Implications of Living Army

Wes has been TDY for weeks, and because of the sensitivity of his current mission, he has no idea when he will be back home. I've been vague with explanations about his absence; he has missed tournaments, weekends with friends, and the day-to-day routines. Last weekend a civilian friend of ours asked how Wes was doing and then tried to casually ask if everything was okay between us. In other words, he was trying to figure out if we were separated. I wasn't offended in the least. Instead, I was surprised how little civilians, even civilians that we consider close friends, understand about our lifestyle. Wes and I have spent more nights apart than together in sixteen years of marriage. This is normal for us, but I fail to remember that it is not the norm for everyone. We are living Army.

What do children of a criminal investigator play in their free time? Well, besides basketball, football, and Nerf Wars? A murder mystery game called "Police Chief" of course. The boys have invented a game, similar to the board game Clue, where one person is killed. The person in the role of police chief must determine who did it. In order to play the game, though, you must have witnesses. This game can only be played when we have company (aka witnesses), and because my mom and dad make for colorful witnesses, they always get asked to play. After multiple visits to our house and multiple requests to play "Police Chief", my parents think my boys have an unhealthy fascination with death scenes and murder. I have no other explanation except to say we are living Army.

Who Knew a Rainy Day Could Prove so Educational?

 The boys and I were all sent home early today with the threat of large hail and fifty mile per hour winds. We were warned to rush home and take cover. We did and we've been waiting for four hours for the storms. I think the sun shining means we are in the clear. I want to thank the weather man who knew how much I needed an afternoon at home and granted me my wish with false warnings!

Today, with all of that free time we had, Keagan and I saw a set of goldfinches, and I know that only because I googled "yellow bird" and I found some pictures that resembled the bird in my backyard. Keagan took this picture after he said, "OOhh, Mom! I didn't know yellow birds lived outside of the rainforest!" 

If an early dismissal, a phone chat with an old friend, and bird watching didn't fill my afternoon with complete joy, then surely my boys' excitement over their introduction to Snackeez Travel Cups has. If you haven't seen the infomercial, then you have no idea how exciting this new product might be. Apparently, I didn't either because I saw the product on TV one day last week, and I didn't think twice about it. However, my boys were so excited about this product that they came to me big eyed and full of animation this afternoon trying to describe the implications it could have on their lives. They were in complete awe of an invention that would allow them to drink AND eat from the same cup, and they are convinced that this is a need that must be fulfilled immediately. I mean, how many times do you wish you could eat cheeze-its and drink Hi-C fruit juice all from the same cup?

I guess we spend too much time engrossed in athletic events because my boys think Snackeez Travel Cups could solve their biggest problems in life and colorful birds don't exist outside of the tropics. Who knew a rainy day could prove so educational?

Dedication

A soccer tournament in Kentucky, A basketball tournament in Tennessee, and one parent TDY for what feels an indefinite amount of time. So what does a girl like me do? 

Call Mom and Dad of course!

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As usual, they followed through with taxi services, feeding the Big Guy, and watching more hours of Sports Center than they thought possible. They get to do it all over again next weekend with Little Guy!

Happy Easter

Nothing says Easter like waking to find a dead rabbit on your porch, but that is exactly what happened to us today. Maybelle must have gone on a hunt last night, and she left the hind quarters of a rabbit on the porch as proof. Keagan firmly believes Maybelle felt threatened last night when the Easter Bunny finally made it to our house, and her instinct to protect us kicked in just in time. Thankfully, the Easter Bunny was able to fill the baskets with candy and toys before Maybelle struck.

On another note, I'm pretty sure this is the last Easter than I can expect either boy to agree to wear a two piece ensemble. This particular outfit that Keagan has on has been worn on Easter four different times, not in a row mind you, but it has been with us for the last three moves and it gets cuter every year!

I realized last night that I had no ham to make a traditional Easter lunch. At first I was really bummed and then I realized the lack of a ham meant I had an excuse, a pretty good one too, to eat Five Guys for lunch. And we did. It was good. Even if it is a little pathetic.


Happy Easter! We hope the Easter Bunny made it your house before his demise!

An Olympic Win

Keagan's travel basketball season had a rough start, and I mean a rough start. A couple of kids were kicked off of the team, the cops were called at the first tournament because of crazy parents, and fights between the coach and other parents caused a couple of scenes at our first game. Keagan has been oblivious to almost all of it; he cares for nothing but the sport. When we played in a tournament in March and lost by thirty, forty, and even fifty points, I thought for sure that would put an end to his dream of making it big playing basketball. However, it only added fuel to the fire, and Keagan was even more motivated to improve his game. He worked even harder and spent every free  minute working on his shooting.

This weekend we played in a tournament with kids our own age, and we were super excited to win a game. We played the same team a couple of hours later, and we won again. A win was something that most of us had just assumed would never happen, but two wins meant we might actually have something working in our favor.

 Keagan had an excellent steal, played some really good defense, and made a couple of baskets. I was so proud of him, but I was even prouder of this group of boys. They epitomize heart and the rewards of hard work.

This weekend United won first place (out of three teams and one team forfeited their games). It would be funny to go home with a first place medal for playing only two games if it didn't mean so much to these boys. But it meant the world to them and so we pretended that their win was as big as an Olympic win and let them all bask in the fun of winning.

The Mama Voice is No More

Spring time can only mean one thing. Spring soccer. It is truly one of the best things in life. Warm weather would make my weekends a true Utopia, but it seems Old Man Weather doesn't quite understand the significance of sun and temperatures above fifty degrees - not here anyway.

Keagan played up this weekend and guest-played with Evan's team. Nothing makes me prouder than seeing my baby boy playing with the big guys, but when he scored the second goal of the game, I just about peed my pants. It was that exciting! I mean a nine year old scoring on eleven year olds, who wouldn't get excited about that! My mama voice tells me he is destined for BIG things, even if those viral Facebook articles say that the chances are one in 5.6 million. Perhaps I should also mention Keagan has admitted that he will turn his back on ML soccer when the NBA comes a callin', but what does he know? He is destined to make it BIG, my mama voice says so!

Did I mention Keagan scored the second goal? We won that game 2-1.

Evan, true to form, left the game with a yellow card. Oh, how I love my Big Brute!

He can play defense like none other, and he will purposely foul at times to save a goal. He has been known to throw a shoulder or trip a guy running with all of his might to the ball, and I always shout, "It's okay, Big Guy. You had to do it." Today, though, the fouls were a result of little guy running into Big Brute and little guy falling down. We call that physics and fifteen year old refs must not be exposed to that course of study any more because they seldom get it right. After the second foul, the ref raised a yellow card, and Evan gave her the thumbs up sign. Classic, Evan! Meanwhile, I was busy yelling my disapproval and permanently scarred by larynx.

Why, oh why, must I wait so long for next weekend's games? I think it is so I have plenty of time to prep the mama voice for another round of celebrations!

He Said It

K: Dad, can you help me pour my cereal?

W: Keagan, let me show you how to do it so that you can do it for yourself next time. You know the saying "You teach a man to fish and you teach him to eat for a lifetime."

K: Huh?

W: It means I can show you how to pour the cereal and then you will be able to eat even if we are busy doing other things and can't pour the cereal for you. It means you should learn how to do things for yourself and not rely upon us to do everything for you. It means, Keagan, that you should be able to pour the cereal all by yourself. Teach a man to fish and you team him to eat for a lifetime. If you can learn to fish, you won't go hungry.

K: OK?! Can you get the milk?

Parachutes and Guitars

The boys are required to complete a STEM challenge each quarter. The third quarter challenge is the most popular, though, because each class chooses a winning team to advance to a school-wide challenge. Keagan and his team constructed a musical instrument that could make low and high pitch sounds.

With a Kleenex box, rubber bands, and a toilet paper roll they created a guitar - complete with zebra stripes and fluorescent green tape.

Keagan's team completed the interview process quite well, but they were not deemed the school wide winners.

Evan's class was tasked with creating a parachute that would allow a Dixie cup fall to the ground right side up. Evan's team won the class level challenge and also advanced to the school wide event.

The boys refused to take a picture with the girl in the group, but when I casually mentioned that she step out of the shadows and into the picture, she looked at me with fright in her eyes. I guess she was as opposed to the idea as the boys were.

Evan dominated the interview process, but I think the "team" effort was lost when no one else could answer the questions about the chosen design. His team didn't win the school challenge either.

So we left the school for soccer practice. We can win all kinds of challenges on the soccer fields.