My Military Children

April is the month of the military child. I have two military kiddos and I got the idea to interview them {Jackson at least} about what it means to be a military child from a fellow military blogger.

Jackson is kind of young to ask an open ended question like "what does it mean to be a military child?" so I had to break it down a little bit and get him to focus for a minute on this subject.

Is Daddy a soldier? 
Yes

What does that mean?
He goes to work in soldier clothes.

What does Daddy do at soldier work?

He keeps us very safe and he works on computers.

What makes Daddy a soldier? 

He puts on soldier clothes. I don't like when he puts on his soldier 

clothes and he goes away. I like when he wears day clothes. 

And he walked away and said he was really sad and he wouldn't talk to me any more about anything. I know we are only a National Guard family; not active duty. And Derek isn't currently nor has he ever been deployed. But it still takes a toll on Jackson-- and all other reserve and guard children.

It's been almost two weeks since Derek's been home and Jackson asks Derek nearly every day how many days he will be gone when Derek leaves for work each morning. Jackson tells him to only be gone for a little bit and to come home that night. I just know that deep down, Jackson is unsure of how long his daddy will be home. And that breaks my heart. I have decided to find a local toddler with a military parent that Jackson could connect with. Maybe I can find one in the yellow pages?

{I wish Katie lived right next door! She is a much more put together military wife and her kiddos are so close to mine! Can I just say I am so grateful for the internet and blogs to help find people to connect with!?} 

I didn't sit down and have a conversation with Belle about being a military child, but her response would be something like this, "Dada. Dada" and then she'd kiss the Daddy doll we have. She's just loves her daddy.

I'm proud of my soldier and I'm super proud of my kiddos. 

Caller Number Nine

I left class early yesterday. I had just talked talked to Derek on the phone about how we were going to be playing pass-the-kids for the next few days and really not see too much of each other. I hate it when that happens, but some days are just busier than others and they seems to fall together in a big clump once a month.

So, then I’m listening to my radio station and hear: Caller number nine will win concert tickets for tonight. I decided to call in—and I was number nine {something I just have really good luck with}, which led to a whole restructuring of plans for the night, but it was such a fun impromptu date night.

Miscellaneous thought about the evening:

• I have really been wanting to include more live music in my life. And so this was a perfect opportunity to start.
• Amy Lee can sing. I definintely enjoy rock music more when a chick is singing. {And she has an amazing name}
• I love downtown and any reason to visit. Maybe I’ll be able to convince Derek someday to move into a loft in the city someday.
• And maybe we’ll start a band when we do. It will be called ACDC, ya know, for our initials. You may think that name is already taken, but instead of having a lightning bolt, there will be a heart in the middle. Totally different.
• Tuesday date nights that lead to not getting home until after midnight are especially rough at 7:15 the next morning.

Deanna Rose

This post is from last week. I would have had it up earlier, but my writing software has been giving me grief! It’s been totally frustrating. Even so, I’m hoping this works on my dad’s computer. I will be sure to post about my birthday weekend soon!

---------

After coming home on Circle Day, Derek took Monday off to rest up and enjoy some family time before heading back to work. The weather was nice and the sun was shining so we headed out to Deanna Rose Farmstead in Overland Park; one of our favorite family things to do in KC!

First stop: the baby cows. Belle was excited. Some other little girl told her not to scream at the cows. Haha. I just politely told her that Belle wasn’t screaming AT the cows, but just because she screams when she was happy.

The Mama cows were pregnant so we didn’t get to see them milk her like we did last year. Jackson thought that was so cool.
 

Checking out the teepee.

Next stop: baby goats. We bought a couple of bottles to feed the goats. We were there pretty early so these guys were hungry! I took this series of photos probably within one minute!

Belle enjoyed watching the goats from afar. She didn’t want them coming too close.

She eventually warmed up after watching big brother pet some goats! 

Next: the tractors. Jackson didn’t stay on this red one very long. He wanted a green John Deere. I just didn’t get any pictures!

We fed the fish, who weren’t very hungry so it was kind of disappointing.

Jackson really wanted to do the “digger thing”. I had no idea what he meant until we passed by these. The boy must spend too much time with his Papa.

While Jackson played on the playground, Belle was showing off some cuteness playing peek-a-boo with me.

Checking out the piglets. Jackson’s commentary, “Ew! They stink!”

And then off to the older baby goats {toddlers?}. Jackson likes these ones more now that he’s more their size.

The little goats wouldn’t stop eating my shoes and these guys were eating my shorts. Seriously, that’s the last time we feed the animals first thing in the morning.

We walked around to see the different birds and then the ducks. Belle really liked the ducks. I think it’s because they were close and at her eye level.

My favorite picture spot!!

After getting a picture of the two kids, I told Derek, “we should take a picture!” And this is what I got…

Fortunately he was a bit more cooperative for another!

Then, we ate our picnic lunch.
 

After we ate, Jackson and I ventured out into “the woods”. This reminded me of the backyard of one of my childhood friends and so it was really fun for me {Jackson too, I think!}. We walked across log bridges and followed the creek.

It was a fun morning full of fun! Plus, Deanna Rose is free during the week, so it only cost us $3 for goat/fish food! Can’t beat that!

Today

When we walked out the door this morning, we were greeted by the very first bloom from my knock-out rose bush! That totally brightened my morning.

I took Jackson to go get his allergy shots. Even though we have switched from going every week to every other week—he doesn’t really know the difference. He really hates it. And it breaks my heart when he cries. I love his doctor’s office though because the ladies love to play with Belle so I can love on Jackson when he needs it. Fortunately the mention of Jimmy John’s cheered him up.

I looooooove Jimmy John’s! And today, they feel the same way about me as they had their subs for $1. Delish.

Jackson kept saying, “Jimmy John’s is like Papa Johne! They match!" I can only imagine his excitement when he figures out that there’s an actually place called Papa John’s {besides my parent’s house!}

The gas light came on in my van on the way to Jimmy John’s so we stopped to get gas. I hate pumping my own gas so I was kinda annoyed, but then I rememebered to use my Price Chopper rewards card. I was less grumpy when I filled up for $3.11/gallon. {thanks Mom for stocking up those rewards!}

I am desperately trying to get the grass to grow in my backyard, so I turned on the sprinkler when we got home. Next thing I know, my kiddos are giggling and soaking wet. It’s waaaaaay to chili for me to play in the water {It’s gonna be like, at least 90 before I want to get wet} but these guys didn’t care. I love watching them play together!

Thursday afternoon is my allocated study time. Derek happened to have a dentist appointment in the early afternoon and when he was done, he came and did some studying of his own {he and his dad are totally into the HAMM radio stuff. nerds.}. It was almost like our undergraduate days… ha, who am I kidding—neither of us actually studied back then!

Our evening was filled with boring housework and laundry. But Derek got out his guitar and we sang some of Jackson's favorite songs. He just thought it was the coolest thing to sing with the guitar! Belle was singing too, but she insisted on being on Derek's lap while he played!

Today wasn’t anything special, just a normal day. But this is our life and this is what I want to remember!

Oh, and Jackson today was signing along to Adele today. Ya know the part that says, “rumor has it… rumor has it…” Well, he was singing, “boomer headick, boomer headick” {right tune, just wrong words}. This TOTALLY had me cracking up in the car. I didn’t correct him.

Sidenote: this would have been so much quicker and easier if I had a modern-day cell phone that supported instagram and other cool apps. My birthday is in two days and a new phone would make a perfect gift!! (ahem).

Circle Day

First things first… Derek’s home! Yay!

As soon as Jackson woke up this morning, he came into the kitchen, looked at the calendar and asked very energetically, "Is it circle day, when Daddy comes home? Can I stay here for a bit so Daddy can come home and I can give him a big hug and be very happy?" I was so happy to be able to tell him yes. He was so excited.

I told Jackson that we were going to church, come home and eat lunch, take a quick nap and then Daddy would come home. But then, Derek showed up at church this morning, way super early! It was quite the pleasant surprise.

Derek and I went over to Jackson’s class and when Jackson first saw Derek, he shouted with delight, “Hey! That’s my Dad!!” and he ran over to Derek, jumped in his arms, and said, “I just didn’t see you for a long time!” It was so sweet. Belle was a little more timid with Derek, but she had also just woken up from a nap. She kept giving Derek cute little smiles, but wouldn’t go all that close at first. But then she kept getting a little closer and a little closer until she finally clung onto his legs for a hug.

And she didn’t let him out of her sight for the rest of the day.

If she was a Daddy’s girl before, I don’t even know how to classify what she is now. She would fuss to be picked up, but if I tried, she just pushed me away. She cried and cried when Derek closed the door to go to the bathroom in peace. When I took away some small object she was putting in her mouth, she marched right over to Daddy to “tell on me.” Belle apparently feels that Daddy owes her lots of attention and I’m nothing but second class. But that’s okay. It’s super cute seeing them together.

Jackson has referred to this day “circle day” all day long, so I’m sure the term will stick. And as it goes, circle days are hectic. Lots of excitement, kids off schedule, lots of catching up. I’m super thankful that Derek has tomorrow off work so we can enjoy some more family time together!

{and why I blogging when I should be hanging out with my hubs? Well, he’s watching Black Hawk Down—he always gets into these war movies after he comes home from extended army time. I’ve been watching a little bit with him, but I just don’t really do war movies well, so I needed to take a break! Tomorrow is chick flick movie night FOR SURE! Dirty Dancing I think.}