Belated Father's Day post

I love this man.

Chris loves being a Dad and chooses those boys and our family, in big and small ways, every day. 

Even on the crazy days, when the boys are driving us bonkers and the house is way louder than I'm sure is good for anyone's ears, he and I, we're a good team. He brings out the best in our boys and in me.

Happy Father's Day Chris! 

Saturday night at the beach. 

A late night BBQ is better than nothing!

Being as though yesterday was Father's Day, I'd hoped to blog something. But, like most days lately, the day got away from me. I used to blog in the evenings when the boys are all asleep. However, now we have Owen, who is very awake in the evenings and wants me all to himself! He doesn't want me doing anything else and for now, he's king, so I happily oblige.

Yesterday, while I'm sure some dads were getting a break, Chris continued working hard to keep our not so little family running. Sometime between breaking up fights and getting peed on, I told him that I was sorry he wasn't getting to relax at all. In true Chris fashion he said, "It's okay, someday I will." 

We actually had a really fun day with the boys. A highlight of the day was when we filled the pool and gave the boys sponges and a canister of shaving cream so they could have a car wash. They all played together so nicely, and for a long time!! It was a Father's Day miracle! Chris and I were able to actually sit with our coffee and have a conversation while watching them play.

Owen, 3 weeks

Chris is a great Dad in so many ways but I think one of the things that I'm most grateful for, is how present he is in their lives. He loves to be with his boys and is there for the fun stuff, the hard stuff, and the monotonous stuff. Always prioritizing the needs of our family above all else. What more could I wish for them?

One of the things Chris had said that he wanted to do on Father's Day was grill out. Finally, at 9:30 p.m. he got his wish! I don't eat meat, but I sat with him on the deck, in the quiet, and we chatted as he ate his grilled chicken and drank his glass of wine. Well deserved!

and look at Olive patiently waiting!

Rockstar

Our weekend was pretty good. Saturday, as predicted, was beautiful! The first thing I did on Saturday morning was grab a cup of coffee and run around opening all the windows. Finally, we could open the windows and feel the wonderful warm breeze. It was delightful...

That is until all four of our darling children started melting down for various reasons. All at once. Screaming, hollering, falling to the floor dramatically and crying. The timing was almost comical except that it wasn't. I was just sure you could hear them all over the neighborhood.

So I ran around closing all the windows again. Ha! Perhaps we'll stick with central air this summer.

Finally we got outside and they calmed down. Fresh air is a beautiful thing.

We worked a lot on the garden which is coming along. Chris was able to get the garden beds completed. No more dirt pile! Yay!

Next up, we need to build a fence to go around it, put mulch or something along the paths and of course plant the seeds. I love to build a vertical lettuce garden out of gutters up the side of the house, but that may be pushing it this year. We'll see.

The absolute highlight of my weekend though was when Chris decided to mow the lawn.

"Okay, I'll watch the kids in the yard while you mow" I'd said.

Chris started up the mower and this apparently cued our boys to SPRINT to their lawnmowers. They  raced as fast as they could to get a mower and then fell in line behind Chris. I was laughing so hard because it was so darn cute.

"Seriously, what does it feel like to be such a rockstar in their eyes?!?" I asked Chris.

Our boys love to be like daddy! He does all the "cool" stuff. I mean, I only carried them, birthed them, and keep them fed all day long with as much home cooked food as I can make.... but that's all boring stuff.

:)

It's all good. Besides, apparently no one is as good at kissing "boo-boos" and "owies" as Mommy. That's my turf.

March madness

My husband made us waffles this morning... yum! Totally satisfying my pregnancy appetite this morning. I was even able to take my waffles and sneak away hide for a few minutes, which is how I've found myself here. Blogging, looking out the window over our backyard and eating waffles in peace and quiet. Lovely. It's the little things....

The best part of my waffles though?

Our homemade maple syrup. I gotta give props to my husband who I thought was loosing his mind when he started making his own taps out of piping and asking me to save all milk containers.

"I'm going to start making maple syrup" he announced one day early in March.

"How do you even know how to do that??" I'd replied.

That's often my response to his project ideas because I don't have a clue how to do stuff like this! If nothing else, I'd have to read up on it or take a class. But he just knows.

So- for weeks in March, Chris would jet outside whenever he had a break (or needed a break from the chaos- haha!), and I'd watch him quickly collect the sap and monitor the burner boiling the sap in our back yard. Seriously, this guy was boiling sap for weeks (it takes about 36 gallons of sap to make about one gallon of syrup).

I teased him a lot about it but here I sit on this spring morning enjoying delicious homemade maple syrup from our backyard. It's sooooo good! And we have lots more jars to enjoy over many months.