Off They Go!

Can you say spoiled? That is becoming the theme for the past week. First a new playhouse, next, a Princess truck. Daddy is taking full responsibility for the truck as it is something he has wanted to get Clara for quite a while. And now that he's home on R&R he decided he just couldn't wait any longer.

Spoiled or not, it is quite fun watching the kids have so much fun with their new toys. Clara is loving the freedom she's discovered driving her new truck and Colton seems just as thrilled to be her passenger.

Colton doesn't look so sure if he trusts Clara's driving.

Driving off into the sunset, well, the back yard, at least!

Playing House

Clara has been begging and begging for a playhouse. We finally broke down and got her one. Easy to justify when you see the look on her face when she went out on the porch and saw it for the first time...

Priceless!

One happy little girl!

Something they can both enjoy and have fun with.

Firsts

Here are a couple recent pictures of Colton as he experienced some "firsts" in his little life.

 His first black eye. He got it when he fell and hit his face on Clara's bed.

Enjoying his first Oreo cookie!

The Fourth and Friends

Happy Fourth of July! Happy Birthday, America! Thanks to all the Service Members, especially my dear hubby and all the Soldiers in the 2-2 Infantry Regiment for defending the freedoms and history we celebrate today. And, with that out of the way, July 4th means another blasted long weekend! We made the best of it and had some fun with friends Saturday and, again, today.

Being in the Army gives us opportunities to meet lots of new friends and develop special bonds with others that will last all our lives. I was fortunate to experience that when we were at Ft. Hood in Texas. Though I don't speak with those friends every day and don't get to see them, they will always hold a special place in my heart. Ft. Knox has proved to be just as great in the friend department. The friends we have made here, I'm certain, will stay in our hearts long past the time the Army takes us our separate ways. In the meantime, we are enjoying the time with them.

Sean, Gabe, Clara, Bella, and Vanessa

I know how much the friendships I have made mean to me, and I truly love watching the relationships between our children. In this picture they were all lined up waiting for bunnies to appear from within the fallen tree stump in our yard. They had set out carrots and were sitting so patiently. The moms didn't have the heart to tell them that there probably were not any bunnies inside. Their imaginations had devised this lovely idea and it was so sweet to observe the camaraderie.

Without our friends these days of deployment would drag painfully slow. It's our friends and the bonds we have forged with them that make the seemingly endless deployment manageable. If I didn't have the ears of my Army Wives to listen to me, their shoulders to cry on and their unwavering support and understanding I don't know what I would do. Family and friends are great and they know how very much they mean to me, but no one gets the life and emotions of an Army Wive except another Army Wife. For that I am forever thankful.

Cruising through Summer

As we approach the Fourth of July, the kids and I will begin counting down the days until Aaron comes home for his two week leave. It's getting so close!!! We have been having a busy summer. Between work, play dates, hanging with cousins, and the normal day to day stuff, it's hard to believe we are nearing the half-way point of the deployment. Here are a few snapshots of the fun we've been having since the last update.

Having fun waiting for the pool to fill up

Mommy and Munchkin having fun in the sun

Clara and her first ice cream truck treat, a Dora ice cream bar

(a very loose interpretation of Dora, I'll add!)

I'm coming to get'cha!

Little man is getting pretty steady on his feet

Colton is definitely walking more than he is crawling now. It's so amazing to watch our children develop. It's been fun watching the difference in Colton's motor skill development compared to Clara. Colton took his first steps a few days after his first birthday and hasn't stopped walking since. He walked a little bit more each day and with every week that passed there was a marked improvement in his skill. Clara didn't take her first steps until she was 14 months old and then she waited well over a month before she gave it another shot, then she took off from there. Colton is climbing, riding toys and getting into mischief as much as possible. He has discovered my "hiding spot" for bags and blankets and the diaper bag in our storage bench and now putting the contents of it away has become a daily task! I definitely have come to understand the expression, "He's all boy" because, well, Colton is definitely ALL BOY!

Clara is blossoming into such a lovely little girl. She, in contrast to Colton, is ALL GIRL! She would wear a dress every day of the week if possible. She has discovered ballet, courtesy of Barbie Swan Lake, and now puts on recitals for me and her audience of stuffed animals. Clara is regularly mothering her baby dolls and making sure they are sleeping, being fed, and going for walks to the park. We went with some friends to see the movie Rio a few weeks ago. It's about a bunch of birds and their adventures in Rio de Janeiro. Well, my lovely daughter informed me halfway through that she didn't like the movie because it didn't have a princess in it.  I honestly don't know where she gets it? I'm definitely not a girly girl and Aaron and I haven't intentionally raised her to be that way. Score one for the nature side of the nature vs nurture argument.

As we wait the next few weeks before Aaron's leave we will be keeping busy with play dates, pool parties, sleepovers, and a trip to Detroit for Keri's baby shower. Let's keep our fingers crossed the time doesn't drag by too terribly slow.

How Do You Do It?

It's a question my friends and family have asked me many times over the course of the, so far, one and a half deployments Aaron and I have gone through. My typical response is, "one day at a time and don't get consumed with worry." I focus on the tasks for the day and try not to let the nagging worry in the back of my mind overwhelm me. That usually works. Usually being the operative word, there. Other days the answer to that question is "one moment at a time." On days like today, yesterday, and certainly tomorrow and a few more to follow, I end up asking myself that question. "How can I do this?" How can I do it when I'm struggling to cope with the loss of a young soldier, one who I knew, who came to the house many times and enjoyed bar-b-ques, laughs, and happy times with my family and friends? How can I do it when I can feel my own heart breaking because I know that Aaron's heart is breaking and he is grieving so deeply for the loss of a friend? How can I do it when out there a family is meeting the Flag draped coffin of their son who died fighting side by side with my husband and friends? There are no answers, except "with the support of those who love us". I only know that I, Aaron, and all the others affected by this tragedy will somehow make it through.

It's events like this that also call to mind the reason I chose to support Aaron when he embarked on his Army career. Being a soldier is an honorable calling. Perhaps, the most honorable, but certainly, we are biased in our opinion. Being a soldier, and a soldier's wife, is also a very demanding and exhausting undertaking. It's downright stressful and does nothing to prevent premature graying of the hair! Though, I have not for a moment regretted my decision to stand by Aaron and support him whole-heartedly in his decision to join the Army.

Generations of men have chosen to step forward and defend our nation. The soldiers fighting on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan are no different that those who rode on horseback and fought for our Nation's independence in the Revolutionary War, or battled on the shores of France in WWII, or any other war Veteran for that matter. They share the same bond in that they are fighting to defend the freedoms their predecessors fought to earn. They share a belief in a people that are worthy of being defended and who deserve the opportunities afforded them.

Yet, this generation of Veterans doesn't seem to enjoy the praise and gratitude from the same volumes of people previous Veterans have. Should we be any less thankful to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans because we don't agree with the politics of the wars they are fighting? Did we not learn that lesson from the Vietnam War? Where is the patriotism that invited the ticker-tape parades? Instead, we have protestors at funerals of service members who died for their country. How does that make any sense? Regardless of your political views and which side of the aisle you agree with, these soldiers are doing the job they were sent to do. Most give more than 100% and some give their lives. And they do it all fighting an enemy that would prefer our nation be wiped from the planet. I don't know about you, but I'd much rather have them fight in the enemies backyard, as opposed to my backyard. And if that means saying good-bye to my love so he can do that for us, I'm willing to accept the challenges that accompany it.

Like it or not, there are people who hate America and have once before tried to weaken our spirit. We learned quite quickly that that spirit can be strong and powerful after 9-11.  I'd rather we not have to find out the hard way, again, exactly how exuberant our sense of patriotism can be. I know patriotism is alive. I see it in the sea of Flags in the neighborhoods I drive through daily, in the reports of bikers who set up walls against protestors, and I see it on the faces of the fallen soldiers whose pictures flood the internet. I'd just like to see it more in the mainstream public. 

Well, I guess I'll get off my "soap box" for now. Sometimes, when emotions are high, you just need to get things off your chest, right?