Something to ponder...

~Today started out pretty normal. D had to work today so I was at home with the babies and decided to take them to the pool for a few hours. I'm not as comfortable going to our neighborhood pool as I used to be because of an incident I had with one of the life guards a few weeks ago (that will have to be another post), but the kids love to go swimming so I go anyway knowing that beady eyes are constantly watching me and I'm probably known as "the trouble maker" or "that lady". The kids have fun none the less. I did happen to run into a previous neighbor so it was nice catching up with her. I didn't feel so self conscious then.

~We stayed out there for about two hours then came home and ate some lunch and then decided to lay down and take a nap. All three of the kids and I got snuggy wuggy on my bed. While I was waiting to go to sleep I started thinking about what today means. I honestly think that we don't make enough of a big deal about what this day means anymore. All you ever hear about is the bbq's and the get together's and parades and then the big firework shows. While I was laying there I started to think about our service men and women. Unless you are actually in the line of fire you don't really have an inkling of what it's like to be doing the important job that they do for this country. And I also started thinking about the husbands and wives and children that are left behind while they are doing their job. I have a cousin whose husband just recently returned from his tour of duty and I also have a sister-in-law whose husband just recently returned from his most recent tour in Iraq. He has been before. I guess that's the life they lead. I applaud our service men and women but I also want to applaud their spouses. They become the single parent for who knows how long and all of the responsibility is theirs. All of the parenting, all of the errands to run, dr's appointments, their own job, all of the things that the other spouse would handle such as car maintenance, lawn maintenance and anything else that you could think of..they are responsible for handling. Little things that we take for granted. On top of the stress of constantly worrying if they will get the call or that knock at the door from a officer. I can't imagine what it would be like to live like that or to have the emotions they would feel when their loved one has to leave and not know if they will return.

**We really do need to be praying for our service men and women but we need to also be lifting up their spouses and children. They have a hard job too. Just something to think about.**

~We decided to go see the big fireworks show and so we loaded up, stopped to get some ice cream and then headed towards downtown. We ended up in an Arby's parking lot in Homewood. Unfortunately there was a building in front of us so we couldn't see the fireworks that were low but we did get to see the big ones that go up high. We stayed in the van so that our exit would be quick and if you know about our city's fireworks show, then you know what I'm talking about.



Even in the van, they still covered up their ears!!?!!


Thursday night we celebrated my dad's birthday. We had red velvet cake from Edgar's(which was absolutely delicious!!) and dad showed us his beautiful pictures that he took up in New York. He took lots of pictures of the different types of architecture and we also saw pictures of ground zero and all the work that is being done where the Twin Towers used to stand. It was interesting! The kids played outside and were even catching lightening bugs. I hope dad had as much fun as we did! :)