..father's day..

i don't know what it is, but lately i've just had this need to put my creative energy to use. not that i'm creative, because i most certainly am not, but i'm pretty good at copying people (like on pinterest lol) so i used father's day as a good excuse to do something crafty.

i feel like the past few father's days have been a let-down for lance. last year i was busy getting ready for our trip to hawaii, not to mention 6 months pregnant, hot and ornery, and the year before i was 2 months post-partum and still not on top of my game, so neither year did i do anything cute or "wife-of-the-year"ish for lance. i always feel guilty after - not because i think he expects it (i know for a fact he does not!) but more so because i expect it from myself. i would consider myself pretty domestic, and i definitely love to throw parties and make a big deal of things, but i guess it all hinges on how much time i give myself to make it all come together, and rarely am i that on top of things.

anyhow, this year, with the help of pinterest and the timing of the superman movie, i decided to do a "super-dad" theme for lance for father's day! he is, after all, a great father and husband, and totally deserves to feel like superman, even if just for a day. ;) i made this cute banner, bought him a superman shirt from old navy (thank the heavens they had his size - 1 large left!), bought some matching balloons and a few other gifts and voila! i was pretty happy with the way it all turned out, and even though i had to go to 5 different stores at 10 pm the night before father's day to find a place that wasn't sold out of helium, it was all worth it to see how happy it made lance. :)

he spent the day putting together his smoker and tending to his brisket once he got everything working properly. lance loves smoked food, so we got him a smoker, a smoking box (to put inside the grill), a smoking gun (to smoke small foods, such as cheese, slices of meat, etc), and some smoked bbq sauce and a few other small things. his first brisket had a great flavor, but wasn't very tender. we looked up a few different recipes and followed one but apparently it wasn't a good one to follow! haha better luck next time. as lance keeps saying, "smoking is an art," and apparently he needs time to develop the talent. ;) his words, not mine. despite the meat being tough, we had a delicious dinner out on the patio - brisket, corn-on-the-cob, baked beans, corn bread and peach cobbler for dessert.

before we had kids, i never would have anticipated what an amazing father lance would be. i knew that our children would love him when they got older, because who doesn't love lance? he seriously has so many friends, and makes friends so easily, because he is just fun to be around. he's very spontaneous, and always up for a fun adventure. but i thought our kids would like me best until they were old enough to understand how fun their dad is. ;) i was wrong. finn has been a daddy's boy since the very beginning - like for real, since he was 8 months old. and i think sam will follow along the same lines. they both just light up when dad gets home from work, and he is the first person they want to see in the morning. finn will only cuddle with me if dad isn't around, and when he gets hurt or doesn't feel well, dad is the person he asks for. i'll admit that it sometimes hurts my feelings, but it also melts my heart, and i wouldn't have it any other way.

happy father's day to the world's best father and our very own "super dad!" we love you so much.