Happy Daddy's Day!

We learned something very special today in church. Our interim pastor, Pastor Mark Cerniglia, speaks Spanish and Hebrew fluently. And his sermon today was about Father's and how we have special nicknames for those men in our lives that are our Father's. We call them Dad, Pop, and sometimes Daddy; these are all names that are very special to us. Not just anybody gets to be called "Daddy". Anybody can father a child, it takes a special person to be Dad, Pop, Papa, and Daddy. And Pastor Mark shared with us that Jesus felt this closeness with His Father, Our Father, in Heaven. The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray was "Our Father, which art in Heaven". And in the actual Hebrew text, Jesus actually calls him "Abba". Abba is not the full word for Father, in essence, it is more closely translated to "Daddy". Jesus looked up to Heaven and exclaimed, "Daddy!" God loves all of us, each of his children so very much. And we all look to him, and say "Our Father, which art in Heaven." And as Jesus meant for it to be, "Our Daddy, in Heaven, Hallowed be your name!" It was a wonderful sermon, and the good news in it was very uplifting. So, tonight we should all send up a special Father's Day, or should I say, Daddy's Day prayer, to the most wonderful Daddy of all, our Daddy in Heaven!

Eric really had a GREAT Father's Day! (At least I think he did!) His Father's day started this past Monday and will last until July 19th!!!!

Let me explain:

Last weekend I heard on the radio about tickets for WWE Smackdown/ECW SUMMER SLAM TOUR 2009. They were going to give them away to the ninth caller at certain times of the day. Well I really wanted to win them for Eric, but alas it was not in my deck of cards. However, on Monday- I called Eric at home and told him all about what I was trying to do and gave him the number to call and even told him what time to call... Well wouldn't you know that the FIRST time Eric tried to call, he WINS the tickets?! ha ha!! So, since I gave him the instructions, time, and number...I insisted I get full credit for winning them for him. HA HA! So, that's why Father's Day will last until July 19th, because as part of his present, He and I are going to see WWE Summerslam at the Bi-Lo Center! WOO HOO!!! We are so excited, and we have great seats! Thank you HOT 98.1! We love you and thank you for the tickets!

As for a gift from the girls- I found a kit to make Eric a t-shirt. And it truely was one of those "easier said than done" events. It was absolutely an interesting and hysterical experience with both girls!

Instructions: put paint into paper plate. place child's hands into paint, then press firmly on shirt. write name and age under hands. wait 24-48 hours until paint is dry, then iron (NO STEAM) on both sides, keeping cardboard inside the shirt.

What we did:

Jenna Jade was first up because she was the oldest, and thought to be the easiest target. There were 3 colors to choose from: red, yellow, or blue. Mistake #1- I asked her what color she wanted. She said "Daddy's favorite color is green, so we should mix blue and yellow"...and how can you say no to something so thoughtful? Well...the mixing turned out horrible, the green was too dark. I lightened it best we could, but no, it wasn't good enough for her Daddy. So Jenna finally decided on Daddy's second favorite color: Red. Well... we tried to squeeze it out onto the paper plate, but the tiny little plastic paint dispenser wasn't letting very much come out, so instead we just put it directly on her hands...one at a time. I just used my own fingers to spread the paint all over her hand, then I placed her hand on the shirt and helped her press firmly, etc. I repeated with the 2nd hand. Mistake #2 - I trusted a 4 year old. I whiped the majority of the paint off of her hands with baby whipes and paper towels, then instructed her to go straight to the bathroom and wash her hands and to ask for Grandma's help along the way. WHAT my 4 year old did: She got paint on the mouse of the computer when she stopped to answer a question on her kindergarten computer program, Grandma caught her and raced her to bathroom before racing back to the computer to clean the mouse before the paint dried.

Now onto Lexie Noelle. First things first, I stripped her down to just her diaper. (no need to threaten anymore clothes with paint than I have to). Then I asked for Grandma Neesie's help. She held Lexie as I painted one of her hands with blue paint. It was cute, the way I got the paint on her hands was I put it all over my finger, than let her little hand wrap around my finger and hold onto it as I made sure the blue paint covered her hand, then I carefully held her hand out and pressed it on the shirt. THIS is where it got hysterical. With each hand, as I pressed it on the shirt, Lexie's eyes would get so big and she's look right at Grandma with an expression that screams "WHAT is momma doing to me?!" So, her facial expressions cracked me up and of course made it very hard to concentrate on her little hand prints. After Lexie was finished, she went STRAIGHT to the bathtub.

I used the green that Jenna and I had mixed to add their names to the shirt, but I forgot to add the age. (oops)

The next step... um. hmmm. "Wait 24-48 hours". Well, I'm reading this at 4pm on Saturday before Father's Day (yesterday). so, when Eric got home, we went ahead and showed him his shirt and told him he could wear it on Monday! ha ha! Which, by the way, he loves his shirt! Eric is such a wonderful husband and father, My girls and I feel so blessed to have him! We love you Eric!

Eric, you have two little girls that would follow you anywhere. They love you so much and you are such a loving and wonderful father to them. I can't thank you enough for being such a great daddy to them; and such a loving husband to me.