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The ‘busy-ness’ of Spring
Ah… Spring. A perfect adjective would be refreshing. We get out of the house. We start the garden. We clean off the deck. We pull out our soccer cleats, baseball gloves and running shorts. We pump up our bike tires, clean out our cars and hose off the outdoor dump trucks, bubble wands and kiddie pools. We open windows, smell the flowers, take long hikes. We start to fill the family calendar with all sorts of events. As military families we also might be looking at orders. We clean out our closets, get rid of the ‘extras’, plan for the future. We make last ditch moments to see the town we called home…
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On this 9/11 in 2012, It is Never too Late for our Veterans to seek Help!
“…he did not get help for more than 3 decades – yep, 35+ years and then he felt like damaged goods.” Today is one we do not forget in the United States. Our service men and women have been at war for 11 years since the terrorists struck at us on 9/11/2001. We have lost so many of our service members following the initial terrorist attack during combat and way too many to Suicide. They survive the ravages of war but then the pain comes through … It hurts, they close up, feel isolated and do not seek help or the help is not enough. Their families feel it too……
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Summer Meals and Menu for Children of All Ages!
Camp Grandpa! It is July on our calendar and fireworks are getting to explode in my heart as the grands are getting ready to arrive. Activities are on Grandpa’s plate. Their hunger for adventure, outdoors, hammering, mud and total movement are insatiable. Therefore, Grandma is getting ready to find some ‘fuels’ that are kid appropriate: lunches and dinners. We have a bread lover, a meat on bone lover, a thick steak fan, and one who isn’t too certain what is the best… well ice cream is there, but not on my meal plan! The secret plan that Grandpa and I have is to keep them so active and involved that…
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Youth Sports are Important for Parents too!
“As parents, we often think of youth sports as organized events. I think the more important ones, may be the unorganized variety.” Summer time is here and it is, as usual, crazy busy! Throw in a PCS or deployment for you and it is just gets worse. Finding time for all the unit events, saying good bye a million times (or at least a few) to good friends or acquaintances, making friends at your new location, finding time for a vacation, finding a new spouse job – yep, the head starts to spin a bit! But what about the smaller people version? They go through a lot as military brats…
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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 Moment Out of the Norm Cooking with GrandBrat
Her name is *E*. She has eyes that shine, a mind that zooms, a sea of energy and a steel trap memory. She is my grandbrat: child of my Brat. Military kids pass on the zest of life and love of challenges.*E* loves action and is at home in the kitchen.After a trip to the farmer’s vegetable stand it was time to put up some tomatoes. Every tomato was washed… 67 tomatoes… 78 gazillion gallons of water.Step one: clean the sink. Scoured and ready to go without a trace of anything left in the drain… good job. Oh how affirmation is uplifting! *E* tenderly sponged all tomatoes. I stood next…
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Disappointments
Disappointment… we all face them. A promised PCS to a base close to ‘home’ changed at the last minute to clear across the country. R&R or Homecoming pushed back days or even weeks. A savings account depleted to pay for unexpected household expenses. The question is how do you handle them? Yesterday, my 8 year old, *E*, was asked to go to a semi-professional baseball game with a mutual friend of my 6 year old, *C*. Talk about disappointment for *C*. There was much heartache. A few tears. A longing to be with his brother and friend and her family. How did we handle the disappointment? First we talked about the…
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Staying Healthy: Get those endorphins going
Health experts call endorphins “feel-good hormones.” Endorphins are natural chemicals released by the brain that improve your mood, relive pain, reduce stress, and produce an overall feeling of well being. They also help you sleep better. The easiest way to get your body to release endorphins is to exercise. Even a moderate workout eases tension and improves mental and physical health. More vigorous exercise really gets those endorphins going. The positive effect of endorphins can last for several hours, according to some endocrinologists. – Feeling Good – 100 ways to feel better every day Walking the Paul Henry TrailIt can’t be morning. The covers are still so comfy. Ohhh the…
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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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A Recipe for Summer: Sun Tea
Sun Tea! My favorite drink. It is sunny skies, warm weather and the sounds of summer wrapped up and packaged in a glass jar. A few years ago I perfected my family’s favorite version of sun-tea and I thought I’d share it with you. 6 tea-bags. (I use Lipton Tea, found in an economy box of 100.)2 quarts of cold water1 two-quart glass jar. Nothing expensive required! Using your glass jar combine the ingredients and let it sit in a nice sunny-warm spot for two or three hours. My deck table is ideal. The longer you let it sit, the stronger your tea will be. So you can play with the time to see…
