Are Boys Ever Quiet?

I don't think so. Mine don't seem to be. Well, that's not entirely true. Justin never made much noise when he was little. Even when he cried as a baby, there wasn't much volume to it. And he hardly ever had to be told to use his inside voice in preschool because he always did. Then Jason was born. Jason came into this world at full volume and he will exit this world at full volume. Soon after, Justin discovered, in self-defense, he had a voice and the volume has not decreased since. It was kind of like when Dill came home from the hospital and Tommy discovered what being a big brother was on Rugrats. I miss seeing that show every day. I like it - it's fun, funny, and really true to life in a quirky kind of way. But my boys will no longer admit they like the Rugrats. But just watch them when they don't think anyone's looking. They lap it up.

So it's been very loud around here. The 4th of July just made it worse. But I love my dear mother-in-law. She gave me a little peace in the midst of the storm. She made breakfast for the whole family yesterday. Yum - eggs, bacon, sausage, sausage gravy, homemade biscuits. All I had to do was sit down and enjoy it. John's brother, sister-in-law and their grown kids were there. It was so fun. We usually do this once a month, but it was extra fun because it was mid-week and out of the ordinary. After that, we just sort of hung around at home, took naps - or tried to. Mine disappeared when my parents called, but that's okay. And we did fireworks for the third time in as many days. Cool. It reminded me of when I was little in Orange County, California. We lived about a mile from Disneyland and there were fireworks every night of the week in the summer and almost an hours' worth on Independence Day. It was magical then - it's magical now. That's a part of my childhood I never outgrew. Pyrotechnics still fascinate and thrill me.

I got to do a little genealogy last night, but I didn't get to do any scrapping. Good thing I got a double dose the day before. This is one of those layouts that will be welcomed with joy long after I'm gone. A pure genealogy layout about a VERY distant cousin by marriage. Walter deserves to be chronicled and remembered. He made the ultimate sacrifice that others might be free of tyranny.

Brenda Kempf has allowed me the great privilege of being on her creative team and made the design templates for this layout. They are from her Template Time 1 Series available from Scrapbook Bytes. And two wonderful ladies, Anita of Anita Designs at Nana's Attic and Jannidee of JanniScrap Designs created the incredible Old Glory kit I used. It's available on their blogs for free, so go visit them. You'll have a great time and they have loads of freebies that are still up. I love to go see what they've been doing.

Brenda is also the owner of Addicted to Digital . She has some great freebies up there and previews of all my favorites kits - which is most of her kits - they are SOOO gorgeous!

Brenda hosts an AWESOME monthly members' sketch challenge at Scrapbook Bytes. You have to be a member to join this 4 part monthly challenge, but the cost is small and it is soooo worth it.

Hmmmm, there's no noise coming from the other room and we're having a little sleepover tonight. This cannot be a good thing. Keep your fingers crossed they've only finally gone to sleep and the house isn't burning!

Have a great tomorrow!