Doghouse

Hey guys, I just wanted to show you guys some of the AWESOME stuff in the Secret Santa box! Check out the gloves!




Here's Joe with his candy cane and Christmas patch. He LOVED it!
It was a normal morning in the Harty Household. I got up, and made sure that the kids were getting ready. I went in to get Joe and Jim up and going, and I found this strange thing on Joe and Jim's desk. I thought it looked and felt like a giant melted down and molded crayon...
But they told me it was charcoal. No, I told them. That's not what charcoal looks and feels like. But then I remembered that I got a bag of Charcoal from Amanda when she moved. And it was open. And sitting just inside the garage.... Those freakin' kids took one out, and dipped it repeatedly inside their Scentsy! Sigh. Naughty kids! I confiscated it immediately!

Soon, it was time for the bus. I walked the kids over, and chatted with Suzanne for a while. She drove me home after. Here's Jake getting ready for school. Jake and his dog. Aren't they cute!

My head was hurting (could have been from the 4 hours of sleep a day ago, right?), so I took some meds and went back to sleep after Jake got on the bus. And yeah, it was just what I needed. When I woke up, I had a lot of texts.

Check out Amanda's new house!!! It's a duplex, I think. Or a 4-pex. I can't remember which she said.

And a text from Kari, asking if I wanted to come to lunch with the kids at school! It was early release day, and the Kinders had lunch at 10:10 am. It was 9:45am, so I had just enough time to get ready and get out the door and get up there :)
Here's Jimmy! He was excited to see me at lunch! And I had fun chatting with his friends and him. Ever since I came and volunteered in his classroom, they all LOVE me - hehe :)
Kari and her parents came up next, and sat by us, and Josephine ate lunch with her friends. Then Joe came up. I somehow failed to get a picture of Joe and I. But I did get a picture of Cassie! hehe :)

Leo came next. Then Eme. It really was a good lunch hour. My head wasn't all the way good, and the cafeteria was super loud. So I took some more meds, and hoped that it would feel better soon.

Kari and her parents were headed to Walmart after lunch, and asked if I wanted to come along. I LOVED Kari's parents, and thought it sounded like a great time! So I went :) Cause I'm always up for a good time. We weren't gonna be gone long, because school got out early, and the bus was gonna be on post at 12:30pm.

Check out Kari and I in the toy isle! hehe :)

I'm Captain America!!!
We got the few things that Kari's parents needed, then headed to the quick check out to pay. And headed back towards post. And got there JUST as the bus arrived. Perfect timing, eh??? The kids got off of the bus, and mine had wrapped gifts!!!

Apparently, the school had provided a give for each of my youngest 3 kids! They were super excited! I'm not sure why, but they did :) Jim got a 5 pack of Hot Wheels, and some Spider Man coloring stuff. Joe got a big Army Man set. Eme got a Bratz "Laptop" thing. They were great gifts!

We all hung out at home for a bit, and the kids played with their toys. Jake went to the Youth Center, and the other kids played some electronics and watched some TV. I eventually went and took a hot, relaxing bath. It had been a long week...

Around 3:30, I texted Kim to see if she wanted to go on a Girl Trip to the Mall with Eme and I. She did! So we headed out. But stopped to do a few errands for Kim first. But eventually made it to the mall.

First stop, Jewelry box. I got 3 things, and Eme got 3 things. She was super excited :). Check out this creepy spider ring that Kim found! Ha!
Then, I surprised Eme with a trip to Claire's to get her ears pierced! I was gonna wait till she was 12, but figured that if I had to get her a bra, that she was old enough to get her ears pierced, right? hehe :)

She was SO super excited!!! Here's her ears before...
What a goofy face. I have no idea where she gets it from...

Ready, set, SHOOT!
She said that it didn't hurt! She was expecting it to be a LOT worse than it was. hehe. The 2nd side hurt a little worse because she knew what was coming and expected it. Poor kid! She was still super excited about it, and listened real close to the directions on how to care for it and everything.
She picked out the birthstone for December, because she wanted to remember, every time she looked at them, that December was the month that she got her ears pierced. Awe, how sweet :) We looked around the store for a bit more, and I found the COOLEST pair of boots, and got them. They were only $15 because they were 1/2 off. I asked the girl if there was a pair of 10's in the back. She went to look, but said they only had 9's and 6's. Then, when I was paying for Eme's ear piercing, the girl found a pair of 10's behind the counter! Score! So I bought them.

Then, Kim came to pay. And got some Christmas earrings and some hats and scarfs and stuff. And the same boots as me. She told the woman that they were right behind the counter. Whaaaaaat? Oh crap. I'd JUST bought them! Are you kidding me??? It's a good thing she likes me, right??? I told her that she could totally have them for $15!!! She wanted to try on the 9's and see if they'd work. Thankfully, they did! When we left, we saw the ear piercing lady getting a talking to for selling something that was behind the counter. Oops :)

Next, we headed to Hot Topic. Tom had asked for a hat from there. And, since he hasn't been babysitting consistently, I've just been buying him random stuff as "payment". So today it was gonna be a hat. Check out the ones that I tried on!

Is it too much? ROFL!
This is the one that I ended up getting for me.
After the sale and my military discount, they came out to $15 a piece. No too bad for a trendy hat, right? Cause those buggers are expensive usually!

We also stopped at a cell phone case store on the way out of the mall. I ended up getting 2 Otter Boxes for our iPhones. Cause I'm getting ready to get the iPhone 4S, and gonna give Captain America my iPhone 4. So I got him the Army green one, and got myself the white one. And was able to get the dude to knock off $5 per case, AND throw in the belt clip for Captain Amerca. Nice.

At first, he wasn't gonna cut me a deal. And I kept insisting. "So, what kind of deal will you cut me if I buy 2". I think I said that 3 times. hehe. I think he was getting tired of me, so he caved... ROFL! Those cases are a pretty penny! But, I guess you can throw them at the wall, and the phone is safe. Good to know! hehe :) We're a little rough on things in our house...

Then, it was time to RUN home for games. Kim's hubby called and said that he wanted to meet her at the mall. So Eme and I took her car, and we headed back to post. And got Joe and Jim, and gave Tom his Chewbacca hat. He LOVED it.
And we headed out to the games. We drove to Joe's game, and I made him run inside. He was very late, but there. Then, I drove on over to Jim's game. He was only 4 minutes late. Kari texted and said that her mom was there, and that she'd supervise him, and that I should come back to Joe's game. Sweet :)

So I drove back to Joe's game, and hung with Kari and her dad. I only got to see about 20 minutes of the game before it was over. But it was fun :) Then we headed back to Main Post to pick up Jim.

But I got a call from Kari's hubby, Brian, saying that he was at Josephine and Jim's game, and that he'd picked up Jim and take him home for me. Super nice! Tom and Eme were both home, so it was good.

Joe and I swung by the Youth Center, and picked up Jake (he'd been ready since about 5 to come home, but I'd been busy), and he told me all about his day. He'd gone Paintballing with the Youth Center, then come back and played pool. And all sorts of fun things. He talked about wanting to join the Swim team next year, and I was just so excited for him. Those new meds really are doing good things!

We got back home, and I dropped Kim's car off at her house. And we grabbed our bags, and walked the rest of the way home. I got a text from Kari asking if I was still planning on stopping by the going away party for Adela. Oh yeah! That was tonight.

So I got the kids situated, and changed clothes real fast, then texted her that I was ready. And we walked over to a different Kim's house (Adela's BFF and neighbor). She's just down the road, near where Andrea used to live. Adela and her family are moving to Italy next week. Cool duty station, huh???

A different Kim (Andrea's friend) was there too, so we got to catch up. Her son had gotten back from deployment, and had some issues with hearing and vision and PTSD and such. Poor guy. We filled each other in on kids and spouses and future plans and everything. She's a lot of fun. A few years older than Kari and I, but SUCH a lot of fun! We both love Kim! (what's up with having SO many friends named Kim, right??)

We stayed till around 10:30, visiting and chatting and eating. Well, I ate. Cause I hadn't had dinner. I guess that Kari had gone to Chili's with her family. The appetizers were really good! And I had one chocolate covered strawberry. And I brought 2 Diet Dews. The other girls were drinking (Not Kim (andrea's kim) and Kari or I), and there were kinda 2 conversational circles going on. But really, it was a lot of fun. I'm glad that I went! And Adela, I hope that you have a GREAT time in Italy, and that the 2 day travel experience is a smooth one!

Kari and I headed home, and I got my kids to bed. I told them that in the morning, that they needed to do chores and clean rooms before they got electronics. Cause the house was messy... Story of my life.

At 8am, Eme and I are going to pick up her bike that she won. Then at 9, we have a basketball game for Eme. And at 11, a game for Tom. And Kim invited me to an Ugly Christmas sweater party around 2. Should be a good time! We'll see how much energy I have, right? 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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Ha! That puppy IS in the doghouse. So was mine today! Freakin' dog... But I digress... Great layout, Sharon!!!

Crocodile Tears 2

New stuff, girlies! I only got around to 4 new packs this week! Last week before school gets out is CRAZY busy! But you already know that, right? hehe :) Click HERE to go to my store :)

All layouts by Sharon!






Wow, so 4 1/2 hours. Yeah, NOT enough... I was exhausted when I drug my sorry butt out of bed at 6:50am this morning. And got the kids ready for the bus. Tom left at 7, and at 7:15 Jim and Joe and Eme and I walked on over to the bus. And the kids carried all their teacher presents and goodies and such. And Joe dropped his, of course. They were safe from dirt, but didn't look pretty anymore. Hmpf! Oh well. Par for the course, right?

Rebecca was there too, and we'd made plans to walk right after the bus. With Maggie too. Who wimped out (love ya, girl!) and decided to go back home and go to bed. Which I totally wanted to do. But now that I was outside and walking around and talking, I felt ok. So I told Rebecca to come back to my house. to let me wake up Jake, and grab my walking shoes.

I got Jake up and getting ready, and Rebecca and I headed out. She's got something wrong with her heart, I think, and waiting on surgery. So she can't get her heart rate up. Ironic, since she's the personal trainer. Poor girl, huh? But she wants to keep up some sort of exercise, so a little walk works. We walked around the neighborhood for about 30 - 40 minutes. Worked for me. And it helped me to stretch my sore muscles. Because she'd kicked my booty the day before at the gym. ha!

I got home, half expecting to see Jake, cause he'd missed the bus, but he was gone. Thank goodness. And the dog was in the kennel. At least he listened. But he forgot his teacher treats. Tomorrow.

I sat down with my laptop, and edited a photos that I'd promised Kari and Andrea that I'd do. And while I was working, Amanda, the super sweet and spunky girl from church, called to say that she wanted to stop by my house and bring me homemade cookies and peppermint bark! Whaaaat????? Freakin' AWESOME!!!

She came by about 20 minutes later, so I had treats to design with!!! She had to run, so didn't stay, but I was super appreciative! Thanks, my dear! You totally rock! I finished up the photos, and sent them off by email, then hopped in the shower. And had about 30 minutes to get ready. And hustled, and had just enough time before Terra came to get me. I wanted picked up first because I wanted to sit up front. LOL! Shotgun!

See, I clean up nicely! And do you think I could have found any bigger earrings???

We had SO much fun at lunch. Terra drove some of us. Me and Kim and Corey, and Julia. And Maggie and Hannah, and Erin from the preschool bus last year, and Rebecca, Kari and her parents met us there. L&J's is awesome, you know :)

And me, being the photographer of the group, passed the camera around and made everyone take a picture of themselves. Ha! It's a good thing my friends like me and tolerate me - ha!

Me and Erin

Kari's Dad and Mom - they were SO much fun! I hope we do something else with them before they go back home! I liked them a lot :) She said I was kooky. that's a good thing, right? ha!

Julia and I

Kim and Maggie

Kim and Julia

Rebecca and Terra

Mom and Kari

Dad and Mom

I love you, Diet Dr Pepper!

Kari ordered the Chocolate Mole, minus the chicken. Because she's a vegetarian. I'd never had a Mexican chocolate dish! Ha! She gave me a bit, and it was chocolatey, and spicy! But really good :)
This hostess lady had on a completely red outfit. Even the tights.... hehe ;)
So I asked for my Guacamole on the side (I got a beef fajaita salad) because I don't like guac, and they brought me a side of guac. Yeah, I think he was confused.... I got them to take if off my bill. I hate guac, so why do I wanna pay for it, right??


We ate and chatted with the people near us at the table. It's hard to visit with everyone when you have a big group and a rectangle table, you know - hehe. I sat right across from Kari's mom and dad, and next to Erin. We had a blast chatting. And Erin said that she'd start playing with us! That school was out for a while for her, and that she was available. Sa-weet! I'm gonna havje to go and get her - hehe :)

After we ate and chatted for a bit, we headed out. L&J's is SUPER popular, and there was a huge crowd waiting to be seated. So our party leaving freed up a lot of space. It was funny, because Corey was in the car, and I kept telling him, "Cover your ears, we're gonna talk about girl stuff!". I wanted to ask Terra, who has a 13 year old girl, about training bras. You know that picture of Eme yesterday in the red dress? Yeah, she totally needed one... And I am clueless about such things.

And Terra's daughter had outgrown hers, so Terra said that she'd bring them by, and we could use them as a gauge to see what Eme needed. Perfect! Again, it's good to have friends!

Terra dropped me off at home, and I had about an hour before Jim's class party. I did some laundry, and straightened up the kitchen a tad. And watched part of a movie. The Temple Grandin movie. Oh my gosh, it was AMAZING!!!

Then I headed up to Jim's school at 2 for the party. He'd asked Kari at the bus stop if she would come to his party. Because he didn't even think that I'd come. How rude! ha! So I had to be there - hehe :)

They had treats, and pizza, and soda, and played games. The kids were all SUPER excited to see me. Yeah, it made me feel good. I got so many hugs, and smiles. I should go up more often. Kindergartners like me :)

Mrs. Rivera

Jimmy at the end of class, getting his goody bag. And Jade, who loves us. hehe :)
After the party, I decided to drive the kids home. I went to the office, and had them get Eme and Joe off the bus. And got a text from kari asking if I'd grab her kids from the bus. So I decided to just get them from the school, since I was right here. Easy peasy!

But then it was taking Eme forever to come up to the office. Because she didn't get the message that she was supposed to. So we waited around forever, but eventually, a teacher tracked her down. And we were able to head home. I'd had to park FAR away, since they're tearing up the parking lot and such. they're building new classrooms onto the school, and everythings all Jacked up...

Anyway, it was a bit stressful manhandling a Kindergartner, a 1st grader, a 2nd grader, a 3rd grader, and a 4th grader, and making sure they didn't get ran over crossing the road and such. But I made it with all the kids alive and intact - ha!

We went to my house, and the kids started eating their snacks from their party bags as fast as they could. In addition to all the sugar and cupcakes and candy and juice and such that they'd had at 2pm at school.

And that's when I decided that it was park time. hehe. It was cold outside, but that's what coats are for, right? hehe.

I texted Kim to come and play when she and the kids got home, then headed out. And the kids seemed to have fun and be oblivious to the fact that it was cold. Silly kids!

Kari and her mom and dad came after a bit, and got Josephine and Leo, and hurried home because it was cold. I just didn't wanna take my kids home. hehe. They were occupied at the park. So Kim and I snuggled with kid sweatshirts on a bench in the park. And Kari's mom said "Why don't you guys go sit in the car?"

And you know what? I never thought of that! So we moved to her car. And she turned it on, and blasted the heater! I'd never thought of that either. I just thought to sit in the car - hehe. I guess that comes from driving something old, huh?

Her heater works good.... see?
Tom and Eme eventually ended up back at home, but Joe and Jim and Austin and Corey played outside for a long time. Like a lot longer that I could have hacked it. Kim and I chatted and played dumb games on our iPhones. Since I'd only gotten 4 1/2 hours of sleep last night, I was SO tired. And the seat warmers, and the heater were making me sleepy. We didn't talk a lot, just kinda zoned on the dumb games. hehe.

Eventually, we headed home. The kids did chores, and Tom made the French Bread pizza. and Jake never came home. Sigh. I'd told Jake that I wasn't gonna drive him home from the Youth Center. And I wasn't gonna go back on that. So I guess he was on his own to get home. Oh well. Not my fault...

We forgot about Tom's basketball practice, and just had a nice and relaxing evening. I think I may have remembered a few times, but he didn't remember, and I didn't remind him... So we didn't go. I'm just tired. And was tired. And had some work to do.

I blogged for yesterday, and got it published. Then worked on loading my store. And we finished off the Temple Grandin movie. Then started it over again. SuCH A good show. The kids really liked it too.

I did some more laundry, and got a load of towels and shoes ready to wash. That helps, right? For nasty stinky boy shoes? They are disgusting! hehe :) We shall see...

At 8pm, I put the kids to bed, and then Jake called from the youth center, asking for a ride. And I told him that I told him yesterday that I wasn't gonna give him a ride home, so that he was supposed to come home on the bus. He was like, "mom, I forgot!!!" Sorry, Jake. You can't forget some things. I told him to walk. He wasn't pleased...

And then, about 20 minutes later, he showed up. Yeah, it takes 10 minutes to drive here... He said that one of the Youth Center adults drove him home. Hmpf. Not the lesson I wanted him to learn. But, I did stick to my guns, right? I didn't go and get him. And he had to be social, and figure out a solution to his problem. And find a ride home. Which he did. And he was in a good mood when he got home. So I'm not complaining, I guess. The point of the "punishment" was to show him that if he wants something from me, than he needs to give something back.

Jake and I watched a bit of the Temple Grandin movie (for the 3rd time so far today!), and he said that he related to her quite a bit. The crowded lunch room screen especially. I'm gonna have to watch it with him again and pick his brain...

And then, at 9:30, Kim came over. She and I were gonna look at the Online Miche party order thing. At the sale items. We looked around, and found what we wanted, and did our thing. And Leslie was on messenger, so we were able to ask our questions and everything. Sweet :)

Kim stayed and watched the end of the movie with me, then she headed home. And I finished off my blog. And here it is, 11:49pm. Sleep... I miss you :) I need you! hehe :)

Kids have early release tomorrow. My friends and I were talking about this. We wished that it was late start instead of early release. So we could sleep in - hehe. But then I'd have Joe coming in and bugging me asking if it was time to go to school, like on that snow day, right? Silly kids! ha!

OK, night gals! See ya in the morning!!! Oh yeah, one more thing! We got a package from a secret Santa today!!! She is the SWEETEST thing ever! She sent a "How to write science fiction stories" book to Jake, and candy canes (big ole ones!) for each of my kids and me, and some chocolates, and AWESOME gloves and socks for me, and a pot holder and dish towel, and even some $$ to go out to ice cream! What a SUPER duper sweet surprise!!!!! You, my dear, are the BESTEST!!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!

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, POOR baby! Look at those great big tears!!! Sweet, sweet layout, Sharon! So precious!