An End to a 35 Year Chapter

I struggle every year as to whether to send my dad a Father's Day card. If you walk down the card isle it is very hard to find a card that says very little. I talked to Wes about whether to call my dad or not. We had decided that I should. Well, time got away from me really quickly and it was 10 pm before I knew it, so I decided that I would call him on my way to my mom's house. So while driving I called him and this is how it went...

Dad: Hello? (I called on his cell phone so I could talk to him.)

Me: Hey dad, it's Jamie

Dad: Who? 

Me: Jamie

Dad: Jamie who?

Me: How are you?

Dad: Fine

Me: What are you up to?

Dad: Working

Me: OK

Dad: What are you doing?

Me: I am headed to mom's house and then to Nashville to see college friends.

Dad: ok

Me: Well, you seem busy. I guess I will talk to you later

Dad: Sure you will

Me: ok love you

CLICK

HE HUNG UP...ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? YOU HAVEN'T TAKEN THE TIME TO CALL ME! I CALLED YOU AT CHRISTMAS!

YOU STILL CALL MY DAUGHTER A BABY...SHE IS 4 YEARS OLD AND IF YOU KNEW HER YOU WOULD KNOW THAT SHE WOULD TELL YOU THAT SHE IS NOT A BABY. 

I don't even know what to say about all of this. I am hurt, but at the same time relieved. This conversation hurt me because no daughter wants to be cut off, but yet relieved because I have tried everything. 

I watch my husband's relationship with our kids and am in love with it. I wish that I had a relationship like this with my dad, but 35 years have passed...I have gotten married, and had 2 kids and yet he has only met Landon when he was 3 months old. I am sad, but not for me or my family. I am sad for him! I am sad that he hasn't seen the wonderful young man that Landon has turned into. I am sad that he hasn't met the fiesty and spirited little girl that Kaylee is. I am sad that he hasn't see how wonderfully I am treated by my husband and how happy that I am in my life. I am sorry for the choices that he has made throughout his life, but it isn't my problem anymore. 

Dad you have made it clear that you are DONE and then I will be also. I have a wonderful life and am blessed beyond belief. This is a piece of me that I have always held onto in hopes that one day you would wake up and realize what you were missing. It is clear now that you are nowhere near this point. I do hope that God blesses you in your journey! Please know that I have never stopped loving you and never will. Our paths are just not together right now. I have to cut the ties because it is nothing but negativity. I don't need my children to take on any of this, it is enough that I dealt with it for the last 35 years. You will always be my father and I am thankful for the memories I have of us when I was young. 

Sophie's Plan

Sophie saw all of the bags and was nervous that we were going to leave her, so she decided to lay in her bed. I thought if I had her bed and bag out by our stuff she would know that we were taking her. I guess she didn't trust us. Silly girl!!!

Happy Father's Day

Wes is the most amazing father to our monkeys! Since Wes had a chance of being on call on Father's Day we decided to celebrate a day early. We said we would do whatever he wanted to do and that started with a run at the park. We took the stroller, but Kaylee wanted to start running. A couple of days before she had stepped on something outside barefoot and hurt the bottom of her foot. She thought she would be fine, but she was limping and running. She was not happy when we told her that she couldn't run anymore, but daddy came to the rescue, like always, and put her on his shoulders while he ran. 

I enjoyed running with Landon while Wes pushed Kaylee. 

We ended the day with On the Border, which Wes loves. 

With my dad not being around a lot, I have learned what a real dad is by watching Wes. The kids and I adore him and he adores us too! I am blessed to have him in my life!

Brother and Sister

I could have never imagined how much these two would love each other. Now I would be lying if I said that they never fought. They do because they are brother and sister, BUT it is not very often. They love to spend time together. Landon just got a new game Splatoon and he has loved trying to teach Kaylee how to play it. 

They also love to be silly kids!

Mrs. Jenna and Annie's House

I had to go to work to meet my new grade level, so Jenna and Annie were sweet enough to volunteer to watch the kids while I was there. It seems that they didn't think twice about me being gone! They love baby Annie!

Atlanta Zoo

This year I decided to take advantage of the free Atlanta Zoo tickets from the library. All you have to do is watch a movie about the history of the zoo, which is really interesting, and you get 4 free tickets. The kids and I watched it this weekend and decided to go today. It was the hottest day of summer so far, but we got there right when it opened.

We got to feed the birds. I was not a fab of this part. I did not like them flying so close to my head. 

Then it was off to the elephants. This is one of Kaylee's favorite animals.

Then we got to see her other favorite animal, the giraffe.

Gotta love Landon's pose!

We were excited that for $3 the kids got to feed the giraffe. It was so neat!

It didn't take us long to all be hot and hungry, so we went out to the car where out cooler was and decided to eat in the air conditioning to feed our tummies and cool us off. It was nice!

This bird was so ugly that it was pretty!

Landon couldn't wait to see the komodo dragon. 

Kaylee was riding in style in the stroller with a fan!

Landon was walking in style with his fan that sprayed water.

We wrapped up the day at the splash pad and then the playground. It was a fun day!