Independence!

Not having made any plans for the Independence Day Weekend, we were unsure how we would celebrate such an important holiday.
Lucky for us, and as usually is the case, life handed us opportunities to celebrate independence in varying degrees.
With a bout of sickness seeping through the homestead mid-week, chances for social events or elaborate outings looked dim BUT we had our share of fun.

Sweet James had it the worst...rather than stick to the runny noses and coughs of his cohorts, he decided to go ahead and develop strep throat. With white spots in tow, we dropped Bethany and Ben off at Grandma Trudie's for a day of laid back fun so we could spend the day quarantined.
So, Bethany and Ben started off our celebration early by enjoying independence from strep throat!
And James celebrated independence from attention-hungry siblings who had spent the last couple of days revolting against the extra mommy-time he was requiring.

Grandma sent over an old favorite toy from my childhood to brighten his day...Marble Works! It gave him an energy boost for a while...which led right into a great nap a little later! Win win!
He marvels at the marbles as they go flying down our creation.

He had so much fun loading the thing up with as many marbles as he could and making them all slide down at once!

Right out of the bag!
This is the bag of marbles we played with when we were kids. It is also the one my dad played with when he was a kid. His grandma made the bag for him.
Special. :)

Like I said, he took a great nap later and even though everyone still felt under the weather for a few days, the strep disappeared within 24 hours of that first white spot spotting (?) and we all rejoiced.


As the holiday weekend came, we were still mostly taking it easy! Daddy did some golfing (celebrating his independence from his sick family...just kidding) and I tried to give the kids a little taste of festivity...

Red, White, and Blue lunch.
What? This is super involved...

The kids loved it.

Yum.

YUM.

Bethany got very creative with her lunch plate. It looks so lovely!
(Aw, you can you see her puffy sick eyes! Even with sick eyes, such a pretty girl!)

So, with JC home for a four day weekend, helping keep the kids busy and recovering, I decided to take the opportunity to do something that I love but don't get to do very often - - cooking from scratch. I had been itching for a good quality experience in the kitchen (I wish that I could say this happened every day for dinner but I haven't figured out the magic formula that allows that to happen with 3 little ones!) and was ready to take on a new recipe.
I decided to embrace the sickie theme and make a homemade chicken noodle soup!
I think my favorite part was making the broth (or would it be stock?...guess I have a long way to go before I'm Pioneer Woman!). It just felt good to know that everything it had all come from my kitchen! (Except the noodles...I didn't make them by hand, bought them frozen...next time!)

It was so fun to make (even if it did take a couple of hours!).
Isn't it beautiful?
And it was gooood.
We enjoyed it, celebrating our independence from processed foods. :)

Here's a shot of what a kitchen of an under-the-weather household looks like.
Fixins for chicken noodle soup and smoothies all laid out.
That's what I'm talkin about.

Sunday, the 4th, nobody was feeling quite up for church so, for perhaps the first time...ever?...I went to church all by myself. All three hours. I sat through Sacrament Meeting and listened, sang, and relaxed to my heart's content. I taught Sunday School without reluctant Sunbeams present or potty break interruptions. I sat through Relief Society without turning my head every time the door opened, wondering if it was someone needing me to do something for one of my kids. I left the building and walked to my car alone, without two bags and three kids to juggle. I walked across the whole parking lot to where I was parked way at the back of the lot...because I didn't have to take up one of the close spots for my kids' sake. I felt very...independent. :)
But I don't really want to do it again. I missed my noisy, irreverent, distracting kids!
It made me glad that I have quite a few years before that will be the norm.
(Maybe it is Bethany starting kindergarten this fall or something, but suddenly I feel my eagerness to get out of the crazy, unpredictable phase of toddlers and preschoolers completely dwindling!)

Anyway, I guess there are things you celebrate being independent from and things you don't mind maintaining a certain level of...dependence in!

I know I haven't even talked about the real reason for this holiday. And other than a scripture study centered around the subject, the kids may or may not even know that it happened this year! But, it does mean a lot to me...more now than ever before. And I really look forward to doing some big time celebrating in years to come!
For now, we will just continue to celebrate our little pieces of independence where we most recognize them on a daily basis!