On Daddies, MacGyver and Halloween

Left ~ my Daddy, my brother and I in 1988 ... Right ~ my brother and I in about 1991 or so

They say that we marry our parents. Guys tend to marry their Mamas and girls tend to marry their Papas. Who knows why. Maybe it is the fact that our opposite-sex parent is the only model we've seen for what a man (or woman) should be. Maybe Freud was onto something with is Oedipus complex theorizing. Maybe we just love our Daddies and want to be with them forever.

In my case, maybe it is because my Daddy taught me how much I was worth and to never settle for anything less than someone who treated me like a Queen.

Why is unimportant to me.

But, I know that it is true. I most certainly married my Daddy.

And, when you lose your Daddy early on to the Man upstairs, it means even more to watch as your husband reminds you more and more of your Daddy every day.

I always knew I married my Daddy as far as HEART.

My Daddy had the biggest heart, especially for the animals, the young and the old. So does my husband.

My Daddy was a good man. So is my husband.

My Daddy loved God. So does my husband.

My Daddy cared about the less fortunate and did whatever he could to help them. So does my husband.

My Daddy was a hard worker. So is my husband.

My Daddy loved his family more than anything else on the planet. So does my husband.

My Daddy loved and respected his own Mama. So does my husband (always a good sign in a man, by the way ~ one that loves his Mama!).

There was never any doubt that my Daddy loved me, not even for a tenth of a second. The same is true for my husband and his daughters.

My Daddy loved my Mama something fierce ... and my husband loves me the same.

I could go on about the good, the love, the respect, the big heart. I was lucky enough to find all the best things about my Daddy right there in the man I chose to spend my life with.

Now, we are parents and I get to see the other things that remind me of my Daddy. The craftiness. The creativity. The fun. The playful spirit.

My Daddy was the master at Halloween. It didn't matter what my brother or I wanted to be, my Daddy could put it together on they fly out of whatever was lying around. The MacGyver of Halloween  costumes. No store-bought costumes for us. We didn't need them.

Well, wouldn't you know it. The man I married fits the bill once again.

We are poor. We can't afford to go out and just buy whatever our kids want. And, this Momma is NOT a crafty Momma. I can teach the math and the grammar and bake and cook, but when they want to learn to sew or do anything hands-on, Daddy's their go-to person. I'm okay with that, really.

This year, the Princess wanted to be Toothless (the black night fury dragon from How to Train Your Dragon) and the Hippie wanted to be .... a Hippie.

As of 1:00pm Sunday, October 28th, we had zero. We hadn't started at all on our costumes. And, Daddy works every day, almost 12 hours a day. Works hard.

Well, we set up shop in front of the football games on Sunday and my husband proceeded to first carve both pumpkins (beautifully, I might add). Then, at the point when this Momma would have been over it, he moved on to costume-making. All he was able to get to in our waking hours was starting on the Hippie's bell-bottoms (he slit the bottom of the jeans and hand-sewed "peace" fabric into each leg to turn them into bell-bottoms). He worked on one leg diligently while we watched football, then we had dinner, got the girls to bed and hung out a bit ourselves.

After I went to bed, he started the magic-making.

Each day this week, he worked hard. He worked for 11-12 hours at work, hand-sewing bell bottoms on his lunch break. He would then come home, be Daddy and Husband for a few hours and then after I went to bed, he would make magic with cardboard, a knife and some Elmer's glue. He made the best Toothless costume ever. He hand-crafted the wings with skeleton. He hand-crafted an amazing tail with skeleton. He painted it all black, except for the part that was supposed to be red. And, the icing on the cake. When we realized that the Princess owns no black shoes and Momma was ready to say "So what, wear tennis shoes", Daddy pulled through again. He put his black work socks on OVER her tennis shoes so that nothing showed but black. Genius.

I cannot begin to do it justice with my words or even with my camera. All I know is that almost every house we went to last night said it was the best costume they'd seen all night.

My husband and my Daddy, MacGyvers of Halloween costumes.

Just one more thing they have in common.

I miss my Daddy so much.

So much it hurts.

I really wish I could share my children with him. I really wish I could share HIM with my children.

I wish I could share him with ME.

I miss him.

But, it is nice to see pieces of him (the best pieces of him) in my husband each day.

Makes me love them both even more.

How blessed I am to have had these two men in my life!

Sisterly love

Only the cutest little girls on the planet!

I am immeasurably blessed!

So beautiful.

Helping Daddy get the wings on her little sister.

Putting his work socks over her shoes

The Hippie and the Dragon

Having fun before we go ... Run , Hippie, Run! There's a dragon after you!