Hope Comes In Weird Packages

The kiddo's brains have started Spring Break this week, even though their actual Spring Break doesn't begin for another week. In their defense, now is the usual time of Spring Break, but their new school starts later in the year, therefore Spring Break is later than they're accustom to. Anywho, essentially what this means is they've got stupid. I love them. But they've just gone stupid this week.

My 14 Months of Our 10 Years of War in Iraq

**The photos aren't in chronological order because I tried to sort them, lost my temper, swore, & decided it wasn't worth the frustration :)**

The backstory: The Husband sends me an email with some German reporter's email address and asks that I email him for the pictures he took of their latest mission. I send email to German reporter. He responds with "Yes, I have the pictures, but are you aware of the events of the day? I don't want to upset you with the pictures." Hmmm. I email The Husband and he says "Oh, yah, we got hit by a VBIED (Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device) that day and he's got picture of it I think." Great. Send email back to German Reporter that says "Yah, so we've been doing this for a year at this point, we've lost Soldiers, it's been rough, but I crave pictures of his life. Good parts and bad. I need to see him. I need to see him doing what he's doing. I need to know that he's doing what he loves." The reporter send the pictures with a note about how fearless The Husband is and how he's one of the greatest Leaders he's ever met. This picture was included. After deployment, the Husband explained that the reporter didn't want to wear protective gear and they told him that was a stupid decision, but they had to go. Out and about they find themselves taking enemy fire and as they're trying to figure out which rooftop the fire is coming from, the Husband hears a cardboard box panting and freaking out next to him. The reporter is hiding in the cardboard box (that's whats in the upper left hand corner of the picture). 

Sometimes Other Mommies Are The WORST

This morning, after walking Thing 1 to his classroom, Thing 2, Sam-I-Am and myself continued on to her classroom. Typically, the routine is walk to classroom, drop off bag, disappear onto the playground after a 2 second "BYE MOM!". But this morning was different. Thing 2 was clingy. So Sam-I-Am and I hung out for a bit asking her random questions about playground etiquette. "What's up with the swings? Oh, they're wet in the mornings. What is the game they're playing over here, it looks like tag. No, we're not allowed to play tag anymore because people were complaining about falling down and then this one kid scratched his face on the ground after this bigger kid tagged him hard and he fell down, so then the teachers said no more tag. That's called Scramble. (Insert 4 minute explanation that essentially sums up to the same thing as tag)."

Roller-coasters are supposed to be fun, right?

So here you are, standing in front of what appears to be the coolest roller-coaster ever, aptly named: YOUR LIFE! You're anxious, but so excited to experience such a thrilling ride. Sure, part of the coaster is covered and you have no idea what's going on in there, but you just KNOW it's gonna be awesome. You find yourself running to get on the ride because you just don't want to wait another minute. And just like that, you're buckled in and so begins your ride.

Hey! Do you remember...?!?!

Yesterday, while out running errands, the kiddos and I passed an Army truck waiting to get towed by another Army truck (insert budget jokes here). The kiddos were so excited to see "real Army guys!" and were bantering back and forth about what they might be doing out this way. We talked about how there's a National Guard Armory, a Navy Base and other military things around here, so it's not uncommon for Army guys to be out and about, this was just the first the kiddos were seeing them. Then there was a silent pause and quietly Thing 1 said "I miss Army." Silent pause. "I miss Army too" from Thing 2. Followed by another silent pause.

Knowns, Unknowns, and Hopes of TBI

Nothing is more uncertain than the future. Nothing.

See, The Husband has a mild Traumatic Brain Injury that we call his Mushy Brain and there are many things we know about it.