But gifts aside, because we aren't really a very gifty family, Tom has gotten the shaft every single Father's Day. I'm not really sure what we did the first one, because it's a big blur (that first year sucked pretty hard). The second year I seem to remember him having to unload 1000 bales of hay by himself because the guys hired to help couldn't stay because it was Father's Day. They actually were not fathers themselves, so I'm not entirely clear on the logic, but that is neither here nor there.
The third year I'm sure was wondrous for him because Eve had just come into the world, but again, I have no idea what we did, because Eve had just come into the world and I was a big part of that process.
So this is the first year he's getting a real Father's Day! Which is why I'm writing this, because he and James are still asleep. I mean, it's not actually 7am yet, but that's sleeping in, right? Eve and I are having coffee together, well, she's having a pancake. And I'm thinking how incredibly blessed I am to have Tom in my life. So many marriages don't work out, and SO many marriages don't make it through illnesses or hardships with their children. But the ones that do make it are really something special. He's supported me and James through the obvious dark times, but also through all the crazy ideas I've had, the experiments gone wrong or right, working day and night and 7 days a week to enable me to stay home with our kids to raise them how we want and to care for their health and to pay for the all organic, etc etc lifestyle we've embraced. He is so great at gathering information and asking the right questions to doctors and therapists and other parents...and to me. And he's made me realize that I'm not always right. It's liberating in a way. Sort of. Kind of. Anyway...
.......so now it's 13 hours later. The kids are asleep and we are watching Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader (so far I'm at least as smart, so far). And so far today Tom has washed all our windows (we basically have a glass house with 20 foot ceilings-it's a heck of a project), taken out trash, cleaned all outdoor stuff, raked, fed and bathed the kids, and scrubbed the deck. This is because tomorrow we need to move cattle on what would ordinarily be his day off and then my family descends (in a really good way :)). So I'm not sure this ranks into a day of pampering, but we did have fun and he loved his presents and he had some good quality time with the munchkins.
I'm so blessed.
Oh, and we also realized this is his fifth Father's Day because James was born just before. I'm pretty sure I printed a picture of him and James at the hospital. Or, I had my mom do it probably. She probably had to pick out a card too. Basically, he's a lucky man. And our windows look beeeeeautiful.
