[reason 299] papa's birthday

 

Today is my dad's birthday. He's Papa to my kids, and what a wonderful Papa he is! He is a pretty great Dad, too ... cockadoodledoo!

I don't think he has any idea what's in store for him today. His birthday hasn't gotten much attention in the past few years, so we thought it was time to spoil him a bit. I've been cooking and prepping food for the past three hours ... and a couple hours yesterday as well. And maybe the day before that. That said, I am feeding eleven people. 

For the past few years, gifts for my parents have included many photo albums, but not today. Today's gifts are, as usual, a bit goofy yet heartfelt. We hope he likes them. 

So today, on your 84th birthday, here are 84 things we love about you...
1. Your smile.
2. Your laugh.

3. How loving you are.

4. Your sense of humor.

5. That you look REAAAAAALLY closely at your Sudoku or your book.

6. The way you love Gramma.

7. The way you care for Gramma.

8. The example you set for us.

9. The way you accept and love your grandchildren for who they are.

10. The way you stand up for what is right and just and kind.

11. Who am
12. I kidding?

13. I don't have enough time

14. to continue coming up

15. with eight-four things we love about

16. you if I'm going to

17. get everything ready for tonight.

18. There are veggies to cut

19. and cheese to slice

20. and a lot of bits and pieces

21. to pack to make sure we have

22. everything we need.

23. After all, what would a birthday be

24. if we forgot your gifts.

25. Or the food.

26. Especially the dessert.

27. I also have laundry to fold,

28. a ton of dishes to do,

29. and seven "children" to encourage out of their beds.

30. And a medical appointment to drive someone to.

31. And this blog post to finish.

32. And eighty-four is a lot of things, even though it would be fairly easy

33. to come up with that number of things

34. that we love about you.

35. So anyway, we hope you have a very

36. happy birthday and that we can make your day just a little bit

37. brighter and happier. 

38. And chaotic. 

39. Sorry about number 38 ... that comes naturally with a big family

40. full of people who were raised and/or influenced by a person

41. who was raised by you.

42. Did I mention cockadoodledoo?

OK... half of 84 is going to have to suffice, even if they're not actually all things we love about you. Happy Birthday!!!