The 4th

 for the 4th of july, typically i host a "freedom celebration" for my side of the family {i say typically because last year i didn't hold it because i was living with my parents...so it wouldn't have really been me hosting haha}.  this year it was very exciting to be hosting it at my new home!  

it is good to have a mother who looks on pinterest...she told me she had seen mason jars tied with red, white & blue ribbon, and votives placed in the bottom of them...i had some fabric left over from some outfits i made for the girls last year, so this project was a completely free centerpiece for my table and lighting for my back porch!  score!

i lined these jars up on my back porch, and it looked really nice once it got dark and they were lit!

we had a lot of great food and desserts...i probably gained five pounds just from 5:30-9:00 on thursday night!

i love getting out my 4th decor...i don't have a whole lot, but i love seeing the patriotic colors in my home! 

we had some family friendly competition outside {and it was fun watching katie beat drew!}...

and the kids played in the slipnslide....

katie said it best...she said, "this is a typical Reed get-together...the girls are yelling and crying {they had a little mini-drama when soap suds from the slipnslide got in everyone's hair and eyes}; dad's playing his guitar outside with all the chaos and craziness; and jeremy's driving all the kids around on a bobcat!"  gotta love the Reed family get togethers :)

hope you had a great 4th of july!