Still Alive and Kickin'

Just a quick post to say I'm not dead (:

And to brag a little about something that I'm quickly and whole-heartedly becoming an advocate for.

I have recently taken Levels 1&2 of the AFTB (Army Family Team Building) courses.

AFTB is a great program and I highly reccommend it to any new (or not so new) military spouses! The classes are available at just about every post.

The program describes itself as such: "AFTB is a volunteer-led organization with a central tenet: provide training and knowledge to spouses and family members to support the total Army".

In short this class will teach you almost anything you've ever wondered or wanted to learn about the Army and Army life. It's designed to help spouses feel more comfortable and independent in the military life. It enables us to be resilient and ready to handle many of the unique challenges that we come across as military families. And, no they aren't paying me to plug their program (:

Many of you who have been reading for a while know that I am big on helping new spouses with whatever they need. I started this blog originally for my own benefit but it's turned into a resource for readers as well and I LOVE that!

AFTB will be that, and more for you. With each class they will give you a binder full of information that you will learn during the courses. They send the binder with you for you to keep as a reference anytime you need it. Awesome, right?

Here at Fort Campbell, they offer FREE, yes FREE on site childcare for your children while you're taking the course! When I offered praise for this, Alex, the program manager said "I don't ever want childcare to be the reason why a spouse can't take the course."  

What will you learn? How to read rank on uniforms, how to read an LES (Leave and Earnings Statement), financial readiness, all about the FRG, military acronyms, etc.. and that's just level one. Level two focuses more on personal growth and resilience. You will take a personality test, learn how to handle crisis, effective communication, etc.

In December I am signed up to take Level 3, and then in January... I take the Instructor Course! I am excited to (hopefully) be a part of of this program!

I hope that all of you get out there and take these courses, I really can't say enough about them. They are offered at most of the major Army posts.

Here is the website for Fort Campbell's branch: Fort Campbell AFTB

email: fortcampbellmwr@yahoo.com

phone number: 270-798-4800

Alex Krohn is the program coordinator and he is great! And so is Jennifer Gilbert (the volunteer program manager).

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them for you (: And if you would like the contact information for your local post, just let me know  and I will get that to you ASAP!

Have a good Halloween!!



Boy Weekend

I can't say this weekend has been ALL about boys for us, but mostly. (I guess that happens when you are .. well.. you and the dog are the only girls in the family). But I don't mind.

Friday night Jeff came home from work, changed his clothes and went to his first flag football practice! He is pretty excited about playing in the league. He played for 3 years while stationed at Fort Lewis and he loved it. I'm happy he's found something that makes him happy here. Jack and I decided, since daddy was doing something "sporty" we would too!

He loves the tee ball set we got him for his birthday! He has played with it practiced so much, that he doesn't even need help much anymore. Occasionally he knocks the tee over while hiting the ball, but I'm pretty sure he does it on purpose because he cracks up laughing immediately after. What can I say, "boy" is his name and being destructive is his game.

Jeff got home from practice and had injured his foot. He wore his vibrams to practice ...

[photo cred]

And... someone (wearing cleats) stomped on his foot. From the looks of things, this someone was at least 300 pounds. Needless to say, neither the shoe or his foot held up very well. He was in so much pain he couldn't finish his dinner, so we decided to head to the ER to make sure nothing was broke. Thank you Nicole for watching our boys! The doctor he saw ended up being a doc he worked with at his FOB in Afghanistan.. Small world huh? Doc said he thought he may have a "liz frank fracture"? I wonder if Liz Frank got her foot stomped on too? But Doc wanted a second opinion. So get this... they sent the x-ray off to Austrailia to be reviewed? Seriously, there was no one closer than Austrailia? Whatever. I just that was odd, and sort of amusing. Anyways, Mr. Austrailian dude came back with a message saying the foot was not broken. So Jeff got sent home with crutches and some pain meds. He follows up with sick call Monday morning, we would appreciate prayers that he's healing fine (:

This morning was the Fort Campbell post wide yardsale. Can you say "Kate loves yardsales so much it's a little creepy?" I found a twin comforter set for Jack's room (bad news though, it smells like smoke :/ so hopefully we can get that out. If nothing else I can use the curtains that came with it.. It was cheap so whatever). Also found an old metal tonka truck for the boys. A laundry basket for Jonah's room, a really adorable jacket for Jack, and some carter's clothes for Jonah. That's a success in my book!

After yardsales and naps, we ordered pizza, and finished watching the Buckeyes game. Hey at least we didn't get shut out?! No fairweather fans in this house!

GO BUCKS!

Brutus sings the OSU fight song too. Jonah loves him!

This evening we headed out to Lowe's in search of paint and more pea gravel for the front flower bed.. err... decorative gravel area? I'm not sure what the official term would be but it will look cute when finished. Jeff is still using at least one crutch to get around today. But no worries for daddy, his little man is there to help (:

They melt my heart!

We finally decided on a color for Jack's "car/truck/etc." room so we got a couple gallons, supplies, and headed out. But not before the cashier oogled over how cute Jack and Jonah were of course. Jonah smiled at her and Jack told her he was "two" and that Jonah was his "beebee" and that he had to go "bye byeeeee".  He's repeating everything lately. I love it! He sometimes catches me by surprise though, like yesterday when he said "cheeee pweeese" and brough me a slice of cheese to open for him..

The car ride home was quite funny. Jack has a DVD player in the car. He has just recently started laughing out loud at tv/movies. So at least once every two minutes we heard "HAHAHAHAHA" from the back seat. Usually followed by some rambling about "MEL-MO" (Elmo).

We came home, got the boys to bed and put the first coat of paint on Jack's walls (Jack is sleeping in the pack and play in Jonah's room tonight). We have to do a second coat tomorrow but I love the color.

It's a light blue with a very subtle gray tint. It will be perfect to neutralize some of the bright colors we have going in the room. Tomorrow we aren't going to show Jack the room until it's all complete and put together. I can't wait! He's going to love it!