One of the ways Mark "Completes Me" (gag gag)

Mark is forever coming up with fun and spontaneous things to do with Abby and Ethan. And I am the one who comes up with a million reasons not to do them (they will want to do this EVERY day and it's just not possible, they don't know the difference between painting that old piece of furniture and painting my dining room table, they will miss their much-needed naps if we go there today, etc.) I can be a fuddy-duddy, I suppose. I am too darn practical.

Mark is the one who says, "let's have a picnic lunch on the deck on Good Friday even though the sky is full of clouds and we're almost certain to be rained out." [Well, he didn't actually say those words - it doesn't sound like a normal conversation, does it?] Anyway, when Mark makes such a statement, I see impending doom - kids disappointed because the rain ruined their lunch, a daughter spending the whole meal running away into the weeds behind our house, 2 kids who will never sit at the kitchen table again because the blanket outside is so much more fun. But Mark throws me one of his famous looks that says "lighten up, Lovest, it's just a picnic!" Who can argue with that? So we enjoyed lunch under the cloudy sky, in the fresh air, sitting on Mark's old college blanket and noticing the first signs of spring. And you know what? It didn't even rain. Abby stayed on the blanket and actually ate her lunch. And a few hours later, the kids ate dinner at the kitchen table without a complaint. I guess Mark was right... this time. ;)