Merry Christmas!

In spite of the sleepless nights and impossible-to-assemble toys, Christmas turned out pretty good after all. There were some hitches: Pook saw her "big" present on Christmas Eve (Santa had to deliver it early, when help was available, because it was so heavy) and became hysterical, partly because she thought it meant she wouldn't get any other presents, but mostly because she disobeyed her Momma; Uncle Brian, Aunt Cheryl and Jagger weren't able to be at Gramma and Grampa's for our Christmas with them; and I got really lonely for the kiddos during the week they stayed in Oklahoma. But all in all, considering that Daddy is far, far away, it went over pretty well. Most importantly, we spent time with people we love and we took time to do some good deeds and share some love out into the world. And that is, after all, the true meaning of Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Christmas in OK

The kids were really spoiled this year, with four different occasions of gift-giving! Here are some pictures of Christmas morning in OK, and our visit with Baby Jagger that evening.

Bitty was very excited about his tricycle. He stuffed Eve and Wall-e in the back and that is where they stayed!

Pookie was thrilled to get some "real" art supplies this year. She is quite the artist!

Beanie's most favorite gift of all may well be "Big Pig", the Princess. She loves her piggies!

Here is Grampa, getting some Christmas love from the boy in the silk pajamas.

Here's Pook and Gramma with Baby J.

Beanie with Baby J.

Poor baby, he really got passed around. Even Bitty got a turn!

Christmas Morning

This morning started way too early for me...or the night was too short!

I had barely finished putting the last screw (of SIXTY!) in Bitty's three-story parking garage when I heard the prancing and pawing of...not reindeer...whew, not kids either, just Dexter, wanting to go out. I did hear the kids shortly thereafter though. I was still taking pictures of my beautifully staged "Christmas morning" tableau when I heard giggling and footsteps overhead. The kids were all snuggled in our bed, waiting for me to discover them!

Waiting on the stairs...

They all loved their Santa presents - Pook's kitchen, Beanie's stroller, and Bitty's "mote control" dinosaur. They especially loved the instruments that Daddy got them, and we spent the day playing with all the other new toys. I was completely shocked to have received some fabulous presents from Uncle Marco and Darrell...thanks guys! We watched all of our new movies, and Bitty finally crashed while admiring his new solar system wall art. What a great day!

Quick pic before the unwrapping frenzy!

Pookie made Christmas "soup" in her new kitchen.

Beanie making Christmas pancakes. Yum!

Christmas crash!

Christmas Eve

This year, we spent Christmas Eve with Granna, Granny, Aunt Robynn and Jacie, decorating cookies. We had a wonderful time! Robynn really had things figured out: she had measured the dough into little balls and gave each kid some wax paper with the dough inside. This means rolling dough is not messy! They all made sugar cookie and gingerbread people to bake. We also had some cookies already made, and spent a lot of time decorating those. There were piles and piles of sprinkles and sugar! It was awesome.

By the time we left, Pook, Bean and Bitty were completely worn out. The excitement of Christmas kept them awake on the way home though. Shortly after we got home, we heard some bells jingling outside and they all ran up the stairs and dove into bed! With the exception of Pook, who crept silently down the stairs to find out whether Santa had actually come or not, that was the end of the day for three kiddos. Sweet dreams!

Happy Dogs

Dogs love the holidays - more time with their people and extra treats!

Sisters

Here is a pic of the girls enjoying some mild weather before Christmas and one of Bitty in front of the fireplace. I loved the mantel this year; it was covered with lights and greenery and cards and tons of kid-made decorations. It was so festive!

New Army

For a while after arriving in theater, Tracy and his team enjoyed relaxed grooming standards. The CO of the infantry unit he is supporting put an end to it, but it appears that it was fun while it lasted. I'm fond of the scruffy look, but I suspect APD will disapprove as well. Party poopers!

I should be sleeping...or wrapping presents...

I'm starting to feel a little bit like Bad Santa. I mean, let's be honest here. I've had a potty mouth since junior high, when Tina Casey and I made up a cheer entirely of swear words and walked all over the Pernell School campus yelling it at the top of our lungs. I still remember it, actually, and yes, it even rhymed. Time in the Army certainly didn't hurt either. During my last (ever) stint on active duty, a soldier walked into my office and cursed about something. Then he apologized to me, mostly because I was a woman, but also because I scared him a little (I kind of miss that). I calmly responded, "No f'ing problem", and moved on to the next thing.

Anyhoo, I've noticed, over the last week, that I don't really think of Christmas anymore without cursing, as in, "Sweet jesus, it's only six days away! When am I going to get this f'ing kitchen put together, and where the hell am I going to hide it then?"

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Christmas. I embrace the secular, sacred, and pagan aspects of this holiday in all their commercial, inaccurate, bigoted, misguided glory. Given the time, I would develop a multicultural Christmas experience diverse enough to earn me a minor in world studies. And the fun of Christmas morning, when three kiddos will wake me before dawn and beg me to let them "just look" at the presents for at least an hour before I am able to struggle to consciousness, well, that kind of innocent joy and excitement is hard to match.

Between now and then, however, I have to construct a (big, bright) kitchen, a toy car parking garage (with helipad and car wash), and a three-way convertible baby carriage. And the list of items to be wrapped is longer, somehow, than the shopping list I started out with a few weeks back.

On the bright side, it's Christmas in Austin, and we are guaran-damn-teed to have weather warm enough to make the all-nighter in the garage bearable. If I can just remember to buy the f'ing batteries for the "commote control dinosaur", things will work out fine.

Army Wife Crap

I assume that all “active duty family members”, or ADFMs, as we are known, think about this in passing. I mean, it has to at least cross the minds of girl/boyfriends, spouses, parents, whomever. I certainly don’t consider myself to be unique in this regard. Don’t get me wrong, I am not a pessimist. I fully expect my warrior husband to return triumphantly in due time, battered duffel in hand, appropriately sheepish grin in place (“Sorry I had to do this babe. But glad I did, all the same.”). But at the same time, I feel certain that I need to be prepared for any eventuality.

In my mind, this story is always about The Car. It catches me unexpectedly, in quiet, normal moments; takes my breath and the normalcy away. I am chopping carrots in the kitchen and the dogs bark at a noise from the street. Is The Car out front? We are walking home from the park down the street. As the front yard comes in view, my breath catches in my throat and I wonder if I will see The Car in our driveway when I round the corner.

The story almost always includes a flag, too: “As they ease the sedan to the curb, he notices the flag pole in the front yard, and the flower bed planted with yellow and pink rosebushes. The flag snaps in the breeze, its pop catching him by surprise as he steps out of the passenger side and adjusts his coat. He flinches involuntarily, squinting at it against the late afternoon sun. He takes a deep breath, sets his hat straight, and strides toward the front door.”

Tracy has always wanted a flag in the front yard (“a federal area”) and I intend to create one for him while he is away. But somehow I suspect that I may wait until he returns to run up the Colors.

The Turkey Song

I didn't actually capture this on video until mid-December, but it belongs in the November group. For some reason, Bitty did this number a lot in early November, and then refused to do it for a few weeks. When I figure out how to rotate this, I will come back and fix it. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving in our new home this year, and Aunt Kim joined us. Pook ate more than her share of tofurkey, and the entire tofurkey roast was gone by lunch on Friday! This year's stuffing, made from locally grown and coarse-ground corn meal, was the. best. ever. I ate way too much of it. I can't wait to reproduce this meal for Tracy when he comes home!

Today, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked to the nearby park. I was so proud of Pook and Bean, who rode their bikes all the way there and most of the way back, a 4 mile round trip!

egan2

About halfway to his school today, Bitty announced that he needed to “go poop.” I told him he would have to wait a few minutes because we were driving to school and there was no place to stop. A few minutes passed and he stated his need again, a little more urgently. Then he said, “I could go in the gwass!” I explained that no, it wasn’t like stopping to go pee on the side of the road, because “I don’t have any toilet paper to wipe your bottom.” “Well Momma,” he said, “you could just wipe my bottom with a big rock!”

It's the bubbles that make it good!

I was making oatmeal for the kids’ breakfast and Bitty was sitting on the counter beside the stove, watching me. He looked into the pot, where the water had just begun to bubble. He said, “What are you making?” I answered, “Oatmeal. Don’t touch the pot, it’s hot.” He looked in the pot again, wrinkled up his nose and said, “Oatmeal? With hot sprite?”

Welcome Jagger!

Baby Jagger made his appearance on November 10, 2008, at 7:17 pm. He weighs 8 lbs, 2 oz and is 21 inches long. Congrats and all our love to Brian and Cheryl!

She shoots, she scores!

Today's soccer match was quite eventful for us! Not long after it started, I was helping Bitty get settled with his snack when suddenly I heard this “smack!”, than a sharp intake of breath and then silence. The woman next to me elbowed me and said “that’s your kid!” I looked up and there was Beanie, rubbing her forehead. All the girls were standing still, looking at her, and the ball was rolling away. Then she shrugged and started running after the ball. It was classic Beanie, fearless and invincible!

Later on in the match, Pookie was in the right place at the right time. She had just arrived near the goal when one of her teammates passed the ball her way. She thought fast, stopped the ball and kicked it in for her first ever goal. Yea!!!

Happy Halloween!

We had a fabulous Halloween! Finally, we live in a neighborhood where we can just walk out the door and down the sidewalk to trick-or-treat, and we took full advantage of it. The kids were so excited about going! Bitty had enjoyed some treats at school before I picked him up, so he was all sugared up and could hardly stand still to get ready. I acquired some colored and sparkly hairspray, which provided just the right finishing touch. I stuck with the sparkles, but the girls had pink hair and Bitty opted for green. Halfway through our walk, they were shocked when a car pulled over to the curb and Gramma jumped out! That was my own special Halloween treat for them. Thanks Gramma and Grampa for making this year's Halloween even more special!

Anticipating the Great Pumpkin

On Thursday, the girls got to go to the Pumpkin Patch with their Daisy troop, so we all went today after soccer. We got some awesome pumpkins! They had a great variety of sizes and types. The ones we chose include the standard large and small orange for carving and pies, and also a turban gourd, a cinderella pumpkin, a ghost variety, and another greenish-blue one. Yea for pumpkins!

Later in the evening, we went to the Halloween party at Bitty's preschool. They had fun wearing their costumes, and all three braved the haunted rooms. Interestingly, Beanie was the most scared, and tried over and over to get all the way into the room with the ghost bride. She finally made it through!

Batty Day

Because I'm insane, I volunteered to make bat wings for 18 first graders who are having a "batty day" today. I also made some for Bitty, because I knew he would l-o-o-o-o-ve them. And I was right!

A Sad Farewell

There was an old hymn we used to sing in church when I was a kid, and the chorus included the words, “Dear friends, there’ll be no sad farewell, no tear-dimmed eyes…” I kept thinking of that song while I was with Tracy last week. I knew, going in, that this trip would be bittersweet, but I still hoped to give him a happy farewell.

When I left Austin on Wednesday afternoon it was hot and pouring much-needed rain. Needless to say, the temperature in Philadelphia when I landed was much lower, and I was glad to have brought along a jacket. Tracy met me at the airport and we drove into the historic downtown, enjoying the cool air and cooler architecture. Little did we know that the Phillies had just won the National League Pennant. We turned down street after street full of pedestrians cheering and drivers honking! Everyone was celebrating. As we neared our hotel, it became apparent that we were stuck in the middle of a block. The fans demanded honking, smiles, and high-fives before letting us pass. Even though we aren't Phillies fans, we were happy for them!

We stayed at the Sheraton Society Hill. The hotel is small and cozy, and perfectly situated for exploring downtown. We spent Thursday doing just that. We had lunch at Rotten Ralph’s, then enjoyed the colonial ale and bread sampler at City Tavern. The sampler includes four ales made from historic recipes of the Washingtons and Thomas Jefferson, along with some traditional colonial breads. We liked George Washington’s porter and the molasses bread best. We wandered all over the City, from the Head House market area to the Liberty Bell to City Hall, including stops in a historic graveyard, two music stores, and a tattoo parlor.

Around 8:00 Thursday evening, we left Philadelphia and headed to Atlantic City, where we met up with two other couples. I had no idea that there is no “last call” in Atlantic City! After spending a lot of time – and more money – in the Toga bar at Caesar’s Palace and some little Irish place around the corner, we finally made it back to our room at Bally’s a little after 7:00 am. I watched the sun rise over the Atlantic while soaking in the big garden tub, then we napped for a few hours. After breakfast, we took a very chilly walk on the beach before heading north to Monroe, NY. Driving north through New Jersey on the Garden State Parkway, we began to notice beautiful fall foliage. By the time we got into New York and stopped for a break, the air was crisp and the trees were brilliant. We arrived at Joe and Julie’s around 7 pm, thoroughly amazed by the incredible colors blanketing the hillsides and by their gorgeous property on an old dairy farm.

Originally, we had planned to go into the City for dinner and stay overnight at Julie’s brother’s place, near Central Park. Instead, we chose to stay with them in their beautifully renovated old farmhouse. Joe and Julie were so welcoming, and their three girls were so charming, that we really just didn’t want to leave. We enjoyed sharing their Friday night “Greek feast” and sat up talking and looking at photos until midnight. Saturday morning, we helped them get ready for their 5^th annual Pumpkin Party. They were expecting 40+ families to decorate pumpkins, play games, and generally just enjoy the beautiful fall weather. We were tempted to stay, but honestly, I was a little overwhelmed. As much as I enjoyed our visit, I couldn't help but think that Tracy should have been holding his own kiddos. It was a little dose of reality that I hadn't expected.

We headed to Liberty State Park just as the Pumpkin Party guests were starting to arrive. From there, we had planned to take the Water Taxi over to Manhattan. Unfortunately, it was having mechanical problems, and we missed the last Statue of Liberty ferry while we waited on the taxi. We persevered though, and caught the subway from a station that was close by. One of our main purposes for this trip was to visit Ground Zero. We came up from the train on the southwest corner and walked around. The site is completely surrounded by construction fencing and it's difficult to see much. As we walked past the Millenium Hilton, we both had the same thought: maybe we could see into the site from inside. We went in and up to the 55th floor, but no luck, though we did get a great photo of the skyline to the north. On the way down, having stopped at 7 more floors, we encountered an accommodating hotel employee. We went back up to the 55th floor where he opened a "room with a view" and told us his story of the events on Sep. 11, 2001. It wasn't possible to photograph the site from our location; we were too close and nearly on top of it, looking down. But it was amazing, and moving.

We left the hotel and continued around the site, hoping to find the visitors' center open. It was closed, so we wandered into the deli next door. Coincidentally, the Essex Deli served as the Liberty Street Medical Center on 9-11. There were many framed mementoes on the walls, including the identifying sign. After some yummy quiche, quesadillas, cheesecake and tiramisu, we walked over to the viewing area for the site. You can still see where the foundation of one of the towers was. I believe this will be a reflecting pool in the new design.

We left Ground Zero and walked a little ways, heading to Wall Street, passing by Trinity Church on the way. Then past Tiffany's and the NYSE, headed to the Empire State Building. By this point we were beginning to realize how cold and windy it really was, and decided to take the train rather than walk the 20+ blocks. I love riding subways, and my first NY experience was perfect. There were a lot of people, and a few of them were freaky or scary or both, which is just what I expected! We came up a block from Madison Square Garden and checked out the adjacent Borders store. Everyone needs to have a book store shopping spree now and then, and we did! Our purchases included "Goodnight Moon" for our soon-to-be-born nephew, "This is New York" for our kiddos, and several Afghan/Taliban/Islam related books for ourselves. After that, we began walking toward the ESB, beautifully lit in purple and orange. We changed our minds, though, because it was late and cold, and headed back to the subway via a souvenir shop instead. On our ride back to NJ, several young men were sitting across from us. We noticed that they appeared to be middle eastern and that one was reading an Arabic newspaper and carrying a backpack. I thought about that for a long time. I was wholly unconcerned with them, but in many places in America, they would be targets for insults, rage, or worse. Tracy is defending their freedom as much, or more than, mine.

We finally left NJ about 10:00 Saturday night. We were tired and neither of us was looking forward to what came next. After a couple missed exits we arrived at our hotel near the Philadelphia airport. Our last night together, of course, was nowhere near long enough. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the airport. Tracy wanted to park and come in with me, but I made him drop me at the curb instead. Who knew that a parking barrier at the departures terminal could hold such a special place in my heart? I checked my bag and we said our goodbyes in the chilly pre-dawn air. And in spite of my best intentions, and my promise to him that I wouldn't "get all teary-eyed", it was, indeed, a sad farewell.

sick, sick, sick

On Tuesday, the school nurse called to tell me that Beanie had broken out in a red, itchy rash. I picked her up a few hours later and brought her back to work with me, where my admin said, “Wasn’t she out last week with a fever and sore throat? I bet she has scarlet fever!” And then she pulled up pics online to prove it. Needless to say, I took her and Pook, who kept us both awake coughing all night, to the doctor the next morning. At first she said that Beanie’s rash (mostly gone by then) was probably just an allergic reaction. Then she examined Pook, took one look at her throat and said, “She has strep, and that’s scarlet fever.” After throat cultures confirmed her diagnosis, she said, “Don’t you have another?” I nodded. “Go get him!” she said. Sure enough, Bitty’s culture tested positive as well, in about 2 seconds flat. After resting at home for a couple days and getting antibiotics, they were all cleared to go back to school today. I happily came to work, full of plans for catching up and completing assignments before my trip to the east coast next week. And now it’s noon, and I have chills and fever, and a bright red throat…sigh.

I'm cravin' some straight talk, folks!

Ill be the first to admit that Sarah Palin handled last night's debate better than I expected. Still, sequester me with her crack-pot team of advisers for a week and I could convince you that I'm capable of memorizing a script, too. It's too bad she didn't prepare as well for the Couric interview.

I disagree with McCain/Palin on almost every issue, including some with which Obama/Biden don't disagree. But there are three issues that I'm focusing on.

1. The importance of refocusing military operations in Afghanistan. Granted, I am biased on this point because I believe my husband will be better protected by the Obama/Biden policy. Regardless, the presence of terroristic threats in this region has dramatically increased over the past five years. The August attack on our base in Khost province (across the border from Waziristan) included organized waves of at least 10 suicide bombers, almost all of whom were shot, rather than detonated. We must find a way to address this threat, and work with Afghanistan and Pakistan to stabilize the border and tribal areas. Our work in this region is as, if not more, important than our work in Iraq.

2. I am, and will always be, pro-choice. Thankfully, I never had to make the decision whether to keep, give up, or abort a baby. In all probability, I would most likely have kept the baby in that situation. I firmly believe that we should address the causes behind unintended pregnancy, whether they are age, ignorance, cultural, whatever. Education about our bodies and our options, and empowerment of oppressed demographic groups, leading to improved self-image and expectations, are the keys to overcoming this problem. I am not willing to raise every child whose mother has been convinced not to abort, and thus I think the decision should be hers, not mine, not yours, and certainly not the government's.

3. I subscribe to the school of thought in which the president is more intelligent and more experienced in governing than I am. In fact, that is my only concern about Obama. I have looked for his candidacy since he was elected to the Senate, and I believe he is up to the task largely because he has the good sense to know his weaknesses. He is extremely intelligent and has chosen advisers who complement his positions and provide the expertise he lacks. As a Senator, he understands how the federal processes - legislative, budgetary, judicial - work. He is a candidate who understands the importance of our eroded trust in the judicial branch and can remedy that by extricating the administration from its management and restoring its political impartiality. Sarah Palin's first involvement with the state budget was FY 2008! It is possible, though unlikely in my opinion, that in time she could develop qualifications approaching adequacy. But she does not have them now. I do not appreciate her colloquial manner, which she refers to as "straight talk" for the "folks". Sarah, I am not part of your carpool, I am not sitting at your kitchen table. I am - we are - intelligent, informed citizens who deserve visionary leadership and logical, experience- and knowledge-based policies in exchange for our votes.

4. Okay, I lied, there are four points. There goes my political credibility. I am a veteran, married to a veteran who is currently serving, I work in municipal government and my husband is a police officer, we have a mortgage, two cars and three kids, I am a soccer mom, I am in the PTA, I drive a minivan...this is who I am, average American, and as this woman, I am offended by McCain's lame attempt to grab my vote. The republican party is home to many experienced, qualified women who offer substance and reliability. While I would not likely agree with their politics, I would at least be able to respect their records.

Whew! I didn't really expect all that. Apparently I have some strong feelings about this election. Please, vote for change.

Zulu Pics

As promised, here are some pics from Zulu Austin back in August. I'm pretty sure the Horseshoe Lounge will never be the same!

Back to blogging

Okay, I realize I've been a lazy blogger lately. What with the husband deploying and the kids going back to school and the freaking full-time job (who do they think I am, super woman?), I have neglected my blogging duties.

I spent some time posting on what is known as the "FRG" (Family Readiness Group) yahoo site (which I created, by the way). Traditionally, a military FRG is supposed to provide a way for the families of deployed soldiers to find support, commiserate, share, etc. When the families live on base, or near each other, it can be an incredibly helpful thing. In our case, we families are fairly spread out, so the idea of an internet group was very appealing. This unit is comprised of a bunch of men and two women, so, again, in our case, the "families" are a bunch of wives and girlfriends. There's a fair amount of bitching involved in the posts. But that's the point, right, we get to vent and complain about how our soldiers' pay is screwed up, etc., etc. Apparently not. As it turns out, more than one of us wives have been reprimanded by the company commander for airing our concerns. And if that's not bad enough, our husbands have been impacted as well! If there's one thing you don't want to do just before you send your husband off to war, well, it's pissing off his commander. Let's just say that I swallowed my pride, made my apologies (even though he is WRONG!) and said goodbye to that crap. Not long after, the number of posts began to fall dramatically and now the group is practically defunct. Ha! That is what they get.

Okay, moving on, I am back with a vengeance AND I have a new camera, so get ready to be flooded with posts and pictures!

Momma's Little Helper

On the way to school this morning, from Bitty:

“Momma, did you know that I am ferry strong and ferry brave? I can whack stuff! I think you need my help.”

Kid Culture

Beanie is choreographing a dance to her latest piano composition. First she shows Pook what movement goes with each “chord”, then she plays the chord (actually a sequence of notes) and says its name: “this is a waterfall chord…this is a flying chord…” and Pook does the movements. It's actually very interesting and a little scary; I am certain that she is much, much smarter than I am.

Under the category of less cultured…here’s what I overheard while making breakfast. The (semi-nakey)kids were playing on the computer and with play-doh (probably not such a good combination, in retrospect!).

Bitty: “I poot play-doh! Look! I put play-doh in my bottom!” (giggles from all kids)
I chastised him and told him I would take the play-doh away if he did it again.
Bitty: “I’m sorry for put the play-doh in my butt. Pookie did it too!”

Saying Goodbye to Daddy

When I was 21, I conducted my grandmother's funeral service. Just getting there was a nightmare; my plane from DC was grounded in St. Louis in a snowstorm. My mom and cousin met me at the airport the morning of the service with a black dress, stockings, shoes...clothes that I never wore again. But life is funny; we move on, grow, learn, love. This year I went through a different, and even harder, kind of difficulty: watching my kids say goodbye to their father as he prepares for deployment to a combat zone.

After spending a few wonderful days at home in Austin, Tracy's unit departed from DFW on September 14th. We followed the bus from the hotel to the airport, and the USO arranged for the families to go through security and wait with our soldiers at the gate. I will always be thankful for that time we had together.
We’ve gotten to stay in this particular hotel quite a bit over the last few months and the kids have really enjoyed it. They especially like the kid-sized refrigerator!
The soldiers boarded their bus shortly after 5:00 am. It was an incredibly early morning for the kids, considering we didn’t get to sleep until around 1 am, but they handled it well. At the airport, we wrote on the “good luck” sign that will be sent over to the unit headquarters. I didn’t tell the girls what to write, but they knew. The mark above Pook’s writing is Bitty’s “E”.
We watched through the window until Daddy’s plane took off. About ten miles from the airport, my front left tire blew out spectacularly on Loop 635. Somehow I managed not to wreck the van and we spent the next hour waiting for help. We finally got on our way. The girls crashed out soon after, but Bitty had one final commentary on this lousy day.

World Cup, here we come!

The girls have wanted to play soccer for about a year, ever since we went to see their friend Lola play. So, because I am a glutton for punishment, I signed them up to play in a rec league this fall. Fortunately the season only lasts 10 weeks. Yikes. Here are some photos from their first match. Sadly, they lost, but nobody even noticed!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Beanie (K) and Pookie (1st). They are so cute...and so big!

Pookie hit the big time on her first day of 1st grade. Here is a link to a video news story that was filmed in her classroom today.

Fun in the Pool

We celebrated the end of summer with a trip to Aunt Kim's pool. Pook even learned how to "swim" underwater! The weather was perfect and we had a great afternoon.

Goodbye Preschool, Hello PETA!

Today is Beanie's last day of pre-school! She is very excited to be going to kindergarten. Well, she is very excited about buying school supplies, anyway! Gramma is coming down today and on Sunday all three kiddos are going home with her to Oklahoma. They are looking forward to "helping" in the garden and riding their bikes "on the road!" Sounds like a good vacation to me!

This morning on the way to daycare, Pookie amazed me. She said, "Momma, when we get home from school and work tonight, me and Beanie are gonna take the dogs, just the kids and the dogs, and we're gonna go to Chik-Fil-A and we are gonna tell those people to stop killing the animals! Animals are our friend and they need to just stop it!"

Wow! I had no idea that we were raising an activist, but I must admit that I felt very proud of her! I did try to explain that the people working in fast food places aren't the ones who kill the animals, but that didn't really appease her. I mentioned writing letters to the owners and she said, "No. Momma, we haf to bring the dogs and we haf to go there!

I'm not really sure why the dogs are being dragged along on this protest trip, and I'm also not sure why Beanie thinks the owners (and everyone else we don't know) live in Tennessee. But more power to our activist kiddos!

Family Time in Dallas

This weekend we went to Dallas for the kickoff of Tracy's active duty life. The unit hosted a Dining Out on Saturday, then family briefings and some fun stuff on Sunday. The transition is strange. It's like I woke up this morning and ta-da, I'm an army wife. Excuse me? Military service is an integral part of our life history, but it hasn't been part of our daily life in a looong time. Especially since Tracy's unit is in Dallas, the military stuff is very separate from our "real" day-to-day life. Or it has been!

The Dining Out - complete with childcare - was a nice event. Dining Out is a semi-formal dinner for the unit members and their spouses or significant others. The members present their guests to the commanding officers and dignitaries, there is a program which includes a telling of the unit's history and involvement in conflict, and there is a tribute to members who have died in combat. There is also a special table which features certain items - empty plate and glass, lemon slice, and salt - to symbolize the fallen soldiers' absence and our resulting sadness. Considering that Tracy's unit lost a soldier in Afghanistan last year, this tribute was particularly somber. Tracy read the Airborne Toast:

I have ridden the skies in great machines, hooked up and jumped with the best of men.

I have fought long and hard, and when I felt I had no energy left,

I have been fired by the fear that if I stopped fighting, my comrades would die.

And when I was in danger, enemy all around,

I heard the thunder from my left and my right, as my life was defended.

I have never been alone.

I live, jump, fight and battle to victory with the greatest assemblage of men on earth.

Gentlemen - and ladies - to the BROTHERHOOD of the AIRBORNE.

To the AIRBORNE !

All in all, it was a very emotional weekend.

Beanie, Tracy, and me, all dressed up for the Dining Out (photo courtesy of Pook!)

On Sunday, the adjacent Knights of Columbus chapter, who had given the unit space for the Dining Out, invited us to attend their incredible brunch and swim in their pool free of charge. It was just such a generous gift, and really let us all relax together. The kiddos had a blast going down the slide into the pool! They swam and jumped and slid in their floaties for at least two hours. When it was finally time for us to head back to Austin, there were lots of tears all around. I didn't think poor Pook would ever stop crying. We miss our Daddy.

Daddy and kiddos at the KC pool

Family circle photo!