Father's Day

My first Father's Day.  Who knew it would ever come?  I wasn't terribly upset when it passed in the past, but it is different when it finally gets here.  I guess I am shell shocked.  It's great being a father.  My daughter is the best little thing on two legs, and even though she is quite trying at times (we are entering the terrible twos) she is every bit a reason to smile every day.  Even now she is sitting in Mommy's lap looking at a book with pictures of China and making the appropriate noises for the different animals in the book.  She is remarkably careful with the pages.

She greets us every morning with a cheery chirp or a "Hi-eee."  She is a happy little girl and so full of energy and the urge to explore that sometimes I think she might run us ragged.

We went to the book store last night and she found the table in the children's section with beads that follow metal wires...she went between that and a Leap Pad toy that was at her level...we would walk back and forth, spending a little time at each.  I was impressed with her ability to be good!

She is so stinking cute that even children who don't know her wave and smile at her.  Strangers walk up and tell us how cute she is, as though we were unable to work that one out on our own.  It is an occupational hazard, I suppose, but working with such cuteness everyday does NOT make us immune.  I just don't know what the safe dosage level is.  I suspect we should get some sort of cuteness level reader badges, that way we know how much we have been exposed to, just in case something happens to us and the scientists want to know what exposure to such concentrated cuteness does, they will have data on us and be able to begin studies on similar cases...That's why we sacrifice our time and health to this child, all for the good of humanity.

So, given that we spend everyday with this wonderfully cute child, I just can't get over that there is a day set aside for Hallmark to make cards for me!  How cool!

And for Father's Day I got a wonderful little card handed to me by a munchkin that when you press the belly of Elmo, he says, "Elmo loves you!"

I am a lucky man, married to a wonderful woman, and father of the sweetest child around.  Happy Father's Day!

So, You Want To Be On My Blog?(updated)

This blog was originally titled "Bo Re Gard, He Was A Good Dog," but I wandered upon this a picture of Carrie, my sister. Last week, I posted a picture of my brother-in-law (her husband) because he made a face in front of my camera. This week, my sister, armed with that knowledge and fully cognizant of my blogging tendancies, made this lovely face. I think she is putting on display, for the world to see, her innate seriousness and maturity. Love ya, Sister C! And I would have kept it, but it was not as flattering as it could have been. Instead, I submit this photo, entitled "Siblings." It had to be about 1984 or 1985.

So, Cora and I worked on the house yesterday. Then we went to town to get some chips and went down to the Father’s Day bash my sister was throwing. It was fun. Dinner was great, even if she looked at me with pleading eyes and motioned toward the barbeque…I am just glad the burgers turned out like they did, since the first few tried to fall apart! The rest of dinner was great! There was a potato salad, baked beans, another salad or two and plenty of chips. Coupled with family, it made for a good dinner.

Here is a shot of Cora and I...kind of a fun picture.

Then my sister, in her devious ways, concocted a game we could all play. The point was to guess who said what. She would ask a question, then we would all answer on our sheet of paper. Then we would all hand them back to her, where she would ask one person to guess who said which answer. It was really kind of fun. The last question, since she asked me to help, was chosen by me. If you could chose a different name, what would it be? The responses were funny, but the best were “Lee Roy,” “Bo Re Gard, he was a good dog,” "Francoise Prelitea," and then mine, of course, was a bit long: “Sir Reginald Wilson Spencer, Earl of London.” (Sounded like a fun to me) It took a while for everyone to warm up to the game, but it was really fun. What would you like to talk to a large audience about? “Nuclear Physics,” “Squirrel Taxidermy,” and “Coin Collecting.” If you can’t guess that mine was Squirrel Taxidermy, then you don’t get a prize.

Here are two of the Fathers on display.

My sister and the kids made me a Father's Day card, since, officially, we are expecting...aren't they sweet?

Here you can see my Dad attempting to entertain a four year old.