Love Bugs and Crazy Daisies

TWILIGHT IS OUT TODAY!!!! I'm SO going to Wal-Mart this morning and buying it - I can't wait. While I just saw it in the movie theater last week, I'm still excited to see it again. I just love the story, and can't wait for the next movie to come out in November. (As I'm writing this the night before (prepublishing), I'm tempted to wait till midnight to run out and buy it, but my babysitter went camping with his dad - dang! A perfect plan, foiled - LOL)

Well, my house was clean yesterday. For an hour. hehehe. We cleaned from 8 to 10, and it actually looked pretty good. Floors vacuumed, clothes put away, counters washed, floors swept, piles moved (or hidden), room cleaned, bathrooms cleaned, dishes done, laundry done. It was pretty nice :)

The rental inspector came a little after 11. It's so they have a written document of the state of the rental when you first move in, so they can compare the state of the rental when you move out. Anyway, he was there about 40 minutes, and left. It quickly deteriorated from there. hehehe. But then, with a house full of kids, you can't really expect anything else :)

By the time Captain America got home, it looked a little cleaner than normal, but not really noticeable. Sigh. Oh well. I know it was clean :)

I sewed on my new Civil War dress today. I got the bodice and lining all sewed, and attached them. Then the arms sewed, and attached. I got the waistband assembled, and attached to the bodice. I cut out the skirt, and sewed in a pocket, then attached the massive skirt to the bodice. It looks pretty good. Now I just need to sew button holes (by hand), sew on buttons, and hem the bottom of the skirt. Not too bad for a days worth of sewing. Hopefully it fits when I'm done - LMBO!

Captain America and Jacob went on a Boy Scout campout last night. They got all packed and ready from 3-5, then left at 5. I sure hope they have fun. It's always pretty tense the hour before a campout, because of all the last minute packing, and organizing, and such. Hopefully it goes well, and they both have fun :) I sent them with yummy treats, and the weather is PERFECT! In the low 80's with no chance of rain. How perfect is that :)

I think Jimmy is getting sick. He's been whiny and clingy all day, and took a nap this afternoon. While it does slow him down, which means less messes to clean up after, I'd hate for the little guy to get sick. Sigh. I'll have to keep an eye on him, and see what's up. Hopefully nothing, and we can all just be healthy. I hate cold/flu season :)

I hooked up our Digital Converter Box yesterday. I'm so smart - LOL! Instead of getting 5 channels, we now get about 10. Sure, some of them as Spanish channels, and I don't speak Spanish, but it's some variety, eh? hehehe. We do have a weather channel now, which is kinda nice. And, I can actually see the shows I'm trying to watch. No more snow. That's SO nice. I can see what's happening on Survivor, and actually read the captions - LMBO! Has anyone else got a Converter box? Anyone else out there without cable, using an antenna?

Isn't this one fun :) After a long day of cleaning and sewing, I decided to just do something fun and easy, no thought required - hehehe. So, no request today :) Click on the links below to go to one of my accounts to download the PNG file (and if one of them is out of bandwidth (read - box.net), just pick a different one). And, leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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AL Eyewitness

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Visualize

Boy, was it a busy day yesterday. It started off with a visit to the WIC office for Jimmy and I. I left Jacob in charge of the middle 2, and Jim, Joe, and I went to the appointment. 2 hours later, we were done, and I had a new WIC card. Who knew that Texas has "debit" card type things for WIC. I'd never heard of that before. Oregon, Ohio, and Illinois still are using paper. Good for Texas - seems to make it easier on all parties envolved. Anyway...

I found this AWESOME store in the same strip mall as the WIC office, and the little kids and I went to check it out. OMGosh! Nice clothes, and super cheap. I ended up with 2 pairs of jean shorts for Jacob, 2 jeans and a jean capri for Eme, rugged sandals for Jim, rugged sandals for Joe, 2 6 packs of tube socks for Tom, a sweater for Tom, a set of 6 sturdy glass drinking glasses, 2 shirts for me, jean capris for me, some unmentionables for me (I know, TMI), a 5 pack of glittery lip gloss, 2 light-up suckers, and a dress for Eme. And all for only $88. I got a 10% military discount (gotta love that), but really, had I gone anywhere else, it would have been a TON more money. Gotta love getting a bargin :) I think I've found a new favorite place to go look for clothes - LOL!

We came home, and fed the big kids. It was only 11, but they thought they were starving - ha! After lunch,Captain America, Jake, and Tom washed the vehicles, then Captain America headed back to work, and I did some computer work. I got another WordArt pack designed, and played Mafia wars for a bit. Cleaned up the house a bit and such too.

Captain America was home around 3, and Jim, Joe, Captain America and I headed back out around 5 to go to the Scout office. He'd filled out and turned in an Adult Leader application 2 time previous, but they kept getting lost along the way. So, we hand delivered it to the Scout office this time. Captain America and Jacob are going on a Scout Campout tonight, and Captain America's application needed to be turned in pronto.

We had dinner when we got back home, and Captain America, Jim, and I headed back out again at 6:45. Captain America needed to go shopping for his campout. We also stopped by Hobby Lobby and got some more fabric for our Civil War outfits. We didn't get home until almost 10pm. Dang, that's a lot of shopping. Jimmy really did a great job, though. I look back on the days that we only had one or two kids, and think, Man, did I have it easy - ROFL! But, I know it didn't feel that way at the time - hehehe.

Jacob was really excited to be babysitting so much today. He earned another gamecube game, and will get to play it for a bit tomorrow. He really did a great job, and I'm so proud of him - Thanks, Jacob! I'm so glad you're our BIGGEST kid!

Well, it's Friday, which means it's time for Fresh Fruit Friday over at the Orchard. Wanna see what I have new??? You do??? Oh yippeee!!! hehehe. I have 5 new WordArt packs in the store this week, and they're all on sale for 20% off through next Thursday (that's just $2.00 a pack). Click HERE to go to my store at Scraporchard.

And, my CT made some FABULOUS layouts to showcase my WordArt. Didn't they do a fantastic job??? I just LOVE these girls :)

CT - Netty

CT - Trina (slupreegirl13)

CT - Minna

CT - Schneeflocke

CT - Trina

CT - Jaimee

CT - Pünktchen

CT - Trina (Slupreegirl13)

CT - Schneeflocke

This WordArt request comes from Cheri. She said she could see this with images of kids working on artwork, homework...sports, etc. I couldn't agree more! It would be PERFECT for those "concentrating hard" pictures. I have a TON of those.

So, click on the links below to go to my various accounts to download the PNG file. If one of them isn't working, or is out of bandwidth, just try a different one. That's why I put up 4 different off-site links (LMBO!)

FONTS:
Visualize - AL Sandra

Downloads:

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Ha! I scrapped!!! 2 in one day - must be a record or something! Click HERE to see my other layout, called "Agent of Satan". Yeah, my mom wasn't crazy about it, but I thought it was THE most funny thing I've seen in a long time.

Kit - "Paper Rain" by Bren Boone
WordArt - Freebee from Elegant WordArt by Bethany (me!)

Guardian Angel

So, how are you all today??? Yesterday was good for us. We went to the park for Playgroup, and had a lot of fun. The big kids went back and forth between having a TON of fun and being too old to play there. It was kinda funny.

One of the ladies in the ward had a baby shower on Tuesday night, and the other girl who's house it was at brought all of the leftover food to the park for the kids for lunch. It was pretty nice! There were chips and dip, and a giant veggie tray, and she made PBJ's for the kids. What a great time at the park. I even got a little sun! I think my arms are a bit burnt, but they should quickly turn to tan. I'm gonna have to start using Sunscreen on everyone. hehehe. No more Oregon Coast weather habits - LOL!

I worked on my WordArt packs for the rest of the day, on and off. I have 5 new Packs in the store for this Friday (I think you'll like 'em!). I also watched a little on-line Tv. At one point, I couldn't find Jimmy, and then found him in his room, alseep. Silly, tired boy :) He and Joe were both up at 6:30 am, dressed and ready to go to the park - LMBO!

Jimmy has a WIC appointment today, so that's what we'll be doing in the morning. Then another day of hanging out. I SO love spring break - hehehehehe. Relaxing and vegging at home is my FAVORITE thing to do. Now, I just have to slip in a little bit of sewing, and we'll be all set - ha!

Here's a new WordArt for ya. I have a new WordArt pack coming out on Friday called Brackets Angel Wordart Pack. So, here's an Angel wordart to go with it :) This one is more "Attitude" then the ones in the pack, but it's still Angel-ish - hehehe. Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
Guardian - CapitalisTypeOasis
Angel - AL Charisma

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Hunting Season

OK, Mom, as promised, here are a few of the pictures from our trip to the ADA (Air Defense Artillery) Museum. We really did have a fun time going there. This was our activity as a family on Monday afternoon. We learned a lot, and saw some pretty cool stuff :)

Here's Captain America and the gang next to the row of flags when you first come into the museum.

And my gang by the cannon.

Checking out some cool artifacts.

The gang by a Skud missle (don't hold me to that, though - I can't keep my names straight!)

Eme and I have the same color eyes :)

Some nice outside shots. It was SO SO SO sunny that day, I was surprised they turned out so good - I couldn't even see what I was doing on the camera's view finder - ha!

By the tank

Awe, aren't we cute!

OK, and if you stand near a tank, and don't try this, you're just not living - LMBO! "Ahhhhh! Don't run over me!"

Captain America took it one step further.

And Jacob took it one step further from that - hehehehe.

So, there's ya go :) Fun pics from the ADA museum. Tuesday was a good day at home, too. We refined the chores, and the house actually looked pretty good today. While I HATE housework, I do enjoy the house when it's clean (I think I should have a maid - LOL!).

I ordered a few Scooby Doo DVD's from the used section of Amazon, and they came today. Jimmy was SO excited. Scooby Doo is his new favorite. Well, not quite true. CARS will always be his favorite, but Scooby Doo is WAY up there too. My 2 favortie parts from the Scooby Doo cartoon movies are first , the song from Scooby Doo and the Witches ghost by the Hex Girls, "We make love bad, but we don't care". OMGosh! Are you kidding me? What kind of lyrics is that? LMBO!!!! And the second is from the same movie, when they go to Oakhaven, CT (I think), and the mayor greets them, and says "And I see you brought some friends.......and their dog". I crack up EVERY time I hear it. I know, I'm a freak. But for some reason, I just think it's hilarious. I've been going around the house saying it to the kids all day. See, it REALLY doesn't take much to make me happy - LOL!

I designed 2 WordArt packs this afternoon, and watched last weeks episode of Survivor and Lie to Me. Gotta love watching TV on the web. Watch at your own lesiure, and less commercials. Technology is GREAT!

AND, I met one of my blog followers, Pat, in real life for dinner tonight! It was really fun meeting someone that I email, and see around my blog. We went to a fun Mexican Restraurant and had some YUMMY food! I did mostly good on my diet. Sure, the appetizer was NOT on my diet, but we didn't eat it all. The taco salad was SUPER good, and we even splurged and had a dessert. I can't remember what they were called, but they were these cinnamon and sugar pastry thingy, and you put honey inside of it. OMGosh, it was yummy! It helped, too, that I hadn't had sugar in 2 weeks - LOL!

Pat and I visited and talked and chatted and told stories of our families from 5-8:30 ish. It was SO much fun! I definitely need to get out more often - hehehe. So, the next time any of you come to El Paso, look me up and we'll hang out :) Seriously. Call me :) Well, email me first - LMBO! You know I have a phone phobia - ROFL!

Here's Pat and I at dinner. Thanks to the chickie at the table next to us for taking our picture :)

This WordArt request is from Jacquie. I figured since I was already doing the Hunting one, I might as well do a few others - hehehe. Here's 6 WordArts, for all the various activities our men involve themselves with. I need one for Reenactment season - hehehe.

Click HERE to go to the Scraporchad gallery to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work :) Thanks! And don't forget to check out my BOGO sale while you're at the Orchard :)

St Patricks Mini (and Blog Train)

If you're here for the blog train, look no further!!! Just click on the image below to go to my post from 3/16 to pick up my part of the kit and find the link to the next blog :)

And, don't forget about the BOGO sale going on at Scrap Orchard. All of my WordArts are on sale, Buy One Get One Free. Click HERE to go to my store :)

So, Happy St. Patrick's day!!! Are you all wearing green?? I always thought it was fun to wear green on St. Patty's day, and didn't realize until I was grown and married that people used it as a drinking holiday - ha! Who knew??? LMBO! Can you tell I'm not a drinker - LOL! Never had alcohol in my life :) Anyway, I still wear green! I have fun cooking green food, pretending that "Lenny the Leprachaun" has snuck into the house and turned things green, and pinching my kids when they don't have on their green clothes. So much fun (can you tell that it doesn't take much to keep me entertained - ROFL!!!)

Yesterday was a good first day of Spring Break. The house was relatively clean, and the kids had fun playing at home. I called my blog friend, Pat, and set up our dinner for tonight. She lives in Houston, but is visiting family in El Paso, and we're going to dinner! I'm SO excited :) Anyone else wanna come to El Paso and go to dinner with me??? Seriously, if you're in the area, look me up :) Can't wait to meet you, Pat! We should have fun :) And get this. Her daughter is friends with a girl on my CT, Trina. What a small world!!!

After lunch yesterday, the kids and I loaded up in the truck and headed to post. We met Captain America at the ADA (Air Defense Artillery) Museum, since the big kids hadn't been there yet. Jim, of course, fell asleep in the truck. I carried him in, still sleeping, and we walked around for about 5 minutes looking for Captain America. OMGosh, that kid is a pile of BRICKS! I finally had to find and chair, and sit and wait for Captain America. My arm is still recovering today - LOL! When Captain America caught up with us, we decided to wake Jim up. We walked around for about and hour, and saw all the cool army stuff. The boys were REALLY impressed. They recognized a lot of vehicles/guns/stuff from their "Battlefield" game. Captain America knew the most. He was like our own personal tour guide. It was pretty neat. I took a TON of pictures, but they'll have to wait for tomorrow, I think.

After the museum, Joe and Jim and I headed off to the doctors office. They have walk-in immunizations, and Joe needed his 2nd dose of something, and Jim needed his 1st dose of the same. They were SUPER fast, and we were in and out in less than 30 minutes. Jimmy was screaming before his thigh was even exposed - hehehe. Poor little thing. I think the idea was worse than the actual shot. Joe was tough, and just made an "OOOUCH" face, and sucked it up. What a little trooper.

After the clinic, we headed over to the PX. We had dinner there. Captain America and I got a salad, and the kids got Taco Bell. It's great when you can feed 5 kids for $10 bucks, and everyone gets full. We just LOVE those Cheese, Beefy Burriots. I think that's what they're called. They're only $0.89. And they have some nice looking nachos for $0.89 too. I got 10 burritos, and 2 nachos for the kids. We had leftovers, even. Lunch for today - hehehe. That's even cheaper than McDonalds. See, I told you I'm easy to please. I was SO excited to have only spent $10. I'm such a dork :)

We were running low on apples (Captain America and I eat 3 a day for our diet, and it's my favorite part of my menu - hehehe - can't run out of apples!!!), so after dinner, we headed over to the commisary. I got apples, crackers, some salad, ground turkey, mini marshmellows (oh yeah, those aren't for me - LOL), bread, milk, muffin mix, soda (yeah, that one is for me - ha!), FF plain yogurt, and some spices. And I did the self-check out again. Man, I think I would have nightmares if I worked the self-service stations. "Please return the item to the bagging area". "The item's weight does not match the item" or something like that - seriously, the stuff of nightmares. I don't know how those workers sleep at night - LMBO! The things I do to save a few bucks - hehehe.

We came home, put away the groceries, and had a little Family Home Evening. We talked about "Honoring your father and mother", and talked about how to be respectful. It's imporant, and a lesson that needed brought back up again :) I think it was well recieved.

After we put the little kids to bed, the big kids and Captain America and I played 5 rounds of Batman Uno. OMGosh, we were in tears by the time we were done. Captain America kept talking like Batman (Christian Bale, you know, with that growly voice), commenting on how was getting the draw 4's and draw 2's, and on who was in the lead. TOO funny. I thought Jacob was gonna wet himself he laughed so hard. It was a fun time. I came in last place, almost 250 points behind the next person. Oh well, I was having fun watching the kids interact with their daddy. Tom won, although until the last hand, Eme was in first place. We'll definitely have to play that game again :)

So, enough about my FUN and EXCITING day (hehehehehe), on to WordArt. I have a special treat for you guys today!!!

Well, what do you think??? I've made a little mini kit for you guys - hehehe. Can you tell that I have no idea what I'm doing :) LMBO!! Hopefully it's OK. It has 2 papers, 4 elements, and 2 WordArts. Enjoy!!!

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Sunshine, Freedom, Flower

Well, I"m STILL not done with the book, but I'm getting closer. I'm within 80 pages. Maybe I'll stay up late tonight (pre-publishing) and finish it. Just so that I can get something done tomorrow :) hehehe. Church went well. I had Sharing time, and we learned about Dad's. About what their role in our family are. It really went well. The kids seemed attentive and entertained. That's always good - hehehe.

Jimmy didn't like his lunch, so he was given a choice between eating it, or taking a nap, and he chose nap. So, I went up and sat with him in my dark room, until he fell asleep. I read my book, and he napped. It as a great afternoon - LOL! Luckily, he liked dinner much better, and got some food in his poor little tummy.

Monday is the first day of Spring Break. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in, and hanging out. Brings back memories of the "good ole days" of homeschool :) Just kidding - we worked HARD when we homeschooled. But there was definitly a lot more free time, that's for sure. I really wish that K-12 was in Western Texas. I'd really be interested in doing it again :) Maybe the next place we more :)

So, we're having a blog train and a sale at Scraporchard, and because I've been SO busy reading my book (I know, pathetic), I'm SO out of the loop, I don't even know when it is. I think it's now. Maybe? Could be. But, I figured I'd rather error on the safe side, so I'm posting it now. SO, if you click on the blog train link down below, and the person after me hasn't linked up yet, I picked the wrong day. Just be patient. It'll happen. I just don't know when - LMBO!

AGAIN, IF BREN'S LINK ISN'T WORKING, IT'S BECAUSE I GOT THE WRONG DAY - hehehe, so just be patient. I'll get it figured out eventually :)

And, to make matters worse, I published this silly post before I was done, and it went out in a newsletter, then I had to go back and fix it, and delete it, and now you've got 2 of these in yor inbox (if you subscribe to my newsletter). Sigh. Ever feel like asking for a "do over". Or a mulligan, as my hubby calls it in sports (volleyball). hehehe. Mulligan, please!!!

But, I DID put my store on sale early. So, that's a plus for you all :) It's Buy One Get One Free, from now until the 19th. If you buy one of my Fresh Fruit for $2.00, and get one for free, that's only $1.00 a piece. The others would translate to $1.25 a piece. Not too shabby, eh?
Welcome to the 1st Annual Orchard Girls Spring Blog Train! The rules are easy... simply download my portion of this gorgeous kit, and then head on over to Bren Boone's Blog to pick up hers! She'll post the next link for you to follow over there!

At some point you'll end up on The Scrap Orchard Blog and you'll want to head into the store to miss an incredible sale! For a short time you'll find a TON of Buy One Get One Free sales in the Orchard Girl stores! For instance if you head over to my store you can get a WordArt Pack for free with the purchase of any of my other WordArt Packs!

And finally, you'll end up back here, at my blog... (that's how you'll know that you've picked up all the pieces of the kit! LOL!) and don't worry, if you miss a piece or two of the kit, or if 4Shared is busy at the moment, whatever... We're leaving the links up for quite awhile so you'll get everything eventually! (and Shauna's going to post all the links on the Scrap Orchard Blog next week too, just in case!)

Happy Spring from all of us at Scrap Orchard to you!"

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Inside Your Heart

Guess what, girls? I got to SLEEP IN yesterday! The kids just did their own thing, the bigger ones getting the little ones breakfast, and I slept and slept and slept - ha! I didn't wake up until 9:40am! I don't remember the last time that happened - ha! So, THANK YOU Harty kids - you're the best!

It was a nice, relaxing Saturday at home - I enjoyed it. We cleaned some, played some, we went through our Civil War boxes, seeing what clothes fit, and what needed replaced. All my dresses now fit, but their a bit big - ha! What a big change from last year :) Jake's pants and shirts are good, but he needs a new jammie shirt. Tom has most everything he needs. Eme needs almost everything new. Joe hasn't grown at all, so all his clothes fit. Jimmy, since he's potty trained now, doesn't need dresses anymore, so he has nothing to wear. So, girls, I've got a lot of sewing to do before the end of the month.

Sigh. At least I'm almost done with my book. I'm on page 326 of 481 or something like that. So, it shouldn't be too much longer before I'm done with that. I'll put sewing in place of reading, and all will be good :)

We set up the Civil War tents, just to get them all aired out, and make sure it's all still good to go. Don't want to get to an event, just to find that somethings broken. That would be bad :) All seems fine there. Of course, our side lot looks like a battle camp, but whatever - ha! The neighbors like it, I'm just sure they do - hehehe.

Tom and Jake were GREAT helpers today. They helped their Dad with lots of projects, and helped me keep the house clean. Captain America also taught Jacob how to cook pancakes and eggs. He's going on his first official Scout campout next weekend, so Captain America thought he'd help him by teaching him how to cook breakfast. What a great Dad moment :) I love my boys :)

Poor Eme's catching a cold, and she has this NASTY cough. He's slightly asthmatic, so it sounds really bad. At least we're on Spring Break, so I don't have to worry about her having to miss school. Hopefully she'll feel better in a few days.

And, to all of you who have emailed me in the past few days, I've been so busy reading, that I've been neglecting it a bit. As soon as I finish my book, I promise I'll be more attentive - hehehe. I'll try!

This WordArt request is from Linda, and I thought it was a very nice saying :) Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work :) Thanks, girls!!

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Inside, Your - Felix Titling
Heart - Annabella Italic JF