A Card, Some flowers and a Personal note

A Card:

Many times over the last, almost 26 years I have told my husband that one of the things I love most about him is his sense of humor and fun. I love that he knows how to get into the spirit of things, even when I am not. The other day I scrapped a card that I intended for Fathers Day. I showed it to him asking him if he thought it was "manly" enough...he looked at it and said,

"well, um...I don't think so honey."

I said, "why not, whats wrong with it?"

"well, he replied, that ribbon and that swirly stuff"..

oh man I thought to myself, what in the world is sissy about black ribbon, for one thing, its grosgrain with white stripes in it and that swirly stuff? its not even glittery, its STUDS for heavens sake!

So I said, "Well, do you think you could make a card that would be manly enough for you?"

"yes I sure could, you could add a saw and some wood and nails..."

"WHAT???" I said, not even bothering to hide my incredulity and mediocre annoyance, after all what does HE know about card making????

"Okay, why not make one then?"

"Alright, he said, I will."

So, we head into the scrap room, and slowly but surely a plan begins to take shape. First he draws a hand saw...okay, how in the world am I supposed to put a saw on a card? I kept thinking to myself how dumb that was, but, true to form, he got in there and thought up a way to make a cool handsaw using my seldom utilized zig zag scissors. It was pretty cool. Then we started thinking up other ideas, working together to create this card. Yep, we got the wood and nails on there too and even some other neat stuff. I kept thinking to myself that there was no way this card was going to look anything like anything good, but, I should have known better. I finally surrendered to the spirit of things and got into it with him, going along with all his ideas and working on putting it together, consulting him on assembling it and where he wanted things on the card and what paper to use...the whole thing. His first words? This thing is gonna fly off the shelf! Funny thing? He was right! The first thing Aaron, Ryan and Bryce said? THIS IS A COOL CARD!!!!!!!!! And they meant it!

So, we got done with it and I must admit, I agree with Ryan, Aaron and Bryce it is a cool card, it is a MAN card! It was fun working at my scrapbooking desk with my honey and having him get into scrapping a card and not be daunted by the task. How many men will do that? I honestly can't think of too many. (although I did see Bryce in on one of his sickest bouts, putting together a card for Kaylee for Valentines day at my scrappy desk).

In that vein I want to say something about my husband. Out of every single man I know or have ever known, I admire him the most. I have so much respect for him and am so in awe of all the things the Lord has planted in him over the years. He is funny, smart, wise, caring, kind, witty, thoughtful, always willing to change, forgiving, loving....but you know what? The one thing that could have sunk our marriage years ago is the one thing I admire him the most for. 20 plus years ago he made the choice to never drink or use drugs again and save our family from sure ruin, he then opened his heart to the Lord and allowed Him to come in and change him and reshape him and every time I hear him praise the Lord and hear him pray with me, for me or for someone else, my heart swells. He is every bit a manly man and every bit a man who is capable of intense love, devotion, tenderness and yes, even tears. I am so very very blessed.

So, now the debut of my amazing hubby's first ever (and probably last ever) card! Can I hear a drum roll please??????

TA DAH!!!!!!!!

Yep, that is a REAL carpenters pencil and REAL Levi's jeans material!

Some Flowers:

Okay so these flowers just had to be added. For the first time ever, my oldest son had flowers sent to me for Mothers day! My very favorite, Gerbera Daisies! I LOVE LOVE LOVE them and as they begin to droop and fade, I am glad I took a picture of them. I got two wonderful cards from him and one from Ryan and Aaron, who got me an external hard drive for all my photos I download! The card they bought me? One of my very own! haha! I told them that that person could sure make great cards and they should go pro! haha! (John and the kids are my hugest supporters for my scrapping).

And A Personal note:

As we draw close to Aarons graduation I am finding myself feeling more and more melancholy and watching him and enjoying every moment with him. I have been so blessed with the kids we have. What wonderful adults they are turning out to be and I am so grateful to the Lord for answering my prayers that have often been whispered in the night watches or while sitting on my shower floor, crying out to the Lord. I take no credit for the wonderful and incredible men and woman they are because I know my human frailties and failings and I know that the Lord has been the one to cover them all - not to mention I didn't raise them alone. I also know that the choices they make are exactly that, their choices and it shows their maturity and growth in ways that I am in total awe of! Thank you Lord! So as I ponder what having our youngest graduate from high school means by way of parenting, by way of milestones, I realize yet again that I cannot hold on to what was but must be staying in the moment, enjoying each day and each conversation, each inroad I get with him. I am enjoying having him prank me when we work together by hiding my phone in odd places in the house we are cleaning and then calling me, repeatedly. I am begrudgingly enjoying helping him out in the morning whilst admiring his dedication to the new eating plan he is on to gain weight and muscle and I am enjoying his new openness to us and to the Lord. This child, this youngest of ours has been such a wonder to me. He has challenged us from day one to be on our toes, to be paying attention and to be smarter than he is. To figure out the boundaries and put them in place, holding them firm so he could explore the world he was in. Often I feel like such a ditz around him but only because he has so much of his dads incredible brain in his head and his, for lack of a better word, rapier wit, is stunning at times. He is such an amazing blessing and I am eternally grateful to the Lord for creating him and giving him to us. I don't know what he will turn out to be, but I know it will be great and it will be what the Lord wants him to be. Why? Because within that 18 year old chest beats the heart of a man who wants to do good things, who wants to change the world and make it a better place and who wants to help others. (even though right now, you'd never know it by the looks of his disaster of a bedroom!)

Well, TGIF guys! and not only THAT? THE SUN IS SHINING!!! THE... SUN... IS... SHINING!!!!!!!