May 2011

Doing a little spring cleaning this weekend and came across a bag of old photos that my dad gave me when he sold the family cabin a few years ago. It was filled with a bunch of pictures of me when I was a boy, a teenager, and a young man ~ was fun to look back on those years (and my funny hair styles and clothes - parents do have a sense of humor, don't they?). You can see more of the photos of me on my facebook page.

There were also a bunch of photos of my children from the pre-digital camera era. We spent a ton of time with my dad with the kids. They loved his pool, for one. Swam like little fishes all summer long!

And there were a ton of photos from holidays at my dad's house, with all the cousins running around. There must have been close to a dozen small children around the same age, my kids loved it. In many of the pictures I'm right there on the floor playing with all of them.

Their mother must have thought she had three kids instead of two. Here's a funny pic of my daughter, toddling around carrying a package almost as big as she is. There were Christmases where we had to stop home between different family house visits to drop off all the "loot" my kids got as gifts. No shortage of grandparental spoilage there!

My absolute favorite of the bunch is a photo of my son just after he was born, surrounded by the three most important men in his life - his father and his two grandfathers (whom he was named after). It's a priceless photograph and I remember the day like it was yesterday.

Both of our kids were born in a birthing center, so everyone in the family could be there and witness their first moments. It was a wonderful family experience and I'm so glad we did it that way. There are a ton of photos of me holding each of them right after they were born, beaming proud of course.

Another one of my favorites in this bag o' pics is a photograph of my grandparents, my dad's parents, when they were probably in their 60's or so, maybe early 70's. It jumped right out at me, because of my grandmother's face. I immediately saw myself and my daughter in the shape of her face, it was uncanny, and I don't think I ever really noticed it before. I know my daughter looks like me, but she also looks like her other grandmother (her mother's mother). But in this one particular photograph, we're both a spitting image of MY grandmother. Plus it's a really nice photo of them. I think I'll have to frame this one for the house.


Mother's Day ~

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there, especially my mom, my sister (who is a great mom to two teenagers), and the mother of my children. Despite everything else, I can only be thankful to the mother of my children for the two most precious gifts in my life, that we created and nurtured together. Without her, they simply would not exist as the wonderful children that they are. When you boil it all down, it's as simple as that. And for that reason alone, I wish her a beautiful day filled with family and happy memories.

My mom is still in Florida playing snowbird, so I took a ride down to Naples to see my favorite Aunt. What a gorgeous ride that is, through the hills and down by the lake. My kids always loved that drive, and the swiss cheese church in town always made my daughter laugh. I got a Jeff Gordon tour of the golf course from my cousin's 7 year old son. I remember when my son used to drive the golf cart around at that age, he loved it, although I'm not sure his mother did. Most mothers don't. Overall it was a beautiful day to spend with family & friends, and I'm sure my kids spent a nice day with their mom and grandma. Everyone in Naples ~ Aunts, Uncles, Cousins ~ all send their love to my kids. Everyone misses them and wishes them well.

For a little background on the origins of the Mother's Day celebration ~ here's an interesting history of Mother's Day I found online.