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“Remember those who gave their lives there” Korengal Valley, Afghanistan – DoD Roundtable
I spoke to heroes during this Roundtable! They defended us in a remote valley in Afghanistan and in the mountains around it. They fought a battle there on October 25, 2007 that resulted in the death of friends, injuries, moments of fear and terror. The responses of one man to the combat situation he found himself in earned him the Congressional Medal of Honor! Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta is the first person to receive the MOH since the Vietnam War who could receive it in person from the President. There have been others who received our nation’s highest decoration in our wars since Vietnam but unfortunately they were posthumously presented…
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Traditions
Autumn has fallen upon us with force. Halloween decorations have been long put away and thoughts of Thanksgiving meals are upon us; followed quickly by Christmas lights, gifts and carols. ‘Tis The Season My family will soon pack up the minivan to drive ‘over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go!’ A long-weekend with my parents, siblings and nieces and nephews. But that is just a piece of the ‘Thankgiving Tradition’. Some years we do Thanksgiving with my husband’s family which involves his grandmother and all of her siblings and their families. It’s a HUGE gathering! As an Air Force Brat there were years that my…
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Emotions Run Amuck
Wow, my middle-child started kindergarten this week. Oh dear, sweet *C*. He went from the ‘baby’ of the family to the middle-child this month after his baby-brother, *L*, was born… and now he is a big kindergartner, getting on the bus and out of my view for 8 hours each day. My emotions have run amuck! *C* lives in a dream world. I’m not sure if it is the age or the personality but the phrase “Stay on Task” echoes through our house when there are things to be done. It is easy to find him in another part of the house, doing something unrelated to what needs to be…
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Taking Care of Yourself!
I have noticed a stream of articles out from the Military community about how important it was for the caregiver, the military spouse, the one holding down the home-front to take care of herself! (or himself!) It’s not a new story. We’ve all known how important it is … but as military-spouses we know how HARD it can be to do. It is so easy to put the needs of others before our own. I can’t stress it enough! If YOU are not taking care of yourself the whole family will suffer. Yes, you are that important. I have found this to be true in so many cycles of my…
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Welcome, Baby *L*!
In a bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived, so-very-much-in-love fashion, this blog has taken at least a week to write. 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. It may not be eloquent, or the best writing of my life, but it is the story of a new-life in our lives. Baby *L* is here!All 6 lbs 9 ounces, and 18 inches of pure baby-boy joy. I forgot how small they can come! *L* was born the smallest of all my boys which makes me chuckle. I was induced since they were afraid he would get too big because of my gestational-diabetes. Life is full of surprises! I was feeling pretty good about the decision…
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Finishing up one chapter and moving to the next
Well life is spinning … not necessarily out of control … but definitely FAST. I can SEE the finish line. I can FEEL the roar of the hormones. Just this morning my mother-in-law said I LOOKED tired ready. AMEN, sistah! Gestational Diabetes be GONE. Contractions, the most erratic and un-cooperative kind ever, be DONE. I’d like to see my ankle bones again; and ahhh… just the simple task of bending over to shave, tie a 5 year-old’s shoe, pick up the food I just dropped all over the kitchen floor (clumsiness … the pregnancy side effect they forget to tell you about) will be such a relief. I’m pretty darn…
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Savoring the Moment
I have a confession … I am at the tail end of my third pregnancy (at just about 37 weeks) and I am NOT ready to be done. I mean I’m ready to meet our little BabyBoy. I’m ready to take a load off my feet. I’m ready to stop having to take insulin and being on a very strict diet for gestational diabetes. I’m really ready to not be sweating buckets just from sitting. But I know this is my last pregnancy. I’m over 35 and pregnancy has been hard on my body (this one in particular.) So I’m savoring moments. I’m savoring a foot jabbing me in the…
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Big Brothers
We have a few ‘big brothers’ in our house. Our oldest, *J* is 16, *E* is 7, and *C* is 5 and preparing to be a big brother. Each looks up to the other with wide eyed-admiration and I can only imagine what is running through their mind as they interact with, play with, compete with, teach each other. We spent the early-afternoon at the zoo yesterday. *J* brought his girlfriend and *E* did not want to leave their side. He was their shadow; their tour guide; their third-wheel. I stayed kind of ahead so as not to crowd them (and to find an occasional bench to sit on) and…
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Season Passes and Getting to know the community
I love our area zoo. It’s not the biggest zoo I’ve ever been to (I’ve been to a few GREAT ones) but for our area it is nice sized. It is a great place to visit when we need a change of pace and it has an indoor ‘Rainforest’ so even during the winter we find ourselves packing up and spending a few hours with the animals. The boys love watching the otters, the toads, and creeping their momma out with the snakes. But individual tickets are expensive – $5 to $10 a person. Maybe that isn’t terrible if you make a family-day of it but if you just want to…
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Valentine Freebies & Give-away for our Military Families
Tomorrow is the OFFICIAL drawing for a Sony eReader for our military families! Enter today. I received one last week and can I tell you how nice it is?!?! I sat here in my comfy living room chair, logged onto my local-library’s website, downloaded four eBooks and was reading one of them on my e-reader within minutes. So very cool! Enter here: http://militaryblog.militaryavenue.com/2010/01/valentines-contest-for-our-deployed-win.html Although it is too late to send a Valentines Message via Stars & Stripes print edition you can still submit one for online viewing. Still very cool! Read more here: http://militaryblog.militaryavenue.com/2010/01/send-your-true-love-valentines-message.html This morning I ran across another great deal! Thank you to Army Wife Network for bringing this to my…
