Blogkeeping: Videos

I told you it's been a while. Get the popcorn ready and settle in for 9 clips!

Lil Bit and Violet singing.
Melt my heart.

Letters from B-man.

This was hiding on my camera from back in March.
She's changed so much.

Lil Bit and Violet on a stroll.

All of her tricks.

Army Boo.

4 wheelin'





Ahh, country life is good.

GOAL!

The End.

 

Blogkeeping: Photos

 

 

 

I've been so behind on updating the blog. So, it's blog keeping time. Today I'll be posting a bunch of photos that have been waiting patiently in my camera to be uploaded to the computer. Tomorrow (or later today if I'm feeling spry) I'll post some videos, and Saturday I'll be posting Boo-isms. That's my intent anyway. So, let's get started.

Boo in his uniform.
Foreshadowing of video to come.

Bit found a friend...herself.
Hehehe.

Three on the 4-wheeler now.
Video to come.
I don't know why this is so far below the photo.

End of year soccer party.

Complete with trophies.

The Mighty Dinos

Cupcakes from soccer party.
Why did I think eating them in the car on the way home would be a good idea?
Lol!

 

Practicing his aim with PawPaw.

Our gifts for teacher appreciation week.

Whew, that feels good. I've been stressed about all of the pics on my camera waiting to be uploaded to the computer and eventually to the blog. Next up...videos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half Way

Well, we made it to the five month mark. I'm reminded daily how much of a blessing it has been to be with our family during this deployment. I'm reminded this week b/c B-man's family kept the kiddos overnight so that I could attend one of my cousin's weddings. It's been a long time since I've been to a family wedding. So fun.  I've also been sick this week and Lil Bit hasn't really been herself either. BeBe and PawPaw were also gracious enough to let the grands stay overnight with them as well so I could rest. This sinus infection really put me down.  Aunt R is also on the way to watch the babes so I can go to the grocery store. Wahoo!

Five months down, five to go! The length of this deployment is is also a welcome change to our usual countdown. I can't even tell you how much of a morale boost it is to only be dealing with a 10 month deployment vs. a 12 month deployment. It might not seem like it should matter that much, but it's a huge difference to us. Those last 2 months of a 12 month deployment are brutal. I'm sure the last 2 months of a 10 month deployment are brutal too, but I'll take it! 

Love you B-man!!! Be careful!!!

Oh Mercy

This is a visual of what Lil Bit does when she's having a fit (read: not getting her way). She starts out by running as far away as as she can to a door or wall and throws herself at it and it all follows from there. She does this every time she's upset. So funny. Don't get me wrong, when it's happening every five minutes...not so funny. She can scream pretty loud.  But it is funny that I know exactly what she's going to do. So dramatic. :)

When she does this, I can often be heard saying, "Oh Mercy."  I suppose it's a way of diffusing the situation for me.

Well, I must be saying it a lot because Boo has picked up that little phrase too. The other day we were getting out of the car and BeBe and PawPaw's house and Boo dropped his Mack Truck full of cars onto the ground while trying to get out of the car. I was waiting for the tears to start, but instead I heard him say, "Oh Mercy..." It made me laugh.

Just keepin' it real.

Funny Friday

The star of this week's edition of Funny Friday is none other than yours truly. Whew, TGIF!! 

Wednesday night, I apparently put Boo to bed in underoos instead of a pullup. Neither he nor I caught my mistake before it was too late. Like, 11 hours too late. He woke up on Thursday morning and his jammers were soaked! I repeat, soaked.

He came into my room and I noticed he was kind of walking like a mummy might walk but didn't think a whole lot about it, I mean his is a 4 year old boy and walking like a mummy could be normal. Ha.

And then he said, "Mama, my jammers are wet." Okay, no biggie, sometimes he has a little leak. But, I reached out to touch his arm and that's when I noticed, his arm was soaking wet. And that's when I realized I put him to bed in underoos. Poor buddy!!! He slept all night like that!

And then later on Thursday morning, Bit and I walked Boo to his classroom at school.  On our way back to the car, I was letting her hold my keys (I know, not the best idea).  When I was putting her in her car seat, I took them from her and tossed them in the front seat so I could buckle her. So, I buckled her up, closed the door and was on my way to my side of the car.  And when I got there, the doors were locked. She must have locked the car when she was holding the keys. So, she was locked in the car with the keys and my phone.Thankfully, it was only 60 degrees Thursday morning and cloudy and rainy. So it was nice and cool and so I knew she was physically going to be okay. I tried to call BeBe (she has the spare key) but her line was busy. I called Aunt R and she didn’t answer. Although, I’m not sure what she was going to do, she doesn’t have a key. So we called the police and fire department. I was doing okay. I was slightly panicky, I think out of embarrassment, and then when the fire truck rounded the corner, I lost it and started crying.  I think seeing the fire truck was just the last straw for everything I had been holding on to inside.  I was able to get in touch with BeBe but the fire dept was able to unlock the door before she could get there.  The police officers and firemen were awesome and helped me to feel at ease as did the director of Boo's school. She was so calming.  The police officers said this happens ALL of the time and we were all thankful that it wasn't in the middle of the summer when it happened to us. Maggie was fine. I was a wreck.

We were going to the grocery store, but instead, I decided to just come home!!!

What else can you do but laugh? And be thankful, of course, that Bit was alright. 

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Update from B-man

It's been a while since I've included an update from B-man on the blog. So, I went back over several of his messages and pasted segments into this post. 

Overall, we are making progress. I don’t want to make it sound like we are fixing everything, but we are making some decent progress. The stress on my team has gone down a little since we found out that we will not be moving. We were prepared to move and willing, but it was going to be quite a big deal. Having to “quit” our current jobs and restart another job was going to be the toughest side of it. We don’t have to think about that anymore so we are really digging into our current tasks.

I’ve been able to develop a pretty good routine with my counterparts … I see at least two people from my counterpart unit every day. Usually for about two hours per visit. This week I was especially busy I was averaging at least five hours every day, with about three people. Let me tell you something … I have become an “expert” on drinking chai (tea). Ha! And I have to commend myself on speaking with these guys … some of the conversations are very hard to initiate, much less follow! My interpreter helps though. It’s funny: Now I’m so used to using an interpreter that sometimes in a regular (English) conversation I find myself waiting for my words to be interpreted! Ha!

Fighting Season. We are making sure that we are ready for the “fighting season” here. To some, it is debatable whether or not a “fighting season” really exists, but we have been prepping for it to come since before we left Alaska. It goes something like this ... even the bad guys don’t like the cold, nasty weather in Afghanistan during the winter so they pack up their bags and move to another nearby country (most likely, one that begins with a P and ends in –stan). Ha! No matter where they go though, they’re not here when it’s cold. Then once the snow melts they return. It is debatable to some people because some years there isn’t much of an upswing in attacks when the warmer weather comes. We’ll soon find out!

 

Well, I’m back safe and sound from a multi-day trip to see the other half of my team. It went well. The boss wanted to get us all together so we could do a 100+ Day Review. We had actually planned on doing this on day 100, but some stuff came up so we had to put it off. Overall, the team feels good about what we’re doing. (So does the boss). Of course there are areas to improve and we recognize this, so that’s why we had the meeting.

While the team was assembled in WILD we learned that there was a Blackout incident. This was the first for our BDE this deployment. Which, if you think about it could be a lot worse ... 4000+ Soldiers operating continuously for going on four months now ... throw in dangerous terrain, heavy equipment, loaded weapons, inexperienced Afghan Soldiers and, oh yeah, the enemy ... it’s quite amazing that we haven’t had more KIAs already. We’ve been waiting for a successful “spectacular” attack ... this is how the insurgents try to kick off the “fighting season” every year. We have been able to foil several, but since this one was a success in their eyes ... I believe the fighting season has officially begun. Not to worry anybody. My job here is rather safe ... really.

Here are some pics B-man was able to send back to us.

Me and CPT XXXX and Jagran (MAJ) XXXX, the KDK XO. Note that they don’t look like the “typical” Arabs nor do they look like the “typical” Afghan. The “typical” Afghan is most often pictured as a Pashtun. (Lean, long face, large nose). These guys are Tajiks. They have more Chinese / Asian influence.

My room. Sitting on the bed as far back as I can get so that I can fit everything into the pic. I normally have the sheet pulled down, but I lifted it for the pic so you can see the cubby holes. Note my loaded weapon beside the door. That’s the standard. The desk in this picture is new. I “stole” it from MAJ Miller’s room when he left because I previously only had a sheet of plywood propped up to use as a desk.

My room. From the back corner looking towards the foot of the bed.

My room. From the front corner looking towards the head of the bed.

My Office. I have three computers. Unclass, Afghan Secret, and Secret. Note my chair. I removed the back (it kept falling off) and the arm rests. Who knows where the wheels are ... they were gone before I got here. (The folding chair doesn’t work ... it folds at unexpected times). We miss you so much Honey!!! Be safe!! Love you!  Boo has sooo much to show/tell you when you get back! :)