Happy Father's Day

We're celebrating Father's Day via Skype with Tom today as he doesn't return from New Jersey until Friday night.  I had the girls answer some questions about their dad and packed those along with some construction-papered and crayoned homemade cards into his bag before he left.  The girls know he likes to snack in the evenings, so we also packed him some peanuts (because we're 'nuts' about him), some Reece's Pieces (because we love him to 'pieces'), some M&M's (because we think he is magnificent and marvelous), and some Lays potato chips (because we hope he gets to 'lay' around and watch golf all day).  It stinks he has to be away for work over Father's Day, but he managed to find the silver lining because the U.S. Open is on and he is able to sit and watch golf uninterrupted all day long.  Although he probably won't admit it, I bet he thinks it's pretty great to just turn Skype off when the girls start fighting and whining and go back to watching golf.  Anyhow, I think he is a fantastic dad to Casey and Emily!  I have loved watching him with the girls while they are little and I know he will continue to be as wonderful as they get older.  He makes time to do special one-on-one things with Casey like go to the circus, the water park or take her out to lunch.  He is Emily's biggest champion and protector.  Sometimes being a dad is difficult like when your kids always ask for mommy to put them to bed and not dad.  Or when as a dad you are told your daughter has a diagnosis that will put off the date you had hoped to retire one day in order to work to provide as much of a nest egg for her as possible.  But I'm guessing from the sideline I sit on, being a dad is pretty fun most of the time.  I took a poll today and asked who the best dad in the world was.  2 out of 2 kids polled said Tom was :)  I hope you are reading this, honey!  I love you!!

Daddy and Casey, 2005

Daddy and Emily, 2009

Below are 2 of my favorite 'Daddy' pictures!  I walked into each one and grabbed the camera.  The one on the left is daddy daycare at it's finest: Emily getting her bedtime bottle while daddy watches golf and enjoys a beer :)  The one on the right is daddy multi-tasking while I went to get my hair cut one evening: Emily is along for the ride while daddy makes spaghetti and washes bottles with Casey under foot :)

Daddy taking time out from mowing the yard to swing on the glider with Casey

Daddy and Casey at the zoo, 2006

Daddy caught with tears in his eyes talking to Emily privately one evening on the deck

Holding Emily after spine surgery

Daddy and Casey, 2006

Daddy and his girls, 2011

So Tom is gone and the girls and I get to spend Father's Day with my dad.  My dad is quiet and hard working and I have never once heard him complain about all the sacrifices he has made for our family.  He was always there to build snowmen in the winters, shoot hoops in the driveway, swim in the pool and cheer on every single volleyball match, basketball game and track meet I ever participated in.  He was also there to teach his 3 daughters how to work hard.  As I now spread the mulch around our house or trim bushes or wash cars, I am glad dad didn't raise me to be a girly-girl who needs a man to take care of these things.  I like knowing that I can use an electric drill, a jigsaw, a hedge trimmers, a hammer or an orbital sander if I need to.  Maybe I didn't like to always help him as a teenager, but I know in hindsight what a gift he was giving me by teaching me how to do so many things and the importance of being a hard worker.  When Tom met my dad, he nicknamed him 'MacGuyver' because he could probably build or fix anything with some caulk, wood shims and an extension cord.  He built a shed (I remember being up on the roof hammering away when my uncles and cousins came to help build it) that houses an endless collection of treasures and junk.  His workshop is his sanctuary, especially now in his retirement.   I know the accumulation of everything in the workshop drives my mom crazy sometimes but the space makes my dad happy. My dad has always loved to tinker and work and build things.  Even my girls have bookcases, doll bunk beds, Barbie furniture and devices that we use for therapy - all made by Papa.  Dad and his workshop go hand-in-hand.  It's where he taught me skills I am happy to have learned and where he has built some memories for my daughters.  We're missing daddy today, but we're happy to be here with Papa this Father's Day, too.

Papa with Casey, 2005

Papa dancing with Emily and Adysen, 2011

Papa and the special push wagon he built for Emily to use while she was wearing her brace after surgery

You know that song in the movie 'The Little Mermaid' where Ariel is in the cave she keeps her treasures in and she sings about her collection?  There is a verse in the song that says something like "I have whoosits and whatists galoore.  You want thingamabobs....."  I think of that every time I am in here :)

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Camp buy me love

Whew! This past week has flown by! On Monday Tom left for a 12 day trip to New Jersey for work. He doesn't travel often for work and I'm grateful for that. I can manage the daily operations at home and with the girls, I just like it better when we're together. My mom offered to come spend a week with me and the girls, so she came Monday. Monday was also the first day of Girl Scout day camp for Casey. This was her first year going to camp and I had heard the girls that went last year had fun, so I was excited for her to go. So Monday was a busy day and from then on, the week just went quickly.

My parents live in Ottawa, a small town amidst the cornfields in northwest Ohio, where I grew up. Aside from the local Wal-Mart, the closest retail establishment to Ottawa is a 25 minute drive. So when my mom comes to visit us, we mostly end up shopping. When I was growing up my mom hardly ever bought anything for herself. My dad worked long, hard hours to assure that we had everything we needed and some things we wanted. None of us dressed in designer label anything and hand-me-downs were passed on, patched as required. My mom and dad always 'made due' with the things they had; I rarely remember ever going shopping for them. In turn, we always took a family vacation each summer to some place memorable and we had a pretty great above-ground pool at our disposal from morning to midnight every day it was warm. So when my mom comes to visit now and wants to go shopping, I like to think she's just trying to catch up for all those years she never indulged on anything. I used to think maybe shopping just wasn't my mom's thing. It was my thing. I was wrong. Maybe the resources just weren't available to her to tap this unknown interest. Because my mom and I can, and have, put some marathon hours perusing the retail establishments together in Cincinnati. All that saving and skimping my parents did while we were growing up has allowed them to enjoy and afford all of their needs and wants now. I enjoy watching my mom buy things for herself and spoil the grand kids as she sees fit.  And I imagine the management at the Kenwood Towne Centre, Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, HomeGoods, TJMaxx, and IKEA are pretty happy to see my mom roll into town, too. :)

Graeter's ice cream (good thing Nana likes ice cream)

Coloring contest teammates

Coloring contest teammates

As I suspected, Girl Scout camp was a lot of fun for Casey.  I dropped her off at 8:15 each morning and picked her up at 3:30 each afternoon.  I was told that she cried the first day after she didn't pass the swim test each girl had to take to leave the shallow area.  Not every girl even tried to take the test and I am proud that she gave it a try and was competitive enough to care that she didn't pass.  If you ask Casey what her favorite part of camp was, she might say swimming in the pool (which was still a lot of fun in the shallow area), or her group getting lost on the nature walk when vans had to be called to retrieve them, or the super silly-fun names the older Girl Scout helpers made up for themselves (Smoothie, Cool Whip, Dory..) or the many repeater songs they learned.  Either way, every afternoon at pickup, the voices of little girls lifted from the arriving buses to the tunes of chants and songs (repeater songs) and it was fun to be a bystander to it all.  They got off the buses looking exhausted, yet excited to tell about their day.  It was a little sisterhood for them; maybe a little girls' sorority of some kind for one week of the summer.  She is already talking about nailing the swim test next summer at camp.  'Atta girl :)

Arriving home from day camp

This morning we packed up Nana and ourselves and came to my parents' house to hang out here for the next 5 days just because it's summer and we can.  Amy, Lorie, Jason, Braeden and Adysen came over today and it was great having the family together.  All that was missing was Tom :(   Dad (A.K.A. Papa) set up the kiddie pool and the slip-n-slide for the kids and the grill for burgers and dogs.  I love seeing the girls with their cousins and they all had a ball splashing, sliding, swining, biking and batting.  I look forward to some more of these moments in the next few days.  Knowing that the nearest Target is over an hour drive away leaves me feeling a little panicky, though - I mean what if I need something from the dollar bin in the next few days?!?  But fun memories will be made with family for my girls and I like that a lot.  That's something you just can't buy.

Casey, Braeden & Papa setting up

Emily contemplating if the water is too cold

Braeden sliding

Casey sliding

Helping Papa

The little girls' turn on the slip-n-slide

Casey helping Emily and Ady play baseball