Fourth Of July 2015

Our Independence Day was so nice.  The kids woke up to a few red, white, and blue treats.  I also made a huge breakfast.  

We spent the 4th of July day on the beach (5 hours) and then the pool.  Afterwards, we showered, got decked out in our Independence Day gear, and headed off to Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse.

Thanks for capturing your mommy and daddy, TY!

You'd NEVER be able to tell, from this photo, but Lilah had the beginning stages of her very first migraine.  I pray she does not inherit them from her daddy!

I love the palm trees in the background.  

Where were the twins?  LOL! They passed out, in the van, on the way to dinner, so Ty got his own moment with his daddy!

There they are!!!  All bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Rioz is by far the best Restaurant in Myrtle Beach, in our opinion.  It's also a fun experience.  For starters, you get to enjoy an exotic buffet.  When you are ready for the main course, just turn your red card to green and your table gets swarmed with waiters, bringing you everything from lamb, chicken, beef, warm pineapple, plantains and more......

As the night progressed, Lilah's headache was just terrible.  She kept begging to be massaged and threatened to rip all of her hair out of her head because it hurt so bad.

After dinner, we started walking Broadway At The Beach, but Lilah just couldn't do it.  We even went into "It's Sugar" and she begged to leave exclaiming, "Who could eat candy at a time like this!" Spotting Wonder Woman and a few other "princesses" did make her perk up a tad (but it was brief).

She still cooperated and smiled in pictures.

Instead of watching fireworks on the beach, like planned, we found a perfect SPOT to illegally park and watch the fireworks from the top of our van, while Lilah slept her migraine away.  

It was still a really great night, despite our baby girl's headache. You can see part of our fireworks show from the videos below, but they all pretty much look the same, haha. I recorded the show for Lilah because I felt so bad she would have to wait until next year to see fireworks, maybe... the beach always has them.

Happy Fourth Of July!!!!

4th of July Snidbits

The 4th of July this year will NEVER be forgotten, BUT not because we attended our 4th of July Annual beach trip like normal, or because we did anything overly spectacular, or even because the fire works were great. RATHER, it was the day we received our power back after 5 whole days without it. It was bitter-sweet. "Huh?" you ask? I can admit now that I was secretly praying we didn't get our power back until July 5th because I didn't want to spend the 4th of July emptying our two refrigerators/freezers filled with stinky/dead food. You don't always get what you wish/pray for though.

As the news broke that our power was back on, we were immediately filled with immense responsibility. We had to clean my in-laws home from top to bottom. Then we had to clean our own home, as well as the two refrigerators/freezers we own. When we were threw with all of that, all I wanted to do was shower and go to bed, but I knew the kids and Aunt Whitney would NEVER let me forget that it was the 4th of July.

We took the family to the State Fair. Oh, the fair.... It's always hysterical going there. It's hot, sticky, expensive, smelly, dirty, and best of all, filled with all kinds of people that you seem to never see anywhere else. Unfortunately, my camera lens died after three or four shots, so the pictures are very scarce.

We were able to let the kids ride about 6 rides each and watched some of the fireworks, but Darren had to return to work the next day, so we ended the evening earlier than normal :(

In honor of celebrating our FREEDOM, Aunt Whitney and Ty made an American Flag cake together. This was a tradition that I used to have with my mom every year. It's neat revisiting these traditions with your own children.

Posing for a photo before beginning. I can't wait to frame this photo.

Cracking the eggs.

Checking out the directions. "It's hard to concentrate on baking when you are baking with a 7 year old." LOL! She didn't really say this, but it's true.

They used red and blue sprinkles inside the cake batter to make it more festive.

Sadly to say, MOST of US are on "diets" so 95% of this cake was thrown out.

4th of July - 2011

For the past 6 years, we have made it a family tradition to go to Myrtle Beach for the 4^th of July. It just sorta “stuck” after we did it three years in a row. I am so thankful to have such a gorgeous beach condo to visit whenever time allows.

This summer our beach trips have been very infrequent. The only reason for this is because Darren and I went to the Bahamas. He doesn’t have a job where time off is accrued. I wish he had that privilege. I guess there are definite pros and cons to owning your own business. Either way, we are appreciative of the times we have been able to go this summer.

This trip started out with a flat tire in Greensboro. By the grace of God, we were in a very busy city (Greensboro, NC) on a very, very, very busy road that had over 10 tire places to choose from. When we walked into the tire shop though, it was closing in ten minutes. Needless to say, on a Friday, at 5:50 pm, the employees were less than happy. Oh well!!!!

We arrived safely and did something out of the norm for US and our routined life that we live. Instead of going straight to the condo, we started our trip’s adventures at 9:50 pm, by getting the kids an ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery. THEN, we unloaded the car and began unpacking. Tyson MUST unpack as SOON as he arrives. He is so my child. He even organizes the pantry at the beach condo like it’s organized at home.

The 5 days we were there were spent either at the pool or on the beach. One of the days we treated the children to a fun day at Myrtle Waves. Of course we did mounds of eating out, YUMMY!!! As usual, we always explore Broadway At The Beach as well as Barefoot’s Landing. At Broadway, we witnessed a fun/live/free show put on by a man who reminded me of someone who would try out to be on “America’s Got Talent”. The kids really loved it!

We ended our stay with FIREWORKS: both viewing them and partaking in them! All three kids did sparklers, but it was really interesting to witness their difference in personalities while holding them. Ty the daredevil, Lilah even kill, and Jax aired on the cautious side! I guess it would be quite the BORE if they all had the same persona.

We are thankful to God that he has placed us in the country were we are FREE. Free to speak, FREE to live, and especially FREE to worship HIM!

Enjoy a few of my favorite photos from our trip OR you can view the entire album below. It's your pick!

One of my favorite pictures is this one below. This will one day be a faint memory, so I had to capture it. I am sure when I look back 20 years from now at this photo, I will be in tears thinking about how much I miss my children being so little and how I took their precious years from granted. BUT for now, I am in tears at the "pain" going to the beach with 3 kids creates. LOL! It's just SO MUCH STUFF!!!!!!! THERE AND BACK! And the sand.... UGH! I could make a blog post about my big issue and annoyance with sand. LOL!!!!! There are some that don't want a spec of sand anywhere near them. AND THEN, there are some that let their kids burry them in it.... JODY. EWE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She's my giant KID friend. How we are so close is BEYOND me. Jody = GIANT KID, Kristin = OLD LADY

Don't "Light These Up" for the 4th of July

FIRST, incase you tend to look at the pictures on my blog, but stray from reading them, let me grab your attention real quick. YOU COULD BE THE LUCKY WINNER OF A REPLICA of THIS ADORABLE CRAFT. Find out the details below. PS. Shame on you for being a looker and not a reader, ha ha.

I've had a huge increase and desire to bake and craft lately AND NOT just baking a good'ol chocolate chip cookie or painting a sun catcher. I ENJOY, thoroughly, starting with the bare essentials, ie. flour or wood, and generating something greater out of it. I also love UNIQUE things. Foods or crafts that people haven't eaten or seen before. Often times, I'm not the original creator. I do however add my own personal touch to things to help make it my own. I'll jump through hoops to get the finite detailsof a recipe. I'll read 1,000 reviews or harass a real bakery 2,000 miles away to share their secrets with me. I usually do not receive a no. LOL! Darren always says, "you are every retailers worst nightmare." LOL! It's true, but for me, seeing the joy my end result brings to someone's taste buds or fireplace mantel is priceless.

Yesterday, I let my creative juices flow. We were already at A.C. Moore to buy jars and stickers for the kids, so I treated myself to some 4th of July paper, embellishments, and stickers. I created my very own set of wooden fireworks and their sitting on my kitchen counter to help celebrate the freedom our Country offers us.

Here are the details.

Sunday night we went to Lowes. I purchased a 6 foot piece of wood ($1.02). A Lowe's employee sawed it down for me (free). I requested (3) 10.5 Inch Pieces, (3) 8.5 inch pieces, and (3) 6.5 inch pieces. Monday, I purchased some 4th of July papers, crafts, paints, and embellishments. Some of it I already had.

I modge podged the scrapbook paper onto the wooden blocks.

Here are the embellishments I chose for this set of fireworks. Stickers, a wooden star, which I painted yellow, and a "USA" pre-painted, wooden 4th decoration.

I found some candles that have been sitting for years underneath my sink and I put them to good use.

I removed the wicks fromm them.

You can buy candle wicks at the store but they were $1.99 for 6. I had them in my shopping cart, but at the last minute, I chose to put them back and utilize the bag of candles I already have and do not use for it's intended purpose.

After I modge podged the paper to the wooden blocks, I tied the "fireworks" together with "jute" string, giving it that "country" feel. WHY? I don't know. My home is definitely NOT decorated that way. My willing hubby drilled a small hole in the top of each firework.

Then, I inserted a candle wick into the hole (remove the silver piece obviously). The candle wick is a MUST to make firecracker look realistic.

I used foam dots to adhere the flag and "USA" embellishment as well as the star to the firework.

And wala!!!

The craft didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned, but they're cute. I asked Darren if he thought they looked like a set of fireworks and his reply was, "No. They look like presents to me." UGH. What does he know?

I thought this would be a great craft to get Tyson involved in. I gave up control and allowed him (he was so persistent about it) to paint his wooden blocks whatever color he wanted... not just red, white, and blue. After about 5 minutes, he gave up. I said, "You're no fun. I thought you would have a blast creating your own fireworks." He said, "Mom, you did this craft for yourself, not me." OM GOSH! He totally called me out on this. He he. He's too smart for his own good.

So... here's how you can WIN A SET: I want to increase the amount of followers I have on my blog. Click on the word "follow" on the right hand side of my blog. If I see that you are now following me, I will enter you into a drawing for a set of wooden fireworks. If you are already a follower, leave me a comment on my blog and I will enter you into the drawing. A comment alone will NOT work unless you are already a follower. The drawing will take place on Monday, on July 4th. HOW appropriate. You can display them the rest of July.

PS. Just don't "light these up" for the 4th of July!!! Your home will burn down. Ha!