Steve is a behind the scenes man which is why he prefers that he stays behind the scenes on this blog. But when it is his birthday I like to put him front and center.

Here are some things I love about the king of our castle:

1. He makes pancakes nearly every Saturday morning. He’s usually gone for work by the time the kids get up so he makes breakfast on Saturday’s a priority. Occasionally it’s donuts – but the majority is pancakes and he caters to the kids ever changing preferences. Mickey mouse with chocolate chips smothered in peanut butter and Nutella dipped in syrup – or whatever the flavor of the week is.

2. He has the biggest heart without a mean bone in his body. He genuinely cares for people and it hurts him to see others hurt.

3. He sings songs all the time and makes the kids guess whether it’s a real song or a fake song. Sometimes just to throw his game off I like to sing along with him which gives the kids the clue that its a real song.

4. We have a lot of fun and we laugh a lot. We might be the only ones who thinks its funny, but we always manage to have a good laugh.

5. He can never resist a child’s plea to tuck them in. He has special routines with each child and part of it includes telling far fetched fictional tales.

6. He serves and serves. Us, his family, his friends, strangers – he actively looks for situations where he can lend a hand and it’s often landed him on the side of the rode dressed in shirt and tie helping someone out. He finds great joy in knowing he was able to help someone in need.

7. He’s a fish. Whether it be the pool or the lake he loves the water. He’s the dad in the pool with the kids playing game after game and answering they’re every request for yet another shoulder jump.

8. He puts up with all my photographing shenanigans as frustrating as that can be at times for him. And he’s mastered the jumping picture – I’ve got countless jumping pictures in random locations and he has a different pose in all of them. I love it.

8. He’s my best friend as cheesy as it may sound. It’s true. He’s the one I want to call up when something funny happens. He’s the one I want to spend my extra time with. He’s the one I’d want to have lunch with. He’s the one I want to talk through things with. He’s the one. I’m blessed that I found that in him.

Happy Birthday Steve.