Under The Old Sycamore Tree

Moved.

2011-12-12T06:50:00.000-08:00

I moved this blog a few months ago. The new web address is...

whatmattersmosttome-amberhope.blogspot.com

August 15th, football practice and media day

2011-09-01T09:53:00.001-07:00

Spencer started high school. A freshman. It is hard to believe just a few more years and he will be graduating. He is already talking about what he wants to do after he graduates school. He mentioned being a sports medicine doctor, he loves history and threw around the idea of being a history teacher but after a few days of JROTC he is now talking about joining the Air Force.

I am amazed every day how quickly he is growing up. How tall he is and how proud I am of the man he is becoming.

I didn't get any early morning before the sun comes up pictures this year of him for the first day of school. But I definitely took my camera to his football practice and media day. Jerome took off work early to be there for media day, even though it wasn't at all what we expected (to much Friday Night Lights I guess), but we enjoyed it anyway.

I can't wait for the football games to start, the cold chill in the air, the sound of the announcer and players on the field, the crowd.....everything about the football games he is in I love.

He told me the other day he wasn't going to play next year because he dad won't be here to see him play.....I reminded him that I enjoy watching him play. "Yes, but you don't understand football like dad does", he said to me and laughed. "It doesn't matter how much I understand....I understand it enough to know when to cheer for my son out on the football field", I told him.

Jerome was yelling, "Run freshman run!" in his best Forest Gump voice to Spencer here, we were all laughing. Natalie actually took this shot and the two that follow. I LOVE this picture of the two of them. Jerome is so proud to watch him play and Spencer loves the football bond they share between them.

I love that Natalie took those pictures.

Spencer had to take an X-Large football helmet. I won't say what they call the yellow things that go on them at practice....but they couldn't get Spencer's on his helmet.

He practiced hard that day. I was surprised, because he had had very little sleep the night before, went to school all day and then practice right after. It didn't take him long to fall asleep once we were home that evening though.

Bear Crawls.

Running.

Water Break.

End of practice and time to head home, fill out a million papers, dinner and get ready for the next day of school.
Our life stays so busy during this time of year, so busy sometimes I feel like I'll go crazy with all the running around. But watching Spencer out on the field playing the game he loves.....it is all worth it.

August 15th, first day of school

2011-09-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

The first day of school.

Natalie is in 5th grade this year.

Katie is in 4th grade.

They spent a lot more time getting ready this year for the first day of school. Natalie excitedly put on her make up. While Katie put on her clothes she had meticulously picked out a week before school even started.

Natalie picked out a backpack on looks, Katie picked out a backpack on size. She went through three backpacks last year. I continually reminded her that she didn't need to bring everything home, but she insisted. She picked out one this year that she was sure to be able to carry her school supplies to and from school every day that wouldn't tear up. And even though she rarely pulls all the stuff out that she carries home and to school everyday, she is a happy camper knowing it is tucked away neatly in her backpack.

I'm glad I was able to get one of them smiling together that morning. Because that afternoon, when the bus ran I could hear them arguing with each other all the way home.

I closed the door and sucked in that last few minutes of quiet for that day. They came stomping up the steps arguing.
Natalie burst in the door saying, "Mom! Katie is ruining my 5th grade year already!"
"No I'm NOT!", Katie screamed. Then I calmly asked Natalie what happened that she is so upset about.
"Well, she insisted on sitting in the back of the bus! Only 5th graders are supposed to be sitting in the back of the bus.I've waited my WHOLE life to get to sit on the back of the bus! And now this year I'm in 5th grade and Katie is not and she sat in the back of the bus and when all of us 5th graders told her to move she wouldn't and she was yelling and told us that she could sit anywhere she wanted to!", Natalie wailed.
Katie very matter of factly replied, "Well, I asked Mr. AlJo if I could sit in the back and he said that I could, so I did."
"But YOU AREN'T SUPPOSE TO KATIE!", Natalie screamed.
Obviously, there is an unwritten rule that only 5th graders are allowed to sit in the back of the bus. All the kids from school know it and have always gone by the unwritten rule.

So after calming both of the girls down and insisting they QUIT yelling at each other. I sat down with Katie and explained to her that even though she could sit in the back because Mr. AlJo said she could, it doesn't mean that she should. I reminded her that she will be a 5th grader next year and will want to have that privileged feeling of being able to sit back that with the 5th graders only, and that she wouldn't want some 1st grader back there because it was her turn be be that 5th grader who gets to sit in the back of the bus. She sadly agreed and also agreed to not sit in the back and that she would wait her turn.

Thirty minutes later they were outside jumping on the trampoline laughing and having fun together again.

They have been like this since they were little. They will argue with each other like crazy then not ten minutes later are laughing and playing and having fun. I just hope they don't continue this pattern in high school. I hope that they can learn how to work out their differences without yelling at each other. How to be not only sisters but best friends. How to respect each other and each other's belongings.

Time sure does have a way of sneaking up on you. I can't believe how much all three of our kids have grown. I was curious to see and compare this years first day of school picture with their kindergarten year. I still remember each of their first day of school, Spencer was sleepy but excited, Natalie was beyond excited and Katie was timid and nervous about her first day.

I don't have one of Spencer to show for this year. It is the first year I didn't take one of him in the early morning darkness before he catches the bus. This year he was up until midnight the night before school working on a school project that was due the very first day of school. He had put it together wrong and had to redo the whole thing.

I just couldn't help but think to myself, "Good one....great way to start the year off on the right foot.....up until midnight helping on a school project that he had ALL SUMMER to finish".

When Spencer came home from school, he reminded me that I also forgot to get chocolate waffles for breakfast.....it is a small tradition that was unknowingly started as a tradition Spencer's second year of school.

August 12th, Soaking up the last bit of summertime.

2011-08-30T08:51:00.001-07:00

The last day of summer vacation we spent the day being lazy.
Natalie and Katie played with our neighbor's grandkids at the pond. They were fishing and catching turtles most of the day. Molly enjoyed watching them and would "sniff" the turtles after they would catch them and then watch them throw them back into the pond.

Spencer however waited until the week before school starts to begin reading his required English reading of "Cleopatra's Daughter". He spent most of the day in the rocker on the porch finishing up reading his book.

Then he spent the rest of the evening working on the project that was due the very first day of school. It was 10:30pm when he finished the project only to learn he had put it together wrong. Thankfully Jerome had picked him up a few extra pieces of posterboard and he was able to redo his project. He climbed in bed very late that night. I couldn't help but think this is exactly how NOT to start the school year off.
He had no problem reading the first book, "Maximum Ride", he couldn't put that book down and had it finished before the first week of summer was completed. If only he had done the same for the honors English book.....

August 8th, Sick.

2011-08-30T08:48:00.001-07:00

Katie seems to take after me when it comes to ear infections. She always seems to have them.

This one was a bad one though. Her pediatrician prescribed her antibiotic ear drops but after a night of crying and sleeping in bed with me and Jerome I knew I needed to take her back in. Her ear canal was almost swollen shut and all this time I just thought the medicine wasn't working (actually, it wasn't, because it wasn't getting to the place it needed to be).

A few days later she was sleeping back in her own room and running around playing outside.

Chickadee.

2011-06-02T20:47:00.000-07:00

Natalie had a wonderful fourth grade teacher this year. Everyday while they were doing this chic project at school Natalie would come home and tell me about what they had learned that day. She had an orthodontist appointment one day and was very anxious to get back to school because they were doing something very important with the eggs that day.

Along with this, she asked me every.single.day. if she could bring her chick home when it hatched. I right away didn't like the idea because I know little chicks become big roosters or hens....and that I didn't want. I repeatedly told her if I wanted to live on a farm and raise chickens I would have and that I really, really didn't want to have a chicken. Then I would remind her how often we have to tell them to feed or water Molly, our dog.....that they begged for too.

Eventually I gave in. She was so into this project at school and really, really wanted to bring her chick home. The day we picked the chick up from school you would have thought it was Christmas morning. She talked to her chick and held it close to her, then looked at me and gave me a hug and a thank you for letting the chick come home with us.

I couldn't wait to get my camera out to take some pictures of Natalie and her new chick, which she named "Buddy". I took a lot of pictures and laughed watching her with her new chick. It started pecking at her arm and she laughed and said, "Buddy likes my freckles! He is pecking at my freckles!".

That was about two weeks ago. Since then we have ALL become attached to Buddy. He is getting bigger every day. Natalie agreed when I told her that we could bring Buddy home that when he got to big to stay inside that he would go to her friends house who has a farm and a good place where Buddy can live.

Natalie is tired of cleaning up after Buddy and asked me today when we were going to take Buddy to another home to live. I asked her why and she said, "Oh, I don't know. He makes a big messes now." I think she is ready for him to go, but everything is reversed now and I, I am not ready to see Buddy go.

Dreams.

2011-05-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

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.

When Love Comes Home.

2011-04-25T20:51:00.001-07:00

The words in this song are so strong, so true and carry so much feeling with them.

I listened to this song today.

I listened to it and cried.

~Amber Hope

the simple things

2011-04-24T19:43:00.000-07:00

There it waits.

The tire swing swing under the old sycamore tree.

Waiting.

Waiting for summer to arrive.

Waiting for bare feet to swing it back and forth.

Waiting for little hands to hold on tight.

Waiting for kids to spin round and round in circles filling the air with laughter.

Waiting for summer to arrive.

We had a break in the weather earlier this week. The kids played on the tire swing late into the evening. When I told them it was time to come inside to get cleaned up and ready for bed, they begged to play outside just a little bit longer.

I can't wait for summer to get here. To watch the kids play in the yard and swing in circles round and round on the tire swing. Just a few more weeks and summer break will will be here.

There is one sure sign of our kids getting older. That is that the tire swing is to low to the ground for them now. I guess their daddy will have to tie the rope up a little taller for them this year.

Spencer Andrew

2011-04-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

It has been a busy couple of weeks.

Spencer took his school trip to Washington D.C. and had a great time. Jerome joined the group going and they both came home with a lot of D.C. stories and tired from all the walking and trying to sleep in the bus.

Then not long after that the kids were out on spring break. The girls and I took a trip to Ohio, Jerome had military in Williamsburg and Spencer went with a few friends to camp at the Greenbrier River in his friend's family's cabin.

The girls and I spent the week shopping for summer clothes, antiquing and having fun. Spencer spent the weekend fishing, tubing down the river, going to a local festival in Lewisburg and just hanging out with his friends.

Yesterday was the last day of spring break. Jerome had drill and the girls had spent the week with Grammie and Poppie and visiting their cousins. Jerome had to pick them up yesterday after drill and called to let me know they were going to dinner with Grann and Aunt Pam and they would be home later. So Spencer and I went to see a movie, got a bite to eat and came home. It was a pretty day and I had been wanting to get some pictures of him. We went and shot some pictures and I took a lot. It has been a long time since he has decided to cooperate for pictures, and...this time I didn't even have to bribe him either!

I took a lot of pictures. I plan to post more later. Right now I need to get dinner finished.

~Amber Hope

Light Shining Through

2011-03-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, after a hard rainstorm, Natalie came running inside from the porch where she had been watching the rain fall. "Mommy, Mommy! You have to come and see the sky how pretty it is!", she said to me. I walked out on the porch and smiled as I looked up at the beautiful sky. "You're right", I told her, "It is a pretty sky this evening isn't it?". She then looked at me, put her hands together, letting me know she was getting ready to ask me something that she thought the answer would be no to. "Mommy, can I please, please, please use your camera and take a picture of the sky?", she asked me. I smiled and said, "Of course you can, just please be careful". She gave me a big hug and ran inside to get my camera. I showed her a few things on it, set it to auto for her and went inside to pull a load of clothes out of the dryer.

She came back in the house after some time and proudly showed me all the pictures she had taken. I told her how good they were.

Last night after putting the girls to bed, I loaded up her pictures and the one above caught my attention. I think it is beautiful. She did a beautiful job of holding a big camera in her tiny hands and capturing what she saw as beauty, the sky showing through our worn out American flag hanging from our front porch.

~Amber Hope

beauty smiling at me.

2011-03-23T05:07:00.000-07:00

7:15am
Time to start hurrying everyone along.
Insist Spencer eat something for breakfast.
Kiss my husband goodbye for the day.
Close the door.
Braid Katie's hair.
Sign Natalie's homework.
Pack a blueberry muffin for breakfast at school.
Hear the school bus and hurry my girls along.
Kiss them goodbye and hand them a muffin.
Watch them catch the bus.
Close the door.
Open the windows.
Smell the spring air and love feeling it blow through the windows.
Start a load in the wash.
Walk in the kitchen to start my day.
Stop.
Stop, look in the window and smile.
Smile at the beautiful flowers Natalie picked for me the other day, root and all.

Sisters.

2011-03-06T19:07:00.001-08:00

This was taken at my youngest sister's high school graduation. It is a favorite picture of mine, one with all four of us. There were quite a bit of emotions going on this day, more than can be expressed. But I look back at this picture and see the strength in all of us.
I think this is the picture I would have picked for The Pioneer Woman contest of "sisters" but I didn't know she had contests. I will be entering more pictures in her upcoming contests soon!

Creativity.

2011-02-23T20:25:00.000-08:00

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

Life As We Know It.

2011-02-12T18:00:00.000-08:00

We had quite a few plans for the weekend. Jerome has military in Williamsburg and the kids and I stayed busy yesterday. Our girls had their first winter dance and Spencer stayed over at a friend's house last night. Katie ended up staying with Sydney, one of her best friends.....so that left just Natalie and I for the rest of the evening. I was going to surprise her and take her to a movie, Gnomeo and Juliet, but by the time the dance was over we had missed at least the first 30 minutes of the movie. So we went to Target and bought a movie I had been dying to see, and Natalie was wanting to see it too. Then we went to Chili's and met my friend April and her daughter Cheyanne (they made it in time for the Gnomeo and Juliet movie). We had dinner and then Natalie and I went home, took our showers and put our pajamas on and snuggled up and watched a movie together.
It was a great movie, we laughed a lot and cried in a few parts. After the movie we went to bed. Jerome was gone so she climbed in bed with me. We talked a little bit and then fell asleep.
I don't know if it was Chili's or a wonderful stomach bug but I was up at 3a.m. sick. I finally managed to go back to sleep and slept in this morning.
When I woke up I laid in bed thinking about that movie. I loved the movie but I LOVED the house in the movie. It gave me a few ideas for our kitchen that I have never finished. I only started on it two years ago. It has been at stand still. I still have about 6 cabinets to finish painting, the floor needs caulked and something for the windows. There is nothing on the windows right now and it creeps me out at night, especially last night since Jerome wasn't here. Life is busy all the time and just finding the time to squeeze in painting cabinet doors is last on my list. So I am making it a priority to finish our kitchen this month....well, at least by Jerome's birthday. I plan on having a surprise for him the next time he goes away on military, and I just want to finish this project first. Here are a few scenes from the movie.........

{you can see the kitchen in the background of this picture}

{Natalie thought he was pretty cute, I had to agree with her}

{We laughed so much on this part and the Wiggles part}

We loved this movie and I am sure we will watch it again.

I loved the movie and the house.

It was just what I needed to get a little inspiration and motivation to finish our kitchen.
{and yes, I am keeping up with the one.frame.a.day project but I just haven't had a chance to post it here}

Tonight Spencer and I are watching a movie, Red....it is suppose to be funny. Nothing like spending a weekend in with the stomach bug and watching movies. I guess Jerome picked a good weekend to be gone on military......he won't have to worry about catching it from me. Natalie is staying at Grammie's house and Katie is staying at Sydney's another night.

Happy Meal.

2011-01-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

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

Beauty.

2011-01-26T10:55:00.000-08:00

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.

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

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.

Our Book.

2011-01-24T11:53:00.000-08:00

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.

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.

Making brownies with daddy.

2011-01-21T20:26:00.000-08:00

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.

Not Defeated Yet.

2011-01-19T20:36:00.000-08:00

Day 19.
Not Defeated Yet.

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.

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.

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.

Coupon Cutting Helper.

2011-01-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

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.

Lazy Winter Day.

2011-01-11T16:57:00.000-08:00

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.

Full House.

2011-01-10T21:21:00.000-08:00

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.

Homework Helper.

2011-01-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

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

Determination.

2011-01-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

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

one.frame.a.day.

2011-01-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

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.

one.frame.a.day.

2011-01-03T21:23:00.000-08:00

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.

2011-01-02T21:07:00.000-08:00

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

Decorating our Christmas tree.

2010-12-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

We decorated our tree not long ago. Our kids always love pulling their ornaments out of the box. Katie has loved her Dorothy ornament from the time she was really little to now. Each year Dorothy is placed a little higher on our Christmas tree as Katie grows.

Every year the kids argue with each other who's turn it is to put the star on top. Spencer is almost (just 1.5 inches short) as tall as Jerome. Spencer can reach the top of the tree, the girls cannot.....guess who won this argument this year?

Jerome put ribbon on Molly, they kept laughing and saying she looked like Max from the Grinch movie. I guess Molly was Jerome's sidekick for the evening....

We found the Grinch ornament when we were at Universal a few months ago. The kids laugh and joke all the time saying Jerome is the Grinch this time of year. But only when the Christmas tree lights don't work and all the crazy madness out in town gets to be to much.

~~Jerome~~ Grinch's sidekick ~~Molly~~ Max loves to sing along to Christmas carols too!

Natalie put these candy cane hearts all over the tree.

These mittens were Natalie's when she was three years old.

Icicles were one of my favorite decorations on our tree when I was a child.

The girls love this ornament. Spencer did too when he believed in Santa Claus long, long ago. The girls put their letters to Santa in here....

The "Ruby Red Slippers" Christmas balls we hang on the tree every year....

My little budding photographer. Natalie took this shot and a few other ones on here. She loves to have the camera in her hands. I like how you can see her reflection in the glass Christmas bulb...

The girls read me their Christmas wish list after we decorated the tree. They made their list by going on different sites this year, instead of looking at the toy catalog like most years. I think Katie stayed on the Justice sight a little to long, hahaha.

After we were finished decorating the tree Spencer and Katie started wrestling in the floor. Katie is tough, unlike her sister, she likes to wrestle around with Spencer. Molly goes nuts when they wrestle. She is a very protective dog and she will stand and bark at whoever has the upper hand.

We have a Christmas dinner to go to tonight and then tomorrow morning is Christmas! The kids are excited. I am happy to be finished wrapping presents! We plan on having a big breakfast in the morning, opening presents (although I think I just put those backwards, I'm sure the presents will be opened first) and then we are dressing up and going to see a movie. We all enjoyed it last year. It was a very relaxing day with the ones we love the most.

Sing it with me.....

2010-12-23T17:45:00.000-08:00

The first thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Is finding a Christmas tree

The second thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The third thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The fourth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me

Sending Christmas cards
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The fifth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Five months of bills!
Sending Christmas cards
Hangovers
Rigging up the lights
And finding a Christmas tree

The sixth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Facing my in-laws
Five months of bills!
Oh, I hate those Christmas cards!
Hangovers
Rigging up these lights!
And finding a Christmas tree

The seventh thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
The Salvation Army
Facing my in-laws
Five months of bills!
Sending Christmas cards
Oh, geez!
I'm tryin' to rig up these lights!
And finding a Christmas tree

The eighth thing at Christmas that such a pain to me:
I WANNA TRANSFORMER FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!
Charities,
And whataya mean "YOUR in-laws"?!?
Five months of bills!
Ach, making out these cards
Honey, get me a beer, huh?
What, we have no extension cords?!?
And finding a Christmas tree

The ninth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me
Finding parking spaces
DADDY, I WANT SOME CANDY!!!!
Donations!
Facing my in-laws Five months of bills!
Writing out those Christmas cards
Hangovers!
Now why the hell are they blinking?!?!?
And finding a Christmas tree

The tenth thing at Christmas that's such a pain to me:
"Batteries Not Included"
No parking spaces
BUY ME SOMETHIN'!!!
Get a job, ya bum!
Facing my in-laws!
Five months of bills!
Yo-ho, sending Christmas cards
Oh, geez, look at this!
One light goes out, they ALL go out!!!
And finding a Christmas tree

The eleventh thing of Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Stale TV specials
"Batteries Not Included"
No parking spaces
DAD, I GOTTA GO TA BATHROOM!!
Charities!
She's a witch...I hate her!
Five months of bills!
Oh, I don't even KNOW half these people!
Oh, who's got the toilet paper, huh?
Get a flashlight...I blew a fuse!!
And finding a Christmas tree

The twelfth thing of Christmas that's such a pain to me:
Singing Christmas carols
Stale TV specials
"Batteries Not Included"
No parking?!?
WAAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAAH!
Charities!
Gotta make 'em dinner!
Five months of bills!
I'm not sendin' them this year, that's it!
Shut up, you!
FINE! YOU'RE SO SMART, YOU RIG UP THE LIGHTS!!!
And finding a Christmas tree

Hahaha!!! My husbands FAVORITE holiday song!! Just kidding honey.....I love you!

Cozy and Warm.

2010-12-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

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.

His First Wrestling Tournament.

2010-12-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

We spent Friday evening and most of Saturday at The Pepsi Invitational Classic Wrestling Tournament. Going in to these I had absolutely no idea they lasted so long. I thought an hour or two maybe......boy, was I wrong. I didn't take my camera with me Friday evening, I wanted to enjoy watching my son wrestle for the first time. The coach came up to me after and asked if I would mind taking pictures (something special he has planned for the boys at the end of the season). So Saturday I took a lot of pictures. Looking back I probably should have used my flash and not bumped my ISO up to 2500 but oh well.....according to my husband only I notice the "technical stuff" anyway.

Spencer's first match he didn't win, but he fought hard for it.

A little advice from the coach.....

His second match ended up being with one of his best friends, Adam. I (and several other moms) don't like how they match up kids from the same school....but I know there is a reason. He fought hard on this one too, but didn't win this match. He put up a good fight though.

Then they took a break and the kids did some more warming up before beginning again.

Spencer was very determined not to lose his next match. I think that determination carried him through because his third match he won. It was great hearing his name being yelled by our home team, "GO SPENCER!".
This was the first round of his third match....

Getting more advice from the coach....

I can really see the determination in him here....

I'm proud of my son! So proud.

His coach was proud of him and Spencer was happy he had won a match. He told me he didn't want to go home without winning one.

Spencer didn't meet the standard for his weight class, he was just a few pounds over and was bumped up to the next weight class. He was at the bottom of the weight class they put him in and wrestled several that were in the top of the weight class (Spencer and Adam both are in the same weight class and both were bumped up). He is working hard to get back down in the weight class he belongs in so that way he will be at the top of his weight class.
It was a long day. When we left the school that was hosting the tournament everything was covered in snow. We made it home safely and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Thankful.

2010-11-30T21:09:00.000-08:00

This year I am thankful for many, many things. But most of all family.
We hosted Thanksgiving dinner in our home this year. Jerome was called out to work an 8pm to 8am shift both Wednesday and Thursday night. Savannah and I spent the evening making a last minute trip to the grocery store and stayed up late baking. We made two pumpkin pies, the stuffing (prepped but not baked), deviled eggs and a cake (thanks to the help of Paula Dean for that one). Katie and Spencer both fell asleep long before we started baking the pumpkin pies. Natalie loves to be in the kitchen, cooking, stirring, baking whatever needs to be done (except of course the dishes). After we put the pumpkin pies in the oven, I was busy cleaning up the kitchen and happened to look over and see Natalie asleep on the hardwood floor, dressed in her apron still, laying next to Molly. She made it through getting her pie in the oven, which I will say she did very good, she made this one all on her own.

My parents drove out early Thanksgiving morning to make sure to get the turkey in the oven. My sister's and I were opting this year for an already made turkey, but mom insisted we have a "real" turkey. Mom was prepping the fresh turkey getting it ready to put in the oven, when I heard Savannah yell "What is that?", it was a few small feathers, both her and I looked at each other and snurled up our noses. Mom's reply to our reaction, "Be glad you didn't have to bake a turkey in the old days, when you had to go out and get one and defeather it yourself!". Yes, I can say that is one thing I am definitely thankful for.

Mom called us all in the kitchen, because we all four sisters have complained about not being able to make a good gravy, she wanted to teach us how she makes her gravy.

We had a lot of wonderful tasting food to be thankful for!

Savannah putting the finishing touches on her deviled eggs before we sat down to eat.

Paris found my chalkboard I keep in the dining room and wrote this sweet message with a little piece of chalk.

With all the baking and cooking the house was getting a bit warm so we opened up the door on the front porch. I guess Molly could smell the food we were making and was wanting to come in, but one look at the number of people and the chaos and she quickly made herself at home on the front porch.

Little Caleb could smell all the food and was ready to eat too...

We all sat down, held hands and thanked God for all the blessings we are given. My dad was a little tearful saying the prayer, I know since my grandpa passed he has been very thankful for our family, I'm sure he was missing him this day. It was a beautiful prayer. We managed to seat eight adults, two high chairs and five children with two tables. We were certainly close this Thanksgiving dinner.
The stuffing I made didn't last long. I found a recipe for it years ago, made it one Thanksgiving, and since then it has been one of the favorites as we gather around the table.

My sister Savannah and her youngest, Caleb.

It was a wonderful day. We spent time with family, we baked together and laughed together. We watched the Macy's day parade with a cup of coffee. It was a day to be thankful for.
Now if I could just be thankful for the dishes.....I am thankful I have dishes to cook with, bake with, eat with......but it takes a good bit to say I am thankful for washing dishes (only when there are this many).

Sunny Florida Vacation, Day 1

2010-11-19T19:25:00.000-08:00

We have planned and saved for this trip for quite some time now. The kids have been looking forward to this vacation and flying on an airplane for the first time.
We left cold, windy and rainy weather and arrived to warm, sunny skies in Florida.

We were freezing walking out to board the plane, but very anxious to get there... you can see that here.....

We boarded the airplane, put our bags away and settled into our seats. Katie decided to sit with Macaiah behind Jerome, Natalie and myself. I turned around in my seat with my camera to take a peek at Katie while everyone else was still boarding. I giggled as I saw her bright eyes and grin from ear to ear. Needless to say she was beyond excited and ready for the airplane to take off down the runway.

Natalie however takes after me. You could see the nervousness in her as she was looking out her little window. And if that didn't give it away......her asking me if her seatbelt was tight enough at least ten times in five minutes probably gave it away. She kept tugging and pulling and tugging and pulling some more on her seat belt, "Do you think it's tight enough Mommy?".

I had her snuggle up with me and we started playing around with my camera. "Let's get some pictures of us together on the plane to remember this day" I told her. She was happy and we snapped away.

Before long it was time for take off. Natalie gripped my hand with her little hand and buried her head into my shoulder. We made it through take off and she calmed down. She took her camera Grandma gave her for the trip and started taking pictures of the clouds.

And then she took one with my camera of the pretty blue sky and the fluffy white clouds.

Spencer and Noah didn't seem nervous the entire flight. They put their headphones in their ears and listened to their Ipods most of the way there. I did catch Spencer leaning forward to look out the window at the earth below a few times.

We arrived safely in Florida, found a taxi and made our way to our hotel. We spent the rest of the day getting settled into the hotel. The kids swam in the hotel pool (it was to cold for us adults) and played checkers and ping pong by the pool. Then later that evening we ordered pizza, took our showers and climbed into bed to get plenty of sleep for our big day in Disney the next morning.

Doggy.

2010-10-25T12:54:00.000-07:00

Who needs entertainment when you have a toddler in the house? For over a week now Little B has been obsessed with "being a doggy". He loves our dog "Lolly" (Molly) as he says.
The other night he came walking into the living room with water spilled all down his chest, which is normal for a toddler, until we looked down and saw the dog's water bowl in his hands....."jink" (drink) he said as he looked up to us and smiled his ornery grin.
We give him animal crackers to eat and he insists on putting them in the floor, getting down on all fours and eating it like a doggy.
Yesterday at Grammie's house she fixed spaghetti for dinner. Anyone who has ever had a toddler knows that spaghetti + toddler = BIG MESS. Combine spaghetti + toddler +toddler who wants to put his face in the plate and eat like a doggy = BIG BIG BIG MESS!!!

Navy Ball

2010-10-25T12:04:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful time, just my man and I, at the Navy Ball. I do wish I had pictures of us all dressed up to show, but I wanted more than anything to just enjoy the night.

I did find this picture and thought it was fitting....

Blue has never been bluer.

2010-10-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

On Friday, October 8th my grandpa passed away. It was a very sad day. The phone rang, I picked up the phone to hear my very sad and tearful father on the other end of the phone, "Amber....", he didn't have to say it....I already knew. I knew this day was coming, but I just wasn't ready for it. It saddened my heart to hear my dad in so much grief and pain.
Spencer had been home from school sick that day, he was there when I hung the phone up. I could see the urgency in his eyes as he watched me talking to my dad. I hung up the phone, "Is it Grandpa Strickland?" he asked. I gave him a hug and told him yes, it was Grandpa Strickland. He walked outside to get some air and I followed him. We sat on the rocking chair of the front porch and cried together. He told me what he remembered of Grandpa.
At the funeral they had balloons for all the grandkids and great-grandkids to release in the air. It was a beautiful sight to such a sad day....

The little kids were all hopping up and down holding on to their balloon saying, "My balloon is going to get to Grandpa first!". It was sweet.

The funeral was beautiful. My cousin Kristi gave a wonderful speech, that brought a few smiles from the memories she was speaking of and a few tears knowing that he is gone from this world.
After the funeral the church had a dinner for all of the family. The kids (all of the great-grandkids) were all running around playing in the gym after the dinner. It made me smile. I remember all of the Christmas family get togethers we had growing up,running around and playing with all of my cousins. We (myself and my cousins) have all grown up now and most of us have children of our own. It brought happiness to see the kids playing as we did when we were younger.

Even the "big kids" joined in on the fun of running around laughing and playing....

Chief.

2010-10-04T13:05:00.000-07:00

He is a man of honor.
He is a loving and faithful husband.
He is a dedicated father.
He is a man of faith and honesty.
He is a man of courage, strength and discipline.
He is a man of dignity.
He is a man of trust, and he values that trust.
He is giving and kind.
He is full of compassion and hope.
He is a leader.
He is our anchor, the one that makes our family whole.

{written to my husband for something he needed for making Chief}

I love this picture. The way he is looking at Spencer with pride as his son pins the first pin on. And this one too, as I pin the other pin. He worked so hard for this and he very much deserves it. We are proud of him.

This is us. This is a part of who we are. We are a military family who has seen our fair share of deployments. We've learned how to be strong through deployments. How to have faith in our prayers. How to hope and cherish each and every moment we have together. We have pride in our country. We feel proud and get a little teary eyed at our son's middle school football games when the national anthem is sang beautifully through a quiet crowd. We know that this is where the road of our life has led us to. To serve our country when called, to keep things together on the home front while deployments seem to be never ending. To stay strong and be proud of who we are.

I am a proud Navy wife, proud of my husband who has worked very hard to get where he is today. I am proud of my husband, my best friend, my Chief.