Introduce Yourself!

I'm in Cushing near Stillwater, OK.

Wecome to our team! I am sorry I did not see this and missed the email that you have joined us, come on up to the Check In thread, that is where you usually find us. Of course look through the other threads, revive as you see fit to or start a new one. Many on the team have been known to create mischief in the hen house, mischief is allowed.

Looking forward to getting to know you, and congratulations on your two young men!

Meant to ask, where in Oklahoma are you?



Edited by: ALOHAEV1 at: 9/29/2018 (09:48)

Hello. I found this team while looking for one for the affinity team points.

My oldest is in the Marines reserves. My youngest is a senior in high school. On August 31st I got to see him swear in at MEPS for the US Army.

How proud and excited you and the family must be to see your son graduate next month!

You will find us mostly at the Check In thread so please drop in soon. You are in very good and capable hands here. There are many dormant threads to look through; feel free to activate any of them of course start a new one, even if it is for mischief.

Hi! I am a long time sparkpeople member but am about to start a new journey as a mom of an active serviceman in the Navy. My son graduates from the USNA this May and we are all looking forward to commissioning week. I however know that the times ahead will be hard for all and I unfortunately dread the worry of the future. I have continually remind myself that my son is in God's hands. I know there is support here and want to seek it out. Thanks all.

Thank you for the welcome!
Once a military mom, each of us has a new ohana.

It is nice to meet you Sam60sumthink, come on by the Check In thread soon!

We learn something new every day don't we? I had no idea about the points thing; and that you can give points to teams randomly. Lucky us it happened.

I am sorry to hear about your son and daughter in law. That in itself would be challenge to anyone's well being. It's okay to take care of yourself, why is it so difficult to actually do it? I agree and it is nice that they included Moms, we need support too!

It's cold and chilly out, I'm getting ready to make some hot cocoa, it is 3 o'clock after all. Grab a mug and have some.

The other day I was foraging through the SP section to give points to teams and clicked this team because ... Blue Star Moms are special and those of us whose 'children' are or have been in the service give and receive strength from one another...and learn from one another, too. I did NOT realize that giving points also joined me into the team, so that was a surprise.

My son enlisted in the Army in 2001 and was in boot camp on 9/11. He served until a few years ago, had four deployments, is now a disabled vet, He wanted to remain career Army, but it was not meant to be. He married a female soldier three days before his 3rd deployment and she is now also a disabled vet. Me? I was very active for 10 years in a local troop support group but had to scale back due to a health concern and now "must avoid stress".

One thing among others that impressed me about today's Army was how the FRG units in each of his duty stations included me in their support network: while technically FRG's were intended for spouses of service people, I sure did appreciate that support!

Edited by: SAM60SUMTHINK at: 12/3/2017 (21:16)

Amen to the friendships!

A quick drive by to welcome you to our little band of mischief makers and look forward to having you join us up in the check in thread. Feel free to look through all the threads and revive anything that interests you and by all means start a new thread.

Congratulations on your son's graduation and assignment by the way.

I'm Kelly aka alohaev1, our son was Navy Reserve then Active duty and is now fully civilian but the friendships of this small group of active to bloggers keeps me here so you are in good hands. We are under some serious lightening so will check in with you later, just wanted to welcome you!

Marsha: So nice to see you here! Great group!!

So proud of your son, too. Congrats on his pending graduation. Blessings!

Welcome to The Blue Star Moms. If you have time, stop by our daily "check in" thread and say Hi to everyone. We want you to feel welcome and included.

I am Sunny332 and my soldier is no longer in active service but I am still connected via heart strings to this group.

Best wishes on your spark journey to health, fitness, and weight loss.

Congratulation to your solder on his graduation and his ATI at Quantico.

Sunny

My youngest son is in the South Dakota Army National Guard
and will graduate from Basic Training on Thursday and
transferring to Virginia for AIT at Quantico.

Welcome to the team Mommy!!! Do stop by the chit chat thread soon.

Hugs, Sunny

My son is in the Air Force and has already signed with the Air National Guard for when his AF contract is up next year. He comes from a long line of service members - his father and I, my father, my papa, four uncles, an aunt, and four cousins.

Thanks Sunny!!

Nice to meet you!

Congratulations on your sons achievement. Isn't basic graduation inspiring?
Best wishes on his AIT and yes, it is great that he will be home for Christmas.

Take care and stop by the Chit Chat Tread so we can get to know you better.

Sunny

Hi everyone! My younger son joined the Army Nationsl Guard reserve. He just completed basic training and is now in AIT until March. I just returned from his graduation and am so thankful to hear that he gets to come home for Christmas :)

Thanks for the update Kal, my heart just goes out to him and the family. I know they appreciate your kindness.

Am keeping him in my prayers.

Hugs...

Wow - Bless his heart.

You are a Jewel!

Praying for this soldier and his family.

Sunny

Unfortunately yesterday I spent time with Casey's mom, sister, wife and infant daughter while Casey was in his 8th surgery in less than a week. We are paying that they can save his knee joint but the artery stops above the knee after injury so it may not be possible.

They are being well taken care of and I will continue to be in touch and offer time away from the hospital and such of course.

Do keep us posted, Kal.

Hugs, Sunny

I am going to try my best! Thank You!

Oh dear, I am sitting here in tears more so because of his brave attitude! We will do what we can to get this going. We all want to meet this young man and his family.

I just checked Sunny's link...my son works for Fanatics and I am going to get in touch with him. They may have a connection with the Seahawks.

Kelly

Back again, just talked with our son. He will do what he can on that end but it may take awhile. He suggested contacting the Seahawks directly (PR folks). He says you are one awesome Mom to think to do this! Do you have any connections at Ft. Lewis, Kyle no longer has.

Edited by: ALOHAEV1 at: 2/6/2014 (13:16)

www.fanatics.com/NFL_Seattle_Seahawk
s/
Nike_Marshawn_Lynch_Seattle_SeahawksR>_Preschool_Game_Jersey_-_College_Nav
y/
partnerid/8429/source/GPA_CA?CAW
ELAID=
&CAWELAID=330000530000120862

Hope this helps. It was the lowest price I found anywhere.

Hugs, Sunny

Good morning Blue Star Moms. I am looking for someone in Seattle that might know someone on the Seahawks that could help get a jersey for a young LCpl from 3/7 who stepped on an IED last week and is at Walter Reed. They are from Washington State and I am thinking this might be something to help him on his long road to recovery. He is already talking about getting a running prosthetic so he can run again! Oorah!!!!

He is in my son's unit is how I know of him and I am going to go tomorrow and meet him and his mom, young wife and brand new daughter born in November. He has met her now but still hasn't been able to hold her due to bugs he may have brought back from Afghanistan and that his wounds stay germ free.

Thanks for any leads you can give me!

Welcome to the Blue Stars! You certainly are a military family. Grab a cup of hot cocoa and come on up and Check In...

See you are a Seahawks fan. Since the Jets or Giants didn't make it and we lived in Washington, been known to root for the Seahawks many times.

Look forward to seeing you soon, meanwhile stay warm and safe.
Kelly

I saw where you just moved recently to Michigan. My sis used to live in Holland.

You all are "all about the military". That is GREAT!

Our soldier just left active duty but will be doing active reserves.

Hugs, Sunny

Edited by: SUNNY332 at: 2/5/2014 (16:22)

Thank you Miss Sunny! I am glad to hear you are on the road to recovery and good health.
My husband is a former 1Sgt and we are all about the military.

Nice to meet you Maggie. We are glad you have chosen The Blue Star Moms on your journey to fitness, health, and weight loss. Stop by when you get a chance to the daily thread (Check In) and say Hi to everyone. We try to stop by there almost daily but have to admit I haven't been very good about it lately. I have had some illness but now on the road to recovery.

Again, nice to meet you. I look forward to getting to know you. You have a very active Military Family - for sure....

Sunny

Hi I'm Maggie. My husband and I share 7 kiddos. The boys and a d-i-l are Army officers and one daughter is in JROTC. One son is stationed at Ft Riley. The other son is stationed at Quantico and his wife at Walter Reed.

Hi Sunny. It is great to meet you as well.

My son, Jonathan, just deployed again in September and is not due back home until June. So, we are all still adjusting,

Thanks for the warm welcome and your prayers.

I look forward to getting to know you all a little better, hagn

Hi Kelly. Thanks for the welcome. I am from a little town just north of Birmingham. Nashville is about an hour or so drive up I65.

Hi Faye and nice to meet you. So glad you found your way to our "band of Military Moms" as Kelly would say.

Thanks for letting us know about your soldier. How long does he have to go on this deployment?

My Soldier (Sgt. in the USArmy) is stationed in paradise (Hawaii) but we know that can change in a nano second.

Praying for God's protection over your soldier.

Hugs, sunny

Morning Faye!
As I was welcoming you to our little band of Moms I see you introduced yourself!

You'll find we are usually hanging around the Check in thread so come on up and visit.

Are you also in Birmingham? I'm not far from you, Nashville.

Kelly

Hi everyone. I am Faye a proud mom of an active duty army reservist out of Birmingham, Alabama currently stationed in Afghanistan. I am so glad to find this group. It is easier to make it through a deployment having other moms to talk to. .....Prayers for everyone and for an end to this war.......

Hi Kathy, many don't come here first we usually are up in the Check in thread so come on over there too! As you've seen we create and activate as needed.We're glad you found us too!

How cool is that, Nashville IN - we'll have to add the state when we talk about Nashville, AND I'll have to remember there is more than one Nashville TN. And of course brag about your son, that's an accomplishment and I'm wondering if he was a wiz on video games as a kid.
Kelly

Somehow I missed this intro thread where I should've posted first! Oh well... I'm Kathy from Nashville, IN. Our son Jared is in the Army Nat'l Guard based out of Bloomington, IN. He just got promoted to Specialist and is in an artillery group. His AIT is to sit behind a computer to direct where the artillery will land. Jare is 28 y.o., married with 2 beautiful little boys and lives in Indy. Works full time. He just finished up his 2 week summer drill at Camp Atterbury and was also awarded the Army Achievement Medal. We're so proud of him. He's had the military in his blood ever since he was a little boy. He loves it.

A big Hi to everybody and I'm glad I found this group.

Edited by: BROWNCOFIDDLER at: 8/20/2012 (20:47)

You have that one right, Kelly. We are here for each other through all the ups and downs of military life.

Sunny

Sharlene, you have touched all our hearts. We may be a small team but you will not find a stronger one. Come by often, we will stand with you and have strong shoulders for you and your family. Sigh.

Prayers to your son and of course to your family,
Kelly

Hi There, Sharlene and welcome to the team. We do not have a local Blue Start Moms chapter near where I live either but so do enjoy this team and the Blue Star Moms here.

So sorry to hear about your son. Do keep us posted on his condition and know I will be praying for the best possible outcome from his injuries.

Again, nice to have you here.

Hugs, Sunny

Welcome to the team Sharlene. I am sorry to hear about your son and his injuries. I will add you and your family on my prayer list. Stay in touch and ask for help or parayers when you need them for the team.

Edited by: DLDMIL at: 8/13/2012 (16:43)

Hi..I have not heard of Blue Star untill about a month ago..the closest chapter is in Boise, Id. About a 3 hour drive from where we reside in a remote ranching community , in Oregon. Three of our children have served..along with my husband..We, I guess you could say ..are an Army family..since all who have served were in the Army. Our one son, Anson was serving Afghanistan .He also served in Iraq..he was a career man..a Sgt. .with the 10th mt. div..and was critically injured (TBI) a year ago..it was the same day as the tragic Navy Seals deaths. He was life flighted to Germany..where they thought he was not going to make it..then on to Bethesda where he was stabilized after two months. I was with him there. Then transferred to Palo Alto ..now moved to private non military hospital in So. California. His prognoses is anyone's guess..I have met some TBI's that have rallied and can walk..talk, and have a somewhat "normal" existence. It has been a horrid experience..and I NEVER realized till I was at Bethesda what sacrifice truly met..till I saw it face to face. I am broken along with our family..But life goes on..and our son is our hero..giving so much..as so many others have..for a war that is WHAT I ASK? It seems so unnecessary..so many sacrifices.. I struggle with depression some days..but thankful that I have loving family members that support us..and the Lord who has gotten us thus far. I am thankful to have found your site..as some days seem awfully long.
I am working on getting healthier ..Hope your day is going good..A hero's mom....Sharlene

Edited by: LEANIE64 at: 8/13/2012 (16:30)

Welcome DLDMIL.
How wonderful for you to have your boy home. I'm sure you're quite relieved.

My daughter has just 13 days to go before she leaves Afghanistan. Her hubby left there yesterday. They are both Air Force Captains, stationed at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa.

Welcome aboard!

Love your name Dallas! Exciting you found your way over here, you'll find us mostly in the check-in thread so come on up soon.

We all hear you about having your son home and getting sleep. (Yea for him going to school)Our son has taken a temp leave from the Navy Reserves.

Kelly

Welcome to the team. I would imagine your soldier being home took a load off of you. No matter where they are, Mommas worry! I am a proud Army Mom also. Our soldier is an x-ray tech stationed in Hawaii. We did get to go see him in Hawaii last October and also celebrated our 45th Anniversary. My goal now is to somehow go back before he changes duty stations.

My Name is Sunny and I am glad you have decided to join us on your spark journey to fitness, health, and weight loss.

Hugs, Sunny

Hi, I'm Dallas and a proud Army Mom.My son is currently out of active duty and serving in the reserves, going to school. Glad that he is home from Afghanistan and I can now sleep at night.

Welcome Anne!!!

WOW, Four Stars...we'll have to make you Admiral.
You'll usually find us in the Check-in thread, look forward to having you stop by and brag.

Kelly

Hi, I'm Anne, mom to two Air Force Captains, currently both deployed to Afghanistan. My daughter is a Navigator aboard the MC-130P, and my son-in-law is a Logistics Officer.

Hi Kristi and Welcome!!!
You'll usually find us in the Check in thread so come on up and sit a spell with us, we look forward to knowing you too. It's always great when you see some familiar faces so you already know that we will help you through this.
Kelly

Hi Kristi and welcome to the team.

Nice to see you here.

Sunny

The name is Kristi. Hi. I have a son in the Air Force in New Mexico. I'm a veteran of the Air Force, too. Looking forward to getting to know you.....I see some familiar faces, too! I'm into running and theatre. I'm hopefully able to both ......I'll need the energy and stress relief running gives me while I do this play!

Edited by: MILLERGIRL719 at: 4/22/2012 (06:56)

Welcome Back, you've been missed!

I haven't been a "blue star" mom for a year now.....but with my son being deployed again, I join for the support of other Mom's. HATE this war, that has lasted longer than the insane Viet Nam war.....

Welcome to the Team, Patricia. So glad you have joined us on your spark journey to Fitness, Health, and weight loss.

How proud you must be of your Marine. He has already seen a lot in his career. We thank Him for his service and you for raising such a fine young soldier.

I am Sunny332 and I look forward to getting to know you.

Sunny
Proud Army Mom
Hooah

Hi everyone!
I'm Patricia and I'm new here. I've been a Blue Star Mom since 2008. My youngest son is a U.S. Marine who is currently stationed at Camp Geiger in North Carolina. He started out at Twenty-nine Palms, CA, went to "the sandbox" (Afghan), then was stationed in Okinawa, Japan. (Yes, he was there during the tsumani.) He is now stationed State-side, thank God! I last saw him September 2011, which isn't too bad considering I didn't see him at all during the 18 months he was in Japan.

I'm looking forward to meeting all of my family here!

Than you Miss Sunny.
I used to spend part of my summers at El Dorado Springs MO but have not been to Ft Leonard Wood.

Hugs~
Bella

How wonderful and what a great military family. We welcome you to the team. We are so glad you are joining us on your Spark Journey to health, fitness and weight loss.

If you have never been to Ft. Leonard Wood Area, do go as it is a great wooded areas and rivers with lots of canoeing. Our soldier took some of his x-ray training there.

Jump right in and make yourself at home. Hugs, Sunny

Hey y'all! I'm Bella and a mom of 2 Blue Stars well 3 if you count my daughter in law.
My oldest and his wife went the route of ROTC in college. He just spent 18 months in the desert and was recently was reassinged to Ft. Leonard Wood. My youngest son is currently in Ranger school and will graduate in March. My daughter in law is finishing her last year of Nursing school and is also a new mom to my little buddy.
Until my boys went into the ARMY only my dad and one brother spent 4 years in the service so I had no idea what we were getting into. There are days that I still struggle with questions.
Thank you for letting me join. Please give your service members a hug from this mom.

Ciao~
Bella

Thanks for the welcomes!

Edited by: MAYGIRL14 at: 12/9/2011 (14:28)

Welcome to the Team, Barb.

Do stop by the Check in Thread and say Hi to everyone.

We are so glad you have joined us on our spark journey to fitness, weight loss, and health.

Awesome about your kids. Do tell them thanks from all of us. They are our true American Heroes and Sheroes - for sure!

Sunny
Proud Army Mom
Hooah

Welcome Aboard Barb!

You will usually find us at the Check in thread, so come on up and visit!

WOW, three military heroes and sheroes, you will have a lot of valuable insight to offer and brag about.

I'm Kelly, our son is back on Navy Reserve out of Jacksonville FL.

Hi, my name is Barb, and I am the mother of 3 military children. One is a veteran, and the other two are active. My daughter is a nurse with the Air Force and will deploy next May to Afghanistan. My eldest son is with the National Guard. He was slated to deploy next June to Iraq, but thinks those orders may change. My youngest son was also with the National Guard, but to his great disappointment, was medically discharged due to a heart condition.
I am happy to find this group of other mothers who are probably experiencing the same pride, emotions, and fears that comes with having children serving our country.

Hello Rebecca and nice to meet you. So glad you have joined us on your spark journey.
You sound very proud of your Bradley and rightfully so. Do tell him we are so thankful for his service.

I am Sunny and a Proud Army Mom of Joshua who is currently stationed in Hawaii. We just made a trip there to see him and to celebrate our 45th Anniversary.

Take care and we look forward to getting to know you better.

Sunny

Hello, my name is Rebecca. I have 6 beautiful children ranging from 26 to 11. My son Bradley is 23 & serving in the Navy. He has been in the Navy for 4 1/2 years. He is currently in Bahrain where is group stays as home base. He is on a helicopter & flies from Bahrain to where the various places over there...Irag, Afghan as needed. This is his second deployment there & this one is harder for me because he is now married & calls his wife, as he should, instead of us as often as he used to. Our family has members serving in all the branches & we are so very proud of all the men & women out there doing what they are called to do. I am so glad to have found this group & I look forward to getting to know you all better. If there is anything I can do to help be of support to any of you please give me a shout out. God Bless us all

Nice to meet you, Melanie and learn a little about your great military family.

Take care and good to see you posting. We look forward to you joining us on the daily chat thread.

Sunny

So glad you found your way over here Melanie.

We usually hang out around the Check In thread, come on up and visit.

WOW, double Star Mom and soon to be Grandmother, that is exciting, bet you have your pass port at the ready. Cool that your son gets to make a quck trip to ride, you'll have to tell us all about the ride.

Look forward to seeing more of you,
Kelly

Hello all! I'm Melanie and I love to travel hence the sparkname "Compass Rose." I live in Southwest Florida. I have a daughter and son-in-law on active duty in the Army. They are both currently stationed in Germany. Scott has served multiple tours in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa and the like--he's a ranger. Sara has served one tour in Iraq. I'm grateful that both of them are now in Germany and so very proud of them too!

Scott is in Florida this week riding with the Wounded Warriors. They are riding from Jacksonville to Tampa. I will be meeting him there at the finish-line on Sunday. Sara was not able to travel as she is 32 weeks pregnant with my first grandchild...Austin. Scott will be returning home on Monday and he is greatly missed by wife and dog. :)

I am prior service USMC. We are patriotic family and we love our troops and our country!

Semper Fi!
Melanie

Nice to meet you. I have been on vacation (went to Hawaii for our 45th Anniversary and also to see our Soldier boy who is stationed there.

Nice to have you join us on your spark journey. Do tell your daughter she is my SHERO for the day.

Hugs, Sunny

Glad you found your way over here, come on up to the Check in shack when you get a chance.

We lived in Augusta GA for many years, so familiar with Ft. Gordon. That area is really nice.
Tell her we are proud of what she has chosen to do!

I told you before, love the name...

Kelly

Hi all. Thanks to everyone who has been so quick to welcome me! My daughter just joined the Army. She is doing basic training at Ft. Sill, OK; then off to AIT at Ft. Gordon, GA; then off to jump school at Ft. Benning. Looking forward to seeing her at Christmas when she has leave.

This is a whole new side of military service for me. My husband and I were both in the Marines when she was born.

HI I am new to Sparks to help with my weight issues, and wanted to find a group that could relate to the empty feeling when your love one is serving. My son Ryan leaved today for Afghanistan, please pray for him.

Opened up my email to see you found your way over here...Welcome Aboard!

Yes, your Mom has done our country well - just as you and your family are. We thank all of you for the sacrifices being made on our behalf.

You usually find us at Check In. Look over the other threads, revive any of them and of course feel free to start a new one that will help you (and the rest of us).

Our son is Navy (dirt sailor, never been aboard ship) back on Reserve, has done 3 rotations in Iraq. After his last one, he left the corporate world traded for another set of guns and is with the Sheriff's Department.

Good morning ladies. I found you through a comment on one of my blogs actually.

I am a former Marine.
My husband is an active duty Marine.
My stepson is a LCpl with 3/7 deploying to Afghanistan in September
My stepdaughter has an ROTC scholarship to Norwich University in Vermont and will be commissioned God Willing on 5/13/2013 as a Marine 2dLt

There you have it!

My Mom had five children and of the five 4 of us served our country - 2 in the Army and 2 in the Corps. I tell her she did her country well.

God Bless you all and this great nation we live in - land of the free because of the brave!

Thanks again, Ladies ... I love my career, although it was an accidental career, and can't ever imagine retirement. I thought for awhile I would like to be a stay at home wife but once my children were all out of the house, I've reconsidered. Retirement is many, many, many years off for me still due to our retirement system here but that's ok .... It's not like I have a burning desire to do anything else anyway.

I have been a soldier, was a military wife for a little while when my husband was still in Germany after I had come back to the states to have our baby and both of those events were difficult and sad. To be a soldier, I left home and broke my mom's heart. To be a military wife, I had to leave my husband behind in a different country which broke my heart. Being the mom of a soldier was already hard when he left for basic training and continues to be every time he comes home on leave. I want to be strong for him when he leaves this time to go back to deploy. I want him to know I'm so very proud of him without smothering him while he is here. I want to be strong, wise and for him to know I believe in him I working on the stiff upper lip thing ... I really am but I don't feel it.

You are most welcome Eda. I also appreciate your service as a 911 operator also. What an awesome job! What a huge responsibility! My thanks go out to you for 19 years of service.

I just retired from Nursing last June and miss it so much. Retirement is difficult for me after 25 years of Nursing. I keep thinking I need to be somewhere else. I don't do "sitting still" very well. I am trying though. Summer is here and we are putting in a huge garden so that will take care of some of this restlessness.

Nice to meet you and again, to a great team.

Sunny

Welcome to the team EBEAMS. I too have been a military wife for 17 years, and now a blue star mom for the last 6. I told my DH before our son deployed to Afghanistan that I wasn't sure which was harder; the job of military wife or blue star mom. Funny, I was just thinking about this earlier today.

We are all here to help you.


Sharon

Thank you for the warm , Ladies! I needed that! I am certain I will need people to lean on as the time grows nearer. ~ Eda

PS Please pass along the same regards to your soldiers ... Each one who sacrifices their own time and freedom for ours is a true hero!

Edited by: EBEAMS at: 4/17/2011 (19:52)

Welcome EBEAMS to the Team. We are so glad you have chosen to make your spark journey with us. We will be here for you as your Son Deploys and should you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. We all know that being the Momma of a soldier is different than being a soldier so tighten your boot straps, Mom, and be strong. Let us know when you need a little extra TLC as we will be here for you every step of the way and also here to help celebrate your soldier's homecoming. & we can help.

Tell your soldier Thanks for his service. He is a True American Soldier.

Sunny

Morning and a big welcome from all of us!

I hear you about the emotions when it is your own child going off in harms way, I was not prepared for it.

You'll find that we may be a small team but are one strong unit when someone faces this challenge. So come by, check out the threads feel free to start one that suits your needs you never know it might be something that someone else might have been thinking.

We offer lots of hugs, support, tissues along with laughter, and occasionally have been known to create a bit of mischief. We look forward to taking this journey with you,

Kelly

Good morning! I was searching around this morning for a new team that would be able to help me with the emotional pressure that is starting to build as my son is nearing deployment. He has been in the Army for just short of 3 years and is in EOD, stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC. My husband and I were both in the Army as well so I understand military but my mommy heart is starting to crumble a little at a time as the time for deployment is nearing. He and his beautiful wife will be here in 11 days for their visit before he leaves on May 15th. I would appreciate any words of wisdom, support or encouragment that moms who are already working this out can give me!

As for me, I hail from Wilder, Idaho and have been on SP for about 4 months. My weight loss journey is slow but steady and I am pleased with it so far! I'm a 911 operator for a city of about 90,000 and have been doing it for 19 years. Life has been full of ups, downs and unexpected curves! All in all, it's been a great ride! Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you to support you in your journey! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Tina, it's great you're finding your way around here!

WOW, Tina, two girls in the Marines...

Keep in mind, that goodies sent are generally shared so send as much as you get into those one price priority boxes. With it being the holidays, add a party in a box. Interesting that it took so long to get there, let's hope it was just a quirk.

Feel free to check the other threads, and please stop by more often - we look forward to getting to know you too!

Kelly

Nice to meet you, Tina

How proud you must be of your girls. It will be sad that they are not home for the holidays but when they do get home, you can make up for it.

Best Wishes on meeting your spark goals.

Sunny

Hi!
I would like to introduce myself. I have two children in the Marine Corps, both have joined just this year. My oldest daughter is in California and my youngest daughter is at bootcamp in South Carolina. My husband, son, and I will be missing them during the holidays. This will be the first year when we are not all together. I am trying to plan ahead and start sending some packages now so that the oldest one will receive them before Christmas! I was just informed that the youngest one could receive cookies for Christmas. I just need to know how many to send. The first boxes I sent to California from Tennessee took over a month for her to receive. I am looking forward to meeting all of you! I am thankful for this group and for Sparkpeople.

Tina

Margrit said what I was going to say. We are here for each other so do keep close to the team and let us know when you need a little extra TLC. We will be here for you.

Hugs, Sunny

Welcome to a team filled with Moms that have hearts of gold - - and also red, white & blue!

Carol, we will be praying for your dear son and also for you since it's so hard to be the Mom at home that's waiting for the phone calls, emails, anything to find out our loved ones are ok! Most of us have had our sons and daughters deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan and we understand how your heart is being squeezed hard - night and day - with worry.

Please let us know if there's anything we can do for you.

Margrit
Air Force Mom of
Tech. Sgt. Stephanie

Hi all!
My name is Carol and my son is a Soldier deployed to Afghanistan since June. I worry constantly, cry frequently, and am so glad to find a group of moms with the same concerns! He is my only child, chose a very dangerous job, and is in harm's way every day.

Counting the days until R&R in November!

Welcome Rebecka, glad you found your way over here!
I'm laughing at your description of first day of school, in that respect boys are easier…although we went through a time that our son spent as much time primping as daughter did.
Sunny and Rebecka seems your boys are certainly adventurous, never a dull moment - our kids didn't like that there were only two because if I didn't know who to blame, they both got it. Do you ever get out of the grocery store with such a large family?
We look forward to getting to know you and your soldier, what a way to celebrate Labor Day, having him home!
Kelly

That is great. I loved it that the clothes were "clean ones".

Have a GREAT week.

Sunny

I am off to go see my Father.

Sunny,
Boys are great! I loved listening to my co-workers on the first day of school talking about their girls and the 15 different outfits, different hair styles, nail polish...etc that all had to be gone through the night before school started. My guys did lay out clothes...the clean ones...LOL...shower and were in bed like usual...at this "tweener" stage, but boys have gotten so much easier!

I had three boys so am thinking Rebecka's grocery bill was double mine. I don't know about you all but I loved raising boys - washing garder snakes, finding worms in the refrigerator, never having a bowl of cereal,always out of milk, the rough housing with papa in the living room, and the many, many hugs from them to me - the Queen of it all.

If I had it to do all over, I would ask for more boys....

Welcome Rebecka and Lisa! We are indeed very Proud Blue Star Mommas.

Hugs, Sunny

Hi Rebecka,
I'm pretty new to this board also, I really like the moms that are here, plus I love Spark People.
My son is in the Air Force. We live in Florida and he is now in S. Dakota. I understand when you talk about how much you miss him, sometimes its really hard. He'll probably be deploying next spring.
My goodness you are so lucky to have 6 boys, but if they were like mine, I bet your grocery bill was high!
Good luck on your weight loss journey!
Lisa

Hi, my name is Rebecka. My oldest son just joined the Army and left for Basic in May. He is completing the AIT part of his training. He will graduate on Sept. 2 and be home for a couple of weeks! I have missed him so much and can't wait to see him again!

I have 5 other sons also! They are great kids...will not so much kids any longer. They really do grow up very fast.

I hope to get to know this group and not only get help with the weight loss goal, but also with the "stress" that comes with having a child serving our country. I couldn't be prouder of him, but I am a mom all the same, and I know he is putting himself in harm's way to protect our freedoms.

Good to meet you!

Hi Ginger. Hi MIECHI7. Welcome to both of you!


Margrit (sorry this is so late!!!)