Happy Father's Day!

When I think of Father's Day, the very first thing that pops into my mind is June 2005 when I gave Paul a Father's Day card a few days before Father's Day. In that card I told him that I was (finally) pregnant (at that point we had been trying for three years). I drove down to his work and gave him the card in the middle of the day. I remember tears of joy flowing down my cheeks that Father's Day in church during the sermon as I was so excited that Paul was finally going to be a Dad. I thought he'd be a great dad, and I was right about that! He didn't actually get to hold his child in his arms until 2008, but it was definitely love at first sight for him. Due to Nadia being in the NICU and having jaundice, we were very limited in how many minutes a day we could hold her, and I remember being surprised that we were having a little "argument" over whose turn it was to hold her next. One of the most precious moments in my memory of the past six years is the look on Paul's face while he was holding Nadia in a rocking chair in the NICU. Priceless. He loved his little girl so much!!! He's been a great dad these past six years (Nadia will be six years old in 9 days). I think my children are VERY blessed to have him as their father. Last Father's Day I got an amazing picture of Paul with the three kids. It's one of my most favorite photos from the past six years. Sadly this year I didn't get any pictures. The boys were not cooperative today. Well sometime this summer I'll try again to get a good pic of Paul with his three kids.

Waving hi to the fire engines at the parade yesterday

On Friday afternoon I had the kids make him two things while Oliver was napping. Nadia did all the writing on the hand print paper. Ian wrote everything except "hands down" and "2014" on his. I wrote those two things on his paper (he hasn't learned how to write his numbers yet, and I didn't think there was room for him to write "hands down" since he was writing rather large letters). Nadia did all the writing on the printable. I wrote what Ian dictated on his (except he did write his name on it). Nadia wrote that her dad's name is "Paul", and he's "44" years old and "10" feet tall. She said she likes it when "my dad plays with me". His favorite meal is "pizza" (it is one of his favorites!) and his favorite TV show is "Hobbit" (he does like that movie but he's only seen it once so it surprised me that she thought of that). My dad is good at "hugging" (he'll love that answer). I love my dad because "he loves me." Ian told me that My dad's name is "Paul". He is "14" years old. His is as big as "a tree." He has "brown" hair and "blue" eyes. His favorite food is "salad" (cracks me up because I can hardly remember when they've seen him eat a salad). His favorite color is "red." He likes to go to "Friendly's" (ha ha that's where the kids like to go). For fun he likes to "play whale" (a rough house game that the kids love to play with him). My favorite thing to do with my dad is "tackle." I love my dad because "he's the best."

A week ago I bought some Cap'n Crunch cereal because I hadn't bought it in more than a year, and it's one of Paul's three most favorite cereals. I told the kids to keep it a surprise as we would have it for breakfast on Father's Day. On Thursday I made a big batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, which are his favorite. I only make them a couple of times a year because macadamia nuts are SO expensive. He had a steak for dinner (again something I only buy a couple of times a year). The two gifts I bought were a new NY Giants t-shirt for him and a NY Giants red hoodie (size 2T) for Oliver. I find Steeler clothing for the kids at yard sales, but not NY Giant things so I got this for Oliver at Kohl's for Father's Day for Paul. We tried to make the day very special for him! I also called my dad to wish him a happy Father's Day, and Paul's Dad will be spending the day with us tomorrow at Sesame Place.