Sunday, January 30, 2011

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.

Day 27 blog


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 27b blog


Day 27 12:10

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Beauty.

Beauty.

There was such beauty this morning outside our window. The snow was falling down in the heaviest snowflakes I have ever seen. I slipped my husband's boots on and went outside to capture a little bit of winter's beauty.

Snow.


Molly followed me out and stayed with me. She was covered in snowflakes....

Molly in the snow.


The kids are now home from school, it was released early due to the amount of snow and the roads getting covered quickly. I am getting ready to go into the kitchen and fix them all some tomato soup and grilled cheese. It's our favorite lunch on cold winter days like today.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Our Book.

I finished this book from Blurb over a year ago and always meant to post some pictures of how wonderful it is.  I have since started on our 2008 family book and am almost finished (I'm up to Halloween 2008) and cannot wait to order another. Although 2007 will probably be our largest book printed seeing that is the year Jerome was deployed to Afghanistan and I did a whole LOT of picture taking to keep him feeling a little closer to the kids and to home.

Blurb Book 2007


Blurb Book 2007 01


Blurb Book 2007 04


Blurb Book 2007 05


Blurb Book 2007 03


Blurb Book 200702


I love this book. I love how it turned out and that I can open it up, look back and read our memories from that year. To me it is a priceless keepsake.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Making brownies with daddy.

Day 21
7:48pm
making brownies with daddy.


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.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Not Defeated Yet.

Day 19.
Not Defeated Yet.

Blog 01


Tuesday started out as what I thought would be a "normal" day. Everything had gone as planned until around 4:45 when Spencer paged me from practice saying, "Mom, you need to take me to urgent care after practice".
I hurriedly made it to school only to find that he couldn't open even open the door and his right arm was just there, he wasn't using it at all. We then went to urgent care where we spent the rest of the evening in x-rays and sitting rooms. The doctor had said it had been dislocated but he wasn't going to mess with it until after the x-ray results were back. Thankfully a friend of mine came to pick up the girls (I thought they were going to have to put his arm back in place).
As it turned out his arm had been dislocated but was back in place as it should be. Then the doctor gave Spencer the news that there is no possible way he could wrestle in this weeks big tournament. Spencer was very upset and as soon as the doctor left the room he leaned his head over on my shoulder in disappointment and told me how hard he had been working for this and that he really wanted to be able to wrestle in it. He put his arm in a sling and sent us on our way.

Blog 02


Today around three I took him some motrin to school and was surprised by his swollen hand when he came to the office to get his medicine. I called his pediatrician and they had us bring him in. His doctor there took a look at it and said by the looks of it (sunken shoulder, tenderness spots, inability to function with his arm) that it was still dislocated. She then left the room and came back to explain that there was to be a lot of pulling and moving of his arm to put it back the way it should be and she sent us on to the ER where they are better equipped to handle dislocations.
We made it to the ER, and they were PACKED. I was kind of relieved because Jerome was still working and I wanted him there when they were going to be "working" on his arm. I did not want to have to do this alone. We sat in the waiting room a good while until they finally called us back. They took a lot more x-rays and then sent us back to wait in the waiting room. By that time Jerome arrived and we joked and laughed with Spencer trying to keep his mind off of what we thought was coming. They called us back and we waited some more. Then the doc let us know that his arm was not still dislocated but that in the x-ray he believes he has a AC separation in the joint of his arm/shoulder. We have to see a specialist and then go from there.

Spencer 01 blog


Day 19
There is still a fighter in him.
Two days, two doctor visits and one ER visit we learned his arm was dislocated, relocated and are now waiting to see a specialist to see if he has an AC separation in his right arm/shoulder.
He is very upset and discouraged of learning he won't wrestle in this weeks big tournament, or next weeks for that matter. He doesn't like wearing the sling.....even though he can barely do anything with his right arm. He is begging to miss school because of such a difficult day today with his injured arm. The teachers are not being very understanding of the fact that he is right handed and it takes quite a while to write with your left hand two whole pages of notes.....and so on. I know he'll get through this, he always has been a fighter. But for now it is disheartening to see him in pain and see him discouraged and know that other than giving him a little encouragement, that is all we can do for him right now. I would take his place in a heartbeat just to see him be himself again and out there participating in a sport he loves while we yell for him from the stands. The doctor has him out of participating until January 27th, he has high hopes that he will still be able to participate in the counties tournament the first weekend in February. He has a lot of healing to do until then......he can't even buckle his seat belt, put on a regular pair of tennis shoes, open a bottle of gatorade, lift his arm above his waist without pain, and so on. He said this evening he is going to work towards the counties tournament and still try to get down to 155 by then. I just hope that he heals.
I hope he heals soon, that possibly this won't be an injury to take a long time to heal. But for now he will be having to sit on the sidelines, watching his teammates participate in the events he has so much been looking forward to participating in, and hope and pray that he heals soon.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Coupon Cutting Helper.

Day 12
My little coupon cutting helper.
Natalie cut out a good bit of coupons yesterday and helped put the binder together. Crazy girl, she was excited about it! The kids REALLY enjoyed it when we stopped at the grocery store last night after church and they were able to pick out their favorite snacks (our refrigerator is now FULL of yogurt). I was excited that I managed to cut $40 off of a grocery bill.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Lazy Winter Day.

Day 11.
one.frame.a.day.


I've enjoyed being able to stay home with the kids today. It is cold and snowing outside and there is nothing better on a cold, winter day than a lazy day. We slept in, ate breakfast for lunch, we have been relaxing in our pajamas today and walking around the cold wood floors with thick wool socks on our feet. Other than taking Spencer to practice, the rest of the day we have just spent here at home.  It is back to routine, schedules school and work tomorrow. That is if we don't get the four inches of snow they are predicting. 

Monday, January 10, 2011

Full House.

Day 10
one.frame.a.day.

 Believe it or not it is easier to get things finished up when the kids have their friends over. Spencer has Andrew over and the girls have Emma and Kate over. They have been keeping themselves entertained (just for today since I have so much work to do). Spencer and Andrew have been playing video games and the girls have been coloring and playing school. Kate fell asleep a few hours ago and Natalie, Emma and Katie all tucked her in with their quilts on the couch.....she was sound asleep. 

Now to get them all in bed and asleep....it shouldn't be hard. The boys had a long day at school and practice. The girls should go to sleep if I tuck them in bed with a book to read.  It has been a busy day for me, I can't wait to catch up in my work.

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Homework Helper.

one.frame.a.day.
Day 9



one.frame.a.day. DAY 9


This afternoon Natalie was asking me for help with her homework. Spencer surprised me by sitting down across the table from her and said, "I know exactly what you are doing, let me help you." I was very happy to see him volunteering to help his sister in such a way. It put a smile on my face to see the two of them sitting at the table coming up with words for her poem she had to do.

Spencer's poem he helped Natalie with................
snow
wet, annoying
chilling,freezing, falling
cold, white, slick, clear
slipping, falling, yelling
cold, annoying
ice

The poem with Natalie's corrections.................

 snow
white, lovely
sledding, slipping, sliding
cold, slippery, clear, beautiful
falling, flying, twirling
fleeting, melting
snow

 Can you tell which of the two of my children loves the snow and which one does not? 

I have to be honest though. Spencer put a few words in the poem such as "annoying, falling, yelling". I asked him how it fit in to the poem and he said, "Well don't you remember falling down the porch steps that were covered in snow and yelling and crying?" and then he laughed. Natalie didn't like a few of the words he had chosen so we changed them, just a few. Then she looked at Spencer and asked him if he was sure that he knew what he was doing. He then went to the hallway, pulled his language certificate off the wall and showed it to Natalie and said, "Yes Natalie, I wouldn't have gotten this if I didn't know what I was doing".

Natalie loves winter,  loves the snow....Spencer does not.

Thank you very much Spencer for helping your sister with her homework today. I really appreciated the extra help today. Love you bud....mom

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Determination.


Dear Spencer,
Today you made us proud. Proud to yell over the crowd, proud to watch you take on each and every one of your opponents with such determination. Proud to watch as they raise your arm because you won your match and proud to see you shake hands with your opponent and use good sportsmanship even when you didn't win. Proud to watch you grow into the man you will someday be. 
We are proud you are our son. We love you Spencer Andrew.
Love,
Mom and Dad 
xoxo





Thursday, January 6, 2011

one.frame.a.day.

January 4th.
Still wiggly.


Still wiggling and wiggling.....no tooth fairy visit yet.

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.

Monday, January 3, 2011

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

Sunday, January 2, 2011

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.


Day 01 46

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

January 2nd.


Day 02 blog



Day 02 blog 2


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