the big ball fiasco of 2012

Yesterday was the 4th of July.  Independence Day, or as our family will now refer to it: The Big Ball Fiasco of 2012.  (Or maybe that's just what I will be referring to it as now...)  Why am I now referring to as The Big Ball Fiasco?  I will explain in a moment.

Because it was America's birthday, I got the day off work and I have to say: I really like having a day off in the middle of the week and I am now looking into how I can get that to happen all the time...

Here's what we did yesterday:

Faith started working on a T-shirt quilt.  She cut up several that she had and then we went to Goodwill and found a few other ones with logos/pictures that meant something to her.  It's going to be an awesome blanket and I'm kind of jealous.

Steven, Julia, and J.R. started a game of Lord of the Rings Risk.  I'm not sure who won, or even if the game was finished, but it looked like they were having fun.

Barbara, John, and Esther played for a little bit with Grandma's kitties (stuffed animal cats she made several years ago that have a lot of doll furniture, clothes, and other fun stuff to play with).

The Grill Master at work.  In my opinion, you can't have a proper 4th of July without hot dogs.

  

The spread: hot dogs, pizza, BBQ chicken (not pictured), deviled eggs, potato chips, tortilla chips, veggies, and lemonade.  Yummy!

Firework time!!  Barbara didn't really like all the noise and was understandably skittish around the sparks and explosions after her burn injury a few weeks ago (side note: you can see the bandage in this picture on her right hand.  Her hand is healing slowly but is still really tender and hurts her a lot when the bandage has to be changed, but the doctor says it's healing and she is working on being able to bend her fingers more and more each day).

Sparklers are always fun.  John LOVED all the fireworks.  I think we created a pyromaniac last night!  He helped J.R. and Steven set up each firework and then would run back to the car exclaiming, "This is gonna be awesome!" after each one.  Funny kid!!

Now.  Here is the part where I explain why I've started calling it The Big Ball Fiasco of 2012.  J.R. bought the below pack of fireworks, not knowing what exactly they did.  So...he lit one and we were ALL surprised.  Why?

Because it went a little something like this:

Looks awesome.  And it was.  Except: J.R. didn't put it far enough out in the street and it basically blew up RIGHT next to where we were all standing.  We all screamed.  Julia literally jumped off the truck hood and onto me, and Barbara freaked out.  After we all calmed down we did a few more tamed ones and then did the other two Big Balls.  Over all it was a great day!  Happy Birthday America!!