Crazy kids with cars!

Earlier this week while we were at wal-mart Jacob decided that he needed to buy Caleb a new toy. I get this impulse and the reasoning behind it, so off we marched to the toys, despite the fact that Caleb has more toys than he knows what to do with. After much deliberation on Jacob's part we ended up with a remote control car, a purple charger to be exact, and Caleb is in love with it. He has played with it so much that the batteries had finally died and he brought it to his daddy to put new ones in it. Oh my, has he had fun this evening, and not just Caleb either. Jacob and Caleb played with that car in the kitchen and Caleb was cracking up! He would try to run over Jacob with it and ran into walls, tables, chairs, and pretty much anything in his way. It was so nice to see them having so much fun together! I'm going to miss this when Jacob leaves, but its only for a little while this time and we will make it! All in all this has been a wonderful evening with some great family time. What more could a wife and mother ask for?

See, another post! Aren't you all proud?! I'll write again later. Probably not tomorrow, but almost certainly the day after. May you all be blessed!

Soooo.... I've been neglecting....

Yes, I have been naughty! It has been ages since I posted. I've been both slothful and neglectful. I intend to do better from here on out. Note the intend part of that last sentence. I am leaving myself room for sickness, extenuation circumstances, and small bouts of sloth. Still, I will do my best to post more frequently and stop wasting good cyberspace.
So much has happened since I last posted. This deployment is WELL over half way over and we are coming to the end of Jacob's leave as I type. We still have a several days left, but of course, its never enough. Still, its like a balm to my soul just to be in his presence. I've been without him for seven months, I can do three more, especially now that I've gotten to spend some time with him. We've not really done anything that exciting, but just hanging out with him is enough. Sitting here at the computer while he watches yet another program on The History Channel and has a beer. It is truly wonderful! I dread going back the the airport and leaving him there. Again, I have gone seven months without him so another three months I can handle.
I will state again that I will do my best from here on out to post more frequently. I apologize for not posting in so long! May God bless you all!

Army wives!

I have a friend on facebook who posted this poem a little while ago and I have gotten her permission to post this and share it with you. She really captured the spirit of what being an army wife is like. I hope you all enjoy Jennifer's creativity and talent as much as I have!

We have a common bond, it's as tight as you can get,
We share our secret pain,without it we'd never met.

We started this so lonely,but now we can see the light,
The daily fear and anger,is now going to get a fight.

We seem so weak and lonely, this you can plainly see,
but now I have my friends, to be all that we can be.

We had no lengthy training, no rank is on our chest,
but we are also warriors, learning to become the best.

We carry the weight of family, as a wife and a mother,
not knowing how we do it, just one foot in front of the other.

One day I may be crying,an endless stream of tears,
but my friends are right there waiting, knowing all my fears.

My day will soon be over,its time to stand so tall,
for when I turn the corner, I will catch you when you fall.

This black cloud that hangs above us, will surely make its rounds,
but when my day is sunny, you can pass the saddened crown.

It's a year of tears and laughter, but most only fear,
that nightmare that has formed us, reality is always near.

No matter what the problem, we can always tell,
that someone is right there waiting, sharing my living hell.

Even when its over, and the men have all come home,
We will forever have been bonded, where ever we may roam.

God has brought us together, by a war we have to fight,
but the love and strength we have, will conquer through the night.

I Love You Girls!
There's Army Strong, then there is Army Wife Strong!

Chalouxs Girl

Isn't that fabulous?

Just another day, and yet...

I find myself missing my sweetheart more today than most days. I miss him all of the time, but today I find myself barely able to contain it. Fortunately I will be with company tonight so that will help.
In other news, I have talked to Jacob on the phone twice in that past 24 hours, so that was really nice. Maybe he sensed my special need to hear his voice. I know I hear from him every day online, but it just isn't the same.
You will also notice that I have now put a playlist on this blog as well. It has needed some of personality here I think. My words aren't enough. lol! A little disclaimer to some of you who are unaware... this is a completely different type of playlist than the one on my other blog. It is much more universally friendly, while this one may have somethings a lot of you either don't like or think is just weird. I have stated for years that my taste is insanely varied and eclectic! You are just getting a taste of that. A very, very small taste.
I know that I haven't said much today, but I just haven't much to say. Nothing much is happening except my missing Jacob. That is all for now! As always keep our soldiers and their families in your prayers!

Pint sized heartbreak.

As most of you know I have a little boy who will soon be three. It is hard to explain to him sometimes that every time we talk about daddy, that doesn't necessarily mean we are going to see him. This is actually getting harder rather than easier like I thought that it would. We have had vacation bible school at my church this week and my sweet little man has had a blast! There is a separate part set up for the teens and they do their own thing. Age appropriate classes and topics that concern the young teen of today. Well, tonight they had a guest speaker who is about to go to Afghanistan and apparently their outreach segment included making up boxes to send to my hubby. I have no idea what goes on in this class most of the time because I am busy trying to help the younger children master the craft of the day and drive home the message of the night to them. I usually don't make it to the closing part of the night where they do the invitation and recap the night's lessons and all, but tonight they came and got me and asked me to come over to the sanctuary. I thought nothing of this. With as many children as we've had you never know when you might need an extra hand, so I went without question. I got over there and met the lady that is going to Afghanistan, who is a medic by the way and already has a brother and fiance over there, and chatted with here for a while. We had a nice little chat and then they started the closing of the night. The next thing I know they are letting me know that they have a present for Jacob. Several boxes and letters for him. TONS of letters saying thank you. Then they proceeded to say thank you to me. This, of course, made me cry in a very public forum, which I hate to do. It was touching all the same and it will be a nice pick-me-up for Jacob when that stuff gets there. I saw a lot of goodies in those boxes. After they dismissed the kids, another man (we'll call him D) took some pictures of Caleb playing and of me to put on facebook for Jacob. As we are heading home Caleb was singing away in the back to "Cheeseburger in Paradise" and "In the Summertime" and generally having a blast. When we turned onto our road he started crying. I don't mean little whiny cries, but full on bawling. I had no idea what was wrong, but when I parked the car I found out. Caleb was crying because he thought we were going to get daddy and we just went home. :( What a disappointment that was! I have never felt so horrible! I cried the whole time I was getting him ready for bed. Apparently all of the mention of his daddy made Caleb want him. I am still crying. Poor baby. I know that tomorrow he will be all happy again and it will be like this never happened, but I won't soon be forgetting it.
I don't dare tell Jacob about this because it would break his heart to know he is missed like that by his little man, but I had to share the sweetness that is a child's love for his father. People assume he doesn't notice anymore because he is young and children that young usually forget people they don't see for a while. This doesn't apply to parental figures. Jacob was Caleb's favorite playmate and he apparently has forgotten nothing. Please pray for me. I have been a bit emotional the past couple of weeks and this really set me off. I've got to get it together again. Also pray for this young woman heading off into a battlefield to help those who are injured and of course the rest of our soldiers and their families!

So far...

I am deeply sorry for not keeping you all posted the way I should have. I will now attempt to play catch-up! So, Jacob is safely in his new location and is for the most part bored out of his mind! He has been on a couple convoys to outlying posts, but for the most part he has stayed put and is about to loose his mind I think. I am sure that most of you know that they did indeed loose three guys a while back and that has trouble Jacob a bit. He happened to know them and while any loss is a terrible blow, knowing them must be so much worse. I don't know from personal experience and I hope never to know that kind of loss. The loss of a comrade. Other than this, nothing much has been going on. We, of course, are coming up on Father's Day which will feel a little empty, but we will get through that too. I told you there wasn't much going on. Seriously, I talk to him online every day and use the webcams occasionally and still I haven't much to tell you. It is incredibly nice to hear from him on a mostly regular basis though. Again, I apologize for neglecting my blog and I will attempt to be less sporadic about it from now on. Thank you for all of your support and please continue to pray for our soldiers and the families of those that we lost!

Much delayed!

I know I had promised to explain the excitement over Jacob's promotion after I told you about it in the last post. I am sorry it has taken me so long to get to do this. I have been busy and a procrastinator all at the same time. Not a good combination I know, but hey, this is me!
As I have explained before, Jacob has been gone a great deal of the past year. Part of this time he was going to a few schools that were necessary for his promotion to Staff Sergeant. My excitement was a combination of the typical pride in all that my husband is and all of his accomplishments and elation that all of that extra sacrifice on both of our parts finally paid off. He has been waiting ever so patiently for this. Well, patient for Jacob anyway, and now it has finally come and he is Staff Sergeant Brown! Yay! I am so proud of him and all that he has accomplished in his chosen career. I know that I had nothing to do with his getting the promotion, but I was ecstatic when he called and told me! (as you may have noticed in my last post!)
I haven't actually talked to him since he called to tell me about the promotion being official and it is killing me. For all of the technology nothing can make up for the sound of his voice. Instant messenger chats just don't bring with them that sense of comfort that a phone call does. Still, it could be worse and I am well aware of that and I am trying to use that to keep myself sane. I just miss him! I did feel better after a day of relaxation, getting my hair cut, and chatting with my sister-in-law this afternoon. Hopefully I will talk to Jacob soon. I will continue to keep you posted on how he is doing and try to be more regular with my entries. As always please keep our soldiers in your prayers!