Laura Vegas

i know i may not mention him much … or blog about what he does. and i know i have my gripes about him … sitting on the couch, watching sports all day, not putting clothes in the hamper, etc. but i also know that he does a lot around here. i know a lot of guys that don't do much to help out … and i can honestly say that joe does his share around here. and i just wanted to let him know that i appreciate all the little things.

• he helps take care of the daycare kids just like they were his own kids. this is what i found yesterday … both haley and nikolas all camped out on the couch with him. and he didn't mind at all. he doesn't tell me it's my job to take care of them … he just helps them when they need anything. they get excited when he walks in from work … and go running to him.
• when he gets home from work in the morning, he always empties the dishwasher if i'm not up yet. he knows it's the first thing i do when i get up. he'll get the girls breakfast and start them on making their lunches for school.
• he cleans the house every weekend. he does all the vacuuming and mopping, cleans the bathrooms, and any other major stuff. he knows that it's too hard on me (stupid chronic pain disease) … so he never lets me help with that stuff.
• he is always willing to take the girls to soccer practice and hang out and wait for them. alyssa doesn't like me to stay at practice with her … so sometimes i'll drop her off and go run errands … and he'll go back and pick her up so i can have an extra 10 minutes to myself.
• he knows that by the weekend … i need to get out of the house … by myself. so he'll tell me to just go and do what i need to do. he'll watch the girls … while he cleans the house.
• he brings me starbucks every morning on his way home from work. when he started car-pooling recently with a few people from work … he made sure to let them know that they would be stopping at starbucks every morning (even if the other person was driving).
• when he goes to get new movies at blockbuster each week … he keeps his eye out for the "chick flicks" for me. i never seem to make time to watch them … but he always gets them for me anyways. and he usually ends up watching them anyways! 
• he has really been trying to be better about doing the little things around here. like opening the windows at night and turning off the air … and closing eveything up in the morning before it gets too hot in here. of putting away the dishes in the sink that are drying before he leaves for work at night … because he knows i hate to wake up to a mess in the kitchen.

• when the last daycare kid leaves … he makes sure to help pick up whatever toys are still left out. it's not his job … it's mine. but he helps anyways.
• he always remembers to stick gatorades in the fridge for soccer practices and games … because i always forget. and then he'll stick them in the freezer to make them extra cold for the girls.
• he knows how cranky i am in the morning … so if i start getting pissy when he tries to talk to me … he just leaves me alone. and in the afternoon … when i get all chatty because i havn't talked to an adult all day … he listens to whatever i'm blabbering about, even if he doesn't care.
• he always takes an interest in my scrapping … and he tells people at work about my accomplishments. and when i have some crazy, busy assignments … he knows to help me out even more with the girls.
• he works all night … and then comes home to a house full of kids that aren't his. and then he tries to sleep all day when these same kids are making a ton of noise and crying from time to time. and he wakes up in the afternoon … and these kids are all still here along with his girls. and then he goes to work and does it all over again.

i'm sure there is more … but that gives you an idea of what he does. i really can't complain that much. i know he's a good guy … and i'm thankful for all he does. and i appreciate that he does it willingly. although he'll probably never see this …  because he never reads my blog and wouldn't even know how to find it. lol! oh yeah … add that to the list … "he never touches my computer" (i hate sharing my computer with anyone). even it it's because he doesn't know how to work it!

edited to add: just wanted to let you all know that i did show this to joe … actually, sarah read the entire thing out loud to him (even the part about me getting "pissy"!). and he did appreciate it … and all the super nice comments you all left. although he did find it ammusing that i said all these nice things … and then totally bashed his lack of computer skills at the end. lol! i'm not a very sentimental person … so i had to toss in some humor at the end!