All in the Family

Well, it wasn't the day that I expected, but it was a good day :) Parts, anyway - hehe. Most day's aren't 100% awesome, right? LOL :) I did have a few awesome moments.

So, I woke up SO tired. Yeah, I'd totally stayed up till 3am (*gasps*) playing a stupid game on my iPhone. Angry Birds. WHY did I download that stupid game.... hehe. And when I closed my eyes to go to sleep, yeah, that's ALL I could see. Little grinning green pigs, toppling structures, and birds in sling shots. Sigh. It is kinda fun, but I don't know how I possible played it for 4-5 hours last night. I'm not a gamer. It's not like me - hehe.

Anyway, I got the kids off to school, and got ready to go exercise. I was feeling pretty good. A little congested, but nothing that I couldn't deal with. I didn't even take any meds. See, I was better - hehe.

I filled up my 64 oz Howdys cup with water, grabbed Jim, and headed to Laurie's house. We were picking up her and Rowan and they were coming with us to Exercise group. And we did Insanity. Yeah, definitely insane - hehe. I guess it's supposed to be harder than P90X, if that's even possible. We did it for about 50 minutes, and I thought I was gonna die. Ha!

Actually, I didn't do it quite the way we were supposed to. I knew that I wasn't back to 100% after being sick, so I made sure that I took it easy. I modified it to make it a little easier. Still, it was a GREAT workout!

And after exercising, we headed to Howdys. And, unfortunately, the were out of Diet Dr Pepper. So I left empty handed.

Laurie and Rowan and Jim and I headed to Big Lots. Maggie had bought a Shark (electric steam mop) there last week or so, and Laurie wanted one too. But yeah, they didn't have any... And I wanted to look for bowls, but they didn't have any that I wanted... And I wanted an MP3 player for Captain America, but that particular Big Lots was out. Crap! Laurie bought a hot wheel for each of the boys, and I bought a chips for each of the boys. And we headed home.

And got a call from the school saying that Tom had gotten hurt in PE. Apparently he fell back on his head during Flag Football, and had a goose egg. The Nurse said that they'd iced it, and it was pretty red, but that was the only problem. Nothing else wrong, no other symptoms. But she wanted him to go home.... So I had Kari (who was on post and close to the school) go and pick him up. I OWE YOU, KARI!

And I dropped Laurie off at her house, and picked up Tom, and we headed back home. Check out the red bump!


I gave him some Motrin, hoping that he would feel better. Poor kid. Really, I think that he just wanted to skip school. Typical child, huh? hehe.

Tom and I took Jim to the bus, and then headed back home. And Jake wasn't dealing well with the change in plans. You know, most of the time, the Autism doesn't show itself. But if the schedule is messed up "from his point of view", he kinda freaks out. And he didn't want Tom there. That was my and his few hours together, and Tom was in the way (from Jake's point of view). So he was rude and mean. Sigh.

So, recognizing the problem, I hurried and got myself some lunch, and Tom and I headed out to shop. I wanted to try out a new Big Lots for the MP3 player, and needed to go to Walmart for some stuff for Captain America. And I wanted some more bowls. Because I only have about 4 left. Um, kids, where did the bowls go???? Sigh. And glasses. The kids broke all of them. We have 3 glass glasses left in the cupboard. Time for a refill...

So I had Jake work on school, and Tom and I headed out. First stop, Big Lots. And they had the MP3 player, so I picked one up for Captain America ($25 for a 4 GB with a slot for a media card). And got Tom a pack of chips.

I looked at the glasses, but they were too expensive for me (hehe). And they didn't have bowls. They had a dishes set, but I didn't need a set. I just needed bowls. Glass bowls. I'll keep looking.

We paid, and headed across town to Fallas. Sometimes they had dishware. I found 12 glasses for $7.99. And I found this COOL kitchen accessory (for cups), but I'm gonna use it for bracelets. Only $3.99.

See what I ended up doing with it?No bowls, though. So we headed to Walmart. And guess what? No single bowls. Seriously? I know around Christmas time, they were selling a set of 4 bowls. Or you could buy 4 plates. That kind of thing. Hmpf! I got a few things for Captain America's St. Patrick's day package, and looked at a Shark.

It was $99. And I even had it in my cart. But decided that it wasn't on the budget. Not on the budget that I made for the month. See, Terra, I did good! I put it back! Who needs to mop anyway, right? hehe.

I did find a new pair of Jammies on sale for only $7 (like my gray one, but black), and another fluted bundt cupcake pan for only $7. Now I could make cute muffins with my left over bananas a lot easier. 24 at a time is much better than 12...

And then I got a call from Jake, saying that Tom's teacher had called, and said that Tom had a project due by 3:45pm. Sigh. So we hurried up with what we were doing, and headed home. But stopped by Howdys on Airway first, and grabbed me a refill.

Me, singing, all the way home...

Tom didn't have his project finished yet, so he worked on getting it done when we got home. And I went to pick up Jim from the bus at 3pm.

Nasty, huh? The pedicure lady was gonna hate me!

Nice, huh? I went out in public like this, Madi...

At 3:30, Tom and I headed up to the school. We went in and found her and turned in the project, then headed back home.

And then the kids were home from school, and we made some muffins. They were SO adorable when they were finished!

Me in my apron. Yeah, usually I change right away after exercise, and I don't know why I didn't today. Note to self - put real clothes back on after exercising... Because more than likely, I won't get around to showering...

Oatmeal Banana muffins

With a powdered sugar glaze

And I had the kids do their chores after we were done baking. Eme and Tom were such great helpers while I made the muffins. And then I realized that I hadn't seen Jake in a while.... So I went looking for him.

And yeah, he was NO where to be found. Crap! How could I lose a kid. All the kids pitched in, and we searched the house. Nope. We searched outside. Nope. Closets. Nope. Cars. Nope. He IS a moody teen, so I wondered if he'd gotten mad (he was a bit frisky at the kids earlier), and run away. I was a little worried, but mostly annoyed. And not knowing what I should do next.

Do I call the MP's? What would they do? Do I wait for him to get home? How long? How do I act when he gets home? What would his reason be for leaving? Eme and Tom were almost in tears. Joe just wanted to know if he could have Jake's laptop. And Jim was oblivious.

I called my mom to figure out what to do, and texted Terra, and she drove around the neighborhood. Still no sign of the child.

After an hour, he walked in the front door. Just like nothing had happened. He said that he'd needed a bit of "alone" time, so he'd gone for a walk. Sigh. See, Autism in action. To him, it made PERFECT sense. He could feel himself getting worked up, so he took a break. But yeah, TELL SOMEONE! Take the phone! Don't do that to me!!! I was trying to figure out how to tell Captain Americathat I'd lost a child! Jeepers!

So that was the excitement for the afternoon. I yelled a bit more than I should have, about why did he run away and such, and he assured me that he wasn't running away, he just went on a walk. And I wasn't in the mood for hearing about it, so I sent him to his room.

I made dinner for the kids, and hopped in the shower. And got all ready. I had dinner plans and a pedicure with Terra that evening.

I had a chance to sit down in the backyard with Jake, and talk about what happened. How I was sad and cried that I couldn't find him. How I didn't know what happened to him. How Tom and Eme both love him and were worried. How his actions affected the family. And I think he understood.

I told him that he could totally take a break and go for a walk if he needed to, but that he needed to tell me first. And he was very apologetic, and eager to make it right. He keeps me on my toes, that's for sure.

Terra came to get me at 6:30pm, and I left Jake in his room reading, Tom and Eme on their computers, and Joe and Jim watching a movie. Terra and I headed to El Taco Tote. I needed a grown up to talk with, and a little venting about my scary afternoon.

I ordered the same thing that Captain America and I usually get to share, and I'm sharing with myself tomorrow for lunch - ha! And I got 2 soda cups (came with the meal), so I could take 2 with me when I left - hehe.

I realized that with all of the excitement of the day and things coming up, I hadn't eaten since lunch. And was STARVING. So I got a TON of chips, and my food, and chowed down. Inhaled the food is more like it. Yeah, my kids come by it naturally...

And then we headed to the mall (Bassett Center) for pedicures. And I lOVED it! I was a little embarrassed, because you saw the nasty pictures of my feet. First time in 35 years of life I'd had a pedicure! And I was sure that my feet would tell that too - hehe.

First off, they had us pick the nail polish color we wanted, then sat us down in these massage chairs with tubs of water at our feet. SO warm and nice. Like a jacuzzi. Loved it. And the chiar was my absolute favorite part. Nice, strong massage. I had some knots in my back, and this worked it out. LOVED it!
I had on my "sexy" pants. I call them that, because they have slits up the side - hehe. Cleavage for my legs - ROFL! But super easy to pull up. ha!

See how excited I am for my first ever Pedicure???

And I felt sorry for the poor lady. My feet are nasty. TONS of calluses and dead skin. She trimmed and trimmed and trimmed. And made me promise to stop picking at my toe cuticles. OK, Ok....
And she clipped and buffed and rubbed and oiled and lotioned and scrubbed and rinsed and sanded and grated my feet till they were smooth. Then painted my toenails, and I was beautiful!

Look at my spazy feet - hehe.

And we must have been there for an hour, me getting mine done, then Terra getting hers done. And the chair just kept going. And I kept pushing the button to get it to go longer. And yeah, it felt AMAZING. Pure joy. Can't you tell from my face - hehe. This is a "hurts so good" face!

Get that knot! (Why do I look like the Easter Bunny?)

Ooooooh yeah!

That's good!!!

I need a massage chair, I think. Or my hubby back. One of the two will do :)

Here's Terra's toes :)

And Terra! She's getting used to my "quirkiness", but that face says it all!

I loved it. I love the chair the most, but I loved the pedicure. My feet looked and felt wonderful when we were done. Thanks, Terra, for showing me how fun and good a pedicure can be!!!

And then, since it was in the same mall, we stopped by the Jewelry Box. Check out the zebra bow I found :)

I did manage to get out of there without buying anything. hehe. And then we headed home. I really wanted to go and see a movie, but Terra had to get home to her hubby and kids. And I needed to too. And needed to work.

Jake and I sat in my room and he watched me play Angry Birds for about 45 minutes, then I made Tom and Eme and Jake go to bed. Jim and Joe were already asleep. They'd fallen asleep in their room watching a movie.

And before I put on my jammies, I snapped a few pictures. These are for you, Captain America :)

And then I sat down on the couch, in my jammies, to blog. Here's the new jammies that I bought at Walmart today :)

See that line down my forehead between my eyes? Yeah, it doesn't tan in the summertime, so I have this permanent white line down my forehead in the summer. Real attractive, let me tell you - ha! And I don't know why I took a picture of this and shared. hehe.

Oh yeah, I'm cool!

12:29am, and I'm done. And I need to take my contacts out, read my scriptures, say my prayers, and go to bed. *yawns*

It was a good day. It was a trying day. But I made it. And I still had all 5 kids when I went to bed. 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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Awe, your family is SO sweet, Sharon :) Hope you're having fun on vacation, my dear!

Cookie Monster

Yeah! New stuff in the store!!! I totally should have loaded it today when I felt decent. Because I'm feeling nasty now, and it was hard... But it's done :) Thank goodness! Check out my store by clicking HERE.









Ugg... Well, I went to bed feeling a bit sick last night, and woke up feeling sick too. Sigh. I ate some yogurt, and medicated myself. And after about 20 minutes, started feeling much better. Well, NOT feeling - hehe. I was able to give Joe and Jim both hair cuts, put them in the shower, feed the kids, and get them out the door and to school.

And then I texted with my friends to see if we were gonna go hiking. I felt ok, and thought I could do it. Kari's Leo was back at school, so no sick kids in her house. But, she was the voice of reason, and told me that we weren't going because I needed to rest. PRobably right. I WAS heavily medicated - ha! Probably best not to push it.

I found out that Maggie couldn't go to Crafters lunch, and Laurie couldn't go to Crafters lunch, so that just left me. But that's ok. I thought I was babysitting for Charlotte at 10am, but her neighbor volunteered to watch her kids, so I was "off the hook".


And then Captain America Skyped me. Thank goodness! I like to talk to him when I'm feeling icky, because he makes me feel better. We actually gotta chat for about 2 hours! We took a break so that I could get Jim ready for the bus, and so that he could switch a load of laundry, then got back on.

He "came" with me to take Jim to the bus, then to Howdys for a drink, then to the church for Crafters group. And when I got to the church, NO one was in the parking lot. No cars... Hmmm.... I texted a girl that goes to church with me, and she said she was SO sorry, that they canceled it last minute, and forgot to tell me. Oops. But that was ok, because I was still chatting with Captain America.

And we talked for 2 more hours in the parking lot. It was really good to talk to him about stuff. Kids and bills and issues and everything that we didn't get a chance to talk about in 5-10 minute conversations over the past few weeks. I love that boy, you know :) And I'm SO glad that he loves me :)

It's hard to be apart for this long, you know. I don't know how many of you have had to have a long distance relationship, but it's really not so enjoyable. It takes SO much extra effort to stay close. To feel connected. To have understanding feelings. To give the benefit of the doubt. But we're trying. We're working each day to make it work. And longing for the day that we can be back together :)

Anyway, when we got done talking, I had about an hour before Jim's bus. So I swung by the Dollar Tree real fast to pick up something for Jake (a camera stand), and headed back home. Jake wanted to make a "Lego Animated Video", and needed the camera stand. And I knew they had them at the dollar tree, and I knew he had a dollar. hehe. Worked out perfectly.

I worked on a project for my friend Aimee's little girl when I got home. She wanted an invite to her birthday party. So I got that all designed, and then went to pick up Jim from the bus. And wasn't feeling so hot when I got home. So I laid on the couch for a while, and played on my phone/computer.

And then the big kids got home from school, and I didn't really get off the couch much. We skipped Hockey, because my meds were wearing off. I totally should have re-medicated myself earlier, but I didn't. So it totally had worn off. But I did manage to get an invite made for our Spring Break Kite Flying picnic. And it was SUPER cute :)

And the kids played outside, and played inside, and kinda did homework, and kinda did chores, and fought a little bit. And finally, at 7:09pm, I couldn't take it any longer. I'd gotten more drugs around 6:30pm, but they hadn't quite kicked in yet. So I sent EVERYONE to bed. Big kids, little kids, EVERYONE.

But Jake, bless his heart, didn't go to his room. Even though he was told to. He did go for a few minutes, then once everyone else was in their room, he came back down, went to the kitchen, and made me dinner. I told him to not, but he said "No, mom, you need to eat. It will make you feel better". And he got me my food. And that simple act of service made me feel SO much better. And he helped out with a few chores, then I let Tom out of his room too, and he finished up his chores.

And in a little bit, the two boys and I are gonna watch an episode of Chuck, then I'm gonna watch that Glee episode that I missed this week. And I hope that when I wake up in the morning, I feel better. I have exercise group, and I'm going for dinner and a pedicure with Terra tomorrow! I can't be sick. I've got too many things to do :)

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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OooOoo, I want one of those cookies!!! hehe :) Nice layout, Sharon :)