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The Gold Star Family & Our American Flag
This past weekend was out of this world. Boating, Bike Riding, Ga-Ga Ball, Campfire & S’mores, and much more, all wrapped in time spent as a family. A huge thank you to Ohio’s Operation Military Kids and the USO for supporting programs like Military Family Camp. This was top-notch support! I desperately want to share more about the weekend but need to take the time to share this solemn moment and give it its due “time in the spotlight”. In our group of about 50 there were three Gold-star families, enjoying the weekend just like the rest of us. On Sunday morning a Gold-Star Dad and his three grandsons, one being a Gold-Star…
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Are You Part of Your Local Community?
“As we took our first break, one of the other workers, asked us what we had done to earn community service hours?” Volunteers at workBecoming part of the outside the gate community is often very difficult for military members and their families. We PCS often, have different interests, go to unit functions and with young families, it just seems like we are too busy to really connect. But there are so many good reasons to find a connection in your local community. Here are few of the reasons we continue to be a part of the community after living the military lifestyle for many years: 1 – Participation makes you feel good…
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Care Package Ideas
Find more Care Package Ideas and muchmore from MilitaryAvenue on Pinterest I really enjoyed a blog post from the DoD’s Family Matters blog and wanted to be sure to share it with you. These are some great ideas for a wife, daughter, sister, friend that is deployed but you can always take the thought and apply it to your loved-one. [Like I’m thinking if I sent my husband curtains and a comforter he would have been more ‘annoyed’ then appreciative… but maybe that’s just my hubs ;)] The following are some care package items I found especially awesome while I was deployed:– A stack of 11×17 landscape prints from a…
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Week in Review: Week of April 11 – 17 (Military News)
Here are ten of our most popular military-related articles for the week MilitaryAvenue.com: Faces Behind the Hero: Army Wife, Mom and writer, Jane: Meet our Face Behind the Hero, Jane. I love her thoughts below about a ‘Family Mission Statement’. What keeps your family together? What is the glue that binds? Where do you find the adventure that keeps life “interesting”? Thanks, Jane, for getting us all thinking about these things and not only being Army-Strong, but Family-Strong too!….“A Little Bit of Hope, Help…” “A Little Bit of Hope, Help …” is how US Navy CAPT James Wink, the chief engineer for Joint Task Force-Haiti responded to a question on…
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The Power of Reading
I’ve written a couple of times about the power of a book! When hubs was deployed we got a few books through the “United Through Reading” program sponsored by the USO. Hubs read books to the boys from Iraq, recorded on a DVD, and mailed to us. The boys received a DVD & book to read along with Dad, the opportunity to hear Dad’s voice and find the pleasure in a book. In fact, my boys enjoyed the books so immensely that I ordered a few Scholastic books through their school and included them in ‘care packages’ to Hubs. He could then make his own books-on-DVD to send back to…
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“MyHelpList” from the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense
I received a great document from my FRG (Army acronym for Family Readiness Group) that I thought was very timely for our monthly ‘Support Theme’. There are some great resources listed here that I hope you can use! MyHELPListInformation and Assistance for Military Service and Family Members During Tough Economic Times MILITARY RESOURCES Our Best Online Portals, Call Centers and Locator Services! Military OneSource24/7 Call CenterYou name it. We can help!1-800-342-9647http://www.militaryonesource.com/ MilitaryHOMEFRONTDoD programs, policies, news and events.http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil/ MilitaryAvenueRelocation Information for the American Military Familyhttp://militaryavenue.com/ Joint Family Resource Center (JFRC)On-demand counseling, educational materials and programs provided to support command sponsored deployment, personal finance and transition programs at no cost to commands.Command…
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Care Packages & the USO
My deployed-Hubby is quite frequently asked by family & friends for things he might want sent to him in care-packages. He has told me on several occasions that they just don’t have a lot of room out there. His ‘choo’ (aka room) doesn’t have a lot of room & the Army does take pretty good care of their food-needs. I frequently ask what was for dinner and it sounds like the Army has come A LONG WAY from the days of *MASH* and their chow-hall. Apparently they have quite a few ‘critters’ over there. This was news to me. I think of the desert and I think of cactus, lizards…
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The Weather in Baghdad and Kabul
I can be a Weather Channel junkie! We just had a wonderful rain shower and it made our spring flowers perk up big time as we had been dry for a bit! I was cheering for it so I wouldn’t have to drag garden hoses around tomorrow to get the vegetable garden some refreshment. While enjoying the cool breeze and listening to the rain fall I had a quick thought! What is the temperature in Baghdad right now? Hmm, according to a weather website it is 88 degrees and it is 11 PM and tomorrow’s forecast is for a high of 106! Think of our comforts and ability to adjust…
