Monday, August 1, 2011

A Picture May (Or May Not) Be Worth A Thousand Words

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but sometimes it paints an inaccurate story. 

We went up north this past weekend to celebrate Todd's 40th birthday.  Judging by this picture it would appear that we had a calm, serene start to the weekend.  This picture does not show the whining and crying and fighting and nonsleeping children for the three hour ride to the cabin.  It also does not show the absolute downpour of rain that occured minutes after this picture was taken. 
This picture shows my lovely boys amusing themselves.
This picture shows the boys finding me behind them and yelling at me for sneaking up on them.  And no, Tommy is not flicking me off as it appears.  He is shaking his fist at me. 
It would appear the boys amused themselves for hours with their binoculars.  It was actually only a few minutes.  Shortly after I took this picture the boys went back to whining about when they would get to take a boat ride and go fishing while Todd frantically tried to get the stupid 30 year old boat motor to work. 
Cut to the next day.  I tried to keep the boys occupied with things like catching tiny frogs, and finding large sticks while Todd continued to try and fix the old crappy motor so that he could finally start to enjoy his birthday weekend. 
The frogs were cute, but not cute enough to keep the boys from pestering Todd about when they will finally be able to go fishing.
Ben wasn't able to keep a frog on his hand long enough for a picture.  According to this picture it looks like he was fine with that.  He wasn't.
Here it looks like the stoic kids are being forced into helping grandma make a fruit salad.  They actually begged to help, ate more than they contributed, and had a blast.
Here it looks like they are having even more fun splashing their feet in the water with grandma and grandpa.  They are.
However, what these two photos don't show is the bawlfest that took place moments before when the boys started telling us how they don't want grandpa to have Alzheimer's anymore.  They cried and cried saying that they don't like Alzheimer's and don't want grandpa to die and then "have no more grandpas left". 
This picture appears to be taken in fall instead of the middle of summer.  The sunny 85 degree weather we were supposed to have never showed up.  It was about 70 and cool in the morning, then it got up to about 84 but would rain all afternoon.  Then in the evening it cooled off again.  Crazy weather.
All of these pictures make it look like it was a great and fun weekend. 
 But in all actuality it was difficult.  Probably one of the hardest weekends we've ever had up north.
Perhaps if the boat's motor hadn't taken a crap on us and Todd and the boys were able to fish all weekend like they planned we would have had more fun.  If Todd hadn't had to spend 5 hours every morning trying to fix the motor I think it would have been more relaxing.  If the boys hadn't been as whiny and sassy and spoiled the weekend would have been easier.  Maybe if the weather would have cooperated a bit more we could have enjoyed our time outdoors.  I don't know.  The whole weekend seemed like a struggle.  A constant struggle.
But there was cake.  And family.  And lovely sunsets.  So I guess it wasn't all bad.

In the end I just wish my dear hubby had the relaxing, wonderful birthday weekend he deserved.  Instead he spent the whole time trying to make everyone else happy and trying to fix everything.  I'm afraid he was more drained when the weekend was over then when it started.
Oh my dear husband.  Happy 40th Birthday.  It was not what we planned, but I hope you at least know just how much you are loved and appreciated.  Thank you for being a man of faith.  Thank you for how hard you work.  Thank you for always being there.  For taking care of those who need you.  For always being everyone's go-to-guy.  For being such a wonderful husband, father, son, brother, friend.  For always keeping your amazing sense of humor even in the toughest situations, and making me laugh when I need it most.  For being such an amazing example of a strong, loving, compassionate, and caring man for our boys.   For giving Grace such a good example of the type of quality man to look for someday.  For always trying, trying, trying to do better.  Be better.  For constantly striving to be a Godly man.  For being my best friend.  I love you so much. 

P.S.  You were right to stop at 4.  ;)

14 comments:

Mom24 said...

What a beautiful post. Great job Kat. Happy Birthday to Todd. That's the way life is, isn't it? You plan what you think will be wonderful and sometimes it just...isn't.

Hope the next trip is better.

Heartbreaking about your father-in-law. I'm so sorry.

Cyndy Bush said...

I have been pondering why life must be so darned difficult sometimes. (sigh)
The picture of the boys where it looks like Tommy is picking you up, is hilarious!

Kelli @ writing the waves said...

Such a bummer about the boat and that the b'day didn't turn out quite as planned. Still thank goodness for CAKE and adorable binocular pictures. Love those. So cute. What a sweet message to your husband. Sounds like a wonderful guy. :)

Lora said...

Its who we are under pressure and stress that shows who we really are. Sounds like your husband is a keeper! :) Happy Birthday!

Jeni said...

You may think your pictures aren't the kind that are "worth a thousand words" but they are! You may have felt like things weren't lining up the way you wanted them to be (remember, best laid plans of mice and men, etc.) but your photos worked quite well to show just the opposite of the problems you said you encountered. All show us how to regroup, rethink and find the best in whatever life brings to us -even when things aren't very nice at the time to think about -like the Alzheimer's aspect. You will, some day, see the good in the kids reactions to that terrible disease as they learn more, understand more not just about that but about life in general and how difficult it can be at times to accept the junk it often does throw at us. They will grow up ultimately being much more understanding of all those things, better able then to contend with the not-so-nice-or pretty stuff.

Kelly said...

It looks like you got a new blog header picture on that trip---love it.

Sorry the weekend wasn't what you expected, I hate when that happens. Bless your dear hubby for trying so hard to fix the motor and make things better. We both have hubbies that try so hard to make us happy and don't worry about themselves. I hope he had a great birthday in spite of it all.

It broke my heart when your kiddos were crying about their grandpa having Alzheimers. So tough for anyone and at their age trying to understand it has to be hard.

Looks like the boys got haircuts---very cute!!

Rima said...

Aw, I'm sorry you had such a rough weekend! But I hope all the great ones you've spent there make up for it and that you'll have many more to replace the crummy one!

Lindsay said...

Well happy belated 40th to your hubs! Your right, it does APPEAR that you all had a fantastic time, but I'm here to sympathize with you - I know all too well what THOSE weekends are like. Hang in there - it will get better, and know that we ALL have those days (or weeks) every now and again!

painted maypole said...

oh. it's extra hard when our expectations of relaxation are met by the complete opposite.

love your new header picture, BTW

Kat said...

Yep. I got a new header pic. I figured since Todd's folks were up I would get Todd in on the picture too. The whole family! Woot woot!

I set up the shot, had Todd's mom sit exactly where I was sitting and it turned out great! She did awesome! :)

However, what you can't see in that pic is the 400 pics we took with the kids turning around, scratching their butts, swating at bugs, and moaning and complaining. HA! Another deceiving picture, but we got the job done. ;)

Gina Kleinworth said...

First Happy Birthday to your hubs! Second- AMAZING place with even more amazing photos. Third- that tiny frog is SO COOL.

Krystyn @ Really, Are You Serious? said...

Yes, the pictures tell a different story, but I'm sure there was some fun to be had in there...I bet the kids had fun.

And, happy birthday to Todd.

imbeingheldhostage said...

It may not have been the IDEAL trip, but WOW, what fantastic pictures you got!! Really some fabulous shots that the kids will cherish when they're older.
You're birthday message is beautiful-- you are really blessed!

lime said...

life is a series of surprises isn't it. thanks for the honesty here and the story behind the pictures. we have good moments and bad moments but how we handle them reveals who we are. it looks like you have a man of character there. i hope the celebration was ultimately more happy tahn frustrating.

Words To Live By

Be grateful for each new day.
A new day that you have never lived before.
Twenty-four new, fresh, unexplored hours to use usefully and profitably.
We can squander, neglect, or use them.
Life will be richer or poorer by the way we use today.
Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could;
some blunders and absurdities crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be
encumbered with your old nonsense.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson