Have a Happy!

Happy Anniversary to the Wizard and his Glinda!

Andrew and Darci are celebrating 6 years of marriage today.

They are beach lovers...

Boiler backers...

and best friends.

Happy Anniversary, Andrew and Darci!

Hope your day is a happy one.

May God continue to bless you with happiness and love.

Sandbox Summer Stories #TBTStories

Summer is in full swing, and it is always fun to recall those lazy days of summers past. Of course, they weren't all lazy days - some of them were downright hectic! I did find some photos that remind me that some of the best days weren't spent on the go, but rather, barefoot in the yard making our own kind of fun.

I tried to instill my love of reading in my children from an early age, with varying degrees of success. I think some kids are born readers, and some are not. We did regularly participate in the library's summer reading program, and made weekly trips to the library as we completed reading goals. I had a library bag, and we checked out the same number of books each week. That made it easier to make sure we had all the books in the bag when it was time to return them.

In this photo, David and Andrew are doing a little reading in the hammock in my parents' front yard. They've kicked off their shoes and found a perfect spot to enjoy a good book. Jennifer must have been nearby, since I can see her sandals in the grass under the hammock.

Summer was also a good time to do some family reading, since schedules and bedtimes didn't need to be quite so strict. They always liked it when I read a chapter book aloud to them, either at bedtime or at rest time in the afternoon.

One of their favorites was The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks. There are three books in the series, and we enjoyed reading all three.

The books sparked the imaginations of the kids, who built their own Indian village outside in the sandbox. There were many hours spent in our backyard sandbox, involving, trucks, tractors, sticks and shovels. Many times there was water involved.

I love remembering those steamy days when the kids played together outside all day long. I sometimes even served a delicious PBJ lunch on the patio. While this photo looks peaceful, there were also times when a fuss or fight would break out. Unless there was blood, or a broken bone (it happens) I tried to let them work things out on their own. All part of learning to live and share and love on those sweet summer days of fun in a family.

Fourth of July Fun

We had a busy 4th of July weekend, starting on Thursday when Janet and I took Riley, Matthew, and Carter to spend a day at the lake together. There was lots of swimming, jumping, watermat wrestling, game playing, snacking, boy talking, and even a little tubing.

It had been a while since I'd been out on the boat for a tubing run, and I quickly remembered why. I. don't. enjoy. it. AT. ALL. I'm way too nervous about the tubers, the wake, the boat bouncing, the turning, the leaning, and the possibility of getting sprayed by water. Or a beverage. (The least of my worries, actually, but it happens.) :) 

The boys, however, loved it. They loved going really fast, catching air, and going side to side over the wake. I mostly kept my eyes closed. I managed to get a couple of pictures (when I wasn't hanging on for dear life), but it was definitely during the tamer portions of the run.

Back in the cove, Riley gives me a thumbs up.

The boys had a really fun day together, without a fuss or a cross word. We are thankful for the opportunity for them to make special memories.

On Friday morning, I made the traditional flag dessert. I started making a cake version back when I was in high school, and it has evolved to a fruit pizza with cream cheese frosting and a flag design. Yum!

Noah spent some time snoozing in the swing.

Adam was quite patriotic in his stars and stripes hat and old glory swim trunks. Yay, America!

Jim played a little flippy cup (whatever that is), and Jonathan recorded the moment on Instagram.

We were happy to have Courtney's parents join us for supper on Friday, but I didn't get any pictures since I was busy getting food ready and other hostessing affairs. Of course, there was a little wedding talk that slipped into the conversation. We are all looking forward to Adam and Courtney's big day, on March 21!

After supper, we took a cruise on the pontoon (much more my speed). We had a full boat, and I squeezed into the seat with Captain Jim. Jamalyn grabbed my phone to take a picture, even though she had a hard time stomaching my (David's) Carolina sweatshirt.

I started around the boat to document everyone on board.
David, Shylah, and Mackey.

Bryan and Kyle. (Jennifer and Noah were back at the house since it was past his bedtime.)

Nathan and Dave.

It was at this point, when I moved to the front of the boat, that Jamalyn decided she should be in every picture. Here she is with Jon and Stew, better known as Jonathan Michael Stewart Smith. (They have overlapping names, you know.) It took a few tries, but I finally got Jon smiling. :)

Courtney, Adam, and Jamalyn.

Jamalyn, Chellsey, Charlie.

Jamalyn and Margaret.

She came back to be in a picture with us, and we got a great photo bomb from Nathan and Dave.

Kyle, David, Shylah, and Jamalyn.

And one at the back of the boat with Nathan, Dave, Jamalyn, Bryan, and Kyle.

We saw some fireworks,

and enjoyed some boat-ride conversation as the sun set over Sweetwater.

On Saturday, Dave had a wedding to officiate, Jennifer had a wedding to photograph, and Jim and I had a wedding to attend. 'Tis the season!

As we were leaving for our wedding, I snapped this one of Jamalyn and the kids on the watermat. Everyone loves the watermat!

Later, Bryan and Noah got ready for a boat ride in their matching stripes. Ahoy, matey!

In the busyness of the weekend, I realized I didn't have a photo of Jennifer. So after my 'Tuesday with Noah' I got one of her with that sweet little one when she got home from work.

Noah was doing a little crawling in the grass.

 And a little 'just looking cute' too! #noahjames #grannytime #blessed

Andrew is 30!

Our Andrew is celebrating a big birthday today, his 30th! He always liked to say that his birthday is the 7th day of the 7th month in the 7th year after 1977. That's a lot of 7s! He wore jersey number 17 for high school football, and his basketball jersey number was 52 (5+2=7, of course). Seven is his number.

Soooo, I thought I would share 7 photos in honor of his birthday today.

1.  Andrew is a smart guy, as evidenced by this photo of him wearing sunglasses and reading the Bible at a very early age.

2.  He is a fashion trend setter, and a talented dancer, shown here wearing pajamas and tap shoes. (Don't even ask about the actual tap lessons.)

3.  He liked to get dirty, still does sometimes, but always finds his way out of a mess.

4.  He learned that some messes smell better than others.

5.  He was and is quite independent, and could pour his own Cheerios, thank you very much. And food was always a priority. 

6.  Like most all of the Stewarts, he was/is a very good sleeper. Sometimes eating just wears a guy out.

7.  He has always been a tractor guy, shown on the left with Uncle Gilman and his 1935 John Deere tractor. That same tractor now belongs to Andrew, and he shares his tractor love with his children. (And I know that this is actually two photos, but I can make my own rules.) :)

Happy 30th birthday to my second born, smart, sweet, stubborn, 

independent, intelligent, industrious, 

fabulous, farm boy, fun-loving son. 

I love you and I'm proud of you.

Happy Birthday, Andrew!

We Love a Parade #TBTStories

Our little town has a wonderful little parade every year on the 4th of July. It was started many years ago by a mother who wanted to keep her children and the neighborhood children away from dangerous fireworks. Those children decorated bikes, trikes, and pets, and paraded down Franklin Street in celebration of our nation's independence.

The parade was eventually adopted as a project by a local sorority, and participants were given a bottle of cold pop and an orange, donated by a Franklin Street resident who owned a fruit business, at the end of the parade. It has grown to include motorized vehicles carrying local dignitaries, bands, horses, and trucks and wagons full of baseball teams and church groups. There are still bikes, trikes, and pets, and we have even watched skates, gymnasts and the occasional unicycle marching/flipping/rolling down the street. The sorority still oversees the parade, which has become a homecoming for our community. Folks return to the 'burg so that their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren can experience the tradition of our little parade.

As a child, I loved the parade. I loved decorating, picking out my clothes, and getting to ride/walk/pedal  proudly down the parade route. It wasn't until many, many years later that I realized that there are people who just come to watch the parade. I thought everyone was in the parade.

In this picture, I am the one in the center back, holding the dog and wearing pig tails. I'm not sure where my brother Ted was, but my brother Michael is in front of me, in the red shirt. The other kids are all from the neighborhood where I grew up. The year was 1972.

In this photo, from 1973, I am on the fender of the lawn mower, with my brothers and friends ready for a ride in the carefully decorated wagon. Don't you like my red socks? And my braids? And does anyone else think we might have been a little big for that wagon?

Fast forward 20 years, and our kids are in a wagon, ready for the parade. This wagon was pulled by Sally the pony, belonging to cousins Jessica and Caroline. Our kids are wearing hand painted shirts from a stencil I designed, cut, and painted. Such an overachiever. Ha!

Adam was too little for the wagon, so he rode in the antique buggy pushed by Nana. He has a hand painted onesie and hat. (It's in his hand in the photo.)

After the parade, after our drink and our fruit, after visiting with friends and folks, we went to Nana and Boomie's for an afternoon of swimming. Looks like Jonathan skinned his knee at the parade, and required a little medical attention. The year was 1991.

The shirts served us well, and we wore them again the following year as we stopped for a photo at the home of Jim's Aunt Elizabeth before the start of the parade.

After the parade, we went home to get our new puppy, Carson, before heading over to Nana and Boomie's house.

Fast forward another 20 years, and you can see it's an enduring tradition for our family and our little town. That's Andrew and Darci and their kids ready to ride in the parade, 2012.

Thanks for taking a little trip down memory lane with me to recall 40 years of Fourth of July memories. I wish you all a happy and safe, fun and firecracker-filled Fourth! God Bless America!

Hoping to link up with Jessica at The Mom Creative for Throwback Thursday Stories. #TBTStories.