Happy Father’s Day! Have you ever heard that semi famous quote about being a dad? It reads: Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone truly special to be a Dad. I firmly believe this to be true with the men in my life.

I am so lucky to have had an awesome dad growing up. He coached my softball teams. He was in the front row of all of my dance recitals with the big, boxy video camera on his shoulder. He stood in line at 5am for hours because a limited number of Furbies were being released and I wanted one. He never missed a father / daughter dance. He made sure I knew every Elton John, Billy Joel and, The Beatles song before I got my own car and chose my own music. These artists remain some of my favorites today. As I got older, I was privileged enough to have my dad walk me down the aisle as I married my best friend. He helped me buy my first car. He was there ripping out flooring as soon as we closed on our first house. I also got to witness something truly special, which was watching my dad become a grandfather. He was waiting close by when all of my children were born. He visited me in the hospital for long periods of time when I would have otherwise been alone. He dropped everything and came to my bedside when I called him crying to tell him that Jackson was undergoing emergency surgery. He met me in the hospital in the middle of the night on Christmas when Joseph was having trouble breathing from croup and he knew Todd was home with the other kids. He went out and bought jewelry for Taylor when she called him and said she wanted him to please buy her something special for graduation. My mom may have had a helping hand with that last one… He’s always been there for me and now he’s there for my kids, and for that, I’m incredibly thankful. His love for my children is amazing to see. He has so much fun being their Brampy, and they adore him just as much. I love you, Dad!

When Todd and I started dating, I soon realized that the was the man I wanted to love forever; he was the man I wanted to have children with. We discussed kids many times before getting engaged, and it is something we both saw in our immediate future. He was worried that he wouldn’t be a good father. He was worried that he’d be too old to be a fun dad. For reference, he’s seven years older than me. I was so glad to prove him wrong on this one. He’s not only a great dad, he’s an incredible dad. He works long hours to provide for us. He ensures that his time home with us all together is well spent. A lot of weekends, he will let me sleep in a bit (since I’m an insomniac and am usually up all night) while he gets up with the kids. I can’t tell you how much it warms my heart to walk downstairs and see him playing blocks with the kids. He’s never shied away from changing a diaper or helping out with laundry. He knows that we are a team, and treats all of us accordingly. The kids adore him and really look up to him. Taylor and her dad have started a special tradition of sorts with each other. They love to watch Tom and Jerry together on Saturday mornings. He teaches the kids things, and explains things to them such as how things work, and fields a million questions of “why?” At the same time, he teaches them, by example of how to treat someone you love since he treats me so well. Whenever Taylor sees us hugging, kissing, or even holding hands she exclaims: “Awww! Mommy and Daddy are going to get married again!”

Taylor made him a special project (at school) for Father’s Day, and I think it truly sums up her relationship with Todd. It really doesn’t get much better than that. We are so lucky that he is our guy.

This morning, I finally got to be the mystery reader for Taylor’s class! I was supposed to do it a few months ago, which ended up being one of the only snow days of the year. Then, we tried for last week, but Taylor was sick, the entire week. Her teachers were amazing to work with and allowed me to come today, on the last day of class. I read a book called The Book with No Pictures and the kids absolutely loved it. They had such a blast and laughed so much. Taylor was so proud that her mommy was the reader. Later in the day, she said to me “Mom, you were the best mystery reader out of all the ones who came to our class and my friends thought you were so silly!” Priceless.

I felt terrible that Taylor had to miss her last full week of school, but feel like we came full circle since she missed her first few days this year due to sickness as well. The poor girl had a high fever and tummy troubles. We spent a lot of time lounging around, watching movies and relaxing. Ranger knew she didn’t feel well, and he watched her like a hawk, which was adorable.

Since today was technically her last day, I broke out the sign we use to mark such occasions. It’s not as beautiful and colorful like it normally is because my dry-erase options were quite limited. The boys apparently used up most of the markers and ruined them by making “polka dots and circles”. They slam the markers against the white board repeatedly to make their beautiful masterpieces. Taylor couldn’t care less and was happy with the sign, so that’s what counts.

After a fun last day at school, we decided to have a water fight outside. It started with “Be careful. Don’t get Mommy. I have my watch on and my phone in my hand.” It ended up with the kids literally hosing me down (I had removed all electronics). Todd and I had a little water battle of our own, and the kids thought it was the funniest thing of all time. We were all soaked, but completely happy. We ended the evening with friends coming over for more water fun, popsicles outside, and warm baths. This was the first night in a long time that I didn’t have to ask the kids to get in bed more than once. They were exhausted.

We made the best out of every single moment we had together this past weekend! I seriously love this family of mine. On Friday night, we went to Taylor’s school for a pajama party. They had a viewing of the movie, Trolls. They served pizza, popcorn, and juice. All of the kids left with a plastic Trolls cup filled to the brim with goodies. The kids thought it was so much fun, and I have to say, it was a pretty great event! While Joseph mostly hung out next to me, watching the movie, Jackson went wherever his big sister went. Every move she made, every position she laid in to watch the movie, every friend she went to say hello to – he did the same. He’s like her shadow and it is so amazingly cute to see. Taylor was very gracious about it and included him into her circle of school friends. This girl makes me so proud.

 

Saturday morning started off with a fantastic visit to the dentist for all three kids (aside from the fact that it was $700+. Ouch.)  It’s always very daunting to take them all to an appointment like that, but they were super well behaved! We were complimented on their cuteness, their dental hygiene, and their good behavior and manners, which always makes me feel good.

Since the kids did so well at the dentist, it was only appropriate to reward them with a visit to the fair, where they each consumed their own large cotton candy. Don’t worry, we helped brush their teeth extra that night. The kids had a blast going on all of the rides. It was amazing to see them want to be with each other most of the time, but each do their own things as well. They chose race cars and motorcycles that were next to each other, and always looked around to make sure they could see their siblings at all times. One of the rides we went on as a family was a cobra mini roller coaster. Todd and I only went on it because the kids weren’t allowed to ride alone and they badly wanted to ride it. We forked over what seemed like one trillion dollars worth of tickets (they required accompanying adults to pay for the torture they were about to endure) and buckled up! We took a semi-cute family selfie before the fun began. I’m using that word very loosely. That ride was torture. I felt like I was going to barf. Every single sharp turn that the damn cobra slithered around resulted in me banging into the side of the ride. I was so sore and bruised the next day. My kids had a phenomenal time though, so that’s what counts.

My brother and parents even met up with us for some rides, which the kids enjoyed too. I love seeing their faces light up for silly things like rides. Who would have thought it would be fun to go around and around in a circle on a stationary motorcycle? Kids: that’s who. Everything is so exciting for them.

We ended up having the boys take short naps to recharge and then spent some time at the beach with the kids and dog later that night. Ranger is so in his element at the beach. He loves running around and smelling the salty air. He also likes to try to eat shells, which the kids laugh at, as I stick my hand down his throat to retrieve them. We walked for quite a bit, dug in the sand, collected shells, had dessert I brought with us in picnic form, and watched the kids chase birds. We figured they’d be exhausted and sleep late the following day, but that didn’t really happen. They fell asleep close to 11pm, and were up by 8am. I know I should be grateful for the 8am part, but kid time is for the birds.

Sunday was mostly spent lounging around, as it was quite rainy, but we did spend a few hours in the morning walking around the nature center. We ended the night with ice cream and grocery shopping.

 

Although we had an amazing weekend and this post makes it sound like we are a picture perfect television family, you know I keep it real. I had to take down the shower curtains and wash and bleach them and the bathroom twice this weekend. Twice. The boys get overly excited about standing up to pee, and they completely overshoot the toilet. I literally find puddles next to the toilet. I’m pretty sure we are going to need to repaint soon too. I’ve instituted a new sit to pee rule, which isn’t exactly doing good things for my popularity, but so be it.

I also was getting the kids out of the tub on Saturday night when one of them sneezed. I felt something, looked down, and there was a booger on my foot. I guess I’ve reached a point in parenthood where I’m not really phased anymore. Instead of being grossed out, I snapped a picture for you lovely people to see, and went on with my night. At least it wasn’t poop. Little victories!