Day Twelve

Well, today was by far the coldest. Frost all over the car, ice on the door handle, and that familiar un-sticking sound when opening the door. Definitely had to break the law and warm up my care before leaving. Yes, in Germany it is illegal to warm up your car like normal people do; one cannot leave it idling for more than 3 minutes. *eye roll* The thermometer read -2 degrees celsius. Imagine how reading a negative temperature felt the first time when we got here! lol.

Anyways, it wasn't an unusually late night or early morning, but this morning I could barely open my eyes. It was bad. When first getting up in the morning I tell myself that I will definitely be going back to sleep when I get home, but unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I always seem to wake up too much to want to go back to sleep afterwards, although it'd probably do some good. Either way, I had to push myself because I had to make another trip to the farm to replenish my milk stores. To preface, last night of course Hayden lost his first baby tooth. Right before I finally went to sleep, I successfully snuck in, took the tooth, and replaced it with $5. I couldn't wait until morning. So, back to this morning, I went in their room, woke them up, didn't say anything, and Hayden sat up and looked under his pillow to find the money. He had a big grin on his face, but I could tell he was too embarrassed to really show his excitement, but I knew he was. He got up, carried his money downstairs, and I went down and made him some eggs and toast. We went through the regular routine, and I quizzed him on his words again since today was the big test. Off to school we went, but I dropped him off at the gate so I wouldn't have to drag Brayden out in the freezing cold.

Brayden and I returned home and I got my bottles together and did a load of dishes real quick, and we headed out to the farm. It was really foggy as it gets here, so it was an uncomfortable drive, but we made it fine. The farmer was not out, nobody was, and I was kind of happy that I wasn't going to get the intimidated feeling of not knowing German and possibly fumbling my way through getting the milk while being watched lol. So, I parked, went in, and luckily remembered where everything was and what to do, so I wasn't a complete mess like the first time I went. Was in and out fast. Brayden gets excited now. "Oh, you got Mommy's milk!" he says happily. =D We really are so blessed to be over here in Germany. WIC here allows us to get organic milk, and raw milk farms are probably pretty scarce in the states, but here I can get raw milk for me for cheap and get the organic for the kids for free. I sure will miss that. That, and the non-GMO foods and non-fluoridated water. =/

Well, we headed back to Graf and I stopped at the commissary to get some WIC stuff, a few things for dinner, and the ingredients to make those yummy oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookies I posted on facebook yesterday =D. I also decided to buy some raw organic Agave Nectar to try. I love how many natural food items the commissary carries; it's surprising but definitely refreshing. I also got each of the boys a small pumpkin that they could paint for halloween since they're still too young to even think about carving. Our FRG is having a Halloween party next Saturday with a pumpkin decorating contest with different age divisions, so I thought it would also be nice for them to have something to put in. Of course this also means I will have to let them decorate some cupcakes for the cupcake deco contest =P We then headed over to the PX to grab some paint and smocks so they could get decorating.

We came home and got everything put away and sat down to eat some breakfast. We did sneak a few of the oreos, though =P After that, I read through the Army Times while Brayden played tag with Shrek. We played together after that and then decided it was a good time for a nap. We both went right to sleep and it was great. We got up to go get Hayden, and Brayden was in a great mood. We got Hayden and he excitedly told me how he showed off his missing tooth =) We headed home and I told them about our exciting afternoon/evening ahead, but first we had to run home really quick to pick at the movies that needed to be returned to the library. We went to post and dropped by the library first. Nothing new, just returns. I went the Child and Youth Service office to try to drop off Brayden's sports physical, but they were closed and I'm not sure the office is even there anymore =/ If so, that means I'll have to drive all the way to the sister post just to do any of my business with them. That really stinks. The Army over here really needs to smarten up, get rid of the contracted positions, and get back to putting soldiers in positions, especially the gate guard positions. I'd like to know just how much money we're wasting contracting all of these jobs out? And all this big deal with the budget cuts. Talk to some military folk, we'll tell you what need to be cut.

Denton's ringer. Yay!! We talked for about 20 minutes and just caught up, mostly on stuff from my end. He told me when he's projected to come home and it was great news. But, that still doesn't take away the fact that he could just end up leaving again soon after =/ He talked to both the kids and Hayden excitedly shared the news about his tooth and the tooth fairy, and Brayden was just happy to talk to Daddy, he really misses him. He sounded great and happy and really not all that upset about the thought of deploying again soon, so I'm really glad he's in great spirits. He was really happy to hear all the stuff we've done and especially how much fun the kids had planned for today. After the cleaning, we got ourselves cleaned up and got ready to make the cookies. The kids each took turns in helping make the dough, and then all 3 of us started making the cookies. Flattened a bit of cookie dough, added the oreo, and covered it up with more dough. The kids really enjoyed that. Popped 'em in the oven, and then I got the table ready with their pumpkins and paint on some parchment paper so they could get started on that. They got their smocks on and got to painting. They both really enjoyed it, I got some great pictures, and got started on dinner which I knew wouldn't take long.

They were mostly done by the time dinner was done, so we sat and ate while the cookies cooled on the stove. After dinner, we cleaned up the table and I had them go to the couch to chill out while I got our plate of cookies ready and 3 glasses of milk. I took it to the table, and popped the new Pirates of the Caribbean into the PS3. We hadn't seen it yet, and we love the movies, so we were excited. We all sat together, ate the cookies (which were delicious btw) and enjoyed the movie. After the movie, the kids played while I brought the wooden organizer in to figure out what to do with it. I found a good spot for it and for now just put Brayden's diapers and wipes in it, and sat my bamboo plant on top of it. I also took the time to reorganize my house plants, pull any dead leaves off, water and fertilize them, and get them looking nice. I really love my house plants and would love to get more, especially before the baby comes. My favorite ones are the ones I have hanging from the ceiling in my dining area. They're just so pretty to look at. I try to get the ones that help to purify and humidify the air. I'd like more of them for the kids room and my bedroom. Denton called me one more time during that to find out the scoring rules for Yahtzee. Apparently, they're so bored out there that they decided to carve dice out of wood so they could play lol. I thought that was entirely cute. Lucky me I had our Yahtzee game sitting out on the table when he called. After that, we finished cleaning up a bit downstairs and put the cookies away, and I headed upstairs with the boys where they proceeded to pass out in my bed, so I guess no stretching out and pillow-hogging for me tonight lol.

Well, it's close to midnight now, so I will definitely be signing off and getting to sleep. Hoping for an eventful weekend with the kids. Can't wait for Sunday morning when I will finally be rehoming my dog.

Goodnight.