families can be together forever

i love my little family. i have been blessed with a truly amazing husband. these two little sweethearts are just a wonder every single day. besides that, i have my parents and sisters and their families, who are just the most darling people. and then i have ryan's parents and brothers and sisters and their families who are also extremely wonderful. i have been blessed.

so, today ryan got breakfast in bed. i don't think he's ever experienced this before. i'm usually the one who gets spoiled, so i thought it should be ry's turn. but he sort of downplayed it by bringing his food into the kitchen to eat with us. anyway...ella and i made blueberry and chocolate chocolate chip muffins. nothing healthy on ryan's special day. not a single grain of whole wheat. in fact, on the back of the chocolate muffin box i found a recipe for cookies, which uses the box of muffin mix. i'm just thinking that if you can use the muffin mix for cookies, they probably aren't your best bet for nutrition.

went to church, came home and made dinner for the father of the year. he chose steak, macaroni salad, watermelon, and corn on the cob. ella also reminded me that dad would like diet coke to drink! then he had a nap and watched the us open. i think he had a nice and relaxing day. i sure love that boy.

ryan's dad sent a little envelope a few days ago with a note that said something like this..."i know it's hard to think of something to get the old dad for father's day. the thing that makes me the happiest is knowing that my kids and grandchildren are happy, so go get some happy meals, or an upgrade and send me pictures." inside was a $100 bill. come on, is that the sweetest thing or what? i was a little choked up after reading the note, i thought it was a $10 bill, but afton quickly corrected me. "no mom, there are two zeroes on there!"

so, the girls decided they wanted to upgrade to the cheescake factory. for some reason they think that is the ultimate in fancy dining. by the time we actually got to our table, it was way past their bedtime. they were exhausted but determined to make it to dessert. (truly ryan and my offspring) we had such a fun time and enjoyed our fancy night out together. thanks dad! we are sending pictures soon!

by the way, on a completely selfish note, i ran the susan g komen race yesterday. it was humid, but not super hot. my friend forever, eliza, ran with me the entire time. i am such a slow runner and she is so kind to stay with me. i love her for that. i keep trying (in between shallow breaths) to tell her to run ahead, because i know she's not doing her best, but she always says, "oh, no i'm great." also, she's a liar. but then at the end, i make her run ahead, because she is a sprinter and likes to finish off with a quick sprint. but then she waits for me right across the finish line and we hug and then look for water!

we also ran with four other girlfriends. we had so much fun and felt great for running for such a good cause. with our registration fees alone, we helped raise $150 dollars to help research a cure for breast cancer. it was really something to see the women in pink shirts out running or walking. the pink shirt means you are a cancer survivor! it was also great to see the tags pinned to people's backs that said "in celebration of......", which means they know someone who has survived cancer. but the hard part was seeing a tag pinned to a back that said "in memory of my mom" or "in memory of my wife, betsy".

it made me feel really good to be doing something to help fight cancer by donating money, but i also felt great knowing that by running i was helping myself fight cancer.

so, get out there and move your body. go for a walk, run to your mailbox, park your car a little farther from the store entrance, bend over and touch your toes, and eat some kashi for goodness sake!