the heroic details

My husband has been in the military for twelve years.  Two days ago, he served his last day.  During a deployment to Afghanistan several years ago, while avoiding enemy fire, he leapt off the side of a mountain and rolled and rolled and really messed up his back.  He was medically retired from his military career, with disability.  This news for our family was, quite literally, life-altering.  For our entire 11-year marriage we have been a military family, enduring everything that comes along with that tumultuous, wild journey.  And now it has all come to a swift and early end, and we find ourselves launching into civilian life. We moved off the base and into a little rental in a near-by city.  Our rental home is actually around the corner from our beautiful Latin Mass parish.  It seemed so idyllic, honestly, being able to walk to Mass.  In fact, when our parish had their Corpus Christi procession, the procession stopped in our front yard  where our priest offered Benediction o

Today is Anja's 7th birthday and in just 12 days Oliver will turn 5.  We combined their birthdays for the last two years and decided to do so again this year. Anja really, really wanted to have a party and invite all her friends, but I just couldn't see how that would be possible in the middle of a move.  I mean, just look at my living room right now. This morning we upheld our birthday pancake tradition for breakfast, then we all got ready to go to Build-A-Bear Workshop.  That was their "big"' gift from us this year.  The boys got Star Wars bears (Vader and a Storm Trooper) but Anja simply picked out new outfits for her cat (which we found at a yard sale for $1...) Afterward, we enjoyed smoothies at Jamba Juice. Sidenote: Here's how often I go to the mall.  When I told my kids we were going to the mall, none of them had any idea what a mall is. The rest of the afternoon was fairly low-key until dinner