That's a first!

Thursday was a lovely day!  Sorry I didn't get to write anything Thursday night.  We got home late from the fireworks. 

Speaking of fireworks, that was a great time!  We met our friends there and also gathered with friends from our church.  We sat around the park and chatted for several hours before the show started.  We also watched the kids play.  JJ was running around with his friends, Zach was teaching some younger kids how to throw a Frisbee, and Elijah was running the bases and bouncing a super ball with some little kids.  The weather was gorgeous!  There was a cool breeze.  It was perfect!

Last night marked my first time EVER in a port-a-potty.  No, I'm not a snob.  I could just never make myself do it.  They always smell so bad.  But I really had to go, and so did my friend, and the lines for the restroom at the concession stand were about 10 miles long.  So I did it.  It wasn't THAT bad.  It was dark and, of course, there's no light in there so I couldn't SEE how nasty it was.  I held my breath, did my thing, and left.  Thankfully there was hand sanitizer on the wall, so that was good.

Another first happened last night as well.  (Some of you will understand this more than others.)  ELIJAH WILLINGLY WATCHED THE FIREWORKS SHOW AND DID SO WITHOUT ME COVERING HIS EARS!!!!!!!
For those of you who may not know, Elijah, my dear 8 year old son, has SPD or sensory processing disorder.  In a nutshell, his brain doesn't correctly process sensations such as touch, sound, anger, etc.  When he gets hit with something, it hurts 100 times worse for him that the average child.  He can't stand rain falling on his skin.  When he gets frustrated his brain goes into overload and he can't process his thoughts and work through it.  He also can do loud sounds.  Needless to say, we have stayed away from fireworks shows for that very reason.  Whenever one would go off at a baseball game after a homerun, he would quickly bury himself in my chest and begin to cry.  Well, we recently went to the Gwinnett Braves home opener, knowing there would be fireworks.  We explained it to him and he sat on my lap while I covered his ears.  He did great!  He actually found that he enjoys the shapes and the colors.  Then we went to the Laser Show and did the same thing.  Fireworks suddenly aren't so bad.  So he agreed to go last night.  We started off with him in my lap and my hands covering his ears.  About halfway through the show, he decided to try without and pulled my hands away from his ears.  Before I knew it, he was up running and jumping around, acting like a wrestler entering the ring at WrestleMania...all while the fireworks were going on.  He ran out and found his big brother, sat in another chair by himself.   I was amazed.  As silly as it may sound, I cried.  Tears of joy, of course.  I always figured he would outgrow or learn to cope with most things as he got older, but it's still a wonderful sight to see.  I'm so proud of him!

Today I had lunch with a dear friend that I don't see often enough.  We were trying to have lunch once a month but then I got a job and she got a job and it just wasn't possible.  Thankfully we were able to today.  She's one of those friends that you can just sit down and pick up right where you left off.  I'm so glad she's here!  She was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago and has spent her time fighting it.  She did!  Being with her was just like old times!  We both vowed to try and do it more often, even if it meant she had to take a lunch or do it on the weekend.

So, now, here we sit at home on July 4th, thankful to be free!  After last night and the busy weekend ahead we decided not to do anything major tonight.  Steven grilled some yummy steaks, we played Guitar Hero and are now watching the Braves/ Smackdown (depending on where you are in the house) and just chillin' out, the way a holiday should be. 

Everyone is looking forward to tomorrow.  But I will tell you about that TOMORROW!

Happy 4th!