Promotion........

It has been a stressful few months here for us. Robert has been hoping for some time to be promoted from Specialist to Sergeant. They started telling him several months ago that they would be sending him to the promotion board in September. We didn't tell many people, because we didn't want to jinx things. Then at mid August he was told he would for sure be going in September. So he studied like a mad man. They are given stacks of study guides and Q&As that could be asked in these boards. Plus you have to be up to date on current events dealing with the military. So, on September 8th, he went to the promotion board and passed with flying colors. He received the maximum points possible on the board. When added to the other points he has accrued for schools and awards he was doing very well. Then it was just sit and wait. So we've been waiting all month for the list to come out. Normally it is posted on or around the 21st of every month. And for the last 8 months it has posted on the 21st. Did it post on the 21st of this month???? OF COURSE NOT! Because I wanted it to. As I have been practically glued to my computer for the past 4 days waiting on THE list. Low and behold, it finally posted today. Robert has been in the field with out easy phone access since early Monday morning. So I have to send him text messages and he checks them when he can. So I actually knew before he did....and before even his unit did. *grin*

Here is what I saw today,

HQDA Monthly SGT/SSG Promotion Selection Name List (Selected for 1 Oct 09 Promotion)

(TO SERGEANT)

The following soldiers appear on the HQDA Monthly SGT/SSG Promotion Selection Name List and have been selected for Promotion for 1 Oct 2009. They should contact their Battalion S1, Personnel Service Battalion or Military Personnel Division to determine if they are qualified for promotion on 1 Oct 2009.

TO SERGEANT

BENCA ROBERT EDWARD SPC 19D 20091001



Out of respect for other people's privacy, I didn't post the entire list, because it is the list of every single person in the army getting promoted, but the most important person is listed above.

So, as of October 1st, we will have a Sergeant living in this household, a Non-commissioned Officer in the United States Army.

Robert, baby, I am so very proud of you. You deserve this and you will be one of the best NCOs that Bravo Troop, 3/89 Cav has ever seen.

Motorcycle riders???????

If you are Gamma.....STOP reading right now and hit the X button on the window.
If you aren't Gamma you can keep reading.





Today, we went to a Veterans Day In The Park in New Llano. Robert is a member of CVMA (Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association). Basically a bunch of guys (and gals) who are combat veterans who all rider motorcycles who get together. They do fund raisers for different things and in general just have a good time. They were one of the organizations participating in this event. It was a family event so we all got to go. The kids had a ball. Dunking people in the dunk booth, face painting, hot dogs, free "stuff" from the different organizations, bouncy water slide, and most fun of all.........













































Rides on Harleys! Rebekah and Rachel rode with "Silverback". AKA Mrs. Sherry's husband or Mr 1st SGT to my kids. They would have nothing to do with riding with anyone else. And I was just fine with that. Patrick rode with "Steady" who is the CVMA Chapter Commander.

In case you are still reading Gamma......The kids understand that this was one time deal. Kinda like when they got to shoot the M16. In a safe, well controlled environment. It does not mean we have decided to let them ride on Robert's bike.

It was a very fun afternoon. The kids had a great time. And it was fun to meet some of Robert's CVMA riding buddies.

Patrick's Blog

I mentioned in my last post that Patrick has started writing his own blog. But the link seemed kinda hard to find. Just in case it got missed. CLICK HERE and it will take you to his blog. He is pretty proud of it!

UPDATE........

WOW. I am so far behind on this blog. I haven't touched it since the spring and here it is September. I'm going to go for a new look and a new commitment to at least TRY to keep updated the happenings of our family.

The kids are all growing by leaps and bounds.

Rob is in the 9th grade. He made the Varsity cross country team and is doing very good keeping up with the upper class men. He has almost made his Life Scout. He only has two more months and he will make Life. That is quite an accomplishment.

Patrick is in the 2nd grade and doing very good in school. He is looking forward to starting his CCD classes in a few weeks. He will be receiving his First Communion in the spring. He starts his second year of flag football in October. He will also be starting Cub Scouts in September. He strives hard to keep up with his big brother. He is writing his own blog. If you want to keep up with it, you can do so here.

Rebekah & Rachel are in Kindergarten.

Rebekah is doing very well in school. Her teacher says she is at the top of her class. She loves to be a helper. She loves to write her letters and her name. And will probably be reading before we know it.

Rachel has made so much progress. As I look back at where she was just a few short years ago I am so pleased at where she is today. She is testing out at mid to late kindergarten level for education. From very early on with all of her delays, I always said my goal was to have her completely mainstreamed for kindergarten. I received the call today to tell me that her resource help would not be every day any longer. It will only be on an "as needed" basis. If there is a specific skill she is having trouble with, they will use the resource teacher to help her with it. She is completely in a "normal" kindergarten class. That was my goal for my baby. And we made it. From completely no verbal skills at 2 1/2 to this at 5 1/2. Just 3 short years, she has come so far. And she has worked so hard. I am so proud of my baby girl. Both girls are looking forward to football season starting. They will be cheering for the flag football league on post.

Looks like it's going to be a pretty busy fall around here! But we wouldn't change it for the world.

We sure are happy to have Robert home. He's busy with work, but not too busy. The "down" time of this cycle in training has been nice. His promotion to SGT should be finalized before the end of the year. We've had lots of questions from family and friends about what the army has in store for our family in the near and distant future. Here's the story as we know it right now. Subject to change before I finish typing this and hit send. LOL!

For the time being, we will remain here at Fort Polk. Robert's unit is not scheduled to deploy until early 2011. That could be moved to late 2010. Robert originally signed a 6 year contract when he enlisted. He can re-enlist 2 years before that contract ends. That means, he can re-enlist in Jan 2011. He does plan to do that. Good Lord willing, he plans to stay in his current MOS (Cav Scout). Most likely, the army will PCS (Permanent Change of Station) us after his next deployment. NO, we do not know where that will be. YES, we can ask for where we would like to go. NO, the army doesn't have to give it to us. YES, they can tell us when he re-enlists they will give it to us to get him to sign the contract AND they can change their minds. So, bottom line.......we have no clue. But, it is pretty firm that we will be here for at least 2 more years.

Right now, we're just enjoying the time that God has given us to be a whole family. And we are thankful for each and every day that we have together. Being separeted for 13 months really makes you appreciate what you have when you get it back. Suddenly those little things that use to grate on your nerves really don't matter so much. The toilet seat being left up, the cabinet to the glasses not being closed, little things like that.....how important are they really? Just something to think about!

That's about it from the Benca home front. Hopefully I'll do a better job of updating and keeping everyone posted on our happenings.

Love to all, Jennifer

Patrick's trip to GA

Since my sister is such a fantastic blogger, if you click here you can read about Patrick's trip to Georgia.

And here about their bowling trip, with a great video of my 3 yr old nephew Davis bowling.

And here to see the hail we had on the Friday before Easter. Mind you, we left wonderful Fort Polk at 6:02 am and it was 70 degrees. Arrived in GA 11 hours later. Saw not one single drop of rain the entire way. And before the night was over there was hail and a tornado touched down in Dacula which is the city my mother lives in. CRAZY weather.

This would be my lazy way of blogging about the first half of our vacation. Maybe I'll be more motivated to actually blog about the 2nd half. Unless my sister writes some really good ones. Then I won't have to!

Spur Ride

In the Cav World there are many traditions. One of them is a Spur Ride. Soldiers go through a spur ride and then receive their spurs. More info about the tradition can be found at here. Since the guys had recently come back from deployment, they decided to do a Spouse Spur Ride and a Kids Spur Ride. We had 6 stations we had to complete and then were granted our "spurs". In our case, the wives got a t-shirt and the kids received a kid sized stetson (another Cav Tradition). We had tons of fun and really enjoyed our day. We ran through an obstacle course, attack the enemy with water guns and "grenades", learn to treat "battle wounds", how to call for fire, how to apply camo (which I avoided like the plague) and my favorite part............shooting an M240B.

























The kids had a BALL too. They did the same events we did. Here are some pics of Rachel and Patrick. Rebekah didn't get to attend with us :(



























The kids even got to shoot the M240B. Patrick was VERY excited about shooting a "real gun". I didn't bother to tell him they were blanks. We all had a great time!!!

Block Leave Adventure

It was a great trip. 2 1/2 weeks, 6 states and almost 2900 miles in the car! It was a whirlwind, but we loved every minute of it.


Our trip to GA was GREAT. We had a wonderful visit with everyone. It was great to all be together. These are my two favorite pictures from our visit.


Gamma and all her babies!











Two of the sweetest boys in the world reading to each other.







From there we spent some time in Athens with Robert's family in Athens. Then we headed to Charleston for a long weekend and visit with Robert's sister.

We took the kids to visit the Citadel. They all loved it. Patrick has decided that he wants to go there, but not be in the Army when he graduates. I feel certain that Gamma will begin immediately working on changing his mind on that one.

And while we were there Rachel made a new friend. Aunt Catherine's new boy friend, Joe. And boy did they hit it off! We are all hoping he'll be around for a while.






Now we're back home and trying to get settled back into a routine. Both the boys are going to be playing baseball so spring will be crazy too!

I'll try to do a better job of updating!

Rob's Confirmation

Here is a video I made for Rob's confirmation class. Because of the transfer the quality isn't near as good as it is on the dvd, but at least you can still see it.
It was a wonderful evening!

Robert's New Toy

So, I haven't been the best at keeping my blog updated. SOOOOOO, here's an update on Army Life since Robert got home from Iraq.

Robert took the motorcycle safety class on post and passed with flying colors. The very next day we were off to Alexandria and the Harley dealership.
Once we had the bike, Robert was pretty insistent that I take the class as well. He just wanted me to be able to ride it if I needed to. The plan was for me to be his passenger. HA, that's what he thought. Once he got me on it, all bets were off!!! I absolutely LOVE riding. Of course, I enjoy us going out together as well.

Rock and Roll Davis

This is my dear sweet nephew Davis. He loves Rock and Roll music. And he made this song up all on his on. You just have to love it!!!