Mama On The Move

One of the difficult parts about Kerry being deployed is that there are so many "Dad" jobs that he isn't here to take care of. (Walking the dogs at 5:00 AM is one of them but that's a post for a different day.) Teaching your son to shave is just one of those father/son rituals that Kerry has been looking forward to for a long time. Leaving your razor within reach of your two year old and having him cut his lip open with it is the first step in this process. We checked that block thirteen years ago. Now we are moving on to step 2: Teenage Facial Hair. We had hoped to hold off until Kerry came home for R&R but Ben really needed to shave. He's been getting pretty hairy and it's very noticeable. Ben felt like he could do it without a lesson, but there are so many things we don't get to do with our kids these days, it seems important to have some specific teaching moments in order to pass on your wisdom, your experience, and your guidance. Plus I needed ...

One of Ben's favorite bands is Flyleaf . He is anxiously awaiting the release of their next album. All five members of the band are Christians and while they are not strictly a Christian band, much of their music reflects their faith. Kerry called this morning on Skype to tell us that Flyleaf is actually over there giving a concert right now. I knew Ben would be really excited by this news, so I excitedly screeched, "BEN!" He was back in his room, and many times he can't hear me so I made sure I used top volume. From the back of the house came a "BAM" followed by, "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Ben came hopping into the room looking both pained and worried at the same time. "What on earth happened???" I asked. "You sounded like you were using your mad voice! I thought I was in trouble for something and I ran into the latch of the door knob and cut my side!" "Sorry! Actually, I was using my 'I have really exciting new...

We had such a great 4th this year! We got up at 5:45 and met up with some friends from church who have a ski boat. I haven't been boating in years and had forgotten how much fun it is! We pulled the girls on an inner tube behind the boat. The last time Emily did this, she was six. The tube flipped over while she was on it and she declared she never wanted to go on a boat or an inner tube ever again in her entire life! Turns out, now she can't go fast enough. Ben got his first opportunity to go water skiing. He has snow skied before (and loves it) but this was his first chance to try water skiing. It took him a few tries to get up and stay up. But once he got the hang of how to keep your balance while getting upright, he did quite well. After lunch we headed over to a local fair with more friends. Emily and her friend Emily (we call them Emily Squared) headed off on their own because it is so not cool to hang out with your parents and little sisters. Ben had stayed behind ...

The Fourth of July fireworks show took place very close to my house this year. We were able to walk to it in fact. I think it's wonderful that we don't have to fight traffic afterward and sit in the car inching forward for an hour after the show. The dogs do not agree with me on this. Earlier this week, there were some practice sessions for the fireworks. I was at home working on the computer and the kids were at VBS. The sound of explosions a few block away seemed to really unsettle my dogs. Ringo hid under the computer desk at my feet and Rigger lay on the floor next to me and would jump to his feet every time a fresh set of explosions sounded. I got up and went to the kitchen to get a drink. The dogs stayed plastered to my legs every step of the way. As I was pouring my drink, Ringo squeezed between me and the kitchen counter. So much for protecting his owner. This was clearly a position of "I'll use your body as a shield so that I will survive, lady". Rigger c...

One of the fun (annoying) things about Facebook is that people like to take tests and answer questions so that everyone can see their answers and know all about them. Most of the time I don't want to know that much about very many people. I don't usually take the tests because I think it's a little (a lot) vain to think everyone wants to know every little thing about you and every little thought you have. Blogging doesn't count. Sometimes I do break down and take a test that catches my attention though. This week, I took a test to see which Michael Jackson song most represented me and the answer was "Shake Your Body Down To The Ground". I hope that song is stuck in your head now. Anyway, tonight I noticed Ben answered a bunch of questions on his Facebook page, so I thought I would post his answers here, because some of them were pretty cool: What were you doing at ten last night? studying for CEF Who are you currently texting ? no one What was the last thing...

Ben has been very busy this summer. He was accepted to attend Christian Evangelical Fellowship Camp which is a big commitment for a teen. He had to spend two weeks at a training camp learning how to evangelize children and learning how to run Christian camps for kids. Now he is spending several weeks actually working on staff at Vacation Bible Schools around the island. It was really odd not to have him around the house for two weeks. We didn't even get to talk to him. However, all the families were invited come out on Father's Day and visit our teens. We arrived just as they were snapping photos of the various groups of teens. That's Ben up at the very top. I asked him what was the best part of camp so far and he said, "The food! We've had great food like shepherd's pie and there's enough for us to have seconds ! " I asked him what was the worst thing about camp and he said, "One boy keeps playing rap music every night! You can't spell '...

This is the latest news from Kerry: My meeting: The other night I had a meeting discussing expansion efforts in the Eastern part of Afghanistan. This meeting is held every Saturday night at 1900 (7:00 PM for non-military people). The meeting is held in a large conference room in the Division Headquarters building. Like any "Type A" Army officer, I showed up 10 minutes early. The conference room is L shaped and I came in the door at the back of the room, walked through the small hallway, marched in and sat down against the wall (not at the main table). I did notice a few people already in the room as I entered....nothing unusual since we are all programed to arrive 10 minutes early. However....I looked up at the screen and saw a power point presentation (on-going) that discussed Engineer issues in Afghanistan. I surreptitiously turned my head to the right and glanced at the head of the table. There sat GENERAL Campbell, surrounded by a flock of Colonels and Lieutenant Colonels...