Hello

Hi it's so late here in Germany. The last 2 days I haven't been able to fall asleep. I'm hoping that when Chad's home I can either find a medication to help me sleep or maybe just having him home will help me. We'll see! Since I couldn't sleep I decided to do something productive! I had Jack's pictures taken 2 weeks ago for his 3rd birthday. I sorted through them for family and friends. I also have been very bad and not went through Jacob's 5 yr pictures (taken in January :X)

So...I got them all sorted through, well almost all of them! The photographer we use here on post does not copy right the pictures so I can legally and guilt free scan and print them off here at home! So I spent a great deal of time doing that (far cheaper to just buy the ones I want for me and then scan and print for others!). I have an awesome scanner/printer and you can't tell the difference in quality! The paper is different, mine's actually thicker! So on Monday I'll be able to mail everyone's pictures to them! Tomorrow I have to go to the PX and get more color photo ink, Tuesday I can go pick up the regular color ink for printing off just regular things, the PX is out of the reg. color ink! There's a couple pictures I still need to print off for 2 people so I will wait until I get all the new ink to print those, because I want them to be the best quality they can be.

Well, we had a great day today! I got Jacob's Halloween costume. It's completely UnPC (if you know me, I'm not much of a PC kind of girl anyways!). He's 5 1/2 yrs old and I have 1 rule on costumes...nothing scary/morbid. Pretty well since last yr he's wanted to be an Indian. So....he's going to be an Indian. I still need to get some war paint for his face! Jack couldn't decide what he wanted to be while we were at the costume store, so on Wed we'll go back. The floor where the costume's are (the store is HUGE!) will officially be open (the lady was very nice and let us up there today). On Wednesday the boys and I will return and wander through the store and hopefully Jack will find something he likes. On our way home he said that he wanted to be a pig with a nose! LOL I didn't notice any pigs, but who knows, we didn't get to look long. I do wish now had I known then that Jacob wanted to be an indian this year I wouldn't have had Jack be a cowboy last yr and would have waited until this year! Wouldn't that have been the cutest! A cowboy and indian! LOL Jacob tried to talk Jack into being a horse (so he'd have his horse! LOL) Jack had no interest though!

It's going to be a great year for Halloween. Chad should be home!!!!!!!!!! I think both boys will really enjoy it this year as well. I plan to buy a few pumpkins hopefully just a few days before Chad comes home so he can carve them. He's great at it, I'm so not!! LOL We all have our talents! Carving pumpkins is NOT one of mine. ;)

After we left there we went to a used furniture store that we've went to a couple times, this time I finally found something I really wanted and will be returning on Monday to get!!! YAHOO! It's a beautiful Cario cabinet! It's twice the size as the one I have. It does have a light in it, which of course is 220 volt, but when we move back to the states we'll either take it out or Chad can put in a new light. I have a light in mine now and I've never used it, so a light really isn't that big of a deal to me. The store will deliver and set it up for me for just 15 euros!!! I need to rearrange things a bit. I was really hoping to find a bookshelf. I'm going to keep looking. I want one that's no taller than 4 feet tall, and that's wood. I need it for our homeschooling books. We'll see what I can find! :) This store always gets new things in and they mark things down all the time! I'm going to see if I can actually get the cario cabinet for less than what they're offering it for as well. If not that's ok, I still want it, but if I can yeah for me! LOL

After we went there, I decided to surprise the boys and stop at the Garden Center which has animals. We got our birds there. I don't think I posted this but a couple weeks ago our female bird up and died. She was alive and acting normal that morning, we'd been gone a good portion of the day. That evening Jacob went to see them and found her dead in the corner of the cage. He knew immediately she was dead. He was so sad. He cried and cried. He is fine now, just sad that she was dead. I told him if he wanted we could get another bird, that it wouldn't be a replacement because we can't replace those we love and care about....but could be a new one we could love. Our male bird had not sang since his companion died, so today he got a new female companion. Unlike our 1st female who was boring brown, our new girl (Tweety) she's beautiful yellow with orange spots on her!!!! Our male is a beautiful yellow, his name is Mishi. Jacob named them both! LOL They circled each other for a couple minutes, but after a few minutes singing and chattering started up, which was wonderful to all our ears!

We started our evening by going to friends of ours home for dinner. Her husband's in the states in school. He'll be back in December. She made speghetti and meatballs and cheesey garlic bread, which was good! Her and I get along so great. Her son and Jacob get along well. Her son does not get along with Jack though. Her son is almost 6, and an only child (well until January when he'll become a big brother) and as his mom says, "very spoiled". He's far too sassy for my liking and tonight I about had it with him. He loves me though! LOL He got ugly with Jack and his mom really laid into him and he ended up getting disciplined for it. They want to have Jacob stay the night and before he does I'm going to have a long talk with Jacob. He knows not to act or talk back like my friends son, but I want to make sure he gets that just because he does, it's NOT ok for him/Jacob to. I'm planning on having them over for dinner next week and if he gets rude with Jack I'm going to have to talk to him because he will not treat Jackson like a 2nd class citizen. Jack btw isn't doing anything wrong. Tonight he set her son off because he was playing with his TOY harmonica and trumpet and was trying to play them. Her son actually threw down the little plastic trumpet (which imo looks like a toddler toy) and broke a piece of it. Different parentings styles trust me. Had it been one of my boys throwing the fit her son did, they would have been spanked and put into a time out and the toy would have went to the trash...no if's, ands, or buts about it. I'm definately a disciplinarian, and just will not allow that kind of behavior from my boys. Poor Jack though he didn't know what he'd done so wrong. They were toys that were in the little toy basket. Personally if he didn't want Jack playing with them, then he should have had them put up instead of down in Jack's reach. I guess we'll just have to see how it goes. He can be a good kid. She said that when her husband comes home he will be a totally different kid, because he doesn't put up with that kind of behavior. I think though that has to be hard and confusing for her son. To be allowed to act one way when it's just her and another way when Dad's there too. It's inconsistent. Chad and I are for the most part on the same page with parenting (as close to it as possible imo) and we both discipline and stand behind the other.

Anyways, over all itwas a good night and well a good day! I'm finally feeling tired so I think I'm off to bed!

 

God Bless