Summer Days

Julia trying to figure out this Popsicle thing!

This is what I LOVE about Wynne' Farmer's market on Tuesday afternoons........everything you see here for $4.50.

We spent Father's Day relaxing around the house. My family came over for lunch and I had slow cooked a roast in the crock pot....per John's request after me telling him that I would fix anything he wanted for lunch in honor of Father's Day! You can see what we spend our time doing. Julia sits in a chair like the queen and entertains us and we all basically sit around her and let her be the queen! She likes to read to us, but needs our undivided attention. She looks up to make sure that we are all anxiously anticipating her next revelation. If we are distracted for any reason, she loudly says our name to get our attention back to the reading.

John ran to Wal Mart Saturday morning to pick up some milk and came home with a swimming pool for Julia, two lawn chairs and some milk. It was well worth the money and I couldn't think of much else that I had of rather been doing that morning that sitting outside under the tree in my new lawn chair watching Julia have a blast in her $15 swimming pool (yep....I SWORE I would never pollute my lawn with one of those hideous things!).

I was terribly wounded several times last weekend when I walked in Julia's room to get her after a nap or when she woke up in the morning and she quickly looked past me and said, "Wheys Daddy?" I decided to let him go get her once so that I could see what he was doing that made her want him to get her so much. Well, this explains it all.....

He puts her blanket over her bed and makes a tent. She peeks out from from underneath.

Then, she stands up and screams, "Pee pie!" I personally witnessed this activity being repeated over and over again for at least 20 minutes before she finally got out of bed. Wow, no wonder she's looking for Daddy.

John was asked to do a library summer reading program in Cherry Valley last week for the kids. The theme this year was Be Creative and the librarian thought it would be neat to have a musician come and show some creative talent. John was a little nervous at the thought of entertaining these kids for 30 minutes, but did a great job. He ended his talk by having them make their own guitars out of plastic containers with different width rubber bands. He gets all the credit for this idea because he told me the story of his first guitar which he made out of a cigar box and rubber bands. This picture shows him demonstrating his guitar.

John is a pretty cool guy.

Just an interesting FYI for you city folks.....these kids at Cherry Valley (population 710) check out their library books out of these LLBean bags. Two retired school teachers go to the city library (Wynne-population 7,500) and pack these bags full of books. Then, they drive them 20 miles to Cherry Valley so that these kids can check out their books for the week. They hand write their names and which books they have borrowed!

So, today I bought Julia a package Sesame Street big girl panties. They worked really well.....for the first 20 minutes.

An Evening in the Country

I have learned to strip Julia down before we go outside!

She gravitates to the mud puddles!

Playing with Shy

Enough already...headed to the bathtub.

The great wall of China that is being constructed in our front yard....still.
I can visualize the end result of this landscaping project. It may be ten years or better before I can share it with you!

My Mom, Sarah and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch at Paulette's in Memphis to celebrate my cousin Scottie's upcoming wedding in Aspen. I am so happy for Scottie and Jason and am looking forward to a great time in Colorado next month.

Julia got to go hang out at Emmy's while we were having lunch. I cracked up in the middle of lunch when Tara texted me and told me that Julia was fine and that the girls were eating corn and enjoying National Lampoons Vacation....LOL.

Emmy being a good hostess and trying to keep Julia's feet warm.

Farmfest 2009

We had a very wonderful and busy weekend with Wynne's Farmfest! Thanks a MILLION to Drs. Neall and Becca Jackson for chairing this year's event and for giving so many families an unforgettable weekend of fun! Julia's first carousel ride! She didn't want to ride on the horse so we sat on the bench.

Julia enjoying some goldfish and hanging out while her guitar hero Dad gets some Farmfest stage time.

Julia's very favorite activity at Farmfest was pick up ducks!

Hanging out at the courthouse fountain. It looked exactly the same when I was a kid and I am pretty certain that there are some pictures of me that look almost exactly like this one!

Sweet Soloman giving Julia a hug.

After the tornado warning in downtown Wynne, Julia put on her rain boots and came downtown to enjoy a cookie. Now that's what Farmfest is all about!

Another ride that Julia and Soloman enjoyed. This one almost made me sick, but Julia sucked her fingers and seemed to have a good time. Soloman, on the other hand, covered his eyes by ducking his head into my leg!

John's band after their performance. I don't think I have ever seen John with a bigger smile!

They did an amazing set....it was very intense rock n roll!

Good times!

The Alluvian

John, Julia and I had one luxurious night at the Alluvian hotel in downtown Greenwood Mississippi last week. It was certainly a memorable experience and the accommodations and dining were five star! The hotel is owned by the Viking appliance family. I felt a little sorry for the people that shared our dining experience that night because Julia really didn't like the spaghetti and meatballs. She thought the chefs put entirely too much pepper in it and decided to scream as loud as she could to let them and everybody else know about it. John enjoyed a delicious rib eye while Julia and I spent most of the hour outside in the lobby!

Julia hanging out in the beautiful courtyard.

This is what Julia looks like at least 50% of the time. She is in a comfortable chair surrounded by books with her blankie close by.

Instead of looking for interesting places to shop and eat when we travel(pre-Julia), now John and I look for the best playgrounds! Julia's favorite is the slide!

Silly Julia entertaining all of the guests in the hotel courtyard.

I had to take this picture of bed head Julia. Her hair is wild when she wakes up and I always have to wet it down!

We went to pick blueberries Sunday afternoon. Julia thought that picking them was WAY more than it was cracked up to be. She got too hot and very much preferred eating them! We got home with WAY less than we left with!

Julia loves to eat the delicious toothpaste off of her toothbrush. She asks for "more" every night!

And this one, just because I couldn't resist.

My 18 Month Old Jetsetter!

Julia turned 18 months old Friday! For her birthday, we celebrated by singing Happy Birthday and going to visit sweet Maggie Grace and her family in Atlanta. Julia got to ride in an airplane for the first time. I was a little nervous about how she would do and how I would handle all of her gear by myself. Everything was perfect, including our visit!

I packed plenty of books to keep her busy while flying, but she preferred my People magazine. Her favorite part of the flight were the peanuts. Her second favorite part of the flight was the "Isa", AKA ice, that the stuartist brought us. Julia said, "Weeeee" when the elevation changed and loved her first airplane ride.


Julia and Maggie Grace having a picnic and playing at the park. Julia was much more interested in the geese and ducks than her chicken nuggets.

John was happy to see his girl when we got back to Memphis! When we got home, Julia made up for lost time by "reading" to her Dad for over an hour. She reads about 1 book per minute but looks at every page. She speaks very clear Chinese and changes her tone appropriately while reading. It is definitely her favorite activity these days!

She is so smart. She actually spelled her entire name Thursday morning while we were on the way to the sitter's. She says her name is "Jul-Wa." If you ask her, "What are you?" She says, "Big Girwl." She is definitely growing up too fast, but we are loving every minute of it. She keeps us smiling and laughing.

John and I agree that she has given us the best year and a half of our lives!