We are storytellers by nature.

Whether that’s because we’re southern, or just simply human – in my family, stories fill our days and nights.  Some of our stories are funny, some are sad, some are serious and some (if told by Monkey) are highly embellished and exaggerated.

Stories are a way of keeping people alive in our hearts.

Stories are a way of preserving memories, passing along history and a way of bringing us closer together.

I encourage my kids to share their stories, to write them down, to draw them, record them, to save them…

 

My children spend hours lost in paper and crayons – putting their stories down on paper and presenting them to us like the priceless treasures they are

This year, for Nathan’s birthday – my kids wanted to do something special for him.  Using their individual gifts – they wanted to create books that could travel with him, go to work with him and remind him every time he saw them of how much they love him.

Princess is an amazing artist and storyteller, so she grabbed her art supplies and made Nathan a book.

Monkey’s gift?  He’s a natural born storyteller – he is animated and funny and has a gift for words, as everyone whose ever been around him for more than 10 minutes can tell you .  At 5, he’s not quite able to write as well as Princess and he didn’t want to just draw Daddy a book.  I assured him that we’d come up with some way to use his gift to make Daddy the best present ever.

Last week, while at HEB, I found it – A Hallmark Recordable Storybook.  The moment I saw it, I knew it was what Monkey had to give Nathan.

As soon as Monkey saw it, he agreed immediately and ran to his room to read it:

How did we know it was meant to be? Take a look at the pictures of this Dad and Me storybook.

I had to share this video with y’all.  Last night after Monkey fell asleep, I pried the book out of his hands and recorded a few pages out of the book.  I love his voice, his imagination, the way he sees his Dad. 

I love that my kids wanted to give Nathan memories this year.  I love that stories, memories and heart are so important to my kids.

Happy Birthday to the love of my life.  I can’t wait to share these with you, to watch their eyes light up as they tell you about each of their gifts and how they created them just for you.

Here’s to the memories and a million more stories.

Happy Birthday.  I love you.

 

 

 

This post was written as a part of my work with  Hallmark  and their “Life Is a Special Occasion” campaign.  This is not a paid review of the Hallmark Recordable Storybook – I bought that all on my own.  The opinions, photographs, ideas and children are 100% mine.