Sincerely FRO me to you: Men in Wigs

I was blessed with a  wonderful grandfather.  He was a kind, loving, fun man who meant the world to me.  He had the best sense of humor ever.  Seriously, ever.  He was always joking, always having fun.  Pap loved to tease people.

When I graduated high school he gave me this picture:

Along with a note that read:

To Heather on her graduation day – when you pick a man, please do at least this good.

Don’t ask me why he was wearing a wig.  I have no clue, other than that’s just the sort of thing he did.  I have pictures of him at our wedding reception with faux nose rings.  He was always up to something.

So on the eve of our wedding, my husband and I gave this to Pap:

To Pap on my wedding day – I hope I did.

It’s been 5 and a half years since Pap died, and I still ache inside whenever I think of him.  My daughters may not get to know him here on earth, but I’m so thankful I have stories (and pictures!) like this that capture the essence of him, so they can know who he was. 

Love you Pap, and miss you every day.

For more FRO stories (or to share your own!), check out the party over at the Glamorous Life Association:

So many topics, so little time

This is a busy weekend for us! Besides the obvious Father’s Day stuff tomorrow, it’s also my sweet Catiebug’s 3rd birthday. I’m juggling my posts, so I’m starting with my husband, father of my children and love of my life.

Darling Chris, we’d be lost without you. You take such good care of us. You work hard to provide for us and you are an amazing man. You will also be unhappy with me if I continue with this mushy line of thinking. I know you. And so my dear, I’ll turn this over to your little darlings so they can sing your praises (or be honest, whatever they choose).

Mommy: We need to say something about Dadda for Father’s Day.
Catie: Like what?
Annie: You are the best Daddy I could ever have.
Lilly: Shoes.
Catie: Dadda is silly.
Annie: He likes to play games.
Catie: Dadda is funny.
Annie: He always plays jokes on us.
Catie: Dadda is weird.
Annie: Don’t say that, it’s Father’s Day. You’re supposed to say something nice.
Catie: Dadda you’re so weird.
Annie: Stop saying that!
Catie: Dadda is weird. He’s funny.
Annie: Mom! Catie keeps saying Dadda is weird.
Mommy: I know honey, it’s because of that song.
Catie: What’s your favorite color baby?
Annie: Pink and red.
Lilly: Shoes.
Mommy: Ok, so what else do you want to say?
Annie: Thank you for being my Dad.
Catie: Thank you for being my Dad.
Annie: That’s what I just said.
Catie: He’s my Dad too.
Annie: Mom, Catie’s just saying what I’m saying.
Catie: Annie’s not being nice to me.
Mommy: Ok, can we wrap this up?
Annie: I love you. That’s all I want to say. Can I play wii now?
Catie: Dadda you’re so weird. I wanna watch High School Musical.
Lilly: Shoes.

So there you have it dear, straight from the mouths of babes. High praise indeed, for the best father they could ever have. And you know what? They may not realize it yet, but it’s true. You are.

xoxo baby.

Maybe what goes around really does come around

Annie’s going to Vacation Bible School this week and she is loving it! It’s her first time ever.

So after I picked her up at noon we were discussing what to buy Daddy for Father’s Day. I have a few ideas but nothing concrete. Annie told me that she had a great idea and she was going to pay for it herself, but Daddy forgot to pay out her allowance on Sunday. She then pointed out that I should be the one in charge of her allowance since Daddy always forgets. Or tries to give her money that is already hers. (He once had no cash in his wallet and attempted to give her Disney Dollars that were in the china cabinet, but my savvy 5 year old knew that was not a fair deal. And apparently she has neither forgiven nor forgotten.)

So back to the idea – she wants to buy him a wii game. I’m not sure what to tell her. It’s a very sweet idea, but Chris works a lot and doesn’t do a whole lot of wii playing. As I tried to come up with a way to let her down easy, she said that she just knew Daddy would love the Go, Diego, Go! game she had in mind.

Selfless huh? But I’m amused to see that she’s just a chip off the old block. The Daddy block that is. He has, over the years, treated me to such generous presents as:

-the Sunday NFL ticket. So I never have to miss a game.
-an $85 universal remote. For a large entertainment system I can barely understand.
-a new set of luggage, just before he went to Paris for two weeks. Without me.
-an insanely large and expensive grill. Because women love grills.

I’m sure there are more, but I’ll stop here. Suffice it to say he’s quite the giver. And I’m tempted to let his daughters purchase the intended gift for him, just so he knows how it feels. Maybe I’ll even chip in for that new snap press that I, I mean he, has been wanting. Because I love him that much.

PS) Before you go feeling bad for him, just stay tuned. I’ll be bragging about him in a day or two. He’s fabulous in 98% of what he does. But when he’s less than fabulous, well…he really does that with gusto too.