Ain't That America?

The blog title comes more from the truck pictures at the end. But pickin' home-grown tomatoes with your Granddaddy and Great-Granddaddy is a pretty good way to celebrate our nation's birthday.

So is rocking on your back porch with your Great-Grandmother.

And looking at a beautiful basket of ripe maters.

But this...man, I should make some money from Dodge for these pics...

It was Anna's idea to put him back there, and you would have thought that she had placed the boy in Disneyland. He was so thrilled.

Awww...

Happy Fourth of July, y'all!

Covenant Celebration Sunday

Our pastor at The Church at Brook Hills just completed a sermon series on the church and our specific church covenant or mission statement. In celebration of that, the whole church gathered at a local park on Sunday morning. We shared worship music, heard a brief message, participated in communion and had a picnic together. They had a HUGE tent set up (think our wedding tent times at least two), but it was still really, really hot. The temperature reader in my car was at 100.

My son can now officially be accepted into Birmingham society; he has a shirt with an initial on it. A friend passed it down from her son James.

I was grateful Leah brought popsicles.

At one point, Josiah grabbed Steve's hand and took him on a walk. So cute.

He probably wanted to have a heart-to-heart about how fun having a little boy is and encouraging Steve about how great a dad he's going to be.

Or maybe he just wanted Steve to take him to the playground...

Cooling off. He kept sticking his hand in the propeller (it was foam).

The part of our small group that was there. Jonathan was working :(
Yes, I'm dripping. And Josiah requested that Steve hold him. How cute is that?

We signed a big canvas with the church covenant on it.

I signed for Jonathan - hope that's not legally binding!

The future of the church!

Water Fun Day

We had a super fun Mom and Tots at our house on Saturday. We broke out the baby pool and borrowed a slip-n-side and a sprinkler. It was a perfect summer play date.

The mommies are Robin, Melanie and Cary. The little bits are Jack, Anna, Josiah, Margaret and Caroline.

Jack and Anna checking out the pool.

Doing a little sunbathing. By the by, when I got Josiah up from his nap, the first thing he said was, "Pool?" When I was getting him in his swimsuit, I told him that Jack and Anna were outside. He said "Nana?", which is what he calls Aunt Anna. I had to clarify that it was a baby named Anna.

Jack stockpiling the boats.

Josiah wondering what Mama is doing.

Enjoying the "water slide"

Margaret moving up in the world

Then we broke out the sprinkler. Josiah loved it. He just stood there for 10 minutes, watching the stream go back and forth. I had to grab him and make him run through it with me a few times.

Then we did hooked up the slip-n-slide. The boys didn't fully get the gist of running and jumping, but they still thought it was really fun. And by the way, I was the one who demonstrated how to run and jump on the slide. I'm glad no one caught that on camera! It's only been 20 years or so since I've done that, but it was pretty fun and the boys were tickled watching me do it.

Daredevil Jack really got into sliding with a few pushes from his mom.

"Hi friend!"

I finally remembered to bring out the popsicles! This was Josiah's first popsicle, and he loved it.

The Cherry ladies: Cary, Margaret and Caroline

Caroline really liked her popsicle!

Living Room Makeover

Notice anything different in our living room? Mom picked up the brown sofa for a steal at the charity where she works. We were hesitant for a while because we weren't sure it would look right, but now that it's here we really love it. So we saw farewell to my grandmother's 50+ year couch. Mom and Dad also recently redid their living room furniture and brought over the yellow chair, which is so cushy and comfy. Last Christmas, Mom also got us the end table with the a two-layer cover. The top didn't look right with the navy couch and plaid chair, so we just used the plain layer. But with the new furniture, the floral cover looks perfect. Thanks, Mom, for a beautiful new remodel!
Since I know that's way more info than most of needed about our house decor, I made Josiah model with the new look. He thought his toys were a nice touch.

Josiah also got a bit of living remodel (considering that's where he normally plays). I picked up this Little People bus at a yard sale, and Josiah LOVES it. In the past few months, he's really gotten into playing with characters (dogs, people) and making them interact with his cars and trucks. It's cute to see him be creative.

For my memory bank, a good part of my day is spent watching him roll these vehicles. He's very insistent that I (or whoever is in the room) affirm what he's doing or saying. So he says "ackum", "da", "choo-choo,"ma" or "babay" about 50 times a day. That's truck, car, train, man and baby respectively, for those not familiar with Josiah's lingo. Sometimes he gets upset if he says "ackum," but I don't say specifically what kind of truck (cement, fire, semi, etc.). He does have a different word now for bulldozer and backhoe in his books. He also specifically remembers a certain set of cars were given to him by Mimi. He says Mimi each time he plays with them.

Father's Day Weekend

Pop and Nana came in town last weekend for Father's Day (I'm a little behind, huh?). They babysat Josiah for us on Saturday night, so Jonathan and I could go to an interview dinner. Jonathan was on call for his birthday and Father's Day, but we ended up bringing him a cookie cake and cookies for him and his coworkers.

Pop helping with Josiah's shoes.

Nose!

Nana's nose

Sugar attack!

Sweet picture with a wiggly boy.

On Father's Day, we went to church, ate lunch at Bogue's and hung out watching golf and Josiah.