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Tragedy in Chardon – Talking about Emergency Preparedness with Children
Sunday night we were at the kitchen counter and my boys said something to the effect “I wish we could blow up the school.” I stopped. It was typical school-age conversation. If there’s no school they can stay home and play all day right? This was their logic. I was immediately taken to Columbine, Jonesboro, even Virginia Tech. What came out of my mouth was a stern but caring “We don’t joke about that.” Kind of like you don’t joke about firearms and terrorist activities standing in line at the airport, you don’t joke about guns, bombs or other activities of that nature in relation to school. It’s not funny.…
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Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style Part Two – The Checklist
Sometimes a blog inspires new ideas and last week’s Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style brought up the idea of a checklist that might help others. Much of the same information but in a shorter format without personal details. Think of it as a guide and then add your own ideas too! Share your experiences with others too by commenting! 1 – Caring For Senior Family Member While Long Distance: print a copy of this list and put in your glove box. One never plans for an emergency long distance road trip. However, when called to go, arrive armed with a design for success. 2…
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Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style
Praying for Grandpa and Grandma as they travelOne thing that military families know about is long distance communications! We also face long separations from family and find ourselves frequently traveling a long ways to be with family. Sometimes that makes us better at helping others from a long distance too! We know the phone does not always give a clear perspective of what is going on at the other end. So when the phone rang two weeks ago with an almost distraught family member on the other end we knew there was more to come … We have a large extended family but as the military piece of it we…
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An opportunity to win $1,000 from the Defense Credit Union Council
I just got this press release in my email and wanted to get the word out to our readers. The chance to win $1000 while making good financial decisions? Win-Win! (Hurry, deadline to enter is 2/29/2012) – Leanne from MilitaryAvenue.com Win $1,000 during Military Saves Week from the Defense Credit Union Council!Staying motivated to save can be a hard task. That’s why, in honor of Military Saves Week, the Defense Credit Union Council is giving away $1,000 to one lucky military saver on SaveUp, a free rewards program that rewards you for good financial actions. Sign up at www.saveup.com/military and start playing for the $1,000 savings prize. This giveaway is exclusive…
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The Army Profession, Drawdown, Army Families and more! DoD Bloggers Roundtable
Army children in youth program … see below for creditChandler said, Secretary of the Army – no cuts to Army programs for families without his specific approval. Did you know that the US Army end strength (total number of active duty soldiers) under the Defense Departments current plan and budget will be at 490,000 after the drawdown is complete? That is the loss of eight brigade combat teams and other resources (80,000 soldiers to be specific). The number of cuts seems to be a bit of a moving target as we talked just recently (December) with the DoD Blogger Roundtable and the number was 50,000! The Sergeant Major of the…
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Home Maintenance equals Money in the Bank
It is Military Saves week! A subject that is dear to my heart as Americans (including military-families) find themselves in more and more financial trouble. Sometimes saving money can be found in the simple things. Today’s blog post on saving money is about what you can do in the day-to-day. There is value in maintaining your home. Take the time — and I know we are all so very busy — to take care of our ‘stuff’ and you will find more money in the budget for other important things. If we maintain our electronics (invest in a can of compressed air for the computer as an example), vehicles (are…
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Saving Money Around the House
Click on any of the pictures to find some easy ways that YOU can save money around the house. Where would you put an extra $10 to $30 a week? Perhaps towards your retirement? A down payment on a home? A vacation? Start saving now for a brighter future! (Remember you can click on the image to read more.) Start a savings shadow box with a picture of what we’re saving for. This would also be cool for the kids, to teach them to save for something by seeing you do it and letting them join in with items they want as well. Perhaps a picture of Disney World, a picture…
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Soldiering On…
Last night I fell into bed. Sometimes my mind has time to wander after I turn off the lights. I think about what I did earlier in the day, what I accomplished, what I forgot to do, what I can get done tomorrow. I think about my blessings. Thank God for my family. Dream about what our future holds. It can all be a pleasant way to drift into dream world. But last night there was none of that. It was a hectic day that involved making 30 Valentines Cookies for my 3rd grader’s class, which in and of itself involved multiple (yes, multiple) trips to the grocery store. It was laundry and sheet…
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Roots and Wings
We have an interesting phenomena going on in my house. We have an 18-month old and an 18 year old (and two other brothers in between). My husband and I often laugh with each other over the fact that we are the “young parents” with *J* (at sporting events, parent-teacher conferences etc etc) and we are going to be the “old wiser-parents” with *L*. There are times when I just want my 18-month old to grow up. I want him to communicate (although this can be hard even for an 18 year old); tell me his favorite things; share his deepest wishes; form an opinion that doesn’t involve whining; meet friends;…
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A few Social Media ‘Patches’ for our Military Families
In keeping with the military-tradition of patches MilitaryAvenue created some for our family members that you can wear on your favorite social media sleeves (like on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest). Just click on your patch to save, like, pin or tweet, (such fun verbs!). Proud Wife of a US Navy SailorSource: facebook.com via Military on Pinterest Proud Wife of a US MarineSource: facebook.com via Military on PinterestProud Wife of a US Coast GuardsmanSource: facebook.com via Military on PinterestProud Army WifeSource: facebook.com via Military on PinterestProud Wife of a US AirmanSource: facebook.com via Military on Pinterest And this is only the beginning. We have Veteran, Husband, Brother, Sister, Girlfriend, Boyfriend, Mom, Dad, Grandson, Granddaughter and a whole…
