Putting Away Christmas

There aren't many things to love about January, but one thing that I do love, is getting the house cleaned up after Christmas. Today was the big day!

I had a big helper:

Until he got too tired:

Then Trigger the trucker showed up to sweep me off my feet:

And he hauled everything back outside into storage.

I love that there are little baby ghost footprints on top of the dusty containers:

Andy kept the kids downstairs, and I got to listen to podcasts and disassemble, dust, vacuum, and shine. Christmas was wonderful, but it's nice to be back to normal.

Specialist of the Year

At the end of January Andy won a fancy award at work. He loves his job, and apparently they love him. Good work, Babe!

1/30/12

Andy's New Truck

He's saved up for it for two years. I'm glad he finally got what he wanted.

Andy's Birthday

None of us can remember what we did for Andy's big day in October. All I know is that the kids and I bought him an ice cream cake from Coldstone. We ate a piece and then went somewhere. When we came home the cake was sitting on the counter melted. Andy was sad that I'd forgotten to put it away and ruined it. But here are some cute shots of before the cake became a gooey pile of mush.

Relighting the candles so Calvin can have a turn:

It can't have been too awesome if he and I don''t remember it, but hopefully it was a good birthday. We love you Andy/Daddy! 10/17

Skype

Do you think the kids will be permanently messed up because 1) most nights they only get to talk to their dad on the computer, and 2) while he talks to them he changes his face around to look like variations of himself. Like tonight when Calvin and Autumn talked to this meat-head of a man:

That can't be healthy, right?
6/16

Happy Father's Day! (June 21)

Since this year we were traveling for Father's Day, we didn't really do much. Calvin and I had a couple of presents for him when we got home, but in general, besides spending time with their families, it wasn't a very special day for Andy and Danny. I didn't want to miss saying some of the things we love about Andy as a daddy.

He has an amazing amount of patience. He was the one on the floor with the boy, moving his arms and legs back and forth trying to teach him to crawl. He is the one that can spend hours, sitting with him building block fortresses or playing with trains. He is the one that spent countless amounts of time going up and down the stairs teaching C to do it on his own. He is always tender with Calvin and saves all of his grumpiness just for me. He always talks slowly and repeats himself, emphasizing words so that Calvin will learn to speak on his own. He will talk about our budget, and be strict about his own expenditures, but as soon as Calvin finds a toy he thinks he has to have, his dad is a softy and always buys it for him. He always makes sure all of his physical and emotional needs are taken care of, and plans so carefully for the boy to have the best life he possibly can. He is an incredible father. I can't imagine any luckier kid than Calvin is for having him as a dad. Happy Father's Day, My Lover!

A Conversation

While watching Berenstein Bears, whose theme song is sung by Dolly Parton:

Andy: Is that Dolly Parton?

Emma: Did you say Donny Parton?

Andy: Yes, dear. Donny Parton. The big-breasted, country music singing hermaphrodite. That's exactly what I said.