Father's Day

It is always a challenge to come up with ideas for Father's Day gifts. When the kids were younger, I usually had Ryan in tears every year. As time went on and I became busier, sometimes sick with pregnancies, it was a struggle just to remember Father's Day. This year I have (almost) gone crazy being a "single" parent while Ryan is studying for boards. I feel that I can never catch up. It didn't help that I was sick for 10 days and had tons of projects that I had to complete by a non-flexible deadline. Regardless, I still wanted Ryan to have a good Father's Day. I wanted it so badly that I even took my kids out in the 110 degree heat just to take pictures for the present. I think it turned out darling! 

 I thought the kids reasons for loving their dad were very cute. It took a while to get the right type of answers, since at first they all said because he is nice. Well, yeah, but that is not what we are looking for. What does he DO that you love? And then we got the good answers. I find it very important that all the kids really love just having a parent spend time with them.

I topped off his gift with a few treats in a fantastic manly paper bag. The girls loved helping me put it together!

 Ryan is such a fantastic dad. He finds it so important to sit down with the kids on a regular basis and discuss things with them. He really gets down to their level and explains a lot of simple yet important topics. He tries his hardest to take the kids on dates regularly. He really tries to have such a close 1 on 1 relationship with each of the kids. I really love that about him. 

Everyone that hears the story of how Ryan and I met usually find it pretty interesting. By interesting, I mean funny. And by funny, I don't mean comical. We were at my condo for a Halloween get-together with my roommates and a few friends. I really couldn't tell you what we did, but that night we both knew we would marry each other. The way I knew was that I looked over at him (and by "him" I mean "his feet"), yes, I looked at his feet and thought, "those are definitely great dad/husband feet", and I knew he was going to be my husband. Why do I tell that story? Because it is Father's Day, and I am married to the best dad my children could ever have. I certainly love him dearly and am so thankful every day for the wonderful person he is and the wonderful father he is to our five beautiful children!