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Happy Independence Day


4th of July- 2012

Our plans were foiled a bit by the Air Force (go figure), we initially thought we'd be able to spend today as a family, but instead, we're spending the day with grandparents! Still good! We'll actually see Eric next week for several days, and you can only imagine how wonderful that feels.

Because it's a holiday and we're not celebrating with Daddy and our military family today, I wanted to make sure my boys understood that we're celebrating something important: the importance of a good idea, hard work, struggle, and freedom. They may not understand today what it means to be free, and they're not aware of the struggles that are happening in Syria, Egypt and Libya for the chance at independence. But I make sure that whenever I see a picture of someone voting (like an Afghan woman with ink on her thumb, or people standing in line at a poling station in Iraq), or I have the opportunity to vote in an election, I include them by showing them the image, bringing them with me to the polling place, and talking to them about basic rights we have as Americans such as equality, independence and freedom and justice.

Down the road when they're old enough we'll discuss the Boston Tea Party, we'll watch 1776, we'll read the Declaration of Independence and we'll discuss the Revolutionary War, but for now, I can have fun with Red, White and Blue cupcakes, yogurt with strawberries and blueberries, flags and rest easy saying, "It's America's Birthday" (which isn't entirely true- it's more like a Birth Announcement) as I try to teach to my sons the importance of this day.

To help celebrate this year, we made crafts, took photos and plan on having a great grill cooked meal with our loved ones.

I hope you all have a safe, happy and wonderful holiday! Cheers!




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