The 4th of July

I love the 4th of July. I am the 3rd youngest grandchild of 13 grandchildren. My mom had 3 siblings. Most of my cousins have now had children and some of my cousins children have now had children. So we have 4 generations now that gather on holidays. We are not always together at every holiday, but it is so fun to gather and visit with whoever is able to show up. Pictured below is my aunts home, that might as well be Tara straight from the pages of Gone With The Wind. My aunt moved to Greenville, Texas to take care of my Grandmother before she passed away the week of Thanksgiving right before Ava was born. My aunt always decorates her house to the max for every holiday! Another fun thing about the 4th of July in Greenville is the home town parade. Last year I had a baby fence set up in the front yard so my "babies" could enjoy the parade while I sat with my cold beverage on the front porch. This year however, my "babies" were old enough to participate in the parade. I had been telling them about this for weeks as we practiced almost everyday riding their trikes. We counted down the days until they were allowed to "ride in the street." (I do not even let them ride in the alley at home). My mom had worked hard on the perfect 4th of July outfits for all 3 of them. (Story finished under the photos)(This photo actually taken in 2003)

Why should I look at the camera when I have this flag to look at?

Ok...you caught me walking!



There was actually a newborn baby in this wagon! Thank you sir for serving our country!
Wow! I really do get to ride in the road!


Z needed a big push to get going...but he did it!







This Texas Sized Kool Aid Jar cracked me up!
My boys loved refilling and refilling their cups!


So on 4th of July morning at 4 am, I awoke to the feeling that no one wants to wake up to and minutes later, I was in the bathroom throwing up. That wonderful feeling followed by the 2nd symptom of food poisoning. (I will spare you the details)
I knew I had to suck it up for the kids because they had looked so forward to this day and as I said earlier, I love the 4th and had no intention of missing it.
So our family packed up and headed over to Greenville. I had fully planned to "fake it" and not let anyone know I was sick. On a side note,I also knew that everyone would think...Hmm,"I wonder if she's pregnant?"That is if I had admitted I had awakened throwing up. No! No! No!
So, I faked it about an hour before multiple family members kept approaching me asking if I was ok. Later, my aunt insisted I lay down. So I did for a little while, but I couldn't sleep. I kept looking at my Grandmother's empty chair in the corner. I kept thinking how badly I wanted her to hold Ava. I remember one of the first things I thought of when I found out I was pregnant with a girl...was the 4 generational picture we could take. I never got it. I remembered sitting on her bed with the boys for the last time the 2 days before she died. About that time my thoughts were interupted by one of the boys asking where I was. So I got up and helped Gordon get the kids plates prepared. Thanks to my cousins and aunts for getting all the food ready.
So after lunch, we loaded our gang up and headed home to which I crashed for the next 15 hours.
I did wake up at 5 pm, took a sleeping pill and went right back to sleep.
I woke up today as good as new.
I have no idea what my children ate, did or watched on T.V yesterday, but they were all alive today!
A HUGE thank you to all of my family who helped me with my kids, helped prepare MY food, and especially for those who fought the urge to ask me if I was pregers! Love you all so much and thank you for having another great party!