Well, it’s official. We are a three-driver family. Burrito took the test for his driver’s permit today and passed with flying colors. Not that he will be doing any solo flights anytime soon!
I love the 4th of July! I love everything it represents about our country and I thoroughly enjoy celebrating the holiday. Our family’s U.S. flag proudly flies on the front of our house and the overhang of our front porch is decked out with red, white and blue buntings. I am worse than the kiddos when it comes to anticipating the fireworks at the end of the evening. Throw in a well-sung rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” and I instantly become misty-eyed.O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming.
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
One day while we were in Ohio, my Dad splurged on the kids and took them to a place called Swings-N-Things. By the way, there are no swings at this place. I don't know - maybe they are hoping to get some swings one day?
They cooled off riding the bumper boats. These are very much like bumper cars; only they are motorized inner tube-type boats with water jets that the rider can use to spray other riders. Or, moms with cameras who stand too close to the fence.
The main reason we went to Swings-N-Things was to allow them to spend the better part of the day driving in circles on go-karts.
Burrito was a courteous driver. He followed the rule of “no bumping.” (That’s my first born, by-the-books kid for ya!) Kat had the whistle blown at her several times and even bumped another driver hard enough to cause him to spin out - just like the cops do when they're trying to end a high-speed chase. Her excuse? “He cut me off so I had to hit him!” What? No brakes?
This was a foreshadowing of things to come. Burrito’s birthday this past Sunday marked an important milestone in his young life: the beginning of driver’s training. We are doing the parent-taught driver’s education allowed here in Texas. I’m the instructor. (You may stop laughing now.)
Texas drivers, fair warning, ya'll!
"For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. " (Jeremiah 29:11-13 NLT)
Because we saw this.
And this.
Delays. Cancellations. Lots of angry passengers. Really cranky airline employees. No more flights to Texas tonight.
Hi, Bud! Sorry for hi-jacking your blog. I'm sure your regular readers will not enjoy my writing style (short and not so sweet) as much as yours, but I wanted to take a minute to say how much I miss you and the kiddos. I'm glad you've had a great time, and I wish I could have joined you - maybe next time. Anyway, I can now relate to what Kat wrote in your card when she was a little one and you had your surgery several years ago: "What are we going to eat mommy? Daddy can't cook and we are going to "starf".
