Happy July 4th: FMM Style

Happy Monday!  As most Mondays, we get together in Bloggy land and celebrate Friend Makin' Monday.  Kasey began FMM a few months ago and has become a fun highlight of the week!  Go here to learn more about it.  This week, Shawn from SERIOUSLY! is hosting it.  And out topic???  Why of course...Independence Day!!!

Most in my family know that I love all things 4th of July- I love red, white, & blue.  I love getting together with family.  I love 4th of July BBQ's.  I love the fireworks shows (I always get teary-eyed!).  And I love the camaraderie of the country coming together to celebrate it's birth.

This week Shawn asked us to share our Independence Day fun:

What are you doing this July 4th?

   Independence Day is always spent with friends & family.  For many years, we got together with family and spent time at the lake: boating, eating, fireworks, & fun.  The past couple of years, we have done a few different things:  travel to St. Louis to visit Aunt Ginger, attend family camp at Cascades Camp in Washington where my sweet brother, Chris, worked for many years, and celebrate with dear friends in our new home.  This year, we plan on going out to the lake again with family.  Grandma & PaPa, brothers, and niece & nephew will be joining us for boating, games, eating, and fun!!  Ian's first Independence Day!!

What is your favorite dish to pass when attending a 4th of July BBQ?

For years, I have made a 4th of July jello trifle with strawberry and blue raspberry jello, fresh strawberries, whipped cream and pound cake.  It was light and fluffy and delicious.  But I think I ODed everyone on it. No one asks for it anymore.....

Do you have any 4th of July traditions?

I think I mentioned this before- just spending good time with family.  My favorite place to be is on the lake, so I am excited to be going there this year!!

Share your favorite Independence Day photos.  

What?  Me share pics?  Ok, I guess.  But it is going to be hard to pick just ONE!!

This is BK (before kiddos) at my Aunt's lakehouse for July 4th fun- I'm the one in the middle with sunglasses on and no hair - we had spent the day on the lake and wanted a goofy picture.  I love that my Aunt (blonde in front) has a "yup, I'm related to this crazy family" look on her face!

And here are my favorites of the kiddos:

Last year, Morganne & her friend, ChellBell entered the neighborhood 4th of July parade and won 1st place for their "Little Miss Independence" float.  So cute!!

And lastly, a little Independence Day quiz for us:

1. How many stars are on the American Flag?  50

2. What do they stand for?  The fifty states of America

3. How many stripes are on the flag?  13

4. What do they stand for?  The original 13 colonies that formed America

5. How many stripes are red? 7

6. The first stripe is what color? red

7. Who sewed the American Flag?  Betsy Ross- but I have heard that is folklore.....

******50 States Challenge Update!!******

We are only one week into our challenge to collect as many postcards from the states as possible and we have received 2 cards in the mail already!!!

We really need help in the eastern states- New York, New Jersey, Vermont, Maine...anyone have friends there that can help us out??

If you are interested in helping my sweet kiddos collect postcards from all 50 states, please go here to learn more about it. And to those of you who have sent cards or are planning to, Thank you!!!

Baby Love

Honestly, I just can't get enough of this sweet boy - I have been taking video of him for the past few days, just waiting for him to smile or chuckle- no, not yet.  All he does is look around and furrow his brow.  But I think you will agree with me that he is stinkin' cute and you can watch these over & over again.  Ok, maybe only the mama and the grandmas can.....

And before I get a bunch of people at home clucking their tongue at me for letting him sleep on his belly, I KNOW he is not supposed to be on his belly.  He gets a good nap in on his tummy and he can hold his head up already!!

So, I know that at 4 weeks, there is not much more that he can do except look sweet.  But thanks for indulging this very proud mama.

The kids are coming home!!

I didn't think I would miss them as much as I did- but I know they had a super time up in Illinois with Grandma & PaPa!!  Swimming, camping, playing with new friends, swimming, waterparks, movies, swimming....all week long. They were in heaven and both wanted it to last longer.  According to Morganne, next year they are staying for 2 weeks!!

As we speak they are flying home with Aunt Ginger who informed me that Jack told the security guard at the airport that he had a "webkinz" in his back-pack.  Only it sounded like he said....you guessed it, "weapon".  Nice.  Aunt Ginger loved that one.  Luckily, they had an understanding security guard!

Lastly, I am so excited!  Ian was featured on my photographer's blog- take a look when you have a second!!  She does fantastic work and Ian's first photos are adorable!!

50 States Challenge!

So, my kids know a lot about this state.....

but not so much about the other 49 (what??!! there's other states out there besides Texas??)

And that, my dear friends, is where you can help us out!  This summer, my kids and I are taking on the 50 States Challenge!!  In an effort to learn all our states, we are attempting to collect as many post cards from the states as we can.  We have a map laid out and as each post card comes in, we will find it on the map and "flag" it as identified.  Our goals are to...

1. Collect at least ONE card from each state.
2. See what state we get the most cards from.
3. Identify a favorite state from the post cards we receive and learn a few facts about it.

So, can you please help us?  Would you mind sending our family a postcard from the state you live in?  We still want to collect Texas ones too, my Lone Star friends!!  Maybe, if you are so inclined, you could pick up a postcard from another state you are visiting on vacation?  We would greatly appreciate it!  Just shoot me a quick email and I will send you our address.

darling729@mac.com

We love a challenge, and this is one we want to complete before heading back to school in September. We will blog about it during the summer and let you know our status!!

And honestly, as much as I don't want them to ever move away, my kids need to know there is much more than just Texas out there!!  

Gimme a "d", "D"......

The kids are out of town today and I think Matt is a little sad about it.  Before they left,  we were able to put together a fun project we were able to surprise him with.   3 4x6 frames and each of these pictures made a great set to take for his desk at work.......

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

Happy Father's Day Dad!  Oh we have done so much with you this year!!

You taught us to ride bikes!

      

We had lots of laughs at Mommy's expense!!

  

 And you were such a great soccer coach!

We admired your service to our country this Veteran's Day.

And even attended our first Dad's & Daughter's Dance.

We all share your love of soccer and have fun at the MLS games.

And most importantly, you introduced us to our little brother.

Dad, thank you for all the fun we have had this year!  

What will this next year bring?

How did they become a PaPa?

Happy early Father's Day to some special Fathers in our lives...our PaPa's.  Now how did they become Morganne, Jack, & Ian's PaPa?  With a lot of love and.......

sharing ice cream on a hot summer day......

making apple pies...

    

having fun at the lake....

    

learning to fish and build pinewood derby cars....

  

and spending time with the newest little one...

We love you PaPa Texas & PaPa Illinois!!  Happy Father's Day- thanks for being the best PaPa's in the world!!

A New Look, Same Great Blog

Well, I finally did it.  I caved.  I tried to be cool and support my Apple products by using iWeb as my blog application.  I loved it, but unfortunately, many others did not.  As it turns out, several of my friends & family had issues with my blog.  So I gave up..... and signed up for Blogger. I am keeping my Apple site and will link back to it when I need to.  From here on out, all my wonderful musings will be posted here.  So, dear friends who have my link in their blog, please take a moment to change it to this new one!!

I was lucky enough to find Jessica at This, That & My Blog Designs to create this ADORABLE layout.  Isn't it just the cutest??  I LOVE IT!!  Jessica has a great eye and took my vision & came up with something fabulous!!  She also was very sweet and gave me lots of great tips on using blogger.  She does a fantastic job designing blogs - please take a minute and check out her work.  She is great to work with and had my new blog ready for me in just a few days.  Thanks Jessica!!

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Don't forget to sign up for my Bloggy Flip Flop Exchange!!  You can read all about it here.  Deadline is Sunday, June 21 at midnight.  So far, we only have about 14 ladies signed up and we need more!  The more the merrier!!