It takes a village to replace a husband

I'm so grateful for all the help that is available to me.  I'm naturally a very independent person so asking for help is hard for me.  But over the last few years I've learned that there is nothing wrong with accepting help.  In many cases the people who give the help are grateful for a chance to serve.  

Today I want to highlight some of the amazing people who are helping me out while Brandon is in Korea.  They are the ones that have helped me stay sane and happy while my family has adjusted to our new way of life.  I'm also going to talk about some of the things that help me out as well.

Maddy

A few months before Brandon left, my 11 year old neighbor Maddy told me she wanted to start learning how to babysit.  She wanted to know if she could watch my kids for me.  This went perfectly with an idea I had to ask her if she wanted to help me out while Brandon was in Korea.  

I pay Maddy $2 a day to come down to my house and "babysit" the kids.  This has been such a great deal!  I should have done this months ago.  For the first time in YEARS I am able to work in the kitchen without multiple children crying.  It is wonderful.  Derrick especially is so much easier to handle now.  He used to wake up from his nap and be super grumpy.  Then he'd get grumpier because I wouldn't pay attention to him.  But now Maddy will sit and play with him, or she'll play with the other kids while I feed Derrick a snack.  Derrick is so much happier in the afternoon these days.

  

Maddy is also learning lots of great things like how to feed a baby a bottle.  She's going to be a very well qualified babysitter when she is older.  

Lately the weather has been really nice in the evenings so Maddy will come with us to the park for a little while.  The girls love this because that means they get to ride down the hill on Maddy's skateboard.  

Trinity
We met Trinity at the park one day.  Derrick and her hit it off right away.  They like to rough house with each other.  Trinity comes over sometimes when Maddy can't.  She's still a little too young to be a big help, but hey an extra pair of hands is and extra pair of hands.  

Elder and Sister Coombs

Our military relations missionary couple is wonderful.  Elder and Sister Coombs have become something like surrogate grandparents to our family.  Their calling is to help out the military families in as many ways as possible.  For me that means they come over once a week and play with the kids for about an hour and a half while I get things done around the house.   

I look forward to seeing them each week.  Sister Coombs and I are very similar and I love talking with her. She doesn't get to see her grandkids while she is on her mission so I'm glad she can spend time with my kids.  Both she and Elder Coombs love taking turns holding Veronica.  

 Last week the weather was so nice that we decided to go to the park.  Elder Coombs said he'd be along in a minute, but first he was just going to sweep my floor.  That was fine with me.  Twenty minutes later he still hadn't shown up at the park.  He'd gone ahead and cleaned up my whole kitchen.

In addition to helping out once a week the Coombs' have also picked up things for me at the store when I can't get there myself.  They also have offered to help me take the kids to appointments and on special trips.  I am so grateful for them.  

Kelly, Arika, and Ange

I have really wonderful neighbors who are willing to watch the kids.  

Arika has been there for me since I went to my first doctors appointment for Veronica.  The kids love it when "Arik's mom" watches them.  

Ange has also been a favorite babysitter and a good friend.  She always comes up with great art projects to do with the kids.  

Kelly moved into a house that is basically up the street from me a few months ago.  Her husband is currently Brandon's roommate in Korea.  She is great to come down and watch the kids when I need to go grocery shopping.   Kelly and I have also started hanging out at the park and yesterday we went to McDonalds with our kids.  Kelly knows so many community resources and helps me know about things that are going on.

Basically everyone at church

We've been sitting with the Coombs' at church.  But this week they were the ones speaking in Sacrament Meeting.  Derrick sat with the RS President and her husband (who took Derrick out into the hall when he started crying.)  Veronica sat with three older women who beamed every time she grinned at them (which was a lot.)  I sat with Charlotte and Lydia.  During Sunday School my friend Julie took Veronica while I taught my class.  

Other people help out in small ways by holding doors open for us,  chasing Derrick down, helping me out to the car, and holding Veronica.  I love all the help that is available at church.     

Community Programs

I'm in the process of getting the kids signed up for some childcare time that is available for free to children of deployed service members.  I didn't want to do it at first, but Sister Coombs told me about a lady who calls it "pre-school" and sends her kids on the same day every week.  That sounds like something that would work for us. 

I also have us signed up for a lawn mowing service that Fort Hood Family Housing provides when a spouse is deployed.  I'm so glad I don't have to worry about taking care of the lawn.   

Curious George

Sometimes there's nothing like getting stuff done while the kids watch TV.  They all LOVE Curious George.  And I love him too.  That show makes me so happy.  Everyone is nice, everything is resolved in 15 minutes, George is allowed to explore, and the humor is intelligent.  It's great!

The Pod-Goblins

I started listening to 101.9 The End as I would drive to my doctors appointment when I was pregnant with Derrick.  I loved the Chunga and Tyson show.  Soon I started listening to it every morning at home.  My favorite segment of the show what when Kenny D would review movies.  Even when we moved to Texas I still listened to the show online.  I liked having something to think about that wasn't kid oriented.   I was devastated when the show was cancelled in August. 

Thankfully Chunga, Kenny D, and a lot of the other guys have been able to put together a podcast website called Podgoblin.com.  They started recording right about the time Brandon left.  I was so happy to hear Kenny D's voice. It's like my friends are back again.  I love cleaning my house while listening to the latest podcast.      

Frasier

I've always thought Frasier looked like a boring show.  It's just a bunch of people talking to each other in a beige apartment.  After things calmed down with Veronica's birth I couldn't sleep because I kept reliving everything.  I was channel surfing at the hospital and Frasier came on.  Brandon was half asleep but he said, "watch this, you'll like it."  I started watching it and I was hooked right away. 

I've been putting the kids to bed around 7:30 so I still have a lot of time to do stuff in the evening.  On the nights I don't feel like doing anything (which is most of them) I just sit on the couch and watch Frasier on Netflix.  The show is so funny.  I laugh out loud during every episode.  Niles especially cracks me up.      

51 Cent Adventures

My travel blog is what gets me out of bed in the morning. Well technically Veronica gets me out of bed, but it's my blog that keeps me up. Veronica usually sleeps through the night, and then wakes up around 6:00.  I'll feed her and then put her back to sleep.  Then I spend the next hour or so working on my blog.  It's so nice to have that time to myself before the kids get up.  My day feels off if I don't get that time to write.  It's also really fun to relive all the great times that Brandon and I have had together.  I look forward to when he is home again and we can go on more adventures.

"Silly Carts"

As much as I love leaving my kids with babysitters, I also really like taking them places with me.  I'll take them with on quick trips to the store.  Last week we went to Target to get some household things.  Target has the really big carts that we call "Silly Carts"  I love these carts because I can keep all four kids contained as we look for things at the store.  It's nice.  

When I considered staying here in Texas during Brandon's deployment I knew it would be hard, but I was also pretty certain there would be a lot of help available.  I'm glad to know that I was right.  There is no way I could do all this on my own.