Snowpocalypse 2010/2011

Wow, I'm starting a little late today... It's 10:43pm, and I'm just now starting to blog. Luckily, I've already designed the WordArt, hosted it, and linked it here. So there's something, right? hehe.

I tried to sleep in today, but since the downstairs bathroom is out of order, the kids politely knocked on my door, waited for me to respond, then came in and used the bathroom. Sigh. I've trained them well. Only I don't wanna be answering the door at 5am. Or 6:30am. Or 7am. But good job, kids, for remembering to knock and wait.

I finally got up and had breakfast around 9am, and then chatted on Skype with Captain America until around 10am. And then it was time for me to get ready for Conference. Noon at the stake center. So we needed to leave around 11:15am. Jake and Tom and Eme had already showered, and now it was my turn. I used one of those hot oil treatments on my hair, too. I don't know if it did anything different, though. Still seemed kinda frizzy.

I'm such a rebel. I'm wearing fish nets to church! hehe :)

I grabbed a Diet Dr Pepper, got the little kids ready, fed the kids, and out the door we went, around 11:30am. And I realized that I was out of gas. Crap. I had enough to get to the West side, though.

We got to the stake center, and NO one was there. That was strange. Because we were only 10 minutes early. And if anyone has ever been to Stake Conference, you know JUST how packed it usually is.

Come to find out, it was a televised, 3 state Stake conference, and just Hondo Pass ward and 1st ward (my old ward) were meeting at noon. That explains the low numbers. Really, it was kinda sad that there weren't more people there. It was a GREAT meeting. Well, the speakers were great, I mean. Jake was horrendous. His autism was SO acting up. "Why do I have to be here", "Can I wait in the car", "Church sucks", and then the annoying of the other kids, who were actually being reverent, and tapping on the chairs, and kicking the row in front of him, and messing with the hymn books. I was about on my last nerve when we left conference. hehe :)


And my truck BARELY started. It was out of gas. Sigh. So I stopped at the gas station. And yeah, I don't shop on Sunday. So I just put in $10. And for my truck, that's really not that much. BUT, I knew it would be enough to get me back home. I felt bad enough stopping on Sunday as it was. Note to self: Be more prepared...

We got home, and got everyone a snack. It was about 2:30 or 3:00pm. And the kids played some games, and I started baking. And I made sure I wore my apron. Because things only work out when I have on the lucky apron :) hehe.

I made pizza and football sugar cookies!

And I was getting irritated (not the bad irritated, just the playful irritated) with the kids for coming in the kitchen and trying to snitch my cookie dough, so I chased them around with my rolling pin - ROFL!





But no, really, I wasn't upset. Eme helped me make the dough, and Joe helped me put on the pepperoni. And my plan was to cook one of the 3 pizzas, and have the other 3 for the picnic tomorrow... But hte kids ended up eating almost all 3 pizzas. Dang, guys!


Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the plan for tomorrow. So, another NO SCHOOL day! Can you believe it? This time it's about water. Last time it was about electricty, and the time before it was about cold and snow. Goodness!

Apparently, some of the water mains froze, and now it's being a HUGE problem. And the whole El Paso area is under a water emergency state. So we're supposed to not use water. No showers. No laundry. No washing cars. No washing dishes. Yeah, I missed that memo this morning, so we all showered. My bad...

Anyway, I decided, that since we have NO SCHOOL again, that I was gonna organize a picnic for the ladies in the neighborhood at noon! At our park :) Should be a good time. And I'm calling it "THE FREAKIN CANCELED SCHOOL AGAIN!" Picnic. Good name, eh? hehe.

So in the morning, I need to go to Walmart or the commissary and pick up a few things, and we're having a picnic! I'm SO excited :) Yippee!

OK, back to my night. After dinner, I cooked up some football cookies. While watching the Super Bowl. I'd asked Captain America which of the 2 teams he liked better, and he said he hated the Steelers less. ROFL! What a silly boy. So we were loosely rooting for the Steelers. Although, when it became clear that the Packers were gonna win, a few of the kids wanted to jump sides so their team could win - ha!

Anyway, here's my cookies that I made! I used THIS recipe.

And I used 1 cup of powdered sugar with a little bit of milk, 5 drops of red food coloring, 6 drops of yellow food coloring, and 3 drops of green food coloring, all mixed together, for the frosting. And I painted it on with a basting brush. The kids got a kick out of that. And they dried nice and hard. Cool, huh?
Oh yeah, another random tidbit. I was playing on Facebook today, and noticed an update from Flergs. And she said something about watching TV the other day, and seeing people eating lunch, having sandwiches and chips. On the same plate. And she thought it was odd. And I thought it was odd that she found it odd. She's from Australia. And here in the states, chips with sandwiches for lunch is pretty normal. I guess they just eat chips as a snack NEVER with a meal. Funny, how different parts of the world do it, huh?

Anyway, the big kids got in trouble for fighting with 5 minutes left on the clock, and got sent to their rooms for the night. So they missed the end of the super bowl. Oh well, they shouldn't be fighting, right?

And, I washed the dishes. Bad, I know. But there was a HUGE mess in the kitchen. And the dishwasher didn't wash the last load very well. So, if I was gonna have to be home with these kids for another day, then at least I was gonna start with a clean slate of a kitchen.

And I put the little kids to bed, and I watched Glee after the Super Bowl. Oh yeah, did anyone else think that the half time show was pretty bad? It had the potential to be good, but it wasn't. I think their sound checks were off, or something. Oops, right?

And I watched the news, and chatted with my mom on gmail chat for a bit. And found out that I'm supposed to be boiling my drinking water. Crap. That's definitely not convenient. I think I should have had some drinking water stored up, like they always tell you...

It's now almost midnight. And my show is almost over. And I'm done blogging. And I think I'm gonna go get one more soda, since I shouldn't be drinking the tap water and all. hehe :)

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

4shared - 2010
4shared - 2011
box.net - 2010
box.net - 2011

Great one, Sharon!!! All bundled up, huh!

Charity

TYPO NOW FIXED

Hey there :) Hope all is well with you all. Me? I'm pretty good. It was a good day! I woke up at 7am to Jimmy, wondering where everyone was. He didn't get the memo that the kids spent the night at Veronicas house. hehe. He snuggled with me for a bit, then I got up at 7:30am to cook him an egg omlet. And one for Joe (who was still asleep) too. And yeah, I TOTALLY went back to bed. He watched cartoons, and I slept. Till around 9am. Or was it 10am? I don't know. It felt SO good, though :)

I chatted with Captain America on Skype for a bit before going out to find some breakfast. He only had a few minutes before he had to go to work. Or bed. Or where ever he was going. hehe. I had breakfast, and sat down at the computer for a bit. And the kids came home around 11am. They had had a GREAT time at Veronica's house, but I think they saved all the arguing for me. Grrr.. hehe. Do your kids do that too?

Anyway, I made chili for lunch, and checked the washer outgoing line to see if it was clear. And it was! Here's my view for about 20 minutes as I watched and listened to the sound of the water draining out. Perfect! No issues. Thank goodness!

And the chili! SO yummy. Well, I'm assuming it
SO yummy. I had my cheese sandwich and apple and cucumber for lunch. My goal was to be on my diet today :)

1 lb ground turkey
1 diced onion (optional)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pork n beans
2 cans chili breans
1 chili seasoning packet

I worked on my computer for a while, designing next weeks freebies (see, I CAN be organized when I want to - hehe) and I made a master list of all of my WordArt packs in the store. Yeah, there are over 500 (or was it 600) WordArt packs in my store. HOLY CRAP! SO, if you EVER need some WordArt, on ANY topic, chances are, I have a pack for ya. hehe.

I had my afternoon snack at 3:00pm, banana and light French toast (with splenda and spray butter). And then, around 3:30pm, I started eye-ing the cookies. Yeah, they looked SO good. And I knew that they tasted SO good..... So I had a kid grab me a DDP from the garage. Because, it would be better for me than eating a dozen cookies. Cause yeah, I would have eaten ALL of them. I would have...


And I worked on my computer, and sipped my soda, and had a nice afternoon. Well, minus the fighting kids. hehe. We did some chores, and I opened up electronics again for them. Kayleigh came over to play with Eme, and around 5:30pm, we had dinner. The kids had either leftover chili and corn bread, or leftover spaghetti. They weren't pleased with the choices, but I wasn't gonna cook again when the fridge was filled with food - hehe.

And, I cooked myself my steamed veggies and turkey burger. And I ate my apple, and was happy with myself. I'd stuck to the menu. So far :)

Earlier in the day, the kids had told me that the downstairs toilet was plugged again. Sigh. I went and plunged it and got it to flush, and then a few hours later, it was clogged again. And even the snake wouldn't fix it. So, I locked the bathroom door, and gave the kids strict instructions to NOT use it. And figured it was safe.

Well, I was wrong. At round 6pm, the kids came over and said that SOMEONE had snuck in the bathroom and used it. Because they saw water running under the door, into the hall closet, under the bookshelves, and into the dining room. Sigh. What a BIG mess!

The door was still shut and locked, so upon further investigation, the toilet was "running", which filled and overflowed the basin of the toilet, flooding the bathroom, and spilling out into the other rooms. Sigh. I should have turned it off at the valve, huh? I'll remember next time, for sure.

I spent the next 15 minutes trying to contain the water. And realized that my mop/bucket from last time were shot. That's what happens when you buy your mop from the Dollar Tree. Anyway, the longer I went on, the more frustrated I got. OK, so not really frustrated, like I was gonna lose it, but frustrated, like I didn't have the right tools. So, I decided to head to Walmart to get a new mop. And maybe a new bucket. And maybe a soda. And get away from the kids for a bit. Sounded like a good plan to me.

I left instructions for Jake, and headed out. With a Diet Mt Dew. And some country tunes on the radio. And off to Walmart I went. And yeah, it was PACKED! But, I managed to find a spot about 5 away from the door. Miracle of miracles, especially for the "Jaurez" Walmart on a Saturday night.

Andrea and I had planned on chatting earlier in the day, but her schedule was thrown off a bit, so as I walked in the doors of Walmart, she called. And I figured that Walmart was as good as any place to chat, so she was my shopping buddy. I found the few things that I needed, and wandered aimlessly the rest of the time. We chatted for about 50 minutes, and I did laps around Walmart. hehe. Does that count as a workout for the day? ROFL!

There was some "drama" going on amongst people we know, and sometimes I grow weary of it. OK, so I created some of the drama, but sometimes people just can't let it go. Move on, people. There's more to life than gossip and spreading crap about other people. And yeah, sometimes people make mistakes. And mess up. But that doesn't ruin them as a person forever. It doesn't make them of no value anymore. People are capable of change, for the good. I strongly believe that. That's the point of being here. To learn from our mistakes. To improve, and make ourselves better.

Anyway, we chatted about people who were talking about stuff, and then moved on to other things. About kids and husbands and friends and weather and all sorts of stuff. Andrea is a WONDERFUL friend, and I really think of her as a sister. She's been there for me through good times and bad times. I know I can count on her! Love ya, girl!

And then it was time to go home. As I went to the front of the store, I found Erin (from the bus stop) in line! And I decided to get in line behind her and chat. I know she thinks I'm somewhat crazy - ROFL! Because I talk non-stop when I'm around her. I just can't make myself stop - hehe. There's a few people that I'm like that with. Yeah, Kari is another. Sorry, hon. I don't mean to have diarrhea of the mouth...

But, it sure made the time in the line more enjoyable. Well, for me anyway. We chatted and laughed and I talked and talked and talked until she paid and left. And then it was my turn. And yeah, I only had about 10 items, so my turn was fast. And I was totally gonna stop at the in-store McDonalds and get a soda, but decided that I was SO close to Howdy's, and that I'd stop there on the way home and get a REAL drink. 44 oz of Diet Dr Pepper trumps 32 oz of Diet Coke ANY day in my book...

So I headed out to Howdys. And was totally gonna take a picture of myself in the gas station, but decided to do it in the car afterwords instead. It's better to look silly when you have friends with you - hehe.

When I got home, I checked my texts, and found out the Stake Conference was now at noon at the stake center instead of at 9am. Works for me! That means that I can stay up later and sleep in. Fabulous!

Jake had put the little kids to bed, and he and Tom were watching TV on the computer. I had them clean the living room/kitchen area, and I worked with the new mop to get the bathroom under control. About an hour later, and the mess was contained. Once they fix it for real, I'm gonna have to sanitize that bathroom. But for now, the water is turned off, and the door is locked. DON'T USE THE DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM! I'll call housing tomorrow and have them come and fix it. We have 2 other bathrooms that people can use. Just DON'T clog mine...

And then I changed into my jammies (my NEW jammies from Walmart), and the big kids and I sat down to watch some Chuck. See my SUPER happy face at my new jammies?
And I started blogging. And it's now just after 10pm, and I'm almost done. One more day of kids at home, and school will start again. School WILL start again, right? It's supposed to be around 50-60 degrees. I see no reason for my hellions, um, er, children, to stay home...

Tomorrow is conference, and then we'll watch the Super Bowl. What time does it start, does anyone know? We're in Mountain time. I think Captain America said that he's rooting for the Steelers. So that's who we're rooting for too. Cause I don't really care about football. But, I think it might be fun for the kids and I to have a "party". Maybe I'll even make pizza for them.

And, I bought hair color at Walmart tonight, so I'm gonna do my hair. Cause my gray is getting SO bad. It won't be a LESLIE job, but it'll be ok. Anyone wanna come and help me? I could use some help! hehe :)

And check it out, I made a layout! hehe :)

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

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TYPO NOW FIXED...

Only The Essentials

Hey there, guys! Today was a MUCH better day. SO much better. No more tears. hehe. Not that tears are such a bad thing. But they take a lot of energy out of a person - hehe :)

Anyway, I woke up around 9am, had breakfast, and chatted with my mom for a bit. And before I knew it, it was time to get ready to go to lunch with the girls! We were going to Chili's at 11am.

Here's a few pics of me before I left the house.

Our snow is mostly gone, but it's still SO cold!

I let the kid play electronics when I left the house, so they were SO happy for me to go - hehe. I was gonna go get my license plate tags before lunch, but ran out of time. AND Captain America called on Skype as I was driving across post, so I pulled over and chatted with him until around 11am. He's doing well, and it was nice to talk with him :)

And I was running late, but I made it there ok. Terra was there too, and we headed into the restaurant. Well, we tried. Chili's was closed. Whaaaat? It was after 11am. It SHOULD have been open...

I looked up the phone number on my Droid, and called them. And they said that they had lost power, but should be open any moment. So we went to the front door, and the manager came out, and said that the power JUST came back on, but that things wouldn't be ready for at least 30 minutes. OK, no lunch at Chilis.

So we headed to Applebees. And texted the other girls. Who just turned out to be Veronica. Everyone else had something else come up. Sick kids, stitches, work.... So it was Terra and Veronica and I had lunch together.

Hmmm, which one should I have???

Terra got an appetizer of queso and chips. And I just HAD to take a picture of this chip for Captain America. Because he would have LOVED it! hehe :)
I decided on the Philly Burger. I didn't eat the top bun, and got a salad instead of the fries, and it was SOOOO good. Yummy!

We had fun visiting and chatting and eating. And then it was time to go. Veronica invited Tom and Jake and Eme over to play with her kids later in the day. Sounded good to me!

So I headed back on post, and went to the on-post DMV. Because my tags were expired. And, of course, they were closed. They SHOULD have been open, but they were closed. Sigh. At least I know that the Gate Guard don't check for such things. I just need to make sure that I don't get an MP at the gate, cause they look more closely. They're gonna be open on Monday. So I'll go then.

And I got home, and changed into comfy clothes. Cause everything is WAY too tight. Sigh. All the desserts aren't helping. One of these days, I'm gonna get "back on the wagon".

I designed for a while today, and organized my quote ideas, and looked for some CU friendly free fonts. And found quite a few, actually. I think I installed about 99 on my laptop. Yes! Gotta like that.

And we cleaned up a little bit, and then the big kids went over to Veronica's house around 3:30pm. And ended up staying to spend the night. Even better! I get a night off!!! Well, I get 2 kids, but two is SO easy :) hehe.

And look at poor Jimmy's eye. I'm not sure what's wrong with it. It's not red inside. Just on the skin part.... Hopefully it looks better tomorrow. I gave him some benadryl.
You can't really tell in this picture, can you...

Anyway, we had something or another for dinner, and the kids watched some movies. And I sat on the couch with them and designed. And I straightened up a little bit more, and put the kids to bed around 7:30 or 8pm. And I watched some TV episodes, and designed and now I'm blogging.

And yeah, it was a good day. And I did feel a lot better. I still need to control my eating, but at least my emotions were in check. And that's important. I'm really greatful for friends today. Who went to lunch with me. Who brought me a slice of peanut butter cake. Who texted to check on me. Who called to chat with me. Who let my kids spend the night at their house. Who offer up prayers in my families behalf. Thanks, everyone :)

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

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I TOTALLY agree, Sharon - hehe :)

I'm Awake. Let's Party!

Happy Friday! Click HERE to go to my store to check out ALL the new stuff! Enjoy! (All layouts by Sharon)








Ha! Yea, this WordArt SO didn't fit my Thursday. But you know what, maybe I'll make it fit my Friday. There's a good goal for myself :)

Well, the day finally came. The day that I felt like I was gonna fall apart. And the fact that it's been about 26 days isn't too bad, right? I made it quite a while without a break down... As I sit here typing this, tears are brimming in my eyes, and I'm SO trying to hold it all together. I don't know if I'll be able to keep this up....

I woke up this morning, knowing that it was gonna be another snow day for the kids. And don't get me wrong. I adore my kids. I really do. But they're good in small doses (hehe). Cause there's SO many of them. And it's SO stinking cold outside, that they can only be out for limited times. With wind chill, I think it was -12 or something. Crazy, for El Paso.

Anyway, I had told them that they could watch TV or play Just Dance 2 quietly when they woke up. And at 8:00am, I heard the fighting over something or another, so made them turn it off, and ALL go to their rooms. Except Jim, who had JUST woke up. So he came and snuggled with me for about 30 minutes. And then we went out and got breakfast, and I let the kids out of their rooms.

(deep breaths...)

The kids all went outside to play between 9 and 10am, and I started on chores. I cleaned in the kitchen for a little while, and I got some laundry started. And while I was taking a break, I heard a LOUD rushing of water noise. Yeah, not good. I was in the middle of emailing my CT girls, and left it where it was, and RAN for the laundry room. And the drain hose for the washer was backing up, emptying at FULL speed into the laundry room. And spilling out into the hall, and near the stairs, and boxers kennel closet, and the kids clothes closet, and the dining room, and nearing the kitchen. Whaaaat? NOOOOO!

I turned off the water hoses, but it didn't seem to help. A few seconds later, I realized that i needed to turn off the washer (duh), and once it turned off, I realize that I was being shocked (just a tiny jold). I WAS standing in water, touching an running appliance, after all. Sigh.

NOW what was I gonna do? We tried to stop the water from flowing into other room, and laying down towels kinda helped. And I grabbed the mop, and the bucket with the wringer, and started to work. The kids all kept back, and tried to keep Boxer out of the mess. And I spent about 2 hours cleaning up. It SUCKED. But I did it. But this isn't where I fell apart. I was still in, "just get it done" mode. So bucket full after bucket full, I got the water out of the house.

And at 12:30pm, I got the kids a quick lunch, and told them to play electronics, but to NOT make the house any more messy than it already was. And I headed over to Terra's house. She lives just a few block away. And I walked, because I didn't wanna brave the roads. And brought my mini loaf pans and cake pans, because she was baking for a bake sale.

And yeah, the roads weren't bad at all. I totally could have driven :) It was SO nice to just hang at her house for the hour and a half, and have grown up conversation. We cooked a red velvet cake (which didn't turn out - hmpf!), and a peanut butter cake, and some muffins. Mostly I just watched and washed a few dishes - hehe.

And, feeling all good and refreshed, I headed back home around 2 or 2:30 ish. The kids were mostly playing nicely, and I went into the kitchen to bake some. I had another cake mix to replace the red velvet one that didn't work. And I was gonna try and make those cake ball truffle thingys. So I mixed up the red velvet cake with the frosting, and made cake balls, and put them in the freezer.

Then, I made up a carrot cake mix, and filled 2 round cake pans, and popped it in the oven for 25 minutes. And had JUST enough time to run to the commissary and buy some melting chocolates for the truffles. It was gonna work perfectly :)

So I got in Captain America's car (that I haven't driven in a few days because it was low on gas - LOL! I should have just filled it up!) and headed over to the commissary. And I got to the check point in the commissary, and couldn't find my ID. Where could it be? I searched my wallet, and my purse, but no, it wasn't there.

So, I headed back to the car. And THAT is when it hit me. I was alone. No husband. No ID. No melting chocolates. And I could feel the tears coming. I got in the car, and headed home. Feeling SO sad. SO alone. A few tears spilled over, but I didn't lose it. I held it together. And stopped at the gas station on the way home. And filled up the car.

And parked in the garage, and went to the truck, and there was my ID, in the middle console. right where it DIDN'T belong. And I knew that Heavenly Father was watching over me. And was gonna help me. And that I'd be ok.

I came inside the house, JUST as my cake timer was going off. And the carrot cakes looked pretty good. I remembered that I had some bakers chocolate in the cupboard, and melted that in my mini crock pot thing. And I added white sugar to it, but yeah, that didn't really help. Then I added some butter, and some powdered sugar. Yeah, not that either. I really think it was because I didn't have my apron on. I"m telling ya, it's good luck. And I didn't have it.

I eventually settled on drizzling the nasty chocolate stuff over the balls, and calling it good. If Terra doesn't want them, then the kids can eat them. And I frosted the carrot cake with the cream cheese frosting, and put it in the fridge.

And designed a WordArt pack. And then started on dinner. I had left over spaghetti (yeah, NOT on my menu), and the kids had French Toast. And I started folding laundry. All 10 loads of it. I know, I know, it SUCKS when you let it get to that point. But I did.

And I mostly just separated it into kids piles, and gave the 3 older ones their to put away, and folded the 2 little boys laundry, and had them put it away. And the towels and dish towels and dish rags got put away, and the other odds and ends stuff got put away. And then I swept really good in the rooms, and got the kids going on their chores.

And at 7pm, I told them that they had 1 hour to get their chores done and the house cleaned. That Mom needed a break, and was going to her room. And IF the house was clean at 8pm, that I'd watch Chuck with the big boys. Because the little kids were going to bed at 8pm regardless.

And I came into my room, and THAT's when I lost it. I knelt down and said a prayer, and ended up sobbing. And I don't know that I"ve gained much composure since then. Hopefully blogging about this all will help me. I really do know that I can do it. I know that today was just a bad day. That tomorrow will be better. It'd BETTER be better - hehe.

I'm just having "I suck" feelings today. I've gained about 15 lbs in the past couple of months. And yeah, some of that is muscle, but not all of it. And I'm starting to notice the rolls again cause my pants are getting too tight. And that really sucks. And yet, I can't seem to make myself be in control of my eating. Eating a dozen cookies at a setting is NOT good. I keep trying, though. Every morning when I wake up, I tell myself that I'm gonna be good. And I do try, for a while.

I think it was just hard today, where it was the 2nd day in a row that the kids were home from school. And my routine was disrupted. And I didn't have my normal exercising. Or my typical adult interaction. And I didn't shower and get pretty. And was feeling fat. NOT a good combo.

So, tomorrow is yet ANOTHER snow day. See, El Paso is NOT cut out for cold weather. And since EVERYONE is using their heat, there's not enough power/gas to go around. So the city is having rolling blackouts. And, to conserve power, the schools are staying closed. It's supposed to warm up to 40 by Saturday. So, pray for us, that the kids will go back to school on Monday. Because, honestly, I don't think I could handle another unplanned "snow" day....

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

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Free As A Bird

Oh if only today's WordArt were true... hehe. Just kidding. I don't wanna be free. I don't.... Convince me - ROFL!

See, I woke up this morning, BEFORE my alarm, because the kids had to come in and tell me THERE'S SNOW OUTSIDE!!!!! Sigh. Ok, snow outside.... I checked on Facebook (yeah, I go to facebook BEFORE the news...) and my friends were all saying that EPISD was closed for the day. No school. AND Ft Bliss was closed for the day too. Well, at least I could go back to bed!

So I tried to go back to bed, but the kids kept coming in, wanting to go outside. And I guess they finally did, because soon Jimmy came back in FREEZING. I snuggled with him to get him warmed back up, chatted with Captain America for a few minutes on Skype, and got up. And got the kids properly dressed for playing outside. Because it was like 7 degrees or something like that. Yeah FREEZING!

Oh yeah, and when I said that it had snowed, I meant about an inch. hehe. And all of El Paso shuts down. Jake was like, Why don't they buy snow plows. And I had to explain how we only get snow once every few years, and the tax payers don't wanna pay for snow plows to use only every few years. I don't know if he understood or not, but it made sense to me - hehe.

And then I really looked at the house. And yeah, it was SO messy! Take a look at Jim/Joe/Eme's room. Pitiful!

Yeah, we were DEFINITELY gonna have a "clean the house" day. I made the kids come inside at 10am, change clothes, get warm, and we started on chores. I had Jake and Tom clean the dining room, and Eme/Joe/Jim work on the living room. And I took the kitchen. I did a load of dishes, swept, and went through the cupboards. I rearranged the spice cupboard, and straightened up a few other cupboards. And felt REALLY good afterwords.

So I decided to make some cookies. See, I'd tried to make cookies last night, and got distracted. So I left the Brown Sugar and butter in the bowl, and got back to it today. And yeah, NOT a good idea in El Paso. Cause it's SO dry... Yeah, my brown sugar was a ROCK. NOT good... I tried to reconstitute it, but yeah, NOT working.

Looks like dog poop in a bag - hehe. I was SO concerned with getting it to useable again, until I realized that I could always get new brown sugar. Duh! hehe. So I got a new scoop, and made my dough.

See, SOOO much better!And then I decided WHY my cookies and things hadn't been working lately. I hadn't been wearing my apron! The second I put it on, EVERYTHING magically turned out! hehe. See, it IS lucky!

The cookies were SOOO good. Too good. I ate WAY too many. I just kept telling myself that they were small, so it wasn't so bad. hehe. Pumpkin Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies with pink frosting. OMHeavens! I put some sprinkles on them, and packaged up 2 dozen for Captain America's Valentines box, and the kids and I ate the other 6 dozen - wow, that sounds REALLY bad.... THEY WERE SMALL! hehe :)

You can find the recipe HERE.

And then at 11am, I had the kids clean their rooms. OMHeavens, they were ALL messy. The rest of the house was looking pretty good, though... I finally had to come and help Joe and Jim got their parts done. Eme was pretty good. Jake's room was by and far the cleanest. Tom's was the worst. But, they were all passable around lunch time.

I made mac n cheese and hot dogs for the kids, and had my cheese sandwich and cucumber. And too many cookies - hehe. I'll do better tomorrow, right?

Oh yeah, check out this NEW Herbal Tea I found. It's SO yummy!

I went outside with the kids in the afternoon, after rooms and chores were done, and walked the dog, and took pictures of the kids playing in the snow. And yeah, I can't get the memory card to download them onto my computer, for some reason.... So there's no pictures of the fun time in the snow.... Sigh.

We all came back inside relatively soon, because it felt like -2. Seriously. -2 degrees in El Paso! Warm cider all around, and I opened up electronics for the kids. Jake did school (yeah, he wasn't happy about that), and the kids took hour shifts on the laptops. Eme and Tom first hour, Joe and Jim 2nd hour. And I watched some Star Trek, Next Generation for a while, and designed. I ended up getting 5 WordArt packs done!

And then it was dinner time. I was supposed to make chili, but soup and biscuits sounded better. So I made soup. But see, the kids HATE soup. So I had to have a "gimick". I put a bunch of water in the pot, and added 2 packs of Basil, Garlic, and Tomato Marinade. I added chopped celery, and onion, and potatoes, and garlic. And then I took a lb of turkey sausage, and Tom and I rolled it into tiny little balls. And dropped it in the boiling water. And it made little tiny meat balls. And they LOVED it. Eme helped me make the biscuits. And then we all had dinner together. And back to the electronics they went.

I went into my room for an hour, and designed. And told the kids to not bother me - hehe. And then chatted with my mom for a bit. But then I heard the kids playing Just Dance 2. And yeah, it didn't take long before I'd put away what I was doing, and joined them. And I played from 7:30-10:30pm. HOLY CRAP! That was a LONG time to play - hehe. I have high score on all songs but one. Eme was getting more and more upset the longer I played, because I was beating ALL of her high scores. hehe. And as much as I wanted to feel bad, I didn't really - hehe. Sorry, Em!

I put the kids to bed at 10pm (yeah, no school AGAIN tomorrow...), and danced for a bit longer, finally turning it off at 10:30pm, and grabbing my computer. And here it is, almost 11:30pm, and I'm done blogging. And just need to host the wordart for tomorrow, and I'm done. And going to bed. Because 3 hours of Just Dance 2 can really wear a girl out! hehe.

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

4hsared
box.net

Very cool, Sharon! Lovin' the colors!!!