I like to think of it as my little Target.

Aren’t the flowers lovely? Every year I buy a few for my windowsills and balcony.

But the major highlight of the trip for our kids?

is a 50 cent ride in Batman’s Batmobile and Batgirl’s Batcopter.

This trip, I bought two large bags of my husband’s favorite chocolate musli, some pretzels for an
afternoon snack for the kids, and two lovely lightweight cotton scarves for mama.

How often do you take walks with your family?

Do you have a favorite little store within walking distance of your home?

(I think this is one of the things I will really miss about Europe!)

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 23 as the first Military Spouse Day to recognize the important role that spouses play in the readiness and well-being of our nation’s armed forces. In 1985, the Secretary of Defense standardized the day as the Friday preceding Mother’s Day. This day is an opportunity to acknowledge the significant contributions, support, and sacrifices made by the spouses of our Armed Forces.

So, in HONOR of all the amazing Military Spouses in the world —  we, RC of Riding the Roller Coaster and I –
are co-hosting a virtual “Meet and Greet” for anyone who would like to share, support, or interact with
Military Spouse Bloggers!

Note: You do NOT have to be a Milspouse Blogger to participate!
We just thought it would be a great excuse to celebrate and have a Bloghop Linky Party!

Before we start here are a few quick tips:

- Please enter your party post URL (not your homepage) into the Linky.
- Please link back to the hosting blogs – Household6Diva and Riding the Roller Coaster
(We don’t want anyone to get lost finding their way back to our party! )
- Please comment generously and thoughtfully – it’s what we bloggers live for right?
- Please remember to post a button in your sidebar to be eligible for the wonderful sponsored giveaway items!

I will be leaving the Linky open until Sunday evening 6pm EST,
so feel free to encourage your bloggy friends and readers to join in on the fun!

Ok – Let’s get to the Meetin and Greetin shall we?

Remember to use the #MilSpouseBloghop hashtag on Twitter so we can chat while we hop all weekend!

Welcome visitors from the Military Spouse Appreciation Day Bloghop! Thank you for stopping by!

(And for those of you who haven’t heard yet – go write yourself an intro post, to sign the Linky later today over at Household 6 Diva & Riding the Roller Coaster, then join the fun by surfing some lovely new blogs!  Also be sure to post a button in your sidebar to be eligible for one of the wonderful sponsored giveaway items!)

Today in honor of Military Spouse Appreciation Day, I want to take a moment to say Thank YOU to all of the amazing men and women who take care of the homefront so their beloved can focus solely on their mission. Your efforts are invaluable in caring for finances, children, pets, cars, and everything else needed to keep your family going. Many of you are also balancing a career and/or giving of yourself by volunteering to better your community. Your unwavering support is an anchor back home and a view of normalcy that helps our service members get through tough times and a home to return to. Thank you for all that you do for your family, your community, and the entire military family!

So back to our Virtual Meet and Greet!  Hello there! It is SO nice to meet you!

My name is Ann Marie and I call my blog Household 6, Diva.

Long ago when my husband and I were newlyweds, he started calling me “Household 6“, and it has been an ongoing joke ever since! This is the story of my ongoing efforts to Balance my Life between being Wife of a Soldier, Mother to three children born in four years, and remind myself IT IS OK to be a Diva sometimes and take time for myself!

My hubby, Seth, is a Soldier in the United States Army.
And yes, the night we met, it was the handsome man in uniform that caught my eye!
I caught his eye because I was wearing a big, purple, ruffled, hoop-supported, Civil War era dress.
And I showed him my ankles.
But that is a story for another day!

We have been married for 6 years and we have three beautiful children.
Their names are Jacob (6 yrs), William (4 yrs), and Maggie (2 yrs).
And no we didn’t plan the perfect 22 month spacing – the Army did!

This blog is my outlet to share recipes, creative things to do around the home, in my patio garden, and continue to learn more about the art of photography. It is also a place to write about what life is like for a modern military family living in Germany. My husband also just returned from a deployment to Afghanistan a few months ago and we are now in the middle of moving to Fort Bliss, El Paso Texas! Here’s our PCS/ Moving binder – it keeps all our important schtuff together.

Which is why I often make reference to Swiss Cake rolls and an obsession with Nutella…
Not that I’m a stress chocolate eater or anything… or addicted to coffee…
Wait – Why are you laughing?

Feel free to browse my pages listed in the link bar above or through these links:
Cooking, Family, Home and Garden, Military Life, and Photography.

(And seriously? If nothing else? Check out the Pretzel recipe – it’s AH-MAY-ZING!)

Thank you for stopping by! I hope to see more of you!
I am very active on Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest- I would LOVE to connect with you!

Oh and please leave me a comment so I can come visit YOUR lovely blog
or tweet me on the twitter hashtag #MilSpouseBloghop
so I can get to know you better!

…

This post will be linked to the “2012 Military Spouse Appreciation Day Bloghop”
co-hosted by Household 6 Diva and Riding the Roller Coaster

I can’t even begin to tell you how exhausted I am…

But I thought I’d post a quick note to say all is well and I am SOOO excited for tomorrow!

Did you know the friday before Mother’s Day is Military Spouse Appreciation Day?

(Check out this post for more info about the Military Spouse Appreciation Day Blog Hop!)

And this is what it looks like right now…

Ben, Freddy, and Tony will be coming back tomorrow to finish packing and load our things onto a truck.

When I asked Mr Ben (the most outgoing of the three) what he would like for lunch tomorrow he said.
“Ma’am. Please don’t take this the wrong way – because lunch today was wonderful – but please…
anything BUT Pizza would be great… “

“OH! I’m SO SORRY!
I thought it would be something quick and easy that just about anyone would like!”

He smiled.
“It’s ok Ma’am. It’s just that everyone thinks the exact same thing!”

…

What have your Movers taught you about Packing day?

Tomorrow we’re going to have a large platter of veggies, fruit, cheese, sausage and crackers for lunch!

What should we mail to Mum mum and Pop pop?
What will we need for the next two weeks in Germany?
What Army schtuff will hubby need for the next two weeks?

Suggestions and ideas are always appreciated!

I’m sure once I get everything figured out I’ll blog my updated lists in an “After Action Report”!

…

On another note – Did you know the friday before Mother’s Day is Military Spouse Appreciation Day?

This friday my dear friend Roller Coaster and I will be co-hosting a Military Spouse Appreciation Bloghop!
In honor of this special day, we ask that you write a blog post about what this special day means to you.
(Don’t worry – Roller Coaster and I will be posting our ‘party post’ on thursday to give ya’ll an idea!)
And if you are interested in sponsoring a giveaway for the participants of the Blog Hop,
please contact Roller Coaster ASAP at ontherollercoaster@gmail.com!

Well, I checked number 3 off the list over the weekend….

Between Zofia’s Pottery, the Ramstein PX, and the small store within the mall – I made out like a bandit.

It all started Saturday morning – it was Seth’s turn to sleep in.
So I busied myself with breakfast dishes and going over all the lists.

Things that needed to be packed.
Things that needed to be cleaned.
Things that needed to be mailed.
Things that needed to be sorted.

By the time my husband strolled into the kitchen midmorning, I was in tears.
I was feeling pretty overwhelmed by everything that needed to be accomplished.
And a more than a little sad at all of the things we wouldn’t have time for.

One of my husband’s first questions was
“So when was the last time you had the kids in daycare?”

Um… the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner…
“Last month I think?”

My husband’s solution was to send me out for an afternoon by myself.
He knew there were a few things I’ve had my eye on at Zofia’s but hadn’t wanted to spend the money on.
I’m not good at that whole spending-time-and-money-on-myself thing.

So I went.
and I bought a large Cheesecake milkshake.
which helped me gain 3 pounds around my middle.
because I didn’t have to share.
and it. was. grand.

First I went to Zofia’s as I’ve been in love with this pineapple pattern casserole dish for a few months now.
And these brightly colored long oval dishes – not sure what they’re for – but I LOVE them.

To me, each pattern has it’s own little story.

The large pot on the left is the same as a friend’s tea service pattern.
The top dessert plate pattern is my neighbor’s favorite pattern.

So I know when I use them, it will remind me of them.
(And their hilarious sense of humor.)

 Included in my picture are two surprise gift pieces from a very dear friend of mine last week.

She knew how much I wanted to get to Poland one last time.

I look up to her and have learned so much by watching her – I know we’ll keep in touch for a long time.

So after a long afternoon all by myself,
I returned to our nest with an empty milkshake cup,
my rock star sunglasses in my hair,
and a really big smile.

I love how husbands sometimes know just what we need when we ourselves are too busy to see it.

To all of those stay at home moms – AHEM – Domestic Engineer Mommys out there -
How often do you take time for yourself?

And for my friends who share my love of Polish Pottery – please do tell -
Where are your favorite places to shop for new pieces?

I want to capture one more picture of my children next to Homie’s Eis truck…

I will always be grateful for the dozens of extra cones he has shared over the years…

I want to sneak off to Zofia’s on a “pretend I’m in poland” shopping spree…

I’d like to have one more picnic with our family at Burg Lichtenburg…

And I would like to have calzones and a bottle of wine delivered to my door…

What are 3 things on your ‘local’ bucket list?

Do you have a neighborhood ice cream truck?

The incredible bonds that were forged by flames of adversity caused by so many months with our soldiers away.

I would imagine they are much like those formed during the westward expansion in slow moving wagon trains.

Families that were bound together with a common goal – a common need to support each other in order to survive.

And now as we crest the last hill, a beautiful new adventure awaits in the lush farmland below.
I push back my bonnet and smile at my friends who have known me through pregnancy, childbirth,
and been a surrogate family for my children during our journey.

We bid each other farewell.
We promise to write.
And we go our separate ways.

And as our wagon starts it’s slow winding journey away from the train into the land of the unknown,
I lean out of my seat and look back.

Although I’ve never had the honor of serving my country as a service member,
I comprehend the concept of ‘battle buddies’.

A group of unrelated strangers bound together by the shared experience of adventure and adversity.

I know I will look back on these deployments and remember the fatigue
of raising our beautiful children while their father was away.

The deep sadness of attending a memorial for a friend who is now a widow,
and the bittersweet joy of the birth of a child while their father is away.

And as much as I abhor the concept of war itself,

I also know

that for the rest of my life,

I will miss the unique bond I shared

with the Pioneer Women who were left behind.

]]> http://household6diva.com/2012/05/military-spouses-the-modern-pioneer-women.html/feed 9 http://household6diva.com/2012/05/military-spouses-the-modern-pioneer-women.html