Fabulous Army Life

I admit it; I have committed what a good friend terms a "Mommy Foul." I was not diligent enough in checking my creepy-radar before I took my nine-year-old to see "A Christmas Carol" this weekend. I carelessly assumed that a Disney movie with Jim Carrey targeted to kids would be .... well, not so creepy. I envisioned more of an animated, humorous, Mary Poppins-like, don't-we-all-feel-like-a-Merry Christmas-now kind of movie. What we saw was a very dark, scary, and creepy version of this classic tale. I know, I know. You're all shaking your fingers at me and thinking, "Hasn't she heard the story of 'A Christmas Carol' before?" Yes, of course I have, and yes, I knew it would have ghosts that visit, but I was fooled into thinking that they would be a happy, Casper-like ghosts, smiling and gently reminding our beloved Scrooge to be more giving and kind. These ghosts were more of the 'your-soul-is-bound-for-Hell' kind of ghosts an...

Our family has (somewhat inadvertently) started a tradition that we've grown to absolutely love ... parent/child dates! These started out as "Daddy Dates" to ensure that both boys got their share of time with Dad before and after deployments but have grown into events for us both to enjoy with our kids. When Dad has a day with one child, I get my time with the other! Last weekend, Nate took Trey for his day. They chose to hunt (at some ungodly hour in the morning), ate an early lunch at Ghengis Grill, came home for a quick rest, then off again to fish for the afternoon. Youngest and I followed the plan he made of: breakfast at a local doughnut shop, a trip to Barnes & Noble to read and pick up a favorite book, then back to the house for an afternoon of board games. He's quite the homebody, so it was no surprise he wanted to spend the afternoon home alone with Mom. It was a great time for us ... and we ended up tied at four wins each at Flippin' Frogs and pla...

The more I get into the blogosphere, the more fun I have! Today I wanted to share a cute idea posted by “The Mrs.” at Trying Our Best. See her post: Christmas Ornament Swap Sign-Up to sign up for an ornament swap among bloggers! I can't wait. I love, love, love Christmas! Besides the fact that we celebrate this as one of the top holidays for our faith, I love the entire season associated with it. I love tinsel and trees, lights and luminaries, wreaths and wrapping, ribbons and reindeer, snowmen and sparkles, bags and bows! I also enjoy collecting ornaments. Each year, I try to talk Hubby into another tree (yes, not just more ornaments, but an entire new tree!). We have our main family tree with lots of fun ornaments from places we’ve been, kids’ crafts, and other ornament exchanges. A second tree is our patriotic tree … all white with ornaments that are shimmery, sparkly and (of course) red, white, or blue. A third smaller tree holds all of our hand-made ornaments from Korea....

I've come to the conclusion that everyone deals with stress in their own way ... and that there are many 'right' and 'wrong' ways to do that. I have also discovered about myself that I tend to deal with immediate stress fairly well. Tragedies bring about a calm in me that seems uncharacteristic for my highly emotional normal self. I can make good decisions, help others, and present a reassuring demeanor on command. I think clearly and do not show any signs of panic in the heat of the moment. But when the heat of the moment has cooled ... it's an entirely different story. After the danger is gone, the stress sets in. When my family and I spent the afternoon on Fort Hood on Thursday, there were wild rumors and inaccurate reports flying about. The news channels continually blared information about a shooter (or shooters) on post, reported shots fired in several additional locations, and detailed information about the entire post being on "lock down....

PHOTO: The line of cars leaving Fort Hood with us last night after the post was re-opened. In a strange twist of fate, my husband and I were together with our two boys on Fort Hood on the afternoon of November 5, 2009. Killeen ISD had an early release day so we headed to post about 1:00 p.m. to get our H1N1 flu mists. We ended up being 'locked down' in the clinic for about six hours as we learned about the shootings taking place nearby and waited to hear resolution of the safety lock-down. It was a long afternoon of fear, rumors, and uncertainty. Yet even within the tragic circumstances that were unfolding as we waited, we found many things for which to be thankful. We were together. I can count on one hand the number to times that my kids and I have been with our Soldier on Fort Hood in the middle of a school day. I was so thankful that we were in the same place at the same time and had each other throughout the ordeal. We had friends with us. We didn’t know anyone i...

 1st grade stories My first grader was excited when he came home from school today.  His teacher had asked the students to vote on their favorite creative writing stories and his story won first place ... "for the first time ever!"  The topic of the day was elephants and Joshua chose to write his story from the elephant's perspective.  His elephant has a little attitude but told a fun story of his life in the wild.  I love this teacher's writing lessons.  She encourages creativity and works with each child individually to proofread, correct, and 'publish' a variety of stories.  Joshua is learning so much about the writing process and enjoys getting stories from his head onto paper.  Plus, I'm gathering lots of great stories to keep for myself in his 1st Grade classwork folder.  I love going back and seeing the progress my kids are making in school ... and it's fun for them to see their 'old' work, too.  Thanks, Mrs. Norman, for...

We had a great time on Halloween! We started by hosting a potluck dinner before trick-or-treating began. We provided a big pot of chili, cornbread muffins, and beverages. Friends brought some really fun side dishes to share.  Check out our menu and a few photos below.  The dishes turned out really cute! I managed to talk Hubby into a vampire costume this year, I was a spidery witch and the boys chose alien and ninja warrior as their costumes.  It was a lot of fun. The Menu Count Chili Crazy Cornbread Monster Toes Curdled Crab dip Monster Mash guacamole Hallow-bean dip Monster Muffin Cups (cupcakes baked in ice cream cones) Bloodshot Eggs: Monster Bites: Creepy Carrots: Mummy Dogs: Marshmallow Ghosts: After everyone ate and we took a few photos, it was time to trick-or-treat together. We all had a really fun time and look forward to days (and weeks and months ...) of candy! =) Our cute neighborhood kids before trick-or-treating: