Our 4th of July

Well, I got strep again, so Christy took the girls to see the fireworks while Rob and I headed to the bookstore for a book on homeopathy. We've made a lot of changes to our lifestyle in the past six months or so such as eating organic and whole foods. The more we find out about it, the more sense it makes to us. I was put on antibiotics in OR and I knew that if I went to an urgent care center (the dr's were closed for the three day weekend by the time I finally figured out what it was), they would put me on a stronger antibiotic and I really wanted to find some alternative that worked. We found a book on homeopathy and it had several suggestions as to homeopathic remedies that might help me.

After going to the bookstore, Rob and I picked up our friend John (who is staying with my sister for the weekend) and took him to the airport to pick up his wife, Priscilla. They have stayed at our house several times and we love spending time with them! On the way back to Christy's house, we stopped and picked up a few things for me to try. Within a few hours, my throat was doing so much better! It didn't hurt nearly as much and the swelling had almost disappeared! We will definately be trying homeopathy again! We still want to use modern medicine, but hey, if there is a solution that is easier on your body and works just as well or better, then I'm all for it!

Anyway, the girls had so much fun with Christy (who they call Kiki)! Beth, however, did not like the fireworks much. During the 20 mins or so that the fireworks were going off, she kept saying "I don't LIKE fireworks, Kiki." She loved the bounce house and the snowcones though! After the fireworks, the girls had a sleep over at Kiki's house, which they loved!

Of course, since the girls were gone, Jack decided that last night would be a great night to wake up every hour and get up for good at 7am, so Rob and I didn't really get a break, but the girls had fun!

Rob left for the catering job around 11am and I put Jack down for a nap shortly before he left. Around noon, Jack and I went over to pick up the girls and bring them home. As a treat, we stopped at Sonic and each of the girls got their own strawberry slushy thing. We then drove home, where I vacuumed the house (it really needed it! It's amazing how messy things get when I am sick!) and cleaned up strawberry slushy off the kitchen floor and the dining room carpet. We took it easy for an hour or two because all the kids were tired and the girls watched Beauty and the Beast, their current favorite movie (this changes weekly).

After resting up, I wanted to do something fun with the kids, so we decided to make cookies. The girls helped make the dough, then I divided it into three sections, rolled it out for them, and let them go wild with the cookie cutters. We ended up with some interesting cookies, but the girls had a blast! Jack ate frozen blueberries instead of making cookies.

As the cookies were baking, Christy, Priscilla and John showed up with stuff to make for dinner. Christy and John ran out to get root beer and ice cream for root beer floats and Priscilla and I stayed with the kids and frosted cookies. We had been planning on using red, white and blue frosting, but Megan wanted green instead of white, so we had red, blue and green cookies instead.

Kylie did NOT feel like smiling for the camera . . .

We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner, with corn on the cob, potato chips, potato salad and a green salad. Cookies, of course, were for dessert.

Following dinner, I discovered that Jack had smeared frosting all over the side of his head, so I had all 4 kids take a quick bath and then tucked them in bed. They all fell asleep pretty quickly. Christy has two papers to write for her current class tonight and John and Priscilla needed to check on their dog, so the three of them left just after 9. Rob is scheduled to get home after midnight, so I decided to catch up on my blog :)

I hope all of you had a wonderful 4th of July! I don't feel like I did much to honor the holiday, but I guess that the freedom to raise my children in relative safety and the ability to put food on the table for a celebratory meal is honoring the sacrifices made to keep us free. I'm so thankful for all those who gave up so much to found this country and to keep it free! God Bless America!!!