the fourth

what a weekend. i was thinking that because the fourth was on sunday, it would be more low-key this year. not so. it just means you have to party twice. (although, our party on sunday was much less "party"-like).

and since most holidays seem to be about the food, i guess that's what we'll start with right?


(can you believe i haven't posted my sugar cookie recipe on my food blog yet? i will do that soon)

family recipe for these little babies found here. you might die of sheer shish kabob-joy. like john almost did.





our friends just moved to cohasset (look it up, you'll be impressed) and live in this old amazing place, with a yard to die for. like we literally die every time we have to leave. let me set the scene for you.



its on 3 acres so the kids get lost running around and playing on the swingset. so nice.
i asked everyone to do something stupid. looks like you won, tamsen.



even the babies loved the food. we had pineapple piper... (this just looks too familiar)



and watermelon khloe.



ben ate some zebra.



these two are best buddies. preschool, nursery, play dates, you name it. you can usually hear sophie screaming, "abby!" if they aren't connected at the hip. abby's 6 days older but it looks like someone else won the height contest.


(sorry your eyes look a little crazy here abs)



picture wars with bart. i'm guessing i have a picture of me that looks like this somewhere out there.



here are a couple pictures from him, thanks bart! gotta love our fuzz head.



like i said, sophie is no where to be found. we were trying to be an american flag. (also vaguely familiar)



happy babies. doesn't it all look so magical?



then it was time for a little ice cream making. the supplies...

can you believe janssen is due in 2 weeks!? doesn't she look amazing!?



piper was ready to make some.



looks like all landen needs to be happy is a bag of ice. oh, and maybe that bbq back there...



then you shake.



and shake.



and shake some more.



and you'd think i'd have a picture of the final project, but that's just how good they were. gone in a flash. some of us even left residue on our faces for our wives to clean up after.



then the squatters came and ruined everything.





good thing they were cute.



and good thing we were so patriotic! this is about as good as it gets with the little grumpsters after church.



and this is how i look most days. ok maybe not with hair curled and in heels (good thing we got picture proof of that! and my new dress from the outlets! score!) but definitely with a baby on one hip and a hand holding in the other. love my girls.



we had another bbq today, and even caught some fireworks on the way home. soph was freaked out from the "booms." so after hiding her face in my neck, almost in tears, we finished watching from inside the car. she decided, "i'm happy now. good mommy, good daddy."

i think i'm happy now too.