Party of Five…

 

Yesterday was a successful drop off of the kids in Centerville.  Steph took them up and we’re going to get them this weekend.  Oh how times have changed.  They were all 3 in car seats and each of them had an iPad!!!  I remember being stuck in the backseat with Amy fighting over who touched who and having that imaginary line that divided the seat.  (BTW – Amy always crossed over to my side first!)  There were no car seats and most of the time one of us was laying in the back window.

All 3 of them were so excited to go.  Erin has talked non-stop about going to “the Country” to see Granny and Pepaw. 

Jake told me yesterday that they were going to climb up in Granny’s attic.  (Jimmie as an attic/loft that overlooks the living room.  You get there with a pull down attic door.  Apparently this is a very special treat!) 

Erin told me she was going to feed the cows, and Luke said he was going to give Erin a sticker!!  LOL

I’m sure Granny and Pepaw will have stories to tell when it’s all said and done, but the 5 of them are making great memories.  I love that they can go and that they can all go together. 

Granny and Pepaw are used to a quiet end of the week/weekend.  They have their church activities and Granny may go to Wal-mart and the grocery store, but other than that they don’t leave the house much.  I have to laugh thinking of the fast paced messy 3 days they’re going to have.  It certainly won’t be quiet!!!

I would love to be a fly on the wall….

Speak Up…

 

Erin failed her hearing test last week at the doctor.  Dr. Elahee-White thought it was because of fluid behind her eardrums.  We were on a weeks worth of decongestants and went back yesterday for a follow up appointment and test.

The results came back worse than the first test.  So, she failed again.

Dr. Elahee-White didn’t seem overly concerned.  She said the test is hard for some 4 year olds because it requires concentration.  (Something Erin has the ability to do, only if it’s something she wants to do.)  So, we got another referral to Texas Children’s Hospital for an appointment with an ENT.

I called Texas Children’s and they said she has to have a hearing test in a sound proof booth first.  She will have that appointment there and then immediately follow it up with an appointment with the ENT doctor.  Thankfully, all this can be done at the Texas Children’s Hospital branch in The Woodlands rather than having to go downtown.

Part of me wonders if this is why Erin is so loud.  If the poor baby can’t hear well, then I’ve been shushing her all this time when I shouldn’t have been.  (Mommy guilt for sure!)  Tommy thinks she hears just fine and that she’s just loud like me.  Hopefully  he’s right.  It’s the low pitches she has the most trouble with.

I’ll update when we have our appointment.  For now, we just sit back and pray.

To Grandmother’s House We Go…

 

We’re planning our first trip to Granny and Pepaw’s house next week.  Erin and the boys are going to spend a couple of days/nights up there.  We’re working out the logistics now, but it looks like they’ll be there Wednesday thru Friday or Saturday.

We haven’t told Erin yet because if we do we will be asked non-stop when is she going.  She will wake up in the morning asking first thing when she gets to go to the Country.  She gets easily obsessed with going places and asks constantly when it’s time.  My parents told her about SeaWorld too early and I had to hear about it EVERY morning, noon and night for a week and a half before it was time to actually go!  So, mums the word on going to the Country.

Granny volunteered to take all 3 at once.  She said “What’s one more when you already have two”.  She’s about to find out! LOL

Erin and Luke play very well together.  They are used to each other since they’re in the same class and get along great most of the time.  Jake tends to antagonize them so they gang up on him then he gets his feeling hurt.  LOL.  The boys are very rough with each other but they don’t seem to be as rough with Erin.  Not that she couldn’t take it.  She gives as well as she gets. 

I just hope it doesn’t rain on them.  There is so much to do outside there.  They love to run around and Erin especially loves calling the cows up and feeding them thru the fence.  She is fearless!

I’m sure there will be stories to tell and memories made while they’re up there.  I’m looking forward to blogging about what I hear.  If they give quotes like they did with Stephanie I’m going to be cracking up.  (Here are some of the quotes Steph sent me from last weekend when Erin stayed the night with them.)  I really like Jake’s comment to Erin.  It’s so fitting!

 

Flintstone Kid…

 

We had our 4 year check up on Wednesday.  It was a good news/bad news visit. 

Stats:

Height: 41 inches  (75% percentile)                 Weight: 42 lbs (90% percentile)

Dr. Elahee-White (yes, she got married but Erin refuses to call her by her new name!  She still calls her Dr. Elephee.   Dr. White loves it!) was not concerned about her weight.  Anyone who has seen Erin or picked her up knows she’s a solid kid but by no means overweight.  The doctor told me she grew 4 inches last year and the average is 2 inches a year.  She said she had gained 6 lbs. and the average is 5 lbs.  Considering her growth spurt, this weight gain was to be expected. 

Her teeth and eyes got a good report.  I was actually wondering about her eyes because she squints a lot but it appears that is just a bad habit.  I also wondered how they check a kids eyes.  Now I know.  They have an eye chart with shapes instead of letters.  The kid just stands back the measured distance and reads the chart.  Nothing too complicated about it.

As for her ears…she failed part of the hearing test and got zeros on the low frequency.  She was perfect on the higher pitches.  The doctor looked at the results and Erin’s ears.  She thinks it might be because she has some fluid behind her ear drums.  I’m thinking this came from our trip to SeaWorld.  She also has some wax on her actual eardrums.  She gave her an Rx to get earwax remover and a decongestant.  I clean her ears, but I don’t go that deep.  Both tubes are still in there and barely hanging on.  The doctor thinks that after the ear drops and the decongestant that the swelling holding them in will go down and they will fall out. 

We go back next Wednesday to have her hearing checked again.  I’m not at all concerned about this.  Erin hears very well and I think it’s just the fluid on her eardrums that is causing the issue.  She can hear a fly walk across the ceiling in another room!

She also got 4 shots while we were there.  I didn’t tell her before hand that she was getting them.  Dr. White told me that was the best way to do it as they get more anxious and build it up more if you tell them before hand.  I did tell her that the nurse was coming back in and that she was going to need to be brave.  She was great when they came in and she saw the shots.  She laid down on the table and they made me hold her down and hold her arms.  I was in her face with mine and tried to comfort her.  She cried a lot and yelled “Owyhee”  when the did them.  One of them must have really hurt because the nurse made a noise and Erin really squealed.  She was very distraught after the shots but I would have been too.  Four shots is a lot of shots.  The good news is that she’s done with shots until she turns 11!

Dr. White asked me if there was anything for the school that she needed to sign.  Like a moron I told her no, but I did have the presence of mind to get a copy of her shot records.  I called the school when we left and yes, I was supposed to get a Statement of Health for her to start back to school in August.  No biggie.  I called and they’re going to fax one over from the doctor’s office. 

We love Dr. White.  Erin was not good during the visit.  She is so ticklish that Dr. White had to have me hold her down to be able to do the physical exam.  Everything turned out okay but it was a challenge with Erin acting up.  She refused to count and say her ABC’s.  She also started tearing the paper on the table and acting like a wild hyena.  I’m sure the doctor was very impressed with the level of control I have over my kid!  She was a perfect angel until the doctor walked in.  I promise!

All in all it was a good report except for the hearing thing, but like I said, I’m not too concerned.

 

Party #2…

 

Here are some snaps from her home party on her actual birthday.  We went to eat and had another smaller cake at home.  As you can see, opening presents was her favorite part.

 

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Big Sister Julia…

 

Erin and Julia can always be counted on to have fun.  Erin pesters the crap out of Julia just like a real little sister.  Julia is always a good sport about it.  This time, Bridgette and Julia bought the twin dresses.  (We do that almost every time we visit.)  The girls love to dress alike and be silly.

Picture This #2…

 

More pictures of the big day…taken at home on the slide

 

Picture This…

 

Some pictures from the birthday party…

Our New Water Slide…

 

Slide With Daddy…

 

Blowing Out the Candles…

 

The Big Party…#4

 

Yesterday was Erin’s birthday party.  We had it at Pump It Up.  It’s a huge bounce house place.  She loved it.

I love it because when you rent it out they put you in a private room with like 4 or 5 big bounce things.  Ours had two big slides and two bounce houses.  Neither of the bounce houses were traditional.  One was round with a mushroom like bounce thing in the middle and the other had basketball goals at either end.  Big hits!

The biggest hit of all was the huge slide.  I think I saw just as many adults going up there as I did kids!  Lots of fun!

We didn’t have time to open presents there.  They give you the option of present time or extra jump time.  I decided on the extra jump time.  The kids were having so much fun. 

We had a great turn out too.  I think they told me there were 23 kids there!  Some of them were siblings of classmates, but for the most part they were all friends of Erin’s. 

When the lights went out and it was time to sing Happy Birthday she was so happy.  They have a bounce house looking throne that the b/day kid sits in.  She jumped up in that thing like her rear end was on fire.  William tried to get in there with her and she was having none of it.  She pushed him away and then patiently waited for the girl to light the candles.  We sang to her and she had the sweetest look on her face. 

Her big present was the water slide.  Obviously we didn’t want her to just open the box so we had it set up at home and all ready to go.  I distracted her while Tommy blew it up.  She ran outside when she saw it out the window.  She immediately started taking off her clothes so that they could get in it.  All the cousins and her BFF Avery had come back to the house.  Julia and Will were here too and even Will got in on the slide action.

It was a great day!  Happy 4th Birthday Erin Grace Mize!

Here are 1,001 pictures from the party and the slide. 

 

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It’s My Party…

 

It’s my party and I’ll sing if I want to.

We had pizza delivered to Erin’s class yesterday.  I sent a note home with the kids on Tuesday to tell the parents.  We also brought up 2 dozen cupcakes.  I ended up ordering 5 pizzas because Erin’s class has been combined with another class due to the low attendance during the summer months.  They have double the teachers but double the class size.  I think there were 16 kids and 4 teachers yesterday!

Her teacher, Mrs. Amy, sent me this video of the class singing to Erin.  She looks so proud.  It was obviously AFTER she ate her cupcake because I didn’t send her to school with pink all over her shirt!!!

Mrs. Amy also took this picture for me. 

All told she will have 3 celebrations!  The school party, her real birthday party at Pump It Up, and the small celebration we’ll do on Sunday for her actual birthday.  I honestly don’t know how many kids will be at her party on Saturday.  I invited both classes and some kids out of a 3rd class.  With parties in the summer you just never know.  People are on vacation and some of them just don’t want to come to a party on the weekend. (I certainly don’t blame them!) 

I think the biggest draw for the kids is that it’s at Pump It Up.  Erin loves that place.  We’ll have our own private party gym with 5 or 6 separate bounce houses and slides.  Erin has already asked me about them.  I can’t wait for this party to be over just because I’m getting tired of explaining her birthday day is not today, but X number of days away.  Party countdowns move very slowly when you’re about to turn 4.

More to come from the party!

 

I Won the Lottery…

 

I finally got my truck fixed this week.  It was crazy.  I would be driving down the road and lights would start flashing and the bell inside would ding.  The door locks would go up and down and the rear life gate would open.  It was like I won the lottery with all the celebrating!!!

It has been doing this off and on for years.  I’ve had it in the shop twice and they couldn’t diagnose it.  They acted like I was crazy.  Tommy thought I was crazy too until it happened to him while he was driving. 

It’s steadily gotten worse, and the other day I couldn’t drive w/o it happening over and over.  It was driving me crazy, literally.

We have guys at work that know cars so I went and talked to one of them.  We made a phone call to one of our vendors and the first thing the man asked was whether it was a Chevy.  Turns out, my problem isn’t that unusual in Chevrolets.

They sent a tech out the next day.  The first thing he asked me was whether or not it had ever been hit the rear.  It was hit 4 years ago by that crazy road rage fella.  He said it was probably one of the little modulators in the door handle.  He replaced the handle and off he went. 

I got into the car that night and started it up.  All be darn if it didn’t do it again.  The next morning I called them and they came back out yesterday.  Turns out there was a cut wire in the door.  It was likely done when they repaired the damage to the rear of my truck.  It was hitting the metal and shorting out.  It apparently fried the door handle, so it was going to have to be replaced anyway.

Now I’m all fixed up.  No more lottery!  (Probably the closest I’ll ever come to winning the lottery anyway!)

My Big Announcement…

 

The meaning behind the countdown at the tope of my blog… 

2 months, 7 days until I start a new job!!!

I got a lateral move at work.  I’m moving from an inside Auto Company job to an outside/proximity Fire Company job.  I’ll be working out of the house and I’ll set my own schedule.  I’ll have my laptop, a cell phone and a company car.

This move is really exciting.  Historically when people move from Auto to Fire they never come back!!!  The claim volume is a lot less.  The claims are more complicated and take longer, but you get much less of them.

This new job is called WCCS – Weather Catastrophe Claim Services and I’ll be a Claim Specialist.  It’s a very fancy way of saying I’m an experienced claims adjuster with State Farm.  It’s a start up unit and I’m told there will be 9 of us in the Houston area. 

I was stunned when I was selected.  I put in for the job knowing there were many more well qualified candidates.  We’re going thru a huge restructuring at work and the regular Fire Company people all had to reapply for their jobs.  I put in for it back in March and didn’t hear a peep until June.  I had given up on the position when I didn’t get called for even an interview.  Turns out they didn’t interview at all for these jobs.  We have a “Talent Profile” at work.  They looked at those and your past job performance reviews and selected candidates.

My territory will be North Houston/Bryan College Station area.  Part of the job is being geographically close to your area.  I’m thinking I’ll have more North Houston than anything.  My area will concentrate on Spring/Woodlands and surrounding area.

Since this is a start up unit I’m still unclear on exactly what will happen.  I know that we’ll be handling the Weather Catastrophe claims that do not qualify as a big Catastrophe.  (Like the ice storm we had last year.  Damage was pretty confined to our area.)  It’s not a deployed position meaning I will not have to travel the country.  It’s called Local Proximity.  This means I’ll be working in my home area all of the time.

I will have to go to Fire Company Claim School for training.  I’ve been to 2 schools for Auto Training and they were both in Bloomington, IL!  I do not want to go back there.  I’m hoping we’ll be able to do our training in Dallas.  Fingers crossed.

This job will involve a lot of roof climbing, and I am deathly scared of heights.  This could be interesting!!!  But, in Claim School and throughout the training they’ll teach me everything about climbing a roof.  I’m really not worried about it.  All of my Fire Co. friends tell me it’s scary at first even for them if they haven’t done it in a while, but you just get used to it.  They said in about 2 weeks I’ll be dancing around on roofs no problem.

I will have to pass Claim School or I might be out on the street.  When I accepted this job, I did so on the caveat that I would pass the background and driving check and that I would pass Claim School,  If I do not, there is no guarantee of a job back on the Auto side.  No sweat.  They’ve invested 16 years in me.  I feel certain they do not want me to fail Claim School.

What this ultimately means for our family is that I will be in a “new” protected job so we will not have to move to Dallas for my work!!!  Yay!!!  We were not going to move to Dallas for my job and my current job is ending in June of 2015.  I was going to have to leave SF and my pension if I didn’t find this job.  Now we just have to pray that Tommy’s job is made a Local Proximity position.  Then we’ll be set.  All indications are that his section – Auto Fraud – will remain in the field and will be made local mobile workers.  Pray for us anyway!!

Starting something new is always scary.  I’ve been in this office with these co-workers for over 10 years.  I know them, I know their families and I am comfortable with them.  When you switch teams you never know who to trust or what their work product is like.  Only time will tell.  It will be different working from the house.  I won’t have the camaraderie that I have working in an office, but I’ll have my freedom to keep me warm at night.  No more having my calls monitored and my work queues scrutinized down to the keystroke. 

I haven’t been told where my boss is located but with any luck, he’ll be housed in Dallas!  I would much prefer to be managed remotely.  I know my work and know that I don’t need a lot of direction to complete it.  I will be very green at first but I catch on to computer programs quickly and this job is mainly dealing with new computer programs.  I already deal with customers daily this will just be dealing with them in person at their house instead of over the phone. 

Come September when I start this will be a very positive thing for our family.  I already feel like a weight has been lifted off of me knowing I’m in a “protected” job and don’t have to move.

I can’t wait for Sept 22.to get here!

Rounding the Bases…

 

Uncle Matt shot this picture of William and Erin coming off the roller coaster the Shamu Express.

Erin wanted to immediately do it again and she thought William was going to get in line again too.  So she took off running to catch up to him.  She was wrong.  He was not as impressed with the ride as she was.

 

WAM SeaWorld…

 

Another WAM vacay is in the books.  This was the little trip to San Antonio to go to SeaWorld. 

Role Call:

Tommy, Angela & Erin

Matthew, Amy & William

Daddy & Momma

Stephanie, Bonnie, Jake & Luke

Lee & Lois

Wade, Bridgette, Will & Julia

Curtis, Krista & Evan met us there.

 

We left at near dawn on Friday morning.  We were not 2 miles from our subdivision when Erin piped up from the back “Are we almost there yet Daddy”.  I can’t believe we’ve hit that age so quickly.  I think she asked it again no less that 50 times. 

There were also 3 unexpected/unplanned stops to go pee pee.  It took us 4.5 hours to make a 3.5 hour trip!

We checked into the hotel and then grabbed something to eat.  We met up at 1:00 at the Park and the herd moved out.  We ended up going in different directions,  but all saw each other along the way.  The Tommy Mize and Wistner battalions cut to Aquatica on Friday too.  We didn’t see any shows at SeaWorld.  We did ride some of the kiddie rides, but that was the extent of our SW excursion.

The next day was Aquatica all day.  Matt arranged cabanas for us again this year.  (I had great pictures of them but they were deleted – see previous post!)  This year they were on a beachy location and we had sand everywhere!!! 

Erin hit the water running.  I made her get out to take a “rest” and get a snack a couple of times and you would have thought I was killing her.  We rode a “big” water slide ride twice and each time she wanted to do it again.  Of course, both times were in line I asked her before if she had to go to the bathroom and she said she didn’t.  We get halfway up the line and she has to go.  Nice!  I wouldn’t say we stayed in one area for long.  We were all over that park.  We did the Lazy River a couple of times, but Erin likes to swim along instead of ride in a tube.  The current carries her pretty fast, so I have to run in the water right behind her.  Not much of a Lazy River!

There is so much for kids to do at this park.  There is a giant splash thing in one section.  My complaint with it is that it’s 3 stories tall and 2 sided.  I had to get on one side and Tom on the other to watch her.  We were giving hand signals to each other to keep up with her.  I lost her at one point and had to climb up there.  We came down and I was explaining why I needed to be able to see her and she told me she understood but she was just hiding from me!  I was a nervous wreck on that thing.  There were big kids running around.  One of them ran into Erin at the top of the concrete stairs on the 3rd story and she almost fell.  That was the end of that.  I took her off and we went somewhere else.

Will & Jules wanted to go the Wave Pool at one point so we went with them.  I thought Erin might be intimidated by the number of people in the pool and the size of the waves.  I was wrong.  She was jumping and diving under the waves and when they would get her I was just picking her up.  She would cough up water then want right back down.  I felt like the US Goalie right behind her.  She’s so small that the waves were bringing her right back to me. 

I can honestly say that my kid does not have an ounce of fear.  The other kids (except Will and Julia) were scared on some of the rides and slides.  Erin was fearless and laughed thru the whole thing.  Most of the time at the bottom she would ask to do it again.  The fear factor is a good thing and a bad thing at the same time.  She’s so independent that she runs off to do something before you can catch her.  She’s really quick.  She’ll jump into any pool with reckless abandon.  She’ll ride any ride she’s tall enough to ride and she will slide any slide that she can get on.  I think she took at least 10 years off my life this weekend at any given point!  I can’t be too surprised at her reaction to Parks.  I am the same way.  I’m pretty much game for anything as well.

Amy, Lee and I rode the biggest ride there.  We were in the tube and for once I didn’t go down the big drop backwards.  This time Amy was the lucky winner.  We actually became airborne on the drop.  It was terrifying and great at the same time.  Lee’s neck was stiff and hurting prior to the ride.  She said when we went airborne she left it pop and she was cured.  I recommend that ride to fight narcolepsy and to help with chiropractic issues.  Works like a charm!

All in all it was a great adventure. And the best part is that we’re going back in September!  Woo Hoo!

SeaWorld Photo Bomb…

We went to SeaWorld this weekend.  It was awesome.  I took a camera full of pictures over the 2 days we were there.

We were floating on the Lazy River when Erin saw my waterproof camera around my wrist.  She started playing with it and pushing buttons.  She had it for a good 20 minutes.  I thought I would get home and just have about 50 random pictures to delete.

But…..

I got home to 5 pictures total.  Erin had deleted everything I took.  There had to have been over 50 pictures.  I’m not sure how she even did it because 1 of the pictures she left was from Friday and the other 4 were from Saturday. 

So, I have 5 pictures to post…

 

 

Checking out the alligators with William

Daddy and Uncle Matt

 

Taking a rest in the sand and shade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Zoe…

A friend at work is having a baby so I made some onesies and tutus to go with it.  Obviously it’s a girl!

Erin was very interested in the whole process and hovered over me like a Helicopter Mom.  She was so interested that she wanted me to make her one too.  So, after I finished I had to sit down and make her one out of tulle I had here.  She “helped” me so it took twice as long!! LOL

Erin’s tutu is red/turquoise/dark blue.  It actually turned out really cute!

Hopefully these go over well as a gift.  We had to postpone the shower because the baby wanted to come early!!!

Of course, Erin was obsessed with Baby Zoe after that and kept asking if she was coming to our house and if she was going to SeaWorld with us this weekend~

 

 

Herbie the Possessed Tahoe…

It’s been a crazy week and it’s only Tuesday.

My truck as a problem.  I’ll be driving down the road and the back liftgate will open on it’s own.  It doesn’t come all the way open but it unlocks and you have to get out of the truck to manually close it.  It’s fully automatic, so when you do it it clicks again and then reopens.  Very frustrating.  It’s been happening off and on since I was rear ended by the crazy guy but when I would take it in to have it inspected they could never duplicate it at the shop.  They would look at me like I was crazy.

Because of the auto locks on the truck and the auto liftgate it’s all related.  For the last few days it would go crazy and the lights would go off and on and the bell would ring and the locks go up and down really fast about 30 times in a row.  It was just too much and getting dangerous so I called someone we use at work. 

The guy came out today and the first thing he asked me was if it was ever hit in the back.  I told him it was but that they replaced the bumper and didn’t work on the liftgate.  He said it didn’t matter.  The module in the door itself was probably damaged in the accident and knocked loose.  Over time, it’s gotten worse.  He hooked it up to his machine and told me he would order the part.  It was going to cost us $350 bucks so I called State Farm to have them reopen the claim. 

After discussions with the Claim Rep, I got them to cover it.  So they ordered the part and it should be here on fixed on Thursday.

There was no way we could take that noise all the way to San Antonio this weekend or on the FL trip next month.  I would have to jump out the window if I had to hear that beeping over and over.

Scooby – Want to Go Outside…

Here is what I like to call the Scooby dance. 

When he wants to go outside he stands at the door and cuts little circles.  I shot this tonight but it’s not his best work.

New Computer…

Call me my own personal Geek Squad, but my computer blew up.  I took it to Best Buy and they did a diagnostic on it and the hard drive was dying with no way to fix it.  The best I can tell is that it was struck by lightning when we had the power surges last week.  I didn’t have it plugged into a surge protector.  Lesson learned the hard way…kind of…this is the 2nd time it’s happened to me!

I took it apart by myself like MacGyver instead of paying the Best Buy guys.  I replaced the hard drive and was surprised at how easy it was.  I was putting the restore disc back on and finishing up when the battery started beeping loudly.  It beeped a couple of times then the whole thing ended up blowing up again. 

So, I’m blogging from a new computer.  We decided to stop the bleeding and just buy a new one.  Luckily, we had a small insurance policy on it, so the cost of a new one was partially paid for.  I highly recommend this to anyone who has a Homeowner’s Policy.  I added a Personal Articles Policy to it and it cost me about $25.00 a year.  Money well spent.

I debated on a Mac, but just can’t make the leap.  I’m sure I would like it, but I’m a PC girl.  I have a PC at work and was afraid it would be too much of a change at home to switch to a Mac.  Millions of people do it everyday, but I didn’t think I was ready to be one of them.  The new computer is very sleek and slim and it’s got the touch screen and it’s really nice.  Liking it a lot.  Thank you Bill Gates.

One of my friends at work told me about a program to help with Blogging.  I loaded it but couldn’t get it to work with Blogger.  After about 8 hours of off and on trying, I finally figured it out this morning.  I say I figured it out…I changed a bunch of setting and tried it again.  It worked.  I actually have no idea what ACTUALLY made the difference, but something I did in settings changed it and made it possible to Blog from Live Writer.  I’m a hap, hap, happy girl.

Hopefully this makes it easier to blog more often. 

Testing a New Way to Blog…

Found a great new program to help me with blogging, just working out the kinks. 

A test post…

Happy Birthday America...

Another July 4th has come and gone.  What a fun day!

We had a BBQ over here with the following revelers:  Momma, Daddy, Aunt Mimi, Uncle Matt and William. 

We started the day with the kids in the blow-up pool.  They loved it.  Erin discovered she could take off running from about 10 feet away and dive over the side to land on her face.  Yes, her face.  She did this over and over again.  William does whatever Erin does, so he was trying it too.  Unfortunately, she has the height to do it, but he didn't have the clearance.  His attempts ended up with a run up to the pool and either a bounce off the side or a dead stop and then he would sort of lean in and fall.  It was hysterical.

Tommy fixed brisket and ribs.  If you've never had the pleasure of either, you'll have to come over.  My man is absolutely the best BBQ'er I've ever met.  His brisket melts in your mouth and the ribs are to die for.  I don't even like meat on the bone, but can polish them off like a dog. 

We moved inside to eat and then the kids played in the Play Room for a while.  Of course, what day would be complete without taking the "Tractor" (Gator) and the Mustang cars out for a spin.  These are Erin's 2 Powerwheels.  The Mustang is very fast and Erin only likes to drive it in top speed.  She literally spins the tires peeling out when she gets in.  William was game to ride along, but she ended up dragging him a couple of times.  She took off before he was all the way in.  Apparently, he moves too slow. William eventually got tired of shotgun and moved to the Gator.  He did really well for his first time at the wheel of such a Beast.

I started the homemade ice cream and the party moved to the backyard again.  It was delicious if I do say so myself.  While we were out there eating, the thunder and lightning started.  It was sprinkling and the lightning blew over so we started popping fireworks in the cul-de-sac.  It's against the Home Owners rules, but everyone in the cul-de-sac does it.  We were all out there popping them.  Anyone who knows Uncle Matt, knows he has a fireworks addiction.  The bigger the better.  He would light one, then our neighbor David would light one.  It was fun.  We had double the firepower because we were doing them all together.

William didn't much care for the fireworks and he went inside.  Erin on the other hand was fearless.  She was running up to the fireworks and had to be stopped multiple times.  Pawpaw about had a heart attack and had to go inside Erin was making him so nervous.  It worked out well.  He stayed inside with William and the rest of us were popping up a storm.  I tried to snap some pictures but I was trying to do it while I was watching Erin too.  Not an easy task.