4th of July, already?

So, to put off having to start dinner when the house is empty and relatively quiet (the new baby is a sleep grunter), I have decided to blog. The girls are outside with Brian doing fireworks, mostly those little poppers you throw down and only about one-third of them actually pop. I think they are trying to gear up for July 4th, which we is more celebrated than Christmas at our house. Due to the burn ban, I am dropping hints of the possibility of no fireworks this year and I think said hints are falling upon deaf ears. Every year we put on a HUGE fireworks display, compliments of Brian and his friends. All the families get together and buy entirely too many fireworks (hundreds of dollars) and give a show worth charging money for. I am sure that the neighbors appreciate our overspending. The kids are usually falling asleep by the end of the display and are usually jolted awake by the yelling and cheering for the "last big one." Or, they are jolted awake by the blast from the one that gets away and somehow finds it's way to the pile of fireworks awaiting their turn. Every. Year. People. Do we learn our lesson? No. Actually, by this point, if that DID NOT happen, everyone would wonder why not and collectively hold their breath for when it did!

The baby has continued to sleep very well and on a nice schedule. I am trying not to talk about it much, or he might get the idea that he could wake up every hour and demand food. I am actually feeling pretty darn good, due to the number of hours I get to sleep...in a row!! In fact, I would actually sleep more hours in a row if Gwen would quit waking up and getting annoyed at the fact that her nose is stopped up but she won't learn how to blow her nose! Alyssa was blowing her nose, on a tissue, BY age 2, with no help or prodding from me. Gwen, on the other hand, will sneeze and let it sit and dry on her face if no one does or says anything about it. I have tried all methods and she simply could care less if she has a crusty face. However, if this happens in the middle of the night, well, she just can't stand it and must yell "mom" until the neighbors are calling telling me to deal with my child. Is it the middle child? Is it the terrible twos? Is it her stubborn personality? Is it my fault? *Sigh* I am just hoping that her husband likes crusty faces, or, doesn't mind getting her a tissue, because I see no end to this battle.

We have resumed "school situations" (termed thus because I am hesitant to actually call it school work) and Alyssa was ready to get back to bid'ness. We have been reading the Magic Treehouse books that she chose at the library, about 10 so far, and she now wants to read them all. Actually she wants to OWN them all. I think we own 4. The pond tank is now filled with minnows, crawdads and a few swimmy things. Brian and the girls have been watching the giant crawdad catch minnows (better than TV!) and have been adding things to make the environment more "fun" for the creatures that manage to get away from him. It's amazing how long two girls will stand and look at a fishtank filled with pond life. Brian keeps telling me to get a microscope and I am hesitant to buy one yet. I would like to get a good one, but not one that is too complicated for Alyssa to use (and too delicate for Gwen to "look at"). I will be scouring the internet looking for one that will be user friendly.

Well, I have put dinner off long enough and I am sure that everyone will be entering the house soon and wonder why it doesn't smell of something yummy! The refrigerator would suffer the consequences of my lazy actions and cheese and crackers are not a dinner!!