Hi everybody--it is officially summertime and this weekend is the 4th of July. The perfect timing for another giveaway put together by Lisa of Planet Weidknecht and Bonnie of LeahSay’s Views. As always they have done a marvelous job and have my thanks!
I generally hide out in my apartment on July 4th weekend-I am not a fan of "bombs bursting in air" or on the roads!! Francis Scott Keye wrote what became our National Anthem in 1814. I think this is a good time to remember the words
The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics
By Francis Scott Key 1814
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
By Francis Scott Key 1814
Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
I actually copied and pasted the above from the USA flag site (I know the first stanza by heart--but the rest?) And if someone could please explain why tears start in my eyes every time I read, hear or sing this song-I would truly appreciate knowing. As an aside I would like to mention that peoples of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths actually worship the same God. It is in the prophets and their teachings that they differ!!
Now on to the giveaway--Miki's Hope will be giving away a $25.00 Amazon GC or PayPal to one lucky reader. But there are others participating in this hop as well (you can find a linky list below the giveaway form!
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Each of the participating bloggers will be hosting their own giveaway with a minimum value of $25.
Please visit the bloggers listed in the linky below and enter for a chance to win each of the prizes!
All opinions expressed are my own honest opinions. For more information please check my Disclosure Statement. Our giveaways are in no way sponsored or promoted by Facebook.
168 comments :
Great giveaway. Thank you!
4 of July is just another normal day here in Finland so work and gym for me. But it's a Friday anyway, so yay for it!
We'll be going to a big family bbq at my parents' house.
Thank you!
My six year old learned the Star Spangled Banner in his class this past year and it's so sweet to hear that song sung by a first grader.
I will be working the entire 4th of july weekend. The only other thing I'm doing is cooking.
Nothing special on the 4th but on the 5th my son and his fiancee are coming for a visit. First time for her to be here.
I actually don't have any plans yet. Someone in our family usually grills hotdogs and hamburgers so I guess we will go to that.
For the 4th of July, I will be going to my in laws for a bbq. Hopefully it's not too hot out that day so I can sit outside and just enjoy myself.
I will be relaxing at home on the 4th and we will likely cook some burgers and hot dogs on the grill.
The family and I will grill something out and then head into town to watch fireworks. I hope you have a great 4th.
On the actual 4th of July we are having a family cookout. We grill hamburgers and hotdogs and eat lots of desserts, too!
Over the 4th we will be having a small cookout and getting ready for a working vacation in Florida! May try a few new recipes for my Tupperware pieces so I will have things ready for drop in visits.
We will be going to the local fireworks display.
We will be picking up one of my son's from college to bring home for the weekend. Which means I will be cooking a lot of food over the fourth of July!
I will be seeing Dave Matthews Band in Chicago.
Well, I'm only off the 4th so I will likely grill up some goodies for my dad and I. And then watch fireworks from the porch. That's as exciting as it gets around here :)
What a lovely 4th of July tribute!
For 4th of July this year I plan on grilling chicken outside and participating in a fun run and a parade.
Will be spending the 4th at a friends lake cabin bbq' ing, paddle boating and watching fireworks.
We are planning on having a quiet day at home with the family and maybe watching some fireworks.
I'm going to the Berkshires to watch my boyfriend race his car and also to meet his mom. :)
This 4th of July, my trucker hubby is coming home for 4 days. We are getting a small pool and having a big family cookout for all the grandchildren.
It's definitely a beautiful song! Gives me chills every time I hear it! (July 4 is also my mom's birthday, so we'll be celebrating big time LOL)
We probably won't do much this year for the 4th. Maybe catch some fireworks.
We don't have any big plans for the 4th of July. We'll probably watch the fireworks from our deck.
adrianecoros(at)gmail(dot)com
I think we are going to have a family day and walk around with the kids
We're going to a bbq at our friends' house.
We will be having a family outdoor cookout and then watching the fireworks.
Hopefully relaxing with the family or going out somewhere nice with the dogs x
Over the fourth of July we will be having a cook out at my in-laws and we may go to my nephews too.
spend with my 5 weeks daughter Inshallah :)
We have the whole family over for BBQ and Crawfish Boil.
I took an extra day off of work so a lot of relaxing! But also seeing fireworks and cooking good food.
we will be helping the inlaws rebuild their deck and then having a great cookout!
We'll be having fun family time and awesome hamburgers!
We won't go to the parade. But we'll all be watching the fireworks (you can see t hem from our house).
I think we're having a bbq w/my in-laws. We were going to drive to my mom's in the next state over, but that's been put on delay for now. :)
We celebrate with family, have a picnic, fireworks, desserts, and so much fun!
We will be attending the staten island yankees basball game complete with fireworks. So much fun we were there last year it was great.
We are going to go to the lake and swim and have a cookout with friends for the Fourth of July weekend!
i will be enjoying the day with family and friends and having a BBQ
I won't be celebrating it since I am not american and don't live in the USA
The 4th is actually my husband's birthday, so we will do some kind of celebration, just not sure yet.
Awesome giveaway! Thanks! :)
We will watch the fireworks in town on the 4th. The rest of the weekend we will stay home and relax.
I will be in California for the fourth. We will be on our last day of vacation.
I'm going to my best friend's house to have a barbeque.
probably going to do fireworks in the yard with the kids
We will be traveling to visit family and enjoy a day long cookout ending in a firework show.
My hubby and kiddo are going to see his parents and I am going to see mine. Splitting it up this time.
We are just planning to stay home all day and visit a local fair in the evening for fireworks.
We will be watching our favorite baseball team on t.v. and get together with friends for a barbeque.
patoct
We will be going over to a friends house for his BBQ party. Hopefully watching some fireworks!
In the afternoon I'll be going to a Ice Cream social. That night I'll be sitting on my deck watching fire works from a park next door.
My mom and I will be at home watching a movie or two.
I will be watching the neighbors light their fireworks.
This July 4th, we have plans for a cookout by the river. Our son may be coming home that weekend too, so we plan to invite a few of his friends. We usually do a little tubing, then grill and end the day with a few fireworks :)
I will be watching fireworks in San Diego with my family
We most likely will just have a family weekend of food and movies and not much else, LOL.
I will go over to my sons house on the lake. The entire family will be there. We'll have a cook-out, then watch fireworks on the lake.I'm sure the boys and grandsons will shoot a few fireworks too.
Will be working on my Lighter Caribbean Recipes Cookbook
SimplyCaribbean
I hope to have a family picnic. Thankyou, ken pohl19@comcast.net
i hope to bring out the bbq and get some hot dogs and chicken kebabs on the grill! then see some fireworks at night :)
we are having a pool party and bbq cookout then going to the fireworks
I'll be volunteering for the Denver Botanic Gardens at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival.
Thanks for the contest.
slehan at juno dot com
I'll be hanging out with my honey and BBQ'ing and enjoying the sunshine!
We haven't set any real plans yet. We will watch fireworks and prob get burgers.
To us retired people, the 4th is just another day except for the significance, so maybe grill and find some fireworks.
Bonnie Hilligoss - bonnie at bonnieanddave dot com
I live in Canada, so we celebrate our holiday on July 1. We'll be having a family barbecue and then will go to the marina to watch the big fireworks!
I will be going to the park and watch some community shows. It will be fun.
We live in a very small town so the parade is kind of the highlight of the 4th. Our grandmother's house in on the parade route, it's perfect! She passed away in December, so this will be the last year we get to celebrate there before the house is sold. It will be a day to remember her as that was her favorite holiday, and a day to be with family.
Happy 4th of July to everyone. I miss 4th of July in my town... we call it Lumberjack Days.
I'm not sure what we will be doing during the day but I know we will be watching the fireworks that night! :-)
I will bake some pizza with my family !
I will be sitting at home in the air conditioning with my hubby and out 2 dogs watching TV
Over the 4th of July weekend we will be hanging around the house and cooking out on the grill. I got a 3 day weekend from work - so I'm going to enjoy it!
We'll be shooting off fireworks this year. Gracie is excited :)
We recently discovered that we haven't gone to see fireworks in over 2 years so we are definately planning on going thisyear. Nothing with alot of crowds so staying close to home.
I am planning to go golfing with my parents and brother.
We will be traveling most of the forth then watching fireworks once we arrive to our relatives home.
I will be having a BBQ and then going to see the fireworks.
Unless someone invited us to a party, we'll drive downtown and watch the fireworks.
Traveling to the Lake of the Ozarks for several days
We are having a BBQ on the 4th of July with great food and friends and pets.
heather hgtempaddy@hotmail.com
Taking a road trip from Texas to Tennessee!
I will be spending time with my husband and my son, We will cook something on the grill. Cheryl Abdelnour cjabdelnour@hotmail.com
I'll spend the day with my friends, we'll be having barbeque...
I won't be working for a change so anything I do ill have to be an improvemwnt!
We are having family over for a picnic during the day and then we are going to the neighborhood party at dusk to eat and watch fireworks
We'll be watching the parade and having a BBQ!
This year on the 4th we are going to our friends house on the river. We will be having a BBQ and doing fireworks in the evening.
It will be July 1st here for us but we will be watching the fireworks - we can see them from our back deck!!
abrennan09@hotmail.com
I will be going to watch the fireworks and attending a family bbq.
We will be out of town this year but I'm sure we will find something to do! We usually go to the big fireworks display in our town.
The fourth is a great time for family and friends. Going to a bbq!
We will be watching fireworks at a park with our daughter and another family. I love the Fourth and can't wait to pack a fun picnic!
My husband and I are going to spend the 4th of July hanging by the pool and having a BBQ with friends. At night we plan to watch the fire works from our rooftop deck :)
We will be going to the beach with family celebrating the 4th of July.
Well I know I'm gonna eat. Then I'll probably eat. After that I expect I'll eat. As who I will be eating with and what I'll be eating...no idea as of yet. Hopefully it won't be just a sandwich all by myself.
My brother-in-law's 40th birthday is on July 4. Our families almost always celebrate together. We'll eat dinner together then watch fireworks.
I'm hoping to just hang out, enjoy the summer day, and watch the fireworks!
im hoping weather will be good ,we will cook out with some family members and swim then set some fireworks off at night
I am thinking we will do a BBQ at the beach, then pack up and head over the fireworks show to see the fireworks
celebrating my mom's birthday!
I am not sure. Eating, sleeping and spending time with me family. that night watching fireworks.
We're having a neighborhood BBQ/potluck which will be lots of great food & fun!
thank you
watching the Wimbledon men's semi-finals and finals
Our family will go to a neighbor's who always has a huge,day-long celebration.
I'll be enjoying some BBQ and enjoying the pool.
We will probably just be going to see the fireworks in the next town over.
hi, parade in the morning, cookout in the afternoon and fireworks in the evening!
Well, I'm in Canada, so we celebrate July 1st here, I had planned to take in the festivities and fireworks, but instead spent the day sick...food poisoning from a local burger place! Ugh!
We may go to the beach, but it may rain. So we may have a summer meal ,like hot dogs and watermelon.Deb P
We don't have any plans for the fourth. My parents are visiting to help us renovate our house but they are leaving on the fourth. We will probably just take our girls to the fireworks.
My in-laws will be coming and staying with us. So far the plan is to BBQ and swim all day with fireworks at night!
This weekend on Saturday we are going over to my son's grandma's house for a BBQ. On Friday, we will probably stay home since there are too many people to deal with where the city fireworks are set off. We are also getting some things ready to sell on Craig's list and ready for our yard sale the following weekend.
I will be sleeping in and watching fireworks later that evening.
we are going to be doing some back to school shopping and we are going to a splash pad!
I think I'm going to my parents house for a family cook out and then seeing fireworks at stadium.
We don't have any special plans, but we'll be enjoying a day off together.
I will be having a BBQ with my family and then going to see the fireworks
On the 4th, I'll be walking in a parade and then swimming. I might go to a cook-out; not sure yet. I work the rest of the weekend.
lauren51990 at aol dot com
It will just be my fiancé and I at home this Fourth of July weekend. Our kids went to their older sisters house to spend the holiday with her and her family. My fiancé and I will probably do a small little cookout for just the two of us and possibly go over to my grandparents since they live next door.
I will be hanging out with my family at a cookout and then possibly watching fireworks.
I will be spending time with boyfriend and family enjoying food and stuff.
I'm actually hosting a House Party for Hasbro Games' Simon Swipe! After the fun party stuff, we'll head into the hills behind our house in our trucks to watch the fireworks. That's about it, though. It's supposed to be 110 degrees this weekend ... so we'll be inside, blasting the a/c.
Bailey Dexter Our family will be crossing the US bridge to spend a family day in the States. Dinner and fireworks later. Looking forward to family time!
We will be having a family bbq although it's supposed to rain so we may have to improvise.
Friday I'm just going to be at home relaxing. Saturday and Sunday I'll be at work.
We had a cookout with family and friends today and then watched fireworks after dark.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
Well, we're having a hurricane & the fireworks didn't get cancelled so I wasn't able to go (my ride didn't want to go in the rain) and my mom took my oldest son for the night and we did nothing :/ sadly. it was a very wet 4th!
Unfortunately we will be working, but we have the next weekend off so it will not be too bad!
This 4th of July we went with the whole family to the beach! We had ourselves a nice little picnic and went seashell hunting. We stayed around until quite late late into the evening to light up some fireworks. It was tons of fun, and can't wait until next year! =D
Unfortunately the rain ruined our plans yesterday, including a family tradition but we are going to a barbecue with some friends today!
I am camping and hiking with friends and our dogs.
I spent it with my eldest sister and her children. We had bbq and went to go see the fireworks.
I made a different dinner menu last night for the 4th and made dinner (mostly) on my own for the family which was cool to do. Not much else going on except the BBQ we had yesterday. :)
We don't have any plans. We are just going to see some fireworks and relax since we've all been sick this week.
The weather wasn't that great but we did watch the fireworks on t.v
A day of freedom from work to have fun on the computer, nap, eat hot dogs, of course, and homemade ice cream. Oh and watch fireworks.
just going for a ride,and relaxing at home.
(karla Sceviour)
We will be decluttering the house - it feels good to get rid of stuff
i'm not going to be doing much of anything over the weekend - godan@comcast.net
We went to see a parade, hear a band concert and saw some beautiful fireworks on the 4th of July!
I went shopping all day then came home and BBQ'd for the family on July 4th.
We had a seafood/bbq pool party for our friends and family. It was awesome and everyone had a great time.
I had the day off so my husband and I stayed home and BBQ'd.
I watched fireworks on the beach in Oregon. So many people were having huge fireworks. It was beautiful. Rita Spratlen
Well the weekend is pretty much over, but we had a good time. On the 4th we stayed home and relaxed, and yesterday we went out to eat with friends and had a good time. :)
We're doing our usual hanging out and BBQing with family and friends.
I spent the weekend relaxing at home. I really don't like crowds.
I spent the weekend working in the garden and relaxing afterwards.
I had a cookout with friends and watched a fireworks show
We watched our community parade and fireworks on Friday, then spent the rest of the weekend visiting family and relaxing!!!
I worked most of the weekend. I got off on the 4th but didn't do anything but rest.
We had a wonderful 4th of july, we spent it with new friends, swiming and cooking out. Ended the night with sparklers and fireworks. thank you!
I spent the weekend at home with my family. We played in the water, cooked and ate together, played games, stayed up late, and enjoyed a few drinks.
My husband had to work on July 4th so we celebrated yesterday with a BBQ at my dad's house.
I began my weekend with a job interview, then on to swimming and Fireworks with the family! Spent the remainder of the weekend relaxing at home with the family!
The fourth of July weekend also happens to be my wedding anniversary weekend. We went out for a nice dinner on Saturday night (Seasons 52 in Tampa) and then on Sunday we went to Universal Studios Orlando to try to get into the new Diagon Alley (which we did!). We spent the morning at Universal, went out to lunch at my favorite vegan restaurant in Orlando, then returned home and watched movies for the rest of the evening.
not sure why I can post the comment . sorry for repeating, Miki - this is last attempt: I ll spent that weekend at home. Doing shopping, tiding and visiting my mom. Lubka K.
I spent time with my inlaws on Friday and then with my family on Saturday.
For the fourth we had a small bbq at home and saw the fireworks.
Our family chose to stay home and watch movies on th 4th of July.
We went to the beach in Port Huron, MI! It was gorgeous!
bbq with friends and family and some fireworks afterward
I went to a family BBQ and then the local fire works show.
rounder9834 @yahoo.com
A family picnic and fireworks at night!
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