Father's Day

On Saturday night I realized that I would be the only non-dad adult for Father's Day. We celebrated early with Paul's family because his mom and sis are gone this week. But I still wanted to do something since his dad was home alone.

So I went to the store saturday night to figure something out for dinner. We had Tomato Basil Soup and fresh baked bread, jell-o and cherries, a (gourmet- if I do say so myself) salad bar, complete with several dressing options, lots of toppings, and applesauce barbecue chicken and sweet chili glaze chicken, and hummus with pita and rice crackers. It all tasted so fresh and yummy. 

The kids painted mini flower pots for dad, Bapa an poppy. I think they turned out really cute!

It was a nice low-key evening with the kids and three generations of dads. 

Addie's my little wild child, and I love every bit of her. But she's also got this gentle, caring, concerned side, too. I love this picture below because it captures Addie's patients and attempts to comfort her crying sister, instead of just sticking the binky back in. I often hear her 'checking' on Charlie. "Do you need a blanket?" "Are you tired?" And then her little two-year-old sarcasm kicks in, "Do you want to eat some pancakes?...just kidding! You don't got some teef!" And she reports to me often, "Charlie's cold mom." "Charlie's okay mom." 

Charlie now grabs and pulls on things. She was getting frustrated here because her binky kept popping out and she wasn't realizing that it was her pulling it out. 

Bapa got her laughing. She's come really close a few times, but this was official baby laughs. I'm so glad that all these little milestones stay so fun and exciting even on the third child. 

I'm so thankful for these four and that our littles love their daddy so much. 

projects, ideas, the never ending to-do list

We celebrates Father's Day with Paul's family early because of some travel schedules. We planned to go to the beach but it was during the time Garrett was sick and I didn't want him in the sun. Instead we just went to the in-laws for a bit to get out of the house. Paul made a scarecrow for his dad's garden and the kids and I made this sign.

I'm obsessed with Charlie's little foot print. It came out perfect and I'm jealous this sign isn't mine. 

Paul's parents gave him a new shelf for our playroom for Father's Day. It's just what I -I mean he wanted. Our playroom was in much need of an organization makeover so he ended up being happy about it. But all my little house projects got put on hold while Garrett wasn't feeling well so we lived in a jumbled mess for several days. But it's finally coming back together. 

I tried to take Garrett outside whenever he felt up to it because we were all going a little stir crazy. This fever was the worst because it broke once in a while and nothing else seemed wrong so G would want to play but he'd quickly get drained and then sleep for four hours and wake up with a fever again. Maybe I let him do too much but it got old after 5 days. And try telling a cooped up three year old no when he wants to go on a walk. 

Oh Charlie... No matter what the day or week is like she makes me smile. I tell Paul she's my living, breathing antidepressant. 

Father's Day

We headed to La Mirada park late morning on Father's Day to have brunch and say good-bye to Paul's cousin.  He and his wife and kids were off to Texas for their next adventure the following morning.  Paul's Aunt Esther brought everything, so we just had to show up.  Side note: Have you ever had Subway flat bread breakfast sandwiches?  I'm not a breakfast person.  At all.  But she brought those and I was hungry so I tried it.  They are so good.

Anyway,  Garrett had so much fun a couple weeks ago with his cousins that he'd never met and he was so excited when I told him we got to go play with them again.

 This was the first time that Poppy and his 9 great-grand children were all together.  He was so happy.  I send this image to Costco as soon as I took it and had it printed as an 8x10.  I framed it and gave it to him that night at a family barbecue.  He was so surprised that I did it so quickly, and he was so happy.  He hugged the picture after he'd studied it for a few minutes.  It was really sweet.

Uh-oh...  Me and Paul have a joke that if I ever ask him to do something specific to help, rather than just help me clean, or help me make the food, that he messes something up.  The joke is that he does it on purpose so he won't ever have to help again.  He wanted to jump in the pool right before we were about ready to eat, so I asked him to get the dip and salad from the fridge and take it down to the table first.  Aaaand, he dropped the salad.

 Addie's in the muscle showing phase, so of course, Garrett's back in it too.

 They love their Daddy.  I do too.

 Snuggle time before bed, after a full, fun day.  He couldn't ask for a better way to end it.

Project 365: 156-167

June 5- The beginning of my dining table and chairs makeover.

June 6- Such a sweet package in the mail form my darling friend, Dana. This was a (unnecessary but greatly appreciated) thank you gift for our help at Great Strides in SLC last month.  She knows me so well.

June 7- Fancy schmancy Lion's Club Dinner.  I find myself humming 'One of these kids is not like the others' at these events.  Picture wealthy, well-established, cigar smoking men, with fancy dressed wives by their sides.  And then picture me, courtesy laughing at jokes, while rocking my half-priced Target skirt and fake jewelry.

June 8- Yard sale finds this morning.  They don't look like much, but I'm on my way to buy more primer and spray paint.  Big plans!

June 9- These three took a dip while I worked on my chairs. And Garrett got his yearly buzz cut.  Must be Summer!

June 10-  Time to bolt our furniture to the walls to keep the kids safe during "quiet time."

June 11- I woke up with a killer headache this morning.  After unhealthy amounts of medicine and diet coke, and a lot of water, I'm convinced that the only thing that will help is my bed.  Very, very soon.  And this little ball of energy hasn't been even a tiny bit understanding.

 June 12- The end of our anniversary date.  Wouldn't have wanted to spend it with any other people.  The comments I heard from people passing by these two just about melted my heart.  Can't wait to see what the coming years have in store foe our family.

June 13- The dining table makeover is finally done.  Multi-colored chairs, and a chalkboard table with white legs.  I think I'm either going to love it or hate it.  But right now I love it.

June 14- We went to a funeral today of a man who Paul and I knew through sponsoring and helping with events at a center he managed.  He was young and died very unexpectedly.  The kids were awful.  I was so mad at them, and I spent the last half of the service outside the church giving them the evil eye.

June 15- I got all my stuff from my old phone transferred to my new one.  It's odd looking at a screen that doesn't have a big crack across it.  Also, the traditional 4 year anniversary gift is flowers/fruit.  Paul got me roses and an Apple.  Nailed it.

June 16- Happy Father's Day.  I loved reading all the Father's Day posts online today.  Such a similar trend:  "best dad ever" "awesome husband and father to our kids." "wonderful grandpa" etc.  There's a lot of really good men in the world.  And I echo everything I read today about the dads in my life, this one very much included.