Independence Day

I love it when I compile a blog post of pictures from my phone, title it "Independence Day," and then find that it's got very little of those pictures. In fact, I didn't even take any pictures of the kids with our friends that we invited over to share with holiday. Meh, here it goes anyway...

Thora chillaxin' on a church bench.

I never get tired of seeing peaceful sleep positions.

I turned Tommy loose on reading our Magic Tree House books, and he reads them like crazy. In July, he was reading a book a week, sometimes stretching into two weeks. By the time we got to September, he was knocking out a book a day. I'd tell the kids it's time to go play outside and Tommy would grab a book to sit on the porch swing.

Samson graduated from high chair to big chair! Only for dinner & movie nights. He's stuck in his high chair when we're at the table.

On Independence Day, we had our new friends, Robert and Chris, over with their daughters, Emily and Bonnie. Oh, how Samson loved Bonnie! He swooned at the sound of her name any time it was said! We had a low-key lunch with a few traditional elements, but mostly enjoyed playing games while the kids were off doing their thing. Chris was excited to see Masterpiece hiding at the bottom of our game shelf, so we introduced that to Robert. Chris enjoyed the reminiscing so much, she and I shopped for it on eBay all the rest of the week until she bought a copy. Hooray for gameschooling friends! Later when we were all sitting outside talking while the kids played in the yard, Robert got the inevitable call we were all waiting for and had to leave. That's what happens when you make friends with the EMS director and his wife. Even when he's not on call, he's still on call. Shad and I saved the fireworks until after Chris left with Emily and Bonnie. Robert's seen too much of the bad side of fireworks to allow his family to participate. Shad and I understand that, but I lived in China, land of fireworks' origin, land of month-long explosions to celebrate the new year. I have to have my piem pao. Thora and Sam were put to bed and the other three got popsicles and a show. 

When our own explosives ran out, we enjoyed watching everyone else's around us. It was nice to still get the experience when the city couldn't put on a show this year.

Mister Samson started talking and was so precious with this baby!

Sam also began cultivating his piano skills. While taking care of his baby.

Funny story: Samson and I walked out of the house one afternoon and this squirrel just froze like this on the pole for several minutes. Long enough for us to take pictures and video!

Sam was fascinated by this creature. He still loves squirrels!

Then when he did move, he slowly went up the black walnut tree and just watched us while eating his nut.

Classic Car Show! Tom and Katie rode their bikes this year.

So many things going on with this girl in this picture! Starting at the top: the hat. We read the Addy American Girl series this summer, and then Katie found a baby hat when I was cleaning out my room. She tried it on and was delighted that it fit AND it looks like Addy. Katie wears it often and tells me that if I find any more baby hats, I'm to pass them to her. Second: the gang sign. She started learning sign language on her own on a tablet app. She's signing K T. Which brings us to...Third: Shad's nicknames for Katie. He calls her KT or Two Letters or Lunch Time. KT should be self-explanatory. Two Letters is because of KT. Lunch Time is because K is letter 11 in the alphabet, and T is 20, which makes 11:20, Shad's lunch time when he worked at Natoma. Katie loves her nicknames and owns the KT one, signing all her art as "KT."