Happy Father's Day

Feeling so blessed on a day like this like I have such amazing men in my life that have loved me, cared for me and been there for me in every way.

This man isn't my father biologically speaking, but he is my father because he married my mom who was doing it alone with three kids and loved me as his own. When I was in 2nd grade, he adopted me and has been so supportive and loving every day since. 

And then there's my husband. 

Where do I start to explain what an amazing father he is. He's so hands-on from diaper changing, playing catch, coaching soccer teams and the list goes on and on. 

Here's a small token of my gratitude:

I love you babe and can't imagine a better dad for our children. 

Good Sport

We had Campbell's birthday party this weekend even though his actual birthday isn't for over a week. We went wild with the cookie monster theme. It was a lot of work but after all of it, it was worth it because my soon-to-be 3-year-old said, "I love dis party."

One of my neighbors/friends/co-workers, Anna, came over and saw Justin all decked out in a cookie monster shirt, snapping pictures for me and said, "He's such a good sport." And I couldn't think of a better way to describe him as a father...a good sport.

I mean anyone willing to stand in the 105 degree heat to sacrifice his knuckles for his 3 year old birthday party, I'd say is definitely a good sport.



A good sport in the true sense of the word...

 
I'm convinced that when every father hears the news that they're having a boy, they go straight to these visions in their head. Not so much the diaper changing and the rocking at the crack of dawn, but these moments that father/son TV moments are made of. 

A good sport in being hands-on and taking whatever waves come his way.

A good sport, driving 2 hours and spending the weekend to take my growing-up-way-too-fast 5 year old to church camp because it was so important to both of us.

 
Kissing boo boos and giving a frisbee pointer or two...another check mark for the good sport column.


Putting on a guitar straight from work to play guitar for the boys' VBS...good sport? Yep, I'd say so!

But there's a million pictures that I don't capture. The birthday invitations that are made, the endless hours of painting nurseries and bedrooms so that his kids can proudly say, "My dad did THAT!" The books read, prayers said and blankets tucked tight so monsters don't stand a chance.

When I dreamed of getting married when I was younger I had this vision in my head and what I wanted in a husband and father to my kids. And he's it....100% my vision. Probably the biggest compliment that anyone ever gave me about him was from a good friend of mine at church. She has daughters recently out of college and she said, "I pray my girls find their Justin." 

I prayed for my Justin and I'm so so thankful for him. So on this father's day and everyday, Justin, I just want to tell you that I love you and thank you for being such a good sport.

Fort Worth Scaredy Cats

To kick off Father's Day weekend, we packed up the boys and headed to a minor league Fort Worth Cats game. It's right by our house and it's so nice that we can kind of get our feet wet before he hit the major league baseball games with both boys. Last time, it didn't go so well with Nolan. Long story short... Nolan hates fireworks.

I'll admit I was preparing myself for a little bit of forced family fun since it was nearly 100 degrees that particular day and Campbell will not stay in any place for more than 5 seconds. But I was pleasantly surprised that both both were great during the game. Nolan was captivated by the players. Campbell was more captivated with the Cat mascot and pointed him out every minute of the game. We mentioned to Nolan that fireworks would be after the game. He seemed a little worried but said, "I'm going to be really brave, mommy. They're just lights in the sky, right mommy?" We just kept reassuring him that he was going to love them all the while thinking, "Hope he doesn't flip out."

I don't know what it is about baseball that just makes you happy. You just feel so American watching it. And the stadium is right by the river so we had a couple of people ride up on horses...only in Texas.

You could just see that Justin was eating up every second of having his boys there to watch the game with him.

Everything was going so well. I even thought for a moment...wow, things are getting so much easier now that both boys are getting older. Why do I do that to myself? Why do I allow myself to let my guard down? The Cats won and then it was fireworks time. We didn't know the stadium was going to go pitch black.

Cue the meltdown...

Then the fireworks started....and so did the crying screaming. I know the people in front of us were hating us. Justin had Campbell and I had Nolan and in unison we were holding both of their ears and pleading for them to calm down. To make matters worse, we chose to sit closest to the fireworks and so they were really close. At this point we're so far away from the car that by the time we'd get to the car, the fireworks would be over. So we just toughed it out. It was one loooooong fireworks show. I think Nolan said, "Is it over yet?" at least 30 times.

That's it, I'm buying earmuffs for the 4th of July.

Top 10 {Dad style}

 And here are the Top 10 reasons that I know that I married the best father for my children:

10. He makes me laugh...even at his crazy corny dad jokes. From day one I fell in love with his sense of humor and my boys think he's the funniest person alive. And life isn't worth living without laughter.

9. He puts up with my Forced Family Fun better known as FFF. Bluebonnets, family pictures ALL.THE.TIME, you name it...he's right there with me playing along even it it's torture for all of us.

8. He's a hands-on dad. Diaper changing, T-ball, bath time, cooking...

7. He's silly...like he can be down right run-through-the-sprinkler-like-a-5-year-old silly.

6. There's no doubt that my children love him because he loved them first.

5.  He looks up to his dad and everything his dad did for him during his childhood and wants to be just like him to our boys.

4.  He loves and respects me and isn't afraid to show our boys.

3.  He's INSANELY talented...it's really quite sickening. Artist, Athlete, Intelligent, Musical...he can do it all. Aaaannd, he wants to teach our boys.

2. He takes time to have to have one-on-one time with each of the boys so that they each feel like they're having some bonding time.

1. Lastly, because he's ..... just him. Everything about him. How could you not love this?

We love you, Justin. You are simply THE perfect father for our boys. I couldn't do it without you. Our family wouldn't be complete without you! Happy Father's Day!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Father's Day Justin!

Before we ever had kids, I knew that Justin was going to be a great dad. My nieces and nephews would ask, "Where's Justin?" as soon as I saw them like I was chopped liver. Kids just flock to him. But I'm truly blessed to have such an amazing father to my children. He is such a wonderful example of how to treat a woman, be a servant to others, and love unconditionally. He's not afraid to kiss boo boos, change diapers, cook, or bathe our boys. He's definitely an involved dad. Our boys absolutely adore him simply because he adored them first. So here's to an amazing man who is the best father to our children. I couldn't ask for a better role model. We love you, Justin!