Howefitz Blog

The other day, my wife and I were discussing something that has now been lost in the folds of my addled brain. She asked a question that I also can not recall at the moment, but I remember my answer. I had said, “Well, yes and no.”

The reason I remember my answer is due to Calli, my four-year-old-tomorrow. Her eyes shot up, looked deep in to mine and said, “Not ‘yes-and-no’. Just yes. It’s always just yes.”

Since her birth, there has been no shortage of wonderful lessons she has given me, but this one gave me some serious thoughts.

After much deliberation, it has been decided that Joanne Owens (@hangglided on twitter) is the winner of my Sweet As Sugar Milk contest. She’ll be receiving her copy of Sugar Milk in the mail soon, I’m shipping it today! Congrats, and thank you so much Joanne!

With that, I am pleased to announce that through the generosity of my blog readers, friends, family, and a few impromptu garage sales (not to mention most of my tax return), Kat’s trip to Australia with People to People is now reality! She flies out on the 16th for 17 days in the Land Down Under. I can’t believe that it’s that soon! Incidentally, on the graphic above, I found a font on Artweaver called ‘Australian Sunrise’. What else would I use? Here’s a glance at Kat’s itinerary while she’s down there:

I don’t think a day goes by that I am not amazed at the stories my three year old, Calli, likes to tell. This is how storytime generally goes in my house:

Calli: Daddy, can’t you tell me a story? (This is how she asks for everything now. ‘Daddy, can’t you…’ As if she’s tired of asking.)

Me: What kind of story?

Calli: I don’t know…

Me: OK. So. Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Calli.

Calli: Was she a Princess?

Me: Yes, she was a beautiful Princess!

It’s Fatherhood Friday once again, and I’ll get right down to business. I would like to take this heightened traffic opportunity to once again ask for your help.

We just recently found out that Kat needs to finish raising the money for her People to People delegation to Australia by May 14th! If you are able, please make a donation of any comfortable amount by clicking on the Chip-In button to the right of this page. Kat and my wife are working on hand drawn thank you cards that will be sent to you from Australia, time allowing, or when she gets home. If you’ve already donated, you’re already on our mailing list!

While playing at the park yesterday, Calli found a couple of girls to play with. They were a little bit older, but they quickly worked her in to their play. Their mother and I gave each other the non-committal, slightly weary hello nod customary of adults.

This park has a smaller playground for younger kids, and a larger one for big kids. As the trio of girls crossed from one playground to the other, Calli stopped in front of her playmates’ mother and said, ‘Hi! My name is Calli, and I am your friend!’

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This week has been an absolute whirlwind for our family. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we took Kat down to learn about the People to People student ambassador program, Calli has started to be able to use the potty when we’re out, and Tristin turned six months old, leading to that all important milestone of eating food.

So just as the week was a blur for us, please enjoy this whirlwind photo tour of the weeks highlights!

What is Calli sitting on? A stone wall?

Image via Wikipedia

This Friday before Valentine’s Day, let me just join PJ Mullen in saying ‘I hate Valentine’s Day!‘ That being said, I find myself this Valentine season thinking about how I went from a nerdy kid who hated Valentine’s Day because I couldn’t get (read muster up the courage to get) a girl, to a husband and father with four Valentines that hates being told there’s one particular day to celebrate your love. Although I generally do not enjoy planning the future further out than tomorrow, I find myself looking to the future for my 4 Valentines…

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Martin Luther King, Jr. via last.fm

I recently read a wonderful post by Ron Mattocks at Clark Kent’s Lunchbox about what our hopes teach our children about their futures. Using Martin Luther King‘s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech as a catalyst, Ron tells us stories of his father and the effects his father had on his life and parenting style. It’s great. I highly recommend you head over there and read it.