Back to School

Although I will readily admit I am very much looking forward to the kids going back to school, there is a part of me that is a little sad. My kids are growing up too fast. ONE is just beginning high school and is already 1.5" taller than I. TWO is going into 7th grade and will have to find a way to get to school on time without One making sure that focus is not lost. And THREE is going into 3rd grade and not so interested in holding my hand in public anymore. And then theres the dreaded back to school shopping. I've been putting it off until the absolute last minute. Hubby and I are going on date night tonight and will tackle the two lists I have now. ONE will most likely come home with a long, expensive list on Monday. As the kids grow that leaves more time for me during the day. I'm finally at that stage in life where I can think about some of the things I've been waiting to do but couldn't because there were small kids at home. I really need to get back to scrapbooking. Three sees all the books I've done for ONE and TWO. I stopped about the time THREE turned one because life got too crazy- husband deployed, new house, new school, trying to help the kids make new friends, small toddler getting into everything, etc. Three is now 8 and I have a ton of pictures I need to put into a binder so it doesn't look like I forgot about them. With back to school comes the back to real cleaning. During the summer months I have the kids take a more active role in helping clean the house. Mondays, during school, are my cleaning days, but I'm honking of moving that to Fridays so the house is fairly clean during the weekends. What are the things you look forward to/dread when back to school rolls around?

Out of the Mouth of Babes

The kids were watching an episode of Dr Quinn this afternoon. It's an episode where Dorothy starts to experience menopause. TWO asked what menopause was and ONE said, "Its when you turn old! It said so in my health book!"

Free Hugs! Campaign

Another military spouse posted this on her blog, and I couldn't help but share it here as well.





One of the comments left said it all:

Such an awesome video! It is awesome to think that so many strangers are willing to hug one of our soldiers! It is so awesome that our soldiers are willing to accept hugs from complete strangers to show them that they are more than just soldiers! Beautiful! Thank you for this!

Gone But Never Forgotten

I was reading TheArmyWife(DUDE) this afternoon and came across this:

"Often forgotten are the children who live this life. Just today I read about a 10 yr old Kansas City boy who was begging that his father be spoken of. His dad had died over the weekend in the crash that killed 30 service members. Most notably a group of Navy SEALS. Yet this boy's dad, who was the pilot of the helicopter, was barely a blip on the screen to the media that delivers what our life looks like.(SCRATCH THAT..... tries to portray what they think America wants our life to look like)-that helicopter pilot was as valuable to the defense of our country as any one of those SEALS, yet his name is only now being known because this young man wanted everyone to know the hero his father was and IS!"

Just as we mourn the loss of so many of the mighty and brave SEALS, let's not forget the others who went down with them.

bin Laden Raid

Don't know if you guys have seen this yet.  The NewYorker has put out a new article in which journalist, Nicholas Schmidle, was given access to the Navy SEAL team and hte Senior White House advisors/staff who were involved in the raid on bin Laden's compound in Pakistan.

"Shortly after eleven o’clock on the night of May 1st, two MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters lifted off from Jalalabad Air Field, in eastern Afghanistan, and embarked on a covert mission into Pakistan to kill Osama bin Laden. Inside the aircraft were twenty-three Navy SEALs from Team Six, which is officially known as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, or DEVGRU. A Pakistani-American translator, whom I will call Ahmed, and a dog named Cairo—a Belgian Malinois—were also aboard. It was a moonless evening, and the helicopters’ pilots, wearing night-vision goggles, flew without lights over mountains that straddle the border with Pakistan. Radio communications were kept to a minimum, and an eerie calm settled inside the aircraft."

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/08/08/110808fa_fact_schmidle#ixzz1UJpgvvRC

Coronado Beach Cottage

So we braved the drive with the kids and made it to the Coronado North Island Naval Base. The beach cottages are nice. They're brand new- just opened July 4th weekend this year. Gormet kitchens, tile flooring, spacious room, high end furniture,and hat more could you aak for then to be right on the beach. They could do a little better on stocking their kitten with more pots and pans and maybe a base directory or info on how to access the wifi.

One is excited to see the Navy Seals training right here. We just learned that this place takes reservations a year out as opposed to the other AFRCs or MWR Rec places. We're going to book next year's Spring Break.