Fire Flies

The boys had a very fun evening tonight, as I am sure they will tomorrow! Shannon's brother Johnny, his wife Gina and their youngest son Zachary came over tonight for a BBQ precursor to 4th of July. The boys were super excited to have company and helped me clean up our living area upstairs. I knew the company wouldn't come upstairs but the boys didn't and it needed tidying up so I set the kids to it and they did a wonderful job. Tim unfortunately had to go to work tonight but he does have tomorrow night off!
So Johnny and Gina and Zachary show up and were just sitting around chatting. Tim is upstairs with the boys getting ready for work and keeping the kids out of the way while Shannon is working the BBQ. The back patio is a bit small and when the kids get excited they run around the patio in circles. With the grill going it's a recipe for disaster. Tim left at 7 and I put in a movie upstairs for Deven and a movie downstairs for Dylan. They could not compromise on a movie. After listening to them argue about it for a few minutes I was ready to pull the plug on the whole movie thing when Dylan asked if he could watch his downstairs. Smart boy, he wanted to be where he could watch the adults even if he couldn't join in!!!
About 8 dinner was almost ready and the boys were splitting at the seams with excitement so I had to let them loose. Johnny has a pickup truck and the boys played in the bed of it for almost an hour. He had a tool box across the back and had an ice chest back there so the boys got to eat dinner using the toolbox as a table and the ice chest as a chair. They were in 7th heaven. I kept trying to put the kids to bed but everyone else kept telling me to let them have fun, and since it was a party of sorts I figured why not? I will probably regret it tomorrow night when they are tired and cranky before the fire works start but watching them tonight.... it was worth it.
I knew the kids needed to calm down a bit and the fire flies were starting to really get going so I called the kids and told them to catch the fire flies in the back yard. They were both so excited and Dylan's first try was not so great. He slapped his hands together when a fire fly flew near him. He didn't scream in horror so I know he didn't get it. If he had the mess it would have left would have freaked him out! Johnny and Shannon went out there and showed the boys how to get the Fire flies to land in their hands. It took some cajoling but both boys finally got up the courage to hold them. Dylan was telling Johnny all about the fireworks we are going to see tomorrow, Dylan got to go to the same place for the 4th of July the year I brought him out here. He wanted to make sure Johnny was going to be there. Johnny decided to start the party a little early for the boys and grabbed a couple of Roman candles to set off in the back yard.
Here in Indiana you can actually set off fireworks without worrying about them setting your trees or lawns on fire. As he set them roman candles off I was dumbfounded to watch them sparks smack into the leaves of the trees and no one was worried! lol. Things are very different here! After he had set of a couple of fireworks I ran upstairs to get the boys pajamas out and get their beds set up. I was determined to get them to bed, it was 20 minutes to 10! When I got back downstairs and out on the patio I looked around and the boys were no where to be seen and neither was my dad. Johnny informed me that Dylan had told them that papa Joey would save them from having to go to bed so Dad took the boys to the front yard to catch more fire flies! They came back around about 10 and I herded them upstairs. It was not an easy task, Dylan was crushed but 5 minutes after laying down he was out. It took Deven another 20 minutes to fall asleep. There was a lot of him calling "mommy?' and when I answered what i got and I love you! I know it was him making sure I hadn't gone back downstairs but it sure was sweet. I will take an I love you over a I need a drink of water or I have to go pee again any day!
Sitting on the patio watching the boys run after the fire flies, ride their bikes, play with Isaiah and his friends, and interact with the people here, I feel safe and secure and feel that we have done the right thing. They love watching the garden grow and have been pulled in by all of Shannon's family. Even Isaiah and his friends include the kids. They play kickball with both boys and tag and will sit down to look at a book about fire trucks with Deven or draw with him. One of the boys even played cops and robbers with Deven today when Deven was tired of Kickball. Deven was the cop on his tricycle and the kid was on his scooter and he went slow and let Deven catch him.
The real revelation came though when I was watching the boys in the backyard learning how to catch fire flies and overcoming their fear of them. It made me feel good to see them relaxing and enjoying themselves and the pride and joy on their faces made me glad we are here!