24th of July!

This year, for the 24th, I had my parents and some of our good friends over for breakfast. Josh was out of town (he would have been working anyway) so it was great to have some company. I made Alton Brown's french toast, which is the best recipe EVER! (I'll post the recipe below.) The kids had a great time playing, it was so nice to have some adults to talk to!

After breakfast, my dad started painting Ellie's room. She picked out the paint color, Ashley Pink, and was so excited to watch grandpa paint! We also got her a new bed from Ikea which we have started to put together. I will show "Before and After" pictures once it is finished. It is quite the project!

That night, we went to our annual neighborhood party. It is such a blast. The whole neighborhood is invited, everyone brings food to share and a few fireworks. This year, we had a train for the kids to ride around the neighborhood on. The kids thought it was the funnest thing on earth. We had a hard time getting them off! After dinner, we all gathered around to watch the fireworks! It was a great show! The best part was watching the kid's reactions. They would scream, laugh, and plug their ears. Fun was had by all! Thankfully, Josh's plane got in just in time for him to enjoy the party with us.

Here we are watching the fireworks.

Don't you love how Parker is laughing at everyone for plugging their ears?

The night ended kind of strangely. During the party, my ring finger started feeling kind of swollen. By the time we got home, I couldn't get my ring off. I tried everything-soap and water, butter, wrapping tape around my finger, windex-nothing worked. I tried to go to sleep, thinking that in the morning, I would just go to a jeweler and have my ring cut off. By 1 a.m., the swelling was so bad I decided it wouldn't be safe to wait until the morning. So, off I went to the Emergency Room. Unfortunately, they had to cut off my ring. :( Today, the swelling has gone down and I have no idea what happened! I'm really glad I went, though. The doctor told me that if I had waited, I would have been in a lot of trouble. Needless to say, it was a very interesting way to end my 24th of July!

Alton Brown's French Toast

1 cup half and half

3 eggs

2 T honey (warmed in microwave for 20 seconds)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4-1/2 tsp. cinnamon

bread of your choice (cut into slices and let sit out overnight)

Mix ingredients and let stand in fridge overnight. Dip the bread in the egg mixture for 30 seconds on each side. Place on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet to let excess egg drain off. Melt some butter in a skillet (about 1 T per 4 pieces) and cook french toast until browned on each side.

Place on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet and bake in a 375 degree oven for 5 minutes.