"Bless The Children" - Father's Day 2009

FATHER'S DAY PICTURES - 2009 - ENJOY!

Collage of Gentry's "Moods"!!
My angel, doll-baby, stubborn, love 'em anyway "Blue Eyes"

Saying "Cheese".....

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MY BABIES' BABY BLUES!

"I SOOOO DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THIS! GIMME A BREAK, DAWG!"



I gotta really cool dad! My parents had kids SO YOUNG, so there's only 21 years between us. He's still a kid at heart like me and we enjoy music together. He thinks Gentry is just about the best thing that could have happened to him. We gave him his very first GRANDSON! I love you dad, and hope to be able to spend more and more of these special occasions together.

Dad & his first-born child....Christine Elaine Sullivan-Cox

Daddy always said Christy got her big blue eyes from her mama!

Grandma Sullivan & her "Stevie"

Dad & His Mom (Grandma Sullivan)

THE FAMILY (minus a few...& we missed u2!) :)

Daddy & His Girls & "the suprise" of his life...Ryan Matthew!!

Mel #2, Dad, Christy #1, Ryan #4 (missing Jared #3 :( )

I wanna be JUST LIKE YOU DAD!!!! ????

Now there's some trouble in the making, right there!

My heart is full tonight, and sometimes what I "want" to say doesn't always pour itself out into words that I can put together. So often, I go looking for a song or poem that can say what my heart desires to say, but can't seem to find the right words from my own soul.

I was blessed to be able to spend the day with my husband...and father to Gentry. I am blessed beyond measure that Dale eased into the role of fatherhood so effortlessly and has made a little shadow out of the boy I call "mine".

So, I found a prayer written by someone else who's writings I've always admired & been inspired by. I thought it would be appropriate today to share this "prayer" with you simply entitled "Bless The Children"...which after all...is really what Father's Day is all about...if it weren't for our children, we'd have no need to celebrate this special day. Be blessed by this prayer as I am each time I read it.

"Bless The Children"

Bless the children.

Bless their questions and their un-jaded answers.

Bless their hands that hold my face

and peer guilelessly into my eyes.

Bless their lips that kiss without embarrassment,

their arms that hug without restraint,

their mouths that shape the deep truth in simple words - - -

"I love you."

Bless their minds that know no roadblocks

to their quest for knowledge,

no obstacles to their curiosity,

and no cynicism to block their trust.

While they still know purely, let the children teach us

While they believe openly, let the children pray for us.

While they trust us without restriction, let the children lead us.

While they know no disillusionment, let the children love us,

that we may healed

that we may trust again. . .

that we may regain our faith. . .
that we may recover our innocence. . .
that we may become children of the Father of Life.

Written by: Gloria Gaither

Gentry's First Visit To The Dentist

So...instead of apologizing for my lack of continuity in blogging, I'll just dive right in and start updating y'all on what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks. Gentry had his first appointment with the dentist this past week. I am still not able to get out and about, so Dale had to take him. I hated that I had to miss out on that milestone, but I had Dale take a few pictures so I could at least enjoy that. I was SO PROUD when he came home and told me Gentry had NO cavities, no tartar or plaque buildup on his teeth and his teeth were in perfect alignment! I guess since this parenting thing is still relatively new to me, the little things like that seem paramount to me.

I felt a sense of accomplishment, that I had done at least one thing right in sticking to my guns about Gentry's limitation of soda and sugar-overloaded beverages.

He came in the house with a big grin on his face showing me his new Winnie the Pooh toothbrush and toothpaste and his little bag of toys and stickers he got from the dentist. Dale said he wasn't scared at all and was such a trooper while they did the exam. Enjoy the pictures!

Dad, Blame It! - Gentry's Accident of the week!

Probably my ya-ya sisters will be the only one who "gets" this title. It goes WAY back to Christy and my teenage years when mom introduced us to a new Janette Oke series entitled "Love Comes Softly". As teenagers, Christy and I were enthralled in these books to the neglect, I'm sure, of ever-present homework and housework to be done.

But the phrase that "Marty", the main character in the books, used whenever something happened by accident that frustrated her she would always say, "Dad, blame it!".

Well, I had a "Dad, blame it" day yesterday when all of a sudden, I hear Gentry screaming from outside and saw him running toward the house.

Dale had been out mowing. Gentry HAD to be out there with him and when he turned off the mower Gentry went over there and touched his finger to the motor...where he had been told REPEATEDLY not to touch! GRRR.

But we've learned with Gentry that sometimes the lessons he remembers the most are the ones he learns the hard way.

He got a bad blister on the tip of his left index finger and I felt so sorry for him. He was yelling, saying, "Mommie, it burns, it burns," and tears were pouring down his face. I was saying all the things that momma's are supposed to say to try to make them feel better.

Luckily, my rusty nursing skills kicked into action and I ran it under cold water for a while, then dipped it into some aloe vera gel and wrapped it with a bandage. He said after a few hours that it was feeling better. You can see some of the pictures I took of him in hysterics when he first came in. They're quite funny, actually!

My mom thinks it's hysterical that in the midst of a chaotic crisis with him, I've always got a camera in his face to capture the moment. But hey, his mom's a relentless scrapbooker and I'm always thinking, "This will make a great story for a scrapbook page!"

I will run for now. Dale is gone for the day so Gentry and I are going to have the whole day to ourselves. Wonder what kind of trouble we can get into today! Have a great weekend and I'll see you soon again in blogland! :)

Love - Melanie

Thanks for checking in here with me. I know your lives are so busy and that you took the time to come to my blog and visit awhile means a lot to me. Be sure to comment and send me a note if you'd like.