Unbelievable

First off, do you like my new desktop wallpaper??? hehehehe!!!

Well, yesterday we had Award Assemblies at school for the kids. Jim and I walked up to the school at 8:30 for Joe/Eme's assembly. I got a few pics of Joe, and Eme got an award for High Honor Roll (All A's). She really did a great job. Jim? Well, not so much. He was buckled in his stroller, and kepts saying "Buckle me OUT!" the whole time. Not the most enjoyable hours of my life - hehehe.

Then, when the assembly was over, and all the P-K, K, 1st, and 2nd graders went back to class, at 9:30, all the 3rd and 4th graders came in, and we did the whole thing all over again - Sigh. Luckily, the 3rd graders went first on awards, and I took pics of Tom getting his Honor Roll award (A's and B's), and Jimmy and I jetted. We were home by 10am. Jacob's award ceremony was at 1pm, but I think Jimmy (heck, ME!) had had his fill of sitting quietly in the gym. Sorry, Jake! I LOVE you too and am so proud of you!!!

JImmy and I spent the afternoon being productive. We cleaned Jacob and Thomas' room....completely. We took out all the clothes that didn't fit, threw away a lot of junk papers and such, and organized things. Jimmy vacuumed (yeah, for a 3 year old, he's pretty thorough. I was impressed!), and I went back to touch it up. See, when the movers come to pack, I don't want a bunch of junk being packed up. At least in the house. The garage is a chore I don't want to tackle. hehehe. So, all the upstairs kids room are gone through and organized. Now, I just have to do mine and Eme's. I'll work on that tomorrow.

A guy from the moving company was supposed to come yesterday and "assess" our stuff. See what it all intailed. He set up an appointment for 11, but then called at 9ish and cancelled. He's coming sometime on Tuesday now. Fine with me. Gives me more time to get my "shhhtuff" organized :) Ha!

Captain America wanted me to give the kids an Ice Cream party for their great grades, so we headed off to Wal-Mart to get some ice cream and a few snacks. We also rented a movie for the evening. SO, the diet went out the window for the night. Sigh. Today? Maybe today I can do it. Quick. Someone loan me their will power. I KNOW I used to have some. I know I did- hehehe.

I attened Scraporchard's "Make It Scrappy" last night. I've done a few of these, and they're really a lot of fun. But I do find that designing WordArt comes MUCH more naturally to me than does actual scrapping. So, here's my layout. The directions were:

1. pick 4 papers (1 with polka dots, 1 with stripes, 2 others)
2. pick at least 2 photos (even number)
3. make one photo double the size of the rest
4. use at least 3 elements (buttons, flowers, brads) (odd number)
5. use one paper as a frame for one photo
6. use an alpha for the title

So, I made a really FUN new WordArt for the layout, and didn't have an alpha to go with it, so I just made one up - hehehe. I just LOVE the actions from Atomic Cupcake, and this one was last week, or the week before last's freebee. You know they give out freebees weekly, right? This week is a wood action. Kinda cool. You should check it out :)

Anway, here's my finished layout. I used photos from our Civil War Reenactment, all of Joe. He's SO photogenic :)

WordArt and Alpha - Elegant WordArt by Bethany
Kit - Scraporchard 2009 April Mega

So, without further adu, here's my WordArt for the day. Isn't it fun! I'm excited to make a WordArt pack with WordArt like this. It was kinda fun to make, too. I've got some neat ideas...... Now I just need to find some design time. Maybe after the house is cleaned..... or not - LMBO!

Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file.

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OR, just for fun, you can grab the one that's actually spelled right - LMBO! Thanks, Gail, for letting me know. My 8th grade teacher was right. I AM a horrible speller - ROFL!!! Sigh. Oh well. I've got skills in other areas, right??? hehehe. Sorry I couldn't duplicate it completely. It's a VERY lenghty process. :)

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AND, one day next week you can pick up this FABULOUS alpha from me :) I just LOVE the font, and combined with the action from Atomic Cupcake, well, enough said- hehehe. Maybe on Monday. But don't hold me to it - LOL! Next week - that's good enough for now :)

Oh wait. I see that my freebees preview tells me it's the 6th of april. Allrighty then. The 6th of April it is! I guess you can come back here on Monday and pick up the Alpha from me. Who amd I to argue with the Preview - LMBO!

Driving in my Car

Ha! I remembered to post these - LOL! Here's my new stuff for this week. Since Easter is next week, I decided to get some Easter WordArt packs designed and in the store. Thought they'd be great on all your Easter layouts, AND on your Easter cards. AND, there's a fun one about Playtime. Click HERE to go to my store to pick up my new stuff :) And remember, it's 20% off the first week (Only $2.00!!)

I did a little bit of cleaning yesterday. Jimmy and Joe's room is TOTALLY clean. I even vacuumed. That's HUGE for me - hehehe. I went through their clothes and got rid of the stuff that didn't fit or was too old. I'll pick a different bedroom to tackle today. Slow yet steady wins the race, eh?

Our currrent landlord called me today, and chewed me out for 20 minutes, about what horrible people we were for trying to get out of our lease early. He had me in tears. I know it's just his job, but it still wasn't very nice. He accused me of planning long term on getting out of our lease when Military housing opened up. TOTALLY not the case. Yeah, we went BANKRUPT to get out of housing. Come on. We're not stupid. He kept saying that our laywer wouldn't be able to break the lease, and we'd be liable for the whole year. He said we'd messed up the house because my kids colored on the wall. HIS kids never colored on wall, he said. It wasn't a great conversation. Sigh. I miss Captain America.

Captain America called shortly after that, and I cried to him, and told him what happened. He called our lawyer, and left a message for her. She called me back, and said that he was just trying to strong arm us, and get us to stay. He wasn't telling the truth. She said that if he called again, to refer him to her. I felt MUCH better after talking to her. Mean man. You shouldn't make girls cry, don't you know!

Well, part of the problem may be that I'm PMS'y. I also almost cried twice when watching ER last night. I'm not an overly emotional person, unless I'm hormonal. Then, you'd better watch out - hehehe.

We had Parent Teacher conference yesterday too. Joe had his conference at 3:30. He's doing well. He still needs to learn his letter names/sounds a bit better, but I'll help him during the summer. She said he's a good kid (a bit shy, but adjusting).

Eme was next at 3:45. She's doing FABULOUS! He teacher LOVED her drawings, her writing, and said she's a WONDERFUL reader. At the very end of 1st grade, they want the kids reading 60 words per minute, but she's reading at 69 wpm right now. You go, Eme!!!

Tom was next. He's getting A's and B's. His teacher said he's a VERY smart kid. They took a State test, and he only missed on problem. She was SUPER impressed. Good job, Tom! She said that he needed to work on socializing a bit more. He finally confessed that a few of the kids were saying rude things to him, but he didn't tell anyone. He said that he didn't want to be a Tattle-tale. We had the "you've gotta speak up" talk, and I hope it'll get better for the time he's still at the school.

Then, it was back home for dinner. Joe was suppsed to bring snack to school today (and cotton balls), so a trip to Wal-Mart, then back to the school. Jacob's conference was at 6:40. His teacher said he was a GREAT student, very smart. He did say that he needs to work on staying on task, and not daydreaming. He said that when he goes to 6th grade middle school (instead of 6th in elementary school like right now), some of the other kids might make fun of him. Jake was like, "I'm used to that. Everyone always makes fun of me". Poor kid. But, when you act weird, that's gonna happen. He recognizes that - hehehe. Luckily, it doesn't seem to bother him too much. Oblivious, that could be his middle name - hehehe.

Then, after we got back home, and got the little kids to bed, Jacob and I went for a jog. Yep, I'm gonna try exercising again. I sure need to do something - hehehe. We did 0.6 miles (I know, not too much, but it's a start - 10 minutes of continuous jogging)

Today is the day that I'm getting back on my diet. Really. Today. Not last night when I was eating Peanut Butter sandwhiches at 9pm. Not yesterday when I was eating bakery cookies from Wal-Mart. Not yesterday at lunch time when I had tuna and crackers for lunch. Today. And I'm gonna exercise again. In the evening. With Jacob. And LOTS of water. That alwasy helps. And LOTS of gum. I LOVE sugar free gum.

This WordArt request is from Jenny - she wanted it for a picture of her little one pretending to drive a car. You know, I have a TON of pics like this that I could scrap :) CARS is Jimmy's favorite movie, you know - 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 :)

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FONTS:
Driving - Landspeed Record
In, My, Car - Hyrule

Love Comes Along

Wow! Has it really been that long??? Doesn't seem like it - time flies when you're having fun (and moving across country, and living my crazy life - hehehe) This is a FABULOUS sale! And it includes EVERYTHING in the store (except e-zines and grab bags!) Not just my store, but ALL of Scraporchard. Click HERE to head on over :)

Woohoo!!! I have a TON of pictures for you guys, today!!! Aren't you excited??? We sure did have fun on our Civil War trip. It was long, but good. But I'll tell you this much. It'll be a long time before I get back into that truck for a HUGE road trip - hehehe. These pictures aren't in any kind of order, just randomly thrown up there - but they are there. And that's the important part, right???

Here's Tom and I

Tom and Eme

Eme and Tom playing checkers

The Harty Kids

Joe

Joe

Jimmy

Jacob and Tom (Don't you like our water bottle - hehehe )

Eme and I

Sweet Emeline

Joe, Eme, and Tom playing checkers

Captain America over the fire

Tom and Jim watching the battle

Tom

Tom watching Ryen and Captain America packing their pistols.

Joe with the binoculars

Joe

Jim with flowers and a cracker (hehehe)

Jacob stoking the fire

The whole Harty gang

Eme

After the battle, the kids went to the medical demonstration. The guy gave the kids "fake wounds", and here are the kids pretending to clean them out. It's not coming off so easy. Give it a week, and they'll be "healed". Ha! These are the bowls that we washed dishes in. We boil water in big galvenized buckets, then pour it into 3 separate metal bowls. One with soapy water, one with bleach water, and one with rinse water. The kids were GREAT help with dishes this reenactment.

While waiting for the battle to start, and while I was cooking food, Jimmy kept trying to play with a dog in camp. The dogs job was to guard one of the guys tent. Jacob kept telling Jimmy to leave the dog alone, but Jim was persistant. Well, the dog took his guard dog duties serious, and nipped at Jimmy. He caught him on the eye. It didn't really bleed, but it scared him pretty bad. I'll tell you this much, he's not gonna mess with dogs anymore :) Some lessons are harder to learn than others....

Captain America and Jimmy taking a nap in our tent

Tom with the binoculars

Also, we've been having financial issues for the past....um.... well, for a long time. Our house in Chicago isn't selling, after being on the market since 2007. We lived on credit cards for WAY too long in Chicago. Anyway, the financial outlook looks pretty bleak. We really hate to do this, but we're filing bankruptcy this month. I really hate it, but some times people just need a "mulligan". Know what I mean? We're in so deep, we can't dig our way out.

Anyway, part of the bankruptcy says that we can get out of our lease on our rental house. And an ON POST house opened up!!! I'm SO excited. We wanted to live on post from the beginning, but it was all full. The Army movers are coming on Thursday, April 9th and Friday, April 10th. We're signing papers for the new army house on the 10th, and moving in that day. Our stuff gets moved in on Monday, the 13th. So, we'll be in an empty house for a while, but I can handle that.

The good thing about it, is that the army just takes our BAH, and that's it. Right now, they pay us $928 a month, and we're supposed to pay for rent and all utilities. Well, rent in and of itself is $1050. Then garbage, and water, and electricity, and gas. That's another 300-500 a month. Now that we're moving on post, it'll just be the $928. And that includes ALL utilities. Holy cow! That should really help things out. Savings of about 400-600 a month. Definitely worth the move :)

AND, there's a park RIGHT around the corner. The kids are gonna LOVE it.

You know, both Captain America and I were loathe to declare Bankruptcy, feeling that it was like saying "OK, we fail". But I can see some good coming out of it. I'm finally starting to see an end to our financial troubles. We'll have enough money to pay our bills. We won't have this GIANT debt hanging over our heads.

Unfortunately, Captain America left today for Ft. Benning for 6 weeks of training. Sigh. SO, I'll be orchestrating this move COMPLETELY on my own. Sigh. We're now up to move 16. Crazy, eh? I thought we'd be in this house the whole time we'd be in El Paso. Oh well. Things change. So, I'm gonna be SUPER busy again. ONE of these days, my life will settle down. Like when I'm dead - LMBO!!! But then again, with my luck, it's probably just be more busy on the other side - hehehehe!!

Oh yeah, and we had our Wills signed today. We'd never had one, because we didn't have extra money to draw up such things. WELL, the Army will do it for us for free. Awesome! So, now we have wills. And a living will. Very important :)

You know, I've been feeling very self consience about the bankruptcy lately, and not wanting to tell anyone. But, after telling you all, it's like a burden lifted. You all are so therapetuic - hehehe. Who needs a shrink - LMBO!!! Blogging is much cheaper - ha!

This WordArt request is from Samantha. I thought it was WONDERFUL, so I decided to offer it as a WordArt Wednesday - aren't you all excited!!!

Click HERE to go to Scraporchard's gallery to grab the download. Remember, you need to be logged in to get your download :) Thanks!

Fonts Included in Download :)

Up Down

Last day of pre-publishing, I promise :) We're actually home, but I'm WAY too tired to blog, so here it is :) You're WordArt for today :) And I promise that I'll have pictures and stories and something more entertaining tomorrow - LOL (Maybe I'll even come back and edit this post tomorrow afternoon - maybe.....maybe not - LOL!)

Click one the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

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Tuesday

Past, Present, Future

I'll link the others up when I get real interent again - hehehe - motel internet isn't always the best


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Curious Adventures

So, I was gonna sell this one, but I needed something to give away today, and even though it's not Faithbooking, it IS as WordArt, so it'll work :) I realized on Thursday night at the hotel, that I hadn't pre-published my weekends stuff yet, and hadn't even designed Sundays. Nice. In all my craziness this past week, it somehow slipped my mind - hehehe.

SO, click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. :)

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