Father's Day

Father's day around here was nice and relaxing this year.

Roddy chose sandwiches for lunch after church to go with the Slurpee we picked up on the way home.  As we ate, the kids told all the things they love about their Daddy and the ways they want to be like him.

For dessert after naptime ~ Chocolate Cherry Pie!  Seriously the best dessert ever. 

Roddy kicked our behinds in Scrabble when he started out with this 64 point word.  He used all of his letters on his first word earning him a bonus 50 points.

Then Mom and Dad came over after church that night and visited for a bit.

I don't know about the dads, but it was a blessed day for me!

Inspiring

When I went to read my Bible this morning I remembered it was downstairs. So being lazy, I decided to borrow Roddy's. After looking up a couple verses I had on my mind that I wanted to share with the kids later, I turned to Proverbs 19.


At the bottom of the page I saw this...


I can take no credit for this. God gave me a husband who encourages me all the time. He's a perfect example of love hopes all things. He praises me for things I am not. And because he does that, it makes me want to be those things.


I want to live up to the positive expectations he has for me. His words speak life to me.


I would never claim to be a prudent wife, but if my husband thinks I am, I'm inspired to live up to that.


Now, how am I going to inspire him with my words? or my children?

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

and those who love it, will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 18:21

Monday's Motto

"Enjoy those kids today!"

This is what Roddy tells me everyday when he leaves for work.  Good advice.  Enjoy them now, before I know it, they will be grown and out of the house. I will miss all the work, interuptions, and messes.

14 Years

Fourteen years ago, today was a Saturday. Not just any Saturday, though.

For breakfast, I ate poached eggs on toast. This was normal because my dad often spoiled me by making my breakfast.

Later that morning I drove to a salon to have my hair styled in an elegant up-do.

I don't know what time I arrived at the church but once there, the final preparations began. Undergarments on. Make up done. Dress and veil saved for last.

Then pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

Finally, music. Hand-picked by yours truly. Mom took her place in the pew up front.

I came out of the bride's dressing room to meet my dad who would be my escort. And from the side of the foyer I watched my maids-of-honor enter the sanctuary, the doors closing behind them only to be opened again at just the right moment.

We took our places - my dad and I. Not a jitter or butterfly to be found.

Then it was time! The double doors swung open and I could see him. My groom. I caught my breath and almost started to cry. Dad asked if I was okay. I said, "He's just so beautiful!"

And he is so beautiful.

We exchanged vows that I mean more today than I did then. Then I knew him for 8 1/2 months. Today, after 14 years (168 months, 5,113 days) of marriage I know him and love him even more!!

I'm thankful to God for letting me marry the man beyond my dreams and for giving him the strength to stick with me through thick and thin!

Happy Birthday, Roddy!

Happy Birthday to the BEST Husband and Father Ever!

I couldn't resist doing a little birthday bragging on my hubby because he really is the BEST!


I don't know why God allowed me to journey through life with this man but I am so thankful He did! He is patient with me. He is kind. He has a servant's heart. He chooses to love me unconditionally because many times I am unlovable. I don't know what I'd do without him!

He is my best friend! My confidant! I know my heart is safe with him.


He is the best dad! He seeks to lead our family the way God would have him to. He makes us a priority by putting us before work or extra curricular activities.


When I talk to the kids about how wonderful God is, I start with their daddy. I'll say something like, "You know how awesome your daddy is? God is even more awesome than that!" So they know God must be pretty great because their daddy is tough to beat!


I love that I can say to the boys, "If you don't see your daddy doing that, you shouldn't either."And I tell Emma and Iris to be sure to marry a man just like their daddy when they grow up because they won't find any better example for a future mate.

Roddy, thank you for marrying me! Thank you for leading me. Thank you for loving me like Christ loves His church. Thank you for being the best husband and father! Thank you for living for Jesus and living like Jesus. I love you more than you know!

Legos

Can you ever have too many Legos? Not in our house! We love them. I mostly like sorting and organizing them but Daddy and the kids love building with them. They love the kits and they love designing their own.
Daddy is the resident Lego genius with a bunch a little prodigies following in his footsteps. Here are just a few of the models cooked up by Daddy's imagination.Iris made these...

...while Gray built a toll booth.

Lessons From My Hubby

Have you ever screwed up? Who hasn't?

And how you do feel when someone rubs your nose in it? Lectures you about it? Gives you a guilt trip over it? Does it help? Heck no!

So why do we ever do that to our children? I'm guilty of it.

Let me tell you how my husband handled our oldest son last night.

But first some background:

Hubby's company buys tickets to awesome games like the Capital 1 Bowl and Champs Bowl and season tickets to Magic games. They offer the tickets to clients as a little PR. We also get tickets for the games.

Last month, he got 6 tickets for us to go to the Champs Bowl. We invited 2 friends and took our 2 oldest boys (Little R and Handsome).

All was great until the fireworks after the National Anthem. Little R hates live fireworks. Too loud he says. So Hubby and I spent probably half the game with him either in the bathroom (much quieter) or walking around outside the bleachers because he was too upset and scared to go back in.

Last night, Hubby had 2 tickets for the Magic game. He usually takes one of four older kids. (This is his third season doing this and they go in the same order all the time.) This was Little R's turn. Hubby warned him ahead of time about the possibility of fireworks which he has seen at previous Magic games. Little R promised he'd be fine.

They left at 6:15pm and were headed home by 7:15pm. Yep! $120 worth of tickets down the drain.

When my sweet husband came in the door, I asked him if he yelled. Nope. Did he lecture? No.

He felt terrible wasting those tickets and was not pleased in the least. But instead of rubbing his son's nose in it, you wanna know what he did? He put aside his emotions to build their relationship. They did some male bonding over a game of computer football.

Think about the impact that is going to have on this child. It brings me to tears. Our son will be able to look back and say, "I may have really disappointed my dad, but he loved on me regardless!"

What a lesson he taught me.