Happy Father's Day!

Today we are also having Nadia's first birthday celebration of the week, but I wanted to make sure that didn't mean we overlooked celebrating Paul, Uncle Al, and Pop Pop on this Father's Day! A few days ago I had the kids each make Paul a card. I showed them a bunch of choices on Pinterest (a site I only visit a few times a year), and they each made their selection. Oliver picked one with berries (involved making thumbprints with paint), Nadia picked one with a minion, and Ian found two that he liked (both related to Star Wars) so I worked both ideas into his card. I also had Nadia fill out a questionnaire, and I had the boys answer some questions and filled theirs out for them. The one the boys did is the same one I had Nadia and Ian do last year. Some questions they all answered correctly. For example they all know his name is Paul (I honestly didn't expect Oliver to know that) and that he has blue eyes. Oliver guessed Paul is 3 years old, and Ian guessed Paul is 52 years old. Even though Ian is a lot closer to the correct answer (45), I think Paul will like Oliver's answer better. Ian said Paul's favorite food is bacon, and Oliver said it is Captain Crunch. Paul does like both foods although neither would be classified as his favorite. Oliver said his favorite thing to do with Daddy is "go to the playground," Ian said (no shock here) "build legos," and Nadia said "do chess." One of Nadia's blanks was "He loves to ___" and nadia said "hug." I think Paul liked that answer! He laughed because she wrote "back in the day" in the blank after "He always says ___."

It's nice that these holidays exist which force me to get out the paint and other craft supplies. I will never win any awards for being the most "crafty" mom. My blood pressure spikes when we do these projects. I just don't like messes! It's something I need to continue to work on as a mom. I know the kids love it. I also had purchased three gifts for Paul for Father's Day (since he has three kids): a bag of cherry Twizzlers, a new mousepad for his computer (with photos of the kids on it - the one he had was so old that Oliver wasn't on it), and a new mug for his tea (with photos of the kids on it). Shutterfly is my main source of gifts for grandmas and sometimes also for Daddy! I confess I didn't get him anything special for his Father's Day breakfast like I usually do, but we did have a special lunch and dinner to celebrate Father's Day and Nadia's 7th birthday.

Paul's parents came up and joined us at church for the second service, and we picked up pizza at Ciro's on the way home for our lunch. Uncle and Al and Aunt Millie came about three hours later (they were busy delivering cakes). Nadia opened up presents and cards from Aunt Millie, Grandma, Aunt Wendy, Aunt Yvonne, and Great Gram. She was thrilled with each and every gift. She got two dolls - Cinderella and Jasmine, a dress, a pair of sandals, a game, $10, Little House on the Prairie paper dolls, a Steelers shirt, tights, and a pony that she can't wait to paint. She'll be opening her gifts from Paul and I on Wednesday. After she opened her  presents, we enjoyed a dinner of corn on the cob, Grandma's baked beans, hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, strawberries, deviled eggs, and Nadia's birthday cake. Nadia had requested a strawberry Mulan cake. It was delicious! We had various princess decorations up around the kitchen as well as birthday banners, balloons, etc. I think the menfolk had a nice Father's Day, and I believe Nadia's birthday week got off to a great start! Paul has been an excellent father the past seven years, and I have absolutely loved being Nadia's mom for the past almost seven years. I love her more than words could express. Monday and Tuesday should be rather "ordinary" days, but Wednesday (her actual birthday) we will get back into birthday celebration mode for our girl!