We love you, Mark!

We had a quiet Father's Day at home. All of us have some kind of lovely throat thing, possibly strep. So we quarantined ourselves in the house. It was a quiet, cozy day that we all needed. (Especially since Mark & Jackson spent Friday night and all day Saturday at a Boy Scout overnighter. Jackson loved throwing an ax despite the sore throat. Maybe I shouldn't have let them go, but they were both determined.)

Bennett has been very excited for Father's Day. He had made a gift at preschool that he was very anxious to give Mark. Then yesterday he made a mask out of a big cereal box and construction paper to give him. (Just what every dad needs!) As well as several cards and paintings. He was involved in making all the meals today and gave Mark lots of snuggles and loves.

For dinner we had steak and artichokes which Bennett would not touch and Sarah could not get enough of. At first she just kept staring at me eating the artichoke. "You like it, Mommy?" she asked again and again. Finally she asked Mark for a leaf and tried it. There was no stopping her. She'd already had several large pieces of steak, but she was hungry tonight, I guess. After dinner, we had my attempt at our favorite dessert in England -- Sticky Toffee Pudding. So yummy! The kids were unsure because it turns out there are dates in it, which you would never guess just from eating it. It's so funny what they are picky about. But again Sarah loved it, especially the caramel topping.

After Mark had read stories to her and Bennett, she snuck out of the room and we couldn't find her for a few minutes. The boys found her and brought her back for family prayer before Mark laid her down. I went out to the kitchen to find the kitchen to find that most of the cake was missing. (I had put it in individual tupperwares to freeze so that I don't eat it all at once by myself while Mark is out of town this week.) Sarah has an interesting habit of moving things around the house and hiding them in unsuspecting places, so we knew it had to be her. It wasn't until at least an hour later that we finally found the cake in our bedroom with masking tape around it. She must have stuck it there to eat later! :)