good. (looks like i have three legs hahaha)

well after sparklers we went back to bed. daddy-o and Yah went to home depot for the kids workshop. she made a bird house and a picnic caddy. when they came home about noon, i got up and we played. daddy-o has been working on getting the pool ready for Yah's birthday party (three weeks to go)  Yah wants to have a "mermaid party." Ehm wanted in the pool, of course, she is a water baby! so daddy-o held her over the side and let her get all wet. when they came in, she took all of her clothes off and her diaper. she would not let me put a clean one back on. Ehm declared her independence from diapers (for a while) and insisted on playing us all a song on the piano (she sang too).

you can see how pleased she is with herself. yeah for "independence" day!

i did convince her to put on a diaper finally. Yah wore her home depot apron all day. she got a notebook, pen, and tape measure to put in the pockets too, just like daddy-o. he works the night restocking shift there.

here are all three kids together. aren't we blessed? hooray for the independence to have a family of your own!

no independence day is complete with out a barbecue! we went to papa and grandmas to partake of one. the kids were playing and having a great time.

Jam decided he had the freedom to have a pink binki. (or rather his mom did) but he liked it just the same.

 Yah played with this little light. her eyes are so pretty.

Jam has the freedom to be a mechanic on the tricycle, or to chew in the pedal (same thing.) i am thankful for the freedom we have to choose our own careers.

this is the tree in the back yard well and us of course, in our patriotic outfits. yes i planned what each of us would wear. as a mom i have the freedom to veto outfits on any special occasion. you can choose for yourself every other day.

we did get to stay long enough to shoot off more fireworks at papa and grandma's. here are all the girls (left 2 right) corky (2), baba (4),  yah (almost 7), ehm (20 mo). they sat there and yelled out the color of the sparks. too cute.

Jam got to see then too, and he loved it. he just stared and stared and had a funny look on his face. he was really trying to figure out what was going on with all that pretty light.

sun has just set and the show is started.

the kids had a blast. they liked the few that screamed the most. corky tried to whistle too. and Ehm just screamed back at them. then the older girls had to do it too.

i like the glow of the sky in these here. it is difficult to get good pics of fireworks. first it is dark and how do you know where to focus and then i can't figure how to adjust the time setting for the shutter, well and there is only one day each year when we get to light fireworks. no wonder why i got so-so shots. i like them just the same and the memory is here to stay.

it was really fun to watch our shadows "jumping" on the wall behind us. hard to tell in the photo, but it was comical.

after we were done here, i had to go to work and that was the end of the day.

i am glad that our independence lasts for more than just a day. i rejoice in the knowledge that we have the opportunity to be forever free from the bondage of sin and that Christ paid my debt on the cross. so that one day i may live with Him forever.

i am also glad that God gives us free will to choose or not, but He loves us just the same.

i look forward to seeing other's patriotic edition posts. just click on the link below to see more great photo stories. and you should post yours too and tell us what are your traditions and memories of independence day. mr. linky will be open all week. you know you want to...

thanks for reading...