it's the 7th of july and i still haven't recovered...

i'm not sure if it's because the holiday was on a monday, so there were extra days to celebrate, or if i'm just getting old---but i'm draggin' bottom today. i'd like to think it was the former rather than the latter. or maybe i'm just falling victim to the new medicine. but, at least looking through the (hundreds of) holiday photos i took is making me smile.


it was definitely a full weekend with all the festivities we enjoyed between saturday and monday's schedules, but in some strange way it felt so much more relaxed than past holidays.

well, except for the visceral response my body has when sparklers are being handled. i'm SO not a fan of the fiery things after each of my kids getting minor burns from them in the past, but they still find them irresistible. i suppose after 2 years of avoiding them completely, it was time to let my guard down and allow them to enjoy a few of them.


it's amazing how much joy a sparkler & glowstick can bring to the face of a child. oh to be a kid again.


this family photo might well be my favorite photo we've ever taken, the four of us. everyone looking at the camera....and all of us smiling. it's a miracle because that rarely happens.

this is the first year we didn't go to Red, White & Boom downtown. i was sad most of the day because our decision not to go was based mainly on my inability to walk far distances at times & the air quality alert that would have flared spidergirl's asthma up even moreso than it already is--both things beyond my control. but, i'm also glad we stayed home, out of the heat, away from the crowds, in the comfort of our pjs and enjoyed watching them in HD on the television. oh technology, how i love you.


instead we enjoyed spending the entire weekend with family at our local hometown parade and fireworks celebration saturday, swimming and cooking out monday afternoon, and another fireworks show monday evening.


during monday's fireworks seeing our family gathered together all enjoying the same activity, i got an overwhelming feeling of contentedness for the first time in a long time, then looked up to see the smoke coming off the fireworks in the shape of pink hearts. it's like God knew, i needed that little reminder.

ashlyn flashed me a knowing glance and i knew she had seen it too. i'm so glad my finger was fast enough to capture it on film. *happy sigh*

i have gobs more photos i could share, but my eyes need a rest from all the computer work i'm trying to do without my glasses that got stepped on and snapped in half at the parade saturday morning. :( hoping to have some sassy new specs soon. yay.

ps....don't forget about the Fiskars giveaway in the post below. :)