Here's how (these are things that people have done for me that were very helpful and ideas I have heard over the years):
1. First and foremost, pray for these families. There is nothing more powerful than prayer. Be diligent to pray for the marriages (where appropriate) and the children in these situations.
2. Offer to do something specific: you'll take the kids on Friday morning for 3 hours; you'll be there at 9am on Saturday to do the lawn.
3. Invite them to dinner (their kids too!), especially on Sunday. Sunday afternoon was the loneliest time of all for me, and it was wonderful when I got to spend it with friends.
4. Show up at their door with their favorite drink from their favorite place and just visit for a little while. The adult conversation is priceless!
5. Make an emergency meal (casseroles are great) with cooking directions, for them to store in the freezer. There are so many times that I have been guilty of making frozen pizza one night, fish sticks the next night, cereal the third night, and sandwiches the fourth night for dinner. Yikes!
6. Send a card or email of encouragement. It never fails that those notes always come at just the right time and say just the right thing to strengthen the resolve of the receiver. I can't tell you how many times I have had the worst possible day, go check the mail and walk back with tears in my eyes because of God's timing.
7. Be understanding! The kids' behavior may have changed. The person might be more frazzled and forgetful than normal. Extend an extra measure of grace when given the opportunity.
8. Spend time with the kids. This is especially important when Daddy is absent or deployed and the kids are boys. I have seen this time and again with my own boys. Wrestling just isn't the same with Mommy. Also, if there is a special event coming up (Father-Son camp out, Mother-Daughter tea, Father-Daughter dance), adopt the kid as one of yours and take him or her to the event.
9. Adopt a chaplain or send a care package. There are tons of websites related to this. Here are two: http://www.anysoldier.com/, or http://www.adopt-a-chaplain.org/.
There are so many other things that you can do to support our soldiers and their families. These are just a few examples. Even if you can't do anything else, please do #1!
11/30/2007
11/18/2007
Whew!
What a week! The ticks are gone. Last weekend we went to Georgia to help Hubs' grandfather move in with Hubs' parents after the death of his wife. The exterminator had to come and re-treat our room. Then we had Gator's Thanksgiving Party at school. They had a little program at the beginning. They dressed up as Indians and sang a few, very cute songs. 
Then we headed to the smorgasbord of food in the Fellowship Hall. We Baptists aren't great at everything, but we can cook the most delicious food. And the desserts? As Hubs would say, "It was so good it'd make ya' wanna' slap your grandma!" Bull had two appointments Thursday afternoon. The first was with a speech pathologist to do his evaluation. She thinks that he just needs articulation therapy (which is what we expected). Then we went to the Audiologist only to find out that because of an ear infection that showed up Thursday morning, we have to reschedule. That's ok. We'll do it as soon as we get home from Thanksgiving travels. Friday morning, Bull and I went to the doctor. He's on Omnicef (oral antibiotics) and Ciprodex (ear drops) for his ear infection, Mucinex for the congestion and cough, and Albuterol (inhaler) for the wheezing. 
I am on Mucinex for my congestion and cough (which Bull gave to me). The boys and myself stayed home from Church this morning. We decided to keep our cooties to ourselves. Now we are packing for our Tour De Southeast that starts tomorrow. We'll be going to visit Hubs' family for a few days. Then we head to Georgia for the latter part of the week to visit my Mom's relatives. Hubs and my Dad will be leaving before the rest of us to get to the UF/FSU showdown in the SWAMP (where only Gators get out alive) on Saturday night. Go Gators! Oh, Happy Thanksgiving too!
Then we headed to the smorgasbord of food in the Fellowship Hall. We Baptists aren't great at everything, but we can cook the most delicious food. And the desserts? As Hubs would say, "It was so good it'd make ya' wanna' slap your grandma!" Bull had two appointments Thursday afternoon. The first was with a speech pathologist to do his evaluation. She thinks that he just needs articulation therapy (which is what we expected). Then we went to the Audiologist only to find out that because of an ear infection that showed up Thursday morning, we have to reschedule. That's ok. We'll do it as soon as we get home from Thanksgiving travels. Friday morning, Bull and I went to the doctor. He's on Omnicef (oral antibiotics) and Ciprodex (ear drops) for his ear infection, Mucinex for the congestion and cough, and Albuterol (inhaler) for the wheezing. 
I am on Mucinex for my congestion and cough (which Bull gave to me). The boys and myself stayed home from Church this morning. We decided to keep our cooties to ourselves. Now we are packing for our Tour De Southeast that starts tomorrow. We'll be going to visit Hubs' family for a few days. Then we head to Georgia for the latter part of the week to visit my Mom's relatives. Hubs and my Dad will be leaving before the rest of us to get to the UF/FSU showdown in the SWAMP (where only Gators get out alive) on Saturday night. Go Gators! Oh, Happy Thanksgiving too!
11/06/2007
Arrggghhh...
We have ticks (lots of them) inside our house. So, in addition to the exterminator coming this morning, I have stripped and washed every piece of bedding that we own (we have 4 beds in our house) and curtains. The dogs have been thoroughly washed, inspected and Frontlined. The exterminator sprayed our entire house, the yard and the flower beds. He said to look out for the Holocaust in 24-48 hours. That means that I can't have my house back in order (most of you are laughing right now) until Thursday at the earliest. I guess my house was due for some "Fall Cleaning." The weather has been beautiful, so we've been able to leave the doors and windows open to get the carpet to dry faster.
On a more positive note, Bull had his first Early Steps appointment this morning. We did lots of paperwork, and L, our case worker, observed him for a little while. Bull has a slight speech delay that we are working to resolve. He's had chronic ear infections for the last 1.5 years, ear tubes for 1 year, and a talkative big brother for his whole life. The best part is that this service is free as of right now (though that could change). He'll be going in for a hearing screening, and his first evaluation will be sometime next week probably. So, the ball is officially rolling!
On a more positive note, Bull had his first Early Steps appointment this morning. We did lots of paperwork, and L, our case worker, observed him for a little while. Bull has a slight speech delay that we are working to resolve. He's had chronic ear infections for the last 1.5 years, ear tubes for 1 year, and a talkative big brother for his whole life. The best part is that this service is free as of right now (though that could change). He'll be going in for a hearing screening, and his first evaluation will be sometime next week probably. So, the ball is officially rolling!
11/01/2007
Birthday Party
We had a great time at the boys' birthday party on Sunday. It's taken me a few days to get the pics uploaded. We had a Super Hero Training Camp. When the kids arrived, they chose a cape (simple ones I had made), and made a mask. Then, we did an obstacle course: Superman Kryptonite Toss (green balls into the basketball hoop), X Ray vision test (digging spider and bat rings out of the sand), Wonder Woman Lasso (hula hoop toss over a Bop It Bag), Fast as Flash (hopper balls to the next station), Spiderman Web-blasting (silly string at a target), crawl through a tunnel and into the Bat Cave (black sheet over the slide with bats hanging down). After that, we ate hot dogs and had cake and ice cream. I asked the kids to bring donations for an Operation Christmas Child shoebox instead of toys for Gator and Bull. Most of them did, and so I talked a little bit about the difference between real heroes and pretend heroes and that they were being real heroes by thinking of others before themselves. The kids left with the cape, mask, some stickers, and a Certificate of Completion signed by Gator and Bull. We had a great time. Oh and before I am accused of plagiarism, I got all the ideas for this from a website! 
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