{july 4th}

It never fails that when I bring my camera to any sort of gathering a tell myself to remember to take pictures and I do in the beginning but then I forget.  This happened again on the 4th of July.  We did our annual party at Tad and Amelia's.  Everyone brought their own meat and some side dishes to share.  I made my traditional strawberries, I have been making these every year since Darian and I have been married.

This year Paisley helped me can you tell?

We spent the day swimming, playing soccer, watching soccer, and eating.  It was fun.  It was hot and humid outside but it didn't seem to stop the kids from playing outside.  To cool off they just jumped in the pool.  I didn't buy any fireworks because we were in Roanoke last night watching their firework show.

{Easter ideas}

 This is Cole's lunch today.  I filled the eggs, with grapes, fruit loops, teddy grahams, cheese, craisins, goldfish, mini pop tarts, and a few pieces of candy.

There are so many other things to fill eggs with besides candy.  Here are a few ideas.

{Easter on pinterest}

Make your own easter grass using a paper shredder.

Looking for a mess free way to dye easter eggs.  Use a wisk!  So clever.

Want some kool-eggs?

  Now this looks like a fun lunch.

These carrot cupcakes look too good to eat!

{fourth part 2}

The second half of the day was spent at my brother Tad's house. Fourth of July is a tradition at his house. I am first going to show you the food.

Lynda made this fun trail mix for the kids. It was a huge hit.

April made these yummy cake pops. They were gone pretty fast.

I made this yummy taco salad. I saw it on pinterest but I changed the recipe. I will post the recipe on another post. I made two and put one in the fridge for later. It came in handy when everyone was hungry after fireworks.

My traditional strawberries were a hit. Zoe and Paige helped me make them. I just wish I could find those beautiful strawberries that I always see in pictures.

Pretzel rods dipped in chocolate were another favorite of the kids.

Happy Fourth!

Be careful cause you might just get thrown in the pool. Just ask Lynda!

Corn Hole was a big hit. The kids couldn't wait for the grown ups to be done so that they could play.

Here in Texas it is so HOT! So if your going to have a successful party water is a must. Tad's pool was just what was needed.

Paisley enjoyed swinging before taking a four hour nap in Iya's closet. I love big walk in closets with no windows.

More pool time.

Kaidee is going to thank Lynda for taking this picture of her....lol

The Carmacks!

This is Cody. He has been a friend of our families since he was young. He came out to visit from California just like us. Well you probably want to know why he is wearing this silly outfit. He lost a bet at the Ranger's game the day before. The loser had to wear this all day on the 4th. He was such a good sport.

{fourth part 1}

How was your Fourth of July? We had a fun filled day so I thought I should break it up into two posts.

We started our day bright and early at the park for Justin Ward's annual pancake breakfast. I have been to these before but they are usually at the church. I think I like the park idea better.

The kids loved playing on the playground. I loved it too. I was able to eat my breakfast in peace.

Elliot sat on my lap most of the time. She shared pancakes with me. This pancake breakfast didn't disappoint either. We had pancakes, bacon, sausage, orange juice, and milk. I hope our ward will start this tradition.

One thing I love about Texas is the old town feel. Do you remember this fun merry go round when we were kids? I sure do it was one of my favorites. I remember laying down with my eyes closed hanging on for dear life and pretending I was somewhere else. The hardest part was finding someone strong enough to spin us fast. These things are hard to find nowadays but here is Texas I have seen a few. I love that they have kept it!

Here are all of the kids dressed in their 4th of July best.

{more 4th of July crafts}

Lynda and I crafted these things for the kids to wear on the 4th of July. This shirt was for Livee. Lynda pinned a ribbon in the shape of USA and I sewed it on. I loved that no body else had the same shirt.

I made 6 of these headbands for all of the girls. I found the idea here. I ended up doing it a little different than the tutorial. We did not use wonder under because we forgot to buy it at the store. So I just made a template out of card stock and cut the felt and fabric together. I cut a total of 30 stars. 5 stars for each of the 6 headbands. I sewed the felt and material together then glued them to a piece of ribbon. Lynda and Celeste helped me cut and glue.

Lynda came up with this idea for Zoe's shirt. She pinned and I sewed. I am still going to hand stitch over the white thread to make it look like a rope.

Here they are wearing their new stuff. I am not sure where paisley and Kaidee are in this picture. Can you see how Chloe is wearing her headband? She wanted to wear it as a belt.

{USA glittered}

This week I have been doing a lot of crafting with my sisters here in Texas. One of the projects I have been wanting to make are some glittered USA letters. I decided to make them here and I will just take them home with me because they were on sale for 50% off at Hobby Lobby. I wish we had that store in California.

I painted the letters red so that if the glitter didn't stick everywhere you wouldn't be able to see it. So whatever color glitter you have paint the letters the same color first.

Then I used modge podge and put it on pretty think then poured glitter over the different areas. It was messy but lots of fun.

I love how they turned out. I can't wait to do this with other words for different holidays.

{a small town parade}

I have seen so many people post on their blogs about 4th of July parades in their communities. I have always wanted to take my family to one but we don't have any in our area that I am aware of. This little parade was in a town called Haslet. It is about 10 miles south of Justin and it's where the train yard is that Darian has been working out of with my brothers and Craig.

I love the small town feel here in Texas. This parade was perfect. A parade just wouldn't be the same without horses.

A boat with Lady Liberty too.

This cute little cart had goats in the back. If you look close you can see them.

They handed the kids flags and Liberty hats before the parade started and Elliot loved hers.

I think the kids favorite part was collecting all of the candy that was thrown at them.

This jeep was all about Texas.

A cute old army jeep.

Here is our group!

The parade started with the local Boy Scouts carrying the flags of our Country and Texas.

This tractor is very patriotic.