God Bless the USA

If tomorrow all the things were gone,

I'd worked for all my life.

And I had to start again,

with just my children and my wife.

I'd thank my Heavenly Father,

to be livin' here today.

‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom,

and they can't take that away.

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,

next to you and defend her still today.

‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,

God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,

to the hills of Tennessee.

Across the plains of Texas,

From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,

and New York to L.A.

Well there's pride in every American heart,

and its time we stand and say.

That I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free.

And I won't forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,

next to you and defend her still today.

‘Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land,

God bless the USA.

Planter Boxes

Home Depot offers a Kids Workshop on the 1st Saturday of each month.  The kids are old enough to participate in things like this, so we decided to give it a try.  It was so much fun!!!  The project for today was a planter box.  We got to put it together, paint it, and then put a plant in it. 

Peter was pretty content to let Andrew put the box together.  He supervised while Andrew glued and hammered away.

Danielle, on the other hand, decided to try out the hammer for the first time.  I showed her how to use it on one side.  Then she completed the other side of the box with pretty much no help!!  I placed the nails, and she hammered away.  She was so proud of herself!!

 Peter watched her at the end and decided that he would give the hammer a try next time.

Peter's favorite part was definitely the painting.  He spent a lot of time working on getting just the right colors on his planter box.  He is very artistic, and we are seeing him grow so much in this area. 

Both Andrew and I grew up with grandfathers who loved to build things with wood.  Andrew's mom has shown me different pieces of furniture in her house that were built by her dad.  I have many fond memories of visiting my grandpa in his "woodshop" - an addition that was built onto his garage - and asking for pieces of wood and nails to build with.  I love that my kids enjoy things like this!

Each kid left Home Depot with a painted planter box complete with plant (okra for Peter and tomato for Danielle), an apron, a certificate, and a pin.  They had a blast!  This was definitely something we'll do again.