Spring Break Beard

It seems that whenever Theo has an extended amount of time off from work, that translates into "Let's see how long I can grow my beard!". He has tried this tactic several times and I have come to the conclusion that I HATE facial hair.

First the whiskers poke my face whenever I want to make out with him. Then they turn in to sand paper that he just loves to torture me with, attacking me and rubbing his face all over mine and my neck! He may think it's funny, up until I punch!

Of course I don't punch hard, for one I'm usually in hysterics laughing too hard to get any real muscle behind it, and two I don't want to mess up that face! LOVE IT!

Then when the beard gets soft enough that it doesn't exfoliate my face, I have to deal with the feeling of hair around my mouth when he goes in for a kiss. YUCK!

So this time I devised a plan, obviously a little late in the game as you can tell by this picture, but one that I will be using from now on. I told him, if he doesn't shave, than neither do I! This picture was taken a few days before his vacation was up and was right before he shaved.

Game point - Me.

Thanking a Woman for My Father's Day

I just did a post exposing how wonderful Theo is, I seriously couldn't have put in a special order for a better husband and father. But without the help of one special high school girl I would never have had my happily ever after.

Theo wasn't born into the Mormon religion like I was. He grew up in a very strong Christian household, and he had a wonderful example through his mother as to the importance of having Jesus Christ and His gospel in his life. But it wasn't his mother that brought him to me.

In High School Theo was a bit of a rebel who had no interest in going to church anymore. That's when a young Mormon girl caught his attention and they started dating. As the dating turned more serious she began to share her beliefs with Theo. She introduced him to some wonderful missionaries and helped him really experience the Mormon family dynamic between Ward members. Through this young lady Theo accepted the gospel and was baptized.

Well, this young lady had dreams of attending BYU and through her efforts was accepted and prepared to move away for college. She made a decision that ultimately changed my life forever.

She broke up with Theo.

A heartbroken man moved away from his hometown in Georgia, away from his Mormon Ward family and moved to a little town in Alabama to live with his Dad. Instead of wallowing in self pity, or blaming Mormons for his loss, he found his local church house and without knowing a single soul went to church.

He was very active, going to all the Single activities and even came to Institute (a scripture study class for college students) and that is where I first met him. And the rest as they say is history.

Now I have a Temple marriage and 5 beautiful children, all because one girl was steadfast in her beliefs.

I got to met her after we were married, and I wanted to thank her for introducing Theo to the church and then dumping him...heehee....but that might have seemed a little too awkward not knowing her very well and all. I used to blog stalk her hoping one day we would be in the same blogging circle, but then she went private and I no longer can blogdrop (eavesdrop, but through blogging, I just made up that word. =)). But I hope that one day she will know the gratitude I feel towards her and her vigilance in being a good example so that my Theo could become the father of our eternal family.

Beggars Can't Be Choosers

Having 5 kids around the house is very taxing on one person alone. I have heard stories of picky couples who won't let the other spouse help out around the house because they don't "do" it the right way. They won't let their spouse fold the clothes, do the dishes and I have even heard of a wife who wouldn't let her husband cut the grass because he can't do it the way that she wants it. If you have the time and energy to make everything perfect the way YOU want it, then more power to you. But I am spent and spread thin and hey, any kind of help is good help.

Thankfully Heavenly Father blessed me with a wonderful husband that understands and goes above and beyond his husband-ly duties.

For example...

He folds the clothes. He may fold them without turning them right side out...yes, even shirts, but he folds them.

He does the dishes. He may not place them in the dishwasher the way I would to get full capacity, but he does them. And I may end up on a treasure hunt looking for my cooking utensils because they are never in the same place twice, but he does it without even asking me if I need help.

He vacuums. And this one he actually does more often than me. I'm so busy trying to make sure that diapers are clean and sippy cups are refilled that I don't think to look at the carpet unless there was a mishap with a bowl of dry cereal or when Hannah tells me she is done with her chips by dumping the crumbs out on the couch. He is really good about just pulling out the vacuum cleaner and doing a quick once over several times a week.

And after all this, plus many other things around the house, he goes outside and does all those manly duties like cutting the grass, weed eating, helping me with my garden, washing and detailing the cars and much, much more!

I would never think of telling him to stop helping just because things aren't done just so. I don't demand that he do it better, or even that he do things my way. In fact I don't ask him to do it at all, he just steps in and helps me with my load.

I guess I'm not much of a beggar then, only because I don't HAVE to beg him for help. Either way, I couldn't choose a better help meet than my Theo.