Daddy love

Jon was leaving to go caving with the Pathfinders.

So the kids ran to hug him good bye.

Caitlin has been sick since last night. So her hair is a mess and she just isn't as energetic as usual. This also means she's more cuddly and lovey. Definitely not a bad side effect.

The race before the race.

On Sunday we headed to Nashville to do a little shopping and running. We met my dad so Dominic and I could run a race with him.

It was a race that was promoting healthy families so there were some kids activities.

The fun run was .75 miles and started 15 minutes before the 5k. But the finish line for the kids race was a bit from the start of the 5k. So I asked my dad to run with Dominic since I wasn't sure if I could run that much or that quickly. In the previous races Dominic has run at my pace. Turns out he can run under a 9 min mile. He ran that race in 6:42. 

Jon had to hurry as well to get the kids down close to the start to get pictures. 

There were over 8000 people running that race so the first several shots had people blocking his view.

This is the only one of me starting off that you can actually see me.

I'm in the purple shirt.

 A bit blurry, but it's my dad crossing the finish line.

 And me already across and trying to find some water. It was a bit warmer than I'd expected.

 Walking back to our car.

It was lots of fun.

Happy Birthday

My dad had his 60th birthday this last weekend and for many months now we've been planning a surprise birthday party for him.

Daddy is amazing at figuring out surprises so I knew I'd have to have a surprise within a surprise. We (the Murrell's) drove up on Friday evening. It was nice to spend a quiet Sabbath with my parents. We drove to a local park and spent the day.

My first surprise was going to be my grandparents coming. I arranged with my uncle to drive them up. They arrived on Sabbath evening and while my dad was expecting a surprise I don't think he was expecting them. We even had a dessert and sang happy birthday to him that evening to throw him off.

 He was still a bit suspicious though. So I ran with him on Sunday morning and then we "left". At least that is what we made it look like. Then we headed over to the building I had rented for the party.

My dad said he was expecting something, but as the day wore on and nothing happened he figured maybe he'd been wrong.

My grandparents told my dad they wanted to take him out to eat before they left. This was the ruse to get my dad to the party. He was definitely surprised.*

Happy 60th to a wonderful, amazing dad!!!

Love you Daddy!

*He told me that there was no way that we would be able to surprise him for his 70th since we'd pulled a surprise for his 50th and 60th. I guess he is planning on being incredibly suspicious. =)

Smart

Dominic has been making comments about needing braces or glasses. I think every child goes through a phase where they want one or both.

Dominic removed the nose and whiskers from these play glasses and has been wearing them all around the house.

Dominic and Daddy had a very tiring day.

A Daddy sled

The new way to exercise.

 

I love this man!

My husband is a wonderful husband. 

But he's also an amazing dad.

The kids love their daddy so much.

Caitlin had gotten hurt and needed some love.

Dominic can't be left out.

Jon and I asked Caitlin for a kiss and she said no.

So I kissed Jon and all of the sudden she wanted to kiss everyone.

Her kisses are a bit juicy. =)

Friday

Friday was gorgeous weather.

We spent most of it outside playing. 

I didn't get very much accomplished, but it was so worth it.

 

I brought out some lawn chairs so I could watch the kids playing in the front yard.

These chairs are super old and the back is starting to fall apart. So it makes it very scratchy.

I pulled the blanket out of the trunk. The kids wanted to copy me.

So they both ran into their rooms and returned with blankets from their beds.

 

Dominic is laughing because he's in my chair. I guess stealing Mom's chair is very funny.

 

It wasn't so funny when his own chair was stolen.

This picture was taken right before he noticed and started a fight with Caitlin.

When Jon got home we headed to Lowes to pick up some things.

The kids were so cute holding his hands.

What you can't see is that both of them are trying to swing, which is about to pull Jon's arms off.

He's an amazing dad!

I took this picture of Dominic because his face was so dirty you could see the tear tracks on his face.

He had gotten upset about something earlier and I noticed his dirty face.

Caitlin wanted her picture taken as well so posed and asked me to take one.

A widow

Jon is on a business trip this week.

Today at lunch Dominic said

"Mom, you're almost like a widow cause Daddy's gone.

Except a widow has a dead husband and she won't see him until Jesus comes."

Okay!

Then later he told Caitlin that Daddy was in Hawaii.

I bet he wishes. =)

Spoiled rotten

My children are very spoiled.

Caitlin loves the little princesses that she got for going potty.

She wants to sleep with them and carries them everywhere.

We were coloring on the couch and one must have fallen on the floor.

The next thing we knew Sarah had chewed a leg off.

Caitlin picked up the pieces and tried to make her princess "all better."

But there wasn't anything we could do and she sadly threw her away.

She kept saying "Bad Sawah!" over and over again.

It broke my heart and I told Jon about it at lunch.

He went to the store that night and bought her a replacement.

We had a very happy little girl that evening.

"Helping" Daddy

 Caitlin got into Jon's chalk when we weren't looking.

 

 

Super Powers

Dominic has been into super powers lately.

Mainly what super powers do you have?

He will see us doing something and tell us that is our super power.

There had been quite a bit of talk about super powers yesterday.

Jon was painting in the dining room and Dominic walked in.

"Wow Dad. You painted that really fast."

"It's my super power, Dominic."

Dominic laughing.

"No it's not, Daddy. Mom is your super power."

Business trip

Jon had to be gone for two days this past week on a business trip.

He left on Wednesday morning. Dominic has gymnastics on Wednesday and his class gets out at noon. So we always eat lunch with Jon. I hadn't completed my errands when I had to pick him up so we went ahead and ate in town. The kids kept asking where Jon was the whole meal. Dominic kept saying how much he missed his Daddy.

Then that night they both missed him again. He is usually the one who gives them their bath and puts them to bed. I get to supervise tooth brushing and get hugs before they head to bed. When I did everything for them it really confused them. 

I also missed him when I was alone at home in the dark. =)

The puppies never asked for their supper and so I was ready for a shower and bed when I remembered that I needed to feed them and let them out to potty. I put their food in a bowl and put it in the kitchen. We usually feed them outside, but it was a bit cold. I was in the shower when I heard someone knocking on the door. I yelled for Dominic to come in and nothing happened. I was pretty freaked out by the time I opened the door to discover my dogs were bumping their heads on the door. They wanted company while they ate supper.

The girls love their cage. They will go in and fall asleep before they've even had supper.

 Josie asleep on Jon's lap.

Jon's parents arrived for a visit on Thursday afternoon and much to our delight Jon showed up right after supper. We were so happy to have him home again.

Amazing Husband!!!

My husband is an amazing man!

He's an wonderful dad and the kids clearly adore him. 

Considering all that he does for them it's no wonder.

He got home from work one day and the kids pounced on him. I took a few pictures to document his torture. I'm sure he'll be pleased to have everyone able to view his pain. =)

 

 

Dominic loving on his Dad.

Jon was working in the workshop on my library. He had some help. Dominic came into the house to get a tool looking like this. He said he was getting ready for Jon to run the saw.

Jon takes Dominic to Little Lambs and I stay home so Caitlin can get to bed on time. I finally remembered to take a picture of Dominic in his dress uniform.

This is the look that Caitlin gets when she sees Jon walking in the door.