Happy Father's Day!!

We love a day we can celebrate Daddy!!!

Mark is a loving, patient, super involved, and fun dad! I feel so lucky to be on this journey with him.  

Kate and Jack wake up almost every morning and ask, "Where's Daddy?".  Same answer five days a week... he's at work.  Then, they get all upset (even though you would think they would come to expect this answer. ha!).    We are very fortunate to be moving closer, so now he gets home early and we all get to spend more time together. We all just soak up the weekends together, too! 

I've been asking Kate these questions for a few years now.  Jack was able to answer this year, too.  

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kate 

What is your daddy's name? Mark (she rolled her eyes when I asked her this)

What is his favorite thing to eat? I'm guessing orange chicken.

What does he do around the house? Mostly plays with us and cleans, stuff like that. 

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Tickling with him.

 
What makes Daddy happy? When I snuggle with him.

 
How do you know Daddy loves you? I just know.  And because he gives me kisses. 

What is something Daddy always says to you? "I love you"

 
What is something fun that just you and Daddy do together? We go on dates.

What is something cool that Daddy has taught you about? Discoveries, like when we went down to the creek. 

When you grow up, do you want to be like Daddy? Why? Yes, because he is loving and sweet. 

Jack

What is your daddy's name? Mark 

What is his favorite thing to eat? Pasta

What does he do around the house? Work

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Play Superhero Squad and chopping down trees (haha, chopping down trees has never happened.)

 
What makes Daddy happy? Playing Superhero Squad with me.

 
How do you know Daddy loves you? I know it from church.

What is something Daddy always says to you? "I love you"

 
What is something fun that just you and Daddy do together? Play Superhero Squad

What is something cool that Daddy has taught you about? Comic books

When you grow up, do you want to be like Daddy? Why? Yes. 'Cause I know it.  And me love Daddy. 

Here are past years: 2012   2011

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for being a wonderful example for our kids.  I love you. 

It's blurry, but I love this picture.  They were listening to Daddy talk while waiting at the carwash. 

For Daddy on Father's Day

 

We love you, Daddy!! Thank you for always making us laugh and for taking time to play with us. We love to "tickle on the bed", be silly with you, snuggle with you, and do fun stuff with you! 

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!! 

Love, Kate and Jack

----------------------------------------------------------

Here are Kate's Father's Day answers this year.  See last year's here.

Next year, I'm sure Jack will be talking up a storm and will be able to chime in on these. 

What is your daddy's name? Mark, that's easy.

What is his favorite thing to eat? Orange chicken.

What does he do around the house? He cleans up and plays with me.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Hug him and kiss him and do flips with him. 

 
What makes Daddy happy? Probably when I give him hugs and kisses. 

 
How do you know Daddy loves you? Because he gives me hugs and kisses.

What is something Daddy always says to you? "I love you" and "You're so sweet." 

 
What is something fun that just you and Daddy do together? We go somewhere together, like to stores and stuff.

What is something cool that Daddy has taught you about? He told me all about Bigfoot.

When you grow up, do you want to be like Daddy? Why? Yes, because I love him. 

---------------------------------------

Happy Father's Day, babe! You are the most AMAZING, patient, and loving dad ever.  Our kids are so lucky to have you. I love being on this parenthood journey with you!

Mark's Drive to Work

So, Jack is pretty much the LOUDEST kid on the planet. He knows only a few words, but he uses them very well.

And Kate, well... she's just Kate. She's loud and crazy on a regular basis.

Poor Mark has to drive almost an hour (each way) to and from work each day with the kids in tow. Trust me... he is living for next year when I'll be staying at home with the kids. Just so he can get some peace and quiet in the car.

Let me just give you a sampling:

And before you watch this, yes, Kate is yelling "suck it up" to Jack. We have a saying around here: "Suck it up, buttercup". She just leaves out the buttercup part which makes it sound, well, a little more harsh. She's so polite, you know. :)





Just in case you don't believe me, try this on for size:

My Musical Family

Kate's got rhythm, can name artists on the radio when she hears them, and corrects me when I sing Zac Brown Band songs wrong. She's got mad humming skills, too.

Jack head bangs to music and looks to have some rhythm himself. If he would ever actually take a step, I'm sure he'll be dancing alongside Kate soon.

And Mark, well... he's just musical all around.

Then, there's me. I dance like a VERY white person, can't sing to save my life, and basically have no concept of musical concepts.

I'm hoping our kiddos take after Mark in this area. I'd love to see Kate with a guitar singing her little heart out!

Mouse in the House

*** For the record, the words in quotation marks came straight from Mark's mouth. ***

Okay, so not really IN the house, but kind of.

We've been hearing some scratching coming from the ceiling in our bedroom and the master bathroom for awhile now. I thought it was a squirrel and was worried about what we were going to do about it.

So, tonight, it got really loud in the bathroom, so we went in there, and I saw dust falling down from the exhaust fan (come on, NOBODY has a clean exhaust fan, right? RIGHT???). I looked up there, and I could see a little MOUSE through the grate. Sick!!!

Now, if you know Mark well enough, you know he has a huge, fairly irrational fear of mice. His friends in college told me that when a mouse was spotted in one of their dorm rooms, Mark jumped up on a chair and screamed like a girl. Probably not entirely true, but funny nonetheless.

On another side note, there was a mouse in the office at church one time. Mark could not get any work done that day and was so afraid he would be confronted with the mouse, that he built a barricade with Bibles at his office door to "slow the mouse down" if he tried to get in his office. It took everything I had not to bust up laughing when he told me that one.

So, back to tonight. We are standing in the bathroom knowing there is a mouse (or maybe more- ugh!) right above us and Mark is FREAKING OUT. Every time the mouse would start scratching, he would reach his arms up and clap loudly...like, that'll really get 'em, Mark. Good job CLAPPING at the mice! He seriously has NO coping skills when it comes to mice. It's funny in every sense of the word.

He is convinced that a"heavy mouse" is going to weigh the exhaust fan down and break it, and then, we will have a mouse in the house. In which case, Mark has basically said he will "die" if that happens.

His solution: duck tape...

around the exhaust fan...

because yeah, that'll totally work (whatever)... that'll keep that "heavy mouse" from falling in.

Not to mention, he then closed the bathroom door and put a rolled up towel along the bottom of it because mice can squeeze under doors, ya know?

Anyone want to come set some traps? Anyone? Anyone?

27 Things...

... about Mark

1. He is 6’6”, and has been since he was like in the 3rd grade (kidding, but I don’t think I’m too far off… maybe 7th grade??)

2. He’s extremely smart. Seriously smart. Way over my head smart. He reads philosophy books and I read US Weekly.

3. He is my best friend, by far.

4. He hates ham because he threw up after eating a grilled ham and cheese sandwich ONE time.

5. He is selfless. Truly.

6. He is one of the most patient people I have ever meant. He has to put up with me, so that oughtta tell ya something!

7. He always gives people the benefit of the doubt.

8. He is a romantic. Over the course of our almost ten year relationship, I have received flowers, love letters, jewelry, countless handmade gifts (the best kind of gifts), mix tapes (dang, we’re getting old!). I have been sent on scavenger hunts, taken out on numerous surprise dates, had the best proposal I could ever dream of, and he has written lots of songs for me.

And he cried at our wedding… a lot.

9. He puts up with way more than he should. From me, mostly.

10. He loves Jesus, cares about the poor, and has a huge heart to want to show people they are loved.

11. He is the best dad. Kate adores him and he feels the same way about her. Watching the two of them interact is amazing. As I was getting ready the other day, I could hear Kate’s laughter through the walls as they were playing together. I turned off the exhaust fan in the bathroom just to hear it a little clearer. Melts. My. Heart.

12. He used to be a hippie. He had hair down past his shoulders, wore hemp necklaces, patch pants, rope sandals, and some awful Patchouli oil. He drove a car that he let everyone paint on. He went to Phish concerts all over and danced like a maniac. I’ve witnessed it. It’s scary.

13. We didn’t like each other back then. At all. I thought he was weird and he thought I was stuck up. Which, I probably was. But, in all fairness, he was weird.

14. He would do anything for me. I probably abuse that at times. When I was newly pregnant, we saw a commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter cups at 11:00 at night. We were already in bed, all warm and cozy. I just had to have one right then. After asking me, “Are you serious?”, he got out of bed, got dressed and went to the gas station. When he got home, I was already asleep. I woke up to find a king size Reese’s next to my bed. Poor guy!

15. He knows just how I like my Quick Trip cappuccino.

16. He is an amazing photographer. Check him out: Mark Ryan Photography
http://mr-photo.com/

17. He can’t make small talk to save his life.

18. He does just as much around the house as I do.

19. He makes this meal called “The Stuff” that he made up. People ask for it all the time.

20. He has more creativity in his pinkie finger than I will ever have. His mind just works like that.

21. He secretly would love to be a wine connoisseur. Once, for like a month, he and a friend kept a Wine Journal, where they documented how different wines tasted and gave them a rating.

22. He is my exact opposite, but we work. God does things like that.

23. He could probably answer any Seinfeld question you threw at him.

24. He knows my family and loves them anyway (just kidding, guys!).

25. Our first kiss was incredibly awkward.

26. He is allergic to animals (the perfect excuse to tell our kids! No pets here.)

27. He’s ours.

And, today is his birthday. He’s 27 today.

Mark, we love you so much, and are grateful for all you do for us and for the way you love us with everything you have. Thanks for being so gentle and patient. Thanks for being such a great listener when I ramble on and on. Kate wants to thank you for loving Mommy when she’s not so lovable. (Really… that one came from her!) Babe, thanks for not only loving me, but for liking me too. Thanks for pulling out the camera all the time so we have lasting memories.

We are your number one fans and always will be. Happy Birthday! Here’s to 27… let’s make it the best year yet.

Love,
Jen & Katers

A Late Father's Day Note

Mark,

Happy First Father's Day! I meant to post this earlier, but with our crazy weekend, I am just getting to it now. I wanted to tell you what a joy it has been watching you become a dad. I never thought you would take to the role this well. I know the fear that haunted you while I was pregnant, wondering if you would ever be a good daddy for Kate. The minute she entered this world, you became the best daddy any little girl could ask for. She is madly in love with you, and watching the two of you interact melts my heart in ways I never thought possible. I love the memory I have of seeing the reflection of you dancing with her while you thought I wasn't looking. I love the way you make up silly songs that make her smile. I love the way you tell her she gets cuter and cuter every day (and kinder, right? :) We wouldn't want to give her a big head or anything). I love the way you miss her when she is sleeping. I love how excited you get when she learns something new. I love (and am envious of) how patient you are. I love that you are the Master Diaper Changer. It starts with capitals, because it's a real title, you know? I love how you tell me everything is more fun as a family. Most of all, I love watching Kate love her Daddy. She is smitten, and I can't blame her, because I am too. Thanks for being such an amazing husband and father. I love you!

Love,

Jen