Celebrating the 4th and BACK to Tuesday Traditions!!!!

We have been waking up to some pretty dramatic thunder storms the last few nights!

Sunday - or I guess it was actually MONDAY - morning around 1:00 I woke up to a thunderous downpour and lightning that lit up everything like a movie set!!!

I got up and ran out to the gazebo to get my iPad I had left out there!

By the time we got up later everything was cooler - for a little while - and the skies had cleared.

I made up a batch of Potato Salad using a composite a favorite bloggers recipes.

Betsy of Estelle's boasted at least half a dozen recipes when I put 'potato salad' in the search box!

I learned how to search a blog from Sandra at The Mad Snapper!

We packed up the salad and headed over to Quadville to celebrate the 4th in Patriotic Red, White and Blue style!!!

You can see we all dressed for the occasion!!

Aunt Summer had bought such cute outfits for the quads and they just looked adorable!

Amber is still recovering from her foot surgery and has done too much since she came home on Saturday but that's what mothers DO!!

A child's laughter is one of the sweetest sounds in the world!!

THIS is one of the sweetest little girls EVER!!!

This is our Kailey!

We had quite a spread of food!

While Mike was outside grilling Kailey was sitting there waiting with a hot dog bun in her hand!!!

She was ready to eat!

That child eats constantly and is a skinny as a rail!!!

For dessert, Mike's parents made some homemade ice cream!

Is there anything more like the 4th of July than hot dogs, watermelon and ice cream???

Just as she was waiting for the hot dogs to get off the grill......

Kailey was in a hurry for that ice cream to get DONE!

At LAST!!!!!

Logan love it, too!

I think they made TWO batches and we probably ate up both of them!!

My Amber with her daughters!

You can see that Amber is wearing her boot like a good patient!

After we had eaten as much as we could hold, it was time to clean up the table and kitchen and head out for the fireworks.

I rode with the kids and Amber while Mike took his parents and Louis Dean with him in his truck.

I think Kailey is singing 'Going to see FIREWORKS!!!'

And here we all are!!!!

Amber worked her magic and got a pic of everyone!!!

I wore the stars and stripes dress I bought last week at the hospital gift shop.

Trystan said, "MeeMaw, you look so pretty!"

Ahhhhhh.........

We went to the same place we did last year......

I can't say where it is because I have no clue. All I know is you can see the fireworks well enough without it being so close that it scares little ones - or bothers older ones!

Also it is a field by a Racetrack gas station and we just pulled up there and parked on the side.

The kids ran around playing and running off all that ice cream while we just sat and enjoyed watching them!

I ask Trystan, "What does MeeMaw do every single time I look at you???"

She says, "Smile!!!!" They ALL make me smile!

While I didn't get fireworks in this photo, I did capture what we came to see.....

it is so much fun to watch life happen through the eyes of children!

It was all over by 10:00 and by 10:30 we were heading home and by 11:30 I was showered and IN BED!!! Lights out and no reading! Once again the lightning and thunder hit about 1:00 AM.

I wonder if all the fireworks has upset the atmosphere!! There was only a 10% chance of rain!!

We have had no cause to be concerned about water in the house this year thanks to all that Louis Dean did LAST year to fix the problem. However.......

I had a feeling there might be this morning and sure enough!!!

Not anything like we have had before but enough to have to suck it up and turn on the fans.

I left Louis Dean to do all that while I picked Ruth Ann up and we hit the Starplex for a fifty cent movie and a $5 senior combo of popcorn and small drink. I spent an extra $1 to get a hot dog!!!!

What an excellent movie!

Based on a true story, this film truly touched my heart.

From there we hit up the Goodwill!

I scored with some tops, two DVDs for the kids, a cute bag for make up, one pair of brand new shorts, a Christmas container, fall table runner AND - last but not least - a nice long dress that is super comfy and the perfect length in front with it being a little longer in the back making it look extra cool.

I am going to wear the blue tee in the morning with a pair of denim 'short- alls!'

They look like a pair of Louis Dean's cover alls but they are short.

I can't wait to see the kids' faces when they see me!!!

Granddad and I will MATCH!!! Nearly......

Ruth Ann and I had stopped at The Curiosity Shop on our way to the movies.

I bought a can of Wise Owl Chalk Paint to refinish a bedside table - that I didn't even HAVE - YET!!!

From there we stopped at the DAV where I FOUND what I was looking for!!!!

I wanted something for beside the guest room bed for the lamp and a place to put your glasses and a book. Right now the lamp is on a box sitting on top of a large wicker basket.

I had $20 in mind to spend but this was just $10!! That helped pay for the expensive paint! When I pulled the top drawer out, I noticed it's a Broyhill!

I'm going to start on this tomorrow!!!

I dropped Ruth Ann off and came home to take pictures of all my loot and freshen up the house before ART CLASS!!!!!

I have had that bottle of Peach Bellini in the gazebo fridge for weeks now!!!

Finally, we are doing art again!

Sherry arrived with all the makings of Personal Pizzas!!

We had a great time.

It was wonderful to get out the oils and take the top off of the turpentine!!!

It STILL smells like art in my house tonight!!

The canvas above is what I started the last time we painted.

It was just based in and tonight I gave it more interest and depth.

You do that with darker values. I have at least two more sessions to go but it is getting there.

Sometimes I work top to bottom, finishing each area as I go. In this one, I work top to bottom all over the canvas every time and build up the colors. I will deepen the sky and define the sun rays, starighten that horizon line and put a few more darks and highlights on the distant rocky area before moving down to define the waves and surf.

Ruth Ann is working on a church in the country and Sherry brought her embroidery.

Sherry is one of the most creative people I know!!

She is embellishing a tea towel and using a real peacok feather as a pattern which she drew on herself. She also made - from scratch - her very own incubator for her peacock eggs!!

It felt so good to have a 'normal' Tuesday with all its traditions!!!

Speaking of traditions.......it is only 57 days until September 1st!!!!

I'll close tonight's journal entry with a photo from three years ago!!!

Amber and Mike moved into their 'forever home' exactly three years ago yesterday!!!

Just look at those sweet babies!!!

They sure didn't stay that little that long!!!