My husband often says some hilarious things that revolve around food and eating.
Here are just two example of his statements.
Tom-I know what love is. I have eaten Cheezits.
(If you haven’t eaten White Cheddar Cheezits, this statement may not ring as true to you as it does for us. They are the bomb.com.)
On a separate occasion…
Tom-I have fluffy abs. They are like regular abs but better because they have a layer of meat on them. Regular abs are like a muffin. Mine are like a cupcake with icing.
(I am not exactly sure where he went from talking about a layer of meat to baked goods…)
These are the real conversations we have on a daily basis.
It has been awhile since you have been on the blog, but you two have been ruling my Instagram. I know you both get tired of me snapping photos of you, but you are just too darn cute.
You both have been so good lately. Dad and I are so proud that we can leave you out of the kennels now while we are out and about. Let’s be honest though, you haven’t been perfect angels have you? Grace, you like to dig through Mom’s lady trash and strewn it about the upper floor. Let’s talk about how gross this is girl. And Crosby, you like to get on the counters and pull down dishes that may or may not have remnants of the last meal we ate. That’s how we have lost a shaker cup and a few Tupperware items. But we have more days that you don’t do any of this than the days we do, so there is a plus. And Mom and Dad have gotten smarter about where we put things and what doors need to be shut when we leave. It is usually our lazy fault when we forget that you usually decide to get into stuff.
You sure do seem happy when we get home though!
I am sorry we haven’t gone on many walks lately. There have been so many things prohibiting it. The freezing temps, my constant sickness, and Dad’s training, haven’t really been nice to us schedule wise have they? Hopefully here soon, I will start feeling better, and we can take advantage of the warmer temps. Unfortunately, it looks like it will be just us for awhile since Dad has a lot of training to do. We will try to get out as a family every weekend, especially to take advantage of the weather. We know you both love your time outside!
I know that you all miss Dad when he is gone. You all whimper and pounce up at any loud truck that goes through the cul-de-sac hoping it is Dad coming home. And the way you all love on him when he is here shows me how much you cherish your time with him. Crosby, you do a great job ensuring that he is clean too with your constant licking.
Things are going to continue to change around here, and I know you two will be troopers and make the best of it. Grace, you have been through a deployment before. I know it was hard on you. I watched you lay on Dad’s clothes so many times hoping he would come home soon. Crosby, you have no idea what is in store for you, but you a pretty laid back, so I am sure you will do fine. On the plus side, you have each other now, and I know that helps during the day for you two to comfort each other. Although this time around will be different for all of us for so many reasons. So with the deployment and all the other changes that are going to occur in the upcoming months, I know you two will be just fine! And I know you will be a huge comfort and rock for Mom!
Speaking of you two together. You all just crack us up. You really have embraced each other as companions. You groom each other, you play together, and you take turns eating. I am usually rolling with laughter when you two groom each other. It is a cross between the sweetest and grossest thing I have witnessed. I often feel that I should leave you two along for your privacy. As far as sharing toys, Crosby, you tend to steal them from Grace quite often. However, I think Grace likes the chase and lets you do it sometimes because she never seems to put up a fight when you come in to grab the toy. When you cuddle together on the couch or chair upstairs it just melts my heart. I just love that you two are getting along so well.
We have figured out a pretty good sleeping routine. You both sleep in the middle of us. Grace you take the spot up by our heads and are sure to snuggle in real close to one of us. Crosby, you sprawl out at the foot of the bed like you own the place or something.
Crosby, you don’t seem to like the neighborhood kids. You bark at them every day when they are coming home from school. I know you are being a good guard dog, but I think we can handle a few 3rd graders.
Grace, you still sometimes will get jealous when Dad and I are giving Crosby some love and not you. We love you just a much, and please know that we haven’t forgotten about you!
You both make our days, and there is so much love for the two of you! We couldn’t be happier that you came home to us.
Love,
Mom
PS. We are not always nice parents, and sometimes we like to tease you. Our latest tricks are to enitce the whimpers out of you two. Crosby, we have learned that you do not like Maroon 5 since you bark every time Dad sings their songs. Your whimper gets me every time because it sounds like you are going hoarse and trying to force out a grunt or cough. And Grace you just don’t like being teased and want us to pay all of our attention to you, so you cry if you don’t get your way. Plus I think that it annoys you that Dad can imitate your whimper to a tee.
Right before Tom deployed, I found this TV series on sale and scooped it up. I knew that I was going to love it so I figured I would buy it before I even saw it.
Then Tom deployed, and I decided that it was in my best interest to wait until he returned home to watch it.
I knew if I watched a series about the brutal truths of war plus the added fact that the unit is 101st Airborne, (Tom’s division), it was just a recipe for disaster for my emotional state.
We finally got around to completing the series this week. It is short with only 10 episodes, but each one was jam-packed with goodness.
WWII was my favorite period to study. I took every elective in this time period during college. I was enthralled by the facts and details that they threw into this mini-series.
It was a pretty great cast, and the acting was pretty stellar which made you feel like you were watching a documentary almost more than a show. They did a great job with the scenery and the details of the costumes. They really picked up on the subtleties of the time.
I appreciated the realness of the series. They showed how leadership can affect the troops, how things are communicated, the morale, the conditions, and even the deaths and wounded. This was not an easy war for our men, and many were there for years.
If you imagine the things that are seen in that amount of time….mind boggling.
My favorite part was that they had the real soldiers the story was based on do interviews and tell snippets of their tale. So you saw men in their 60-80s talk about the harsh realities of war before each episode began. I mentioned this the other day to Tom too while we were in the pharmacy and seeing all the older gentlemen there picking up their meds. Some of these men have done unimaginable things, and yet they lead perfectly normal lives now and are sweet old men. (At least the look like sweet old men.) During these segments you saw these soldiers years later get choked up and laugh about memories. You saw real emotion in their eyes and their lip quivers.
I also really liked how they showed the relationships and how the war affected them over time. You watched them go from training days to when they heard the war was officially over. So you see growth and all kinds of transitions occur over that time.
I love when a story impacts you and shows you that rawness of humans. And this series did just that.
I will say it is not the easiest show to watch, but it is a great show to watch. I loved it for what it was. The history told in these 10 episodes was awesome, and better than any textbook. Although, I will say it was better for me maybe because of the context that I have from all those textbooks. However, I am sure you would enjoy it just the same.
Also it won a lot of awards, so other people think it is good too. Just saying.
We love watching war documentaries/shows in our house. Obviously.
Do you have any to recommend to us? Have you seen Band of Brothers? What did you think?Have you ever bought a movie/series without watching it?
Friday Filters offer a review that are my own opinions. I was not contacted by anyone associated with these works or compensated for my review. My review has not been influenced by anything other than my love for entertainment and art.
I started off with blankets when I learned how to crochet. I still remember that peach yarn that my dad taught me how to do rows on when I was 7 years old. That was surely the ugliest blanket ever because of all the big holes of uneven stitches and rounded bumps on the end that were supposed to be my turns. But you have to start somewhere.
Since I have been doing blankets for 21 years now, they are my go-to gifts. I love making blankets for people.
Recently, some friends of ours had a baby boy come into the world. I wanted to give them something from Aunt Steph and Uncle Tom.
I used this yarn. I did used the same number of skeins that she suggested in the pattern.
I love this brand for baby stuff, especially if you just need solid colors.
I used a 6.5 (K) hook instead of what she suggested. This is my go-to hook size for pretty much everything.
The first couple rows were obnoxious, but they usually are while you are trying to get things started. And it certainly didn’t look like waves until about 5 color swaps in.
Once I got into a groove it moved really fast. I was able to complete this in a couple weeks. It is a little big for a new baby, but I tend to go big on blankets unintentionally. However, I want to put out there that I followed her pattern! (Ok maybe not to a tee since I used a different hook, but it was the same amount of yarn…) At least a baby can grow into it!
I really love this pattern. It is so fun! And the colors turned out great together!
I have so many blankets I need to finish in the upcoming months. I have two in progress right now, unfortunately they are both patterns that I get bored easily with so I have to switch back and forth. I better get cracking!
Because being in the military is a life style for the entire family, the military has instated a group to help all individuals in the family feel connected and knowledgeable about the events going on with their soldier.
That is how the FRG was born. It stands for Family Readiness Group.
This group is made at the company level, which is about 100 soldiers. It encompasses the soldiers and the families.
So once a month, Tom and I go to a classroom to meet with all the other members of his company and their families. It depends on the FRG leaders and company commander whether single soldiers are included in this or if it is just the soldiers who are married. Ours is everyone.
At these monthly meetings, the company leaders go over the next month’s schedule. I find this really helpful to know how the training is going to look and when Tom will be away or when he has a DONSA (day off).
They will also provide us with resources or any other announcements that will pertain to us. For example, at the last meeting there was someone from the job center who talked about resources their office has.
This is often where we find out the most recent information about deployments.
The FRG does have some leaders that are the soldiers spouses. There is an FRG leader, who is usually a higher officer’s wife. Then each platoon in the company will have a POC (Point of Contact). This person will help disseminate information and do call outs to all the spouses in their particular platoon. They also have an FRG treasurer, again another spouse.
Depending on the FRG, there may be other things besides these monthly meetings that they plan. Some FRGs have parties or events throughout the year. Ours did a lot during the summer, but we have not done as much this winter. We have had quite a few potlucks at the monthly meetings though. Any events are usually family oriented and kid friendly. I mean “family” is in their title.
The FRG will still meet when the company is deployed. I am interested to see how it changes when all the men are not there. I was in Iowa last time, and I would just get the PowerPoints from them. I am sure that this gives us spouses a great chance to get to know each other too.
It is a pretty simple group. Since there are so many of them, they can change drastically on how they look though. We have even seen a change in this FRG since the new leadership arrived. So what the group will do will depend on both the spouses involved as well as the company leaders.
As you can see it is quite different than what the show Army Wives depicts.
It seems like I learn things about the Army every day. I am by no means an expert at all things Army, but I love exploring new topics and sharing what I see as a military spouse.
Hope you enjoyed today’s Armucation.
Do you have any questions about military life? Do you have any topic you would like me to write about? Feel free to ask away!
