Outside all day

Before I blog about today, this link is a must-see. It shows how Provo celebrates the 4th of July. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had never been anywhere that took the holiday so seriously!

Today is a very special day. It’s my mom’s birthday! Happy birthday, Mother Dear! We love you so much and hope you had a peaceful, sweet beginning to your seventh decade. I hope it’s your happiest yet. You deserve so much beauty in your life. I love you.

Today the kids played together the entire day. They devolved from wearing matching swimsuits and playing outside with modeling clay to running around stark naked with sticks twice their size. They claimed to be killing snakes and monsters. I couldn’t decide if I was witnessing Lord of the Flies or childhood at its most idyllic, but either way the kids were perfectly happy–and that made me happy. I took some funny pictures but only sent them to Abe. Even though I think this blog is safe and pretty private, you never know.

We had Chelsea, Derek, Camden, Carter and Olivia over for dinner and hung out for three hours. The kids played in the kiddie pool and with clay some more. It was a great ending to the day.

Afterward, I got this weird burst of energy and tidied every room in the house while Abe did piles of dishes. I loveloveLOVE going to bed knowing my house is in order.

Pictures.

While I napped this morning, the girls made "food art." I was a little scared to see what had transpired while I was asleep, but the mess-to-happiness ratio turned out to be pretty great (heavy on the happiness side).
While I napped this morning, the girls made “food art.” I was a little scared to see what had transpired while I was asleep, but the mess-to-happiness ratio turned out to be pretty great (heavy on the happiness side).

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The girls literally spent almost the entire day outside today. That made me happy. Here they are playing with clay. Lydia did this for two hours straight, and then when Olivia came over, she clocked in at least another hour.
The girls literally spent almost the entire day outside today. That made me happy. Here they are playing with clay. Lydia did this for two hours straight, and then when Olivia came over, she clocked in at least another hour.

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I made black velvet apricot and pistachio bars for dessert. Dinner, which I didn't photograph, consisted of fried drumsticks, stuffed red peppers, biscuits and watermelon.
I made black velvet apricot and pistachio bars for dessert. Dinner, which I didn’t photograph, consisted of fried drumsticks, stuffed red peppers, biscuits and watermelon.