Growing Up and 4th of July Traditions

When I was a kid, I LOVED the 4th of July.  My family would get together with my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  We anxiously awaited until it finally became dark since my Dad and his brother were way into pyrotechnics and *may* had procured some illegal fireworks.

This one time, they lit up a firework that spun in super fast circles, like a whirling dervish.  In it’s little dance, the wheel of fire spiraled up a car and over the roof, where it landed under the car.  We squealed in equal parts of delight and sheer terror.  Would the car explode?   Would the whole neighborhood go up in flames?  (Spoiler - no, the firework just stopped.  Totally anticlimactic).

My brother, cousins, and I wanted in on this action so when we were allowed to hold sparklers and “play with fire,”  it was like, the best thing ever!  Better than eating s’mores until the break of dawn.  Better than unlimited popsicles.

These memories are the blueprints for my 4th of July celebrations, however, I am the only person out of my brother and that set of cousins that still lives here.  Even though the “adults” still get together, we’ve slowly formed our own 4th of July traditions to ensure Marie and Thomas have their own blueprints that are filled with fun times with their friends.  

Growing up, I always thought that things would always be the same, traditions and family would never change.  

They never do stay the same.  And that is bittersweet.

Sometimes things work out in ways that you could never imagine.

And that is incredible.

Hope you had a happy holiday!

I die of cuteness.

The Gang

So excited to play with fire.

This. Is. Happening.

Writing her name in fire.  Kind of like Katniss.

About 30 seconds before his sparkler went rogue and the sparks
ended up on his hand. He now has blisters.
And I will be collecting my Mother of the Year award.

The Girls.

Week One of Summer Vacation

Happy First Full Week of Summer!!

This week was pretty awesome, I must say.  I wrote for the Detroit News MichMoms blog that I was going to take it slow this summer.  Between moving and unpacking and driving to Marie’s old school and unpacking and then unpacking some more, I didn’t want to be on a tight schedule of doing anything.

However, doing nothing as a mom is impossible.  Groceries don’t buy themselves, and Marie can’t drive herself to swim lessons quite yet.

Although I start the day out relaxed, somewhere around lunch time I look at the clock in astonishment that half the day is gone.  Well, maybe not half.  We’ve been rocking a late bedtime resulting in a slower morning.  Breakfast at 9:00am??  Playing at the playground until 7:30pm?  S’mores on the patio at 8:30pm?  Falling asleep at 10:00pm.  Actually, now that I think about it, our summer hours are probably regular hours for everyone else.  During the school year, my morning has been is almost over by 9:00am, and I don’t think that is the norm.

The Type-A, early riser has some misgivings about such late hours because I have already labeled myself as “early bird” and fear the world may end if I have to change the label to “night owl.”  However, there is a big part of me that is reveling in the freedom of not being ruled by the clock.  Who cares if we don’t get outside until 2:00pm if you don’t go to bed until 9:30, right?!

Eventually, I think I am going to have find a happy medium because our witching hour antics have been amped up.  The meltdowns that happen without warning can be a bit jarring, and really the only pitfall in this whole slow summer movement.

So how is your summer shaping up so far?

S'mores to the break of dawn

In Photos: A Taste of Summer

Today I wrote a post for the Detroit News MichMomsblog about the magic of summer.  After being cooped up all winter long, it’s great to run outside in a T-shirt and flip flops.  And the summer feels fun now (unlike by mid-July and I feel like an overworked cruise director).

Here’s a photo that totally encapsulates the magic of summer: eating gooey s’mores in the swing set clubhouse.

Here’s the before:

Here’s the after:

I cropped unrestricted.  I adjusted the light and the dark.  I also played around with brightness/contrast along with enhancing colors.

I then adjusted the field of depth and used the Orton Effect to 100% light.  I then put a mask using the soft mechanical brush at 100 pixels and 18% opacity.

I’m not sure if that makes sense, but I thought I’d share the steps so you could tell what I could do better next time.

Because learning this Photoshop Elements is hard, yo.

I personally think it’s a bit too light.  What do you think?