Celebrating our Independence

I know that I have mentioned it before, but I love a three day weekend!  It's so nice to have that extra day to relax and recover before heading back to the grind of the work week.  Jim worked on Saturday and Monday, and I have to say that I really didn't mind.  I know that you might think that sounds terrible, but hear me out.  He gets in my way.  Really.  No all the time, but you know, just when I want or need to get something done. 

Now don't get all uppity on me, saying things like 'I love having my husband/boyfriend/S/O/whatever, home with me'.  Yea, right.  We all do.  Sometimes.  But not all the time. Getting underfoot.  Making a mess when I'm trying to clean up.  Dirtying dishes after I've just finished cleaning the kitchen and not bothering to put said dishes in the dishwasher.  Yes.  I have one of those husbands.  I will admit that he is wonderful in many ways.  In keeping the house neat and picking up after himself ways, not so much.  As a matter of fact-not at all!  He's a slob.  He thinks that his shoes belong on the kitchen floor and that if I trip over them all the time then you would think that I or anyone else in the house who may trip over them would know by now that they are there.  Because he never puts them away!  Get my point?

So, Saturday he worked and I got things done without him.  I made cookies.  So, I didn't get the house cleaned like I had intended, but I made cookies.  Well, I did do some wash and ironing, made the bed, and vacuumed and general cleaning before Michelle, Bella and I ran a few errands before I began baking.  I also made my cookie dough and got it in the fridge to chill.  Then when we got home and got everything put away, I rolled out my dough and cut out my cookies.  Stars for the 4th. I thought that they would be easy to decorate and easy to work with.  I was wrong.  I am not so artistic and need a guide or something to follow.  Because once I started to decorate the cookies, I just lost all train of thought and forgot the ideas that I had had in my head previous to my baking session.  Where did they go?  Who knows but they were gone for good!  So, I mostly marbled them which I had never done before but was fairly easy and came out pretty good.  Looks way harder than it really is!  Didn't take any pictures though.

Then on Sunday we had some guests over for dinner.  Shawn, Aiden, Della, and Rex came over for chicken and ribs and fixens.  We made it fairly simple and bought the ribs and chicken at Giant Eagle and Michelle and I fixed everything else.  It was casual and very nice.  Way too hot to do too much cooking inside or out! 
Before we ate, Bella had been itching to show Aiden and experiment that she had seen at a show at the park with Jim.  She and  Jim had gotten the required ingredients, so we all went outside to watch as the kids did the experiment.  The ingredients:  Diet Coke and Mentos.  The results;

Add 2 Mentos to 2 Liters of Diet Coke

Step Back

Watch Coke Fountain

Jump for Joy!

Bella was thrilled with the results and Aiden wanted to do it again and again.  Jim thought it was a great waste of $2.00.  (Luckily the Dt. Coke was on sale for .68!)

Anyway, we had a great evening with good food and nice company. Della and Rex are Shawns parents and are so nice and we really enjoyed the chance to get to know them a little better and hope to have the opportunity to spend more time with them in the future. 

Monday Michelle and Shawn were off to the Park with the kids, Jim was at work and I was at home alone.  I cleaned the mud room, ironed, cleaned up from the night before, read a book, took a nap and generally enjoyed the day.  Jim and I had leftovers for dinner and watched a Capitol Fourth on TV and cought the fireworks there, which was a good t hing because by the time 9:00 rolled around it was pouring! 

So, it was a quiet 4th at our house.  I was in bed by 9:30!  

 I'll tell you, it's tough getting old. ha!