Hot, Hazy & Humid...And Did I Mention HOT???

Today the bank clock read 100 degrees. It doesn't feel as hot today as it has the past few days, though, so my guess is that that's not quite an accurate reading and comes from being directly in the sun. Either way, it's been in the 90s with high humidity and HOT, HOT, HOT! My sister said she remembers being pregnant with Grace and breaking all sorts of heat records. She heard we're breaking some now with June, and she blamed it on me being pregnant. Thank the Lord for air conditioning. Whoever invented it should have won the Nobel Peace Prize - I think there would be a lot more wars without it (at least in our house).

We had a busy weekend this past weekend, which included seeing my dear friend Suzy (thanks for the birthday gift! It was great seeing you!) and going to Daniel's first birthday party. Joshua desperately wanted to be with the older kids and even sat at their plastic picnic table. But, he also kept stealing cheese curls off other little ones' plates (namely Emma) much to their dismay. We have to work on table manners. Normally he's not within reach of our plates, and if he does take something, Shawn & I don't usually care (after all, we love him and would give him anything). But, he won't be the popular kid if he can't keep his hands to himself. He did enjoy playing there and eating the scrumptious watermelon. He was just in a pair of swim trunks (since they had out the hose on their slide), Crocs and no shirt, and watching him eat watermelon with it dripping down his belly was adorable. He is getting bigger by the second! I wished I had remembered my camera!

That morning, Shawn & I took Joshua swimming at my mom's house. Unfortunately, though it was hot outside, the water was still cold. The Bean was NOT a big fan. I bet it would be warm enough to go now, though, and he would enjoy it. We didn't stay long, but I was glad we had put sunscreen on the Bean since both Shawn's & my shoulders ended up slightly pink.

Sunday Joshua was an absolute gem again. I put him in his new fire engine outfit from Grandma (thanks, Mom!) and we went to church early with Daddy, who was upstairs for his A/V team responsibilities. I was afraid Joshua may not be good with having to be there so long, but I think he got used to the environment from being there and wasn't so overwhelmed when the people came in. He played and played and was good the entire time, even cuddling up with me during worship. He then went downstairs and played well in the nursery, and once again we heard the entire sermon. This was especially impressive since our church felt like it was a thousand degrees or hotter. The rest of the day he was also happy as a clam. He giggled and laughed and I don't remember one temper tantrum. We had really prayed the night before on how to best guide and discipline him, and he was amazing. (Yesterday was a different story, but I think he had a belly ache since I was changing diapers about every other hour).

Okay, the drool is nasty, but the face is adorable. I'm pretty sure he's cutting a molar in the back of his mouth as he often puts his finger back there and cries. And, we've got the glamorous drool to go along with it.

I'll end this post with other good news. We just received a check from the Lancaster Housing & Redevelopment Authority. I had posted earlier that they were wanting to pay the tree guy who had damaged our sidewalks rather than either giving us back the money after he chose to walk away from the situation or fixing the sidewalks themselves. I didn't deal with them at all, but allowed Shawn (who is much more easy going and tolerable) to deal with them. He finally in no uncertain terms told them over the phone that if they were going to pursue this route, we were okay starting with binding arbitration and they needed to present to us in the legal documentation we had all signed where they had full control over our money. We heard nothing back for weeks...which drove me CRAZY! I had been all fired up, but I kept praying about it. Finally Shawn told me I could email our contact and just make sure that they had received his emails with all the estimates, etc. What I heard back shocked us both. They were mailing us a check and not pursuing what they had originally insisted upon - in fact, we got the check this weekend. Hooray! Now I need to schedule the sidewalks to get fixed. It's amazing what God can do when you let Him handle the situation. There are many times I'd like to give someone a piece of my mind, but many times that's inappropriate for the situation and praying about it and coming to a respectful resolution is a better approach...even if the people you're dealing with seem downright crazy-go-nuts! Hooray for everything working out!