4th of July

Last years fourth of July was a tad rocky and I thought that this year would be completely different, but it turned out to be the same story. Let me explain.......

Sam is sensitive. Let me rephrase that (Kevin hates it when I say that) Sam gets scared and sad very easily......obviously he got those traits from Kevin......Ok ok yes, he obviously got them from me. It's all my fault! When he was a baby he would start to cry if I laughed too loud and if you have ever heard my "real" laugh then you can imagine how often he cried :) He has gotten a lot better, but last year was a nightmare as far as fireworks go. We thought that he would LOVE them this year but we didn't even get the chance to find out. We went to the parade on Evergreen that morning and the first thing to come down the street was the police men on their motorcycles going "WEEEOOOOHHHHWEEEEEOOOOHWWWEEEEEOOOOHHHH" all the way down. Needless to say, Sam was terrified. He didn't enjoy much after that and was pretty paranoid the whole rest of the day. Any noise would set him off. When the big jets started flying that night we knew we better get him home and asleep in bed before all the big fireworks went off. Luckily we made it and he actually slept through the night.

I'm starting to realize that Sam is learning a lot from example and I may not be the best example all of the time. That same night while we were eating dinner a bee kept following me and I was freaking out trying to get it away from me (stupid bee!!!) but it wouldn't leave me alone! Yes I admit that I am scared of bees. Now every time we are outside and Sam see's a bee he flips out and totally loses it. From the way I've reacted, in his mind he probably thinks a bee will kill him! I promised myself before Sam was born that I wouldn't let my kids have the same irrational fears like I did growing up and I must say that I'm not doing a very good job. If one day Sam starts crying in the bath tub because he is scared that a crocodile is going to come through the drain then I will definitely know that I have failed him.

Here are the few pics I took on the fourth :)

                             There's Rowan, Ash, and Cedar with Marsh and Papa Steve

                                                           Sam with Grandpa Tom

                                                               Yay for the parade!

 At one point Kevin was sitting all alone enjoying the parade by himself......totally made me laugh!

                                                             Sam and momma!

 All the cool kids standing in the shade....... I love this pic because it describes everyone's personalities so well.....Wendy and Nancy so casual and cool enjoying life, my dad grooming a tree, Johnny arguing with somebody about something, and little Steve stroking his dark locks making sure he looks good ;)