Saturday, August 30, 2008

Grateful American Coins

Michelle is a blogger friend of mine, She is retired Army and she has a darling daughter Shay who is serving proudly in the Air Force. Michelle recently sent me a email asking if she could write to Christopher and I gladly accepted her offer. I thought it was so sweet that here she is a busy mom who works full time with Veterans, is hosting a exchange student from Sweden, raises French Bulldogs and has her own service member to write to and she wanted to take time to support my son. Thank you Michelle!!!

While reading her blog I came across a post about Grateful American Coins if you are not familiar with this site it is time for you to head on over and get to know them.

The following excert is taken from the About Us post from their site:



Why are we doing all of this? ...The answer is gratitude.
Grateful American Coin was founded on the belief that it is out of a deep sense of gratitude that we should honor and acknowledge the sacrifices of members of the U.S. military. In doing so, we should individually do what we can, however small, to help those service men and women who have sustained the most severe injuries.
We feel that there are a great many Americans who share our sense of gratitude and are looking for an ideal way to express it.
Grateful American Coin is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based outside of Tampa, FL and is entirely staffed with non-paid volunteers.


Please support these wonderful people in any way you feel possible.



Michelle left me a comment on yesterdays post and told me that she had already sent Christopher one of these coins. I have to be honest when I say that it totally reduced me to tears. Thank you Michelle for caring so much for a young man that you have never met.



I would love to come up with a way to make sure that every service member past and present has one of these coins. If you have any suggestions, please send me a comment.



God Bless,

Tami

Another letter

I received another letter from Christopher yesterday. 2 letters in 2 days makes for 1 happy mom.

There seemed to be some up's and down's in the letter but all in all he is still doing fine. He said that they had received their rifles and he was sitting with his battle buddy writing letters with it across his lap. He is homesick and wishing he could call but other than that he was ok.

I mailed out 10 letters yesterday and have another one ready to go out today. Hopefully it will not take as long for him to get letters as it seems to take for him to send them.

I hope everyone is having a great 3 day weekend.


God Bless,
Tami

Friday, August 29, 2008

Look out world the little brothers have gone cyber:

I would like to step away for a few minutes of my constant gussing and chest thumping about my oldest child and do a small post concerning my other two boys. For those of you who do not read my other blog that contains every day moments and scrapbook layouts, (yes I am one of those scrapbookers you hear about) I have two other boys, Kyle is 16 and Devin is 10.
Each of my boys are talented in their own way and I am a mother that loves to brag about this.
Kyle is 16, he is our 104lb (if he is lucky and wet) comic of the family, this child marches to his own drum and since he is on the High School drum line it is his drum and a very heavy drum at that, especially if you weigh close to nothing. Who at this moment is enjoying the oppurtunity to be the oldest child at home. Don't get me wrong he loves and misses Chris but when you have been tortured by someone for 16 years you take every chance thrown at you to be in charge.
You never know exactly what is going to come out of this childs mouth and sensorship is somethig that we have to exercise at times. LOL
Devin is 10, he knows everything and considering the fact that the childs IQ was measured somewhere around 117 - 12o when he was 7, I really mean he knows everything. He is our baseball star. He plays catcher for his little league team and works with a catcher trainer once a week. He is catching 90 mph fast balls off of college pitchers and "knows" that he will one day be the starting catcher for the New York Yankees.
The reason I bring all of this up is they have started their own blog about having a big brother in the Army and will have full reign over it. I will only be a silent partner in this adventure and will try my best not to inject my opinions, sensorship or feelings on what they are writing. After all I know what I am going thru but only they know what they are going thru.
Please make note of the fact that they both idolize their older brother, no matter how much he tortured them, road rough shod over them or just ignored them at times, he is their world and they are dealing with him being gone each in their own way.
So in closing, if you would like to drop by and leave them a little love, please feel free to do so.

God Bless,
Tami

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Doing the Happy Mom dance

We finally got a letter from Christopher today. He is doing fine and started BCT on the 22nd. He said there are 160 guys in his group. He is not sure if they are going to break them up or not. I am sure they will.
He loves the Army and is still excited about Cav Scout. I was so afraid that he would be discouraged by now after having to sit around for a few days but nope, he is ready to get started. I can not believe that it took the mail this long, he wrote the letter on the 21st but it was not postmarked until the 25th. Oh well I don't care it is here and now I can mail him all the letters I have been saving. Everyone seems to think it is funny that I write him everyday. And always ask what do you say? I just try to talk about anything that is going on. I have also started adding sayings that I have found on t-shirts that have something to do with Army life. Right now I think my favorite is: Some heroes wear capes, mine wears combat boots.
He also asked for stamps so I will be making a trip to the post office first thing on my way to work tomorrow.
He said that Ft. Knox is beautiful but doesn't have that Arkansas feel. And that there was not another Soldier from Arkansas in site. Guess he kinda misses home.
Well I am off to cook dinner so I will say good night for now.

God Bless,
Tami

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wednesday's Hero


Lt. Col. Nathan Blood, brigade effects coordinator for 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light), Multi-National Division - Baghdad, says "Hello" to his 16-month-old daughter, Mackenzie, during a web camera communication.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look. This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

An update maybe?

My husband was able to call yesterday and set up an appointment to have a land line installed for us so that Christopher will have a way to call home. They will be here on Thursday. WOOOHOOO
So against my better judgement, my husband and dad decided today that they should call the chaplain at Ft. Knox and see if they could get a message to Chris with the new phone number. I was/am afraid that this will result in Chris getting smoked. The chaplain put my husband through to a First Sergeant that assured him that this would not be the case and that they would see to it that Chris got the message. While they were on the phone the 1st Sergeant told my husband that he thought that Chris might still be in reception and would be going to his Platoon on Friday. He said that if they were still in reception that they were PTing twice a day and had plenty of things to do to keep them from being bored. If this is the case, there goes our possible grad date.
I have decided to just go with the flow. When Chris calls I will know what is going on and until then I will just sit and wait. Isn't that the Military way? Hurry up and wait?
I have also turned into a complete sap. Today I started crying because a Army commercial came on tv. I am so hopeless. LOL
I have been spending alot of time here and everyone there is so great, ready to answer any questions or just share their experiences. I do not feel so lost anymore and am learning more and more each day.
I hope that everyone else is having a great day. Any big plans for the upcoming long weekend? I think we are going to stick close to home and I might actually get some scrapbooking done. Next week starts our football season and we will be traveling to games to watch my middle son Kyle who is on the drum line for the band. Our youngest son is still training with his catcher's coach once a week even though baseball season is over for the year. They keep me busy and that is what I need right now.
I have been trying to write at least a one page letter to Chris each night and will be ready to mail them as soon as he gives me the go ahead. Now I just have to hope that he doesn't get smoked for getting to much mail. My husband did set up the phone account with call forwarding so that if we are not home we can forward the calls to my cell just in case.
I guess that is about all the news that is worth reporting so until tomorrow.

God bless,
Tami

PS: Tomorrow is Wednesdays Hero. So make sure you check back.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A hard lesson learned

We made the decision last year to do away with our land line phone and only use cell phones since each of the boys had one and it was easier to keep in touch with them.
So today after waiting and waiting I received a call from Christophers dad that they had just talked to him on the phone. It seems that they were not allowed to call cell phones and had to use a land line number.
I am so glad that he was able to reach his dad even though it was only about a 30 second call consisting of: I am fine, everything is on track and I love you all, and will write and call as soon as I can, but I am also so disappointed and heartsick that I didn't get to hear his voice. Needless to say we will be ordering a land line tomorrow.
I still do not have any information on when we can start mailing letters or if he has made it to BCT or if he is still in reception. So many questions with no answers yet. Hopefully we will receive something in the mail this week with a little bit more info.

God Bless,
Tami

Saturday, August 23, 2008

3 of my favorite things all together

Warriors, Kid Rock and Dale Jr. What more could a person ask for?
(Remember to scroll down to the bottom of the page to pause my music first)
You can find out how to download Warrior after you watch the video.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Military Hero Welcomed Home

Until we have news to share about our Soldier, I thought I would try to recognize other Brave men and women that defend our freedom.

An Arkansas Hero comes home for a visit:

SPRINGDALE - Fresh off a secret military mission prompting her nomination for a Medal of Honor, Sgt. Angelina Raquel Montemoino was taking it easy, at least for a day. Montemoino, 24, and her unit has been nominated for the Medal of Honor because of her contribution in the rescue mission and emancipation of hostages in Columbia on July 2.

Read the rest of the story here

God Bless,
Tami

Thursday, August 21, 2008

A 10 day bonus & why I love the internet.

Thanks to great advice from Some Soldiers Mom , I have been able to track down information that gives us a 10 day bonus. Originally we had been told that Christopher's "proposed" graduation date would be Dec 21 but after a few hours of research I have found out that the graduation schedule has Dec 11 listed. Military Intellegance has nothing on Military Mom Intellegence. LOL
I called his dad to let him in on this tidbit of information along with the address to contact our "Trooper" minus platoon info and his first question for me was do you know his D.I.'s name yet? Which I replied with no but I know his phone number and give me a little more time online and I just might be able to tell you what rack he is sleeping in. LOL. Of course I would never call his D.I. (are they called D.I.'s or cadre's or what? these are things I need to find out) and will not send mail until Christopher calls or writes and lets me know that it is ok but I do feel a little bit better now that I have a tab bit more info. God Bless the internet and the Army Mom's that came before me.
Looking back I can not imagine what my family went thru when I enlisted. There was no internet and all they had to depend on was a postcard that we were given to fill out the day we arrived at Boot Camp.
Dear Mom &/or Dad,
Your son/daughter has arrived safely at recruit training center Orlando safely and will be allowed to receive mail at the below listed address:
Sincerely,
The Department of the Navy
And that is exactly the way it was written son/daughter. Wow what a personal greeting.
But now thanks to the internet I can even tell you that it is 82 degrees at Fort Knox and because I have access to little information blips such as this, I am a much happier Army mom today.

God Bless,
Tami

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

So here i sit

waiting

waiting waiting......

I have no Chris updates and am not sure when I will so instead I thought I would just ramble for a few minutes about my first born.
When Chris was in the 9th grade he made the decision to leave public school and enroll in the National Guard Youth Challenge program. We were a little surprised because although Chris was never an Honor Student, he was also never a problem student. He made decent grades, played football, baseball and basketball, had a large group of friends and a steady girlfriend.
When we started discussing and researching NGYC we saw that it was a great program and it was a program that Chris would benefit from. You see Chris needs structure in his life, he needs challenge and he is a true adrenaline junky. Standard classrooms were not his thing, he was bored and because he was bored he was lazy. No matter how much we pushed him, how much we grounded, yelled and took away, Chris could care less about his grades, he wasn't failing but he wasn't excelling either. When Chris went to NGYC he excelled. He breezed thru his classes, thrived on his pt, did community service at the VA hospital and graduated as the Cadre favorite. He had found his niche.
Chris has always said he was going in the Army and knew this was the place for him. He immediately attempted to join the National Guard. When his recruiter made all these promises and then right before Chris walked in to sign his contract the recruiter had to admit that he was not getting the MOS that he wanted and that there really had never been a chance that he would, Chris was so disappointed. He was a 17 year old with no direction. He was lost. He enrolled in college and decided that the Military was not in his cards, he started taking computer networking classes and never talked about jumping out of airplanes, flying in jets or being a soldier. I watched the light slowly fade from his eyes whenever a Army commercial or documentary would come on tv. I didn't know how to help him, I wasn't sure what to say. Everyonce in a while I would mention something I saw or read about the military and he would nod and go on about his business. I knew he was unhappy in school, sitting at a desk all day fiddling with computers but he would not say anything, when I would ask about school he would say it was fine and leave it at that.
So one day we were set up for our usual Wednesday night date to watch TAPS, which has nothing to do with the military and everything to do with Ghost Hunting and I saw my oppurtunity when a commercial for the college he was enrolled in came on the screen and Chris made a huffing noise. I jumped right in and told him that if he was not happy at school we could talk about it. Chris finally came clean and told me that "it bored the hell" out of him. I picked up my laptop and opened 4 screens Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and said ok... lets see what they have to offer. We watched videos, we read job descriptions, and slowly I watched the light begin to shine in those deep chocolate brown eyes. He started getting excited, I called his dad and put it on speaker phone, we talked about all four branches. Chris started to talk fast and fidget like he does when he is talking about something he loves.
Within the next week Chris had dropped out of college and was back to PTing every afternoon, he was on the laptop reading military sites, he was in the ASVAB book going over practice test. His dad and I asked him to talk to each branch to see who had the best offer, his dad (Greg)made an appointment with the Air Force, Chris and Greg showed up for the appointment, the recruiter never did. Chris went and talked to the Navy, whatever they told him didn't float his boat, (bwaaaahaaaahaaa), no matter how much I tried he never considered the Marines (mom, I am not choosing my career based on the fact that you love the uniform) and by the end of the day he was set up to take his ASVAB with the Army. Things moved fast from there. I would ask him each day if he had second thoughts, his answer was always the same. NO!!
Now he is at BCT/AIT in Kentucky and the last thing I heard was "We landed in Kentucky, we are waiting for the van to take us the base, I love you mom.
So here I sit waiting.......
God Bless,
Tami

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A very quick update

I got a call from Chris last night around 10:00. It was a short but very welcomed call. He has arrived in Kentucky and was sitting in the Fort Knox reception area at the airport waiting for the van to pick him up and take him to the base. He was excited and sounded good.
Not sure when I will hear from him again but would appreciate it if everyone would say a little prayer for him today because I am sure he is right in the middle of an eye opener today.

Staying Army Mom Strong,
God Bless,
Tami

Monday, August 18, 2008

Ok. Now What?




Well it's official, We are now a Army Family. Leaving him at the airport was the hardest thing I have had to do so far, but I know that even though we were all a little teary he was ready. I did everything in my power to keep from losing it there in front of him but another Soldier set the mood in motion before Chris ever arrived from the MEPS station.
Chris' stepmom and I were standing there waiting for the bus to bring Chris to the airport and we noticed a young soldier dressed in BDU's coming down the escalator, I think I can speak for both of us that we were instantly lost in the thoughts of how much better it would be if we were there to pick Chris up instead of drop him off. When the Soldier reached the bottom of the escalator his family suddenly surrounded him and we watched as a young lady reached out and placed a brand new teeny tiny lil pink wrapped bundle into his arms. At that moment we both just lost it. I turned and walked one way and she went the other, both of us with tears pouring down our face. The mood was set.
Chris was excited and nervous at the same time. He said he was more nervous about flying alone for the first time than anything. He was the only Army enlistee to ship today but there was a young lady that was National Guard that was flying as far as St. Louis with him so they were assigned to each other as Battle Buddies for the first half of the trip. Chris said that he was suppose to hook up with 2 or 3 other guys once he arrived in St. Louis and they would fly together to Ft. Knox.
I hope that everyone will bear with me while I learn all of the in's and outs of the Army life style and try to figure out what all this new jargon means. Believe it or not there is a big difference between Navy and Army and I have to get use to things like Battalions instead of Companies and Sergeants instead of Petty Officers. If I make mistakes please let me know and I will correct them immediately.
I don't know when I will hear from Chris but I will try to keep everyone posted.
Oh and btw: the boys had started their own blog for Chris. This should be interesting. If you get a chance stop by and show them some love, they have had a rough few days.

Have a great night.

God Bless,
Tami

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Let the feast begin

Today is prequel to the day that I have been dreading for most of Chris' life. The "time to fly" day. He is leaving at 5:00 this evening for MEPS and tomorrow will be "ship" day. We will have a short time with him in the morning and then off to the airport.
The Army recently "suggested" the Chris gain a few "battle" pounds, something to do with a few extra pounds in battle are good for you jargon that I attempted to block out, so with that in mind we are hosting the 2008 Christopher is shipping out foodtacular today.
Mo has been working on briskets and yes I mean for that to be plural for several days and I am on side dish overload. All of his favorite foods and even somethings that he may have said once that he liked will be in abundance today.
He has had a busy week, and that only made time fly. He spent time getting his bank account military ready and had to spend a few hours with the recruiters for last minute paperwork and his pre PT test. Alot of brother time was enjoyed by all, thanks to the unspoken ceasefire of normal brotherly "I always wanted to be an only child" warfare, that seems to run rampant around here and he even had the chance to squeeze in a few hours of horseback riding which is one of his passions. Chris has majored in I want to be in the Army all of his life but he has also minored in I want to be a cowboy. I guess that now with Cav Scout he is getting the best of both worlds. Yep my son is going to be a heavily armed professional cowboy. Yesterday his best friend was able to get the weekend off and come to town to spend some quality online gaming fun, I have to laugh when I see these two together sitting across from each other in the same room fighting it out online. I had a scrapbook affair yesterday at the FOP Lodge and the boys came along and spent the evening playing guitar hero on the wide screen and a few hours of friendly pool competition.
I will try to get an update on here tomorrow but it may be later in the week before I am able to compose myself and be ready to share.

Have a great Sunday
God Bless,
Tami

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Father Time:




Can you please slow down? Can you please just freeze this moment for a little longer? I know that Chris is ready to start his adventure but me, not so much. I am not looking forward to the morning that I look in to his room on my way out the door for work and see the empty bed. I am not looking forward to our usual Wednesday night date for TAPS all alone.
I am not having a problem with Chris joining the Army. This is his dream, the thing that he has talked about for as long as I can remember. I think my problem is with him growing up. I keep thinking "it's only 16 weeks" and then it dawns on me that it is not just 16 weeks, this is it. This is the time that I have been dreading since 5:45 a.m. that morning in July when this boy came into my life. The day that he spreads his wings and really flies. I am so proud of the young man that he has become. But right now all I really want is that chubby lil curly headed blonde boy that never knew the meaning of the word fear. The one that would step in front of you the minute he saw a camera and say "take a picture of me mommy", the little boy that rode his big wheel down the stairs of the townhouse we lived in at Cherry Pt. North Carolina. And took his battery operated jeep and piggy bank to the 7 day store on base to buy candy when he was 4. The child that drug his inflated swimming pool in the living room and turned on the hose because it was raining outside and mommy said he could not go swimming. That is the boy that I want back right now.
I know, I know, it is time to suck it up and let him fly. But really would it be to much to ask for just a few more days?
God Bless,
Tami

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I am doing my best here

to keep a smile on my face. To show just how proud I am of my Soldier and to remember that I am not the only mother with a child in the military. I realize that my time has not even officially started since Chris does not leave until next week. I know that there are other moms, dads, spouses, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends and other loved one's that are dealing with alot more worry and fear than I am right now.
I read other blogs, watch YouTube videos, go to military sites and try to learn everything I can in order to show my support. Sometimes I am fearful about commenting on these blogs because I know that I can not relate just yet to what they are going thru and I do not want them to think that I am considering myself "one of them" already.
I am not a complete newbie to the military way of life. I am a "Navy Brat", two out of three of the boys are also. Their dad was already retired when the youngest came along so I am not sure if he qualifies as anything besides just a brat and I mean that with lots of love. I did time in the Navy myself and I know the rules. NEVER call the Commanding Officer, do not try to reach the drill instructors, Red Cross in case of an emergency, etc. Yep these things are something I know. But the one thing I do not know is:
How to refrain from punching every person that has never spent one day in the military that comes up to me and says: "so your son has joined the Army, guess you know that means he is going to Iraq! Or the mother of some child that says "how could you let him do that, you do realize that we are fighting in a war". I always try to smile and say "we will deal with that when the time comes", but what I really want to say is: Thanks a@@hole, why don't you tell me something that I do not worry about 24/7. Why don't you explain to me how a human being can be so inconsiderate of the feelings of others. Why don't you explain to me how you can stand there smiling when if feels like you just punched me right in the heart. And most of all why don't you explain to me why my 19 year old first born is doing something that you as a full blown adult never had the guts to do and never will understand why he is doing it. But instead, I smile and say yes and we are so PROUD of him.

God Bless all of you mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends and other loved ones that live with this each and everyday. And God Bless all of our Military members!!!!

Tami

Monday, August 11, 2008

How cute is this?

One of the wonderful ladies that I work with found him last week while we were making a shopping run and he just had to be mine. I took his shirt to Rachael at Sweetpea's and she monogramed the patch with his name on it for me.
When you push his hand Lee Greenwood sings "Proud to be an American" and his mouth and head moves. Soooo CUTE!!!!
He will have a permanent position on the book shelf in my office at work.

So we started our one week countdown today. Chris and Mo spent the day running around getting things that Chris needs before he ships. He has to spend Thursday with his Recruiter and then on Sunday we are throwing him a going away party.

The Army actually told Chris that he needs to gain a few pounds so we plan on having a ton of his favorite foods there for him. How many pounds can you gain in one week? Well I hope that everyone is having a great week, and I will check in agian later this week.

God Bless,
Tami

Saturday, August 9, 2008

19 Delta Cavalry Scout





Here he comes.
Chris will leave a week from Monday and I know this week will fly by.
He has dreamed of 19 Delta for so long and he is walking on cloud 9 right now.
The MEPS trip Friday was a lesson in patience and I just kept repeating "no news is good news" over and over in my head. We sat in the lobby and watched recruits come and go from one room to the other. As I sat there I couldn't help but remember the day that I enlisted and how scared I was. The mom in me wanted to grab each one of the kids and say "It will be alright". Every once in awhile we would catch a glimpse of Chris walking down a hall or stepping into a open door. We still didn't know if he had 19D or not and we couldn't catch his eye to find out.
After we had been there about an hour, they let him come out and say hi. He told us then that they were still waiting to hear if there was an opening. He had been out there about 10 minutes and we were all trying to make small talk to keep him in a good mood and keep all of our spirits up when we heard someone bellow his name from one of those mystery rooms. When he came back thru he flashed me the thumbs up and could not stop grinning. He disappeared into another room and a few minutes later we were ushered in for the swearing in ceremony. They told us later that someone else had dropped out and that opened up the billet for Chris. The recruiter and counselor did not give up until they had him confirmed. I can not thank them enough for all they have done for him.
Chris has a little over a week and then he ships to Fort Knox, Kentucky for a minimum 16 weeks of BCT and AIT. It is all inclusive so he will start training for his job the same day he starts Basic Combat Training.
I will keep everyone updated.
God Bless,
Tami

Friday, August 8, 2008

It's MEPS day

Chris went up last night and spent the night at a local hotel. He should have started his physical and other processing an hour ago. I am a bundle of nerves and will be heading up there later this morning for the swearing in process.

So far the recruiter has been shooting straight on everything and I really appreciate that because when I enlisted it was not so. My recruiter attempted to blow smoke every chance he got. Luckily, I came from a Navy family and didn't buy half of what he was selling. Some kids are not that lucky.

We have had a problem the last few days with computer glitches and information breakdown so nothing is definate in the MOS department for Chris yet. He really wants to go 19D Cav Scout but they have to sit down with the counselor at MEPS this morning to make sure this is possible.
It has been frustrating around the homefront because mom (that would be me) and dad (that would be my ex) really didn't want him going to MEPS until he (that would be Chris) knew what he was getting into, but Chris told us he needed to make these decisions and we are doing our best to let him. He has a few other options if this one does not pan out but really has his heart set on 19 D.

I know that todays military is not the same one that I served in and that times are different, and that now this is my child and that makes it harder but what I do not understand is why especially now it almost takes an act of congress to enlist in the military. You would think that they would make it a little easier for these brave souls to go thru this process. I understand that alot depends on the needs of the Army and that recruits need to be matched with their abilities but oh lord we have spent the last few weeks jumping thru hoops around here. Again, I must stress that Chris' recruiter has been excellant, he has not promised Chris the world, no bs, no promises, it has just been frustrating as a mother to watch.

To understand Chris you have to know Chris. He has been dead set on going in the Army for as long as he has known what the Army was. We tried to talk him into setting down with all branches and listening to what they had to offer and he even humored us by making a appointment with the Air Force. He and his dad went down to the Air Force recruiters office, they arrived 15 minutes before his appointment time, they sat outside the locked office for over an hour waiting for the recruiter to show up. After an hour of waiting he went next door and joined the Army. (the Air Force recruiter never did show up). So to make a long story short, this waiting game has been agonizing.

Hopefully he will have some answers in a few hours.

I will let everyone know what happens later this weekend.


God Bless,
Tami

Monday, August 4, 2008

It's official

Christopher will raise his hand and take his oath on Friday morning. I am excited for him & I am terrified for him.
When Chris was in preschool, his teacher asked everyone what they wanted to do when they grew up and Chris told her that he wanted to join the Army and jump out of helicopters. His teacher told him that he couldn't join the Army because his mom and dad were both in the Navy. Chris informed her that his mom and dad told him that he could be anything that he wanted to be and he was going to be in the Army.
Well Mrs. Preschool Teacher if you are reading this, what do you have to say now?
I will keep you posted and hopefully have some pictures after Friday.


God Bless,
Tami