Summer Love

Ty is perhaps one of the pickiest eaters ever.  You would never know it by his size, but really the kid will only eat a few items.  And when it comes to trying something new, it has to be his idea or there is no chance.  The funny part is that usually when he does end up trying something new he goes crazy for it and just can't get enough.  Last Summer we caught him and Maddie in my in-laws garden picking and eating them some corn.  Since then he has been in love with corn on the cob. He asks for it at least once a week, and has been impatiently waiting all winter and spring for it to be in season again.  Yesterday Ben took Ty with him to run an errand up town and Ty noticed a stand selling corn, he begged Ben to stop and buy some.  When they got home we couldn't cook it fast enough.  Ty was in Heaven, this could be his favorite thing about Summer.

When he was done I asked him to put the cobb in the garbage.  He headed for the fridge and told me he was just going to save that part for tomorrow.  I told him that we could make some more tomorrow, so he reluctantly placed it in the garbage.  I'm pretty sure he would have slept with it if he thought he could have gotten away with it.  I have a feeling I will be boiling a lot of corn this summer, and that's  a-ok with me :)

My favorite part of Summer?  Kids who play so hard that our afternoons often look like this...

(Or it could be Ty wearing Bens old faded IFA hat, it makes my heart melt just a little.)

Don't worry, Ty doesn't mind being under a pink skull blanket,

when he wakes up he will thank Ally for being so nice and sharing :)

For Father's Day I made this little photo strip for my Dad.  These pictures were taken while we were in Lake Havasu for Thanksgiving.  I can't believe how little my baby looks. 

Father's Day I'm realizing is a hard holiday for me.  I feel pulled in a million different directions.  Which isn't a bad thing, I am a very lucky girl to have a lot of amazing Men in my life who have helped me become who I am today. But I can't help but miss one who is unavoidably absent.

Gill loved summer maybe more than anyone.  He loved to be outside on his riding mower, and he mowed everything possible, the lawn, the neighbors lawn, the weeds on the side of the road, even the entire pasture a few times.  He loved to ride horses, go to the cabin, go fishing, and "bronzing up", which meant working on his tan.  He was always the life of the party no matter the season, seriously there was never a dull moment with him around.  He taught me a whole lot about life, and not just the pretty stuff either.  He taught me how to stand up for myself, and how to be resilient, and to have fun and find the humor in every situation.

 You would think after almost five years you would start to get used to the void, and sometimes we are less aware than other times.  But for some reason I miss him a whole lot lately.  I have a good idea why, and I will write a big ole' post on it one of these days soon.  But today I just want all the men in my life on Earth, and the ones not here anymore, to know how much I love them, so very much. 

Happy Father's Day, a few days late.