Battalion Trunk or Treat

Thursday night our Battalion had a Trunk or Treat. Katelyn was very excited to put her costume on and put candy in her pumpkin! She was so excited and couldn't wait for it to get started. Of course, she wanted to eat (or taste) everything in the pumpkin before we got home. She still talks about candy all the time. (She isn't a bit candy fan, but wants to open try stuff. Why can't dinner be the same way?!?!)

Katelyn and Esmee
(Katelyn is a Southern Belle - she wasn't a big fan of the hat and the wind kept blowing it off her head)

Trick or Treat!

Trick or Treat Daddy!
"Put some candy in MY pumpkin!"

Taste testing!

Holding down the fort!

Splash Park

We went to the Splash Park on post last week to try to cool down a bit.

Katelyn was cool - not Mom!
She had fun "swimming!"

(Click on the picture to see it larger)

And just because I thought this face was hilarious!

Not sure why she was crawling, guess she was trying to sneak up on it!
Of course she got squirted in the face E.V.E.R.Y single time, but she kept going back for more!
She's such a goof ball!
Always making us laugh!

Hope y'all are staying cool! hah!
When is Fall going to be here....better yet, a nice snow sounds good right about now!

Fourth of July Part 2

On the 4th of July, Ft. Stewart had a big celebration during the day and a concert that night. Fantasia and the Zac Brown Band came!!! The activities during the day were great! Although it was hot out, everything was free! Tons of restaurants from Hinesville set up and there was free food everywhere - any kind you might like! We met Emmalyn and her parents there and the girls enjoyed the petting zoo and getting their faces painted.

Looking on at the animals in the petting zoo

Katelyn was pretty excited about her puppy balloon.
She placed with it for quite a while before it eventually came untied
but she still called it a puppy even though it looked more like a snake!

The girls with their pups!

When we headed over to the face painting tent, I was a little nervous!
I didn't think she'd sit still or even allow them to paint on her face.
Man was I wrong!
She sat sooo still for what seemed like FOREVER!
I thought this lady was NEVER going to finish!

At her first concert!
She was a great sport and lasted for the end of Fantasia and all but 15 minutes of the ZBB.
The fireworks were after the concert, so we headed back to the car a few minutes early and found a great parking spot and enjoyed the 30 minute firework show post put on!
I thought it was going to go on all night!
Katelyn enjoyed the "Booms" again!
She still asks to go see fireworks and Booms every once and a while!

I hope y'all had a great 4th!

Wheels Day

April is the Month of the Military Child and the Child Development Centers have lots of activities planned throughout the month. Today was "Wheels" Day at school. Katelyn didn't go to school today because Jack is off, but it was open to post so we went anyways. There were different pieces of military equipment, ambulance, police car, firetruck and several tractors. She was a little too small to be excited about the vehicles, but they had a train and some bounce houses that were a hit! She was excited about the train and kept saying "Choo Choo" while we were waiting in line, but the conductor tried to talk to her and she freaked out. So when we got on the train she wasn't too happy, but as soon as it started moving she was saying "weee." We had to ride the train 2 times. The bounce houses were nice because they were for the smaller kids AND one of them was Dora! There was also a Sesame Street one, but it was old and smelled like mildew! Needless to say, she didn't want to leave!

These red things are called "Bye Bye Buggy's" and the younger aged classes have several of these that they load all the kids in to take them out and about. I just think they are the coolest thing!

Jack's Change of Command

On March 15, Jack took command of HHC 2-3 BSTB. He commanded E/1-30 IN for about 10 months, but the company was merged with another engineering company in January and Jack got to be the lucky one (sarcasm) to be the new HHC commander. HHC is just a different kind of group than a "normal" company. For starters, there are about 220+ soldiers in the company! That's a lot of folks to keep track of! I'm very thankful that this command is during a non deployment time, because I thought keeping up with about 50 spouses was bad, I can't even begin to imagine the work involved in a company this size. So anyways, the fun begins. Let's just say, he's been at work more during the last 2 weeks than home, although it seems to be quieting down a bit. On his first day, he didn't get home until 9:30!

Jack taking the guidon for the new company

Jack with the BN Commander and outgoing HHC Commander

Jack with the new company (or about 50 of them!)

Reception

Time to cut the cake
(Do you see Katelyn in the background just having a blast?!)

She was the entertainment at the reception
and was the best little girl that we could have asked for that day!

Wearing Daddy's hat!

Congratulations Jack! We're so proud of you!
We love you!

Dr. Biden and Mrs. Casey

Today, I got the honor to go to a luncheon with about 100 other spouses and soldiers in which Dr. Biden (VP Biden's spouse) and Mrs. Casey (General Casey's spouse) made an appearance. They are making stops at a few different posts to talk with spouses regarding some of the needs we may have, whether it be AER, ACS, Education, etc. Dr. Biden and Mrs. Casey were only here for a short period, but stories and issues were shared with them before arriving.

On Thursday I got a call from our previous battalion commander's spouse asking if I would be interested in attending this luncheon with her and 2 other spouses from our old battalion. I couldn't have felt more honored that she asked me, especially when there were many, many other spouses that she could have asked!

Left to Right:
Mrs. Cucolo (Gen Cucolo's spouse, Commanding General on post), Mrs. Casey, and Dr. Biden

1-30th IN folks with Dr. Biden (in the red suit)

Post has been crazy busy with preparations since about Friday. Schools were getting paint jobs and yards mowed, MPs on every corner, and security extra high. Today, news camera's were everywhere, as were the Secret Service. I can't imagine what she must feel like with this crazy entourage she has to travel with! I think it would take some getting used to! When she arrived in the parking lot, the room was on lock down until she got into the building and when she left, we were not allowed to leave the room until she was locked in a separate room ( I know kind of sounds like they held her hostage for a while! haha)

As I was leaving post today, there were 4 helicopters
(Jack would know what kind of helicopters they are but he's not here so to me they are just helicopters...sorry aviators!) in the front of Building 1.
This is the building Jack worked in when we first got to Ft. Stewart...it houses the Division Staff.

It was a great experience today and both Dr. Biden and Mrs. Casey were super nice!
Both have had sons deployed overseas, and of course, Mrs. Casey has had her husband gone numerous times as well, so they could both put themselves in our shoes.

Goodbye E/1-30 IN

Wednesday was the Battalion Change of Command Ceremony for 2-3 BTB and also the casing of the colors for E/1-30 IN. Jack took command of E Co last March while they were deployed to Iraq. Due to the Army changing the structure of the engineers in the brigade combat teams and narrowing them down to one company within the brigade, E Co merged with another engineering company and made an entirely new company.

So on Wednesday we officially said "goodbye" to E Co.

Jack's been working lots of hours to get all the property handed over to the new company. Although his E Co command time has ended, his company command time is not yet over. In March, he will be taking over as commander for HHC/2-3 BTB. This also means I'll be changing FRGs as well. It was bittersweet saying good bye to all the great families we worked with but I'm hopeful that HHC will be full of more wonderful military families.

E/1-64 AR (on left) and E/1-30 IN (on right)
Merging to become C/2-3 BTB

Jack in front of his guidon

Brigade Commander and Battalion Commander approaching to do the casing of colors

Casing the colors

"Job well done"
Jack shaking the Brigade Commander's hand

Off go the colors

Battalion Change of Command

New Battalion Commander ready to take on the job!