Love You Forever

I saw Hallmark had this as a recordable book.  Can you imagine READING THIS OUTLOUD knowing it would be a memory book for your children?  Not a chance.  Can't even read it silently without tearing up.

Love You Forever
by Robert Munsch


A mother held her new baby and very slowly rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she held him, she sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.


The baby grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was two years old, and he ran all around the house. He pulled all the books off the shelves. He pulled all the food out of the refrigerator and he took his mother's watch and flushed it down the toilet. Sometimes his mother would say, "this kid is driving me CRAZY!"


But at night time, when that two-year-old was quiet, she opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor, looked up over the side of his bed; and if he was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.


The little boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was nine years old. And he never wanted to come in for dinner, he never wanted to take a bath, and when grandma visited he always said bad words. Sometimes his mother wanted to sell him to the zoo!


But at night time, when he was asleep, the mother quietly opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep, she picked up that nine-year-old boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.


The boy grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a teenager. He had strange friends and he wore strange clothes and he listened to strange music. Sometimes the mother felt like she was in a zoo!


But at night time, when that teenager was asleep, the mother opened the door to his room, crawled across the floor and looked up over the side of the bed. If he was really asleep she picked up that great big boy and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. While she rocked him she sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.


That teenager grew. He grew and he grew and he grew. He grew until he was a grown-up man. He left home and got a house across town. But sometimes on dark nights the mother got into her car and drove across town. If all the lights in her son's house were out, she opened his bedroom window, crawled across the floor, and looked up over the side of his bed. If that great big man was really asleep she picked him up and rocked him back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while she rocked him she sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.


Well, that mother, she got older. She got older and older and older. One day she called up her son and said, "You'd better come see me because I'm very old and sick." So her son came to see her. When he came in the door she tried to sing the song. She sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always...


But she couldn't finish because she was too old and sick. The son went to his mother. He picked her up and rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And he sang this song:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.


When the son came home that night, he stood for a long time at the top of the stairs. Then he went into the room where his very new baby daughter was sleeping. He picked her up in his arms and very slowly rocked her back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And while he rocked her he sang:


I'll love you forever,
I'll like you for always,
As long as I'm living
my baby you'll be.

our one (and probably only) snow for 2012!

 we got a little snow last night.  not much, and it started after dark.  the kids didn't see it snowing.

 it took them a while to notice the white stuff outside after they got up.  we had a 2 hour delay this morning.  when they saw it, they both said they wanted to go outside.  so, they got dressed and went outside.  holly is the brave one.  it was a little slippery.

 

 it didn't take kendal long before he joined in.  turns out, it wasn't slippery on the rug.

 also turns out that you can jump on it.

 

 see?

 

 next we had to see what it felt like to walk on it in the yard.

 

 

 it was fun, and it crunched.  just a little.  there wasn't much to walk on.

 

 holly wanted to taste it.

 

kendal, come taste!

 

kendal didn't want to taste.  so, holly ate all she could.

when we got inside, kendal's hair turned out to be a real treat.

holly's first haircut

she really just needed the ends clipped, in the past couple of weeks, she started getting tangles.  i asked her if she wanted to get her hair cut and it would turn into real drama - tears, bottom lip poked out, etc.  she thought hair cuts were painful i guess.  anyway, i tricked her into going with me yesterday (to snip-its in brier creek/raleigh).  when we were about 5 minutes away, i asked her if it'd be ok if she got her hair cut while we were out shopping.  DRAMA~  fortunately, it was raining and she got to carry the umbrella by herself (i got wet) and there were lots of kids in there getting their hairs cut so she got to see the place in action.  she was excited once we got inside.

the before photos:

she saw a couple of kids come out to get their "prize" out of this thing.  she was really excited about that.

almost her turn!

still posing!

still before, all stylin' with her necklace (from the box you gave her, amy - still plays with those dress up toys!)

i thought it'd be good to get a memory of how much "first" hair cuts cost for the scrapbook!

and, here we go!

 in the chair getting her hair sprayed!  her stylist is the beautiful and patient monica.  she was so nice, both to me and to holly - AND did a great job.   we will definitely go back to her.  not just to snipits, but to her specifically. 

starting the trim!!!

look down holly!

almost done!

Monica put a cute little butterfly bow in her hair.  Holly was in LOVE!!!  she really thought she was something else!!!

here she is!  can't even tell it was cut, really, except no tangles this morning!

this morning the first thing she said to her teacher was "ms. christie, i got a haircut!!!"  she was so excited.  she said on the way home today that she was ready for another one.  i was sure to explain to her that only grownups cut hair, and in a hair salon.  not kendal or holly!!!  because she was showing me how she got her hair cut, and lets just say if she gets a hold of some scissors... she'll end up with very short hair.

animal fair

one day in the car, holly wanted us to sing animal fair.  i think she said "i went to the animal fair, the birds and the bees were there."  i had no idea what she was singing, i hadn't ever heard that song before.

i asked mom later that day to see if she knew it (for those of you that don't know my mom, she is and has always been a preschool teacher and knows every song that every was for children).  she laughed and said it was a song from her mama's generation. and yes, she knew the words.

even later, i asked her if i could record her singing it. to my surprise, she said ok, if holly would sing it with her.  this is not that video because it turns out that holly knows a different version than the one mom knows.  it was funny to "teach" mom the song. so, here is the video of the one where holly and mamaw are singing the same song together, and kendal is not screaming in the background... and remember i'm a photographer, not a videographer though clearly i was testing out those mad skillz i do not have...  ha!






here are the lyrics, i think...
i went to the animal fair,
the birds and the beasts were there.
the big baboon, by the light of the moon,
was combing his auburn hair.
the monkey went kerplunk
and sat on the elephant's trunk.
the elephant sneezed - AH CHOO - and fell on his knees,
and what became of the monk, the monk?
the monk, the monk, the monk....

cute picture of kendal

[this is to make up for that last post with the poorly exposed shot of him.  :(  ]
kendal loves a bus.  he wanted me to take a picture of him holding the bus.  he did not want to smile, and he would not look directly at the camera.  he was looking at the computer screen, which was showing a picture of him, probably.

valentines day

catching up... being sick this week (both them and us) has made me miss some important photo ops!  like, the kids taking their valentines to school... the kids OPENING their valentines (and enjoying the candy...) i did, however, get a few shots of their finished products a couple of weeks ago.  thankfully, these were in the bag long enough for any tag-along germs to be dead by the time any recipients took them home (something about "here's a lollipop for you, with a side of strep" doesn't sound very loving...)

(last one is poorly exposed!!!)

and, i figured out a design flaw in my valentines as i was putting those yummy little suckers on them.  as you can see, the lollipop blocks the words!  next time, i will think about that ahead of time.  not that i'll do this design again for my own children (unless they are with a new group of kids...)

what happens when kitty has a hole in her back...

not our real kitty, build-a-bear kitty.  though, she is "real" to holly and kendal.  a few weeks ago, she had a hole in her back (where she's sewn up in the store after she "comes to life"/stuffed in the store) and she needed a repair.  we took her to the build-a-bear store the next day, but first, doctors holly and kendal had to "fix" her first.  kitty is a great patient.

first, we started with a bandaid.  it really was necessary, otherwise those little fingers were gonna make that hole really big. 

then, they did the normal things, like listening to her heart beat and taking her blood pressure, etc., as well as all sorts of crazy things to kitty.  who knew she also had a broken arm, a splinter in her nose, and needed to be spayed.  and, her throat cut.

yes, he is taking her temperature from her eyeball.

he got it right here (we use an ear thermometer).

no, wait, kendal!  not the foot!

now he's checking my knee!

 she's telling her it won't hurt (taking her blood pressure).  and yes, she must wear the glasses when she plays doctor. (amy, they came in the kit you gave her...)

splinter in the nose! ouch!  or maybe she's getting a deep bugger?  lol.  not sure.  either way, it looks painful.

here holly is using the scalpel to cut her throat.  thankfully, she doesn't know what the tool is or what it is meant for, she's just "using it" for "something."  

 

always have to check the ears for monkeys.

 medicine makes everything better.

 even if you get double dosed!?!

 kitty is a star patient!