Homegrown Tomatoes

Southern Humorist Lewis Grizzard said it best when he said:

"It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts
while eating a homegrown tomato."

One of the simplest pleasures in life is picking a plump red tomato off a vine, warmed by the July sun, wiping the dust off on your sleeve, and eating it right there in the garden! It just doesn't get much better than that, unless you happen to have some salt and pepper handy.

The tomatoes in these pictures were given to us by a friend who has had a "bumper crop" of tomatoes this summer. They are as good as they look, and we appreciate his sharing them with us.

Our granddaughter Avery Grace seems to agree with Mr. Grizzard, judging by these pictures of her from a couple of summers ago ...

I hope you're enjoying homegrown tomatoes where you live.

The Sibling Class

I recently had the pleasure of attending a "Sibling Class" with my daughter Whitney and granddaughter Avery Grace. The class is offered by River Oaks Hospital in Jackson, Mississippi, for brothers and sisters aged three to ten years, to help them learn what to expect with the arrival of a new baby in their family (in less than three weeks, Avery is going to welcome her baby brother).

The children bring a stuffed animal or doll with them and use them to learn how to hold and care for their "new babies."

The children were shown an incubator so they would know what their new baby's bed in the hospital would look like ...

And they were shown how the new baby would be measured, and were given measuring tapes so they could measure their "babies."

They were also given tiny little newborn diapers to put on their babies, and were so cute trying to get them just right.

This little guy captured my heart with his big blue eyes and antics (probably because he reminded me of our son Benjamin when he was that age).

He brought his monkey George, and a little toy truck that he was "zooming" all over the lobby.

He entertained himself while waiting for the class to start by zooming his truck around and tossing George high into the air ...

Gotta love little boys!

In addition to the "taking care of baby" lessons, they were given a tour of the floor of the hospital where their mommies will be after the babies are born, and even got to peek through the nursery window.

They were disappointed that there were no babies in the nursery at the time we visited.

Here are a couple of door decorations I spotted as we walked down the corridor. So CUTE!

After the class, they were given t-shirts and coloring books and received a "certificate" for attending the class.

I asked Avery what she liked best about the class and she said getting to see the nursery. I'd love to go back and capture the look on all of those little faces when they look in the window and see their baby there.

If you live in the Jackson area and would like more information about the Sibling Class, you can click on the link.