A Fantastic Fourth - Part One (the third)

One of the best treats for our little family is when JC has a day of from work! We just love being together as "a whole family".
Whenever we are all sitting together on the same couch or all together in a similar way, Bethany always says "We're a whole family!!"
That's how we like to be best.

The Fourth of July fell on a Saturday this year, so JC had Friday, the third, off. We went into it with no plans really...just a plan to get some stuff done around the house, play around, make some festive t-shirts with the kids and enjoy enjoy enjoy.
Going into the weekend, I felt a really good energy about it all. Hmm...actually, I'm pretty sure this is the week I had my private yoga session...so I think I was feeling a really good energy about a lot of things!

So, side-note - - my mom has a really great massage therapist who also is a yoga instructor. For Christmas, she gave me two private yoga sessions with Brittany. I was SO excited. I kept putting it off only because I wanted my little workout space in the garage to be in perfect shape before inviting her into it...but after a while, I decided that I needed to give that up and embrace the imperfection. :) So, that first week of July, we had the first of our two sessions and it was DIVINE.
In fact, thinking about it just now made me push the chocolate chips I've been munching on aside. It was a much more delicious treat for my body than chocolate could ever be.
I am looking forward to our next session with such eagerness! If I could give myself any wonderful treat on the face of the earth it just might involve weekly yoga sessions. And...since she would be here anyway...maybe a massage or two. (I've had one of those from her before too and it was gooooood.)
If anyone wants to experience either of these treats for themselves, please email me for her information. You will be glad you did.
P.S. Thanks Mom!!!

So, anyway, back on track . . .
good energy going into this holiday weekend. I just knew it would be good.

To start off, it was time to hose off our air filters. Sounds boring enough but anything is fun when you involve the little ones!

James' turn!

Bethany is big enough to be in charge of the hose by herself it appears.

JC wipes the sweat from his brow.

Then, he gives Ben a turn.

Which he takes very seriously.

A few times when I was growing up, we would paint t-shirts for the fourth, decorating our bright whites with red and blue fireworks, stars and splatters. I liked it and thought it was something we could handle with the kids without too much grief! They love to paint and don't get to do so very often. So, although Ben decided to take an extra long nap this afternoon and missed out, we went ahead and got 'em done!

Bethany is ready to go in her giant painting t-shirt.

"Who wants the blue paint first?"

"Me!"

James takes to the task like everything else - - very seriously and with a very specific plan in mind.

Yeah, they just used regular sponge-type paint brushes. I thought about cutting out little shapes out of sponges but JC made a good point in that they would probably just smear them all around anyway!

They liked this though.

See?

And...um...see?

We finished up the t-shirts, Ben woke up, we got busy about dinner prep and sat down . . . and things got a little blustery outside. Then . . . a little thunder-y. And suddenly, the heavens unleashed their fury.

We got the most delicious downpour. Ever.

So, of course, our dinner plates were abandoned. What choice did we have, really??

Bethany wandered out into the downpour.

And others soon followed!

THIS is exactly why I will leave dinner, naps, and anything else that we may be engaged in for a family dance in the rain.

That face.

...tasting the rain...

It REALLY started coming down! There is literally a pond in our cul-de-sac! James stands at its shoreline...

...and splashes in its glory.

The kids and I wandered over to use our neighbors' tree as shelter.

Well...almost all the kids...James didn't get the memo.

But he enjoyed himself nonetheless.

It came down this hard for probably about twenty minutes. All of which we enjoyed outside. About the time it started letting up, the littlest of us started shivering and that was our cue to retreat. By the time we got everyone inside, undressed and wrapped up in blankets and new pajamas, it was still as can be outside. What a perfect little gift for a wonderful weekend!

After playtime...recovering in a comfy cozy way.

So sad that we had to come in! Even though he was shivering and shaking he wanted to stay outside so badly!

But, luckily, there were still smiles to be had!

As we moved further into the evening, a good family movie and some warm popcorn kept us comfy, cozy and happy...ready for more holiday weekend!