Dads...

We celebrated Father's Day yesterday--had a lovely brunch at our house with us, Cathy, and the in-laws. Laurie was supposed to be at work so that's why we had brunch instead of an afternoon bbq or a nice dinner. Then he ended up with a chest infection and couldn't go to work. So he was not well, but had a good time anyway.

I hope Martin had a good Father's Day. He celebrated it by leaving the kids and me and playing baseball in Harrogate!

I know it sounds like I am bitter about that, but I'm actually not. That's what he wanted to do with his day, and he had a good time. Dylan spent the night at his Nanna's house and I picked him up after church. Then we came home and made Martin a card. I cooked dinner, we ate, and then blew bubbles and played patty cake until Martin got home. The kids all got some quality time with daddy while I prepared for bath time and cleaned the house.

Oh, and I taught Dylan a special father's day song for his daddy. It's "I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home," from the Children's Hymnbook. We've been working on it all week and he sang it brilliantly!

I think my best gift to Martin was being happy when he got home. He really knew that I didn't mind him playing baseball today and just wanted him to have a good time.

After Dylan was born, I hated Martin to leave me alone with the baby. Now it is twice as hard to do things on my own, yet I really don't mind doing it. I take it in my stride. Of course, I do get a little bit lonely when I am on my own for the evening. But I actually enjoy doing bedtime by myself because I get all the cuddles from the kids!

I feel really fortunate to be married to Martin. I know I complain about him sometimes, but I really do love him to bits. He is such a good husband, and such an amazing father.

I knew when I married him that he would be a good dad, but I had no idea just how good he would be. Dylan loves him to distraction, and every time Martin comes home from work Dylan runs to the door screaming "daddy" at the top of his lungs. He can hardly wait to give him hugs. Edith is still a bit young to enjoy playing with her daddy, but she loves snuggling with him and always has smiles for him.

Martin supports me in my role as mother and always provides help and support in major parenting decisions. He provides love as well as discipline. Mostly love.

In completely unrelated news, I got a breadmaker off Freecycle, and I've used it 4 times in the last 5 days. I've made white bread, wheat bread, brioche, and I'm making spelt bread tonight (for my father-in-law). It's AMAZING! I used to think that bread makers were cheating and scorned them deeply. Now I don't have time to knead bread dough. I can just see myself up to my elbows halfway through kneading a loaf of bread when Dylan started throwing things in the toilet or Edith woke up from a nap screaming. So even though it really IS cheating, it's a necessary cheat. And I LOVE having fresh homemade bread.