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Guys and St. Valentine’s Day
Okay I am way ahead of schedule! Should be putting this out on the 13th or 14th if I was acting “normal”! When it comes to gender and St Valentines the guys are frequently accused of minimum effort or not planning for what some gals consider a very important holiday! While I will not try to defend my guy friends for their actions or lack of action I will say that I did learn over time (i.e. trainable) and have some suggestions for what can be a wonderful celebration of our romance. First, the deployed spouses are at the top of our list and thank you. For the spouse/guypal/galpal at…
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Super bowl party: Beanless Chili con Carne for a crowd
What if you aren’t the world’s greatest fan of football? What if you like to get together with friends? What if you need an excuse to eat some salty, sweet or gadzooks of finger food? Here is the answer to “what if”: Super Sunday coming our way! Super bowl Sunday is so well named. Grab all of those neat bowls that are sitting on the shelves – forget the plastic, go for the decorative fun things you bought as a souvenir at your last PSC. Now, find foods that fit the bowls!Beanless Chili is my favorite main attraction. I add baking potatoes diced into bean sized pieces. These add some…
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How can we help?
About 10 years ago in Charleston, South Carolina there was yet another family discussion about moving and how hard it was. Our family has always been computer literate due to owning some early PC’s such as an Apple IIC, and exploring computers as teacher and student. This new thing, the internet looked like it had promise to make military family life easier! Over the dinner table the discussion continued and our creative family members (not me, I usually followed checklists!) came up with a way to help, first during PCS times and second while a family was in the new neighborhood! The idea of a website for military families took…
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Squeals of joy & hugs and kisses
It is a beautiful thing when Grandma shows up at my door. Grandma in this instance is actually my mother-in-law. She watches my two younger boys regularly. Not only do we have our ‘regular’ babysitting days, she is on a moment’s notice call & will be here within 30 minutes on days that I feel I might pull my hair out. (After all isn’t it the mother that understands why some spiders eat their young?) The boys squeal with joy & run with rapid feet to give her hugs, kisses and tell her all about what is going in their lives (a lot can happen in the life of a…
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Our Pets
This is VIGDIS! It has been a busy week for me approving new Partners on MilitaryAvenue.com and I enjoyed a very busy category which was Pet Sitters and Kennels. One person had seen MilitaryAvenue.com ads and spread the word throughout her Pet Sitting association about us and I have not stopped putting their ads on the site all week! This is a real plus for you our military community because who has not had a last minute trip and needed someone to watch a favorite pet! We now have many on the site for your use and they offer a great MilitaryReward! 🙂 Right now our puppy (almost 16 years…
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Life has secrets that can be easy to unwrap.
It is Blue Monday today. Traditionally the 3rd Monday in January gets this title! Blue because the credit cards bills are rolling in; it is dark out there – particularly north of the Mason Dixon line and New Year’s resolutions might have been broken, smashed and forgotten, and the quilt is seeping down to the kneecaps. It is a real feeling that a huge percentage of Americans are feeling now. So, meet it head on. Here are 3 dozen winning thoughts on how to climb up from the blues. Don’t borrow trouble~ If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn’t happen, you have worried in vain. Even…
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Brace yourself Mom… It’s Science Fair time!
Science Fair: Those words were the scariest words spoken by the children at the supper table. A hush fell over the room. Dale would mysteriously get a phone call to send him into the other room. Appetites were quashed. Those words work better than Slim Fast! Lamely I would say, “Oh, this is going to be fun.” No one bought it. I was talking to some Moms who are facing the science fair time of year, as if taxes aren’t enough… but at least with tax time, there is tax help for free on Base. However, with science fair you are on your own. The project has to be interesting,…
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It’s Cold. I’ve been inside for a Month… It’s Soup time!
Winter seems to invite cooking in the kitchen! Ours is an open kitchen, room for several to peer into pots, bang some bowls around, gasp and cough and run when the burner sends smoke filling the house! And I watch the stove closely…I have the best distractions available: a one year old, 2 two year olds, a 5 year old: all boys and a bunch of knee high dogs! Oh, wait… you will be a Grandma someday… but for now keep the clamor alive and well and living in your home.Here is my favorite recipe for smashed tomato soup. Only perfected with 5 year old spirit!1 large can of whole…
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Some time with the ladies
Yesterday was my weekly ladies-group. What a process to get out of the door!Potty check, winter coats & hats, “Mom, I’m thirsty”, “Mom, I’m hungry”, in the car seats, “But, Mom, I wanted to sit in the other seat”, seat-belts, “Mom, can I bring a toy?”, where are my car keys? We drive down the road a little bit and get to our final destination, this particular trip the back-seat was fairly quiet. Sometimes things like: ‘Hands to yourself’, ‘Share’, ‘No Arguing’, ‘Inside voices’, ‘QUIET’ are uttered out of my mouth every half-mile. Out the car we shuffle: ‘Hold hands in the parking lot’, followed by much chasing of my…
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Hiking Avalanche Lake Trail in Glacier National Park
This summer we went to Montana for a niece’s wedding in Great Falls. We had a wonderful family time at the wedding and tacked on a few extra days to spend at Glacier National Park! What a great place to hike and the views were tremendous! We are so blessed with National Parks and this one was gorgeous! Our niece had worked up in the park for a time and gave us her favorite trail to hike–Avalanche Lake; so off we went after a bit of map research. We found out that the trail was about 2.5 miles one way and of course it was above 5,000 feet (thin air…
