Spring Sprung

Hey party peeps! How goes it??? I had a pretty good day here! I woke up at normal time, said prayers, and got kids ready for school. And out the door and to the bus. Eme was home, and I totally went back to bed. Because, even though I went to bed before 11 last night, I was exhausted. And I woke up a little before 9am. And I cleaned a little, then started to bake.

But first, I wanted to clean the kitchen. And I couldn't clean the counters until I cleaned the sink, because I needed to get my rag wet, and couldn't access the sink. LOL. But I needed to put away the dishes first, so that I could put the dirty dishes in. See how I get distracted so easily...

ANYWAY, I went to put the dishes away out of the dishwasher, and something was amiss. Water was still under the dishes. Sigh. Luckily, the load was clean. So I put the dishes away, and looked at the dishwasher. Yeah, NOT draining. So I ran another load, hoping to fix it. And organized the dirty dishes enough to get into the sink. And washed the counter. And washed all the big dishes that wouldn't fit into the dishwasher anyway. And started on the cakes.

First cake mix, split between 5 disposable circular cake pans. 2/3 cup in each pan. I made sure that I sprayed them a lot with non stick spray, and popped them in the oven. 5 at a time. For 13 minutes. And the cooked PERFECTLY. While they were cooking, I made up a 2nd cake mix (yellow), and filled 5 more pans. And took out the cooked ones, cooling them on racks, and put in the other 5. And while that batch was cooking, I made the icing.

It was cooked icing, and yeah, I BUTCHERED IT! If you can believe this, I missed the step where you add the sugar. Seriously. I remember thinking, hum, frosting with no sugar, strange, but I went with it. Yeah, SUCKS. But, it worked out ok.

So, I made up the icing (2 cubes butter, 1 can of evaporated milk, 1/2 cup cocoa powder), minus the 3 cups of sugar that was supposed to be there, and put about 1/4 cup in between each layer of cake. All 10 layers of it. And it soaked in, and hardened a little. And it was a little tippy. And goopy. But it smelled pretty good!

And then I ran out of icing, so I grabbed a can of chocolate fudge store bought frosting, and spread it all around the sides and the top. And Jim came in, and wanted to taste the icing. It had dripped on the counter. And he spit it out, saying it was nasty. Whaaaat? That's when I realized that I'd made it wrong...

I tasted it (but didn't swallow), and it WAS nasty. Unsweetened chocolate is what it tasted like... I wondered if it still tasted good, though. With the store bought frosting on the outside. Maybe the middle wouldn't taste too bad. So I sliced up a piece, and tried a few bites (not swallowing, again - ha!) It WAS good. The middle part was super moist and chocolaty, and the sweetness of the cake made the bitterness of the chocolate do-able. So, it was salvaged after all!

And after the cake was made, I started in on the tortellini soup. I chopped up the onions (2), and the green peppers (2), and some garlic, and sauteed it. Then added 8 cups of chicken broth, and some italian spices and 1 cut up sweet potato and 3 cut up tomatoes, and let it boil. Then when the sweet potatoes were tender, I added a pack of tortellini. And then 3 little tiny cut up zucchinis. And I transferred ALL of it to a big crock pot, and turned it on for about 30 minutes.

And then it was time to cut the boards. I'd bought 1x2x6's, and needed to cut them into 1x2x3's. So I measured out the lengths, and Jake helped me cut the boards. SO loud. Jake didn't like it, and went and found Nerf bullets and shoved them in his ears. hehe. Too funny!


And yes, Captain America, I put your saw back where it went :) And somewhere in there, we got Jim to the bus, and all of the stuff organized, and the truck loaded with supplies, and at 11:50am, I headed over to Kari's house.

Kari and I and Laurie and Maggie and Terra were there for lunch and crafts. There was a TON of yummy food, and I had fun playing with my friends. After lunch, we cut the cake. See, it looks good. People said that it still tasted pretty good. Not as sugary sweet, frosting overload, as some cakes. ha!


And then we started in on the boards. We took the 1x2x3, and covered it with fabric (most of us used white). And secured it with a staple gun. Oh yeah, LOVE my staple gun!

And then picked out ribbons. I'd bought some for Eme, and Terra brought a TON for people to use also. I picked out some purple to make a 2nd board. And found this CUTE hair clippy in Terra's box, and just had to try it on - LOL

We finished up the craft around 2:30pm, and all headed out. Maggie and I rushed off to get Jim and little Jake from the bus, then headed home. And between the bus stop and home, Jim managed to sneak over the back seat and dump over the cake in the back. Oh, I was MAD! No cake for Jim! It's not like he accidentally knocked it over. Turd bucket!

Eme was super excited about her jewelry holder, though. She picked this one :)

When I got home, I decided to call housing and try and get a work order in. I was thinking that they'd probably have someone come out on Monday. And yeah, she said that she could have someone over before 5pm. Whaaat? That's SUPER fast! And crap, my house was messy! hehe.

So Jake and Eme and I did a power clean. She was feeling SO much better. It's amazing what drugs will do - hehe. I moved the clean laundry pile to my room (so laundry man is back), swept all the rooms, picked up the stuff, and it was looking pretty good when the repair dude showed up. Sergio. He's pretty cool.

Tom and Joe showed up around that time, and I had everyone do their chores. It wasn't too hard, since I'd done most of them for them. I locked Joe and Jim outside (ha!) until the backyard was cleaned, and Sergio was done. My dishwasher was working JUST fine when he left. Thanks, Sergio! You're the best!

The kids had tortellini soup for dinner, and I had cheese and cucumber. And the kids had chocolate cake for dessert. And they played some electronics, and I hid in my room for a little while. Chatting with Andrea. She was on her way into town to go to a movie with a friend. So I was her driving chatting friend again.

I watched a movie on my laptop, and the kids did that they were doing, then it was time for them to go to bed. And Jake and Tom and I watched an episode or two of Chuck. And it's now 10:49pm. And I really wanna watch a movie, but I'm feeling SO tired. Maybe I'll just go to bed after this episode of Chuck. *yawns*

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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Perfect, Sharon! Love the greens!

Nothing is Ever Simple

New goodies, girls!!! Aren't you excited??? hehe :) Click HERE to go to my store to pick up this weeks new Releases for 20% off, or only $2.00 for a WordArt 4 pack! Enjoy!

Sharon

Sharon

Andi

Sharon

Sharon

Sharon

Howdy! How was your Thursday ??? Great? Good? I sure hope so. Mine was pretty good, but very tiring :)

Oh yeah, check out Pillow Man :) hehe. There's about 4 pillows in the middle, with "Elmo" on top of them. Elmo is what Captain America and I named the red fluffy blanket... Because it's like a blanket made out of skinned Elmos....

Anyway, I woke up at my regular time, said prayers, and got the kids all ready and out the door at 7:30am. Except Eme. She wasn't feeling well, so I let her stay and sleep. We'd deal with going to the doctor later.

I relaxed for the morning, and went and got ready around 8:30am. And the girls came over a little before 9am. We left Rowan and Jim with Jake, Eme watched a movie in my room so she didn't spread germs, and we went on our hike.

And it was SUPER windy! Crazy windy! But sunny and beautiful outside! hehe :)

We got home in time to put Jim on the bus, and then Jake and I spent the lunch hour together. I read for a little while, and he watched a show. And we had lunch. And around 12:30pm, Maggie and I went to Walmart and Lowes. I needed a few supplies for our Craft Day on Friday. Me and my goofy faces, huh?
We went to Lowes and got some 6 foot boards, and we went to Walmart to grab some ribbons and some brads and some fabric for Maggie. She found the COOLEST leathery looking black fabric. Her jewelry board is gonna be SWEET!

And we headed home, and picked up the kids from the bus, and then I got ready to take Eme to the doctor. Jake was gonna watch Jim, and then watch Joe and Tom once they got off the bus.

So we loaded up, and Eme and I headed to Southwest Urgent Care. She was complaining of a headache and her ear hurting. Sounded like an ear infection to me :)

We got called into the room SUPER fast, then waited in there forever. And I SO wanted to take a nap. Cause I was SO sleepy.
Eme was pretty bored too. She played her laptop for a while, and I saw her dozing a bit too. Not in this picture, though - LOL!
The doctor finally came in, looked in her ears and said they were fine. Then looked in her throat, and said that the had pus on her tonsils, and it looked like Strep. Great! She didn't complain of a sore throat. They ran the test, and within 2 minutes, we had a positive strep result. We grabbed the prescription, and headed back home.

I got home, got Eme situated, and got the little boys all ready for hockey. No time for dinner, we'd grab something on the way home. Eme and Jake stayed home, and Tom and Jim and I headed out to hockey. I forgot my coat at home, and realized that I was gonna FREEZE!

We stopped at the Walgreens that was nearest the way to the hockey rink, and they had a sign in the window that said "The Pharmacy has moved across the street near the Church's Chicken". Whaaaaaaat? OK, so we went across the street, and found the Church's Chicken, and yup, there was a trailer, with the Walgreens sign on it. Strange, but whatever. It works. So I dropped off the prescription, and off to hockey we went.

I got the boys all geared up and skated up, and Tom and I sat in the bleachers, playing on our laptops. I got 2 WordArt packs designed, and FROZE! Eveuntaully, I held my laptop real close with it on, so that the heat from it could warm me up. SO not forgetting my coat next time - hehe.

Kari showed up a few minutes before practice got over. She'd had to drop Leo off at Hockey, drop Josephine off at Soccer, come back to get Leo, then go to pick up Josephine. Crazy busy schedule, chickA! And I thought mine was bad :)

We got to chat for a few minutes, then gathered up the kids. And yeah, Jim lost his gloves. Crap. Hopefully someone turns them in after practice, and we get them on Saturday. Because I don't wanna buy new hockey gloves.

We loaded back up in the car, and headed back towards home. Stopping at Walgreens trailer to get the meds. And then, since Little Cesars was in the same parking lot, we grabbed a few pizzas. And we got home, and I had the kids eat the pizza and clean up a little, and I went for a shower. Because I was FREEZING and needed a shower. And a shave everything day :) hehe.

And felt SO much better when I got out. Jake and Tom had put the little kids to bed for me, and we sat on the couch and watched an episode of Chuck. I loaded my store, and started my blog. And watched the latest episode of Glee. And here it is, 9:47pm. I'm almost done with my work. And I only have about 15 more pages in my book left. So I'm not sure what I'll do tonight after I'm finished.

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! (But don't you wish that things could be simple every once in a while...)

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Ha! LOVE this layout, Sharon!!! Priceless!!!

Genes

Well, I woke up headache free today! Yes! Gotta like that :) I helped the kids get ready for school, and out the door at 7:30am. I seriously wanted to go back to sleep, but I didn't. And I don't quite remember why - hehe. But I sat in my bed in my jammies on my laptop, and had a relaxing morning. hehe. I read my scriptures on my Nook (I bought and installed them earlier), read my book a little bit, checked emails and facebook, and then I saw that Captain America was online! Yes!

We actually got to chat on Skype for a bit! It'd been (or seemed to be) a long time since we'd got to chat! He's been working a ton. Poor guy. He sounded in pretty good spirits, though. And it helped me feel better, though. I've found that a day or so before my period, I get all melancholy. And feeling a little blue. So talking to Captain America helped me lift my spirits :)

And after I was done chatting with him, I didn't have enough time to shower. Sigh. I SO wanted to shower. hehe. But I had to get Jimmy ready for school and for his Physical. I just threw on some workout clothes, and was good to go - hehe.

He and I drove to the TMC, and waited in the waiting room until they called us. I filled out the paperwork, and then it was our turn. We went back to get Jim weighed, and his height, then went to another room for blood pressure.


And then into another waiting room, which had snack machines. So I got some chips for Jim. He was SO excited! LOL :)
And then finally it was our turn, and we went in to see the doctor. And waited in there for a bit longer. And played with my camera phone, pulling faces - hehe :)

Happy faces

Sleepy Faces

Mad faces (I do that well, huh?)

Silly Faces

Sad faces

One happy, one silly face

One silly, one happy face!

And then the doctor came, and gave me the results of Jake's Xray. Yeah, the finger was broke. But since it was like 2 years ago that it got broke (I had no idea), they were gonna refer him to an orthopedic surgeon. They may or may not do anything about it.

And then Jim had his physical, and I got the last of the paperworks that I needed to turn in. And we headed out. And stopped by the Shoppette to grab me a soda and Jim a hot dog. But, the soda machine was STILL out of order. SO not cool. I got Jim a hot dog, and an apple, and drove him to school. And checked him in, and headed back home.

My girl Charlotte had a dentist appointment today for herself, and I watched her little boy, Stu. He's SO adorable! He was sleeping when she dropped him off, and he stayed asleep on the couch for about an hour. SUCH a doll!


AND, she brought me a Howdys as a thanks! Charlotte, you DEFINITELY know the way to my heart - ROFL! (see, I SO needed a shower...)

Oh yeah, I'd given Jake and Jim hair cuts before the doctors visit. Doesn't Jake look good!
Stu woke up around 1pm, and we put on some cartoons for him, and Jake and Boxer and Stu played. They had a lot of fun :) Jake LOVES little kids!

And then Charlotte came back to pick him up, and I went to pick up Jim from the bus. And chatted with Maggie while we waited for the bus, and decided that Jim and I would go over for a play date. We had SUCH a fun time visiting in the backyard!

Thanks, my dear, for having us over! We REALLY had fun! And then it was time for me to go and pick up the kids from AQ, and as Maggie was driving us home, Jake texted to say that Tom and Eme had just come home, no AQ. Even better!

Jake wanted to have Hannah and little Jacob over to play, so Maggie and I went to the commissary to pick up a few things that she needed. Kid free. She was pretty excited.

When we left the house, Jim and little Jake were playing in Jim's room, and Hannah and Jake were sitting at the dining room table coloring. SO stinking cute!

We headed to the commissary, grabbed a few things, then headed back home. She picked up her kids, and I started on dinner. Frozen pizzas from the commissary - hehe. The kids were SO excited - ROFL!

The evening passed pretty quickly, actually. I took a few pictures of myself, and DANG, I looked bad - hehe.
So, with th 30 minutes I had before we needed to leave, I fixed my hair and put on a new coat of makeup. See, I clean up pretty good - ha!

But I still make funny faces!~

And then we all headed out. Joe and Eme brought their homework, and we dropped Jake and Tom off at the church, then drove on to Carls Jr. And met Charlotte and kids there! Her oldest daughter goes to church activities on Wednesday nights, so I told her to come and join me at Carls Jr for soda and to let the kids play!!!




Charlotte wanted a little sweet treat while there, so ordered this chocolate cake. Yeah, it smelled like something from an Easy Bake oven, and she about gagged when she tasted it. I thought it looked like mashed potatoes on top - hehe. Not even the kids would eat it! ROFL!
And when we first walked in, it smelled HORRID! But I quickly got used to it. Well, after my first 44 oz soda, I had to run to the bathroom. And when I came back inside, I thought I was gonna HURL! It smelled like sweaty feet and plastic. SO nasty!
And soon it was 8:15pm, and we loaded up, and headed back to church. And sat in the parking lot for about 5 minutes waiting for the big kids. Not to worry, though. I kept Charlotte entertained from my truck, blasting MC Hammer, singing into my soda cup at the top of my lungs. And Vanilla Ice. And a few other lovely songs. Yeah, I'm SO cool....

Her daughter came out before my kids, so she headed home, and I went inside to retrieve mine. And then we were off, jamming to music the whole way home.

And we put the kids to bed, ran the dog around the yard for a bit, and Jake and Tom and I watched an episode of Chuck. And it's not 9:49pm, and I'm gonna watch a little show, then read my book for a bit.

I think I had too much caffeine today. That Carls Jr Diet Dr Pepper always affects me bad. I wonder if there's extra caffeine in it - hehe. I feel a little jittery. Next week, we'll be at the church instead of Carls Jr. So I guess I can load up on DDP at Carls Jr ever 2 weeks, right? hehe.

Tomorrow, I'm hiking with the girls, then Maggie and I are gonna go to Walmart and Lowes to get supplies for our craft party on Friday. She wants to make one of my Jewelry holder things :) Should be a good time!

Then hockey in the evening, and it's my day to load my store. Busy, busy, busy!!!

I thought this one was HILARIOUS! hehe :) And actually, all those goofy pics I took today with Jim would be PERFECT for a layout - ha! 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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Sharon, my dear, this one is PHENOMENAL!!! Love it!