Father Lead Me, I Can't Do This Alone

Happy Fathers Day Eric!

Eric, every time I hear this song, I think of you. I remember the first time I heard it,you had just gotten back from a long and stressful deployment. It brought tears to my eyes, for everything that weighs on your shoulders, everything you have given in your life,do you know how much I admire all that you do for our family? You work so hard, have sacrificed so much, and you still lead us and turn to God always.  We love you... I love you more than you will ever know.  Our children are so blessed to have you as their Father, forever. Lead me, Sanctus Real

We had a great day of hiking with our family up to a local castle, freaked out with the massive number of baby tics in the woods today, sat outside a Cafe and had pastries and coffee, and then had a special Fathers Day Mass at 5 pm and ended it with a sweet TWEET that Avery created for her favorite Daddy!

End of School

We have reached the end of the school year!  Yeeeaaaahhhhhh!

All three Brown kids rocked this year, and all three are on the Honor Roll, GREAT JOB!

While Nick and Avery were on the Honor Roll all year long, grade wise this Sophomore year was a struggle for Zachary. He wasn't getting bad grades, but they were average grades and while it was understandable...  we still urged him to do better. His classload was heavy, taking Geometry, Advanced World History, Advanced Language Arts, Anatomy, AVID(teaches college level organization skills) not to mention track, gym, digital photography, etc.

Each grade card got better and better for Zachary, and finally this last semester, he made the Honor Roll. We are so proud of you Zachary, you recognized a personal goal, and you made it happen!

Zachary scored so high on Terra Nova that he was exempt from all his finals, but he made the choice to take them as they would only raise his grades, now that is dedication!  He also scored a Internship at the Public Affairs office starting next week, and next year he is taking a Medical class in which he will be performing triage task's at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

This morning, he came down and said "Hey, I am Junior now!"  I KNOW, AND I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

Nicky won a Good Citizenship award, as well as getting all A's and B's this year!  And Avery, after 3rd grade being such a disaster, her 4th grade year rocked and I thank God everyday.  This is exactly what she needed this year. She raised her reading Lexile score almost 400 pts from the beginning of the year. Her Math comprehension has completely done a 180, and her teachers are so deserving!

So, for the 2012-2013 school year, I want brownfamthree to know that you are a success! You are a success because you were genuine, you tried your best and in life that is all you can do!

For me, I am so happy that summer is here. No school lunches, no homework folders, no projects, no book bags, nope, nothing, Nada! Sleeping in never sounded so nice.

And while I am aware that this was a complete BRAG post, I know it and I willingly am posting it!  Someday these kiddos will look back, read this and know that all their efforts did not go to waste.  I want brownfamthree to fully understand how proud we are of all three of you, your all great kids, polite, God loving and honorable, we are very much blessed in this family of ours!

Below are some pictures of the kids last week!

AVERY AND HER HONOR ROLL CERTIFICATE WITH MS. YOUNG

NICKY AND HIS GOOD CITIZENSHIP AWARD (NOTICE THE HINT OF A MUSTACHE)

"HEY, WAIT, I AM A JUNIOR NOW" 

THIS IS CRAYON ART WE DID FOR AVERY'S THREE TEACHERS, MY INTENT WAS TO MODGE PODGE THE LETTERS CUT OUT FROM MY CRICUT, BUT MY BLADE WASN'T CUTTING THEM RIGHT, SO WE ENDED UP JUST WRITING THEIR NAMES ON THE FRAMES.  ERIC SPRAY PAINTED THE FRAMES, AVERY PICKED OUT THE BUTTONS AND HER AND I WORKED ON CUTTING AND LINING UP CRAYOLA CRAYONS FOR 2 HRS, THESE LETTERS ARE HARDER THAN THEY LOOK TO DO AND I CONSIDER MYSELF PRETTY CRAFTY!!

Really?

Although I try to keep this blog about what is going on with brownfamfive, I hope none of our family falls for this nonsense and want to keep you all aware of the true facts!

Maybe some of you are unaware of the current firestorm the below article caused?  It is a pretty big deal because in a nutshell, our Commissary benefits are pretty close to be taken away.  And what is even more disturbing, is that uninformed writers, like this guy, just seem to stir the pot with articles that paint these benefits as luxuries to the Military.  See Here: Commissary

I would like to address it some, because I can not tell you how many sacrifices my family has made over the last 21 years for our Country.  Do I want anyone to feel sorry for me, or do I want to feel entitled? Please, absolutely NOT. This is our choice, our way of life, and Eric wears his uniform proudly, we do not need empathy.

BUT, like many in the Military, I have spent "YEARS" of my life waiting for my Solider to come home from a war zone.  I have raised our children alone, often carrying the world on my shoulders. As well, Eric has spent "YEARS" of his life, deployed to a war zone, knowing he may not come home. Missing years, days and minutes from his children's lives that no amount of benefits can give him back.

Military families often put things on hold, like house ownership and equity, damaging our household goods with multiple moves, mileage on our vehicles, all things that depreciate because we do serve and we do move around.

Do you know what that is called?  It is called "SACRIFICE".

While I understand that this country is economically hurting, and that cuts have to be made everywhere, I do not believe that cuts should come from our Military. They can pitch it however they want, but the bottom line is, our country asks ALOT from us, and we sacrifice alot.  From Military kids, to the spouses, and mostly the Soldiers, every part of our lives are dictated by the Military because we choose to serve.  We continually sacrifice things seen and unseen for our country.  So, this article launched a firestorm for sure.

This writer thinks that we are spoiled because our commissaries dare offer a multiple choice in Ketchup and condiments?  REALLY?  Did he actually put that in print?

Just so you know Mr. Writer, those commissaries, they were part of a package deal when Eric signed the dotted line. It was a benefit afforded to us... and peeps like you think you can just take it away because you claim we are spoiled?

Hmm, its funny, Eric doesn't remember you busting your butt thru boot camp, or standing Guard Duty for 16 hrs after 9/11.  He doesn't even recall you being in the "sand" with him one of the FIVE times he deployed.  Were you also deployed skyping during your children's birthday parties?  Or better yet, did you just simply loose time out of your life protecting your country so ignorant people can attack your well deserved benefits?

If you don't think that the Military deserves commissaries to shop at that carry more than one product, than lets take a closer look at your right to pen your ill-informed article.

Oh wait, that would be a breach of your freedoms wouldn't it? It's funny how you feel you can take away our well deserved benefits and that is fair game.  I mean, after all, after 12 years at war, why in the world should our Military expect to have more than one brand of ketchup?  We are so spoiled, your article has clearly proven that.

Why don't you use that pen of yours and sign yourself up to serve your country, then we will see how quickly you change your mind on how deserving the Military is, ketchup choices and all.

After I wrote this, I came across this story. It is absolutely heartbreaking, and I feel that this picture alone speaks volumes to anything I said about our Military and the sacrifices they make.

See it here:  http://milblogging.com/index.php?category=26