The Supers

Who says you can't buy happiness? 

I happen to know that it can be had at Hobby Lobby for about six dollars. We made a little trip down there to pick some up, and spent the rest of the afternoon wallowing in it. 

1 pack of popsicle sticks + 1 pack of old fashioned clothes pins + some markers and mama's fabric scrap bin = hours of entertainment. Meet "the Supers," a rag tag bunch of do-gooders if ever there was one :-)   My guys worked and worked at those capes and hair-dos. 

Then, their heros all had to have names of course, like "Lettuce Man" and "Space to the Rescue Guy."

Every good hero has to have a "mobile" too. So there were lots of popsicle stick flying, submerging, "faster than lightening" creations. 

With the transportation situation covered, they needed some bad guys to fight, and some people to save. 

Then, the boys cleaned out the bottom dresser drawer and divided it up with blocks, creating a sort of superhero apartment complex - complete with beds, a shower, computers and "important equipment" made from Legos. Then, came the crowning achievement, the "Time and Space Portal." 

A Super goes in, pushes a few buttons, and comes out where and when he chooses.  

Oh, and a carwash, because you know how super heros are about cleanliness. The Supers have done a lot of righting wrongs and saving innocents, and some even more incredible feats too - thanks to them, I managed to get my online bill paying done, fold my laundry, and (gasp) SHOWER! Super indeed. 

But... they aren't the only superheros in the house. There's another one, a particularly handsome one, and I'm going to brag on him shamelessly. 

For no reason at all, our Papa secretly planned for my boys to spend an evening with Grandmother and Grandfather. I dropped them off, and then Goodwill-hopped until he called and said he was ready to give me my surprise. 

When I came home, he had transformed his office... moved a table in, laid out a tablecloth and candles and everything. He had brought in dinner, complete with appetizer, a salad course, and my favorite red wine. Even more astonishing, he picked out a chick flick and watched the whole thing with me. The whole thing. Now that, THAT is super! 

And it is only one of the many ways that this man is my hero. 

Our hero.

For all the playing at super heros that my boys do, really, they most want to be like their Daddy - their patient, soft spoken, gentle, thoughtful, easy to laugh and slow to anger papa. 

My boys trail after him, eyes wide, and eager to know what he knows, do what he does. They wonder if they will ever be that tall, that strong. I wonder, do they know how lucky they are, to have a daddy who is present, involved, and in love with each and every one of them. 

Filling his shoes will be no small order for them, but they will, I know they will, and I'm fairly certain that it will happen "faster than the speed of lightening" as they say. They will be super heros in their own right, just like their Dad. 

Happy Father's Day, Papa, and to all the papas out there, building the next generation of heros.