Where did the weekend go?!

The weekend really went by WAY to fast! Saturday We had soccer games and football practice as usual. Then we went to the PX on Foster (about 15 min.away) because our AAFES credit card wasn't working. It's pretty much a military credit card for the BX and things on base...kind of like a target credit card only with a MUCH better interest rate! Anyway, ours wasn't working and we were told there was a problem and to go to Foster to sort it out. We tried to use this card two different times... once for Chad's new uniform, and once at the BX for Logan's birthday presents. Not a huge deal, but it is when your planning on using a credit card and spend about $200 then find out your card has been declined! I'm not the type to just say never mind and leave the store, so I paid with debit from our checking account. It didn't put us out, but it wasn't something I budgeted for. Which really was just a huge inconvenience. Well we went to find out what was wrong with our card Saturday... turns out we had $7.00 in late charges at the video store so they put a hold on everything!!!Our card and Video rental are not even connected, But they go by Chad's social security number! Chad couldn't get his uniform because of his video rentals! I would understand if they had sent us notices and we were trying to leave the island without paying or something, but they didn't even give us a notice! We had no idea about the late charges! I think I was relieved and extremely annoyed when I found that out! Anyhow... the military.... they take their movie rental's seriously! But you can bet we won't be late again!
Saturday night we BBQ'd with friends and tried to relax a little.
Well Sunday we spent the day at the house. Tristan had 2 projects due. I hate when they send things like this home in kindergarten because there is no way Tristan can do them, which means it's homework for the parents. I have ENOUGH homework that I don't need any extra! We had to decorate a turkey feather to hang out side the office and he had to do a star student poster... the all about Tristan poster.

This is not the finished poster, but you get the idea.
I worked on it all day and finally put it away around 1:00 in the morning. But got it finished and turned in today! I didn't think it was going to happen but it did! And the best part is: Tristan LOVED it!
Chad helped me cut out the letters and gave his ideas. But he took care of the kids all day which was the biggest help of all!

Now it's Monday night and I FINALLY have a few min. to blog! I feel like I don't have a free moment between Tristan's homework, sewing Halloween costumes, planning birthday parties and shopping for Birthday and Christmas presents! It stinks having the boys birthdays this close to Christmas! I guess I should have thought that through!
Well I hear the boys and Chad is loosing patience so I better go save him!
Hopefully I'll have a little time to get on here again soon!

Bryan's House

I finally get to do some editing on my pictures!! And not just ANY editing.... editing on Bryan's computer!!!
We had a long day today with the boys soccer games at 12:00 and 1:00 then lunch, and errands! So we came over to Bryan's tonight and had a little mini dinner at his house. He lives off base which means he has a Japanese kitchen so... no oven! The Japanese use a different kind of micro wave than we do. There's has different settings so it's used as a microwave, oven and grill. There is no way I could figure it out though because it's all in Japanese! The other day I tried to make the boys some popcorn in it and realized it was on the oven setting because it just got really hot, but didn't pop. There electricity is different off base so you have to use a transformer for anything we bring from America (like a microwave) and they are not cheap! Each transformer cost from $100- $150! It's more than the microwave costs!! And he already had to buy one for the computer and TV so the microwave has to share one. So we made hot dogs and mac & cheese since we could use the stove for it. The boys loved it because they got to eat hot dogs and mac&cheese for dinner, but they got to sit on the floor at the little table to eat. Traditional Japanese dinning! We all love hanging out at Bryan's house every chance we get!! His house is beautiful first of all! But he also has optical Internet (Which Chad would kill for!) Our internet on base is about the same as dial up, and off base the optical internet is faster than we could even dream of in the states! So Chad is always begging to come over! But my reason for Loving this house... Bryan's desk top computer!!! Chad and Bryan both have there lap top computers so they leave me alone with the desk top! His desk top is the top of the line! And runs circles around my little lap top! The monitor is huge and the Computer is SUPER fast! I can't even explain it, but I LOVE it!!! And Bryan being the amazing friend that he is... put my photo shop programs on his computer and even gave me my own folder to keep my pictures on! This computer has like 4 tetra bytes on it!! Which make my 300gig hard drive look puny! Anyway, Bryan gave the boys their own room so they have toys and movies and games here! so they are always entertained here plus he got the Japanese cable so the boys could get their English cartoons over here too! And... he has his pantry stocked with snacks and sippy cups!
Needless to say, we've all been a little spoiled by Bryan!!! Which is why his nick name is "Big Daddy"!! We Love him! Not to mention the fact that he moved all the way to Japan just to hang out with us! So we get to be spoiled AND hang out with our best buddy! It has helped Japan feel a little more like home now that he's here!
Well...
I'm going to finish editing some pictures so I can hopefully post some on here tonight!