Lucky in Love

Bean and I celebrated 8 years of marriage this week.  I had all sorts of ideas for a creative, fabulous post honoring this event.  But let's be honest, I'm a busy working mom of three small children.  The pieces just never came together.  So here's my heart and thoughts.

8 years of marriage

3 children, ages 5 and younger.

3 major job changes for each of us--with of course some side jobs thrown in there

5 different homes

1 truck, traded for 1 CRV, traded for 1 minivan (bless Bean for driving the Saturn that I brought into our marriage)

These are some of the huge milestones we've been through together.  Each with their ups and downs.  But together is the key.  When we are in the midst of difficulty, we often say to each other "there is no other person I'd rather go through this with."  And it's so true.

We still look at each other in amazement that we're married.  Bean's brother was one of my close friends growing up.  We knew of each other, but never hung out or even really talked.  Until I moved back home after college.  I remember the first time I "officially" approached Bean.  I had been asked to lead worship for our church college group, and I had remembered seeing him play guitar a few times.  So I asked if he wanted to be on the worship team.  I'm not great at that kind of thing--making that kind of request--but I'm SO glad I did :)  Now he is my guitarist for life.  People used to tease me and Bean's brother about dating--but I like to think I got the better brother!  Better for me that is :)  His brother and I would have killed each other, although I still consider him one of my close friends.  And his wife is perfect for him.

I love our marriage.  Thankfully it's been one of the "easy" things in life.  Certainly we have our ups and downs--which usually is due to failure to communicate, but most of the time being married to Bean is the best thing in my life (also because he gave me those three beautiful babies).  Our favorite time of the day is when we can finally get in our comfy bed, cuddle and sleep (although we both sleep best lying back to back...but our feet almost always touch).  I find it romantic that Bean checks my Twitter feed every day, even though he doesn't have an account himself.  He just likes to see what I'm saying about my day. 

Sometime in the last year I heard the song "Lucky in Love" for the first time.  Ever since then, it's stuck with me as being so true for Bean and I.  I have been lucky in love, and am lucky that my love is my best friend.

I love you Bean!  You are my best friend and I look forward to what the next years have to offer us.

(you know it's love when I post a photo of us at HIS beloved Bronco stadium when I am a die-hard Charger fan)

He's her daddy

Yesterday Miss Rose and I went out to do some errands, including Father's Day Prep. While at Nordstrom Rack I asked her to stand in one spot while I checked out some flip flops (one thing for him, one for me, right?!) She picked up some Converse ankle socks that happened to be to her left and asked if she could get them for Daddy. Not a bad choice since he never buys socks for himself, and he loves his Chucks.

I agreed--yes, great idea for Daddy. Miss Rose proceeded to pick up a box that was to her right and say "or we could get him these." Um no dear, Daddy does not need boxer briefs. And please quickly put the box back and let's go before we have to discuss male anatomy while in Nordstrom Rack. You know what the photos on those boxes look like... Thankfully we made a clean getaway!

If she had it her way, Miss Rose would have given Daddy his gifts right when we got home, but I talked her into waiting. But first thing this morning she wanted to give him the socks--so of course I let her.

After church this afternoon she was ready to give him the tongs we bought (ours recently broke and we do a lot of grilling, so they are necessity) and then she spotted the card she picked out for him and insisted on giving it to him without signing it. And she was thrilled to present him with the "World's Greatest Dad" paper medallion she made in Sunday school.

Who needs wrapping paper, big presentations or even to sign the card? He's her daddy. And it's Father's Day. And she can honor him however she wants. It's special not because of the packaging, but because it truly came from her heart.

I just wish this weekend came from her bank account too, not ours. It's been very fun and very special...but a birthday and father's day made for an expensive weekend. As Bean always says, "it's just money, and we can always make more." We may be eating beans and rice and peanut butter and jelly a lot the rest of the month! But it was worth every penny.

The View From Here

We had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend. Lots of family togetherness, a date night, a family birthday party, and picnicing with friends.

Bean went to a baseball game about 90 minutes away on Monday. Which meant he was gone for about 8 hours later in the day and evening.

I was glad he accepted the invitation. Bean doesn't do enough for himself. I think as a parent, especially of young children, it's important to have ocassional "me" time. Bean always supports when I want to grab coffee with a friend or go on a solo run. I always encourage Bean to do something for himself.

Bean sent me this photo to show how close their seats were to the field and how great his view was.



I of course, felt the need to respond with photos of my view at home.




Can you tell what that is? Poop on the floor. And no, we do not have a dog, or any other animals. For the record, this was just one of two pooplets and the rest of the poop DID make it in the potty!

And then there was the feverish baby I spent much of the evening holding and cooling off with a cloth.

Some nights the course of events might have driven me to the brink, but in this case I was rather calm, cool and collected. Quality family time will do that to me. I was Queen of the World!

I just found the irony rather amusing. Don't you?

Dad of the Year Award

I always love to brag on Bean and what a great dad and husband he is.

He dressed the girls this morning so they could leave with me for church. They love to come early and get donuts and go to the early service Sunday school. I have to be out of the door at 7:15am, so assistance is needed!

All morning Gracie kept falling down. In fact, a few people commented on it, asking why she was falling. I had no idea. If I wasn't holding her hand, she'd fall. She took a couple good nose dives.

I was called in to change her diaper and as she was up on the changing table (which she is pretty much too big for...potty training coming soon) I noticed...

Her shoes on the wrong feet.

Bless Bean's little Mexican heart.

In the rush of the morning, he put her shoes on the wrong feet.

Which explains all the falling.

He's still dad of the year though!

Lost Keys

I committed the ultimate parent no-no this weekend. I let my children play with a set of keys. Not just any set of keys, but Bean's keys. Gracie loves keys lately and was pointing to our key rack saying "keys, keys" so I grabbed a set, handed them to her and she toddled off to the front door to try and get a key in the lock.



That was the last I thought of it. We were in the middle of getting ready to go out for dinner so that soon took precedence. Until this morning...when I got the dreaded text from Bean (who texts as rarely as he can, so I knew it was a big deal) that said "do you know where my work keys are."



Oops. Gracie often plays with our keys for a bit, but she either gives them back when she's done or we find them by the door. Not this time I guess. I began to panic a bit inside. Bean, um, doesn't handle these little hiccups of life so well. He likes things ordered and predictable. He is the more responsible parent who would never let his child play with keys, while I am more free-flowing--let kids be kids, if something is lost, it will be found.



I ran home and did a quick search when I could get away from church for a moment (we live in a house next to church property); Bean had taken Miss Rose for her soccer pictures. No keys.



When we got home from church I could tell things weren't good. I'm sure Bean had spent at least 30min searching for his keys--missing part of his precious "Opening Day" football.



Thank God for Miss Rose's great memory. I asked her about the keys and she said "yes, I put them in the white box I always play with. I was the bad guy stealing things." (yes, my 4yr old is obsessed with bad guys) We couldn't figure out what box she was talking about and looked all over again to no avail.



I had to leave again to head to an after-church lunch meeting. I was wracking my brain trying to think of where a 4yr old bad guy would stash her booty. On my way out the door, I opened our armoire on impulse. Voila! The white box (a storage container), with toys and keys inside. Praise be to Jesus!!!



I've learned my lesson. Bean wanted to lecture me, but I knew. A mistake I won't make again. Common sense says I shouldn't have done it in the firsts place, but I'm the free-flowing one when it comes to stuff like that. Next time I'll have to hand over MY keys!