Happy Fourth of July!

This won’t be a really long post. We just wanted to wish everyone a belated Happy 4th and briefly share how we celebrated. We took time in the morning to speak with our 6 and 7 year olds about why we celebrate our Independence Day. Then we loaded up the truck and headed over to my in-laws’ hotel, Sierra Suites in Daytona Beach.

There we smoked some chicken for family, friends, and guests.

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Photographed by Amanda Harman

We also smoked and grilled some of our famous chicken sausage. Others attending the celebration brought other yummy food like key lime pie, pasta and potato salad, strawberry tarts, macaroni and cheese, corn and black bean salad, and a really neat veggie pizza variation. It was a real treat and everyone had a full belly.

Being that we were on the beach with several little ones, I didn’t bring my camera. I apologize that we had to use the phone for photos. As it grew dark, we enjoyed fireworks and I do have to note it has been quite a few years since I’ve seen so many fireworks in this area. People celebrate where we live pretty patriotically in the traditional sense of blowing up a plethora of fireworks, but Daytona was lit up last night. Before the city started its scheduled show the beach’s sky–from all directions–was aflame with bright greens, reds, blues, and swirls of light. The whistles of other firecrackers got the biggest reaction from my son, who could not contain giggles of excitement. Riding home, was just as exciting of a show as on the beach. Fireworks were going off everywhere. I haven’t seen so many in Daytona for a long time.

We had a blast and from our farm to you, we hope you enjoyed yesterday as well. Happy Fourth of July and thank you to every man and woman who has contributed and continues to contribute to protecting our freedoms in the land of the brave.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Our Mother’s Day weekend turned out to be quite busy. My son is 7 and was very proud of himself for his efforts.

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Photographed by Amanda Harman

He and his sister had made cakes at school so I got TWO cakes. They’re actually very good, too. We enjoyed them immensely all weekend. A small bite here, a small bite there. My 5-year-old daughter was very excited because she loves to bake.

She also made me this adorable teacup card where she wrote she loves me because I help her. It also included a tea bag. I love tea, so she did well. She knows I’m an avid tea drinker so she was very excited about the teacup card.

My husband also took the kids out to get cards. My daughter picked this card out because it has a flower and it plays music.

My son picked this card out and it was perfect because this kid loves TV, sports, AND LOTS OF FOOD.

We went out to eat Saturday instead of Sunday to avoid potential crowded restaurants. The food was good and we had a lot of fun.

But the most exciting fun did not happen until we got home to discover the AC unit for upstairs wasn’t working.

We deemed the motor wasn’t working properly so we spent HOURS trying to switch matching motors out to absolutely no avail. Nothing worked. We finally called it quits. We should be getting it fixed this week.

 

Sunday rolled around and I got to hang out with the kids. We played many games of Jenga with the giant blocks and they helped me clean. It’s difficult to stay too slack for me unless I’m actually out doing something else. I get very antsy if I feel like I’m getting behind.

All in all, other than the AC failing, we had a great time. I got to spend time with two kids that I not only love, but genuinely enjoy spending time with because they really are smart, compassionate, cool kids.

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone. I hope everyone enjoyed some time with loved ones.