Photos from the New Camera

R. really really got into the game this week (the first half, anyway--after that he kinda lost interest--he sort of becomes like a mascot). He took the ball all the way down the field, and would have scored all by himself, but one of his teammates, who is faster, took the ball from him and kicked it in. R. was very proud, though, because last week, S. told him all about how the "assist" is way more important that the actual kicking the goal. He came straight off the field this week and told me "Mommy! I got another assist!" Good job Dad!!!

Still haven't gotten any GREAT shots of N. I get SO excited watching him play, that I forget to put the camera to my face until it is too late. These shots are OK, but they definitely don't do justice to the grace that the child has. By the way--he can punt from the 18 past midfield. (I TOLD you he's good!)

The precious little fan! He is such a good sport and is so well behaved at the soccer fields all day! He gets to paint his hair in the colors of BOTH big boys teams, so that makes everything pretty great! He always wears his cleats too--just in case someone might need a sub!

The beauty of watching my husband coach my children continues to bring me to tears. It is just rec league soccer. They are only 4 and 8 years old. I know that. Maybe it is the fact that this is not likely to be possible ever again. Maybe it is that I will never get to do it, since we don't have girls. Maybe it is how I can SEE him being a great parent in the way he talks to them, uses the right words at the right time to build them up--never, ever, ever to embarrass or demean them. Maybe it is that I think so many different life lessons can be learned through sports, and I love that he is teaching them. I don't know what it is. But I really really love it. I see them in photos like this and I am reminded of what a great man he is. I will be so proud if, when they are grown, someone says to them "You remind me of your daddy."

Nobody Loves Me

I am starting to feel very far away from my Army home. Six months ago, I was definitely not ready to go back. I am still enjoying this restful time, and I am EVER MINDFUL of the enormous blessing we have in this non deployable, low stress, time to build relationships with the children job that "we" have. But, I am feeling the twinges of homesickness.

It will be outrageously difficult to leave here. We have made friends. The kids go to a great school. It is eternally beautiful here. The beach is 10 miles from my house. It is 75 degrees year round. And yet. . .the Army isn't here. The navy is. The marines are. But, they are not my home. I am sure that they have their own sisterhood. It just isn't as good as mine. (kidding. . .not really.)

I feel the connection slipping away. The busyness of every day life--sports practices, grocery shopping, etc. takes away the time from being able to keep in touch. I miss everyone a lot. It is funny how when you first move from somewhere, you keep in touch with lots of people. As time passes, it gradually dwindles to occasional forwarded emails, then just a Christmas card, then nothing. There are 2 or 3 from each place that we stay connected to. And yet, all together, they form "home." We always say we don't have a home. Military kids say "I'm from nowhere." Or, "I'm from everywhere." I guess our home is just not a place. It is people. It definitely is bigger than we are.

I was thinking the other day about WHY I love the "sisterhood" of the Army so much. Part of it, for me, is that I am very social and extroverted. I like to have people to talk to. There is a built in community in the Army. Lots of us are stay home moms, and we bond. But, aside from that, the "sisterhood" is bigger than just sisters. We have built in moms, big sisters, little sisters, "twin" sisters, and even the ocassional grandmother or daughter. I like it. I like that within one little army post I have people who have been where I am now, and are on to the next stage, people who are in my stage with me, and people who will follow me. Ask advice, share advice, give advice.

Civilian communities just don't have that. If they are lucky, they live near family, but that is rare, even in the civilian world these days. I love my tribe.

On a totally different note, I love the fact that the Army makes me and my kids color blind. (Two of my kids actually ARE color blind, but that isn't my point right now!) The other day, we were babysitting and we were watching a movie. One of the kids watching the movie with us was african-american. We were talking about one of the kids on the show, and he asked N. "Do you mean the brown boy?" N. said "I don't know what color he is. He's the short funny one." I love that. It isn't that he wasn't paying attention. He knew the kid was short and funny. He just didn't know the race. It has never occurred to him that it was important.

Not that we don't have our distinctions in the army--goodness knows the battle between the branches, or MOSs, will always rage. And, now that Uncle G is back in his green beret, we have that to harass each other about. I suppose that the "rank thing" is there as well, but we have been blessed enough to never encounter it as a troublesome issue. But, basically, it seems to me that race is about at the bottom of the list of important characteristics among soldiers, or at least their families. I always say during deployments that it really doesn't matter what rank our husbands are--they are all gone, and we are all still here! I guess it is the same thing. They all carry guns, go to very unsafe places, and stay there a long time. I couldn't care less what color someone's skin is. I just want to know if she is bringing dessert or salad to the next potluck and which one of us is watching the other's kids on what days!

Just to give you a little example of my own thought processes: The other day I was talking to a friend about last names. I mentioned a soldier who had a name similar to one she had in her family somewhere in the past. She asked what country his family was from, and I didn't know. She asked what ethnicity he was and I said "I can't remember. Either armor or infantry." I'm not kidding. She looked at me like I was nuts, and I couldn't figure out why she was confused. It's not that I don't know the meaning of the word "ethnicity." Apparently, it's just that my first thought as far as describing someone goes to their branch! Crazy!!

So, it is Sunday. . .my traditional day of tears and rambling to hold them off. With all that said, I will stop now. Just know that if my Army sisters (and moms and daughters) are reading this. . .I miss you--call or write or visit any time. I know I will miss this place when we are gone from here--but today, I am wishing for my front yard and the wine table on Rose Barracks where the rest of the "family" would walk by, stop by and chat, and plan what comes next.

Strange Thought

I rarely buy things on credit. If I "need" something, I save the money and then buy it. When I say "I," I mean "we" because I pretty much decide where we spend our money on expensive purchases. That's not to say that S. and I don't discuss it--we do. It is just usually that he thinks of some fun thing we "should have" and I think about it for a while, ask him questions about what "gadgets" the thing must have, do the research, and then settle on the best one for us. So, anyway. I don't like to buy things on credit. That doesn't include cars, because, really--I'll never have the cash to buy a car. But, other than that--we try to pay the credit card off at the end of every month, so it is really for convenience. That hasn't worked out really well since we came to SD, but we try. We had to buy furniture and appliances on credit when we arrived, and we're still working on that. But, never ever ever would I put something like a stereo, clothes, or even new sheets (which I REALLY WANT) on credit.

Anyway--there is a camera that I would really like to have. My friend, Donna, has one. She took the pictures of N. that are a couple of posts below. I want that camera. I think it is similar to the ones the Mcs have---maybe the same camera. Anyway--Donna used to work for Canon and really loves the camera. She has a 70-300mm lens on it, and it just takes BEAUTIFUL shots of the kids playing sports. My little point and shoot just makes them so far away, that you can't see how amazing they are.

So, the question is, should I buy this camera? I have found the absolute most inexpensive place to buy it (Costco--or the Nikon version on sale at the MCX). I actually have a few hundred dollars of Wheel of Fortune money not yet accounted for that we could use to buy it. But, for now, it would be on credit. I'm having trouble deciding. But, if I miss one more amazing shot at the soccer games, I'm going to go crazy. I think that tomorrow I will use my 2 hours of free time (woo hoo--every Friday--two whole hours!! Isn't that the COOLEST thing??) to go buy it. I hope the MasterCard doesn't explode in my hands. . .look for some good soccer action shots next week!!

Boys Will be Boys

N. at the skate park!!

R. on the soccer field!

J. at gymnastics! Also known as ( 'nasticks! Or "my school with the bars." )

Soccer Photos

I know my last post only talked about what a great GOALIE he is, but N. is actually quite competent all over the soccer field. He is much more comfortable on offense than he was last year. He's not so timid. Anyway--here are some shots of him. Unfortunately, no one captured the "beautiful play," but you can see him stopping another one. . .

Soccer

The boys are really having a good time playing soccer. R, is of course, still um, new. He is younger than all the kids on his team, and even they don't pay a lot of attention. So, you can imagine how he tends to "drift." He likes it though, and seems to have no idea when the ball (and ALL of the other players) go right past him. His teammates are nice and so are their parents. S. only gets slightly frustrated when they are chasing each other or playing airplane instead of playing the actual game. . .

But then their is N. Remember in baseball when I said I still hadn't gotten used to the fact that he actually KNOWS what he is doing? I keep thinking he gets a hit or catches a ball or whatever out of luck. Toward the end of baseball season I kind of started getting used to the fact that he knew what he was doing. Well, now that is happening with soccer.

This child is good. I know, I know. I said this about baseball. But you have to understand how amazing the kid is. He is an outstanding goalie. This past weekend (keeping in mind that he had surgery on his MOUTH only 4 days before) he was just amazing. He was one on one with an offensive player several times and took a ball straight in the stomach that he should NOT have been able to catch. At one point, he made such a great stop that I was jumping up and down, and a water bottle flew out of my hand. It hit my friend's son in the head. He's 12, so it didn't really bother him, but I still had to establish a new rule of not holding anything in my hands while N plays!

Here's the coolest thing. I SO wish I had a video camera! A ball was coming from the side cross to the goal. There was no way N. could catch it. He jumped--at an angle--and stuck his arm out and punched the ball with his fist and deflected it up over the goal. It was truly beyond words to describe. S. (who is coaching) turned to look at me and put his hand over his mouth. He had to kneel down and got tears in his eyes. No exaggeration. It was that pretty of a play. Keep in mind that S was a collegiate goalkeeper, so he has pretty high standards. But, this was his kid and a textbook play--he was overwhelmed. So, seeing that, I of course get instant tears in my eyes. I love to watch them together (especially when they are NOT arguing!!)

So, I don't have a picture of it, but I think my friend Donna does. I will see if I can get it from her. There's just no way you can imagine how great it really was. . .

The McFamily Visit

It took so long to download the photos, that I don't have time to write about them right now, but I will this afternoon!

Photos of British Soccer Camp

British soccer camp was a lot of fun for both of the boys and they really learned a lot! I was amazed when we were walking to the car, and R. was dribbling the ball across the field, up a hill, and across the parking lot WITHOUT LOOKING AT THE BALL!! It was cool.

I didn't get very many "action" shots, because my camera doesn't zoom well (I need a new one!) so I didn't get many shots of N--his age group just does NOT stay still! Anyway--the coaches were great, and I hope the kids get to do this again next year!