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New Friends, Motherhood and Growth
We are well into the autumn schedule. Boys are at school, my toddler and I are settling into a great routine, which includes some Disney Channel, Lego-time and lots of books. Plus lots of crock-pot time, a newly-painted bedroom and garden canning and storage for the winter months. It has been a great fall so far! But I’m taking on new adventures too. This year that includes MOMSNext. I’m a huge advocate for MOPS. That organization turned my life around from being a lonely mom with not many friends in a new area with a toddler and baby, to an involved mom part of a group; wanted, loved, befriended, needed. …
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Coupon crazed
I recently had the pleasure of attending Army Wife Network‘s “Coupon Boot Camp Webinar”, supported in part by the Commissary Shopper. I have to admit while I was sitting through it, two days for a couple hours each day, I began to question what I was being taught compared to what I already knew. Pretty basic stuff. But it was an opportunity to educate myself and I took it all in, reaffirming mostly and taking in a few bits and pieces as well. (As an example, I had no idea you could use a manufacturer coupon and a BJ’s coupon on the same item … two coupons for one item; TOO cool!) But then yesterday…
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Organizing The Road Trip
The Road Trip. Part of the Great American Military-Family Experience, right? We do it to PCS across the country. We do it to visit family and friends who we moved away from so many years ago, a visit home. We do it to for some R&R, to get out and see parts of the country so many American families will never see. The Road Trip, it is part of the ‘American Military Family’ definition. So how do you prepare for such a great part of your experience as a military-family? I recently ran across some great posts that I thought I would share with you. Whether you will be travelling…
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Cleaning your glass-range & inside your microwave (no elbow grease required)
…Don’t Judge…I have to admit. I do not enjoy cleaning. I LOVE a clean house… but the actual process of cleaning?! BLECK! However, this year’s goal has been to get my house organized and for me part of that includes getting into a regular routine of straightening, maintenance and yes… cleaning. So before I show you the before pictures of my range and microwave remember I’m trying, one foot in front of the other. 🙂 Before cleaning my glass-top range.Yucky, yucky grease and burnt on yuckiness.Before cleaning the inside of my microwave.Tomato splatters everywhere.Easy Baking Soda Scrub and Vinegar Wash Start off with a hot-soapy bucket or bowl of water,and add three dish towels…
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Pinterest and the Military Family
Hours … I have lost hours to Pinterest. But maybe lost isn’t the right word because Yes! I have successfully re-created some of the great ideas I have found. Dinner has become more exciting, I’ve discovered the many uses of vinegar, and it has helped me on my quest to keep “2012 the year of Organization.” I also created some resources that you, the military family, might find useful. There is a sea of information out there and this is a great way to keep it organized. Find what you like, pin it to your own board and you’ll have it when you need it (or have time to read it!) Military…
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Behold the power…
… of a clean wall. As I mentioned in my post about personal goals for 2012 one of those is to get this house organized! (Personal Goals) It actually leaves me giddy with excitement to open up the calendar each day to see what needs to be done as I travel along the journey of 365 days to decluttering and organizing. Crazy, I know. But today I ‘decluttered the top of my cabinets’ (which my cabinets don’t have a top – they meet at the kitchen ceiling so I cleaned the top of my frig instead.) It was an easy two-minute job. Hmmm… I got looking around for something else to help…
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Mom Means Business
My boys are a hurricane. A tornado. A path of destruction. We are working hard at starting good habits, staying organized, picking up when they are done playing, not waiting till Mom blows her top tells them to. I have found if I help organize the toys in their room that it only gets me very frustrated and my ideas fall apart in less then a couple of days. So now they are left to their own vices. I sent them to clean their room the other day, and told them anything left on their floor when they were done was going into the garbage. Sure enough they came down 30 minutes later declaring they…
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It Takes More Than an Infantry Force to Win in Afghanistan! DoD Roundtable
Deh Afghanan village, Afghanistan, May 27, 2011This is a time of transition in Afghanistan. The winter is over and summer has arrived with a vengeance. But more importantly, the transition from a NATO/US led force to an Afghan led military is in full swing! In the year 2014 the plan is to turn the lead over to the Afghan National Security Forces for defense of their own country! A big step but one that requires infrastructure, support forces, training institutions, logistics, plus …! We can create the best fighting infantry and lose the war in 2014 if we do not leave the Afghans with educators, qualified mechanics, supply experts, civil…
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Getting a Grip on the Spring Sports Schedule
Holy Smokes! I feel like I have been thrown into the lion’s pit. The lion’s pit of an over-scheduled-family! How did this happen? Just this weekend we had three birthday parties, one soccer game, two baseball practices and running up to the elementary school twice for baseball-team pictures. I can almost breath a sigh of relief that the weekend is over! Almost… This week we have three soccer practices, two soccer games, and four baseball practices, if I’m counting right. And if I thought this last weekend was crazy… wait till next weekend when Hubs is out of town for a JAG conference. I’m not a “soccer mom”. I don’t have cute…
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The Power of Women in Afghanistan is Growing! – DoD Roundtable
Imagine female pilots in the Afghan military! How about an Afghan Army Officer Commissioning Class of 29 women! Or 35% of the population of students attending college at Kabul University! As we spoke with Dr Jack Kem, Deputy to the Commander, NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan this morning you could hear the excitement of his explanations of where the issues of “gender main streaming” were headed. Speaking primarily of military and police issues he was cautious about the progress but highlighted the successes and what they meant for the Afghan society as a whole. The Afghan constitution gives equal rights but a society impacted by illiteracy and fears is accepting…
