A Kiss Just For You

Seriously??? You wouldn't even believe the day I had. Awful. Horrible. One of the worst days ever. And you know me. I'm happy go lucky. I'm positive. I'm fun. Yeah, not so much today. I think I sobbed all day long.... Well, not all day.

Started out ok. A girl from church and her hubby were gonna stop by and give little Joe a blessing around 9am, because he was SO sick yesterday, but he woke up better. Feeling fine. So I got ahold of her, and let her know that they didn't need to stop by.

And around 9:30am, we started on chores. The chores didn't get done yesterday, so it was pretty messy. I woke up Jake, since he was the only kid asleep, and had him get stated too. And he was SO grouchy. Overly grouchy. Extremely grouchy.

But we plugged along. I started cleaning my room, since it was pretty messy too. I got the clothes separated into piles, and I went to check on the kids. And Jake was being mean and yelling at everyone. And wasn't doing his chores well, so I had to tell him what he was doing wrong (you have to move the chairs to sweep in the dining room, or it doesn't really get clean).

And apparently, that was his last straw. Cause he snapped. He started yelling about he was DONE cleaning, and that he'd be spending the rest of the day in his room, and huffed off to his room. So I followed him up there, MAD MAD MAD.

And he locked himself inside the room. So I unlocked it, and tried to press the door open, but he was holding it. And yeah, it wasn't budging. AT ALL. Crap. Now what was I gonna do. I stood there for a little bit, and tried a few more times, to which is practically taunted me, and then I gave up and came back downstairs.

And went to my room, and prayed. I didn't know what else to do. And my next thought was that I needed to talk to someone. So I called my inlaws, but no one answered. So I texted Terra. And went back upstairs a few more times to reason with him, and he was still grouchy and belligerent.

And I couldn't take it anymore. And the waterworks started. And I cried and cried and cried. What was I gonna do with the child. I don't think I can handle many more days like these. And Terra said that she'd be right over. Cause she could tell that I needed someone.

And she came over, with a power screw drive. We were gonna get that door off! So up stairs we went, and the two of us tried to get the door open. Yeah, TOTALLY not working. And he was taunting me again. We saw that he'd propped a chair behind the door, and that's why we couldn't get it to oepn. She called her hubby to see what we should do, and we noticed out the upstairs window that he was on the balcony!!! He'd climbed out his window, and was gonna run.

Crap. And he was down, and away. Now what? We got the door open, and yup, he was gone. So we called the MP's. Because I didn't know what else to do. I really didn't. And I was sobbing again by this point.

The police came, and there were like 5 cars on our street. And they took the story, like 5 times, and wrote it all down. And tried to figure out where he'd go. And what he'd do. I really figured that he'd be close. He's not an "exerciser", and walking too far isn't his MO. But then, I didn't know for sure what he was doing.

They took a picture of him from the house, and printed up some "Have you seen this missing child" poster of sorts, and distributed it to all the MP's throughout post, and to the gate guards. And the guards at Pershing gate said that they'd seen him leave!!!! Holy crap. Yeah, that's SO not what I was expecting him to do!

The MP's said that because he walked off of post, that their jurisdiction was over, and there was nothing they could do. It was turned over to the El Paso police department, and they suggested that I drive around the blocks right outside of post.

I finished filling out all of the paperwork, and really was at a loss as to what to do. I dropped Eme and Tom off at Kari's house, and took Joe and Jim in the suburban, and off we went, to drive around looking for my 13 year old autistic run away. Sigh. Terra was driving around looking too. And MP's were stationed at the gates to wait and see if he'd come back.

I talked with my inlaws, and my mom, and my friend Andrea, on my earpiece, all the while driving around. And it was 1:30pm. And the kids were starving. So we stopped by McDonalds on Dyer, and grabbed some burgers. And I ate 3 naked burgers (without the buns). And felt sick.

And I drove around more. And more. And more. And had to pee. So I headed home. And I asked at the gate I came in through if they'd seen him, and no, they hadn't. So I went home. And pulled into the driveway. And Jacob came out of the outside shed. He said that he'd been in there the whole time. (see, my first thought that he was close was right!)

So the Gate Guards had mis-ID'd him. And I'd worried that he was roaming the streets of El Paso. I was so mad. I was so upset. I didn't know what to feel or think or do. I told him that all of the MP's on post were out looking for him, and that the El Paso police were looking for him, and that he had all of us worried. And I don't think that he really got how serious it was. I sent him to his room, and proceeded to call/text everyone and let them know that he was home.

I called back the MP's, and asked if they'd come by and talk to him. Scare some sense into him. And the MP said that because Jake is autistic, that they couldn't. Sigh. I guess I was on my own.

I called my friend Charlotte, and she said that she was coming over to bring me a DDP and visit for a while. Thank goodness! Jake came back downstairs, and had some food, and kinda followed me around from room to room. He was very contrite. And very meek. And very repentant. But I was still upset.

And I decided that it would be best for him to be in the downstairs bedroom. So that I could keep a closer eye on him. And I told Tom that he was my new babysitter. Jake was "fired". And Tom could earn some money. He'd already taken the babysitter class, so Tom is good to go! And I'm putting Jake back in Public School. I'm not gonna have a disrespectful child around.... And maybe some special ed classes will do him good. So I told him all of these plans. And he accepted them very meekly.

So we started moving around bedrooms. And that's a LOT more work than I anticipated. First we moved EVE RYTHING out of the little kids' room into the dining room. Yeah, HUGE mess.

And then Charlotte came over with her kids. And had fun playing with my kids and all of the toys in the dining room. Ha! She'd brought skittles for all of my kids, and me a 54 oz DDP. Such a life saver. He 12 year old daughter was recently diagnosed with depression, and she's been seeing a therapist on post. And she gave me the phone number. But the dude was on vacation, so I'm gonna call on Monday. And she stayed for about an hour, and we chatted and the kids played, and I got my mind off of the horrible situation that was playing out.

And then she went home, and we kept cleaning. And cleaning. And cleaning. And half way through the project, I got overwhelmed, and found myself alone in the kitchen, sobbing again. And Jake came up, and hugged me, and rubbed my back, and my arm, and tried to comfort me. I really don't know what to do with the child. I know it's the "Autism" that I'm having a hard time with, and not "him". He is a good kid. He really is.

So we plugged along. And finally, the rooms were mostly switched. The dining room is still pretty messy, but all in all, it looks pretty good. It's now almost 9pm. And the kids are eating Ramen. Because I'm not a good mom today, and I didn't cook. I haven't eaten since the naked burgers from McDonalds. Wait. I had 2 more naked burgers at home, and an apple. Does that count as food? Maybe that's why I feel like crap right now.

I need to send the kids to bed. And have a good cry. Again. And wake up refreshed in the morning. And ready for the day. Happy. And positive. And renewed. Because I can't handle another day like today. Really, I can't... Pray for me that tomorrow is a fabulous day. Because I need some fabulous-ness after the day I had today...

I made this WordArt for a homemade Valentines card for my girl, Andrea. She had a picture of her son, Ben, kissing at the camera and holding out his hand. And she glued a Hurshey's kiss to the card. It was SO stinking cutE! And I made the WordArt for it. And now you get it! So enjoy!

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've Got My Own Style

New goodies for the week!!! Click HERE to go and check it out :)

by Sharon

by Sharon

by Sharon

by Sharon

by Andi

by Sharon

Check out this SAD little face. I got woken up at 8am with Tom carrying in Joe. I'd let Joe sleep on the couch last night because he was coughing so bad, and apparently he'd woken up crying, and Tom carried him in to me. Poor kid. He said his eyes were on fire. You know how your eyes feel hot when you have a fever? Yeah, I'm guessing that's what he was talking about.

So I got him some meds, and I went to the couch to snuggle with him. And we stayed there most of the morning. Poor little guy :(


We skipped the Insights museum, since Joe was sick and Jim was coughing too (but not the same kind of sick as Joe), so we took the day off and stayed home. Kids played outside, and at friends, and inside, and we did chores, and watched movies, and took it easy.

I decided to bake bread from scratch, and make it green! For St. Patricks day, you know. hehe.



And then I realized that I was going out for a BIRTHDAY dinner, and that meant that I needed a gift, right? hehe. Didn't put that together until now. Oops! So I wrapped up a bread, and sewed one of those aprons that I've been working on. That's a good gift, right?

And at 4pm, I decided that it was time for a shower - LOL! So I got all ready, and "purdy". And even went with Green eyeshadow. Speaking of Eyeshadow, I had a dream last night that I was in prison, and they told me that I couldn't wear sparkly eyeshadow, and THAT was what I was upset about. Not that I was in prison - hehe.


At 6:30pm, Terra came and picked me up. Jake had directions on what to do. Dinner was already done, and the kids were to watch a movie, and bed at 8pm for the little kids. Joe could stay on the couch so Jake could watch him.

And Terra and I drove to the restaurant. And there was NO parking. Anywhere. So we parked 3 blocks away at KC. ha! But it worked.

And we sat in the car waiting for the other girls, and I snapped a few pics of myself being goofy. Here's Alena's b-day crown that Terra bought for her.



And then we walked down to the restaurant. L&J's. This little "hole in the wall" place, but Alena guaranteed us that it was FABULOUS! We had a reservation, but still had to wait about 30 minutes. So we hung outside. Me and Terra and Tara and Alena and Amanda. Kari was gonna be late, since she'd taken Leo to hockey. And since Joe was sick, I didn't take them to hockey, obviously...

And we finally got our table. And yeah, it was SO loud. Half of the restaurant was a bar, and the restaurant was in the back. And since it was St Patricks day, it was SUPER busy crowded. "Happy" celebrating St Patricks people everywhere. hehe.

I thought this sign on the table was funny. See, Captain America, I'm reserved for you!

And our waiter dude came by to get our drink orders, and GUESS WHAT???

Diet Dr Pepper, baby!!!!!

So Terra gets her DDP, and blows her straw paper at me. And it STICKS in my hair! hehe.

And here's the guacamole plate that Amanda ordered. Yeah, NOT a guac fan...
They had chips and 2 kinds of salsa for us. The green was pretty good, but the red tasted FANTASTIC. Only problem was that it was SO spicy, I thought my mouth would literally ignite! But I just kept eating it and eating it.

And then Kari came, and I had to have her try the red sauce. And I passed it over to her, and then when I was putting it back down, I totally spilled it - hehe. The girls had a good laugh about that. And I wasn't even drinking - lOL! I told them that they just keep me around for Comic Relief - ROFL!

Terra, Alena, and Kari

Amanda, Tara, and I

And here's some nachos that Terra ordered. Yeah, I shared, and ate WAY too much of them - LOL. But they were just SO good, and I'd been STARVING all day long, for some reason.
And here's my beef fajita salad. VERY tasty. The meat was tender and very full of flavor. LOVED it :)
After we were all done eating, Amanda and Alena ordered a slice of Tres Leche cake. OMHeavens, I tried a little taste, and it was SO good. I love it :) And we sang Happy Birthday to Alena :)


It really was a fun time! We laughed and chatted and had a great time together. And then we paid, and headed home. Walking the LONG walk back to our ride. hehe. And Terra dropped me off at home, and everyone was happy and well.

Jake and Tom and I had time to watch and episode of Chuck, and I blogged. Thank goodness I'd pre-blogged a bit, and loaded the store earlier in the day. Yeah for planning ahead!

Joe is still sleeping on the couch. Kari said that it sounded like the same thing that Leo had. 2 days of cough and fever, then they get better. So I'm hoping that by Friday night, Joe is good. I hate to see him sick... Poor baby :(

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LOVIN' these colors, and SUCH funny photos Sharon!

St. Patrick's Day Circle

Hey there, y'all! How is your week going??? Mine's pretty good for a Spring Break with only one grown up. We're keeping busy. And Busy is good.

Anyway, I woke up at 9am, feeling super rested. Awww, love being rested. I thought about going to Workout group at 8:30am, but decided to stay home and bake cookies for the picnic instead. Workout, cookies, workout, cookies. Yeah, not much of a choice, eh? hehe :)

I baked, with my new apron, and everything turned out great :) Love it when things turn out great - ha! I made 4 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip banana bundt muffins. With a glaze. And some chocolate peanut butter spritz cookies. With M&M's on top of it. They looked pretty cute. I had Eme and Joe and Jim help me put on the M&M's.

And then it was 11:20 am, and I had to get ready for the picnic. AND I needed a Howdys. It'd been a few days...

Here's what I looked like before.

And after a fresh layer of make up and straightening my hair

I grabbed my purse and phone, and drove on over to Howdys for a 64 oz Diet Dr Pepper. Mmmmm, tasty! And I headed back to post.

And loaded up for the picnic. I grabbed the desserts, and the drinks, and the kites, and the kids, and off we went.

And we busted out the kites. And I'm SO glad that we bought good ones, because they were wonderful. Once we got them up pretty high, they flew very nicely.


I'm going with the "It's sunny and that's why I look wanky" angle...

This was Jim's kite. He let me fly it for a while.

Me and Terra

Me and Amanda

Amanda's son, Austin's kite. SO cool!

Terra snapped some pics of me flying Jim's kite

So since I brought the desserts and the drinks, Terra brought the hot dogs and the chips. And the kids LOVED them :) I had a few "naked" hot dogs. Yeah, totally should have brought my cheese sandwich and cucumber - ha!

So we flew kites for about 2 hours, then headed back home. I had a ton of fun playing with my friends. My family and Terra's family and Amanda's family and Kari's family and Maggie's family were there. And I got to meet Maggie's parents! They were there visiting. And his mom works with Autistic kids in the schools! I had a good chat with her. And now, if I ever have any questions, I think I'm gonna ask Maggie to ask her mom :) She seemed to know quite a bit :)

Like reasoning with Autistic kids. Not possible. They don't see reason. I'm gonna need to tell this to Captain America. Because he tries SOOO hard to make Jake see reason. To come at it from all different angles, thinking that one route will hit home. Nope. Autistic ones don't see reason.

And she said that they're VERY good with little kids because they're very gentle by nature. That's really Jake. Sure, he can fight with his siblings, but for the most part, he's gentle.

Anyway, it was really good to chat with her.

And then we all headed home. And I had the kids do their chores, then they could have electronics. And I designed a WordArt Pack, and Tom and Eme went with Ms. Leigh and her kids to Sonic. They walked the 2 miles there, then walked the 2 miles home. They all had a GREAT time.

Anyway, I left Jake and Jim and Joe at home, and went a few houses away to sew with Terra. We made 3 John Deere pillow case dresses! Cool, huh? I replaced the bobbin in her sewing machine, and it worked. Of course, she said that after I left, that it started freaking out again.... Sigh.

I headed back home, and got some food for the kids. And Jake went to play at Leo's house for a while, and Leigh's kids came over to play with my kids. And the evening passed without much more incident. We started a movie at 7:30pm, but Joe and Jim were coughing so bad, I medicated them and sent them to bed around 8pm. And Jake and Tom and I watched a few episodes of Chuck.

And it's now almost 10pm. And this episode is almost done. I think I'm gonna design a little bit longer, then head to bed. We're planning on going to the Insights Museum tomorrow. Eme went there on a Field trip last year, and LOVED it. And it's only $25 for a military family pass for a year. Can't beat that, huh??

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, girl, LOVE this St Patrick's Day layout!!! You rocked it!