Workin' Men

Sunday afternoon Jimmy and I (emphasis on Jimmy) started putting together Pearce's new swing set. To us, this thing was a beast. The instructions were about as clear as my skin in 10th grade, however we were determined to get this done for Pearce. To be honest, I was not looking forward to it. I was secretly hoping I would wake up at 10 am one Saturday morning, pour myself a cup of coffee, and look outside to see...gasp!..Pearce playing on his new swing set while Jimmy looked on. I would then learn that Jimmy had gotten up at 5 am so that he could surprise me with blessed sleep and a new swing set for our son. Pretty sweet, huh? Well friends, this dream did not come to fruition. What did happen was so much better than that.

 I love that Pearce loves Jimmy. Seriously, this kiddo adores his daddy and I can't say I blame him. Jimmy has the kindest spirit of anyone I know. He is the type of person who genuinely cares about people and tries to do what is right, no matter the cost. I remember when we first got married and money was tight. We decided to go to a movie and I had the brilliant idea to use our old student id's from OU to get cheaper tickets...sounds good, right? When I presented this idea to Jimmy his response to my marvelous, yet mischievous plan was silence...followed by, "Brooke, our integrity is worth more than the money we would save."  Enter: shame, guilt, and a little bit of  "are you kidding me?!"...

Either way, you can see why I love that Pearce looks up to his daddy. I love the way Jimmy comes home from work and literally beams from ear to ear as he says, "Hello sweetheart! I missed you today!" And you know what? No matter how many layers of stale cheese, black beans, and dirt Pearce has on his grubby little hands; Jimmy picks him up and lets Pearce paw all over his perfectly pressed, wrinkle free, dry clean only shirts as they wrestle around on the floor. I love the way I can see Jimmy's pain when Pearce is hurting. His heart is so tender toward this little guy and while he encourages Pearce to run, fall, and explore...he always keeps a protectful watch over his boy. And the prayers he prays over our son...oh how they must move the heavens...

 Whatever Jimmy does, Pearce does too. It is so sweet to watch Pearce shadow Jimmy's movement. While Jimmy's motions are clean, swift, and effortless; Pearce's are choppy, slow, and full of heart. He tries so hard to get it right and it is so endearing to watch. On Sunday when we started building Pearce's swing set, he was so eager to help. He marched inside, found his screwdriver (pronounced "scewdriber") and high tailed it back outdoors. He literally mimicked almost every move Jimmy made. He then decided to sort the box of nuts and bolts and I am telling you people: we must have a genius on our hands. That little stinker sorted all the bolts out of the hardware. Look at this picture below:

Pearce also went around kissing Jimmy and I and cheering us on with his little, "Hi. Hi Daddy. Hi Mommy." And Jimmy was so patient with him. Poor thing, it never failed that Pearce would pop up in Jimmy's face at the exact moment all of Jimmy's effort was focused on the one tough bolt. Instead of shooing him away, Jimmy would thank him for his help and encouragement. So dear.

I took some pics of my boys working hard and they make me smile....