Father's Day Care Package

A great blog full of Father's Day ideas during a deployment. Thanks MilitaryAvenue!

Father's Day is this Sunday - talk about creating a void for our family going through our first deployment. I'm sure the void will be felt all across the globe on the 15th.

I fortunately have stayed on top of this one (I'm not on top of much lately). Hubby's care-package is in the mail & he should be receiving it any day now. I hope it oozes with love! (As opposed to oozing with sticky-melted chocolate!)

I'm not great at 'themes', maybe with some practice I will get there... but for now the theme is simply: "From Us" :)

1. A letter from our oldest, 14;
2. Some pictures from our 3 and 5 year older from their "Write from the Heart" books;
3. My 5 year old made a 'dot to dot' for Dad. I'm not sure it actually makes a picture - but he sure enjoyed doing it and that is what counts!;
4. A copy of my 5 year-old's preschool "report card";
5. Diego stickers. The 3 year old insisted on buying Diego stickers for Dad. Logical. So I put a little note on them that maybe he could attach them to the envelopes of letters he sends us;
6. The 'regular items': Our church bulletin, town newsletter and the daily-papers from our "Uncle John" calendar. I send them to him every week just to give him a little touch of home;
7. Some new stationary (post-card sized paper in a rainbow of colors with envelopes). It was a huge pack and I split it in two. I sent half to Hubby and kept the other half for us to send him letters;
8. "42 Lunch Notes" - These are great. I picked it up on a whim and crossed out the "Lunch" part of the title and hand-wrote "Deployment". The notes are smaller then a postcard. Hubby can write a quick note for the boys and include them in envelopes mailed home. Sometimes it is hard to come up with words to write to the kids and these have a smaller writing space but I'm sure they will be a keep sake to the boys;
9. COOKIES! He said they are getting cookies out the ying-yang. BUT we made some anyway because his children helped make them :);
10. Beef Jerky - Hubby's favorite snack. I'm just glad he can eat them without me having to smell his breath! [Hey sometimes we have to find the small blessings of these deployments ;)];
11. Some extra-dark Dove chocolates. I'm sure they are going to be melted to smithereens by the time he gets them - but it is the thought that counts sometimes right!

So that sums of his 'Father's Day Care Package'. I hope he loves it! Because we sure do love him. I realize I am going to need to find more care-package ideas as we deeper and deeper into this deployment, or he will get really tired of melted chocolate and beef jerky :)

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Sealed Strength

Deployments can be hard and loved ones left at home often feel like we have no one that understands. A group of ladies has come together to help women cope with deployments with a kind word and a friendly letter.

All you have to do to sign up is go to their website. They will pair you with another woman who knows what having a loved one deployed is like. You'll quickly have a great pen pal! Pin It

Free Postcards!! Operation Postcards!

If you feel like you're always running out of stamps or looking for a quick way to send a note you should definitely look into Operation Postcards.

Here's how it works:

Operation Postcards is an easy way for you to send them a REAL personalized postcard that'll let them know how much you care. Just upload a photo. Type in a message and send it off to them. We print and mail your personalized postcard the next business day to anywhere in the world. They can hang it on a wall, share it with friends or carry it in their pocket.

You can use your computer or smartphone to send your postcard. Simple as that! Pin It

Seven Deadly Sins Care Package

Looking for something different to send? Why not do a theme of Seven Deadly Sins?

1. Lust- playboy or porn (beware as technically this isn't allowed) swimsuit magazines or Victoria's Secret catalog could also work!
   
2. Pride- something from the branch they are in or the American flag
3. Envy- something from home or hometown
4. Greed- playing cards and poker chips
5. Sloth- a movie and popcorn
6. Gluttony- chocolate or his favorite candy
7. Wrath- Small punching bag (inflatable) or a video game
   

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Scion Care Package

Scion is giving away free packages that have T-shirts, a deck of cards, 1hr. internet card, and beanie sock hats- along with stickers and other fun stuff.

If you'd like to send this package to someone use the link below. You can have it sent stateside or overseas. Valid for reserves men/women too! You need to know the pay grade of whoever your sending the package too for military verification.

http://www.scion.com/militarycarepackage/

ENJOY!!

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Attention Facebook Fans!

Time for some fresh ideas and a whole new deployment!

For you Facebook fans out there for $6 you can put together a nice photobook with a collage of pictures for your solider. It's a nice inexpensive way to send your soldier a piece of home.

Go to: Facebook.com/fotobooks to make your book using pictures you or your friends have already loaded into albums.

The book: "Beautifully produced 4.33" x 6.5", 20-page photo books with custom covers. Can contain a maximum of 54 photos. Design, print and ship anywhere in the US for $5.99 ($7.99 anywhere outside of the US)."

Review: I made a book for a friend of mine and it came out flawless! It was a perfect little gift. I can't wait to send one to my soldier. A little side note: I haven't tried to send it to a military address yet, but if it's a problem you could always have the book shipped directly to you and slip it in with any care package that's on it's way. That may be the best idea anyway since the softcover book ships in a flimsy envelope and could be damaged by long distance mail.

I give these books 2 thumbs up!

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Fresh Ideas!!

I've been getting more emails lately and more ideas from people which means people ARE reading this! SO..here's the latest suggestions:

I have a friend that is currently deployed and I’ve been steadily mailing boxes for him and his team. Here are some more ideas for you:

AIR FRESHENERS! This is a big request! Apparently the potties and the tents/barracks smell something fierce! Make sure you suggest that they put these in Zip-Lock bags!

Q-Tips

Gold Bond Powder…It’s HOT over there!

Sunflower seeds

Pumpkin Seeds

Pop Tarts

Canned fruit in the flip top cans. Makes it way easier for them to open and they can just “drink” it right out of the little cans.

Hot Sauce (maybe something other than Tabasco Sauce)

Beef Jerky. There must be 20 – 30 different varieties!

Spam (flip top cans) There are a bunch of varieties of this too

Vienna Sausages (flip top cans)

I bag almost everything in Zip-Lock bags. Because the Post Office has the “flat rate” boxes, this really is a huge cost benefit for canned goods and magazines! Don’t forget to include the local news papers…especially their “Local” sections and comics!

Pictures of what the county, township, city or villages are doing to the roads (fix-ups), bridges, trees, buildings, etc.

Pictures of the kids classrooms with pictures, signs and activities for the fathers & mothers that are deployed. They may need permission from teachers/administration before doing this.

Hope this helps.

JuliePS One more thing…encourage everyone to HAND write their notes! Typing or computer generated notes are nice but nothing says genuine and heartfelt like hand written notes!

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