Fifteen years ago around 10:30am I became Mrs. Hubby. We were only twenty years old at the time and didn’t know much, though of course we though we knew it all.  We have done a lot in fifteen years.  We have lived in four different states and in Peru. We have graduated college (Grad school for hubby), had four beautiful girls and done some traveling.

Look at the fluffy hair! This is 1995, the year we got married.

Here we are now in 2010.

Here is to the next fifteen years.  May we be just as adventurous

This Sunday is Father’s Day. That one special day for dads where they get a ton of things they either really love or sooooo don’t need.

This year Hubby will get several “don’t need” items, one “cute” item and I still haven’t figured out the really “Love” item yet. I still have time?  Right. Nothing is clicking for me.  I have been looking for weeks now so I haven’t waited until the last minute I swear.  I just know that Hubby doesn’t want something  just to have something.Hmmmmm.  He may just get a card from me this year.  If you all have any suggestions let me know! Please!

One thing I know he will enjoy is a Wendy’s Frosty!  Remember to get out to Wendy’s on Sunday and buy a Frosty.  Fifty cents from every Frosty goes to The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.  This foundation is great at helping get foster kids forever homes.  They were also helpful with information for our adoption and provided me with the resources to encourage Genesis (the hospital I used to work for and Hubby still does) to provide adoption assistance for employees.  So if you are Tweeting or FaceBooking this weekend use the #TreatItForward phrase for Wendy’s to donate more money to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption. 

Last year I posted about how great my Hubby was. He still is this year. I am taking it year by year!LOL.  Seriously, Hubby is the best Husband and Daddy for this family and we so appreciate and love him! He hikes, bikes and wrestles with the kids, works hard for our family and goes above and beyond every day for us! Thanks honey!

Hubby and my brother herding the kids at King's Island last weekend.

A lot of times recycling can be a bit boring.  Lets face it, sorting trash isn’t the funnest thing on Earth (feel free to disagree and tell me why you love to sort trash!)  Recycling can also be time consuming or tricky if you are making something out of an old something else and you are not particularly creative or crafty (aka me!  I cannot even use a glue gun well).  A few weeks ago, however, Hubby came up with a great Reuse idea that really worked well.

Our school age daughters, Meg, Mita and Enu, love to play tether-ball at school and were asking Hubby to get a one set up at the house last week.  His green light-bulb moment happened rather quickly as he remembered that we still have the four poles from our old trampoline!  These poles are from the net enclosure around the trampoline to keep the kids from falling off.  These poles have hooks on them to hold up the net.

Hubby quickly set up two separate tether-ball poles and purchased the balls and ropes at a local sports store.  Having two for us was a must  with the four kids. I didn’t want to hear the whole taking turns battle that would have for sure erupted.  For about $40 and an hour or so of time we were set up for action and the kids have been playing during every free moment is seems!

To Hubby, his idea may have been more about saving money than being green, but as it often is, we win both ways!  I have seen tether-ball sets from $25-$65 online and that is just for one and the trampoline poles seem much sturdier than the poles for sale are.

We gave the other two poles to my brother and sister in law, and the recycling just continues.  So go look for a old trampoline on Craig’s list or a yard sale and make some tether-ball poles!  It is a great way to keep your kids active and busy and OUTSIDE.  Oh yeah, my kids like to bend the rules a bit…here are the rules to tether-ball if you need them!

I would love to hear other ideas about reusing kids toys in creative ways!

Here are some great pictures from the Father-Daughter Dance the girls went to a couple of weeks ago with Hubby.

They look wonderful don’t they!?

I often joke that I have been taken off the mother of the year award list.  My hubby however is very much in the running for father of the year.  Not because he is perfect (he isn’t, but close!) but because he is just an all around great dad.  I am very much appreciative of all he does for our family; camping with the kids, reading books aloud (his second time for Harry Potter) and keeping me sane and much more.

As you know our lives has been touched by older child adoption. There are many older kids needed homes all around the world.  The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a wonderful organization that promotes older child adoption and adoption from foster care.  Although our family did not adopt from the U.S. we have gotten great information and resources from this Foundation.  I  used materials from them to ask Genesis to provide adoption benefits for their employees and Genesis is now offering $4,000 towards adoption costs!

This Father’s Day weekend Wendy’s will donate money to the Dave Thomas Foundation with each Frosty that is bought.  They even have Father’s Day E-Cards that they will send for you and donate 25 cents with each card.

Be sure to have a frosty this weekend and help kids find families to love them.  Wouldn’t it be great if every child had a reason to celebrate Father’s Day?