Another Mom Update....

Well, I had actually hoped to combine my "mom update" with a "review of our week", but I really have so many other things I need to do today than blog, so instead of spending time typing my day away I'm just simply gonna post about my mom for those of you who are thinking of her and wondering....

I talked to her this morning for a bit and she sounds much more well-rested and in good spirits. She actually said it's nice to just sit and read there in the hospital (gasp...you mean so you're not missing all the speed shopping and racing around you always do, mom?! J/K...I know you're ready to go home :)). But, good ol' mom is doing just fine as she has been all along. She's still hoping to go home tomorrow morning, but that's a little bit up in the air at the moment due to some lab work that's not right on par...her INR (a lab test that shows the ability of your blood to clot well)...is not where they want it to be yet. I believe hers is 1.5 and they want it to be 2. So, they have to take her blood again tomorrow morning at like 4am and hopefully it'll be at that number (or possibly if it's near 2 they will let her go)...so we are just hoping for that and that is her prayer for now...that she can go home tomorrow. It would be a real bummer to have to stay longer as she really wants this weekend to relax at home and just get some good sleep (as she is due back to work on Monday...no rest for the weary :)). Anyway...so she's hanging in there. She said she slept great last night (thanks to my dad who brought her her fav. pillow :)) and she did lots of walking yesterday (which for those of you who've been cooped up in a hospital bed...you know that's important to get up and be mobile!) My mom's such a perfect patient isn't she...I would have been proud if I was her nurse! :) She had a few wonderful visitors too who came bearing gifts and some yummy treats and her fav. caffiene free diet coke :), which really brightened her day! And she even got a shower in, which I guess is unheard of up on the unit (but she had good ol' Dr. Lieb. call in a special order for that!)...so now she's squeaky clean too (bonus!)! :) So, the plan is hopefully for her to be discharged in the morning and hopefully she'll be home before noon. She'll have to be on the Coumadin for a few months (and possibly a blood pressure med too, I think?) and then hopefully she'll be back to normal. She sadly is gonna have to lay off the sweets and not eat as much of her fav. dark chocolate (no caffiene...that's a tough one...good luck with that, mom) and she needs to start relaxing more too (which we will MAKE her do in NC...and no you will not be climbing the hundreds of steps to get to Mingo Falls which is what is pictured above from last July...boy, I''m getting bossy, aren't I?! :))...and I'm hoping she and my dad will both start laying low and destressing on a regular basis! It's been a very rough year for them losing parents and friends...and this just goes to show you once again...life is too precious to spend it always working, always worrying, and often stressing about things. We need to chill out more, slow down and "smell the roses", sit and read more, go to more movies...ok, so some of those are "notes to myself"...cuz I too could be in a hospital bed some day with heart issues with all the stress I needlessly put on myself. It's no good...there needs to be more chillin' in my life for sure! We all need to enjoy life a little more! And if the most carefree lady I know who's at the very young age of 57 can be in the hospital with heart issues...than any of us can! So, here's to you, mom! Praying you have another good day and you get to go home and relax in your own home tomorrow! We are so looking forward to seeing you a week from tomorrow up in the midst of the marvelous Maggie Valley mountains! Love you and special hugs to you today!

Lil' Update...

Just a lil' post today to let ya'll know my mom is doing fine...a little worn out and in need of some good sleep (those of you who have have been a patient in the hospital know how that goes...)...but she's doing ok. I only talked to her briefly this morning and she had just gotten back from her Echo(cardiagram)...a pretty routine procedure (I've had one myself due to a mysterious murmur that comes and goes and Shelby has had numerous ones during her VSD days :))....anyway...so, that all went smoothly and she was waiting for the results hopefully later today. Good ol' Dr. L. (I'm just calling him that cuz I struggle to spell his name :))...he was in this morning to check on my mom and he says the plan is to get her discharged early on Sat. morning...so that is great news as my mom was dreading possibly spending he whole weekend in the hospital having to sit in a hospital bed and not get much sleep (she slept only like 3 hours last night...and that was even with the help of a nice dose of Ambien...there's nothing like being poked and prodded all night long...I only know that from my 3 "baby" hospital stays...so I'm sure she's ready to be back in her own quiet bedroom in her nice bed :)) Anyway....so things are going ok. I guess last night she did have a tachycardic episode (increased heart-rate) right as she fell asleep....but other than that she's doing ok. She's on Coumadin (blood thinner) and will be going home on that also. My dad was in last night briefly to see her and then he got booted out at "closing time" :) And I know she was expecting a few visitors today...wish we could be there to help you pass the time, mom :) But, hopefully you're resting during the day.

Anyway...so that's all I know. She's just ready to go home and ready to get some rest and ready to take it easy on our big NC trip next weekend (I promised we'll pamper you there, mom, and you can just sit and enjoy the grandkids and the beautiful mountain air :)). So, thanks to all of you who are thinking of her and praying for her....she's doing ok....just tired. I love ya', mom....and hope you got a good nap in this morning...hopefully we'll talk to you later today! :)

(P.S. And Debi...you crack me up...reading my blog yesterday and tracking my mom down at the hospital...and reading her my blog...LOL! She got a kick out of that! Love ya!)

Prayers for my mom...

Hi all...I didn't expect to be posting again today, but I just got home and got a message on my machine that my sweet and wonderful mom is in the hospital. Now before I say anything...please don't worry about her...although I haven't actually talked to her or anyone yet (I'm just going from the message she left on our machine)...she said over and over again "don't worry...it's not an emergency"...she wanted to make that clear...so I wanted to relay that too :) But, she's been admitted to Boca Raton Community Hospital with a heart arrhythmia. She's actually been having these heart palpatations for months now, I believe. I know she's called a couple times worried about them and I too have worried. Well, she actually works in a lab for cardiologists, so today I'm guessing she went to work and was having some of these arrhythmias off and on all morning long and decided to get it checked out (again, how perfect that she works at a cardiologist's office...that was a little God-send today!) :). Good thing she had them check her heart rhythm....she was in atrial fibrillation (with a heartrate in the 170's....fyi for non-medical folk...normal resting heart rate in adults is about 70 :))...and the doctor she works for (good ol' Dr. Lieberman...we love him!) sent her right to the hospital to be admitted. She was in admitting when she left that message for me at 3:30pm today and it's now an hour later so hopefully she'll be settled in a room soon and I can talk to her then. From what she said she will be in the hospital for 4 days (so until this weekend?) so they can monitor her and heparinize her (blood thinner)...and then she'll be sent home on Coumadin most likely, which she will be on for a few months. So, anyway...I am writing this for two reasons...mostly just for prayers for her and her sweet heart :) I know it's not an emergency, but no one ever wants to have a loved one in the hospital and I know even when I had babies being in the hospital was no cup of tea. And we all know my mom doesn't like to sit still for long :) So, prayers for her to be able to rest and not go crazy :) And also I was just posting all this so any friends that she can't call or that don't know the situation and who happen to read my blog might see it and know why she's not emailing (since she's an avid emailer as we all know :)). So, thank you in advance for all the prayers....I'll keep you posted! Love you, Mom! :)

***Update*** Well, I just talked to my mom on the phone...she is STILL in admitting (2 hours later)...but she's in a bed, hooked up to an IV (Heparin) and comfortably watching TV, so she's doing ok. Nothing new to report as she's not in her actual room yet and hasn't been thoroughly checked out...but hopefully soon she'll be there. I think the plan is do a thorough exam and an Echocardiagram (heart ultrasound)...but her doctor seems to think it's just an "electrical malfunction of her heart" that will correct itself with a few months of meds and then she'll be back to normal. So, I'll keep ya' posted....

The Vast Depths of Monroe Lake...

Our Family of Five floating lazily in the lake :)
Dylan and daddy :)
This looks like a cry about to happen, but actually I think he was laughing hysterically...he loves the water! He wasn't so sure about the life vest and floaty...but all-in-all he loved the lake :)
Poppy and Dylan doing twirls with the floaty toy :) Hard to tell, but Dylan is very happy :)
Hold onto your keyboards...yes, that is Kev up on skis! :) Whoa, baby! :)

And then more lazy times just sitting in the water....with Nina and Poppy Stegs :)
And one of Dylan's new fav. things to do in the boat...go up and down the stairs to the cuddy area :)
All tuckered out from the lake experience (and this was only lunchtime)...we still had many more hours there! :)
Our little helper, Shelba, pumpin' up the tube (after Daddy got winded doing it :))...go, Shelby, go! Look at those muscles?!
Dylan jumping in the lake off the back of the boat...over and over again! Too funny! :)

Our bathing beauty chillin' on the boat :)
A view of the boat and Hailey showing off her muscles :) (Naveta Do Mar is the name of it...I think it's Portugese cuz Kev's dad used to live in Brazil with his family?? I hope I got that right?)
Daddy and Shelby watching the amazing Hailey tubing all by herself! :) You go, girl! And then below is me and Dylan after a long day of boating...ready to go home! :) What a sweet boy I have :)

Well, I'm plum tuckered out today so just thought I'd do a quick post and put a few more pics from our "lake adventure" this past Saturday. For those of you who don't know Bloomington is near one lovely reservoir of water know as Lake Monroe...now those of you in MI will snicker at it if you ever see it cuz it pales in comparison to the humongo Great Lakes and those of you in FL will just shake your head in disappointment comparing it to our lovely Atantic Ocean. But, hey...when you live in Indiana you take what you can get, right?! So, "the lake" has been a great mode of entertainment for us...not only does it have many beautiful parks around it (one that we specifically always visit when my parents are here in the fall...which overlooks the lake and is beautiful with the leaves turning colors...and is a lovely picnic place :))...but it's also a grand place to boat and have fun and be refreshed in the summer when the weather is a smoldering 100 degrees like it's been lately. Anyway...all that to say that Kev's parents own a boat and a seadoo and his aunt and uncle also own a seadoo so we try to spend as much time as we can out there on the docks where they are hooked up. It's always a great place to gather with family (we never dare take three kids there by ourselves and risk losing one over the side of the boat :))...so we always go with someone. This past weekend we were glad Kev's parents joined us. It was a great time....very relaxing and the kids had a ball. It's funny cuz I actually think Shelby's fav. part was just jumping off the back of the boat (over and over and over again!) Then Dylan caught on and he wanted to do it too...oh my, were Kev and I tired that night from catching them :) It was a hoot. Aside from the tubing that I showed you Kev was the only one who took the challenge of skiing so really we only swam around, which actually was the kids fav. part. Dylan just floated around in his floaty toy and the girls practiced their swimming techniques while chasing after Nina and Poppy in the water :) It was a grand ol' time and the weather was perfect and the water was lovely (I say that cuz usually it is like pulling teeth to get me in the cold lake water...but it was suprisingly refreshing on Saturday). We unfortunately didn't get to take a run on the seadoo cuz somehow Kev blew the battery...actually he and I made it about of the docks about 50 feet and it stalled...so we had to be rescued by another seadooer and pulled back to dry land :) There's always lots of thrills on the lake and it's a great place to wear out the kids and work on building some muscles (Kev is still in pain from the skiing adventure :)). Any time any of you want to visit us we'd be glad to take you on our "lake adventure"...it's usually a smashing good time! :)

Do I get any points for this?

Me and my Shelba :) She loved riding the tube...I think she's gonna be our little daredevil :)
Here we (Shelby and I above) are "in action"...ok, so I don't think the boat is even moving yet due to no "wave action"...but just pretend we're getting tossed all about...and below is Hailey and I...whoa...look at those trecherous conditions....heart be still! :)

Ok, so you've all been waiting patiently for me to take a ride down the slip-n-slide and I've been cowering in my home lately just unable to take the challenge....but do I get any bonus daredevil points for going tubing on the lake this past weekend? I know it's not nearly as challenging as the hurdles of the slip-n-slide...but let's just consider it a warm-up for my future slipin' endeavor :) I even got to "take the tubing challenge" with my two favorite girls...what could be better than that?! So, please don't give up on my slip-n-slide promise. I'm just waiting for the perfect, opportune time (or at least that's my excuse for now :))

In other news I admit I am struggling with a recurring dream this week. Now I don't really consider myself a hard-core dreamer, but this one is disturbing to me. From what I can recall my family and I have moved to an underground neighborhood beneath none other than Disney World! Yes, you read that right....there is this secret neighborhood under the magical land of Disney and I decided to move Kev and the kids there so we can have easy access to the Disney campus? Who knows...all I know is that the last few nights in my dreamland we have been living in this place. Now before you go thinking this is a nice fantasy dream...think again...I've been waking up in hot sweats for two nights cuz of the drama of these underground living quarters. All I can remember from my dreams is that this neighborhood is packed with kids and every night I seem to lose my 3 kids in the masses of people. It's been freakin' me out and I've been in a panic when I've woken up. That's all I remember....but it's almost been nightmarish :( Now, what is up with that kind of dream??? Who has nightmares about Disney World...the place where "all your dreams come true". I must be going nuts?? Am I anxious over our upcoming New Year's trip there? Who knows...I think I'm going psycho lately cuz I've never heard of anyone having nightmares about Disney. Sometimes I wonder about my sanity :) So, any psychiatrists out there...feel free to analyze me :)

Anyway...I'm gonna get back to my faithful cleaning again this morning. We were actually supposed to take a trek to Indy today to get Hailey's pictures taken at Penney's....but yet again we had to cancel due to "the mysterious nose scratch" (that she denies doing...I secretly think it's her way of getting out of having her picture taken :))....anyway...you'll laugh at this...I called to reschedule yesterday and I told the girl on the phone..."yeah, our daughter scratched her nose really bad"...to which the girl replied, "you should put some mittens on her" :) I had to control my laughter and I said "yeah, that's a great idea, except she's 7 and I don't think she'd keep them on for that long"...LOL....poor girl...she just assumed I was talking about my newborn scratching her face. But, I had to laugh at that one. Not a bad idea to keep mitts on my girl for the next week til her pic is taken :) I'm sure she'd love that! Ha!

A Fabulous Father's Day....

Daddy and his gang before lunch at Texas Roadhouse...yumm!
Daddy and his boy
Showing off the "petite" Cold Stone cake...in spite of it's size it was a pretty good little cake with Kev's favorite original cake batter ice cream and snickers...and yellow cake (he doesn't like chocolate...weird, I know...yet he still likes snickers?? He's full of oddities :))
Showing off the #1 Dad cookie...I just "snuck" some and it's pretty yummy for being a few days old :)
Shelby giving daddy her card and oatmeal cookie sandwich :)

Try out the three chairs :)
Trying out the weight compacity of the "big" chair :)
Grillin' at the Stegs...ok, so Poppy is grillin' and Kevin is just chillin' :)
Daddy and his sweet and innocent little Shelba :)
Our little crazy clan...yes, Dylan is just starting to pull Hailey's hair...and she was not pleased :) He was a little psycho yesterday :) And below is Nina and Poppy Stegs with the crazy grandkids :)

Ok, so I'm not Kevin and I don't really know if his Father's Day was fabulous (probably not...since he didn't get much down time to relax or even watch the race on TV that he wanted to...sorry, babe :))....but I needed a catchy title today so I'm pretending his Dad's day was fabulous even if it wasn't. I don't really have much time to post today as our house is in complete disarray and it's almost to the point of "no return" if I don't take an hour and pick up and do some laundry. I've learned that if just one day goes by and I don't pick up stuff (toys and clothes) then it's almost hazardous conditions....and it's that way today...so needless to say the blog has to pay the price.

I will just say that yesterday was a beautiful and VERY hot day....we actually passed a thermostat on the road that flashed 101....huh?! That's craziness for Indiana in June and means unliveable conditions come August. But, it was a nice day in spite of the smoldering temps...we spent the whole day together and then later with Kev's parents. We took our "daddy of the year" (Kev :)) out to lunch...to his favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse, (or as Shelby calls it..."the peanut place" :)) It was a great meal although we laughed after cuz we ate in record time mainly cuz Dylan was trying to grab at all our plates and drinks...which was a fun game in his eyes, but exhausting for us :) Kev got his fav. the filet and Shelby mostly just had a meal of pure peanuts...yumm :) We even treated Daddy Kev to his fav. dessert too...Cold Stone Creamery...ok, so he probably would have rather us just go to the actual place and eat ice cream, but instead we had ordered him a cake...I won't go into the whole "cake ordeal", but you'll laugh when you see the cake above...Kev razzed me about it's "size" all day long, but I will say it was yummy...and pretty cute too...and you take what you can get when the store says they only have enough yellow cake to make something called "petite" :) The girls each gave him a special "daddy" cookie too from our mall's cookie shop...I'm not sure how good they were since they were a few days old, but they looked good, which is all that matters, right?! The kids even showed off their artfulness and made Kev hand made cards (or I should say "foot made" cuz we did foot prints this year instead of hand prints...Shelby's idea...she has a little foot fetish lately :)). And, of course, we showered Daddy with gifts (well, not really...but we did give him a few little things). Shelby gave Daddy a book to read on the porch swing in the mountains of NC (his fav. thing to do there :))...and Hailey gave him a little #1 Dad's box that she painted at VBX, and she and Dylan both gave him a folding camp chair. The whole chair thing was an ordeal in itself too and we ended up buying three of them so we let daddy chose which one he wanted...he still hasn't decided...but we had to try them all out and line them up and compare them...the one chair even held both Kev and I (though I will say I only had one "cheek" on the chair :))...but I don't think I've ever been able to fit in a chair with Kev...so that tell you it was a BIG chair :)

The kids all seemed to be in rare form yesterday...well, Hailey was ok...but Shelby just wouldn't settle down for a nap and neither would Dylan....I think they were just both so excited about Father's Day they couldn't lay down :) So it was a long afternoon of fighting the "non-nappers" to nap...I tried to pick up all the childcare needs for the day, since it was Father's Day and all, but I know Kev worked harder than he should have. Later in the day we went to Kev's parents for a yummy steak dinner. Kev's mom made an awesome spread and his dad did great grillin' (sorry, we made poppy work so hard on Father's Day)...but it was a good and relaxing time seeing them and we appreciate them having us over and for all the yummy food! :)

So, it was a semi-good day. Shelby pretty much covered all the holidays yesterday...I think she wished Kev a Happy Valentine's Day in the morning and then later she wished Poppi in FL a Happy Mother's Day :)(though she was speaking so softly that I don't know if he heard her...like I said, she was in rare form yesterday :)). I'm sorry to Kev that he didn't get to relax more, but like I said to him last night when the kids were finally tucked in bed and Shelby was finally asleep which wasn't til 11pm...I guess it wouldn't have been a true Father's Day if it'd been really relaxing...(cuz that would have meant our three crazy kids wouldn't have been with us). Anyway...I hope all the ladies out their treated your dads/hubbies good yesterday and hope you had a great weekend (we went boating on Saturday so I'll have to post those pics another day...it was a great time!)

I need to run...this post ended up long-winded as usual and I have mounds of junk to clean up and then it's time to pick up Hailey from her first day of art camp (hope it went well...she and her two buddies seemed nervous when we left them :)). Have a great day everyone!

Happy Dad's Day! :)

Ok...so here's more trips down memory lane (for me and my mom at least :))...This is Father's Day 2003...it was a hard time for as I was in the midst of infertility...so I get a bit emotional looking at all the pictures to follow....I think I had actually just had my first IUI which failed...(sorry I don't have any of Hailey as a baby...no digital back then and I still haven't learned the ins and outs of the scanner :))
Shelby and daddy lounging (1 day old...Shelby, not Kev :))
Father's Day 2004
Father's Day 2005 (I was just pg with Dylan now)
Daddy and his boy soon after birth...

Father's Day last year....yes, they are sitting on a hotel room bed...not a great picture spot, but it's all we had at the time...we were on our way home from the NC coast last year (hence the nice tans :))
My dad (aka Poppi) and his little grandson...yes, my dad has become an ol' softie since entering grandpa-hood :)
Pops teaching his girls how to be good fishermen on the docks at the cottage in MI :)
Poppi and Dylan (matching almost) and ready to go to my grandpa's memorial in MI this past summer.
Poppy Stegs taking a peek at his second granddaughter soon after her birth...and below is Kev and his parents at their old house...it was the day we said goodbye to the ol' Danville house :)

Well, it's a day to honor dad's today and a day to give them a hug if you happen to be in their presence! I've been blessed by many wonderful dads in my life and I honor them all today, but of course the two most important in my life are my own wonderful father and my amazing husband :)

I've enjoyed the company of my dad for 30 1/2 years now and I dare say he is hands down the best dad for me. I've loved him since the first moment he held me and I'm guessing/hoping the same goes for him :) We have always had that special father-daughter bond...and he has given his all throughout the years to make sure I had everything I ever wanted or needed....whether it be a private/Christian education throughout my K-12 years or even a more costly, 5 years of Christian college education (ouch!) :)....and he's given me the simple things like toys too (and what kid doesn't like that?! :)). I say toys cuz I still remember him taking me to the toy store when I was little and saying I could pick anything out I wanted (I think it was after I learned to tie my shoes...in the back of our Nissan ZX with the t-tops no less??? :))....and you can imagine there must have been some pretty big and expensive things there...but what did I pick...this little plastic dollhouse thing...I still remember it...and I remember being mad at myself years later for not getting something bigger (LOL!)...and also mad at myself for puting the decals on crooked :) (do you remember that mini dollhouse, mom??) But, I still remember that day and I thought that was such a super cool thing for my dad to do. He's just been a great dad all through the years. He's been at every one of my athletic games if he was able and he was a great (loud :)) support through them all. Those who know my dad know he has a passion for sports and competition and I still remember the pride he felt during some certain state b-ball games. I was never a star athlete, but it was a certain bond my dad and I had...to have sports to "work on" at home :) And, my dad has been there through it all. Of course my most memorable dates of late are him walking me down the aisle at my wedding (which I guess was not lately...since it's been almost 9 years :))....but I know he was full of happiness (or at least I hope so :)) that day when he gave me away to a man he hoped would be my greatest support for the rest of my life :) And then came the birth of my three babies....I still remember Hailey's birth and being in my hospital room afterwards only to turn around and see him standing there (it was one of the greatest surprises :))....he had secretly traveled from FL that day to greet his first grandchild up in MI...I will never forget that and it meant so much to me to have him share in that moment. And ever since he has made a point to meet his grandchildren soon after they are born...no matter what the circumstance or how busy his work schedule. It has been one of life's greatest joys to see my dad become the best grandfather around (or Poppi as my kids call him :)). He has such an amazing bond with all my kids...and especially the girls (I only say that cuz Dylan is so young yet but I know they will have a great times later one :))....but Pops and his girls are just a hoot together...he and Hailey have always had a little bond...they'd go off and do all kinds of things together...go to airports and watch planes, go out to eat, go fishing...and now they engage in very intellectual conversations about bunkbeds and such (it's a little inside joke about the cottage in MI where we vacation :)) They have very heated phone debates over the whole ordeal :) :) And Pops just gets the greatest charge out of Shelby and her antics....he seems to always have a smile on his face when he hears what she says and how blunt she is :) I have a feeling they will have some good times down the road. And I know they'll be some great times between my dad and his first grandson...I can already picture fish and golf outings and all kinds of fun male bonding :) My dad is the best....he always has been and now it's even more evident since he's been a poppi....he seems to put everything aside for his family now and I love that about him (and I know that's a tough thing to do when you own your own electrical business). I look forward to every time we get to see him...cuz I know my kids love that time too. In just two weeks we'll get to see him in NC....and we always have the best times there just doing the simple things in life and enjoying family. We love you, dad/Poppi....thanks for all you've done for me over the years and now all that you do for my family. I know raising me and Jeff came with sacrifices and hard work and I just want you to know it paid off...you have great kids and grandkids (yes, that's a pat on the back to us too :))...but seriously...we love you with all our hearts. Happy Father's Day...wish we could celebrate with you today, but we'll be thinking of you all day!

And, what could I possibly say about my own dear husband and father of my three sweet, beautiful, handsome babies. Well, I'll just say this. God sure knew what he was doing over a decade ago when he put Kev in my life. I still remember telling one of my college girlfriends, "Kevin is gonna be a great dad someday"...I believe this was after we took a jog together, him and I, at Calvin (we were just friends then) and I was struggling with my run around the campus (yes, I was not a runner especially in my larger days as a college Freshman :)) but he would stop and wait with me as we ran together and he was just a great support. I know it sounds silly, but whatever he said and did that "faithful jogging day" I just knew he'd be a great dad and that memory has stuck with me through the years. Funny enough that I never thought he'd be the father of my kids...but I guess I lucked out! :) A year later we dated and a year after that we were hitched and a year after that we were "with child" :) And the rest was history. I still remember the first day he became a dad...I could tell how taken he was by his daughter...just the way he held her...there is nothing that can warm your heart more than watching your husband hold your children....and it's been that way ever since...with each of our children....even last night as he held Dylan who fell asleep in his arms. There is nothing like the love of a father for his children. I am blessed beyong measure to have Kevin in my life. Not only is he the world's best husband, but he is the world's best father to my children. There can be no other man on this earth more patient and more giving and willing to do anything for his children (and by that I mean clean up puke and poop and all those important little things...cuz you all know that's been our life's "desire" this year so far :)).....God knew I needed a man in my life like Kev. He is more than I could have ever dreamed for in a father-figure for my kids...more than I deserve (as he also serves as Mr. Mom many days doing everything he can to help around the house and never complaining while he does it). I love him more than anything and I owe him my eternal gratitude for walking this path of parenthood with me. I know it hasn't been a smooth road all the way and I know more bumps will arise, but I know he'll continue to be the best dad around even through watching our girls date (and our son too) and seeing them all get married and have babies of their own. I look forward to those days with the father of my children. I know he'll just be an even better dad with age and an awesome grandfather too. So, I love you, Kev...I was right all those years ago when I said you'd be a great dad and I'm so glad you chose to have your kids with me :) They and I thank you from the depths of our hearts for all you do daily to make our lives happy and carefree....we know you work way harder than you should and we appreciate all that sweat and toil...for giving us all that we desire and need :) :) So, Happy Father's Day to the Love of my Life and the Best Dad to my 3 sweet children :)

And a Happy Dad's day to all you other dad's out there too....especially to Kev's dad, who I'm sure Kev would agree is equally as awesome a dad and who I know to be an incredibly awesome Poppy (and who I believe gave Kev most of his wonderful fathering ablities and who also has an amazing peace and patience about him). So, special honors to all the dads/granddads out there today and special prayers for those who have lost fathers/grandfathers this year...although this day can bring joy and celebration I know it can also bring sadness if you are missing that special man in your life. Hugs to you all.