It's only been 11 years?

  Anthony and I have been married 11 years today.  It has both sped by and felt like it's always been this way at the same time.  

Anthony makes me happy every day.  Not all day, every day (that would be unrealistic and a huge expectation to put on another person), but definitely every day.  Sometimes it's specific events, other times it's just that content feeling of knowing I have someone pretty great to love and knowing that he loves me back.

Throughout the different stages of our relationship, the ways I appreciate being shown love have changed. Early on I really appreciate the time made to just be with me and the public shows of affection as in the early stages it feels like your relationship is very public and on show. 

After we were married, it was still time, as well as the little things that showed me how much Anthony loved and appreciated the person I really am as the newly wed stage means you are still learning a lot about each other. Once we had babies and toddlers in the house it was sleep.  Nothing else mattered.  Currently it's seeing how much Anthony puts my best interest and the interest of our family first.  He isn't concerned with appearance or image, he is concerned with the well being and happiness of his family.  Well....that and my love obsession with food.  My passion for food covers a multitude of different food types, depending on what I am into at that particular time.  One item, however, has been hard to come by so still remains high on my list of most loved and prized food types.

I love cheese popcorn.  The pre-made kind with cheese flavoured powder on it. You can get microwave cheese popcorn, and I enjoy it (even though it stinks out the microwave), but it's not the same as the kind you get already made up in a bag.  

The problem is, it's pretty tough to come by cheese popcorn.  At Christmas time, Anthony found a few bags being sold at The Reject Shop and he bought me 3 bags.  Once he knew I liked them (I ate 3 bags in 2 days), he went back and got more.  Those bags lasted another few days but when he went back, there were none left. We checked if there were more in stock and it turns out it's a discontinued product and once it's gone, it's gone.  

Knowing how devastated this would make me, after some enquiries Anthony found a Reject Shop about a forty minute drive away had 15 bags in stock and he jumped straight in the car to buy them for me.  All 15 of them. 

That's the kind of guy he is.

Around the same time, he took Carter out shopping and Carter (who is a WWE fanatic) wanted to wear his championship wrestling belt to the shop, and he asked Anthony to wear one too.  So being the good sport he is, Anthony spent over an hour walking around a crowded shopping complex wearing a child's wrestling belt.  

That's just the kind of guy he is. 

They aren't exactly 'big' things, but they matter to me. To have a husband who knows the way to my heart is very much through my stomach, and that part of what makes me love him so much is seeing how much he loves our boys.  

That's the sort of guy I want - and I've got it.

Sun and games

This summer has been crazy with the chopping and changing in the weather.

We finally made it to to beach for the first time on Monday and we only stayed for an hour, but of course I got burnt.  It's a few days later, but I've got a lovely pinkish tan to show for myself. 

The next day we got to have a visit from my brother, sister-in-law, and niece before they headed off home to Qld.  It was very warm weather still so we thought a trip to Yoghurtland was in order. There is a Timezone right near Yoghurtland and it was calling to our children so in we went.  

Whilst in Timezone, there was a father with his daughter who were walking hand in hand.  The girl looked about 10 to 12 years old, and I thought it was really sweet to see them holding hands.  When the turned around, I saw the father was blind, as he was holding a cane and was sticking very close to his daughter as she led him through the maze of games.  He mustn't have had any sight at all as he bumped into a few of the machines. 

Right in front of where I was sitting was an air hockey table.  The daughter asked her dad if they could play and then situated him in front of one of the goals and placed the plastic handle you hit the puck with in one if his hands. 

I was so amazed with this father who was managing so well out and about despite the challenge of not being able to see, and even more impressed that he wasn't just there as a responsible parent, he was there to join in and play with his daughter.  Despite this though, I couldn't help but think that playing air hockey may not have been the best choice of game with an opponent who couldn't see - one player was clearly disadvantaged. 

I watched on as the daughter scored a few goals and her father used his hands to feel where his goal was to try and defend but wasn't having much luck.  It was even harder for him to know when to try and hit the puck as there was no way of knowing when or in which direction it was coming.

The daughter was laughing and cheering and it made me smile to see how much fun she was having.  But then she did something that made me realise what a lovely girl she must be.

Her father managed to hit the puck in her direction and she grabbed it and quickly pushed it into her goal. She happily shouted;

"Dad you did it! You got it in - well done!"

He beamed and laughed. They continued to play and whilst she continued to try and score goals, she also 'helped' her dad by leaving her goal unguarded or trying to push the puck in here and there.  

The game ended with her winning by several goals.  I think if she didn't win her father would clearly have known she was letting him win, but it was important to this young girl that her father got to score a goal or two.

I used to do that with our children, sometimes I still do. We play a game and I don't always try my best, I 'let' them score a few extra points because being so much older is clearly an advantage.

I want them to feel some of the joy that comes with competing and not being thrashed.  Parents often put their children's interest ahead of their own, but it was so beautiful to watch this young girl doing the same with her father.

No one wishes for challenges and trials, but this father was making the best of his situation, and it was also helping his daughter to grow into a kind, compassionate human being.  Sometimes the best examples can be the little people in our lives.