Why I love Father's Day.

Father's Day is a great day. I love celebrating the dad's in my life.  It starts pretty simply. I have a great dad.

Don't you love the picture below!! That's my dad and me as a toddler. I have so many memories tied up in my dad being an active part of my life. He wasn't just in the room while we did stuff, he was a part of it.

As I got older I was able to learn all kinds of art stuff and some of the sign business from my dad. Things that I considered to be normal.. like the smell of paint and how to pick vinyl.

When I went off to college, Dad sent me letters and cards. He even sent me a hug one year for Valentine's day. Here is the envelope. It has his arms cut out in heavy paper glued to a cardboard backer.. It it truly a prized gift.

Then... when Doug and I started dating and got engaged, we showed off my ring and told family on Father's Day of 1998!  Later that day we went to a Texas Ranger game with family!

I know that some people don't have great dad's and men in their life. It truly makes me sad. Not only was my dad a great example of a godly man growing up, but yeah, I'll brag, my Grandad and my Papa were awesome as well.

My Grandad taught me to love books and to make wise decisions. He took me to the library and by his financial adviser's office to check on the stock market! At 90 something years old he still is the example of wise council that I use.

And then there was my Papa. He died when I was a freshman in high school, but oh was he fun!  He lived for loving others! He served and loved and taught me to give just to give. He didn't have tons of money, but the money he had he spent buying trinkets and little gifts for people. I appreciate this example so much.

Just in case you were wondering... I've got an awesome Mom and Grandmother and had a great Grandma as well.

And there you have it. I am one lucky girl.

Father's Day 2012

Father's Day.

The girls were so excited about their gift for Doug that we celebrated Father's Day on Saturday night.  First we did cards. All the girls made cards with Lexi even drawing a picture of the house.

 Then it was gift time.

Yes, they chose a double boiler.

Doug is totally into cooking these days and wants to master a white queso sauce.

He needs a double boiler to do that.

So, yes it does make a little sense.

And... one of our friends makes the most delicious chocolate sauce known to man and it requires a double boiler. Maddie decided that if Doug had the double boiler, he could learn how to make the sauce. :)

And then Kylie picked out a smiley face spatula. She said it was for him to use while making pancakes. That girl always has an agenda!

One good picture and then wildness!

Yes, Kylie is jumping on the couch.....

It is so fitting that we end up taking pictures in the family room, where all the junk of the day, kid toys and my craft stuff get to be in the pictures. We do have pretty parts of the house. But this room is where we live.



An album for a Daddy and of course, more scrap pages and cards!

Yes, Father’s Day has come and gone, but I wanted to show you all what I made for Doug.  These years are speeding past and I wanted to make an album that we could go back and look at all of the Father’s Days easily.  So here you have it.  A picture from each year taken on Father’s Day (or as close to it as possible). 
Amazing isn’t it! To make sure that we will have matching pages for the future, I have gone ahead and made 20 pages to finish the book. With kids spread out in ages as far as ours are, it’s a lot of years in order to get them all grown!

The above album is 8x8, so I had some great scraps. With the leftovers, I have made some regular 12x12 scrapbook pages and cards.  Here they are. I have to say, I love my manly cards!!

Thanks for stopping by.  Go do something creative today!

The Greatest Gift a Father Can Give

I wish I could remember the name and lyrics to a song I have sung before for special events.. but I can’t .  What I remember of it is… “The greatest gift a father can give, is a life lived for Jesus.”

Oh how true this is.  A life lived for Jesus means so many things.  It means putting the needs of others above yourself.  It means showing your children how to take care of other people. It means living out faith more than just speaking about it. 

I have had the privilege of having such a dad.  My dad is a great man who does his best to live a faithful life everyday.  There is just something inordinately special about a dad and his girls.

Dad’s may not get this.  I don’t know if my dad realizes that the “little things” he did over the years still hold special meaning for me.  More than that, these “little things” taught my friends what a dad’s love could be as well.

Here is one example: When I was in college, my dad sent me this package…

Inside was this: It’s a hug from my dad!
It says, “Since I can’t always be where you are.. I am sending you my very special “daddy hug” to you to use anytime. Just wrap the arms around and interlock the fingers.”

And yes, it was used a lot. By me and my friends.

Moving to now, how wonderful it is that my children have this same kind of daddy!  My girls are learning about God the Father from a daddy who loves them and isn’t afraid to show it!

Here he is playing the Angelina Ballerina game with the girls.  This includes doing ballet moves!

   

And here they all are today, Father’s Day 2010.

What a privilege it is to have two incredible men in my life.