I am not married to a military man. I knew I couldn't handle that lifestyle. I know several women who are married to men who are military, and I am constantly amazed at what they and their families handle, and with what grace. It's not an easy life. It's hard, really hard. There's relocation, odd hours, changing shifts, lots of time away from family.
One friend's husband just came back from a many months long deployment. Another is waiting to find out where her husband's new orders will be. Another just moved several states away with her husband, and she just had a baby.
Military families are amazing to me. I am in awe of them, really.
My dad was in the military, and served in Vietnam. My uncle also served in Vietnam, as point--a very dangerous post (I think that's the title of the guy who has to go out in front and scout ahead). My mom's father was in WWII, which is how he met my grandmother (in Scotland). My dad's dad was also military and they moved around a lot. I know they lived in France, and I think also in Germany. I found out today that my husband's grandfathers also served in the military. My cousin was in the navy, but recently got out to pursue a different degree. I am surrounded by military, even within my family, and yet I am still awestruck at how much these men and women are willing to give for the sake of this country.
Just think about it. There are people out there who are willing to die, just so the rest of us can live. And they don't even know us. They aren't our moms, who we probably all know would do just that for us, too. No, these are some friends, but many many strangers. They deserve more than just a day.
I am often reminded of something I read a long time ago, about someone who thanks military personnel whenever she sees them. She just goes up and says, "Thank you" to them. I'm sorry to say I've never had the nerve, but I am going to. I am going to do it, even though I am very, very shy.
They deserve it.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Thursday, May 26, 2011
A Girl and Her Trucks: Some Anecdotes
For Christmas my mom gave Karina a doll bed, a box of doll clothes, and a little doll. She had been really interested in a particular doll at playgroup, and played with it a lot. Of course, now she's not that interested in dolls anymore. In fact, she wants pretty much nothing to do with them. But here was this sweet little doll bed, just sitting in the garage (Mom kept the doll at her house, since it was actually one of hers that she was giving to Karina specially) and all these clothes in this cute little trunk...
One day, Karina decided that her trucks needed to go to sleep. I asked her if she would like the trucks to have a special bed, and when she said yes, I brought up the doll bed. Now her trucks sleep in it. They also wear the doll clothes as well as many of her own clothes.
Today, we went over to this mall area that's new around here, and they have one of those in-ground flat fountains with the water jets that spurt up. Kids are allowed to play in it, and since it was pretty hot today, I decided to take her over for the first time in a bathing suit. She wasn't too sure about it, until I let her take her truck into the water with her. I hope it's not ruined. Now I want to find a spare one of it, since she loves these trucks so much!
As you may recall, the trucks have good dental hygiene. They also like to wash their hands with soap. She takes them into the bathroom and pretends (she is really good at pretend) to turn on the water and pretends to put soap on their "hands" and then pretends to wash them. The trucks also go potty, which is why they wash their hands so often.
When Karina went potty for the first time, I think I told you already that she got two new trucks, one for the first time she did number one and number two. The first was a blue police truck she calls Red Wheels, because he has red wheels. The second was a fire truck, which I mostly call Fire Truck. Karina has a new name for him though. His name is Poop Truck.
One day, Karina decided that her trucks needed to go to sleep. I asked her if she would like the trucks to have a special bed, and when she said yes, I brought up the doll bed. Now her trucks sleep in it. They also wear the doll clothes as well as many of her own clothes.
Today, we went over to this mall area that's new around here, and they have one of those in-ground flat fountains with the water jets that spurt up. Kids are allowed to play in it, and since it was pretty hot today, I decided to take her over for the first time in a bathing suit. She wasn't too sure about it, until I let her take her truck into the water with her. I hope it's not ruined. Now I want to find a spare one of it, since she loves these trucks so much!
As you may recall, the trucks have good dental hygiene. They also like to wash their hands with soap. She takes them into the bathroom and pretends (she is really good at pretend) to turn on the water and pretends to put soap on their "hands" and then pretends to wash them. The trucks also go potty, which is why they wash their hands so often.
When Karina went potty for the first time, I think I told you already that she got two new trucks, one for the first time she did number one and number two. The first was a blue police truck she calls Red Wheels, because he has red wheels. The second was a fire truck, which I mostly call Fire Truck. Karina has a new name for him though. His name is Poop Truck.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Tissues
Today Karina was playing outside with a toy that looks like a butterfly. It is actually part of a Happy Meal toy, a fairy Barbie. It is her wings, and they go into a hole in her back, but she's not interested in the doll, just the wings, which she calls butterflies (she has two, one is pink and one is purple). She was doing all her usual silly things, like giving it water and playing with it on her slide. Then it was smelling the roses on the one rosebush in our back yard. She kept telling me the butterfly was sneezing. It sneezed four times! Then four times again! The whole time, she's walking around with these little wings, laughing kind of maniacally, and saying, "sneeze, sneeze, hahahahahaaha" and holding up her four fingers. Suddenly, she grabs my hand and says, "walk, walk". This means I must go with her. "Where are we going?" I asked her. "Inside," she replies. So, we go onto the porch, where I thought she was getting the pink wings, but no, they were left on the floor of the porch. In we go, through the kitchen. "Where are we going?" "Upstairs," she says in the cute way she has that sounds like 'uptairs' instead. We go up, she races into her room, goes straight to the kleenex box and gets a tissue for the butterfly.
Yep. That's my girl!
Yep. That's my girl!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
3 Anecdotes
Karina said her name for the first time ever today. It used to be that she wouldn't say anything, just point to herself. Then, about a week or two ago, she started calling herself "Riri" and "Rina". Today, she said "Krina" or something like that. There was definitely a K sound.
We helped my grandmother get her license renewed at the DMV today. Always a thrilling place. I'm not really sure why we went with her, other than she was worried about getting her picture taken because now they don't let you smile, and her friend had told her that when she went to get hers renewed (actually just an ID since she can't drive) the lady yelled at her and was very mean. Anyway, we went with her, and Karina was so good. I was really proud of her, and she even told me that she had to potty. She sat and colored while we waited. She is amazing sometimes. Then when we got back to Nana's house she was wired! She was running around, crawling under the chairs and table in the dining room, chasing the dog, and climbing on furniture. We figured it was from sitting still at the DMV. The funniest thing she did though was take one of Nana's canes and put it to bed in Nana's room. Then she climbed into bed with it and "read" it a story--a paperback book with no pictures!
As you may or may not know, Karina has somewhat of a disdain for dolls and stuffed animals, except Lambkin the Beloved of course. She had gone through a phase where she played with this one doll at playgroup every time we went, and my mom got her a doll and doll bed for Christmas. Of course, by then, she had passed through the brief, doll-loving stage. So the doll bed just sat around in our garage. Today, she was playing with one of her Chuck trucks (if you don't know, they are a bunch of soft plastic trucks intended for very little kids. They have big ones that are about 10 inches long and maybe 8 inches tall, then they have smaller ones, about 4 or 5 inches long, and some very small ones about 2 inches long. I'm not good with measurements, so those are my best estimates. You get the idea though.) She had taken her mail truck (whose name was, at one time, "Hum" or "Um" and is now "White" because all the trucks are named after their colors, except Bus and Red Wheels) out into the back yard and played with him on her slide and swings. He swung on the seesaw, slid down the big slide and the old baby slide, and climbed a tree. Then he must have gotten tired because we had to come in the house and put him to bed. She even went and got him a stuffed animal to sleep with and she wanted to put her own blanket on him. I got her a different blanket to use, and asked if she wanted the doll bed to put her truck in. Oh yes, she did. So tonight little White Truck formerly known as Um or Hum is sleeping in the doll bed. My mom will be thrilled.
We helped my grandmother get her license renewed at the DMV today. Always a thrilling place. I'm not really sure why we went with her, other than she was worried about getting her picture taken because now they don't let you smile, and her friend had told her that when she went to get hers renewed (actually just an ID since she can't drive) the lady yelled at her and was very mean. Anyway, we went with her, and Karina was so good. I was really proud of her, and she even told me that she had to potty. She sat and colored while we waited. She is amazing sometimes. Then when we got back to Nana's house she was wired! She was running around, crawling under the chairs and table in the dining room, chasing the dog, and climbing on furniture. We figured it was from sitting still at the DMV. The funniest thing she did though was take one of Nana's canes and put it to bed in Nana's room. Then she climbed into bed with it and "read" it a story--a paperback book with no pictures!
As you may or may not know, Karina has somewhat of a disdain for dolls and stuffed animals, except Lambkin the Beloved of course. She had gone through a phase where she played with this one doll at playgroup every time we went, and my mom got her a doll and doll bed for Christmas. Of course, by then, she had passed through the brief, doll-loving stage. So the doll bed just sat around in our garage. Today, she was playing with one of her Chuck trucks (if you don't know, they are a bunch of soft plastic trucks intended for very little kids. They have big ones that are about 10 inches long and maybe 8 inches tall, then they have smaller ones, about 4 or 5 inches long, and some very small ones about 2 inches long. I'm not good with measurements, so those are my best estimates. You get the idea though.) She had taken her mail truck (whose name was, at one time, "Hum" or "Um" and is now "White" because all the trucks are named after their colors, except Bus and Red Wheels) out into the back yard and played with him on her slide and swings. He swung on the seesaw, slid down the big slide and the old baby slide, and climbed a tree. Then he must have gotten tired because we had to come in the house and put him to bed. She even went and got him a stuffed animal to sleep with and she wanted to put her own blanket on him. I got her a different blanket to use, and asked if she wanted the doll bed to put her truck in. Oh yes, she did. So tonight little White Truck formerly known as Um or Hum is sleeping in the doll bed. My mom will be thrilled.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Red Wheels has good dental health
Karina loves her toy trucks. She prefers them to all "girly" toys, and to stuffed toys (except Lambkin) as well. She really really loves the medium sized Chuck brand trucks. She has 7 of them, plus 5 of the smaller ones that her Aunt Danise gave her. Those are the babies. Anyway, when she started potty training, I gave her a truck for her first time doing each kind in the potty. One was a blue police car with red rims and a painted tongue in his mouth, and the other is a fire truck. Well, the police car is her favorite. I don't know if it's because it reminds her of the larger one at playgroup, or it's blue, or it has the tongue...I don't know. But his name is Red Wheels. (She also has a mail truck whose name is Hum. No joke)
Yesterday Karina decided that Red Wheels needed a bath. So she took him into the bathroom where she gets bathed, and proceeded to move through her entire bath routine, all in pretend mode. She put toys in the tub, shampooed and conditioned his hair, then got him out and wrapped him up in a towel and dried him off. She took him back to her room, put some lovely pink nightgown jammies "on" him (he doesn't really fit so she fakes it), and told him he could go watch Elmo. And that is her routine.
Next, she decided that Red Wheels needed to brush his teeth. We went into my bathroom, where, for some reason, I keep her toothbrush (I think because I brush her teeth the same time I do mine, so I guess it does make sense after all). She was allowed to have her old one to use on Red Wheels and I opened a new one for her (it was time). She needed toothpaste for him, so she was allowed to pretend with the "train" toothpaste and then with what little is left of the "pony" toothpaste (it's the kid toothpaste with Thomas the Train and My Little Pony, only she doesn't like the flavor of the Thomas one). She brushed Red Wheels's teeth and then he went potty in the toilet. She pretended to flush and had to put a piece of toilet paper in (I only let her have a tiny piece). Her favorite part was discovering that there is a tiny hole in the bottom of the truck, which she has decided is where he...um....goes. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
At least she knows good hygiene!
Yesterday Karina decided that Red Wheels needed a bath. So she took him into the bathroom where she gets bathed, and proceeded to move through her entire bath routine, all in pretend mode. She put toys in the tub, shampooed and conditioned his hair, then got him out and wrapped him up in a towel and dried him off. She took him back to her room, put some lovely pink nightgown jammies "on" him (he doesn't really fit so she fakes it), and told him he could go watch Elmo. And that is her routine.
Next, she decided that Red Wheels needed to brush his teeth. We went into my bathroom, where, for some reason, I keep her toothbrush (I think because I brush her teeth the same time I do mine, so I guess it does make sense after all). She was allowed to have her old one to use on Red Wheels and I opened a new one for her (it was time). She needed toothpaste for him, so she was allowed to pretend with the "train" toothpaste and then with what little is left of the "pony" toothpaste (it's the kid toothpaste with Thomas the Train and My Little Pony, only she doesn't like the flavor of the Thomas one). She brushed Red Wheels's teeth and then he went potty in the toilet. She pretended to flush and had to put a piece of toilet paper in (I only let her have a tiny piece). Her favorite part was discovering that there is a tiny hole in the bottom of the truck, which she has decided is where he...um....goes. I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.
At least she knows good hygiene!
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Today Is Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day to any mothers who are reading this, or women who are mothery-types. Yes, I made up that word "mothery". It's not real.
I am so so so so so blessed to have my mom with me to celebrate this day, as well as my grandmother, who will be 85 this summer. I give my mom all the credit for any measly parenting skills I may have developed. My mom is so awesome, words can't describe it. Nevertheless, I'll try. She is really calm and patient. She is very understanding and empathetic, and she always knows just what to say to me to make me feel better about absolutely anything. She is also really funny, crafty, and a great writer. A lot of people don't know it but my mom was once a published (poems) writer. She let Karina play with a bunch of her dollar store notebooks (my mom and I both seem to collect notebooks and she has tons. She writes in hers, though!) and Karina brought some home. One day we realized Mom had been keeping a log, briefly, in one about rabbits in the yard. Even that was written very poetically. She just has a way with words. She raised me and my brother single-handedly, in spite of our unusual living conditions and having really barely any money for stuff. I have probably mentioned before, but for any new readers out there, I'll explain. My parents divorced when I was five and David was 2, and after leaving our house to move into these nasty apartments, my grandparents decided we should all move in with them. So we did, and that's where I grew up. My mom still lives there, and has never remarried. She is now beginning to care for my grandmother, who as I mentioned, is getting old. My mom gave up everything so David and I could have happy lives. We never knew until we were older that my grandparents would buy groceries for us. We never knew that living with my grandparents was because we were too poor to live any other way. And we never knew how much my mom hurt from the divorce until many, many years later. My mom is amazing.
My grandmother is pretty awesome, too. She met my grandfather in Scotland during the war, went on 3 dates with him, and then married him. She was 18. When she was 19, she was finally cleared to come over to the US, and did so on the Queen Mary (ship) by herself. It was a 2-week voyage. Amazing. She didn't go home for 20 years. She left school when she was 14, because that's what you did if you were poor in Scotland back then, and she went to work. Despite having much less education than many fortunate people, she was very smart, learned quickly, and got a job as a secretary at the school I attended for elementary and middle school. I don't know what, if any, jobs she had before that. She worked there until she retired, at which point the rest of the office staff realized how much work she had been doing and promptly hired two people to replace her. My grandmother, who I call Nana, has always been strong-willed and strong in general. As she's gotten older, this quality has faded, quite a bit in some ways. It's been pretty sad to watch this happen, although she is still in phenomenal health and can legitimately complain only about arthritis! Despite this, she is still funny and witty and still cooks dinner for my mom, and for all of us on Wednesday nights when I take Karina over there.
There are other mother figures in my life, who I won't go into detail about because let's face it, that's just too much. But I will name them: my Aunt Betty, Danise-my best friend and a more contemporary model for me of a wonderful parent, Kelly, teachers, Wendy a former youth advisor from when I was in youth group, and I'm sure many others who have influenced me in countless ways. Plus, I have Karina, who is so awesome, I still don't know how I ever wound up with her as my child.
I am one lucky mother.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you, once again. I hope that today you will not only take time to be appreciated, but also to think about and appreciate other women in your lives who helped you be the wonderful moms you are now.
I am so so so so so blessed to have my mom with me to celebrate this day, as well as my grandmother, who will be 85 this summer. I give my mom all the credit for any measly parenting skills I may have developed. My mom is so awesome, words can't describe it. Nevertheless, I'll try. She is really calm and patient. She is very understanding and empathetic, and she always knows just what to say to me to make me feel better about absolutely anything. She is also really funny, crafty, and a great writer. A lot of people don't know it but my mom was once a published (poems) writer. She let Karina play with a bunch of her dollar store notebooks (my mom and I both seem to collect notebooks and she has tons. She writes in hers, though!) and Karina brought some home. One day we realized Mom had been keeping a log, briefly, in one about rabbits in the yard. Even that was written very poetically. She just has a way with words. She raised me and my brother single-handedly, in spite of our unusual living conditions and having really barely any money for stuff. I have probably mentioned before, but for any new readers out there, I'll explain. My parents divorced when I was five and David was 2, and after leaving our house to move into these nasty apartments, my grandparents decided we should all move in with them. So we did, and that's where I grew up. My mom still lives there, and has never remarried. She is now beginning to care for my grandmother, who as I mentioned, is getting old. My mom gave up everything so David and I could have happy lives. We never knew until we were older that my grandparents would buy groceries for us. We never knew that living with my grandparents was because we were too poor to live any other way. And we never knew how much my mom hurt from the divorce until many, many years later. My mom is amazing.
My grandmother is pretty awesome, too. She met my grandfather in Scotland during the war, went on 3 dates with him, and then married him. She was 18. When she was 19, she was finally cleared to come over to the US, and did so on the Queen Mary (ship) by herself. It was a 2-week voyage. Amazing. She didn't go home for 20 years. She left school when she was 14, because that's what you did if you were poor in Scotland back then, and she went to work. Despite having much less education than many fortunate people, she was very smart, learned quickly, and got a job as a secretary at the school I attended for elementary and middle school. I don't know what, if any, jobs she had before that. She worked there until she retired, at which point the rest of the office staff realized how much work she had been doing and promptly hired two people to replace her. My grandmother, who I call Nana, has always been strong-willed and strong in general. As she's gotten older, this quality has faded, quite a bit in some ways. It's been pretty sad to watch this happen, although she is still in phenomenal health and can legitimately complain only about arthritis! Despite this, she is still funny and witty and still cooks dinner for my mom, and for all of us on Wednesday nights when I take Karina over there.
There are other mother figures in my life, who I won't go into detail about because let's face it, that's just too much. But I will name them: my Aunt Betty, Danise-my best friend and a more contemporary model for me of a wonderful parent, Kelly, teachers, Wendy a former youth advisor from when I was in youth group, and I'm sure many others who have influenced me in countless ways. Plus, I have Karina, who is so awesome, I still don't know how I ever wound up with her as my child.
I am one lucky mother.
Happy Mother's Day to all of you, once again. I hope that today you will not only take time to be appreciated, but also to think about and appreciate other women in your lives who helped you be the wonderful moms you are now.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Dinnertime Math
Yesterday at my mom's house for dinner, Karina was being her usual 2-year-old-picky self, and not wanting to finish her dinner. She wanted to get down and play more. So I finally said, "Eat three bites of ham and you can get down." She loves ham, so this wasn't any terrible thing. She began to eat the bites of ham as requested, with no complaint. Somehow the discussion turned to counting and numbers, and I told Mom that Karina knows a lot of numbers and we were counting. I think Karina was saying she had eaten 2 bites already or something. So we counted, 1, 2, 3. "What comes after 3?" I asked her.
"Down," she replied.
That girl is too smart for her own good.
"Down," she replied.
That girl is too smart for her own good.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Unexpected News
I just found out that our realtor, Pat, passed away in February. She had cancer, which I knew. We were friends on Facebook and I hadn't seen any posts from her in a while, so I went to her page, and it's just people leaving messages saying how much they miss her. It was so sad. Kind of shocking, too. I didn't expect that. She showed over 100 houses to me and Bill when we were looking for this one. Then, when the owners wouldn't or couldn't come down far enough to meet our budget, their realtor and Pat both took huge cuts from their commissions so that the deal could work. She was a really nice, thoughtful, and kind person. I know she had a son and husband who was devoted to her. We weren't close, but it's still such a downer and a shock to find out that someone you like and had any kind of relationship with has passed away.
This was a photo I took when we were househunting and looking at the house we actually bought. It's not a great photo of her, but it's what I have. She was just the nicest person. It's so sad.
Edit: Tonight, one of the HGTV shows had house hunters on who had seen over 100 homes. This type of situation always makes me think of Pat. Her brother replied to a message I left for the family on her facebook page, and told me that she passed away at home with family, and was comfortable and loved. I'm glad to know that she passed away peacefully, but she was only 51, and it is just so sad. My husband will be 51 this summer.
Edit: Tonight, one of the HGTV shows had house hunters on who had seen over 100 homes. This type of situation always makes me think of Pat. Her brother replied to a message I left for the family on her facebook page, and told me that she passed away at home with family, and was comfortable and loved. I'm glad to know that she passed away peacefully, but she was only 51, and it is just so sad. My husband will be 51 this summer.
Send some love
I don't know if any of you who read my little blog know about Shannon from Coupon Mommy of 3 and her daughter's battle with neuroblastoma cancer. Emily is 3 and having a hard time dealing with all that it entails. So are her parents, understandably so. If you feel it in your heart to do so, I think she could really use a little extra love today. You can go to her Caring Bridge site or her blog. Here are the links:
Blog
Caring Bridge
I think for Caring Bridge you might have to enter an email, but she posts the same thing on the blog site, so you can find it in either place.
I just feel so awful for them, as this is a pretty nasty form of cancer and it has really been taking its toll on the family and on Emily.
It would be so awesome if some of you wanted to just leave some encouraging or caring words for that family.
What they are going through just makes me count my blessings so much more. It could just as easily have been my own daughter.
Blog
Caring Bridge
I think for Caring Bridge you might have to enter an email, but she posts the same thing on the blog site, so you can find it in either place.
I just feel so awful for them, as this is a pretty nasty form of cancer and it has really been taking its toll on the family and on Emily.
It would be so awesome if some of you wanted to just leave some encouraging or caring words for that family.
What they are going through just makes me count my blessings so much more. It could just as easily have been my own daughter.
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