If Your Dad is On Fire....Spray Him With the Hose

And that pretty much sums up our 4th of July this year.

But seriously, this holiday is a pretty big deal for us and we really enjoy letting loose and having a good time. We always host a BBQ and each year our crowd changes.  Family, friends, neighbors, lots of kids, no kids- everyone is welcome.

This year we kept it pretty small and about as "tame" as we get.  Probably something about the holiday falling on a Monday this year and everyone having to get up and work the next day....but either way, it wasn't as big as years past.  However, something truly awesome came from this low key night of blowing shit up-

The Homeschooled Housewife's Rules for Fireworks Safety 101


#1- If your dad is on fire, spray him with this hose.

Seems like good advice, no?

Safety is key to a enjoying any holiday involving explosives and fire.  This means we always have a bucket of water nearby for fireworks that might not extenquish completely as well as the hose laying in the lawn on "standby".  The kiddo was playing around with the hose and wasting water so I said to him that he could only use the hose if his Dad was on fire.

Words to live by y'all.


#2- Don't put the fire stick in your face.

By "fire stick" I mean the punk that you keep lit to aid you in lighting all those fireworks.  For some reason, the husband and kiddo rotate between using the punk and using those long lighters.  As the night wears on, I find that they aren't as "careful" with the punk, so a reminder on what NOT to do with it was clearly in order.


#3- Move your body.

So yeah.  When you light the firework, you need to then MOVE YOUR BODY out of the way.  Like, can we please NOT stand right next to it.  Thank you very much.


#4- Cover your drink.

This one is really for the grown ups out there.  When you are lighting off the BIG stuff and it goes way up high, it will inevitably come on down again.  What goes up, must come down mmkay....so make sure you keep your drink free from falling debris and simply put your hand over it.

Drinking firework shrapnel is never a good idea.


#5- Don't light fireworks in your hand.

You would think this would be a no brainer, I mean...really.  But sadly, some folks just don't know that you should NOT light the fireworks in your bare hand and then toss them.  You should also not hold onto lit fireworks.

This is how people loose their bits and pieces.


#6- Don't be stupid.

And my final piece of advice works for all things.  But most importantly, when you have children, a large group of people, alcohol and fireworks- you should take extra precaution.  Be careful y'all and don't be stupid.



***While this post came from a funny saying during our 4th of July holiday- the advice is sound.  Please know that we are extremely vigilant and safety minded.  We want to have a fun holiday and have everyone go to bed exhausted, happy and in one piece.  Fireworks ain't no joke y'all.  So if you don't know what you're doing- then just say no.

And remember- If your Dad is on fire, spray him with the hose!

A Look Back at Summer

 Hard to believe it's Fall already.  Weren't we just baking a cake for America's birthday?  But here it is, school is officially back in session for the local kids, the weather is getting colder, soccer season has begun, yep- summer's over!

So I thought a recap of what we did this summer would be a fun way to welcome in Fall.

This summer I got a job.  As in a real job- a jobby job.  BTW- that's my term for anything that actually pays me money to work.  So this June, I started said Jobby Job and it definetly impacted our summer since I had to be home Monday thru Friday during normal business hours.

But I didn't let that stop me!  I was able to take a few mornings and afternoons off and so we managed to still do some fun things during the week.

We followed this great summer schedule from Pinterest.  This truly helped me stay organized and motivated.  I highly recommend adopting something as simple as this for some summertime fun!

We went to several of the $1 Summer Movies offered through Regal Cinemas, we found a new arcade game place near our house and visited a few times, we went to the Farmer's Market, the outdoor water splash area, the local bouncy house facility, participated in the free summer library programs, released our pet bass, visited the indoor trampoline place.  We went to birthday parties, participated in the FREE Lowes Build and Grow Kids Clinics rang in America's birthday in style, took William to his very 1st baseball game at a ballpark, made crafts and built a robot.  Oh yeah- and we homeschooled!

We went to the FREE summer library programs

Arts & Crafts!

William built a robot with Daddy

William's very 1st trip to the ballpark

$1 Summer Movies

We released our pet bass

Water Fun!

Bouncy Fun!

Free play, knights w/swords

Fireworks!

Next week we will celebrate the 1st official week back to school for William with a weekend trip to visit Mt. St. Helens.  William has become obsessed this summer with volcanos and this will be our final summer hurrah.

I'd say we've had a pretty successful summer!  How about you?