Fabulous Army Life

A fabulous spouse gave me the idea last year to ask battalions to contribute to the decorating of our family room for the annual Tour of Homes on Fort Sill. I absolutely loved the idea and am eternally grateful to have had spouses willing to jump in and help both years. This year, each of our battalions contributed a 3' tree (provided by me) decorated to represent their unit. I absolutely love them and think this room was --by far-- the coolest thing to see in our home. Tough as Diamonds! 2-4 FA Deep Attack! 3-13 FA Red Dragons! 1-14 FA Steel Warriors! 75th FA Brigade Tough as Diamonds! 2-18 FA Mission Ready! 2-20 FA Deep Strike! 100 BSB Diamond Support!

The 75th Field Artillery Brigade hosted their 37th Annual Run today. A Half Marathon and Color Run 5K were both available.  Our family of four took on the 5K and it was a lot of fun. Brigade families showed up, some with strollers, some with custom tank tops, and all with a great attitude ready to run. My *ahem*overly dramatic*ahem* teenager fell to the sidewalk upon completion but admitted he had a good time. I did stop halfway through to take a selfie with a couple of the Soldiers who were distributing water as my "proof of life" ... not sure where all the drama from my oldest comes from.  ;)  My preteen ran with his dad and came in 13th overall! My wonderful in-laws were in town to cheer us on and it was great to visit with them. All in all, a great day in Diamond Country!

My Army Strong Army kids A Welcome Home Hug  I have been thinking lately about Army kids and how they seem to have their very own brand of independence and confidence, honed by years of moving to new places, meeting new people, and saying farewell to good friends whose Soldier had been reassigned to a new location. When my kids talk about taking a family trip, they don't stop at the local Six Flags or Water Park. They suggest places like Washington, DC, London, England, and Vicenza, Italy ... all places where friends have moved in the past year. In my reminiscing of Army kids, I was reminded of an Army child I met years ago, before we had kids of our own. My husband and I had just moved into temporary quarters at Fort Stewart, Georgia, when we heard a knock at our door. We had just arrived and no one yet knew how to reach us, so we were surprised to have a visitor. When I opened the door, a little girl about nine years old was standing there. "Welcome!" she sai...