I LOVE the 4th of July! Both celebrating the freedom and safety, and the blessing of living in a beautiful country…. and having a day of family and food and fun. We’re at my in-laws, with a friend from the college group, my {awesome} sister-in-law and her family, and one of Betsy’s friends, whose husband is out of town. Mama Sara is cooking up some ribs for us, and we have homemade ice cream firming up in the freezer. I just forbid myself from eating another bite of the many dips we brought – don’t want to be full before dinner even gets here!!
All in all, it’s been a day full of fun.
I made the boys some shirts… I made Tobin’s earlier in the week and he wore it for the city’s celebration and fireworks over the weekend (and is wearing it again today!) I followed the tutorial at Little Bit Funky, and think it came out so cute.
I wasn’t planning on making one for Luke, because the design I made for Tobin seemed too young for an 11 year old. But Luke was kind of offended and felt left out. Especially since I used the baseball material left over from the curtains in Luke’s room.
But since Luke seemed to really want one, he and I brainstormed a design that he thought was cool. I did reverse appliqué with the same baseball material. I think it came out awesome, and Luke wants me to make him more – a Vikings one, a Husker one, etc. I used a t-shirt I’d bought for another project (for him) but never got around to. It’s a soft shirt, so Luke loves it. It’s also a v-neck, so Matt says I’m turning him metrosexual. LOL.
Cute boys.
We also put on all of the 4th of July tattoos I’d made, and they were a HIT.
Here’s Tobin sitting on top of Grammie’s ice cream maker as Anna churns. Matt & Betsy sat on this same ice cream maker when they were the kids’ age.
Sara made vanilla, and we made a recipe I found for dark chocolate ice cream. Can’t wait to try that! We went for a more modern version than the sit and crank…
And after a yummy dinner and dessert… we have LOADS of fireworks.
Having grown up in Texas (where fireworks have been illegal in all the cities I’ve lived in), lighting your own fireworks still feels kind of perilous. But the kids sure enjoy it. And sparklers are fun at any age!!
Have a wonderful Independence Day – Happy Fourth of July!!
And with my red white and blue, I also have my Ugandan bead necklace on… because now America is not the only “land that I love.” :)
