Finally Reunited!

Our clock is back! Just days after Zach deployed in January this year our beloved clock fell off the wall! It missed the TV thankfully, but left a rather nice set of dings in the wall on the way down! It was in pieces! I was devasted. I had just had my computer crash and now the clock! I was so upset I put it back in it's box and left it there. When Zach got home and we moved into our new house we decided it was time to see about getting it fixed. We carefully took out all the pieces to make sure it was all there then started asking around for a repair place. July 4th we took it to a store that sells coo coo clocks and he said he could have it sent back to Bavaria to be fixed and in about 2 weeks it would be done. Well 2 weeks turned into months, but we now have it back and the kids get excited everytime it goes off. I had a space reserved on the wall in the living room for it so am happy the blank spot is now filled! What can I say....we love our clock, it's our big souvenir and memory from Germany!

"I can see you!"

Zach's surgery went really well and he is doing great! He was the last one done so we were at the hospital from 6:45 to 1. He walked out and said "I can see you!" which I thought was really funny. He did sleep a few hours, but wanted to go to soccer with us and even watched TV and checked email. He keeps his sunglasses on, even slept in them so he won't rub his eye or itch them. So far he says there really isn't any pain, just feels a little dry and the drops burn. I have kept time on when each drop is due and he does whine a bit when it's time for the medicated ones. Other than that he has been a good patient and done everything he is supposed to. I even got him to put in his own refresh drops today so he can practice and eventually do it himself. He saw the doctor first thing this morning and they said his eyes look great so keep up with the drops and all. Friday we go back and they will clear him to drive and go back to work on Monday. He is so funny though because I can't see if his eyes are open or not through his glasses, but he will smile and laugh. I'll ask him why and he says because after decades of glasses and things being blurry without them he can't help but smile and laugh when he sees little things like the alarm clock from across the room. At soccer he was reading things in the distance and naming cars as they came in the gate. He is very much like a little kid. I am happy he is happy. I know this is not something he was dying to do, but today he told me that this was the best thing I ever talked him into.

Glasses no more....we hope!

Tomorrow morning is the big day for Zach to have Lasik eye surgery! I know he is very nervous, but I am way excited. He doens't look bad with glasses, has had them since I have known him, but his eye sight is so bad I know he will be happier. Now when he deploys there won't be any worries over all the inserts he has to have or glasses breaking while being away. He keeps saying it might work, but he is not planning to be free of glasses. He just needs to be an optimist like me! I'll update later to let everyone know how it went.

Pack 84 was on AFN the Eagle...live!

I am late on getting this on here, but still had to share the exciting news from our scout troop. Friday we went and toured the AFN facility on Vogelweh. It's really small, just one little TV studio and the radio station studio. The DJ for the day was telling us how he gets all the music, adds and such to air and soon it was time for him to go back on. Our Webelos leader (who was great enough to arrange the whole thing) asked if there was anyway we could be on air and he agreed! Now for the group we had this was quite the ordeal. The boys and adults had to be as quiet as possible when he went on air and when he said Pack 84 is here and wants to say.....we all said Hello Kaiserslautern! We then had to be quiet for the rest of the DJ's traffic report. The boys did great! It was lots of fun and I don't have any pictures to add since I didn't have my camera, but Angi, one of the other moms took a lot of photos so maybe I can get my hands on one for a post later!

Ryan's team is 2-0!

Last night Ryan had another game and they won. He couldn't find his mouthguard, but he was not the only one so they let them play anyway. He learned why he needs to always have it! They had fun and beat the other team 30-6. Zach said that Ryan was the first out after the snap so he was moving fast and he got a tackle! Now this is flag football remember so that means pulling off the other guys flag, but in the little video clips there was a lot of piling up that became involved. I am glad he is having fun and getting the hang of his first season!

Rockin' Out!

Tyler, Ryan and Autsin playing Rockband!



We love Rockband in our house! And it's definately a treat when the kids get to play on a school night. I allowed it this one time because we were watching Austin for a while and Tyler has been wanting to have him over for a long time now. Ryan is not really playing the game since for the Wii the guitars from Rockband and Guitar Hero aren't capatable, but he was having fun anyway. One of these days we will have to record Tyler singing "Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi or even "Dani Callifornia" by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, it's quite funny and he's actually really good....for a kid. Zach can sing far more songs than any of us. I am just not that familiar with the words, only the music part so generally I play drums. We can't wait for more songs to come out and the option to download!

Been down with a stomach virus.....

I have been out of commision and that is never a good thing in our house! Friday it started with a headache and everything just hurting. I had not got errands done all week so had no choice but to get them done. Saturday I had class all day and knew missing it would be a bad option. Most of our assignments are in class things so I would have to make it all up and meet outside of class to get my group porject done. Luckily this time I have a group that is actually pulling their weight! But still I didn't want to let them down so I fought from 8:30-3:30 to stay in class. When I came home the house (well downstairs) was spotless! Candles were burning so it smelled nice and the kids were all upstiars playing nicely together. I almost thought I walked into a dream, or the wrong house!

I was exhuasted so after the kids bounced around telling me about their games I had to lay down. Zach had a cold and being in the rain all morning didn't help that any so we had a nice lazy evening watching TV. Sunday things had gotten much worse for both Zach and I so we slept most of the morning while the kids entertained themselves. Cody doens't let others get his toaster waffles very often, but he was very good Sunday and asked Tyler for everything he needed. When we came downstairs and saw the mess of toys and crushed crackers Zach was not happy since had had worked so hard to get the house clean the day before. Guess he knows my frustration now.

So now that it is Tuesday I am feeling better, but don't have much energy. I want to eat, but still haven't tried anything other than saltine crackers. I got a decent nights sleep and since Cody doesn't have school until this afternoon we are having a lazy morning. It won't last long since I have to go buy poster board for Ryan's family tree project and find my laundry room!