-
Caring for Your Parents from a Long Distance – Military Style
Praying for Grandpa and Grandma as they travelOne thing that military families know about is long distance communications! We also face long separations from family and find ourselves frequently traveling a long ways to be with family. Sometimes that makes us better at helping others from a long distance too! We know the phone does not always give a clear perspective of what is going on at the other end. So when the phone rang two weeks ago with an almost distraught family member on the other end we knew there was more to come … We have a large extended family but as the military piece of it we…
-
The Army Profession, Drawdown, Army Families and more! DoD Bloggers Roundtable
Army children in youth program … see below for creditChandler said, Secretary of the Army – no cuts to Army programs for families without his specific approval. Did you know that the US Army end strength (total number of active duty soldiers) under the Defense Departments current plan and budget will be at 490,000 after the drawdown is complete? That is the loss of eight brigade combat teams and other resources (80,000 soldiers to be specific). The number of cuts seems to be a bit of a moving target as we talked just recently (December) with the DoD Blogger Roundtable and the number was 50,000! The Sergeant Major of the…
-
A Very Special Valentine’s Day
Today we are happy to share a guest post from Maya Szydlowski, community manager for Veterans United Home Loans: Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and for moms with kiddos that means trying to round up cards and candies for your kids to hand out to their classmates. While grabbing a classroom list is no hard task, trying to get your kids to simply scrawl names on cards can be a little more difficult as the work hardly keeps their attention. To make Valentine’s Day a little more fun and creative for both you and your kiddos this year, consider giving a few of the following craft ideas a…
-
Stress and the Holidays
Stress and the Holidays. Somehow they go hand in hand. Overspending, too much food, lots of travel, work- and family-life balance; it is all a recipe for disaster. My own family of six knows first hand about all of these stresses. The 18 year old wants a laptop for Christmas (and other various $$$ gadgets), the 9 & 6 year old have had way too many cookies and are pinging off the wall, and the one-year old doesn’t like the car seat for more then 4 hour stretches at a time (making for a not so quiet trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s last weekend). And Mom and Dad can hardly…
-
Tracking Santa with NORAD on Christmas Eve: Don’t be surprised, Be Ready!
How Fast is Santa’s Sleigh? Official NORAD response: Santa’s sleigh travels at Starlight Speed according to military trackers at NORAD’s headquarters in Colorado Springs. Don’t be surprised! Be ready; know when Santa is coming!This was so much fun! Let’s start from the beginning with a quick explanation from US Navy Lieutenant Commander (LCDR) Bill Lewis. Bill is part of the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) responsible for Tracking Santa on Christmas Eve. Bill said that 1,200 volunteers work the mission for 23 hours to ensure children worldwide know where Santa is going next. Some have done this as a family for 10-15 years and it is now part of…
-
Minot AFB Flood Victims – Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and Happy New Year from Military Supporters!
Airmen giving “thank yous” to Home Depot repsWorld events can flood our minds with so much information and unless it impacts us directly it is quickly forgotten! How many remember the floods in June this year in North Dakota? Did you know that more than 1,000 airmen and their families from Minot Air Force Base were displaced and had their homes wrecked by the flooding? I had to think about how that would impact their Christmas/Holidays this year. Well, they have not been forgotten. It is an early Christmas for some of those families who struggled to recover with 135 new appliances (refrigerators, washers and dryers and stoves) delivered to…
-
#79 of 101 Ways to Thank a Veteran: Send a Christmas Card
Have you read 101 Ways to Thank a Veteran? They were written with Veterans Day in mind but many for all year round. 79. Remember Veterans during other holidays, especially those without family. Send a Thanksgiving card, Christmas card or Valentines card, to either a Vet that you know or through a VA Hospital or VFW.– http://www.militaryavenue.com/ways_to_thank_veteran Last night after dinner, we cleared the dishes, did our usual cleanup routine and then I pulled out the craft supplies. Glitter, paint, glue, markers, stock-paper and oh so much more Time to make Christmas Cards for a special Veteran in my life, my Grandfather (and Grandmother). They are far from family, not…
-
This Christmas Tree is not a Holiday Tree
This is a Christmas Tree, it is an evergreen, has family ornaments and a few strings of lights that are painstakingly placed. This weekend the governor of at least one state (Rhode Island) announced that the tree in their capitol rotunda was a “Holiday Tree” in the name of political correctness, plain and simple. I do not know many other religions that celebrate the holiday season with this type of tree. Yes, I realize it really may not be a symbol of Christianity (just like Santa Claus is not) except for the star on top and many of the ornaments that are placed with Christian symbols. However, Mr Governor, the…
-
A Contrast Between Men
A Contrast between MenBoth professors, trained, educatedProfessors at same school of lawOne serves his country The other rebukes those who support the troopsOne shows honor by resigning when he disagrees with position of law schoolOne hides behind freedom of speech while he dishonors with false claims those that protect himProfessor Robert Roughsedge, Major US Army Reserve in Kabul Afghanistan – Serves and ProtectsProfessor Michael Avery, Suffolk University Law School Via email “I think it is shameful that it is perceived as legitimate to solicit in an academic institution for support for men and women who have gone overseas to kill other human beings.” Where is the loud sound of bells…
-
Calendars of the Season
Our calendars are there to remind us. Sometimes they say it is time for an appointment, or a vacation or maybe a weekend getaway. For military families they can mean the return of a loved one or the day they depart (hardest one maybe) for a mission or deployment. Today our little family calendar reminded us that 10 years ago today I had picked up a new brand new C-17 from the Boeing Long Beach California plant. It still had that brand new smell to it – like a car but without the leather. We landed to a bit of fanfare at McChord AFB with each new C-17 but tail…
