Red, White, but Certainly NOT Blue!

Billowing flags, cold watermelon, oohs and aahs over the rockets red glare, grilled hot dogs. What a way to celebrate the anniversary of our great nation achieving its freedom! This July 4th, our family will gather at the beautiful Texas coast and enjoy the long (albeit HOT) weekend with great food, fun, and fellowship. Ever present in our minds is the sacrifice made by the brave men and women who have fought to maintain what our founding fathers envisioned so many years ago. We will praise our Creator for the unalienable Rights that We the People enjoy without even realizing the price many paid for it. If you have never read the Declaration of Independence or The Constitution of the United States, I encourage you to click on the links in the previous sentence. It will definitely make you realize that today our nation is heading down a path opposite what the founding fathers intended.

Before I launch into a political tirade (which I have been careful to avoid on my blog because I tend to get a little worked up which leads to my inability to adequately express a logical thought, unlike my good friend Kunta), let me tell you what we will NOT be celebrating this holiday weekend: the color blue.

That's right, you heard me correctly. Our fourth of July will be all about Old Glory, minus the blue. Betsy Ross is probably turning over in her grave!

A while back, my son Wesley developed a case of cyanophobia while away for a weekend with his grandparents. For whatever reason, he is afraid of the color blue. We're talking, major meltdown, panic-stricken screams, etc. To top it off, its a highly selective fear, sometimes striking without any warning and other times failing to appear despite bracing ourselves for a seemingly likely occurrence. For instance, he had no problem picking blueberries and blackberries using a blue bucket.

But, he is petrified of his blue sheets on his bed and would refuse to sleep under the covers.

Strange, I know.

So what's a mom to do (I say mom because WGH actually has to work for a living, leaving me to "do")? Do we force him to face and conquer his fear? Do we cave in and remove any hint of blue from our lives? Well, I guess we sort of met in the middle. Since sleeping is kind of a big deal (well, at least to me it is), we decided to cater to Wesley's fear by revamping his bedroom. The main problem was my lack of desire (or funds) to repaint his burnt orange room--and no, I am not declaring my undying support of UT! We just liked the color! So we transformed the Cars-themed (well, sorta) room into a homage (sorta) to our military, in which we have several family members both past and present. Here's the big reveal:

Full size set of olive green sheets: $20

Spray paint to revamp picture frames and other accessories: $4

Bandannas for bed skirt, throw pillow, and window topper: $15

Flat sheets to make reversible curtains: $20

Scrapbook paper for initials and photo mats: $5

Son's ability to sleep comfortably under his covers: PRICELESS

Wes loves his new room! Most of the items now in there are just retreads from the previous room. Thank you Jenny for the spray paint inspiration! I have a few photos of family in the military that I am working on printing and framing. And in case you couldn't tell, the photo of the photo is my dad jumping out of a perfectly good airplane while in jump school when he was in the Army National Guard where he served as a jump sergeant. The blank spot under his initials is still a work in progress. Perhaps the local recruiting office will have some posters...

Here is a great craft idea for the 4th. My kids loved it! Please be aware that my son was not scarred in any way by this craft! He simply refused to touch any blue paint!

Amidst all the grilling, swimming, laughing, and lounging, don't forget to thank a Veteran for their service to our country. Be sure to send a few prayers heavenward for our troops at home and abroad. Without them, there would be no Independence Day.