My Dad was awarded a national Boys and Girls Club award on Tuesday night. There are only 5 or 6 of these awards given out across the country each year. They are given to those who have served the Boys and Girls Clubs in outstanding ways for decades. Daddy has been helping the Boys and Girls Club since he was right out of school starting with the Phoenix Club. He has served on club boards, chaired committees and over the last 15 years has headed up the Boys and Girls Club tennis tournament which has raised over $1 million for the Memphis clubs.
Daddy did not know that he was receiving this award. Patrick and I had an excuse for being at the annual dinner since Patrick is on the board at the Porter-Goodwill club. When he saw Lisa (little), we thought he might get suspicious. We just said that we made her come because we had an extra ticket and he bought it. He had no idea! My sweet Daddy will believe anything his girls tell him....well, sometimes!
This is his face at the exact moment when he realizes that the speech they are reading is about him. I love that I was able to capture this. The man presenting the award had so many wonderful things about Daddy. He ended it saying that "Martin wears lots of titles"...attorney, tennis player, husband, father and most recently, his favorite...grandfather. Melt my heart!
They asked Lisa to give him the medallion.
Those of you who know my Dad will be most surprised by this last part. My Dad is never at a loss for words....EVER. This award touched him so much that all he could say was thank you very much. I cannot think of anyone who deserves to be acknowledged for all of his hard work more. I am so proud of my Daddy. We can only hope to make a fraction of the impact in our lifetime that he has.
On to other things in our world...Lulu (or "RuRu" as Thomas says) is back from the beach. Thomas thought it was so funny that RuRu could sit in his leather chair. They snuggled up after his nap to watch some Sprout. Thomas loves Caliou and Chloe right now. He still loves Elmo too and we are looking forward to Sesame Street Live in April. RuRu gave Thomas tickets and also got him backstage passes to meet the characters....Thomas is going to be so excited!
Deep in conversation...Thomas is probably telling her about his "me" and his "other me"....this is what he calls his second blanket.
We have been putting our "Thomas" step stool to good use these days...Thomas can climb up there all by himself to brush his teeth before bed. He is so proud of himself when he is standing up there. My little guy isn't a baby any more...he is such a big boy.
We had our first parent-teacher conference last week at school. Thomas's teachers said that he is doing so well. He are few of the things they said about our little guy:
He is compassionate and really cares about his friends. When they cry, he says "its okay!"
He is the first to help the teachers when he can.
He is the last to finish his lunch (he is passionate about his food).
He hates to be sticky so is very careful when they are using glue (wonder where is gets that..Patrick?) He is doing a good job taking turns - after patiently waiting the other day, he said "Thomas's turn!"
He loves books, songs, the playground and PE.
He uses please and thank you without prompts (I beamed when I heard this).
He is a rule follower and reminds his friends when they don't obey (he gets this honestly).
With all of this, he still has a fun personality and some "spunk." His teacher told him not to do something by saying "no, no, Thomas" and he turned around shook his finger and said "no, no Miss Holly." God give me lots of patience!
He is the youngest in his class and has some of the best verbal skills. We work very hard on our words and communication skills so I was a proud Mama to hear that it is paying off. Some of his favorite things right now...he loves to sing and do the motions to "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Ring Around the Rosie." He also runs around saying "All Aboard!" when he is playing with his trains. If he does something that he is proud of, he throws his hands in the air and says "Ta-Da!" He sings "Rain, Rain" in the shower. So precious!
Here are a few of my favorite things Thomas is saying right now....
"DBD" - DVD
"Yollyie" - Lollie
"Oyive" - Olive
"Cereyal" - Cereal
"Cheeez" - Cheese
"Silyie" - Silly
Bu-on" - Button
"trive" - Drive
"nack" - Snack
Sorry for the proud Mama ramble on Thomas...I just want to remember all of these fun memories.
