Annual Fourth of July Partaaaay! Flag shirts, fireworks and all the trimmings.

My kids look forward to my parent's Fourth of July party as much as Christmas morning.

To be honest..all of us kids {my siblings} do too.
They've been throwing parties on this day forever and ever.

It's sort of like a mini family reunion...
...it's the one day out of the year cousins and second cousins and third cousins all get together.

My cousin and I realized yesterday how big our family has grown over the years.
It's crazy! ...in a really great way.

Tons and tons and TONS of food.
Flag shirts.
Blueberry pies.
A new puppy. {not our's!}
Swimming.
The bouncy house.
Fireworks.

...and by fireworks, I mean FIREWORKS!
{including my pyro-tech brother's homemade concoctions}
We're talking my brothers and my husband here..and if you know them,
you know what I'm talking about.

{My parent's grandkids minus three}

Four Generations : Great Grandpa. Grandpa. Uncle. Nephew.

I'm thankful for this country.
I'm thankful for my family!

Hope your holiday was blessed and wonderful.
XxOo

Red, White and Blue.

Thankful to live in a country where freedom rings.
HaPpY Fourth of July!

Wrapping up the week...tornado sirens, never ending miscarriages, pink skies and a new song for you.

Sometimes I just watch..and they don't even know I'm there.
....lurking with my camera. snapping moments I find adorable.

It's amazing how big the love is that we have for our children, isn't it?

I will one day soon write about miscarriages that go on forever and ever and ever...
...and ever and ever....and EVER!!! and feel like they are never going to end.
But they do....that's what they say. I'll let you know.

I have learned a lot about the human body these past few weeks. Still learning.
...and seriously! Why aren't there more websites for women out there?

Who are we supposed to turn to at 2am when we don't want to wake the doctor
from her sweet slumber to ask a question that may be silly? ....or not?
You could be dying! or not? or you could be! or not!

How are we to know???  How? How? How did people live before the internet? {wink}

I found many answers in the comment section of articles I read from other countries...
...like New Zealand! New Zealand women, they speak frank.
.....and the comments marked TMI with obvious grammatical and spelling errors
seemed to be the most helpful. Ha!

Capturing the heavy rains and crazy storm clouds while tornado sirens blared
and his wife continued her pleading for him to move into the basement.
....after she took a photo of course. 

The storms this past week left gorgeous pink skies.

Yes! Yes! These are my colorful hydrangeas that decided to bloom again after two years of rest.
Thank you darlings. ...and look at that little lightning bug. Frankie is now caring for him.

Finally....here is our friend Andrew Belle's new single.
....my kids love when this song is stuck in my head and I sing down, down over and over again.

Have a fabulous weekend.
XxOo

That "Aha" moment pointed out by my dear husband....Duh! I can do this myself.

For the past couple of years, I have been drinking this fabulous black lavender tea
packaged in the cutest. little. skinny. glass. bottles.

There was only one grocery store on planet earth that carried it...
...and it was a tad bit expensive, but oh so good!

I didn't buy it often...it was one of those "treat yo self " kind of purchases.

Sometimes Jeff would surprise me with a bottle...if they were on sale I'd buy two! or three!
It was an eight ounce liquid delicacy.

Then one day...I went to buy a bottle and....the store stopped selling it!
Nooooo!!!!! .....I ran to my car sobbing uncontrollably.

Three things.

One.
I grow many herbs in my garden...including...Lavender.

Two.
I make my own flavored teas...I have for many years.
Strawberry Tea. Mint Tea. Lemon Balm Tea. Chamomile Tea.

{..are you putting two and two together here?}


Three.
Liz: I wish I could find that lavender tea again.
Jeff: You grow lavender. Why don't you make your own?

I married a genius!!!
Why did it take me so long to realize I could make my own lavender black tea?
That is a very good question to which I have no answer.

Bring to a boil five black tea bags.
Toss in two or three fresh lavender flowers.
Let steep for five minutes.

Strain and store in your own cute little glass bottle.
{I added some Stevia for a little sweetness}

Store in refrigerator and serve over ice.

XxOo

Finding the quality in quiet and mastering the word no while not buying back to school supplies quite yet.

I was watching the early morning news on this sunny June day....

...Office Depot ran a back to school advertisement.

NOOOO!!!
Why can't we enjoy summer and not think about going back to school quite yet?
Didn't our kids just finish up the last school year?

...and I get it.
Some people like to be prepared and I too am a sucker for that new pencil smell. ahhhh...
...but there is something fun about buying supplies closer to the start of the school year.
It's like buying a Christmas tree in August...it's not time yet!
Why do we ALWAYS have to be celebrating ahead of time?

One of the things I have learned while being forced to sit
around this spring/summer due to a never ending miscarriage..Grrrr..

We, {people} don't break between our moments. I don't think we really know how.
We're not encouraged to in this day and age. The age of "planned activities".

Our culture is always on the go. We are a country of the "Yes" people.

We say yes, yes to everything and we run, run, run to the next, to the next, to the next
and never stop to catch up to our own lives.
We're busy. We're stressed. We overdo it.
We never say... NO.

We fill every square on our calendar.
We don't have a minute to spare.....and we do it to ourselves.
{pointing finger are MYself}

I was sitting on the porch steps late one morning...
I watched as my kids and the neighbor kids ran to the mailbox across the street.
They said hello to the mail man and grabbed envelopes and sale papers.

Yes! That! That is what I want. That is how I want my kids to spend their summer.
At a slower pace...saying hello to the mailman. long summer evenings.
pancakes for breakfast while they plan out their backyard adventure.
riding bikes around town. picking flowers along the ditch. lemonade stands.
...all the things that feel like they are from another era.
I want that to be my kids era.

I want them to learn to find happiness in small moments.
I want them to see the quality in stillness and quiet.

It's where we think and pray and grow.
I don't want to take that gift from them by setting an example of busy.

We circulate articles like this and articles like this around our Facebook pages.
{love this woman's blog ^^^btw}

We share them, we love them and want our lives to be like that..yet we never put on the brakes.

We live at a constant high speed and I've been wondering...
How are we going to feel when we look backwards in years to come?
Did we enjoy people?
Did we have time to relax in the beautiful homes we worked so hard for?
Did we talk around the dinner table?
Read books before bed?

{What fidget spinners do to droopy peonies on the breakfast table..mom rolls eyes}


I'm practicing and mastering the word no.
Don't be surprised if you see me wearing this shirt with tape over my mouth.

Now go enjoy an iced coffee in your backyard while listening to the birds chirp.
XxOo

Wrapping up the week....Monday thru Friday.

MONDAY

WARNING : picking up an extra sock that does not belong to you could potentially kill you!
It was just "one of those days."

By the end of "one of those days"....I realized how blessed I am to be home all day with my kids!
Thankful I have a husband who prefers me home. and thankful for my current job position.

TUESDAY
One girl baked lemon pound cake.
I picked lilies from the garden...they're on the kitchen table.

WEDNESDAY
We made Cheeseburgers for dinner and stayed out until after
sunset catching lightning bugs....because....First Day of Summer!!!

THURSDAY
I found the piano of my dreams...and it's marked down to $20,999!
Instead of buying the piano we had a banjo restrung...sort of the same thing.

FRIDAY
I ate waaaaay to many chocolate donuts...
...but it's the end of the week. So it's okay.

Have a wonderful weekend.
XxOo

Wrapping up the week...

I love little boys with no shirts and tan lines playing with tractors.
They are so cute!

What are you up to this weekend?

I'll be home resting for 7-10 more days recovering from the never ending miscarriage.
I'm happy to see an end in sight though...can't wait! I want to feel back to my normal self.

If you love satire and sarcasm...
This has been cracking me up!

Going to try this little arm workout once I can lift again.
{In 7-10 Days!!!}

Have a great weekend.
XxOo