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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Cookie Crumbles

Today was the day!!!! hehe :) Can you tell that I was excited. LOL :) Cause I'm a HUGE Twilight fan... I woke up at 6:45am, normal time, and started getting kids ready for school. A little before 7am, right before Tom was supposed to go to the bus, he went in the backyard with the dog. But the dog didn't have a collar. Because it had broken outside the other day.

And yeah, the dog jumped the fence. Then Tom went and tracked down the dog and pulled him back home by the scruff of his neck. And I didn't even know! Sigh. Cause Tom is usually gone around this time. I just thought that he'd skipped prayer and gone to the bus.

He got back at 7:15. Around the time that we were supposed to be taking the little kids to the bus. Definitely had missed the Ross bus. Crap. So I had ALL the kids load up in the truck, and I drove the little kids to be bus stop, and we waited until the but was parking and loading children until I drove off.

I dropped Tom off outside the gate (he can walk part of the way), and headed back to post and started cleaning. Cause my house was uber messy. Overly uber messy.

And it looked a lot better when I was done. Well, it looked good if you'd seen the before picture. hehe. Clean is relative, right? ha! I facebooked messagened Captain America a bit, then went and got ready for the moive. I decided to go with a slightly Goth look today. Figured that was Vampire-esque, right? hehe.

Liz came to my house, and then Kim came to pick us up. We went and got Amanda, then Kari, and Veronica, and then Maggie and Hannah. We had quite the packed vehicle! hehe. We got everyone, then headed to the theater. Margot was there :) We slipped in line by here, much to the grouchiness of many others....

But around that time, they raised the metal door type thing, and it was a mad rush to the seating area. No more lines. So it didn't matter anyway. No orderly lines here. hehe.

We were all able to get a row together. So that was cool. 9 of us! Oh yeah! We got popcorns and sodas after we staked out or seats. Movie popcorn is the bestest, you know :) I sat by Margo and Amanda, and by Maggie and Hannah. It's hard when you go with a big group to see everyone. I would wave at the other end girls occasionally. LOL.

Check out this AWESOME display I found on my trip to the lobby! It's the COOLEST!!!

Margot and Amanda
Maggie and me
Me and Margot
Kari and Liz
We had about an hour before the movie started to chat and hang and do whatever. and then the movie started. And I absolutely loved it. BEST SO FAR!!!! They just keep getting better and better! I even cried! Sure, I've read the books like 9 times,and I know what's gonna happen, but I still cried. hehe :)

After the movie, we hung at the mall for about 30 minutes. We went to a few stores. I liked Jewelry Box the best. Although I did pop in to see my man, Edward...

And then we headed back to post. Here's me with my free refill!
After leaving the theater, I got a call from where Jake was, at they said that he was ready to come home! I said that I'd shoot to be there around 3pm. Tom should be hoem to watch the kids, so it should work out just perfectly. Awesomeness!

I was dropped off at my house, and I got my car, and drove on over to Jake's school. I needed to collect his homework and his books. After a long process, I was able to get most of it. Luckily it was the military liaison who was working with me. She was super nice and friendly and kept me in the loop. I wasn't planning on being there so long, though. It put me off schedule a bit, though.

At 3, I headed to pick up Jake. About 30 minutes off pace. Crud. I drove across town, and got there. I went in, and it was taking FOREVER to get Jake. And I'd left my phone in the car, because I knew that for visits we couldn't have phones. But I didn't think about just thew aiting room. Huh? Guess I should have gotten it... Oh well.

I chatted with the receptionist for a bit about jake and his condition. She's a super sweet girl :) And finally it was time for him to come out! I signed some paperwork, they called in a prescription to Walgreens, and we were off. and Jake was SO excited!

He was like doing a happy dance because he was out. hehe. And i totally know the feeling from last year. ha!He was on cloud 9!

We drove home, and he helped me text people, and "Sham Wow" a few things, and yeah, it's nice to have a personal phone assistant in the car... hehe.

We got back to post, and stopped by the park. Kari and Amanda and Maggie were there with their kids and my extra kids. Fun!

Here's a picture of Jope when he first saw Jake. Precious!
We didn't stay at the park long, though. We had to go home and get ready for basketball. Jim and Joe both had games tonight. Joe first.

Tom and Eme and Jake wanted to stay home and do whatever, but Eme and Tom had been fighting all afternoon. Currently it was over who got to use the microwave first. Um, yeah. No fighting. So their punishment was that they had to go to the game with us! Take that. I told them to grab a book and go get in the car... hehe.

Jake opted to stay home with the dog. And yeah, that dog wasn't gonna let Jake out of his sight. Boxer sure did miss his boy! LOL :)

There weren't really a lot of spaces to sit at Joe's game. It wasn't the best place for a game. Too many parents, not enough bleachers. So we ended up sitting on the floor. Works for me.







As the 4th quarter was starting, I looked real close at Joe's shoes... And realized that he was wearing soccer cleats. Um, yeah. . Those are SO not the right shoes. It's room cleaning time...

After the game, we loaded everyone up, and headed to Main SAS. For the next game. These teams were funny. They didn't get penalized for not dribbling. Kari and I were like, Just don't dribble! Run with the all like the other team! at our kids. hehe. We'll tell them later, in private - ROFL!

Kim and Amanda joined us at the game in the middle. Kim had been to the police department earlier in the day, and had filled out an a sworn statement about what happened with that "the dad" guy from the bus. And she wanted us to fill one out too. Sounded goo to me. I told them that I had to get the little kids situated first.

After the game, we headed home. I wanted the little boys to clean their rooms. And Tom and Eme and Jake to do their chores. And Amanda and Kari and I headed out. First stop, Walgreens for meds. Jake is on 3 new ones, so I'm gonna have to plug it into my phone so I don't forget to give it to him! hehe.

Who knew that meds were SOOOOOOO expensive???

After Walgreens, it was straight to the MP station. Amanda and I were taken back to a little room, and low and behold, it's the same dude from when Jake beat me up! It took us a few minutes to put it together, but we recognized each other eventually! hehe.

We were having WAY too much fun filling out our sworn statements and playing around on the spinning chairs. LOL. I so wanted to push off on mine and see how far it would take me. LOL! It seemed like a fast one!

But it kept getting later and later. Amanda finished with her statement first, did her questions, and was gone. Then it was my turn for the questions. And the MP realized that he'd had me do the filling out part wrong for the last 2 pages. So I had to re-copy it over again. Sigh. I understand, we all make mistakes. He felt really bad. And I was tired. But I wasn't mad. These things happen.

So I recopy it over again, we do the questions again, I sign and initial ALL over it, and I'm good to go. Amanda said that Kim' hubby came to get her already, so it's just Amanda and I. She drops me off at home, and all of my kids are in bed except Jake. I gave him his nightly meds, and sent him off to bed. I started blogging, and here it is, 12:30. Sigh. How did it get so late???

I'm gonna have to set my alarm for early so I can pack. And get the kids packed. I'm not ready for my trip tomorrow! Oh no! I need another day to get ready! :) Wish me luck!

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Lovin' that shade of green/teal, Sharon! And cute broken cookie's pic! Awesomeness!


Friday, November 18, 2011

Spilt Milk

New stuff in the store! Oh yeah :) Wish I would have gotten to it a little bit earlier, but it WAS before midnight... That's a plus, right??? Click HERE to go to my store to give it a look-see... All layouts are by Sharon (well done, my DEAR!)













At 2:30am, I had a little boy come and crawl in bed with me. Poor little thing was so upset. Joe, bless his heart, had gone to bed with jammies that had a rip in the knee. And I guess that in the middle of the night, Jim's foot had gotten stuck in the hole, and he'd pushed himself off on them, and ripped them. They sleep in the same bed, you know...

Anyway, Joe was SO upset. He had to come and tell me how his favorite Jammies were ruined. So, since I knew that Joe was having some rough times at school recently, I figured that maybe sleeping and snuggling with mom would be a good thing for him.

This was a HUGE thing for me. Cause I don't EVER let kids into my bed. I can't sleep if kids are touching me. hehe. I really can't. So, from 2:30ish until 6:30ish, I had un-restful sleep. And was super tired when I woke up. But it was worth it. Because I could tell that Joe was happy. and he felt a lot better. Love ya, Joe!

Tom came in at 6:50am, and I asked him to go and turn on Jim's light. So he went in, turned on Jim's light, threw his coveres off of him, and tried to make him get up. Um, yeah, NOT what I directed him to do.... NO wonder Jim got up on the wrong side of the bed today. He was angry and grouchy and whining the rest of the morning. sigh.

We had family prayer at 7am, and got Tom off to the bus. Then got the kids dressed and fed and off to the bus at 7:15am. Jim was still mad. He refused to eat because it wasn't his favorite cereal. He couldn't find his shoes so he had to wear his "stinky sunday shoes". He couldn't find his homework. It was a stupid day, he said. Poor Jim.

The kids made it to the bus, and the moms stood around and chatted for quite a while. Today it was me and Rebecca and Kari. And we chatted for so long that before I knew it, it was time to go to Amanda's house to watch Eclipse! Oops!

I hurried back home, and realized that the kids had left the dog out of his kennel. And he'd gone into the out of limits kitchen, and knocked over my ceramic crock pot! Freakin dog. The crock pot fell on the floor and shattered. sigh. Not a happy camper.

I changed my clothes real fast, and headed over to Amanda's house for the movie party. Amanda was making crock pot Lasagna, and Kim brought stuff to make her crock pot roast. Me? Yeah, I wasn't htinking that far ahead. I did think to bring my laptop and design for a while. I got 1 wordart pack designed, though. So now I have 3 for next week. Oh yeah :)

We watched Eclipse, and filled Amanda in on all the stuff she'd missed. And by 10:30ish, we were all done, and it was time to jet. Amanda and Kim and I all headed out to the beauty college. (Just so you know, it's 11:16pm, and I can feel myself not making any sense. If I fall asleep, and start silly talking, scare me awake....) hehe.

Anyway, Amanda got her hair cute, and Kim and I got our gray hair retouched. They foiled her hair because it's a lot lighter than mine, and for me, they just covered the gray. My lady was awesome! She's thuper nice.

Me with some color on...
We chatted and had a grand ole time. She has a pretty high ranking enlisted hubby, and told me about how she's working at the commissary at the bagger, and loves it. and how she loves this job goo.

After my color was all done, and she'd blow dried my hair, we realized that kim was gonna be a LONG more time. And my hair lady realized what was going on. And asked if she could just play around with the curling Iron with my hair. Rather than just messing arounEd with the mannequin. Sounded good to me. LOL.

So I ended up with pretty ringlets for the rest of the day! SO NICE!!!

Here's a picture that I have of Amanda's step kid... Um, yeah, I fell asleep. This is NOT Amanda's step kid. This is Kim. Getting her hair done. ROFL!!!!! Sorry Kim and Amanda.
The beauty college is very inexpensive. I only paid $25 for my hair, plus tip. But we were there for HOURS! We didn't get back to post until around 3:00pm. My car was at Amanda's house, so Kim dropped me off there.

While we were at the beauty place, Amanda and I had gotten a text from Kari saying that Brian (Kari's hubby) was in an accident!! SO not cool! He was OK, but they were taking the other dude to the hospital. Some yahoo had run a red light on post, and totalled Brians' truck. Sorry, Brian! I know how much you LOVE your truck!!!

Amanda and I had some of her crock pot Lasagna for breakfast/lunch at her house, then headed to the bus stop. We chatted with the other parents, then I got a call from Jake's facility. They said that he'd probably get released today. I'd probably get a call tomorrow.


OK, gotta focus. Just fell asleep again! Wake up! Wake up! So the kids wanna play at the bus stop, over in the track area where Scotty exercises. Works for me. Kim and Kari and me and Amanda were all the just chatting and laughing and soaking up the warm sunbursts. We stayed for about an hour, then headed to our respective houses.

And I started to get my kids ready for the babysitters. I was going to visit Jake tonight. I had Eme walk over to Rebecca's house. I dropped Jim off at Kim's house. I dropped Tom off at the youth center with his book. He can check himself in there, and read for a bit.

Joe went to Leo's house. And Kari saved me, and asked Veronica if she had Kassie is she could get a copy of Joe's homework.... Thank goodness!

And amanda and I headed out to the hospital. It was funny, because she was chatting wit her mom/dad and later, my mom called to talk with me! Good one, huh? hehe. Our parents were checking out for us :)

We got to where we were going a few minutes early, so we popped our head into Howdy's on the way to the hospital. We got the new meds for Jake, and the paper.... Yup, I fell asleep. Now meds for Jake. No paper. We bought snacks!!! Because you can take unopened snacks into the room. jjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjSo cool! Crap, I fell asleep again! This is getting bad....

OK, so Amanda and I got to the hospital, signed ourselves in, and went to see Jake. He was happy to see us, and to see the snacks. He's asked for Amanda and I together, because he said that he likes to watch the interplay between the two of us. hehe.

We had some serious conversations, and some goofy conversations. I hope that it's gonna go well when he gets out. I really hope. He's a very smart boy. I know that if he puts his mind to it, then he can achieve whatever he wants!... Did I tall asleep again? Or was I just rambling?

We got to stay for the hour to visit, then we headed back home. We check out a local park, and made plans to come back on Monday. The kids are gonna be SO excited! this park looks killer!

We continued driving, and swung by the movie theater on the way home. And popped our head in to buy 8 tickets to Breaking Dawn for tomorrow! Oh yeah! Now, to get the tickets to the girls, and to get my money back - hehe :)

Once back on post, we worked on gathering up my kids. Eme came home from Rebecca's house. We got tom from the Youth Center. And Eme too. We got Jim from Ms. Kim's house. And dropped them off at the house. Then headed over to Leo's house.

We ended up chatting with Kari and Brian for quite some time. Those guys are SO awesome! Kari had gotten with Veronica to get a copy of today's homework for Joe. They are SUCH sweethearts! Thanks, you guys :)

I tried to get the kids to bed as fast as I could. It was 9:30pm. Super late. I needed to load my store. And blog. And I needed sleep. Really bad. Something's gotta give. But yeah, NOT my get away weekend. Something ELSE has gotta tive. LOL :)


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!


Dang, look at the mess! hehe. Good one, Sharon - LOL!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Rolling in the Dough

Rolling in the dough. ROFL! If only. hehe :) So my phone died today before I woke up. Which meant that the 6:45am wake up call totally didn't come through. Dang. Good thing I woke up on my own at 7am. Just in time to get a Family Prayer with the kids before Tom headed out for the bus.

I hurried and got the little kids ready, and we headed out for the bus. I saw Amanda and Kari parked there, so headed over to chat with them. And some little boy came up and started to chat with me. He looked about 6 or 7. He was saying how that house on the corner had bad people in it and was pointing to Kim's house. Whaaaat?

I asked what he was talking about, and he said that the big boy there had spit and bit his sister. I said that he was probably mistaken because we knew that family. Then I looked over, and a group of 3 girls were approaching the doorway. My first reaction was that they were playing some kind of cruel game, trying to see who could get closest to the door. Kids can be rude, you know...

But then they rang the doorbell, and were talking to Ms. Kim. Stranger... I didn't know what was going on. She talked with them for a bit, and shut the door, and the little girls came back to the bus stop. Then the bus got there. And the kids started to load up. I headed over to help the kids on the bus and get Joe's hot cocoa cup and Jim's yogurt container.

And here comes Kim SO mad. Madder than I've EVER seen her. I didn't know what had happened. She said that Scotty had just grabbed a little girl and had bit her! She was furious with him! Scotty is her 16 year old with severe autism (2-3 year old mentality).

She went straight to the bus driver and wanted to know what the names of those little girls were. And yeah, the bus driver didn't feel comfortable releasing that information. Understandably. There's probably a confidentiality something or another there.

So because Kim wanted the little girls to feel safe and not upset, and to figure out what had happened, and to not get some irrate parent at her doorstep tonight, she insisted that the bus driver call the MP's. Because they were gonna just go to school.

So the bus turned off the engines, and some of the parents drove their kids to school. Kari took Joe and Leo so they could make it for most of AQ. Amanda and I stayed with Kim for moral support.

She talked to the girls, and the said that Scotty was trying to play Zombies with them. But that they didn't want to. And then he spit on them and fake bit them. And it scared them. And then he ran away. So then went to the neighbors house asking where he lived. Then went to her house.

And then the MP's showed up. And then the firetruck showed up. Then the ambulance. Oh yeah. It was quite the drama. hehe. But it wasn't my kid this time. Poor Kim. I knew JUST what she was going through. Well, just LIKE what she was going through. Jake's never hurt anyone outside the family. It's just always us...

Anyway, so the MP's start taking statements, and Kim goes inside and gets Scotty. Who is freaking out. Because he's seen an episode of COPS one time a long time ago when he was little, and it's stuck with him forever. And he thinks they are gonna cuff him and drag him off to jail. So he walks over with his hands behind his back like they are cuffing him. And lays down on the ground a few times. He totally doesn't understand what it going on. Poor kid.

He sits down at the bus stop, and I go and sit by him. He's looking pretty stressed out. Kim's busy talking to MP's and detectives and and paramedics and this person and that person. It was a madhouse. Scotty did say that he was playing Zombies. He's taken out the trash, and seen the kids playing at the bus stop. And wanted to play too. So he'd snuck out to play.

The little girl is sitting there too, and Scotty looks over at her, and says "Scotty sorry. Scotty miss you. Police use handcuffs. Scotty never come back". It was the saddest thing... You could tell that he was really sorry. And she looked at him, and she said "It's ok, Scotty".

And then the Dad of the little girl shows up. And he's pissed. I don't know what the MP's told him, but he is unglued. He comes over by where we are all standing, and chest bumps the detective dude, and gets in his face, and is like, DID YOU F****N' TOUCH MY LITTLE GIRL??? at the top of his lungs in front of a bus full of elementary school kids. Really? Really???

We were all like, Um, that's the detective.... The detective (or someone) says that Scotty is over there, and the guys starts to go after Scotty! The MP's have to hold the Dad back! From attaching a 16 year old autistic boy at the bus stop... So Kim jumped out to protect Scotty, and told him that Scotty was only 16, and that he was severely autistic. That he had snuck out of the house this morning while she was giving the other little boys a bath to go and play with the kids at the bus stop.

And the dad actually had the nerve to say, "Well then you should LOCK YOUR SON UP!" Um, last I checked, there are laws about that. Cause I've looked into it (ROFL! - just kidding - hehe). And it was about that time that the MP's escorted the Dad away from where we were sitting. Because it was obvious that he was NOT going to "play nicely with others". He was out of control. This is NOT the way that an Officer in the army, a Major, none the less, should be acting. Bad form...

So at this point, Scotty, who NEVER shows emotion (his mom told me later) is sobbing. I do my best to console him. I rub his back and help him do some deep breathing. He seems to respond to me pretty well. I get him to calm down pretty well. Kim told me later that she thought that I helped Scotty a lot, and that because of me, he probably didn't have a MUCH bigger melt down at the bus stop. Glad to be of service, my friend! Scotty has DEFINITELY grown on me since I've met him. He's a very special kid :) Love ya, Scotty!

I'd say stuff like, Scotty make bad choice. Scotty be good next time. Scotty use words. Biting people is bad. And then we'd talk about random stuff too. His mind works just like mine. hehe. We'd jump between video games and dessert and tv and school and people. Just that fast. ROFL! I could totally keep up. Because that's how random my brain works too. LOL. I found out his favorite soda is Sprite, and I drilled it into him that mine is Diet Dr Pepper. Oh yeah, that's the most important thing to know about me.... DDP.... hehe.

And since I was keeping Scotty calm, Kim was able to do the paperwork and stuff that she needed to do. And didn't have to worry about Scotty. So I felt useful :) And after Kim and I and Amanda started going over the situation a bit more, we decided that the little girl and her younger brother were really too young to be at the bus stop unsupervised. The post regulation says you have to be 10 to be left alone. And yeah, they were there alone.

The dad tried to say that he was there. But let me tell you. I'm at the bus stop every freaking day. And I know ALL of the bus stop peeps by sight. And he isn't a bus stop peep. I'd know him. Maybe he drops his kid off at the bus stop, but then he drives away. Far away.

When I first walked up to the bus stop, and that little boy came up and started talking about the mean peoples house, I asked where he mom was. He said that she works 2 jobs and wasn't there. Uh huh. Just what I thought. No parental supervision.

So since the Dad acted so horribly, and Kim was still so upset about him coming after her child and the way that he acted, she told the MP's that CPS needed to be called on that man because of the lack of parental supervision. Which opened a whole new can of worms.

At this point, they pulled his girl off of the bus, and let the other kids go to school. It was 8:30am. A full hour after the bus should have been long gone. 20 minutes after school had started.

The mom showed up eventually, and yeah, I knew who it was. It's one of Kari's neighbors. She works at the little kids' elementary school. She's not my friend, but I've seen her in the office before.

And she starts getting all pissy with the MP's and saying stuff like, "Well, my husband is a Major, and he will fix this".... Um, tacky. Stop throwing rank around... A big part of the problem was that the Major was intimidating the poor Privates. The MP's were extremely lower enlisted, and they were very swayed by what this man was saying. It wasn't cool at all.

The MP's and the investigator talk to Scotty, and he seems really upset. I tell them that he's worried that he's gonna go to jail, and they tell him that he's not gonna go to jail. And he relaxes. He is SO relieved. He starts saying "Scotty no like girls. Scotty only play with boys. Girls bad. Boys good". hehe. I can see why he would think that!

The investigator guy came over at one point to talk to us, and I was like "Look, all we want is for the Dad to say that he's sorry for coming in, guns a blazing, cussing at us, and trying to attack Scotty. That's all we want". We'll drop the CPS thing if he'll do that".

Oh yeah, that just made things worse. The dad freaked out at that. He was saying something about going to Kim's hubby's chain of command and getting him in trouble. Whatever. That guy was just being plain dumb now...

We sent Scotty inside at that point. There was nothing else for him to see or do productive outside. He was just super relieved that he wasn't getting taken away. He was mumbling something about being happy about "Scotty get second chance!"

It was 10:30 before the MPs and the investigators and everyone finally left. The finally result was that the police report was taken, everyone filled out sworn statements, and I think CPS was gonna be contacted. I think. Maybe. It was not real clear. Kim said that she might call them regardless. Either way, it was a very stressful morning! Even though it didn't involve my child! hehe :)

Kim's husband was home, so we left her with him, and Amanda and I headed home. I needed to go and get Jake's homework ready from school. Amanda dropped me off at home, and I changed clothes real fast. And here's me modeling my new VICKS tissues. Nice, huh?

Kim, this shirt is for YOU, my dear!
I threw on some clothes, and headed over to Amanda's house. She wasn't quite ready, so I checked my emails, and caught Brent up a little bit on what was going on. Then she and I drove on over to the High School. I let them know that Jake was in the hospital, and gave them the note. The said that the homework would be gathered by tomorrow at 3:30. Sweet. I am going to visit him then too. Unless I hear that he's being released sooner than that... And we were on our way.

I know that Kim had mentioned something about buying stuff for her Hubby's company store at Sams club today, and that it needed done, and I thought that it sounded like a good distraction for her. So Amanda and I showed up on her doorstep, and told her to go and get changed. That we were all going to Sams. hehe.

And yeah, because I'd worn my slipper boots to the bus this morning, no socks, my feet were RIPE. And now I was wearing flip flops. SO gross. Amanda and I had to ride with the windows all the way down. So we didn't die of asphyxiation. Yeah, it was THAT bad. Bad enough ,that wen I got to Kim's house, I asked for a wash rag, some soap, and a can of lysol... And that did the trick. hehe. Sorry, friends. Stinky feet are stinky...

We all loaded up in Kim's rig, and headed to Sams. But needed to get gas first, so turned around (hehe), and headed back to the Shoppette. We did the trick where you stop at 8 gallons, then start the machine again, so you can get 2 receipts, and get 2 candy bars. She got 2 butterfingers. Oh yeah! I've got cheap friends too! hehe :)

She got a TON of stuff for the troop store, and then we looked around a bit for ourselves. I found a pair of boots that I absolutely fell in love with. And a hiking jacket. And a few books that we needed. Yes, books are in the need category. hehe. Didn't you know that?

Cheese? What about cheese? hehe.
We paid, and Scotty and I went to get lunch for everyone. We ordered from their snack bar. Hot Dog combos for the moms, and Pizza combo for Scotty. Oh yeah, gotta love a good Hot Dog! And Diet Coke. Sad that it wasn't diet Dr Pepper, right Scotty? hehe. He had Sprite, with a little bit of strawberry in it.

We ate and chatted and finished up, then headed back to post. We dropped Amanda off, and Kim and Scotty and I headed out to her hubby's work. We carried a light load up to the office, then found some soldiers to carry the rest. Cause they're young and strong, right? hehe.

And we headed back to post. Kim is awesome, you know. I'm glad that I found a new buddy to add to my group of friends. She's DEFINITELY a keeper. Love ya, my dear!!!

We got back on post, I got my car, and headed home. And, of course, put on my new boots. SUPER cute, huh!!!
The inside is just as soft and fury as my blankie... Oh yeah :) I texted for a bit, and probably should have cleaned for a while, but I was feeling a bit stressed still. Or anxious. I can't decide which it was. Drama will do that to ya, you know...

And eventually, I texted Amanda and told her to just meet me at the bus stop early. Works for me - ha!
It gave us moms LOTS of time to chat, too. And apparently, there was some discussion about racial slurs that were being used this morning. Eh??? I missed that one. Kim said Ghetto and White Trash. Are those racial slurs? If they are, no one informed me. I didn't know that it was off limits. Kim had used it today to describe the actions of "the Dad". Because, in my opinion, he DID act Ghetto and White Trash. The drama continues. What do you guys think???

Anyway, we got our kids off of the bus, and I saw Kim talking to some people outside of her house. And I just had to go and check and make sure that they were being nice to my friend! They were :) It was her neighbors. They were brought up to speed on the situation, and agreed that "the Dad" acted poorly.

I chatted WAY longer than I should have, but finally pulled myself away, and headed home. I left Tom in charge of Joe and Jim, and took Eme to Piano lessons. I made sure that she had a book, because I knew that she'd have to stay for a bit extra today. I couldn't come back right away to pick her up. She's old enough to be there for a bit on her own.

I dropped her off, and headed right back to post. And got Tom and Joe and Jim, and headed to Old Ft Bliss. And Met Adien and his dad and sisters there for the Cub Scout family activity. It was to visit a location of historic importance in the community. Old Ft bliss counts!

We made is SUPER low keyed, and just let the boys (and girls) wander around and look at what they wanted to look at. Kari came a bit later, and Kim came up too. It was a fun Cub Scout activity. After the hour was up, we had the boys tell why they thought this location was important. and the siblings answered the question too. hehe. Then we headed out.

I drove back to pick up Eme, and Jim went with Kari to Basketball practice. Tom said that he needed to be at the church early, so after retrieving Emeline, we dropped Tom off at the church early. I told him his options were VERY early or super late. He picked early. I dropped him off around 6, and headed back to post. And hung with Kari for the rest of basketball practice.

We got the jerseys for the little kids, and their shorts. And their games schedule. Unfortunately, Joe and Jim's games are on the same days, almost the same times, at different locations. Not so cool! Sigh. I wonder when Tom is gonna have his games???

After the practice, Kari volunteered to take Jim and Joe back to her house, and get them ready for bed. And yeah, I SO didn't wanna take advantage of Kari's kind hardheartedness, but it was SUCH a great offer that I couldn't turn her town. So Joe and Jim went with her, and she dropped by my house to grab their jammies and such. Kari, my dear, you ROCK!

And Eme and I headed out to church. Eme went to Achievement days, and I sat and plugged in dates into my phone. Then chatted with Amanda on the phone for a few minutes, then talked to Jake on the phone for about 10 minutes. He said that he gets to talk to the dude in charge of discharge tomorrow, and see when he gets out. He seemed pretty excited about that. He said that he's been in there for 9 days now. He's just getting worried about the growing stack of homework. Poor kid...

I chatted with a few people for a bit after the kids got done with activities, then we headed back home. It was getting late. We picked up Joe and Jim, and I put them right to bed. I gave Tom and Eme the option of staying up later and cleaning, or walking the dog, or going right to bed. Eme went right to bed. Tom walked the dog, then went to bed.

Me? I started in on my blog, and watched an episode of Warehouse 13. And now it's 11:11pm. OooOoo, it's wishing time. Oh drat. It's 11:12. I missed it. Oh well. I did get my wish. This bog post is ALMOST done. hehe. And I get to go to sleep. Emotional drama sure does take a toll on a body, you know. Even if it's not your drama. I don't know that the body knows the different between one's own drama, and friends' drama. Know what I mean???

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!


Cute cooking layout Sharon! I'm loving it!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Pressure Cooker

Morning, you guys! How goes it? It seems like it's been days and days since I've slept... But I know that's not right... I did only get about 6 1/2 hours of sleep. Maybe that's why I'm so sleepy...

Anyway, I got up, and my crock pot casserole turned out SUPER! I dished up the sausage one for the kids, and Tom liked it, at least. I had the bribe the others with Hot Chocolate. The SO wanted cereal. Hmpf! This is why I don't cook... hehe :)

I got them on the bus, and headed home to look for my copy of Twilight. We were going to Kari's house to watch the first movie. And yeah, I found the case, but not the DVD. Crap. I searched and searched and searched, but yeah, it was gone... So eventually, we just went to Kari's house.

And decided to watch New Moon instead. The first movie kinda sucks anyway, right? Sure, the book is fab, the that first movie is SO low budget. hehe.

It was Kari and I and Amanda and Kim and Maggie. The 5 of us :) We ate some yummy breakfast, and watched the movie. I designed 2 WordArt packs, and after the movie, we all headed home.

I changed my clothes real fast, and Kari came to get me. then we got Kim. And we headed to Yoga. Megan quit. And John took over. But John was gone, so someone that Megan taught was the sub. Confusing, I know. hehe. But she seemed pretty good. It was Kim's first time at Yoga, and I think she liked it. We had fun, anyway :)

After Yoga, Kari dropped us off, and I cleaned the house a little bit. Just a little bit - hehe. And worked on Pigs in a Blanket for the library. Then it was time for the bus. Tom was home, and I left him in charge of the oven and the timer.

I hung with the girls at the bus stop, then headed home to get ready for the library. We gathered up everything we needed, had Eme and Joe and Tom put on Basketball clothes, then headed to the library.

The room where we watch the movies was FINALLY opened up again, so we didn't have to watch it in the hall. And they'd turned it into a children's room. Sounded good to me. They had the movie set up in a corner, and tables for the kids. Nice.

We had bags of snacks, and pigs in a blankets on plates, and juice boxes, and some cupcakes. We were totally counting this as dinner. Works for me. But there was this woman that kept coming in who worked there who was SO rude about it. She was getting more and more pissy about it as the afternoon went on.

The kids were getting popcorn on the floor, and she kept freaking out. Really? We've been coming to the library for 2 years and getting popcorn on the floor. And we pick up. Or get us a vacuum, and we'll vacuum. No big. But stop freaking out. It's not worth it.

We could tell she was getting upset, so we asked a different lady who came in if she could get us a vacuum to use AFTER the movie. She went looking for one, and brought it back. Nice. We'd totally vacuum after.

Then the pissy lady came back, and saw the mess, and freaked out. Grabbed the vacuum, and plugged it in, and was gonna start vacuuming, RIGHT during the movie. What the heck? It really wasn't that bad. Seriously? We stopped her, and told her that we were gonna do that, AFTER the movie, so we didn't interrupt the kids... We eventually got her to go away.

She told us that it was unacceptable, and rudely told us that it was probably our LAST week with snacks. Super rude. After 2 years. Why decide to get your panties in a wad today???

So Kim and I decide to go and talk to the main librarian. Because really, the children's library is there for the children of the soldiers. Not for the old crusty people, you know. For the CHILDREN. And children are children, last time I checked. They're kinda messy. And loud. And rowdy. And sweet (hehe).

Anyway, we were trying to give her a chance to make it better. And she didn't wanna take it. She just wanted to get pissy with us. All we wanted was for her to make her employee back off, she wouldn't. Instead, she came in, and was even more annoying. The movie got over, and we started vacuuming. She walked around checking our work. We cleaned up tables that we didn't even mess up. Crayons and glue and nastiness. And accused us of making the messes in the first place. Super rude. The more we cleaned, the more mad the mom's got. And the more wile the kids got. And the more pissy the librarian got. And the shorter with the kids she got. So the more pissed off at her the mom's got. Oh yeah, it was deteriorating fast.

We left the library, and ended up standing outside chatting for about 10 minutes. And decided to NOT come back. It was unfortunate. Because Tuesday library day was SO good. Until today. Then is was SO bad. We needed some venting time. You know it's bad when a 9 year old asks, "Mom, why was that grouchy lady glaring me in the hallway??". Uncalled for...

Kari took Joe and Leo and headed to Logan for basketball, and I took Eme and Tom to main post Youth Plex. Then I took Jim and Josephine to Logan and they played. Kari and I chatted. And I entered Joe's games into my phone. Better do it now before I lose that paper. hehe.

Oh yeah, I'd called Jake's doctor earlier in the day, and was asking when he was "getting out". They said that they'd been just about to call me, saying that they wanted to get him on an anti-depressant. They said that they thought it would help him. OK. Sounds good to me. And their policy is, when they start a new med, they need a few days supervised to see how it goes. So he's gonna be in for a few more days.

It's starting to wear on me, you know. I'm relieved that he's in there, but I'm stressed that he's in there too. I go back and forth between feelings of good parent/bad parent. Between doing a good thing and doing a bad thing. Between being selfless and being selfish. And yeah, maybe I just need more sleep. I'm hoping that's it...

After Joe's practice, we loaded up the kids, and headed back to the youth center. Eme had gotten a ride back home with Rebecca and girls, and Tom was practicting. I got a new copy of my Sportsmanship card (cause you need one to have your kid in sports), and a copy of Eme's gave schedule, and the youth center ladies turned on Disney channel for the kids. Thank goodness. I sat down and programed my phone with Eme's games.

Kari and Leo came up to pick up Leo's backpack from my truck, and stayed and hung for a bit. We chatted and hung for a while, then she headed back home. Jake called a little before Tom got out of practice, and we chatted for a few minutes. He seemed in good spirits. He seemed all excited that he had depression. LOL. Kids are funny :)

We loaded up, and headed home. I did some laundry, and got the kids to bed. I started blogging, and watched some Warehouse 13. It's now 10:15pm, and I'm SUPER sleepy. Nighty night, my friends!!! See ya in the AM!!!

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!


Nice one, Sharon! This looks like a 4th of July layout! Lovin' the Red, White and Blue!!! Thanks, my dear :)


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Piece of Cake


Hey girls :) So I woke up this morning, and got the kids ready for school. And yeah, we were out of groceries. Jim had dried cereal. No milk. And a cold hot dog. He totally could have warmed it up. No bread, though. Joe made oatmeal. Eme did too. I don't know what Tom ate. There was stuff there. They just had to be creative. LOL. I did make them hot apple cider in a cup for the bus stop. See, I do love them. hehe.

And off we went to the bus. My kids are so cute. LOL :)



I got the kids off to the bus, and Maggie gave me a ride back home. I found a few things to donate for a 20% off coupon, and soon it was time for Savers. Amanda came to pick me up, and we went and got Kim, and we were off to the East side and to Savers. Oh yeah, Monday, and my favorite day of the week! hehe.

And I found quite a few good deals, actually! I got some long sleeve shirts for Joe and Jim, and one for Tom. I got some skirts and shirts for Eme, and a few shirts for myself. Not too bad of a haul :) Amanda found a few things, and Kim found a few things. And as I was organizing my stuff near the cart rack, some cash register lady started getting onto me for being near the cart return. Or so I think that's what she was saying. She was yelling at me in Spanish. And yeah, I don't speak Spanish. So I just kinda ignored her. I moved a little... She can talk to me in English if she wants to tell me something, right? Is that rude of me?? Really, I wasn't bothering anyone. I was trying to take the hangers off of the clothes so that it makes the checkout process go faster. I wasn't in anyone's way. People could still get a cart. And the area she was pointing at me to go was crowded. Sigh.

When we were ready to pay, yeah, we DIDN't go to her line. She was grouchy. We went to the dude's line. The one we were chatting with last time who we told about the "sister wife" dresses. hehe. And he remembered us! ha! We showed him pictures and everything! We even told him about the grouchy cashier lady, and he agreed that she WAS grouchy - ha! It wasn't just me :)

After Savers, we went to Fallas, and found a few more good deals. Then we were hungry. You know, shopping works up an appetite. LOL. So we headed back towards post, and planned to meet up with Kims hubby at Chili's. But first, we stopped off at Ashley's furniture to check on Amanda's bar stools. The saga continues.

So the bar stools that she'd bought a year ago (with purchased extended warranty) broke. So the filed a claim. And were told that the chairs were not fixable. But that the same chairs were no longer made. So they needed to reselect something.

And this, of course, was a very LONG and involved process. In which Amanda and I made SEVERAL trips to Ashley furniture. They seemed pretty rude, if you asked me...

Anyway, she selected some stools that she wanted, and paid the difference, and the ordered them. And it was weeks before they were supposed to get here. So today, she finally calls to find out where the heck they are. And they tell her, oh, well, they discontinued those. You'll have to come in and re-select something else.

Oh yeah, that didn't go over well. She was MAD! So Kim and Amanda and I went to Ashley to "rip someone a new one". hehe. It was gonna be fun.

Apparently Amanda's hubby, Brian, had already been on the phone with someone at the store, and had "warmed" the up for us. We got there, talked with one of the girls at customer service, and she went and talked to someone else, in Spanish, of course, and then the manager came out. And Amanda was MAD.

She was like, First off, I don't speak Spanish, and when your associate talks to me, and then turns around and speaks in Spanish, I don't know what she's saying, and it feels like she's talking about me, and I don't appreciate that... The manager didn't really know what to say...

She said that she was moving in about 3 weeks, and that she wanted this problem resolved NOW. And what was he gonna do to fix it.... He said that he'd get on the phone to corporate and give her a call back before 5pm. Good! Because you don't wanna make us Army wives mad, you know. hehe.

And we headed next door to Chili's. Yum!!!

We met Tim there, and we all had lunch. Our waitress wasn't very good, but the food was, at least. We had fun chatting and eating, and it was a great lunch. After lunch, Kim and Tim headed off to Guitar Center, and Amanda and I headed out to the Commissary.

We didn't quite make it all the way through before we had to pay and go to the bus stop, though. We were the responsible parents, and stopped. And paid. And headed home. And got the kids. I grabbed my kids from the bus real quick and headed home to meet Margot. She wanted to borrow a Staple Gun from me, and was waiting at my house after the bus. We visited for a few minutes, then she was off. We did a few chores, and worked on homework for a bit. Tom was at the youth center after school, so it was just Jim and Joe and Eme and I.

At around 5pm, we grabbed a quick dinner, then went to play in the lot by the German club. Kim and Kari and Amanda came to play with us. The kids got Glow Sticks, and had a good time.

We stayed there until it was time to go and pick Tom us from the Youth center shortly before 7pm. And headed back home. I got the kids all homeworked and situated for bed, and Amanda and I headed out to Walmart. Tom was babysitting.

We needed to get the "last few isles of shopping" done. I needed bread and milk and eggs and such. And yeah, it turned into a lot more. Walmart will do that to ya, you know. hehe. B ut I didn't need things like trash bags. And cold meds. And cough drops. And a snuggle blanket. Because my kids got grass seeds on mine. Freakin' kids...

Anyway, we walked around and grocery shopped and such for what seemed like HOURS. And laughed and talked and giggled and had WAY too much fun at Walmart. We always do. hehe. Then we paid, and chatted with the cashier, bought a $1 soda at Walmart, and headed back home.

She dropped me and my groceries off at home, and she headed home herself. Sorry you had to take your groceries in yourself, my dear :( I would have loaned you Tom....

Tom and I worked on our Breakfast Crockpot casserole's (one vegetarian and one not) and on putting the groceries away. And in the midst of all of the confusion and bags and chaos, I knocked over my McDonalds soda. On the counter. Amidst the bags and groceries. And guess what came out of my mouth??? Oh crap oh crap oh crap!!! At least I know that I'm not a cusser! hehe. Seriously, that's what my first reaction was. Too funny, huh? I had Tom go and grab a big towel, and we got the mess contained.

I cleaned and cooked and put stuff away, and he did homework. And it was almost midnight by the time I came in my room to blog. I'm gonna be sleepy tomorrow, I think. I'm going to Kari's house to watch Twilight with the girls. To get ready for Breaking Dawn on Friday after the kids go to school. We decided to be "old" and do it that way. hehe.

So that's what my breakfast casserole is for. Here's my recipe for it:

Spray down a large crock pot with cooking spray.
Brown 1 lb sausage & 1 large onion & garlic (vegetarian - substitute peppers for sausage)
Combine with 32 oz frozen hash browns &
1 - 1/2 cups shredded cheese
Mix well, then put in the crock pot

Beat 12 eggs and 1 cup milk and salt and pepper, then pour over casserole in crock pot
cook on low for 10-12 hours until eggs set

I've never tried it, so don't hold me to it. I'll let ya know tomorrow how it turns out. Smells pretty good right now. And it looks tasty. hehe. Can't be too bad, right? If all else fails, when I wake up in the morning, if it's runny, I'll just turn it up to high for a little bit. I wake up at 6:45, and we're going to the movie party at 8am. That should give me a little bit of time to cook it, right?

So, I'm off to bed. Enjoy your day, my friends!!!

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!


Great cooking layout, Sharon! I'm loving that Kit! And I SO wanna sample that Chocolate cake - looks DELISH!!! hehe :)