Dear Lord, when did everyone and their brother get access to illegal fireworks???? It seems everyone in our neighborhood (but us) must have signed that affidavit swearing that even though they are buying illegal fireworks, they will only set them off in designated areas! Of course, no one knows where those areas are, or if they even really exist, but from the sound of it, most people consider it not just in our neighborhood, but on our street.

Unfortunately, for a one year old, that can be terrifying. After a couple of hours rocking with his mom, Ben was finally able to go to sleep. We do not expect him however, to last long. He will most likely finish the night off kicking the tar out of me in a room with tons of background noise to hide the explosions! Poor little guy. (it is 10:30 pm here right now and still going strong!)

We did however, want him to celebrate the fourth of July. Steph and Scott set off about 20 very legal fountains for him, which Steph labeled “lame.” But they were both good sports, and Scott even did a sparkler-laden rendition of Swan Lake in the backyard which Ben watched quite reluctantly from the porch. Steph refuses to be that much of a moron for her baby brother, or anyone, but Scott will do it all. In the end Ben enjoyed the show, and Amanda and I are mostly thankful that he will never have to remember such poor interpretive dancing. The therapy he’d need alone might cost millions.

For now however we will just pray that he can stay asleep, or if not asleep, that the militia will run out of their ammo! We all LOVE the 4th, don’t get me wrong, but Ben’s just a little guy, and he’s scared…..but more than that, he’s ours! With all our hearts, we just hope he can stay asleep through the rest of it!

So stay tuned, and please point your bottle rockets away from our house!!

God bless, and God bless this great country of ours as well!! Nite….or at least we hope!

Tom+