Flashback to Father's Day

Here's a flashback to Father's Day! (Hopefully I'll be all caught up in the blogging world soon!)

Father's day this year was crammed full of fun. We started the day off with a cute gift for A (but more on that later). Followed by fun at the park, strawberry-picking, and a visit with Grampa (my dad). Here are a few pictures from the day --

At the park --

Strawberry picking --











Then visiting my dad and grandma --












Now, onto the gift! For a Father's Day gift, the kids and I made "All About Dad" and "All About Grampa" books. I asked the girls questions and typed up their answers, exactly as they said them. Z got to do handprints / footprints with paint since he doesn't really understand the questions. The kids all did Dad-and-me or Grampa-and-me artwork (Z's was just scribbles, but it was still cute!). I made a page of the books for each piece of artwork and a page for each question. For the question pages, I glued the kids answers, a few related clip-art images, and Z’s hand/foot prints onto construction paper. When all the pages were ready, I just stapled them together, and *poof* it was done.

The girls’ answers had me cracking up. They were a mix of adorable and hilarious. I’m sure bribing them with an M&M per answer probably helped a bit too (hey, a mom’s gotta do what a mom’s gotta do). Here are a few of my favorite answers…

 

 

What makes Dad happy?

Having the house nice and clean ~R

When we play Mario together ~R

When he spends time with me a lot ~L

Optimus Prime ~L

 

 

What makes Dad sad?

When there’s no more soda ~R

When the paint gets scratched on the walls ~R

When I’m being bad ~L

Doing dishes ~L

 

 

How does Dad make you laugh?

He runs around screaming like a monkey ~R

He gives us candy, then says “Don’t tell mama!” ~R

When he sings ~L

Tickles ~L

 

 

What is Dad’s favorite thing to do?

Playing with us and spending time with us and taking us places ~R

Play Warcraft ~R
Playing with the fishies, but he does NOT go in the water ~L

What does Dad do when you’re not around?

He watches TV ~R

He plays with the other two if they’re home ~R

I think he plays Warcraft sometimes ~L

I bet he likes to go to the zoo sometimes ~L

 

 

What’s your Dad really good at?

Karate ~R

Eating a lot ~R
Mario ~R

Doing projects with me ~L

Blowing bubbles ~L

What’s Dad not good at?

Using a quiet voice ~R

Getting off of Warcraft ~R
Staying in the bathroom for a little amount of time ~R

Sometimes Daddy loses at the ice game [Don’t Break the Ice], but he tries his best ~L

I think he’s not good at wiping his nose because of his mustache ~L
Coloring ~L

What do you and Dad do together?

Go to the zoo, the waterpark, and all that ~R

We feed the fish together ~R

He gives me chocolate ice cream sandwiches ~L

He turns the fan off and on ~L

What places does Dad like to go?

The pet store ~R

The carnival ~R

All the parks ~L

To McDonald’s sometimes ~L

What shows does Dad like to watch?

Goku! ~R

Voltron Force ~R

Power Rangers Super Samurai ~L

Sponge Bob ~L

What are Dad’s favorite foods?

Turkey with Cajun seasoning ~R

Watermelon and pineapple ~L

He has spicy chicken for breakfast ~L

Why do you love Dad?

Because it’s natural to love your parents ~R

Because he’s awesome ~R

He buys us candy ~R

‘Cause I care about him ~L

‘Cause I really love him so so much! I just do ~L

And here are some of the cute answers from the girls for my dad's “All About Grampa” book --


What makes Grampa happy?
When we come and visit him ~R
When we give him presents ~R
When he has some alone time with Gramma ~L
Candy ~L


What makes Grampa sad?
When he doesn't find snakes ~R
When we're not there ~L


How does Grampa make you laugh?
Talking about funny stuff ~R
When he has funny shows on TV ~L


What is Grampa's favorite thing to do?
He rides his bike around town ~R
He likes making things for us ~L


What does Grampa do when you're not around?
He looks for snakes ~R
He works on his little on-the-roof garden ~R
He might eat some fruit snacks ~L
I think he plays with his toys ~L


What is Grampa really good at?
Growing plants ~R
Making things out of wood ~R
Making projects ~L
Watching TV ~L


What is Grampa not good at?
Getting angry ~R
Buying cars ~R
He's not good at looking for coconuts ~L
Wearing dresses ~L


What do you and Grampa do together?
Looking for snakes ~R
He shows us flowers and plants and bunny rabbits ~L


What places does Grampa like to go?
Parties with the family ~R
Someday he'd like to take us out on his boat ~R
He might like to go to kids present stores ~L


Why do you love Grampa?
Because he's my Grampa, and it's usual to love people in your family ~R
He gives us things ~R
'Cause I care about him so much ~L
'Cause he made the see-saw for us ~L..  



Kids sure do say the cutest things...lol.


I love gifts that are cheap, cute, and easy, but still show the personality of the kids. Here are some ideas I’ve used in the past (feel free to use them!) --

Some of my friends-in-a-box do D-A-D pictures every year, where they take pictures of their kids holding the letters D, A, and D, then put them in a three-slot picture frame or a 3x3 photo grid of some kind. I liked the idea, but didn’t have a chance to buy frames or letters that year, and I wanted an idea that I could use for my dad too. I used this idea before Zach was born, so it was just the girls. So instead, I helped the girls make three signs (I used a big font in Microsoft Word, formatted them to print as an outline, and had the girls decorate all the letters. Then I cut them out and glued them to construction paper “signs”). I did one sign for each word in “Happy Father’s Day”. I took pictures of the girls holding the signs, and used the Happy Father’s Day pictures as the cover to some cute home-made cards (the girls decorated the insides however they wanted). Any words / letters / signs would work (maybe F-A-T-H-E-R, or D-A-D-D-Y, or F-A-M-I-L-Y), and any presentation (picture frame, photo card, or the pictures magnetted to the fridge or mirror). Is magnetted a word? If not, then oh well, I'm using it anyways.  ;) 

Another thing I did a couple years ago was “Just like Dad” and “Just like Grampa” photo albums (again, before Z was born). It's kind of self-explanatory -- I just took pictures of the girls being just like Dad / Grampa...lol. Since A teaches karate, I took pictures of the girls with a bunch of karate things – wearing the huge uniform, wearing sparring gear that was ten-sizes-too-big, holding (non-sharp) weapons, etc. And since my dad is really good at woodworking, I took pictures of the girls with a bunch of tools – tape measurers, tool boxes, goggles, hammers, wooden boards, etc. Then I let the kids use finger paints for a while and got a few paint handprints, and took pictures of the messy paint fun. I stuck all the just-like-Dad / Grampa pictures, along with the messy-paint pictures in one of those little 4x6 photo albums, and I used the girls' handprints as the front and back covers. The girls had a great time being just like Dad and Grampa, and the photo albums came out cute.

Wow, that was a REALLY long Father's Day post! I hope my ideas were able to help someone out, and I hope all the fathers out there (and step-fathers, adopted fathers, foster fathers, like-a-fathers, grandfathers, role models, mentors, uncles, cousins, etc) had an amazing Father's Day!