Then Sings My Soul Saturdays

I am posting this song because it's just one that I love.
For more Then Sings Your Soul Saturdays go on over to Amy's blog: Signs, Miracles, and Wonders.

Darrian and Julian enjoying Easter candy.
The girls.
Damian playing with his nieces.
Easter was fun. We went to my daughter's house in Oregon. The kids enjoyed their baskets and Easter egg hunt. In the middle pic, Kai'lie is smiling, this is the little one my son Darrian whose 7 calls "the girl who looks like Dora."

MilSpouse Friday Fill-In

This week’s questions are:

1. How many pets do you have? And what type? submitted by Life and Times of a Displaced Jersey Girl
None. We want to get a dog but since we plan on moving back to Hawaii for retirement we are nervous about bringing one over. You cannot fly with an animal in the storage compartment when it gets too hot and it's hot a lot on the way to HI.



2. What are your favorite projects to do while hubby is away? submitted by my-inspired-nest
Reading and chatting with hubby whenever he is on line. Also I take a lot of pictures to share with him so this is kind of fun.

3. What are the must-haves in your deployment care packages? submitted by Christine’s Little Blog
Trader Joe's blueberry scones and vegan chocolate chip cookies. We eat pretty healthy and although there is a good chow hall where he is at it's not totally a health food fest.

4. If you could star in any TV show, which would it be? submitted by Just a Girl
I have no idea. Although it may be Fringe. I'd love to play Olivia.

5. What was the biggest hurdle that you faced during your/your significant other’s first deployment? submitted by The Pavlik Perspective
I was 09 months pregnant and basically on bed rest with 5 other kids to take care of. It was a close knit post in Germany and my husbands commander let him stay home for 2 weeks and then head on to Albania. That was a plus of being in an MLRS unit in Babenhausen. It was very cohesive.

For more Friday Fill-Ins go on over to Wife of a Sailor

Bible Code III

I read Bible Code I and II by Michael Drosnin and now I'm reading number III. So far so good. A little scary but truly a book that I find good to have in my Christian library. Has anyone else read any of these books?

Besides that, today is Sunday, The Lord's Day, and we are headed off to church in a few minutes.

Next week we are thinking of driving to Oregon to visit my daughter and her family. She usually makes the 2 1/2 hour trek up here on Friday night after her work and then makes it back down on Sunday, she knows I have trouble with driving. My eyesite is pretty good except at night and when it rains, and it rains a lot in WA and OR so she makes the trip up here instead. If next weekend is as sunny as this one I will probably visit her. So that's my plan. Anyone else have any awesome Easter plans for next Sunday?

Darrian's new biker chick. Just kidding. My 7 year old has the worst crush on this little neighbor girl. He says he is going to marry her, she says she's just getting a ride from him. He rides her around every day after school, I taught him well.

I can't help it. My granddaughter gave me Bieber Fever. I remember years ago when my kids got me hooked on Hannah Montana, I thought I was over that, I thought wrong. I am now the proud owner of a Justin Bieber CD. I better go now...I need to get a Bieber Fever T-shirt.

Then Sings My Soul Saturday

It's been awhile since I have participated in Then Sings My Soul Saturday, but it used to be one of my favorite posts of the week. After all the ups and downs today with the possibility of a government shutdown and not getting paid I thought it appropriate that I post the song that has been running through my head for most of the day. For more Then Sings My Soul Saturday go on over to Amy's blog Signs, Miracles, and Wonders.

Government shutdown and the Military

I can't believe that our gov't cannot come up with some sort of plan to avoid a complete shutdown. I feel very sorry for all of the people who will be affected but especially the men and women fighting overseas. By the Grace of God, my husband and I, have been able to keep a savings account that would tie us over in case of no pay or limited pay, but my heart breaks for the young soldiers deployed, who because of rank and being newly in the Military, may not have this buffer. I feel President Obama, who claims the military will only be paid for one week instead of two, aught to think very carefully before he goes with this plan. What will this do to the men and women who defend the US and their Commander in Chief. Imagine being in a war zone, worried about your family, and on top of all this stress having the added benefit of worrying about how your family will pay the bills for basic necessities...food...dental...housing....etc. Like I said there are many soldiers just starting out, living pay check to pay check, where will this leave their moral. Shame on you President Obama for laying this at the deployed men and woman's feet. What are you thinking? With the number of suicides being so high, and the military being shot at on a continual basis, how the heck do you think this is going to work.

If you are a fan of American Idol you will know who Chris Medina is. He is the guy who after 6 years proposed to his girlfriend Juliana Ramos in the Starbucks they both worked at. 2 months before they were to be married Juliana was in a horrific car accident that left her severely brain damaged. Chris is her primary caregiver and works round the clock to take care of her. He didn't make it all the way in American Idol but he made it all the way into America's heart and the heart of Producer Rodney Jerkins who wrote a song for Chris to record with the proceeds going to a fund to take care of Juliana. It is available on itunes.

Once again Army Wives was hard to watch on Sunday. I thought the death and funeral for Jeremy Sherwood was excruciating, but the fallout is just as bad. It really showed how the death of one soldier affects so many. The few scenes that broke my heart were Roland breaking down when he saw his 2 year old daughter in her mom's beret, when Denise and Frank got Jeremy's effects, and Chase's reaction to the news that Jeremy was KIA. I don't know how much more of this season I can take but I guess that is why the show is so compelling.

On a lighter note, maybe, I watched Camelot and enjoyed this quite a bit. Love seeing the history from a Fiction point of view. It was a little graphic and very violent but done well. Starz has created this one and I think it will be a great series.

Anyone else watching anything good? Or reading anything good? I am reading "The Walk" by Richard Paul Evans, and so far I am enjoying it, but once again it is a tearjerker.

Little Critters

My son Dominic Jr, who is very creative always finds something on the computer he wants to make. For awhile it was origami boxes, then it was duct tape wallets, and now it's these. They are called Little Critters and the one on the right is the one Dominic made of my 7 year old Darrian. I think they are cute and the good news is that he will have a bunch of neighborhood teens in here making them this week as he always does. It's like an art class which is much better then them hanging out in front of video games all afternoon.

My daughter Kira, with her kids, pictured above, came up from Oregon this weekend and we had a great time. We went to Whole Foods to get some organic items I just can't get here. For instance my kids love Stoneyfield Farms Blueberry yogurt and I can never seem to find it in WA except at the Whole Foods. They have every other flavor known to man in the commissary, but blueberry, no way. Then it was off to IKEA where my daughter wanted to purchase shelves. That turned into quite a fiasco but nonetheless we had fun. We didn't come home with the shelves mind you, but we had fun. For some reason the shelves rung up wrong and the customer service in Renton was terrible. It ended up with the little girls saying I'm tired and melting down, and my daughter and I swearing never to return to this IKEA. Well that's a bunch of hooey. Like it's IKEA. Like I'm not going to return. In fact today I'm thinking, maybe we should go back to IKEA and get some other type of shelves. I don't know though because yesterday my daughter said "I'm all over finding shelves." I'll bet when she gets up this morning she will be ready for round 2.

We do have a knew church we found a few months ago that I want to take her too, but after, you never know, it could be IKEA or bust.

Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend too. God Bless.

Mil-Spouse Friday Fill- In

1. What romance movie scene reminds you of your s/o or spouse and the LOVE you share? submitted by Simply Sunshine and Daisy’s Kind of a lot of scenes from the movie You've got Mail. Don't ask me why because we didn't meet this way but the two character have very similar personalities to us and the end scene at the Empire State building reminds me how they got together almost under impossible odds. Like what are the odds. That's how it was for us. We came together like it was fate. We sure had a lot of obstacles but for some reason it all worked out.
2. If you were allowed to deploy with your husband to a war zone would you and why? submitted by I & J Yes Possibly Iraq. It seems like these people will need a lot of help in rebuilding. Although I am not sure if it is considered a war zone anymore. Maybe then Afghanistan. I think the women and children there need to be protected from the Taliban. I would love to work in an orphanage in a place like this trying to make a difference.
3. Have you ever done anything (intentionally, or unintentionally) to embarrass your spouse/significant other in front of his military cohorts? submitted by Marrying the Navy No.
4. What is your most irrational fear? submitted by Eights on the Move I hate to park in certain parking spaces. I don't like 3, 5, 8, I won't usually park in spaces with these numbers attached to them. For instance I love the number 7 but would not park in a space marked 37. I have lot's of fears when I'm in the car and someone else is driving, the parking space thing is the least of them.
5. If you could only live in one kind of climate for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? submitted by Many Waters The climate we lived in for 8 1/2 years in Hawaii and the place we plan on retiring in. It's always perfect and rarely changes. I can't ask for more.

For more Mil-Spouse Friday Fill-in head on over to Wife of a Sailor

Jiffy pop the magical treat as much fun to make as it is to eat

Sometimes the Commissary carries Jiffy pop. What is it about this stuff that kids love. I remember liking to make this too and then it seemed to disappear. All of sudden it reappeared and now the kids like to make it as much as I did. I wonder if it's the fact that this small plate of popcorn turns into a big ball of tin foil. I will admit it's not my favorite tasting popcorn, we already have a carnival sized popper, but it is the most fun to make.

On a more idiotic note the Army has blocked my hubby and all his peeps from viewing any blogs over in Afghanistan so I will be posting more pics on FB. I prefer this format so I will continue to blog, but as of now I will be jamming up my FB with pics of every little thing we are doing. As my friend Pamela said "the Army is blocking blogs but not Facebook?" Go figure.

Darrian fell asleep with his deployment doll last night. I think these are a great idea. If you don't already have one, and are in the Army, you can suggest the deployment doll to your FRG and they can try to locate them. I am not sure if they have them for the other services, but I don't see why not. You can put a picture of your loved one in the face and it is just something a little extra to hang onto while daddy or mommy are away. We have 2 because I got one when my husband last went to Iraq and then they gave them out here. So I put one in my older boys room and my younger one sleeps with his, and me of course. He has stolen daddies spot since dad has been gone. He tells me he doesn't want me to be lonely. I tell him that when dad get's back he get's his spot back. I know this is probably not a good habit in the normal world, but he no longer lives in the normal world. In the normal world dad's don't go to war. So sometimes living the military life you make exceptions. Not many, but some. Anyway I thought some of you might like to know about these if you have kids.

Happy Birthday Raya

My grandaughter Rielyn (Raya for short) had a birthday on March 20, the day before my son Brandon. So we had a birthday party for her at her second Mama Rachael's house last Saturday. There she is in the middle with the right sided pony tale enjoying her pizza. We had a lot of fun and the kids enjoyed it.

Today I got an e-mail from Dominic so at least for now I know he's safe.

Goodye Jeremy Sherwood

Yesterday a soldier on Army Wives was killed in action. The episode was heart breaking yet so well done. Normally I would not watch something like this with my husband being deployed, but I've watched the show since day one and I wasn't going to miss this episode. Apparently in the following weeks the death of Jeremy will cause the wives to question everything they believe in. I think this has to be done. In fact since I have been at Ft. Lewis there have been many of us wives in my neighborhood and their kids who have questioned their beliefs. You see there is a lady around the corner from me who lost her first husband in Iraq. My son's play with her daughter. Her daughter is only 13 and an Atheist. She told me she lost her faith when her dad was killed. IT saddens me when I pass her SUV parked in front of her house all the time and on the back is a magnet that says "we love our hero Sgt. So and so," that was her dad There isn't a day that this doesn't impact me. Then their is my sons friend who lives next door. His dad was wounded in Iraq and has very little use of his arms. We have become friends with both families. Both families go to our church. What they have gone through is more then anyone should have to. My hat goes off to Army Wives for not only portraying the death of Jeremy accurately, but of following up on the impact of his death in weeks to come. Was anyone else affected by this show, especially this episode? I know my friend Sandra (Diary of a stay at home mom) was because the episode barely ended and we were chatting about it on facebook. I could tell that it was heart wrenching for her too. She is also a military wife and Knows many others in the military. So I think for us it was just a little too close to home. So with tears in my eyes I will finish this post.

Congratulations Darrian

Yesterday Darrian got an award for Student of the month for responsibility. He struggles a little in school so he was very happy to get this award. There he is scratching his head as his principal looks on.

Everyone who knows me knows I love the cooking show Extra Virgin. I act like I know Debi and Gabriele personally. Last night I sat with the boys until 10:30 pm catching up on the episodes I missed. Today I made Gabriele's Bruschetta Pizzaiola. It was delicious and so easy to make. I gathered all the ingredients, went to work chopping and mixing and then put the mixture on sliced Italian bread that had been toasted. Popped them in to the oven for 10 minutes and the next thing you know we were eating Bruschetta to die for. There will be many recipes over the next few months I make after watching Debi and Gabriele. I will share them with you. In the meantime check out Extra Virgin if you like cooking shows. It think it's one of the best for authentic Italian food. After all Gabriele is from Tuscany.

MilSpouse Friday Fill in

There is a wonderful blog out there called Wife of a Sailor and she has this Fill-in so that Military spouses can get to know each other better. The questions could pertain to people outside the military also. So if anyone wants to participate I would go on over to her blog Thursday and get the questions and answer them for Fridays blog. I'm finding this to be great fun. I love reading the other spouses answers. Here goes: 1. What is your must have gadget? submitted by Flying High With My Flyboy: Cell phone with a qwerty keyboard. I love being able to text my husband and friends all day and I especially like knowing the kid's and their school can get in touch with me at any time. Also my Kitchen Aid blender, is this a gadget? DVR, can't forget this one.
2. How does your adulthood compare to what you imagined it would be like when you were a little kid? submitted by L to the Third: I think it's better then I imagined. I always thought I would work in the Medical field and have a family. I ended up volunteering at my kid's school and having 7 children. I still love anything Medical, but my heart lies in working with kids. I found my soul mate and nothing could have prepared me for this. This has been the best thing that ever happened to me. I always imagined a white knight marrying me and I got one. So my adulthood definitely is better then I could of ever imagined. Also being able to travel all over the place: Germany, Spain, France, Hawaii, doesn't hurt either.
3. What is your favorite chocolate recipe? submitted by Our First Deployment: Brownies, brownies, and brownies.
4. How do you deal with military life when it gets to be to much or to hard? submitted by Combat Boots And Pointe Shoes: I watch mindless tv, or lose myself in a book, or just imagine what it would be like if I couldn't show my kids their is a whole world out there that the Army is enabling us to experience.
5. What piece of advice would you give a new Military spouse facing their first deployment? submitted by The Albrecht Squad: You don't need to go home. Staying close to the base and helping the FRG is a lot of fun and who else can support you better then the spouses going through the deployment at this moment. In fact that is what I am doing right now, Immersing myself in the FRG. Blog, there are spouses out there who can give you a world of info. Have a life of your own. Whether that's work, volunteering, anything. Hobbies help too. I scrapbook and blog when my husband is gone so he can feel connected. Can you tell this is old hat for me.

Can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with tomorrow!