4th of July... late. Ya think?

K, so I'm gonna be real. I've never really made holidays fun for my kids. Well, except for Christmas, and sometimes Easter. I hit the "Lame Mom" category when it comes to holidays.

However, it was the 4th of July, and we are living in a communistic country, and I wanted my kids, as little as they are, to know so much. I wanted them to know that they have 2 generations before them that served valiantly in the military for our country.

So the first thing we did when we woke up was youtube the national anthem. They put their little hands over their hearts and tried to sing the tune to the slide show on the screen. I had to say I got choked up.

Then, I reviewed some pages I'd printed out showing the story line of how our great country gained it's Independence.

Here are the pictures...


That went along with these short paragraphs depicting each significant event.

And to make it fun, we acted out the fighting scenes. I was careful to not use the word "British", because so many Hunter's classmate friends are British here, what mom wants to have that conversation at the playground?! Anyway...

Here's Paul Revere on his horse delivering messages to the troops.

We tried to make this cake (above). But couldn't find strawberries. So we had to use plums, and didn't get a picture.

I got out the 4th of July cookie cutters.

And they loved this part.

Then they painted flags I printed off of the Internet. But the only colors I had for them were teal, brown and cream.

Love that kids don't care so long as they can still make a mess (word to the wise: I always just turn the kids clothes inside out when they paint-- if they won't wear plastic bags).

Then somebody put paint in some body's hair.

And got a time out. Hate pictures of kids in time out. But loved how Tanner couldn't continue painting until Hunter was done. He kept inching his way closer and closer to Hunter.

And when Hunter cried, Tanner was quick on his toes.

Tim was out of town for the 4th. So we had a bar-b-q when he got back in town. Shish kabobs... num num.

Watermelon, cut American Bar-B-Q style. Susan's famous jello (strawberry jello, slice up 2 bananas inside. When set, cream 4 oz pkg of cream cheese with 1 cup sour cream for topping)... as Susan would say "Yum Bo Bob".

Green salad, deviled eggs (my mom makes the best w/ horseradish... I am afraid to even try), and cheesy potatoes.

That night, we heard fireworks. So we hopped on the motor-trike and followed the flashes in the sky. It was beautiful. You know the huge fireworks the city parks set off from the lake. You can get them in China for $30 per box of 20+ fireworks. CHEAP. And with NO existing fire codes, you can set them all off in your driveway. At least that's what this particular neighbor did. It was great to find Americans (most were gone for the Summer) by following the sounds and sights of their patriotism.

Happy 4th of July!