Weekend celebration

On Saturday we went out for supper to celebrate having all of our adoption paperwork finished & sent off (again).  We've been waiting 2.5 years to adopt again but had to redo everything when we moved provinces (and had to also change which country we'll be adopting from).  Celebrating different preparation steps & milestones is important in the adoption process - especially since everything is now officially out of our hands!

Sunday morning was cool - instead of having a battle over whether he can play Wii in the morning (way too early I might add), 'Mario' wanted to read with me.  I was happy to oblige despite the hour - and I'm really impressed on how well he reads for his age.  It's fun to connect with him over something we both enjoy.  And yes, sometimes we let him wear the same shirt to bed that he wore the day before.....

Being on crutches for the past 9.5 weeks has caused me to interact differently with my family.  I'm now the one observing more than the one in the middle of the action.  Thankfully my youngest daughter still thinks I'm a jungle gym, so she's constantly climbing all over me...  On the bright side, I think it's created a lot more opportunities for 'calmer' physical touch (reading more & sitting to visit) and cuddling with my kids since I can't chase them around, go tobogganing, or wrestle so well.

Here's a picture of me watching the 5 crazies that share life with me - they were playing tag throughout the house last night.  They gave me the smile & laugh I needed.  Waiting for knee surgery & barely being able to walk still frustrates me and the pain doesn't help either.  So laughter is always welcome!

 

I Hide Food

We try to share everything as a family & it's a tough principle to teach growing kids.
Especially when I'm not practicing it all the time.

I hide snacks from my kids - and I don't like sharing!

There are times when I want to enjoy the odd treat without having to share.  Honestly I love them, but I'm selfish and get sick of being the only one to not get something.  When there's six of us in the house, some things don't last long.  So I hide different food once in a while so I can have some to myself.  It's to the point where I can't even have a single ketchup chip without my youngest daughter catching me.... "I smell something yummy daddy! You had a chip!!!"

One chip.

How do women do that?

And why in the world did I only have one chip?  MAKE IT COUNT MAN!!!  If there's a chance of being busted, I should be going in by the fistful.
Lesson learnt.

I've also tried to buy cereal & hide it.... only to enter the kitchen the next morning to find out that it has been devoured & I hadn't had any yet.

FUN FACT: the idea of bomb-sniffing dogs came from a dad like me who watched their kids find everything in the house the dad tried to hide.  The father thought this would be an amazing way to find things other than salty treats, so he brainstormed & finally came up with the possibility of saving people's lives.  What if a bomb could be sniffed out like the kids found candy?  There obviously couldn't be bomb-sniffing kids, so they picked dogs instead.  True story.   (not at all....)

My grade as a Dad on this one: D minus (again).
As a positive, I'm at least learning better hiding spots to use for gifts in the future....

another start

I've entered back into the blog world again - it gives me something to do as I've been spending a lot of time sitting around lately.

10 weeks ago I ripped up the inside of my knee (a few different things ripped - one of which moved & doesn't allow me to actually extend my leg fully, another that needs repairing, and another that needs full reconstruction).  So I've spent all of those weeks hobbling around on crutches, being mostly useless, and getting fatter.  It bugs me to be useless, but I've been strangely content with getting fatter.  Maybe don't tell my wife that...

If you're wondering 'what's with the title?', then here it is: I'm trying to focus on the fact that I'm passing as a father, husband, friend, and son of God - though barely.  And it's usually not because of any great thing I do.  I'm surrounded by greatness and trying to learn.  So I felt like it would be fun to share what I've been learning in different aspects of my life and how failing is never fatal.  It's a bit of walking the line & enjoying it!  And not being worried if some of the experiences turn into F-.

Here's some of my kids who recently have been walking the line!

I calmly asked them what they were doing - apparently the only snow good enough for making snowballs happened to be up there.  They were not wrong....  But I told them to put the ladder away & maybe I'd take the older one up there this summer.  I loved the creativity & determination & adventurous spirit.

Then 5 minutes later.....

It's difficult to get too mad when you admire what they are doing...  That's 'Mario' trying to walk the line on the fence to get the ball.  He gets an A+ for trying.  And an A+ for throwing the ball up there in trying to create a legitimate excuse to go up there again & still listen to his father (by putting the ladder away).

#proud dad