What Matters Most To Me

Homeschooling?

That is what Natalie came home begging me to do. She was crying when she got off the school bus yesterday and begging and pleading me to home school her. She had an awful day and did not want to ever go back to that school (in her words).

You see, it all revolves around a little boy, a big crush and a teacher that took a note from her.

Natalie has liked this little boy in her class for quite a while now. In fact she liked him all last school year too. A little girl who sits beside Natalie in class, that is very bossy to her, told her that if she didn't write a note to this little boy telling him that she liked him, that she was going to tell him herself. Why Natalie decided to write the note, I don't know, but she did (I wish she would have just stood up to the little girl and told her to leave her alone).

She wrote the note. The teacher saw the note, then took it from Natalie in class.

The teacher read the note, then gave Natalie an evil eye (Natalie's exact words) and laid the note down on her desk. She however didn't fold the note, she left it laying open for all the kids to see as they lined up.

A lot of kids read the note, and started teasing Natalie about liking this little boy.

My poor little girl came home heartbroken and in tears.

This is the very first time she has ever written a note to a little boy.

I sure hope he doesn't break her heart more by teasing her.

I hugged her as she cried and cried yesterday after school. I told her a story about when I was little and had a big crush on a boy in class. I didn't write him a note, but a mean girl in class told him and I had my heart broken too. I told her that even though it hurts this is all a part of growing up and that someday when she is older and has babies of her own that someday, someday she will look back and laugh at this. And even as much as it hurts, she still has to go to school, and that she will have to learn to stand up for herself when the mean girl is pressuring her to do something she doesn't want to do.

She painted her toes this morning before school.

It made my heart melt seeing her nail polish sitting on her shelf in her room.

To me it shows that she is growing up. She is wanting to feel pretty. Pretty for a little boy in her class, that may have read the note she wrote yesterday that the teacher took away. Pretty in hopes that this little boy won't break her heart.

I hope she has a better day in school today. I hope she doesn't get her heart broken anymore than it already is. I love my little girl and it just makes my heart break to see hers break.

Game Night.

Tonight is Spencer's first middle school football game.

He is pretty confident, which makes me happy.

He had his first scrimmage game last week..........

Then after playing a hard game I got a few of these.......

That's Spencer and his best friend Adam. They played a good game and were pretty proud.

Yeah, he was a little stinky and sweaty.

 

I don't know what you think, but I think Spencer is going to out grow his dad.

Spencer : just turned 13

Jerome : age 34

He still has a lot more growing to do, I'm sure he will soon be taller than Jerome.

He is a LOT taller than I am. He makes me feel short.

 

The girls after the game. They are both wearing Spencer's football jersey's from previous years of youth league football.

Spencer is very excited that a lot of family, Jerome's parents, my parent's, my sister and her husband and cousin are coming to see him play this evening.

We were driving home yesterday from football practice. We were flipping through stations and this song came on the radio............(I think it will be a favorite song around here, at least during football season)

Proud.

I'm thrilled I caught this video of Spencer at his first scrimmage game this year. He did great. The whole team did great. His scrimmage jersey number is #41. (you will want to pause the music...over on the right.

Can I just say how much I LOOOOVE my new camera, the Canon 5D Mark II......it is GREAT to have at games like this. I like having the option to video, take pictures or both at the same time.

First Day of School.

Spencer is the first one to catch the bus in the morning, 6:20am. This was his last first day of middle school. I can't believe this time next year he will be in high school. Time really does fly. I wish I would have been a little more prepared for pictures (like had batteries in the flash and my 85mm lens on), but I wasn't so a few of his are a bit grainy.....but at least I have them to remember.

He just looks so grown up to me.

He is playing football this year. The practices have kept him very busy, but he is loving it. His first scrimmage game is Monday. He plays center and nose guard. They don't have their lockers for the locker room so everyday he (and the rest of the football team) has quite a load to carry to school.

I had to take a picture of this.......

It is what "13" looks like.

He was texting all of his friends to let them know what team at school he was on (Team A). He was glad he was put on Team A, he told me all the good teachers are on Team A.

Natalie and Katie catch the bus after he leaves. Thank goodness we have more time for them to get ready in the morning. Katie wanted her hair straightened, it took quite a while too because her hair is getting so long. They both wanted to give their teacher an apple on the first day of school. While we were at the grocery store the day before school started they both were looking for the "perfect" apple.

Natalie is in fourth grade this year. She is getting ready to get braces put on in the next few weeks. She is also getting so tall, she will be as tall as I am soon. She already wears the same size shoe that I do. I can't believe how fast they are all growing up.

 

Katie is going into third grade this year. She has quite the personality. She is 8 going on 13.......always on the phone with her friends at home, always asking to wear my make-up (even though she knows I will say no) and is very particular about her clothes. I think she is always trying to play "catch up" to her sister.....even though they are only 15 months apart.

  

I love that as much as she is wanting to grow up fast, there are still things that she wants that make me feel she isn't growing up to fast. Such as her backpack and matching lunchbox......Natalie wanted the one she picked out at Abercrombie Kids but Katie, she wanted a matching backpack and lunchbox.

Busy, busy, busy...

We've been very busy lately, so busy that Jerome scheduled a day off from work yesterday just to rest. He needed it, he has been working non stop for several weekends in a row now. It was nice having him here. As soon as we put the kids on the school bus we both climbed back in bed and went back to sleep. After the hectic weekend we had it was nice being able to catch up on sleep.

We are almost finished setting everything back up on the computer. I still need to calibrate the monitor (which I am hoping to finish this evening). It is nice having everything back, it means I can put pictures on here again. And as promised, pictures from the rolls of film I had developed the other day (from an underwater disposable camera). It took me a while to figure out what year these were from, I was able to narrow it down to the year by the swimsuits Natalie and Katie had on. I think these are from the summer of 2006, I may be wrong, but I'm quite sure that is where they belong.

I love how these turned out. It makes me want to buy a disposable waterproof camera every summer.

Natalie Grace underwater at the wave pool, summer 2006

Katie underwater at the wave pool, summer 2006

Spencer underwater at the wave pool, summer 2006.

(you can see Katie swimming in the background)

Madison underwater at the wave pool, summer 2006

If these don't make me want summertime to hurry up and arrive, I don't know what will.

Her

She loves picking out her book to read just before bedtime.

She loves snuggling under her covers.

She loves reading to Toto and her dollies.

She loves her nighttime prayer.

She loves watching her lights twinkle on the wall.

She loves kisses from mommy and daddy.

She loves falling asleep listening to Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

She loves me.

 

I love her.

I thank God every night for my husband and our three children.

~Amber Hope

Warmer Days and A Lot of Construction

The weather outside today is so much warmer, and feels wonderful. A perfect day for working on the wall we are building in the house. I can't wait to get this project finished......everything is everywhere right now. We are all walking around with shoes on our feet to make sure we don't get any splinters. I swept the house this morning but now because of the construction there is dust....everywhere.....everywhere.

I'm trying to decide on the wall color for the living room. I love this......

But I am so afraid of going with a color in such a large room. It is a room that has been painted once since we've lived here only because I absolutely painting this large room, especially all the detail painting around all five plantation shutters. So we are trying to decide between a color or the mocha color that we love as well.

I've also been going through our pictures, I LOVE the wall collage above and want to put one similar to that on the tall wall in the living room. I came across this picture.....seems like forever ago....

I'd love to say I have a picture of all three kids, one that I could order in a large print and hang above the fireplace, but unless I want one of when the kids were little and cooperated a lot more than what they do now, I do not have one to order. The main culprit.....Spencer. He is awful when trying to get one of all three of them, he has that teen attitude and thinks its awful to have to get his picture with his sisters. Take the Christmas card for instance....which it started out with Katie being the culprit then it turned quickly to Spencer. Maybe someday I'll have one to hang above the fireplace....

Well, I'd better get back to work....not sure what I am going to do to help. Jerome is really particular when it comes to building things or putting stuff together, so we'll see.