Bedtime Stories From Far Away

Before Jerome left I found this book that I knew we needed.

I knew the kids would find comfort in hearing him read them a bedtime story even though he isn't here.

A few days before he left I watched him read this book, record his voice and make this book for our kids.

 January 2012 
 


One night I found Katie snuggled in our bed and listening to her Daddy read her a bedtime story.

 March 5, 2012



This is her favorite page.

She told me she loves how he says, "I love you, you, you".

She sometimes will flip the page back and forth so that he reads this page over and over.



Katie is really the only one who opens this book.

Natalie deals with the deployment by not thinking about it, avoiding the thought of her Daddy being gone at all costs.

Katie opens the book and listens to her Daddy telling her a bedtime story in our bedroom.

It makes Natalie break down whenever she hears her Daddy's voice.

It has been a comfort for Katie.

She will have him read her the bedtime story again and again and again.

The first time I gave it to her was the night he left.

We had said goodbye at the airport earlier that day.

That night we all went to bed.

I was crying in his pillow and I heard a knock at my door.

It was Katie. She was missing him.

She climbed up in bed with me and I surprised her with the book.

She loved it.

We listened to him read it to us over and over that night.

It just feels so good to hear his voice sometimes.

Katie's Daddy Daughter Date.

Yesterday evening Jerome took Katie out for her Daddy Daughter Date.

Katie decided on bowling and McDonalds.

Katie won the first game of bowling. She was pretty thrilled to have beat her daddy at bowling (even though he never bowls either).

They bought a pitcher of soda, a big bowl of popcorn and two games of bowling.

Then they went to McDonalds to eat and she came home with a M&M flurry in hand.

She had a great evening with her daddy, especially beating him at bowling.

Christmas Breakfast.

Today is the first day of Christmas break for our kids. We stayed up late last night and all slept in this morning.

Jerome started the coffee while I started making the reindeer pancakes I promised the girls I'd make.

We didn't have bacon (for the antlers) so I improvised and used Hershey's chocolate syrup, a maraschino cherry for the red nose, whip cream and chocolate chips for the eyes. I found the idea for it here

Buddy the elf would be loving the sweet sugary breakfast we had this morning....but he was in Katie's room on her little Christmas tree.....he covered her tree with toilet paper last night.

Katie was excited to see Buddy somewhere else besides the freezer this morning. He was in the freezer when she woke up yesterday morning. She kept getting upset because she was afraid he would freeze and lose his magic powers. I had to remind her that he lives at the North Pole and the freezer reminds him of home.

Natalie took the next picture with my camera.....



98. making reindeer pancakes with our kids
99. sleeping in on the first day of Christmas break
100. baking for the family get togethers
101. kids helping in the kitchen
102. wrapping presents
103. watching favorite Christmas movies with my family

Buddy the Elf.

Several weeks ago Katie was so happy to find an Elf On The Shelf waiting for her.

She came home from school telling me how her friend Emma has an elf, how you read the book and then his magic starts and the next morning you wake up and get to find him hiding in the house somewhere.

We carefully unpacked him, making sure not to touch him....because if you touch the elf he loses his magic.

Katie named him Buddy....Buddy the Elf.

She went to sleep that night anxious to wake up in the morning to find out where Buddy had found to stay for the night.

Since then Buddy has been a lot of places in our home, hanging from the clock, playing with marshmallows, eating cereal, hanging out with Barbie and her friends and many more places.

Katie loves Buddy and loves that he is "magic".



This past weekend all three of our kids had friends over or went to a friends house to stay. We had a house full. Natalie had Hailey and Casey over, Spencer had Adam over and Katie went to the movies with Emma and stayed the night with Sydney.

I had just gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed when I heard Katie banging on our door and crying.

I opened our door to a little girl crying her heart out.

Our conversation went a little like this:

Me: "Katie! Why are you crying? Whats wrong?" (thinking she was physically hurt)

Katie: "Mom!! (sniff, sniff) Mom!!"

Me: "WHAT?"

Katie: "Adam touched Buddy and now Buddy has lost his magic!!"

(Adam standing shocked and surprised and unknowing of Buddy's magic powers, which Spencer let him know of when Katie freaked out on him)

Adam: "I didn't know! I just picked him up, spun him around Katie! I didn't know!"

(I was trying to hold a laugh in, Spencer and Adam were too)

Katie: "Mom, can we get another elf...PLEASE?? Buddy isn't magic anymore!"

Me: (thinking fast what to say because I did not want to buy another elf)"Katie, Buddy is still magic. Adam doesn't believe in Santa or Buddy the Elf so it doesn't count if he picked him up, he didn't make Buddy lose his magic. Only the little kids that believe in Buddy the Elf and Santa make Buddy lose his magic if they touch him."

Katie: (calmed down a little, sniffing and wiping her tears) "You promise Buddy didn't lose his magic?"

Me: "I promise, you will still be able to find him in new places tomorrow morning"

The next morning Katie was excited to see Buddy the Elf holding on to her Daddy's coffee pot......Jerome told her that Buddy was needing some caffeine.

And now for one of our favorite parts of the movie....it makes Katie laugh hysterically every time.....



Looks fun doesn't it?

Katie's Buddy the Elf is named after that crazy elf.

91. how a little "magic" brings laughter in our home
92. seeing the excitement and anticipation of Christmas in our kids
93. date night with my husband
94. running into old friends at dinner
95. warmth of a new winter coat
96. a kiss from my husband in the cold night air
97. knowing that even though it will be our last date for a long time, we enjoyed every second of it

{ dreams. }

A few weeks ago me, Jerome and the girls watched our wedding. They had never watched it before and loved it.

Well, except for the crazy hair that everyone had....they were rollling in laughter at some of the hairstyles.

They laughed at Jerome's "knee socks" and asked him why he was wearing knee socks in the wedding. He told them they weren't knee socks, laughing, and then told them they were Navy dress leggings and something special he wore for a surprise for their mommy.

Katie laughed and said, "Well.....they look like knee socks".

When the wedding ended, Natalie looked at us and asked us how much a wedding costs. We told her A LOT if you have a big wedding these days.

Then she smiled a sweet smile and said, "Well, I want a big wedding".

We laughed and told her she had better start saving for it now.

          -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Never, not once did I think Natalie took what we said to heart.

There is a new store that opened in the mall called Charming Charlie, I've been promising them a trip there to buy something if they can keep up with their chores and earn their own money to buy something.

This evening, Natalie and I had a conversation that made me laugh and smile.........and pull her close to me and give her a hug.

The conversation went a little something like this:

Me:   Natalie, pretty soon you'll have enough money saved to go to Charming Charlie.

Natalie: (very matter of fact like) Mom.....I'm not saving my money for Charming Charlie!

Me: (rather confused, then looked at her)  Well, what are you saving your money for?

Natalie: (very excitedly) My WEDDING!!

Me: Your wedding?

Natalie: (very matter of fact again) Yes....you and daddy said if I wanted a big wedding I needed to start saving for it now.

Me: (thinking this would be a good time to have a conversation just her and I) What kind of wedding do you want to have?

Natalie: I want a big wedding. I want a trane that is long....but not froofy like yours was!! I want it to cover my face. I want a long dress with sleeves.

Me:   That sounds very pretty.

Natalie:   Yes. And.....I want to marry a military man!

Me: (very surprised) A military man huh?

Natalie: Yes.

Me:   Well then, what kind of military man?

Natalie:   One with a nice uniform, not knee socks like daddy's. A uniform that is black, blue, gold and red.

Me: Do you mean a Marine?

Natalie: Yes, I like that uniform. It looks nice.

Me: Oh.....I see. (smiling)

There was a little pause and then......

Natalie:   Is it hard being married to a military man mommy?

Me:   It's a tough life chic.....but it is wonderful.

Then we just snuggled and she went on and on about her wedding. What her bridesmaids would wear. What kind of cake she wanted. What kind of flowes she would have.

I laid there and held her while she talked.

Realizing that these moments won't last long.

That pretty soon these wedding dreams she has planned really will be coming true.

And in that little space of time....I just wanted to remember her being little. Her telling me all of her dreams and plans for when she grows up.

{ creativity. }

Today was one of those days.

You know, one of those days where you feel like banging your head against the wall.

I am one of those moms who rather than patiently sit back and let her kids learn how to do certain tasks......I jump in out of frustration and time and do the tasks myself because, ONE. I am able to get the task  done a LOT faster and, TWO. I like things cleaned and organized a certain way.

I have not helped my kids by doing this.

Instead, I have a thirteen year old who doesn't know how to wash his own clothes. A ten year old who at one time mistook Palmolive soap for Cascade and filled the dishwasher cup full of it.....not once, but twice (in the same wash load) because she thought she didn't add enough soap. A nine year old who would rather go to her room than to help clean.

Thankfully, I now keep Cascade drop-ins for the dishwasher. But this doesn't solve the rest of the problems I have created for myself in not teaching my kids simple household tasks they should be able to do by now.

I have come to a point where I have decided I want change. Not just a little but a lot. I am tired of unrolling dirty socks before putting them in the wash. I am tired of tripping over backpacks by the front door. I am tired of shoes being scattered everywhere (and yes they do have a place to be put) and the morning rush of, "Mom! Where is my other shoe?!"......followed of course by a reply of, "I don't know, probably wherever you left it". I am tired of toothpaste stuck to the sink, towels and laundry in the floor and water left dripping in the bathtub. I am tired of glasses of milk filled to the rim for Oreo dipping and then poured down the sink. I am tired of telling them to clean their room every day and they don't listen to me, that is until they receive a phone call from a friend to go somewhere and then magically their room can be clean in ten minutes. Oh how I could go on and on.

I love my children. I love them dearly. But these are just a few of the things that need to change here in our home. It isn't their fault....that falls on my shoulders for always "wanting to hurry and get it done".

So today I decided things would be different. I decided rather than me cleaning their bathrooms that they are perfectly old enough and capable enough to do it themselves. Spencer did pretty good.....he has cleaned his bathroom before. The girls however.......lets just say it took a lot of patience and a few laughs here and there.

Natalie and Katie share a bathroom. I divided up the cleaning tasks to be even. Believe it or not they were fighting over who got to do certain jobs. Katie wanted to clean the mirror. Natalie wanted to mop the floor. They both shared the rest of the tasks such as, scrubbing the bathtub, the toilet, putting things away, taking laundry to the laundry room and cleaning the sinks.

What would have taken me about 20 minutes to do......it took them over an hour.

That is where the wanting to bang my head against the wall came in.......it was taking FOREVER.

But my good laugh for the day came when Natalie started mopping the floor.

She mopped by the right side of the toilet (which is right next to the tub), then mopped by the door. I told her she needed to mop by the left side of the toilet and that she had missed it and explained to her how to start mopping at a far corner of the room and mop your way out of it.

"OK Mommy" she said.

Then she climbed from the doorway to the tub.....walked along the edge of the tub, all the while holding a dripping mop, and then stepped on top of the toilet (and yes the lid was closed).

"What are you doing?" I laughed and asked her.

"Well Mommy, I didn't want to put feet marks on the floor where I already mopped!".

I had to laugh, it was hilarious. She was standing on top of the toilet mopping the floor. Then I came to my senses after laughing and realized this was Natalie.......Natalie standing on top of the toilet mopping. She is the clumsiest of the three of our kids. The one who is always falling and getting hurt. The one who can trip just walking. So I helped her down and helped her mop her way out of the bathroom.

So for today I feel like I accomplished something. I feel better knowing I stepped back and let our kids do certain tasks rather than taking over so I could hurry and move on to the next one. I learned that there is certainly a creative way to do everything, including mopping a bathroom floor.

To my darlings. I love you.
Love,
Mommy xoxo

{ happy meal. }

I went to school and had lunch with Katie and Natalie Thursday. Katie has been asking for over a week for me to come to school and bring McDonald's. "McDonald's?" I'd ask her. She would reply with a firm, "Yes mommy. My friends Mommy and Daddy bring them McDonald's to school and have lunch." So after her reminding me of this all week I went to McDonald's and made it to school with two happy meals in hand. Katie was excited (I had lunch with her first, Natalie's lunch was right after hers)and I can truly say that that day she had a happy meal for lunch.




Natalie was happy too, and wanted to show all of her friends my new phone. Then she called her daddy at work....that is who she is talking to here.




Day 27 12:10

{ making brownies with daddy. }

Day 21
7:48pm



This evening I watched Natalie and Katie make brownies with their Daddy in the kitchen. He even let them crack the egg, something I'm always hesitant to do. He helped Katie stir to make sure she mixed it all up good.

The brownies were yummy and a nice snack for our relaxing evening at home in our pajamas.

one.frame.a.day.

January 5th.
Dedication.
Spencer has been very dedicated this year in wrestling. It is his first year and he loves it. This coming from a kid that had no want to to wrestle, to get up in front of everyone in a singlet. The practices are hard, his practice clothes the other day were drenched in sweat so much so that it looked like he had jumped in a swimming pool.

January 6th.
Richard Simmons....eat your heart out.

This picture of Katie cracks me up. She looks up to Spencer, even wrestles with him sometimes. This day she was exercising with him, her and Natalie both. I guess she decided to dress for the occasion....and boy did she ever! All the way from knee socks to converse!

 January 7th.
Big boy.

At the doctor's office today. Usually they put us in one of the "bigger kids" rooms when Spencer is there. Today we were in the dinosaur room. He has grown so much. I remember when he was little and climbed all over this dinosaur examining table....needed lifted up there to sit.....not anymore.

I picked Spencer up from practice yesterday and I could tell he wasn't feeling well. We came home, he took a shower and some motrin and went to bed for the night.....at 6:00pm. He was running a fever and chilling.
I made a doctor appointment for him this morning and took him in, he was feeling a little better. He has a sinus infection and will be back in school tomorrow.....that is if the snow doesn't accumulate to much.
While we were out today (after the doctor appointment) we had lunch, went to Target to get his prescription filled. We were walking around Target waiting for the prescription, he was bored out of his mind. He looked at me and said, "So mom, is this what you do while we are in school? It's kind of boring." It made me laugh. I wish my days were filled with walking around Target endlessly window shopping with nothing more to do but wait on a prescription.

one.frame.a.day.

 

Little signs of a loose tooth.

Katie has a tooth that she has wiggled and wiggled all day.

It is a little stubborn and won't come out.

She sat at the kitchen table while I cooked dinner and took bite after bite of this apple, 

hoping her tooth would come out.

The tooth fairy won't be visiting her tonight, maybe tomorrow night....hopefully.

~Amber Hope

one.frame.a.day.

After finally finishing our family book from 2007 and finding myself sitting down with it quite often, looking at all the pictures of the kids, reading the memorable things I had written (that I know I would have forgotten had I not kept a record of them). I realized sitting there with that book in my lap that I need to do more. I find our picture folders not as full as they used to be. I find I don't pick up my camera to capture moments like I used to, even if it is just the everyday moments in our life. I find myself wishing that I had taken more, written more and kept a better record of even the simplest things in our lives.
In this new year I decided to do more. I will be doing one.frame.a.day. A small snapshot into our life, daily, even if it something small. I know though that one day that something that I feel is "something small" today, will be something wonderful one day to look back at.
I captured a simple moment January 1st but I am including it in this post today.

January 1st.




cousin sleeping over.
morning in our jammies.
raining outside.
pb&j sandwiches for lunch.
play-doh fun in the kitchen.

January 2nd.









Dear Natalie and Katie,
Tonight I read a favorite book of mine when I was little to you both as I tucked you into bed. I remember this book well and loved it, especially the part where the little mouse made a porcelain bathtub out of a teacup. This book was my favorite when I was a little girl.
When Grammie and Poppie moved from the home I grew up in I hoped to find this book that Grammie had kept. We went through all kinds of things. My sisters, mom and I laughed and talked about what we remembered from everything we were finding and either packing up or taking to our own home to keep. We never did find the book that I had hoped we would find.
Tonight as we opened presents for Christmas at Grammie and Poppies, I was very excited to open this book that your Aunt Laci gave me as a Christmas present. She had spent a lot of time looking at so many used book stores in hopes to find this book for me. She knew it was special to me.
This book was the best Christmas present I could have received, a very heart felt gift from my sister. I found it a blessing to be able to read this book to you both tonight. I was able to see the same smiles on your faces that I know I had on mine when I was little at the simple turn of a page. I hope that one day you will be able to read this same book to your own little babies as you tuck them into bed and kiss them goodnight.
Goodnight my darlings.
Love,
Mommy
xoxo

{ Cozy and Warm. }

School was canceled today because of all the snowfall overnight. I had a good time in the snow with the kids today. I took this one of Natalie and Katie warming up under the blanket and fell in love with this picture of the two of them.