PB&J, Cold Hands, and American Hoggers

Birthdays for our house are nontraditional to say the least.  What do you do when you have half a dozen kids?  I mean those great theme parties are great but by the time my own kids are accounted for and we factor in the cousins, we have no room to invite friends (well at least I couldn't afford it).  Then trying to find the day to celebrate.  Between my 7 and my sister's 5, we have several months with 3 kids having birthdays in the same month and who wants to share a party with someone else!!  Add to it that we have so many "days" to celebrate.  Do we celebrate the day the kids came to live with us, or their adoption day, or their birthday!?? To be honest I don't remember all the days for every kid.   But before you think what a terrible mother I am,  I do remember ALL their birthdays.  I just might not match them up to the right kid to the date every time but I do eventually get it matched to the right kid! So we opt for celebrating their birthday in a personal, special way.  It works for us and no one complains (except when they get invited to one of those over the top parties) and then we have a week's worth of discussions about it!  Ha! But 99.9% of the time everyone is content.

This week we get to celebrate my wonderful hubby, John!  He will be the big 4-2!  But just like most men he doesn't age much at all.  In fact if he loses his facial ruffage he could pass for being in his 20s!!!

John's birthday is Sunday 11/9 and 1 John 1:9 happens to be one of my favorite verses from the Bible and 11/9 happens to be one of my days of the year.  Coincidence.  I think not!

God brought John into my life when I was living a life completely and undeniably outside of God's commands.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to 

cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

I love that 1 John 1:9 was the verse that grabbed my attention.  And that the cutie born on 11/9 grabbed my attention too!  And my life is forever transformed!

So to honor John's birthday I am going to tell you 11 things the kids came up with that they love about John and 9 things you may not know about him!

11 Things We Love About Daddy (according to the kiddos)

1.  He gives us money.

2.  He lets us help him.

3.  He works hard.

4.  He protects us.

5.  He loves us.

6.  He loves God.

7.  He is happy and smiling.

8.  He buys things for us (and then tells us not to tell Momma).

9.  He coaches us in football, basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer.

10.  He lets us stay up late and watch Duck Dynasty, American Hoggers, and Mountain Men.

11.  He let Momma stay home with us instead of her having to work all day. (I guess what I do now isn't work to them!)

9 Things You May Not Know

1.  He has a PB&J sandwich or cereal every night before bed no matter if he just had dinner.

2.  If it can save him a dollar, he will learn any skill/trade and do it himself.

3. To go along with #2, he has learned electrical, plumbing, and how to build furniture by researching online, reading books,  and watching YouTube videos.

4.  He is better at fixing the girls hair than me! (But I am learning!!)

5.  He never takes off his wedding ring.  I can count maybe twice this has happened in 15 years of marriage and one of those times was for surgery.

6.  He really doesn't like people.   He is compassionate but if he had it his way he would live in the mountains away from civilization.

7.  He has the coldest hands...always.  I mean like blocks of ice.  I frequently check his pulse to be sure there is not a medical issue.

8.  Because of #7, the older generation adore him.  When they grab his hands their hearts melt and they always say "Cold hands warm heart" & just smile.

9.  He is a walking encyclopedia for useless sports facts.  I cannot figure out how he keeps up with all those statistics but cannot seem to remember where the laundry hamper is in our room.

I am sure as the years go by I will learn many more things about John Growing Up on Dublin Lane.


Happy Birthday John!  We love you!