Almost Halfway plus Cooper and Me and the Military Book Review

I stood in the hallway drinking my morning coffee, gazing into the kid’s room. As I quietly watched them play, I couldn’t help but to think of how incredibly blessed I am. Despite the evils and negativity of the world, conflict and troubles, I have all I need within these four walls of our home. My babies. They have been my glue through this deployment. And I’m sure without them keeping me grounded and my mind occupied, someone would have locked me up and thrown away the key because I would have broken, fallen apart, and gone completely nuts months ago.

I’ve given them extra care, extra snuggles, extra kisses, and extra attention (hence the reason why my blog has been quite lately), and yet it’s exactly what I’ve needed too. I’ve needed those extra snuggles and I’ve needed those extra kisses. They are my rock and I am theirs.  

I’m not sure when it happened, but as we speak, the healing process is in the works. I’ve been sad, felt helpless, cursed the government, grieved the absence of my husband, and now…it’s time to heal. As the days go by, the more inspired and optimistic I become. Perhaps it’s the changing of the seasons-- Spring shifting into Summer and knowing that when Summer rolls into Fall, this deployment will come to an end. We’re almost halfway through this deployment-- ALMOST HALFWAY! I’m not sure exactly how you celebrate an almost halfway point, but it needs celebrating, and so we did.

We ventured out to our usual spot --Barnes and Noble, two towns over-- to nestle ourselves between the pages of Mother Goose and American Girl. For nine years, it has been our spot; our place-- different states, different towns, but always ours.

Our book store outing routine is always the same-- hit up the café for a latte for mama, milk for kids. Browse the new releases, the clearance section, and magazine rack, then after my hands are full of goodies, we march to the kids area where we play trains and put on pretend plays on top of the green stained stage. For most people, this may not be exciting, but for us we get our fill of family togetherness with a healthy dose of literary enjoyment.

And speaking of literary enjoyment, we received a book in the mail from Propeller Publishing, called “Cooper and Me and the Military”. As Memorial Day approaches --along with our current deployment-- the timing couldn’t be more perfect.  

Cooper and Me and the Military is a simple worded book making it easy for little minds to read and understand. There is an additional open discussion along with a life lesson section at the back of the book to better help young children grasp the concept of having a deployed family member or loved one who is away serving overseas.

This book serves as an excellent tool to better relate and communicate to my small ones, and to let them know that there are other families experiencing the same long distance relationship with their daddies as we are. Cooper and Me has become part of our nightly reading and a beloved treasure to my children’s library.

“Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day! Grill out, drink a beer, and remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Much Love,

Em