ode to the PAPA's

SEAN

i love how you come home from work and drop everything to play with the kids.

i love how you play ball battle in the big room so i can make dinner in the kitchen without any helpers.

i love how you take the kids on daddy day trips.

i love how you teach brennan to work hard.

i love how you treat max like a princess.

i love how you hold chase while you grill so he doesn't cry while we get dinner ready.

i love how you wake up with the kids every morning so i can sleep a little bit longer.

i love how you treat me like a queen.

you are my numero uno baby daddy.

i love your most adorable smile and contagious laugh.

but most of all, i love your sweet kisses and your deepest of all deep big brown eyes.

especially when they're looking into mine.

i love you.

................

{9.6lb chase in my belly, delievered 6 hours later}

{my dad is funnier than yours. ok, it's not a competition, but really, he is.}

DAD

i love your rosy cheeks.

and silver hair.

and that you water ski on one ski.

and do more tricks on the wake board than i can.

even though you're not supposed to.

{sandie, i swear he doesn't do anything really naughty.}

i love it when you come stay at our house for ski trips.

the bed in our guest room is called "grandpa's bed." it's been dedicated. for realz.

you make the tastiest bacon brussel sprouts on the face of the planet.

and going out to eat a steak dinner is a let down after having your grilling delicacies on the weber.

you are the cutest grandpa.

i'm so lucky that you are my dad.

i love you.

......

great men are hard to come by,

and i feel honored to have come by these guys.

{man breakfast father's day menu: bacon, salsa eggs, homemade hash browns, strawberries,
apple juice, and freshly picked roses the my bushes out my back kitchen door.}

is this what your father's day morning looked like?
yeah, us too:)

HAPPY HAPPY FATHER'S DAY 

to you and your dads:)

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S

oh the exhilaration of the freezer section lighting up as you walk by.

MAGIC:)

G-L-A-M-O-R-O-U-S.

{sing it with me fergie. now go back and read it like the song. go ahead. i'll wait.}

{i had to type the O-U-S part freaky fast. couldn't resist.}

YESSSSSSS.
:):):)

just keep swimming, just keep swimming

{right after this, he took his floaties off, went down the big slide again, 

and swam to the sides ALL by himself after the slide dumped him into the pool. 

NO FLOATIES. this is BIG business around here folks. BIG:) 

then he did it 10 more times. no help:) did i mention he needed no help? so proud.}

....

swimming lessons at 

the family yard.

it must be june:)

troy and his ice cream machine.

we were the lucky ducks yesterday who got the first three cones.

the creamiest soft serve ice cream you'll ever lick.

slllluuuuuurrrrp:)

i could sit on uncle dave's comfy patio chairs and listen to music with my cousins all day every day.

watching my kids run from the sandbox to the tramp to the pool.

and i can't imagine it will ever be winter again:)

{photo bomb by brody. he sends his regards.}

ringling gibbies

future carnies.

acrobats have always been my favorite part of the circus.

but if that doesn't work out,

brennan is great at catching skeeters in the creek.

like SO GREAT that sometimes he thinks he's caught one, but he hasn't.

but sometimes he has.

and that's the GREAT.

and max can already scramble her own eggs.

really, i'm serious.

so she's got that chef thing going for her.

{i'm always afraid she's going to burn herself.}

she just tells me to light the fire, spray the pam, crack the eggs, 

and then she tells me when they're done.

always scrambled.

perfectly scrambled.

like i have her make mine when she's done making hers.

and she always asks for syrup on top of them.

hers, not mine.

but really, she means ketchup.

b/c she calls ketchup on eggs syrup.

but for pancakes she asks for syrup, but she really means syrup.

code.

max code.

if you don't know, now you know.

{go back and sing that in your best rap voice. ready, set, go.}

{good job, that was more fun.}

and chase?

well, if lion tamer is not available...

HAIR MODEL.

obviously.

happy friday:)
and happy flag day.

gold pitch

another season under our belts.

i liked fall ball better.

the weather was nicer.

less cold.

less wind.

less rain.

and so forth.

either way,

there's nothing i love more than sitting in the grass watching a game of baseball.

peanuts!

and cracker jacks!

THAT'S

what we've been missin'!

we'll be ready for you fall ball.

peanuts, cracker jacks, and all.

duck, duck, duck...

"everybody make a cool face." -me

"i was just talking to the cornfield." -ray kinsella

I SPY CORN.

{it's time to dust off field of dreams.}

:):):)

after 5pm it officially becomes an annex of the weekend.

there is no such thing as bedtime from now until September.

i think that last night while i was sleeping, the winds of the wizard of oz swept me up, 

swirled me around, and landed our house in Arizona.

it's hotter than snot over here right now.

and i'm melting.

it feels like july.

times 100.

which means the nights are the most perfect temperature you will ever feel.

on the whole entire planet.

i love to bathe my babies right out of the swimming pool,

after a long day of swimming and sunscreen,

lotion them up,

comb their little hair,

and throw them into jammies to play with their cousins until the sun goes down.

we grown ups {plus a few pre-grown ups} sit around the fire pit at the family yard, listening to everyone's different mixes on their phones over the stereo system on the pavilion, with dave's fancy twinkle lights above our heads all around, and have good old fashioned conversations about life and the weather. then we play name that song and artist, and somebody runs into the deck house room to check to see if we were right.

we eat chocolate pie, have slushies, roast marshmallows, and try to be the first in line for troy's ice cream machine. b/c everyone knows the first 3 cones are puuuuuure cream and it's the absolute best:)

and right at that moment when the sun is just about to fall below the western sky, 

i think that maybe the hot unbearable days aren't so bad after all.

b/c it makes the nights feel so amazingly perfect.

shorts, t-shirts, flip flops and 80 degrees at 11 o'clock at night.

or your bathing suit.

whichever.

no sunscreen necessary.

i promise you, there is nothing else like it.

HEAVEN:)

my children had not been in bed before 11pm in 4 nights until tonight.

brennan was just not made for this kind of life.

the poor chap wakes up at 7am regardless of what time he falls asleep.

and after 4 days of this, all of his coping skills were just non-existant.

max and chase sleep 12 hours from whenever you put them to sleep.

i vow to myself right here and now to get brennan to bed by 8pm for the rest of the week,

minus friday b/c it's not part of the week. after 5pm it officially becomes an annex of the weekend.

i make no promises after that.

it's summertime,

and the livin's easy.

{i like to scorch my mashmallows and peel off the burnt part to eat, followed by the gooey center...sean takes 20 min to get a perfectly golden brown outside and gooey center. i don't have that kind of patience for a marshmallow. he and brennan are two of a kind when it comes to roasting marshmallows.}

gibson sunday lately

sunday nights lately.

fence races,

with sean helping the kids take turns being the cheater,

and wagon rides around the block.

it must be summer:)

pretty in pink

take my breath away.

ayyyyy ayyyy ayyyyyyy

ayyyyy ayyyy ayyyy

ayyyy ayyyy ayyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

....

dear max,

you are the most beautiful creature 

to have ever lived on this entire earth.

love,

mom