The 4th of July

I love holidays!  I'm a sucker for decorations, cheesy t-shirts, etc. and I love to have pictures of it all!  :)  We had my parents with us for the 4th, so the day was more fun just by nature of having company.  We didn't do anything spectacular, but it was a fun day nonetheless.  There was some general fun.  The boys built an amazing house with their grandparents.   

We tried taking some pictures.  Jared was more interested in the puddles. 

Back inside, we got the food ready.  Ethan loves to help in the kitchen!

We finally bought a ladder and were able to do some high-up home maintenance.

The boys were excited when the cupcakes came out and it was time to frost them.  :)

By the way, do you notice the cabinet pulls in the picture above, that was another project.  They're all finished and I love them!  :)

Our meal was delicious!  We had pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw, corn on the cob, and potato chips.  Seriously, this pulled pork recipe is so easy and delicious!  I know that outdoor meals are typical, but it was simply too hot for my preferences.

Our kids are serious grumps if they don't get enough sleep and my mom was flying out the next morning way before the crack of dawn, so we decided not to stay up and go to fireworks.  Instead, I bought these light up balloons and we played with them in the dark.  It was really fun--much more than I had anticipated!  My mom hummed Stars and Stripes Forever during the craziness and it felt very festive!  :)  

After putting the kids to bed, Alan and I went off to the movie theater to see Brave.  It was very cute!  On the way home, we saw fireworks in all directions.  Hooray for flat terrain!  :)  I was glad to see some real fireworks because I really do love them!