Dad's The Word!: An Important Dinner Date

Each one of our kids was challenged with improving in one or more categories on their report card this past year. As reward they were able to pick out something special to have or do for their hard work. Jake picked out an “instant” comic book collection and Luke wanted a hermit crab, but Makenzie picked out something very special: A date night with her dad.

I am happy to state that all three kids made the requested improvements on their report cards and it was our pleasure to deliver the rewards. I was excited to follow through on all the rewards, but I was especially excited to make good on Makenzie’s. What a great opportunity to have special time with my most precious little girl.

On the evening of our date, I picked her up after work with some flowers. She was dressed cute as a button and ready to go. Makenzie chose the most posh fine dining establishment in all of Boston's MetroWest: Chez TGI Friday's.

Makenzie chose an excellent vintage Raspberry Slushie to complement her exquisite Mac N’ Cheese main course. We talked about all the current events gripping the world today: SpongeBob, crayons, Minecraft, etc. We followed up the cuisine with a brownie and ice cream.

After dinner we chose Toys'R'Us to walk off our meal before the conclusion of our date. And of course, I could not resist treating her to a toy before bringing her back home.  Of all things, she chose this Princess Merida Bow and Arrow Set.

It was one of the best dates I have ever had, and I don’t think I could have been more pleased that she chose time with me as her reward. I just hope she still likes me this much when I won't let her have another date until she's 30!

Click here to read more words from this Dad!

Silly Monkey Stories: How to Wake a Sleeping Baba (a.k.a. Daddy)

Last weekend, our family had plans to go out to run a few errands before dinner.  My husband had gone to take a nap and, by 4pm, there still were no signs of him waking up.  I asked my children to start getting ready to go and our 6 year old daughter asked me when her Baba would be getting up.  I said I was not sure, but maybe we had better wake him up.  She quickly volunteered to do it.  Before you went back upstairs though, she had a few things to say . . .

Makenzie:  "I'm good at waking Baba up.  Do you want to know how?"

Me:  "How?"

Makenzie:  "You have to shake him on the side of his belly and whisper 'Baba wake up' while you're shaking him."

Me:  "The side of his belly, huh?  I'll have to remember that."

Makenzie:  "Yup.  It only works on the side of his belly.  I've tried shaking his leg, but that didn't work.  I've tried shaking his arm and that didn't work.  I've tried shaking the top of his belly and that didn't work either."

And with that, she ran upstairs to use her expertise to bring her father's nap to an end.

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

Silly Monkey Stories: No More Kisses

My husband loves to get kisses from his children.  He gets way more kisses than I do.  I think it's because he plays hard to get.  And when he does finally let the children plant kisses on him, he acts all silly and goofy.  The children just love it.

Well, a month or so ago, my husband caught an extremely bad cold.  He was coughing and wheezing.  You would think this would keep him from kissing the children good night for just a little while, but it did not.  Eventually, our 5 year old daughter caught a cold as well.  Thankfully, her cough was not as severe as her Dad's.  In fact, she got over her cold before my husband got over his.  In order to avoid getting sick again, she was no longer giving kisses or accepting kisses from her Dad.

After my husband finally got better, he realized quickly that our daughter still would not give him kisses.  It seems as if she was well on her way to becoming a germaphobe.  At first it seemed like a game, but then we soon realized that she was not going to give her Dad the kisses on the cheek that he cherished so much.  He acted like she was hurting his feelings to get her to change her mind (although I think his feelings were really a bit hurt).  No amount of reasoning from either of us seemed to work, so he stopped asking her for kisses one day.

A couple of weeks later, after no mention of kisses were made for a very long time, she planted one on her Dad's cheek.  I guess pretending to be uninterested and playing hard to get works!

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

Silly Monkey Story: The Code Has Been Cracked

I always knew I needed to be careful about what I said around the kids, but I had no idea my methods of
encryption had been cracked...or nearly cracked.

I know better not to spell out things to Karen in front of Jake as he can spell very well, but I thought I
had another year or so with the twins. Well apparently not so much.

I had a hard time with a coworker last week and wanted to tell Karen about it. To make my point I
spelled out to Karen what I thought of this person as Makenzie was quietly drawing on her magnetic
doodle pad nearby.

When I was done speaking to Karen, Makenzie comes over to me and presents her drawing to me and
says "like that?"

Makenzie drew "8SS" on her pad.

I think I need to upgrade to an enigma machine....

Click here to read all our Silly Monkey Stories!

My Photos (W/E 11-19-11)

What a busy week!  We had our son's soccer celebration at Papa Gino's and then my husband was hospitalized for an infection in his leg that possibly stemmed from a spider bite.  Three days and one minor surgery later, I am happy to report that he is home and doing well.  Thanks so much for everyone's support and good thoughts on Facebook.  It truly meant a lot to both of us, especially when we were not quite sure how serious the infection was.

Here are my favorite photos from last week.  I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

(Click any photo to enlarge)

"Join Me For a Drink"

"I'm a Blinker"

"Sweet Slumber"

"You Lookin' At Me?"

Thanks for taking the time to view my favorite photos from last week!  Click here to view all my past favorite photos.

My Photos (W/E 8-20-11)

So, I may have gotten a little carried away with the photo-taking this week.  I suppose it's a good thing.  For every photo I take, that means I don't have myself planted in front of my laptop writing, right?  I hope there are one or two that appeal to you this week.

(Click any photo to enlarge)

"I Spy a 2nd Grader"

"A Creative Process"

"A Tattooed Artist"

"Silly Business"

"Gone For a Ride"

"Serious Business"

"Do Not Disturb"

"A Love Story"

Thank you for taking the time to view my photos this week! If you'd like to play along or see more great photos, stop by to see Lotus a.k.a. Sarcastic Mom.

No Longer Seeing Things Clearly

Every little girl loves her Daddy.  I'm no longer a little girl, but I still adore mine. When I was little he would take my sister and I to the park to play basketball and carry me up to my bed when I fell asleep watching television on the sofa.  As an adult, he is still the best Dad to me and an even better Granddad to my children.  I doubt there is anyone in the world that cares about his family as much as my Dad does.

I admit, as every year passes, I have been thinking about my parents' mortality more and more.  They are still able to live independently for the most part, but I know that the day will come when they will need to be taken care of.  In my mind, that meant my sister and I doing their grocery shopping for them and driving them where they need to go.  It never occurred to me that my Dad would begin to lose his vision.

My Dad has been very near-sighted for as long as I can remember, something that I have inherited.  I always thought that surgery and eyeglasses would always be enough to help him see well enough.  Well, we just learned that his vision in one eye, which is currently blurry, is going to continue to worsen.

I have been thinking quite a bit about how the lives of my parents are going to change.  I have started to wonder how much my Dad will be able to see with having very nearsighted vision in only one eye.  Will he be able to read or watch television?  Will he still be able to walk the dog?  Will my parents need to put corner guards on their furniture to prevent accidents?  I have started to notice which stores and restaurants have and which do not have braille signs on their restroom doors.  Will it come to needing such things for my Dad?  I really do not know anyone who has gone through vision loss, so I feel like I will not know what my Dad will be going through or what he will need until it happens.  I wish I knew, so I can be at least somewhat prepared.

Silly Monkey Stories: Ask and You Shall Receive

Here is another little story from when the children all suffered from a stomach bug.  Our 4.5 year old daughter asked if she could use the computer.  Her Dad asked her if she was feeling sick still because she should be sitting on the sofa or laying in her bed resting.  To this our daughter responded by stating that sitting next to the computer made her feel better.

Well, if you've read any of the past stories involving my husband, then you already know what happened next.  He gave her what she wanted and sat her next to the computer (with it off, of course).  Our daughter did not find that to be funny at all, but my husband thought it was hilarious.

Click here to learn how to participate in Silly Monkey Stories.

Click here to read all my Silly Monkey Stories!

If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page). Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!

My Photos (W/E 5-14-11)

Last week, like all others these days, seemed to go by so quickly.  I really thought I would have no photos to share for Weekly Winners.  I was surprised to find that I actually took hundreds of photos last week and that I completely forgot to sort through my Mother's Day photos for posting.  There were just too many, so most of them may be shared on Facebook only this year.  The photo below of my husband and daughter and the one of the brownie on top of the Ben & Jerry's cake are from Mother's Day, however.

"Silk Petals"

"Sweet Cake Topper"

"I Wasn't Doing Anything!"

"Daddy's Girl"

"Sun Bathing"

Thank you for taking the time to view my photos this week! If you'd like to play along or see more great photos, stop by to see Lotus a.k.a. Sarcastic Mom.

Silly Monkey Stories: A New Kind of Utopia

Although our 4 year old twins have been potty trained for some time now, once in awhile we still have a potty-related story to share.  Every time our daughter has to use the potty before bedtime, she always takes her time, just to prolong the length of time she can stay awake.

One night, I heard her tell my husband that she thought the last poop was afraid to come out and that is why it was taking so long.  Then my husband told her that the poops want to come out because after they get flushed, they all go to Poopie Paradise.

I think she believed him.

Click here to learn how to participate in Silly Monkey Stories.

Click here to read all my Silly Monkey Stories!

If you have a Silly Monkey Story to share, sign Mr. Linky below with the link to your blog post (not the link to your main blog page). Please do not forget to visit the other participants and leave them comments to let them know you stopped by!

My Photos (W/E 6-26-10)

I must warn you, there is an overabundance of photos this week. I only had time to ready a small handful of photos for my Father's Day post last week, so I had to include many of them in this one. I attempted to cut down the number of photos as much as I could . . . really, I did!!

"In Disguise" & "Sqeezin's"

"Band of Brothers"

"Life is Ducky" & "The Gift of Art"

"With a Wave of His Wand . . . "

"Brace Yourself Mr. Cookie" & "A Closer Look"

"Monstrous Fun"

Thank you for taking the time to view my photos this week! If you'd like to play along or see more great photos, stop by to see Lotus a.k.a. Sarcastic Mom.