We Do Things

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE DAD!

40 years ago today, The Dad came into this world. To honor him, The Kids and I are listing 40 of the thousands of things we love about The Dad.

1. You're silly

2. You're cool

3. You're smart

4. You're random

5. You're supportive

6. You're creative

7. You love the world

8. You don't take anything for granted

9. You're kind

10. You are the best master, better than Mungat cooking!

11. You help build things

12. You are the best Dad in the world

13. You help with every project

14. You can do great essampules (examples) for things.

15. Good at computers

16. You can do everything

17. You appreciate everyone

18. You are polite

19. You are speacil

20. You do fun things

21. You take great care of us

22. You make me feel safe

23. You are my best friend

24. You are so very loving

25. You are an amazing father

26. You are always excited over my crazy ideas

27. You are handy around the house

28. You are honest and trustworthy

29. You always take time for us

30. You love me

31. You put up with my "interesting" mind

32. You are handsome. Especially with the gray hairs I've given you throughout the years.

33. You are fun and goofy. An amazing trait you've passed on to our children.

34. You are a hard worker

35. You are a great teacher

36. You are compassionate

37. You are my favorite late night movie partner

38. You encourage us all to try new things and step outside of our comfort zone.

39. You are not afraid, you lead our family with pride, respect, and confidence.

40. We cherish you. We need you. Always.

Here's to the next 40. I know they are going to be great and a little bit crazy.

I LIKE TO PRETEND I'M THE ONLY ONE

That can take pictures around here. The simple fact is, I'm not.

The Dad has always been a great photographer. Truth is, he taught me a lot of what I know. Not that I would ever admit to that in a million years. I am so much better than him. Just ask him.

 

It's rare to have actual proof that I was at one of our family events.

Please don't think that I usually carry my purse along on family hikes, I had stuffed all my camera gear in there thinking it would be easier to use than my backpack that is made for the purpose of carrying my gear. I can be so smart.

 

See? They do belong to me. I have proof.

 

His version of that old oil rig.

   

He uses his little point and shoot, Canon Power Shot SD1100 IS. Even though he knows way more about Photoshop than me, I worked on these pictures. So, blame any photoshop issues on me, this time.

 

The pile of junk in the front yard of my dream house.

He's pretty good with that cheap little camera of his.

THE BOYS DITCHED US

This weekend, while The Girl and I were supposed to be at the other horse show, The Men in our Family had made plans to hit the golf course.

Are you done laughing yet?

Luckily, The Dad took his camera. It's just like I was really there. Well, the 5 hour dissertation from The Boy helped as well. He had lots of fun. I'll spare you all the tedious, minute details.

The Boy used this well to wish that he would never grow up and stay my itty bitty forever. I just know he did.

I think all dads should take their boys out to play a quick round of golf.

It really is priceless.

ON BOARD

I came home from helping out at The School the other day and saw this

This was the moment I knew The Dad was happy with all these changes around here.  He washed all the day's Ziploc bags so they can be reused.

BECOMING A MAN

One of the best parts of raising a boy is watching The Dad teach him how to do "Man-Stuff".  Around The House, Man-Stuff consists of pretty much anything we girls don't want to learn how to do.  As untraditional as our roles in The Family are, we still seem to fall into some pretty traditional ones.  For instance, The Dad has taught The Boy how to make all sorts of repairs around The House and The Boy will now repair things on his own.  He is pretty handy to have around.  Especially on those days The Dad goes into The Office, or out with The Best Man.

On our way home from Monterey, we had to stop for gasoline.  At $9,468 trillion dollars a gallon, I was in the front seat cringing and screaming and rocking back and forth until I saw this:

And this:

As a wife and a mother to a boy, there is not a more touching sight than watching The Dad teach The Boy how to do Man-Stuff.

Also, I can now send The Boy out to wash bug-goo off my car at every gas station!

DATE NIGHT

The Sitter sat The Kids last night.  Have I mentioned how much we absolutely adore our sitter?  When we came home last night, The Kids were cuddled up with her in my big comfy chair watching Peter Pan.

The real reason I'm letting you all know about this is because The Dad and I had no idea what to do with out time out on the town.  See, The Dad isn't really a movie-going sort of person and we aren't bar people, so we ended up at Home Depot, which was actually a step down from our last night out. 

Not that we don't enjoy being together and hanging out, but our town isn't exactly filled with opportunities for night life adventures once you're over the age of 17 or so.

We are out of the boxers living smack dab in the box.

Would you all please help us out here.

What do you do when you get a night out with no kids?

39 YEARS AGO TODAY

my husband, The Dad was born.  The Family would like to take this moment to shout HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Around here, we really love The Dad.  There are many reasons as to why he is The Best Dad and Husband in the whole world.

Reason #1:

He's really cute.  He makes my heart go pitter patter.  (even though this grosses The Kids out, well, they wouldn't be here without pitter patters, now would they?)

Reason #2:

He gives The Best Hugs.  Ever.

Reason #3:

He gives the best kisses.

Reason #4:

He is a man of action.  He always does what needs to be done.

Reason #5:

He always handles the pumpkin carving.  Even the ooey gooey parts.

Reason #6:

He teaches The Kids stuff all the time.  Here, he is teaching The Boy how to start the campfire.

Reason#7:

He does everything for his kids.  Even go to Disneyland.

Reason #8:

He's always good for a lift.  There is nothing more important to this man than seeing his family happy. 

Reason #9:

He's trustworthy and reliable.  He never lets us down or forgets us. 

Reason #10:

He sees things from different angles.  He's not afraid to step outside the box.  Be different.  He is also the person who always remembers to take pictures of me.  So The Family will always remember The Mom was involved as well.  And not just from the back end of a camera.

Perhaps the reason we love The Dad so much is because he is silly.  And he loves his vegetables.

We love you honey.  Hope your day is awesome!

THE SHAME GAME

It works on husbands as well.

Now, I'm wondering what the hell those 'stains' on my ceiling are.

THE DAD HAS BASS

The Dad is a musician.  It's his hobby.  Before I veered his life into one of respectability and domestication, he was a musician.  Then, I made him get a real job and support me in the style I wanted to become accustomed to.

He refused to let me kill his dream though and has reunited with some old friends to play bass on one old friend's CD.  He has been having fun.  Which, since he's married, is obviously surprising and rare.  I guess I have failed as a good wife and not sucked the life out of my man.  OR?  Is it simply that I don't mind The Dad leaving The House one night a week to rehearse?  Maybe, just maybe, it's all part of my evil plan to rid myself of him once a week...

Anyway, The Band had their first gig together on Saturday.  We dropped The Kids off at The Aunt and The Uncle's House, where they were promptly locked into two seperate closets(*), and we headed off to the big city.

See?  The Dad is so happy to be leaving our little podunk town.  He's free.  Except, he's not.  Because I'm in the car with him.  So there will be no flirting with groupies tonight.  No sir.

It has been so long since I left our little town that I was actually a little scared on the freeway.  It was crowded and the threat of rain was imminent.

Everyone in So Cal knows that clouds like these put us all on "Storm Watch" and that we then fall incapable of driving safely.  Because God only knows when it will rain and if my BMer gets wet...well, let's just not go there people.

Thanks to The Dad learning to drive in Colorado and the fact that they have actual *snow* there people, we arrived safely at the rehearsal studio.

\

Where The Dad and his bandmates rehearsed.  Loudly.  For like 2 hours.  But it was ok.  I had brought a book.  The Drummer asked me after the rehearsal what I thought of them and I had to cop to tuning the whole thing out.  His look of shock scared me.  Had I committed some groupie faux pas?  Was I, as a good groupie, actually supposed to have been paying attention to all this disjointed noise for the last tow hours?  Turns out that he was just shocked at my powers of concentration.  I didn't waste time trying to explain that I am parenting a seven year old boy who likes to talk.  A lot.  Or, that The Dad's practice space in real life is one foot behind my head and if I hadn't learned to tune out his talking, playing, well I'd never get MY work done.  Like blogging.  Or reading blogs.  You know, all that important stuff I do while The Kids are at school.  It probably wouldn't make sense to a single man with no kids.

The one guy in The Band who does get it is The Dad's best bud.  He was The Best Man at our wedding 13 years ago and he is still our Best Man.  We love him and he is part of our family.  He is honorary Uncle to The Kids and they adore him.  He is a brother to me.

The Best Man is the one that The Dad escapes to be with once a week.  They refuse to let some wife stand in the way of their friendship.  It's ok though because The Best Man gave an awesome, heartfelt speech at our wedding and it still brings me to tears just thinking about all the nice things he said about me us.

After rehearsal, we headed on over to The Grog and The Band rocked.  There were many technical difficulties, but in general, The Band was awesome.  I had never seen The Dad play live before and it was a blast.  The Grog is also a neat little bar with some really good food.  And unfortunately, my camera was acting up so I couldn't get any pictures of the actual gig.  But, that's ok because I was free to enjoy The Band.

*NO children were locked in closets(to my knowledge) at The Aunt and The Uncles.  It has been said that The Kids were spoiled rotten and we will update you all on their fun once we get them back to the routine of having a routine.  They had a blast and The Boy said he didn't even miss me all that much.  Which means a lot from The Boy because he misses me when I go to the bathroom.

Also, The Dad and I have an incredible relationship and neither of us begrudge the other of having fun. (now that The Kids are older because when they were little, WheW did I begrudge The Dad!)

THE AUTHOR BEHIND THE BLOG

The Dad and I celebrated 13 years of wedded bliss this August.  Much to his confusion, I've never been a traditional sort of wifey when it comes to presents.  I detest Valentine's Day, for Mother's Day, only handmade kid items will suffice (unless I ask to go to the Lego Store), and for my birthday, I'm generally just as happy to hang out in my pj's with The Family all day as to go out or have presents.  Forget Christmas, I don't want a thing.  It's all for the kids.  It has taken him 13 years to realize that I mean it when I say all of this and that I won't get mad at him if he really does what I ask.  I just hate "token" presents.  Don't buy me something, just to give me something. 

The Dad has always been easy to please as well.  He either wants guitars, amps, guitar parts, amp parts, or you know what.  Since I can't handle about 4 of those items, he usually picks out what he wants, orders it himself, and when it gets here, then I wrap it and make him wait.  I like to be mean that way.

Every once in a while, The Dad gives me a whopper of a gift that I didn't even know I wanted or couldn't live without.  He's not generally a romantic sort, his brain just isn't wired that way.  And that's ok with me.  I don't want to be coddled, or flowered, or any of that sort.  Ocassionally, though, he pulls out the jewelry that he designed with the diamond pendant, or the Mother and baby cameo necklace, or the helping The Boy at 2 and The Girl at 5 bead necklaces with the teensiest, tiniest beads the kids have picked out themselves.  This to me, is romantic.  I love to see The Kids working with The Dad.

 

Working on my Mommy's Day present 2002

I bring all of this up, because, as I said, we celebrated 13 years this summer.

After all these years together, things have only gotten better. 

We both decided that we weren't going to exchange gifts this year until we found out that #13 is the Guitar & Red Eared Slider Anniversary.  So, he got his guitar.  And I got my red-eared slider, named Dribble:

The Boy suggested the name Dribble because he is currently reading the Fudge series of books by Judy Blume.  We love Judy Blume.  Dribble fits him perfectly.  He's my new baby.  He is a people loving turtle.  He loves to be held and will swim up to the glass of his aquarium and play with the kids, put his nose to the glass for kisses and peek his head out of the water to watch you.  He loves to come out and wander around the house with us.  Every night, he cuddles into my arms, and The Dog cuddles by my legs, they both fall asleep while I watch T.V.  I am happy.

Some of you have sent me great, kind, loving compliments on my writing.  The guilt was getting to me.  I was raised to give credit where credit is due.  The real reason the posts are so funny...

Honestly.  The best anniversary gift ever.