We didn’t have big plans for July 4th. No huge feast planned, no trek to see fireworks in view. We were going to go to church and then afterwards, have a barbecue lunch in our backyard with our dearest of New York friends, “Auntie” Elizabeth. And of course, I was going to get pictures of the kids decked out in red, white and blue.

Then, the cold we had been fighting all week decided to escalate. I was up most of Saturday night hacking, unable to sleep soundly, waking myself up with deep coughs. Micah and Ellie both wore faces smeared with mucous they had been trying unsuccessfully to clear from their noses. Their coughs were sounding pretty bad Sunday morning as well. They both seemed more fussy than normal. So, we decided it was going to have to be a day at home where we wouldn’t expose anyone else to our germs, especially all the young kids in the children’s ministry at our church.

We took advantage of Netflix. The kids watched the usual “Wiggles” and “Barney,” Ellie’s current favorite. Micah watched “Caillou,” a show he has become enamored with. I do not like Caillou’s voice but in my opinion, the show is very cute. Unlike many children’s shows today, Caillou shows respect to his parents and, in general, seeks to obey them. How unusual.

And towards the end of the afternoon, when I was sick of hanging out in my around-the-house duds, we got dressed into some July 4th appropriate attire and took a few pictures. In a few years, perhaps we’ll look back at these pictures and forget we spent this particular holiday stuck inside!