The Answer to my Question

Yes, there is something as cute as a baby wearing footie pajamas. And that is a baby wearing a cowboy hat. Love it!

So at Home

For most of her life, she has lived in a townhouse on a military installation. She has had a small, bland backyard to play in. She has had a lackluster playground around the corner. She has had lots of other kids to play with. She has waited in line for her parents to show their ID cards to enter her own neighborhood. She has heard cadence calls in the morning, rifles at the gun range during the day, and cannons in the evening. She doesn't like or dislike living on an Army post; it's just what she knows.But I recently took her up to my grandparents' farm, I noticed a difference in her. Although she has never been a farm girl, she was completely at home in the country. She played contentedly on the front porch of the farm house, she clambered around on top of the rock piles, she climbed through the barbed wire fences like an old pro, she managed to get closer to a new calf than I knew was possible, she collected sticks from the pine trees and build a house for her dolls, and she was so happy and so free doing it all. In a suburban neighborhood, I would hardly let my kids get 10 feet away from me. But out in the country, with all that space, they have so much more freedom to explore. If she saw something she wanted to look at, she'd run across the pasture and check it out. Independently.



Right now we are actually looking in to buying an open lot so that when the time comes to settle down, we will have a place to do so, and we have both agreed we'd like to have a place with a little acreage. Seeing this little girl looking so free and so natural on the farm, I was reminded of the most important reason we would like to eventually move out of those townhouses and to a place with wide open spaces: our kids.

One Question

I don't have much to say tonight. Just a quick question: is there anything in the world as cute as a baby in footie pajamas?

Something My Kids Will Never Do (I Hope)

Mutton Busting. I don't think this was invented by a mother.

Mothers worry too much. True. You've got to let them be kids. Yes. But this? It's just that they're sooo little! Look at this little girl. Is she even in kindergarten?

To be fair, I have never been to a rodeo where I saw a child injured after falling off a sheep. I don't know if I have ever even seen one cry. They are tough. They are brave. They cowboyed up or something.

And I admit that I would hate to deny my child the opportunity to explore his or her interests. Because you don't want to squash their passions, you know. Maybe this little girl will grow up to be the first female professional bull rider. Probably not, as females seem to be too smart to participate in that sport. *ahem* But you never know...maybe that's her chance to make history.

I just hope that my kids are not passionate about mutton busting. Because if watching other kids tumble off the back of a sprinting sheep makes my heart stop, I can only imagine what watching my own kids would do to me.

This Ain't My First Rodeo...

...but it is their first rodeo! This week I joined forces with the grandparents to take the kiddos to their first rodeo. Definitely something you have to do while in Texas! By the way, it's not really cold here. That night was actually a perfectly pleasant evening, and then they turned on these HUGE fans in the arena, which must have decreased the temperature by 20 degrees. That's why we're wearing jackets.



Growing up, I visited that arena over and over, and I don't remember those fans, so they must be new. I figure someone recently spent millions of dollars on them, and they insisted on turning them on, even if it made the spectators less comfortable. "Dang it! We've got perfect weather tonight! Well, let's get our money's worth. We're using the fans anyway!"



Ok, back on track. I have fond memories of childhood rodeos, so I had high expectations for this one--the kids' first!



This little girl was mildly entertained by the rodeo events (and thrilled at the rodeo queens' entrance), but what she liked the best was this giant slide and the cotton candy.

Oh, look, you can see the giant fans in this picture. They could fight global warming with those things.

On to what I really wanted to say about this picture: the baby occasionally saw something in the arena that caught his eye, but mostly just wanted to climb around on the bleachers. And the fair was a complete flop for him. Every ride his sister got on, he pointed and reached and said: uhh uhh uhh uhh. Translation: Mommy, I'd like to go on that ride, please. Or something along those lines.

But every carnie denied him...too small.

It was a fun night, nevertheless. We only stayed halfway through the rodeo, though, because we were quickly approaching the point where it would not have been fun for us or anyone around us. Boredom, bedtime, too much sugar...who can blame them?

Army Wives and Stereotypes

"If the Army wanted me to have a wife, they would have issued me one." *Snicker* I've heard single soldiers say this over and over again, and though it does make me chuckle, it also reminds me of the stereotype people have of military spouses. And I used to believe this, too, so don't think I'm criticizing.

I used to think Army wives were expected to be submissive, patriotic baby machines with no personal career goals who were willing to keep their mouths shut and smile. This stereotype was furthered in my mind when, while in an Army Family class, the question, "What does the Army expect of you, as wives?" was answered by a fellow student like this: to sit there and be pretty.

Now I have a bit of an independent streak, and a bit of a feminist streak, so this got my blood pumpin'. I came home and told Scott that the Army had no right to expect anything out of me, and if they did, well, I just wouldn't do it...to prove a point.

But then he got his first assignment, and we moved to Georgia, and I met some of those submissive baby machines. And what do you know? Army wives certainly do not all fit into a box. I have met some who have children, and some who do not. I have met some who are stay-at-home-moms, and some who are lawyers. I know some who are quiet, and some who will speak their minds in an instant. I know some who love America with everything they have, and some who can barely speak the language.

There is one generalization I will make about military wives, however: they certainly are not submissive. They are strong, strong women. And I don't think this strength is "issued." When you love a soldier, you choose to be strong...for him, for your family, for other Army wives, for our country.

I said all that to say this: I am so blessed to have met so many strong women, and I am proud to be among them.