My Romantic Weekend!

Another week done and we're about 45 percent done with Don's tour in Iraq. He is keeping a spreadsheet and e-mailed it to me this week. As of Thursday he still had approximately 768 meals left before he heads back this way! Of course everything in the military is tentative so we won't start a true countdown to his return until we're a couple weeks out. I will be happy when we're at least 50% done with this deployment but, of course, I will be absolutely thrilled when it's 100% over. Right now it's hard to imagine that we're not even half way there yet. ugh. I know, it's the way you look at it. Is the glass half full or half empty. Stay positive. Just keep, keeping on and before we know it Don will be walking through that door day after day again and again. ahhh. I can only imagine what regular life will be like again.

The boys and I had a good weekend. And we just wrapped it up over at our good friends, Dave and Nelly's house. It was Reed's 1st Birthday! He's so stinking cute and had a blast making a mess of his cake. It's hard to believe he just turned 1. Nelly and I shared some of our first pregnancies together with Benjamin and Brooke (who will soon turn 3). But Reed and Samuel are just a few weeks apart. In fact, I think we will always remember the day we told each other we were expecting. We were so happy to be sharing our news with them and then Nelly announced she too was pregnant. We were all thrilled! It has been amazing watching our kids grow together and become such good friends at such young ages.

We headed over there today around 4:30 p.m. and made it home just in time for bed. ahhh. Samuel fell asleep on the way home so he was a cinch and Benjamin was wore out too (even after his 3+ hour nap today!).

Don called today. It was sooooo good to hear from him. He had perfect timing. The phone rang shortly after we got in from church and were settling in for lunch. I let Benjamin answer the phone and they had a nice chat. I think it's just as exciting for me to hear Benjamin talk to Daddy-O as it is for Benjamin (and Daddy!). The other day I was talking to our neighbor, Katie on the phone (yes, we talk on the phone occasionally even though our back decks are literally 4 inches apart from each other). Anyways, Benjamin asked if he could talk to Daddy and I explained that it wasn't Daddy on the phone that I was talking to Ms. Katie. I explained to him that Daddy calls us and that I don't know Daddy's number. (At this point in time, Benjamin is getting his numbers and letters confused still). So he says in a somewhat frustrated voice, "Mommy, yes you do know his number. His number is D." ha. "No, Honey, that's his letter NOT his number. Mommy doesn't know his phone number."

Well, Don totally surprised me yesterday. The boys and I didn't leave the house the majority of the day and in the late afternoon the doorbell rang. hmm. "Who could that be?" I thought as I wrestled to get the dogs calmed down so I could get to the door. It was a man holding flowers (the only thing that could make this story better is if that man would have been Don himself. No such luck). So, I opened the door and he said "I have flowers for a Mrs. Chapman." hmm. "That's me!" They were nothing glamorous. But I did notice that they were alstremaria which was my Grandma's favorite flowers. (I'm posting a photo of the bouquet which also included some pine cones and some sprigs of some sort. For those of you not familiar with alstremaria, it is in the lily family but much smaller than a lily and they come in a wide range of colors).

I took my Grandma shopping once a week for a few years from the time my Grandpa was ill with cancer until I married Don and moved to Tennessee. One thing my Grandma taught me in life (not through words but through her actions) was that it was okay to buy flowers for yourself. My Grandma always had fresh flowers on her table. As a child I remember their rose garden out in their back yard. It was a beautiful row of roses. It was their pride and joy (that and their vegetable garden, which, as a child didn't compare in excitement to the beautiful roses). So, I remember my Grandpa walking out back with me to share his rose garden every time we were getting ready to leave their house in the summer. We visited them frequently, as they did us. We lived about 45 minutes away from each other. Anyways (my mind just keeps going off on tangents so bare with me here), Grandpa would always let me pick what rose(s) I wanted to take home with me. I fondly remember yellow roses being Grandpa's favorites. And they quickly became my favorites as well (which was what our wedding bouquets were made of over 8 years ago).

So, back to the alstremaria I received from Don. I brought it in and placed it right on the kitchen table. Benjamin was a lil curious. "Where did the flowers come from?" "Daddy sent them to us, Benjamin. He loves us and wants us to know it." I smiled and thought it was probably coincidence that the flowers happened to be alstremaria. Although, I thought it kind of an odd choice on the florists part. I e-mailed Don last night and thanked him for the beautiful flowers and wonderful note too. It tickled me that he did that for me. So, then today he called and he mentioned the flowers again and asked what kind they were (probably half checking to make sure the florist didn't screw up and half checking to make sure I noticed). He said he picked alstremaria because they were my Grandma's favorite. How the heck he would ever remember something like that is beyond me. I often pick up bouquets with alstremaria when I'm grocery shopping so maybe I mentioned it then. hmm. Don't know. I was just touched that he really put that kinda thought into it. If you have been keeping up with my blog lately you know that I recently mentioned my Grandma and her passing. And that is what lead him to sending me them. And the note that said it is truly the little things and he knows how much I love the little things in life.

There it is. The lil bit of romance that filled my weekend. Even from worlds away, that Don Chapman can remind me of why I fell for him! He can be a charmer. And as Benjamin told Brooke tonight while we sat eating dinner "You are a princess, Brooke", I just have to think it may be a sign that the charming qualities Don has will definitely live on in our boys.