Once Upon a Lifetime

Yeah! My party was SO much fun - total success. I was up at 7:00am, helping Tom with his Valentines. I'd printed them out last night, but didn't have time to cut them out. I cut them, and he attached them. Bonding activity, you know - hehehe.

The kids took their teacher cookies, and off we went. I came back, and started cleaning. I got Jake going on school, and Jimmy played in the backyard for a while. I did the dishes, swept the floor, wiped down the kitchen walls, and tidied up.

I started my soup at 10am, and it took a bit longer than I thought it was gonna. I tripled the recipe, and I think that's why it took so long. But it sure did smell good.

People started to trickle in at 11am. By the time my soup was cooked, there were 21 adults in the house, and a whole plethora of children. It was SO loud, but a good loud. We ate, and chatted, and laughed, and ate some more. There were desserts galore, a few sides, and 4 different kinds of soups. I totally forgot about putting out the salad (oops), so we'll be eating a bunch of salad over the next few days, I think :)

I had everyone put there name in a "hat", and did 2 door prizes. Funny, though. Andrea won one, and Leigh won one. hehehe. The girls all thought it was rigged - ROFL! I didn't even draw the names :)

At around 12:30pm, or 1pm, we moved to the living room, and started with the gift exchange. We started with Kayley, who picked a wrapped gift. The next person had the choice to pick a new gift, or take Kayleys. It went around the room, with picking and stealing and trading. Then, starting with Kayley again, we opened up the gifts.

There were a lot of fun presents. And some funny ones too. My favorite was the edible underware - ROFL! Let me tell you, a few of the girls wanted to duke it out for those - hehehe. The chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels were another big one. I took it first, but Leigh stole it from me. But I still ended up with some chocolate.

After the gift exchange, we played a game where people wrote on a notecard the most outrageous thing they'd ever done, then I read them to the group, and the group picked the one that was the most outrageous. That was kinda fun ,and we learned a WHOLE bunch about some of the girls - hehehe.

After that game, people started to trickle out. At 3pm, everyone had gone, and I went to pick up the kids at school. At the office, I filled out papers for the bus. It's gonna start on Monday, apparently. I got the passes for the kids, and the paper with the bus route. Should be good :)

We got home from school, and started to clean up from the party. We put the chairs back, gathered the trash, put the dishes in the sink, and put the food away. My kids really liked the left overs. At 6pm, I went with Andrea to take her kids to piano lessons, and we sat in the car and chatted.

At 7pm, I got back home, and Captain America was almost packed and ready to go on his Civil War campout. The kids were playing computer and hanging out, and after Captain America left, we started a movie together. I laid on the couch, and took a little nap. Just a little one, though. At 9pm, I made the kids turn off all the lights, and gave them the choice to either sit quietly and watch the movie, or go to bed. They all snuggled in on the couch.

I left Jake in charge, and headed over to Andreas house. I figured that since Captain America was gone, and it was "date night", I'd go play with Andrea :) We watched a movie, and I was home by 1am. So here I am, posting late at night again. I'm DEFINITELY sleeping in tomorrow. It's been a super long week.

So I found this saying at "The Perfect Title", and I just loved it. Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like Valentine's parties.

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Clean

OMHeavens. Yeah, my 3:30pm night REALLY caught up to me. I'm not in my 20's anymore, you know - hehehe. And did I tell you that I was the OLDEST one at the party last night. How the crap did that happen? *sigh, and rolls eyes* I've ALWAYS been the youngest one. But the last couple of years, I think people started getting younger or something....

Anyway, I got up at 7:00am, and I was a zombie. I went to the bathroom, and Captain Americawas awake and hadn't left yet for work. Self release PT time, I guess (Physical Training - exercising). Anyway, he was like, "um, late night?" hehehe. He hadn't even know that I'd left for the evening.

I reset my watch for 7:15am, and went back to bed. Jim and Joe kept coming in, needed me, though. I got up, and got Joe dressed, and kids cereal started, then reset my watch for 7:35. I went back to bed, but this time had people coming in and tattling on each other. Sigh. The universe was conspiring against me to not let me sleep. I just know it.

I somehow managed to drive the kids to school. Sweats, sweatshirt, no bra, broken glasses, droopy eyes, and I didn't even have the presence of mind to grab a bandana, so WILD hair. I'm sure the gate guard thought I was SUPER hot - ROFL!

I came back home, grabbed my puter, and hopped back into bed. Jake started on school and breakfast, and I turned on PBS cartoons in my bed for Jimmy. I couldn't really fall asleep all morning, but I didn't really move from the bed. I read a chapter, I watched the latest episode of "The Bachelor", I talked with Jakes Science teacher on the phone for a minute or so, then passed it over to Jacob.

Realy, I just lounged around until noon. I needed to go to the store, but I was still feeling lazy. At 12:15pm, Joe and his teacher called to tell me that he'd had an accident at school. Would I please come up and bring him a change of undies and pants. Poor Joe. I could TOTALLY sympathize with the child. I had accidents all the way up until 5th grade. Heck, what am I talking about, I still have horrible bladder control. PLEASE don't make me laugh too hard - hehehe.

I got Jim and Jake ready, found some clothes for Joe, got myself somewhat presentable, and headed out. First stop, school. We all went in, and found Joe in the nurses office. He changed, we took the dirty clothes, and walked him back to class. No worries, Joe - I still love ya, hon!

Next, we went to Big Lots. I was on the look out for a 10 Quart pot with lid. I couldn't remember where I'd seen it. We walked around Big Lots for a while, and realized that it wasn't there. Back in the truck, and we stopped at Game Crazy. Jake had saved up 75% of the money needed to buy a PSP (play station portable), and asked if I'd loan him the rest. We were looking for used ones.

No used ones at Game Crazy, but some decent prices on used PSP and Wii games. We'll have to come back soon.

Next, on to the Family Dollar. Bingo! I got a 10 quart cooker pot for $9.00 Not bad. And now I won't have to cook soup in my galvanized bucket anymore. Yeah, don't ask - ROFL!

Next, we drove to Walmart. I got plastic spoons, plastic forks, new air fresheners, paper bowls, and plates, some new Wart freezer stuff (for Jimmys hand and my feet), and some plastic Valentine's cups (5 for $1.50) to put cookies in for the teachers. Little cookies. And, I found Dark Chocolate and Mint chips for $0.97. I got two. I could make Mint Chocolate Chip cookies for the teachers. Sweet!

Next, it was off to the PX. Game Stop is in there, and I know that they had a Used old PSP a few weeks ago. It was worth a shot. Nope. No old ones. They did have a TON of Nintendo GameBoy Advanced. My kids ripped the flip screen right off the old one we had. Yeah, they're rough. That's an understatement!

Anyway, they had a bundle, which came with the PSP 3000, a memory card of 2GB, Assassins Creed (not as violent as a PSP game as a PS game), a free download of Angels and Demons. All that for $199. Is that a good price? I thought it sounded reasonable. He was SOOOOO excited about it. He was beaming from ear to ear. LOL! He also bought a car package. Came with a charger, a hard case, a game case, and headphones. Should be pretty good. See, Jake wanted to get the PSP before our family trip to Ruidoso New Mexico next weekend. Can't say I blame the child :)

By the time we were done at Game Stop at the PX, we were out of time. No stop at the commissary. I needed to get supplies for my soup. Crap! It was time to pick up the kids. So we hurried back to the truck, and drove across post and out the gate to get the kids. Andrea and I and Laurie and Veronica and Becky stayed and played on the playground while our boys did AQ. It's quite the nice routine.

Also, while sitting there, we got a call from the school (automated - do you get those?) saying that on the Tuesday night Board meeting for the district, our bus request was approved. Well, Andrea and I already knew that - hehehe. The message also said that the bus would be ready on MONDAY! Isn't that awesome :) We just need to stop by the office on Friday and pick up a "Pass" for the bus. Or something like that :)

We were home by 4pm, and after getting everyone situated with snack and homework and chores, I took Joe (who was having a rough time for some reason) to the Commissary. We got potatoes, and onions, and kale (for the Olive Garden soup), and bullion cubes, sausage, and bacon, heavy cream, salad and dressing, and something for dinner for tonight. It was a quick trip, and we were able to use the self-checkout line. I'm telling you guys, if I had to work in that self check out place, I'd have nightmares.

"The item you scanned does not match the weight placed in the bad. Please remove the item from the bagging area". Why must they make the voice SO annoying?

I was home by 5pm, and got dinner ready for everyone. I unloaded everything I'd bought today, and got it sorted into "food for the party" and "paper products for the party".

At 5:45pm, Joe and I headed up to Cub Scouts. Ben and Andrea met us there. We worked on Placemats for the Blue and gold. They're just Adorable! I'd printed out Cub Scouts stuff a few weeks ago, and had it developed at Walgreens.

After scouts, Andrea and I and Joe and Ben went to the On Post Burger king, and got some food. Joe had some fries, but didn't really eat a burger. He'd had a hot dog after school, so that's probably why he didn't eat much. Andrea and I both got Whopper Jrs. They're SO tasty. I just LOVE The Whopper.

I was home by 8pm, and Captain America was already there. He put the little boys to bed, and I started cleaning/arranging. First, I moved the chairs around. I have a couch that should hold up to 4, one that holds 2, a wooden box, 4 metal folding chairs, 6 dining room table chairs, a camp chair, 4 tiny folding chairs, and 3 wooden stools. How many seats is that? Hopefully enough. That's seriously all the the seats in our house :)

I asked Captain America to clean the downstairs bathroom ,and OMGosh, it looked BEAUTIFUL when he was done. He turned off the light, turned on the fan, cranked up the plug in air freshener, and locked the door. ROFL! I sure hope no kid has to use the bathroom tonight. They'll come to mine, right? It's close.....

Jake and Tom and Eme and Captain America and I played 3 rounds of Train Dominos, then sent the big kids to bed. I went in the kitchen, and taped a red table cloth to my counter, cutting off the excess. With the excess, I was able to cover our shrunken kitchen table with it. It's only a little trashy, with the BIG ole tape line down the middle. I think I made up for it with the rest of the decorations on the table.

I set out the plates, the bowls, forks, spoons, cups, napkins, and a punch bowl. What do ya think?

I didn't really clean in the kitchen, but I did make some cookies. WAY too many batches, in my opinion. But they were tasty. I liked them a lot. Just a hint of mint.

I lined the teacher cups with tin foil, then filled it with cookies (8, I think), and wrapped the whole thing in saran wrap, securing at the top with some curling ribbon.

I looked at the clock, and it's now 12:34. Dang! I SO wanted to go to bed early. I'll wake up in the morning, get the kids off to school, then come back and clean. My kitchen needs deep cleaned, and I need to securely block off my stairs. I didn't wanna clean upstairs - ROFL!

So I'm still kinda a zombie today, and it's almost midnight, and, well, this is your freebee. It's cute looking, if nothing else. I thought that you could use it on a picture of a messy room. Or a messy kid, for that matter - ROFL! Or a messy mom (because of a kid, I'm sure!). hehehe.

Click on the links below to go to my accounts to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my MAD decorating skills :)

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Boring

OK, so today really WAS the longest day ever - hehehe. Up at 7am, got kids ready, out the door to school, back home, waited for my Visiting Teachers to come and visit me. They came at around 8:15am. And brought chocolates. Mmmmmm. Not good for the ole diet, but Mmmmmmm!

I had Jake play Wii fit while they were there, and Jimmy played with Chelsie's kids. He seemed to be having a blast :) Kids are always fun to play with. They gave a really nice lesson on Self Reliance. I really enjoyed the message. Being self reliant is something that we each need to work on, in a variety of different levels. Spiritual self reliance, temporal self reliance, emotional self reliance, financial self reliance. LOTS of different things.

After they left, I proceeded to eat about 1/2 the tray of chocolates. And I hadn't had breakfast, so I was on a TOTAL sugar and chocolate high. Not cool. I went to exercise at Andreas house, and told Jake and Jim that they were free to eat the chocolates. Jake started on school, and was excited because he only had a few classes.

We did our 25 minutes worth of exercise video, then headed out again. I went back home, grabbed my purse, and Andrea picked me up, and we went to the thrift store. She had consignment stuff. We'd never done it, so it was a learning opportunity. hehehe.

The girls at the store were having WAY too much fun. One of them mentioned something about us coming and volunteering too. They said that the army would reimburse you up to $100 in child care fees every month. Really? Andrea and I could volunteer at the thrift store 2 days a week for a few hours, and Jimmy would get FREE preschool, in essence. DEFINITELY something to look into further. He'd be SO excited.

We came back home (really, it was a quick trip), and I helped Jake finish up school. I'd bought a new Over the Hedge DVD game for Jimmy, and Jake and Jimmy and I played it for a little while. IT was different. hehehe.

Around 12;30, Andrea and I and Veronica went out to lunch at Olive Garden. We invited a few more people, but everyone else had something more pressing to do. I'm almost out of fun money for the month, so I'm gonna have to slow down on the "going out". hehehe. BUT, it was a lot of fun. Those girls are the best :) I always have fun when I'm out with my friends!

We were home by 2:45pm, and I had Jake and Jim get ready, and took EVERYONE to pick up the kids and play at the park. Jake was excited, and Jim was excited. We stayed and played for about 30 minutes. On the way back to the truck, Jake realized that he'd left the house cell phone in his hoodie, and then proceeded to lose it. I was SO mad.

I told him that if he couldn't find it, the cost to replace the phone was coming out of his babysitting money. He hung his head and said that he understood. We all started walking to the truck, and he asked if he could go back one more time and look.

I got the kids buckled in the truck, and drove back near the school to wait for him. I saw him running towards me, happy. He'd found the phone. He said that when he got to the park, he said a prayer, then some other kids came over, and helped him look for the phone, and they found it under the monkey bars. He'd hung upside down, and it had fallen out. I'm SO glad that he thought to pray. What a sweet child. He was happy, too, that he didn't need to waste his hard earned money on a replacement phone.

We got home, and I vegged for a while. It'd been a long day already. We had bologna sandwiches and peanut butter sandwiches for dinner. I helped the kids do their chores, and decided that today was the day to mop. I moved all the furniture in the living room aside, and had Eme sweep real good, then mop. Then I went back, and re-mopped. She'd loosened up all the junk, and I finished it off.

Things dry real fast here in El Paso, so by the time I helped Tom sweet and mop, Eme's room was dry, and I was able to put it back together. The living room, kitchen, and dining room all got swept and mopped. My whole house now smells like Pine Sol. I also refreshed the fake "scentsy" and added a new air freshner plug in to the downstairs bathroom. I did some laundry for the little boys, and had the kids clean up the backyard. It was in serious need of some attention. BUT, my house is well on it's way to being clean for the party on Friday.

At 6:30pm, Andrea came by and picked up Jake and Tom for Scouts, and left Luke and Ben to play with my kids. Captain America came home about that time, ate dinner, and laid down on the couch for a little nap. By 7:30pm, he'd moved to the bed, and was fast asleep.

I helped Joe and Ben with their homework, and then the boys played. We had some popcorn, and watched part of a movie. Mostly, though, the boys played lightsabers. They were playing in Joe and Jims room, until I had to put Jimmy to sleep. He was getting tired, and wasn't playing nicely. It was time for bed.

Andrea came back with my kids at 8:30pm, and we did the switch off. I put Joe and Jake and Eme and Tom to bed, then sat down to answer a few urgent emails. I went and checked on Captain America, and he was feeling a bit warm. He'd had the H1R1 shot today, or whatever the silly thing is called. I guess that his groups higher ups wanted to have 100% shots. So he got one. I'm not a big believer in the flu shot thingy, personally. But then, he doesn't have a spleen, so I guess that he needs it more. But then, he may end up sick. We'll see.

Anyway, I got him some meds, and some water, and made sure that he was nice and asleep, left him a note, and snuck out. Laurie was hosting a Girls Movie night at her house. I picked up Andrea, and we were there by 10pm. About 30 minutes late, but there, none the less - hehehe.

Laurie had made Chicken Cordon Blue in honor of the movie, Julie and Julia. Me and Andrea and Laurie and April and Hilary and Jessi and Kayley and Chelsie and Veronica were all there. It was SO much fun. We didn't even start the movie until 11pm, I think. We had CHOCOLATE and chicken and drinks and salad and OMGosh, it was a blast. Laughing and carrying on like we were. I'm surprised that Laurie's kids were able to sleep - hehehe.

We moved to the bedroom that is the TV room, and started the movie. But we never stopped chatting. At some points, we were ALL talking so loud, that we couldn't even tell what anyone was saying. I'm definitely gonna have to go and watch that movie sometime without distractions - it looked like it would have been pretty good. But the social interaction was WAY more important.

After the movie, well, even before, people started to trickle out. By the end, it was just me and Andrea and Laurie and Veronica and Chelsie. We stayed and chatted until 2:30pm. And had a BLAST doing it.

So here it is, 3:13pm, and I'm tired. I need sleep. 7am is gonna come mighty early tomorrow.


So today when we were inviting people to lunch, and getting turned down by people who were too busy (ROFL!), Andrea and I came up with this saying. TOTALLY in jest. We LOVE our friends, and of course, people get busy. We just like to joke, so I thought that this would be a PERFECT WordArt. I can just see it on layouts of someone working at a desk, or something like that. Studying really heard. As a joke. An attitude WordArt, you know. OK, maybe I shouldn't be funny at 2:53am. Maybe I'm not the best judge. EVERYTHING seems funny....

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the pNG file, and leave some love if you feel sorry for me being tired after staying up late and playing. Thanks!

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Valentine's Day

Another happy and full day :) I like to keep it full, can you tell? hehehe.

I was up at 7am, getting kids ready for the day. I drove them up to school, then headed on over to Andreas house to exercise. Jake was doing school, and Jimmy was playing.

We exercised, and it wasn't as bad as yesterday. We even chatted through most of it. That's a sign that our bodies are adjusting. I think after this week of the basic workout, we'll switch to the middle one next week. It's another 20 minutes longer, and HARDER. I'm scared - hehehe.

I went home, took a shower, got pretty (I even straightened my hair), and sat down at my computer to research sayings/quotes for my WordArt packs for the week. That's they hardest part for me. Picking the sayings. The design process flows quite easily. After finding just the right ones, I made sure that the kids were good, and headed out with Andrea.

She needed to go to the Thrift shop, and put a few things on consignment. We got there 5 minutes after the consignment part closed. Who knew that they didn't keep the same hours as the thrift store. Sigh. We'll come back tomorrow.

After that, we headed to the mall. Not the big mall, but the little one by our house. We went to Eve's store, and to the Jewelry Box. I wanted to get some prizes for my party. And some more stuff for myself. I just can't resist. I ended up getting some Valentines for the kids too. They had Spiderman, Shrek, and Littlest Pet Shop Valentines plus 16 pencils. All for a dollar. That's a wonderful price. I got them just for the pencils for the kids and to play with the Valentines. I knew they'd like it. I got a necklace with earrings, and 2 pair of earrings for myself.

I got 6 prizes for the party, and Laurie and Andrea helped me pick them out. Laurie had met us at The Jewelry Box. LOVE that store. Can you tell? ROFL!

Laurie, Andrea, and I headed out to lunch after shopping. We went to Carlos and Mickeys. FANTABULOUS Mexican food. But a bit spicy for me. The chips and salsa about did me under. I sucked down at least 3-4 glasses of water, and another 3 glasses of soda. It was WAY spicy. I got the Taco Salad, and the girls got the chimichungas. Yeah, I know that's not spelled right.... We had a good time eating and chatting and being girls :)

After lunch, Andrea dropped me back off at home. Jake was way since done with school, and he and Jimmy were playing SO nicely together. They're really great kids, you know!

I got 1 WordArt pack designed, then took Jimmy, and we dropped off Andreas earring holder at her house, then headed up to the school. We got the kids, and played at the park for 30 minutes. We convinced Laurie to stay and let her kids play too. It was a grand time :)

Back home, and I got dinner for the kids (ok, so I had the kids get their own dinner - bad mom - LOL), and got ready for the School Board meeting. The Military Liaison told us that we should go to the school board meeting, because they were voting on our busing situation. Apparently, if the area was deemed "Hazardous", then they'd have to bus us. And because of the construction, and fenced off areas, and such, I think it's pretty hazardous.

It took FOR-EV-ER!!! They had people getting awards, and recognized the football team from one of the schools that won state, and this, that, and the other thing. Finally, it was our turn. They said that the Corrigador neighborhood for Ross and Hughey schools needed to be classified as Hazardous, and as such, would get busing. Some dude came forward (who we didn't know), and explained that it was because of construction, and that it would be temporary, for about 18 months. For this year and next year. Someone on the school board voted to pass it, someone seconded it, and it passed unanimously. All this worry Andrea and I had for nothing. The longer we'd sat there, the more sure we were that they were gonna vote it down. hehehe. We'd worked ourselves up for nothing :)

The dude went back to his seat, gathered his stuff, and made to leave. Andrea and I quickly followed after him, and asked what the next step was. He said that the district person would get a hold of the principals, and that a schedule would be worked out! Yeah for a bus!!!

We got back home a little after 6pm, and got dinner going. Taco salad. It's SO yummy. And not spicy. I just realized that I had taco salad for both lunch and dinner. ROFL! I didn't even think of it before now - hehehe.

I went in my room, and whipped out 5 WordArt packs, and got them loaded in the store. Captain America came home at around 7pm, and at 7:30pm we played a family game of dominos, We put the kids to bed (the little ones) at around 8pm, and I finished designing and loading. Captain America left to go play Basketball with his team from the battery, and I kept working.

By 9pm, I was all done. Store loaded, packs designed. All good. I sent the older kids off to bed, and texted Laurie to see if she wanted to watch the Season finale of Season 2 Doctor Who. She told me she was on it, and I said that I wanted to watch it with her. It ALWAYS makes me cry ;)

I got there, and she asked if she should make some snacks. Um, YES! Chocolate covered strawberries. Um, who in their right mind turns THAT down - heheeh. While Dr Who loaded on Nexflix, we went out and dipped some strawberries, and put them in the freezer to cool.

We went in the tv room, and started watching. About 1/2 way through ,the strawberries were done. OMHeavens, was it good. I think I had 3 or 4. I just LOVE chocolate, milk chocolate especially, and it was a perfect blend, the sweet chocolate with the slightly sour strawberry. HEAVEN!

As the show ended, we were both in tears, and she headed off to bed, and I headed home. Captain America was back from the game, and on the computer. I hung out in the computer room with him for a bit, and started working on WordArt Wednesday, and blogging.

He went to bed at 11:30pm, and here it is, midnight. I'm gonna tie this up, read a chapter, then go to bed myself. There's one thing to say about having a SUPER busy life. You sure sleep well when you get to - ROFL!

I got a request from JackieAnn, who wanted a WordArt for husband. OK, so this is for Valentine's day, but it's for husband/man. And wife/woman too. Because I'm just that good - ROFL! And humble, as you can tell - hehehe

Click HERE to go to Scrap Orchard to download the zip file, and remember, it's only good for about a week. And you need to be logged into the gallery if you want the download. And leave some love if you like chocolate covered strawberries while watching Season 2 Doctor Who season finale with girlfriends :)

Coming Home

K, first off, I had to share my kids' Valentine cards with you! Aren't they adorable - hehehe. I just LOVE Valentine's Day, if for no other reason that I get to make fun Photo cards on Photoshop. ROFL!

Here's Toms, Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief Themed

Joe's is Star Wars Themed

Jacob's is Star Wars Force Unleashed Themed

Jim's is Ice Age Themed (yeah, I got tired of doing these, and you can tell by the lack of effort on Jimmy's - hehehe)

And Emeline's. Insert sucker where her fist is, and you have a SUPER cute card, don't you think?

My day started at 7am, getting kids up and going and ready for school. I'd made pancakes/french toast on Saturday, and it was stored in the fridge, so breakfast was easy this morning. Just pop the french toast in the toaster, and it's just that easy :)

Kids were to school at 8am, and then I was off to Andreas house for my morning exercise. Jimmy and Jake stayed home, and played and started on school.

It was hard getting back into the workout after taking the weekend off. My legs and arms were burning again. I think it'll be easier tomorrow. I sure hope, anyway :) hehehe.

After working out, I came back home, checked on the kids, and got a call from my neighbor Leigh. She needed some "design" help. Her daughter's b-day party was this weekend, and she wanted to know if I could help design her invitations. SURE, I said :) I brought my laptop next door, and helped her.

He card was cute! It was movie themed, and she was pleased with the final result. I used a Movie pack from DeCrow design, and my Movie WordArt pack. Pretty handy :) Eme's gonna go to the party. On Saturday at the movie theater. She's pretty excited!

Leigh and I made the card, and chatted, and laughed, and had a lot of fun. She's pretty cool. She had a daughter a year older than Eme, a son a year older than Tom, a daughter in high school, and a son in college.

I came back home, and got kids lunch (albeit late), and got back on track for the day. At 2pm, Jim and I headed out to the store. I wanted to go to the Dollar Tree and get some decorations for the party.

They had paper doilies (10 per pack) in pink and white, and curling ribbons, and red heart garlands, and Valentine's pencils, and some streamers (red and white), and a few other things. I was SO excited. I also bought some 4x6 photo paper. 20 in a pack for a buck. Can't beat that.

I decided that since Walgreens wouldn't print my photos, I'd just buy and ink cartridge, and print my own. I didn't have time to re-design Valentines for the kids. This would be a tad bit more expensive (buying ink), but less time consuming. And time is money, right? That's the story I'm going with :)

I stopped by Walmart on the way home, and bought the ink. We got to the school just in time to pick up the kids, and played at the park. Jimmy was pretty excited about coming too. He usually stays at home with Jacob while I pick up the kids. It's good to get out every once in a while...

We were home by 4pm, and I got the kids fed for dinner, and we started printing out the Valentines cards. Eme's were already printed up, so she cut hers apart, and I cut slits in the card, and she put in the suckers. And wrote who it was to on the back in Sharpie. I got Joes printed, and cut, and suckered, and he wrote who it was to in the back.

I printed out Jimmys, and a few of Toms, and ran out of time. I had the kids put on their Scout Uniforms, and WARM coats, and we loaded up in the truck and headed to the Baseball Stadium. This year marks the 100 Year Birthday of the Boy Scouts of America. The local council was hosting a GIANT birthday party at the Baseball Stadium. Cake, fireworks, it was gonna be a BLAST!

Andrea and Veronica met at my house, and we caravan-ed there. I took the SUPER long way to get there. There's this highway that gets you there directly, but there's SO much construction around it, that it's HORRIBLE. I avoided it by going on a less main road, and it was SO slow. I just know that the girls thought that I was crazy - hehehe. Next time, I'm taking the construction way. I don't think my "long cut" saved us any time :)

We got there, and there were Scouts everywhere. We found seats by other people from church that we knew, and settled in. They gave us tea lights when we came through the gates, and they said it was for the candle lighting ceremony. We didn't have a lighter, but figured that we'd just go with it.

There were 3 or 4 speakers (honestly, I didn't know there were speakers. The kids just wanted the FIREWORKS...) which I paid no attention to. It was cold, and the sound system was glitching, and it was more fun to chat with Andrea and Veronica. Bad, I know. But it was SO noisy, no one could tell.

Right before the lighting of the candles, Captain America came. He had to stay late at work. Something about making up awards. He wasn't too happy that he had to stay late. People started lighting the candles, and then passed the flame to the next person, and so forth. Only problem was, it was SO windy, that they kept going out. It was really quite comical.

They dimmed the lights in the stadium, and we all sang Happy Birthday Boy Scouts, and blew out the candles, then the fireworks show started. I just LOVE fireworks. Seriously! They're my favorite. I love the pretty lights, and the big booms. Awesome!

After the fireworks, everyone started filing out of the stadium, and they had cake up at the concession stand, for free. There was a MASSIVE line for the hot chocolate (also free), but the cake line went real fast.

We lost Jake at one point, and some friends called from the parking lot saying that he was at our truck. We had them send him back inside. We reminded him about "what to do if you get lost". Do you know? It's not go to the truck. hehehe. It's stay in the last place you were. Just stop where you are, and don't go anywhere else. That way, people can look for you where you were.

We chatted with a few people from our Pack, and were some of the last people to leave. But the traffic was WONDERFUL - ROFL! WE drove home, put the kids to bed, and I hung up a few of my decorations for the party. Getting an early jump on things.

Captain America finished off Andrea's jewelry holder (her Xmas gift - just a bit late - hehehe), and then we both got to work on our computers. He had more work stuff, and I had blogging and designing. Here it is, 10:45pm, and I'm getting ready to go and read some more. I just love reading, did you know :) hehehe.

This WordArt request comes from Renee. I thought it was a great quote, and SO true. I just LOVE coming home. Home is definitely the place to be :)

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

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I just HAD to share this CUTEST tag that a blog reader made for me! Isn't it adorable! It's from Susan. OK, admittedly, I don't know what you do with tags, but it's SO cute - hehehe! Great job, hon!

Thank a Teacher

Not a typical Sunday in the Harty Household, but it was ok. Captain America didn't go to bed last night until 3am (having dropped the trailer back off at the guys house who we borrowed it from), and didn't wake up for church.

I was up at 7:30am, getting people ready. In that respect, the routine didn't change. I just had to be more quiet when I was getting ready. We were out the door by 8:30am, and to church in time to sit quietly for a few minutes before it started. I did pass out most of my invites to my friends at church. I'm hoping that lots of people come :) Should be a GRAND time.

It was Fast Sunday, so we got to listen to LOTS of testimonies. It was a good meeting. Lots of little kids, a few youth, a few adults, a nice mix of people. Eme even wanted to go up and give her testimony. She's such a wonderful little girl :)

One of the counselors in Primary wasn't there this week, AND our secretary wasn't there, AND no one had made up the conducting sheet, so I was winging it. I just grabbed a few kids to do the theme and scripture and prayer, and called it good enough :) I'm good with winging it :)

After church, we came home, and Captain America was up, cooking his lunch. I'm not used to seeing him until 2 or 3 on Sunday. It kinda threw off my routine. I usually get kids changed out of church clothes, feed them, feed myself, relax on the computer for a few minutes, then take a nap. Captain America was done with lunch, and wanted to hang out. Did I ever tell you that I don't like my routine interrupted? Does that even go with "I'm good with winging it"?? LOL!

Anyway, we ended up spending most of the day together. I didn't ever get my nap like I wanted, but it was a good day. I read a bit, made pizza for the kids, made carmel corn for evening snack for the kids, the family played Train Dominos together, which was a TON of fun, especially because I won, and we watched a family movie together.

Captain America also finished my Jewelry holder. Remember the one that I made for myself last year out of a cutting board?

See that big necklace in the center? Just for comparison, it's over on the right hand side on the new holder. See the size difference :)


Here's the new one - it's about 4x bigger than the last one. I just LOVE it. It hold ALL of my jewelry. I just LOVE cheap jewelry :) hehehe. Didn't he do a great job :) He even stained the wood for me :) What a sweet guy :) And see how he hung the mirror next to it too??? Thanks, hon!!!

This WordArt request comes from Nancy. She wanted to put this saying on a tee shirt. I thought it was SUCH a great saying. Perfect for teacher layouts, or teacher appreciation cards. Hopefully you guys like it too :)

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my new earring holder.

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Live Wisely

So see this truck below?

1968 Chevy Truck. Yup. That's what my Saturday was ALL about. The WHOLE day - hehehe. Well, almost the whole day. I woke up at 8am (slept in a tiny bit), and made the kids some french toast for b-fast. I even made enough to put in the fridge for Monday. Then I made pancakes while the griddle was hot, 2 batches, for Sunday and Tuesday. Now all my kids have to do is grab them out of the fridge and heat them up. Either I'm a genius or super lazy. One or the other :)

Captain America was up by 9:15am, and I was doing the bills at the time. Almost done. He started to get a bit ancy about going. We were supposed to leave around 9am to go and pick up a truck 2 1/2 hours away, in Silver City New Mexico. He's been waiting 11 years to get and old truck, tinker with it, and restore it to running nicely. And really, that's a long time time wait :) Today was this day, I guess.

At around 10:30am, he was almost ready to leave the house, and go look for a trailer. Now, had it been me, the trailer would have already been reserved at Uhaul and paid for. But, not Captain America. So, he's got a list of phone numbers, addresses, and heads out. He calls me about 30 minutes later, and says that his friend Joe from work had a friend that let us borrow a really nice flatbed type trailer to haul the truck. Sweet.

BUT, our wiring for the trailer lights is bad. So he's gotta go buy new stuff, and Joe helps him install it. And he needed gas. And air in the tires.

He finally gets back home at 2:30pm. Seriously. The kids and I have made Valentines, packed a lunch, but then ate it too, watched movies, played on the computer, had snack, done some chores, anything to kill time :)

By 3:30pm, we're on our way. Dang, it took a long time to be on our way. We're listening to Percy Jackson, The Lightening Thief on CD. Actually, on MP3 through my stereo. It's a pretty good story. We're about to chapter 10 or 11.

We got there at around 5:50pm. It was BEAUTIFUL country through there. The dudes apartment was WAY up on a hill. Nice view, but it kinda made me nervous towing something down that big hill.

We parked, and I sat in the truck with the kids. And sat. And sat. And sat some more. He was talking to the guy FOR.EV.ER. The kids just kept being more and more naughty. I talked to Andrea on the phone for a while, and talked to my Mom on the phone for a while, and talked to my sister on the phone for a while. Finally, about 1 1/2 hours later, we were done. It took SO long.

I wanted to go out to dinner, and really wanted Chinese, but it was Burger King. I know, NOT the same. But the kids had fun in the playland, and there was plenty of space to turn around our truck. I'm not used to small town fast food, because it was SO slow in coming. I think I've just been WAY too busy for WAY too long, and I"m not used to the slower pace anymore - hehehe.

We started off again, and stopped at Deming at the gas station. We got some goodies, and tightened down the truck. That stop took about 30 minutes. We stopped at a gas station in Las Cruces to buy a new tie down cable, because we accidentally broke the other one. Plus Captain America was getting tired. He bought some more goodies, and walked around a bit to wake up. 20 minutes later, we were back on the road.

We got home at 12:45pm, and he's outside right now driving the truck off of the trailer. Yeah, I can't watch that. It makes me nervous. The whole trip made me nervous. The trip there wasn't too bad, but then, I took anti-motion sickness drugs, and not much bothered me :) That's the trick, I guess - ROFL!

I'm SO tired, and I hope that you like my freebee. It's from the Visiting Teaching message for February 2010. And it's SO true.

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like old trucks.

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