Welcome to my Site

You can reach me at: bnbharty@gmail.com and I'll try my best to answer. I get a crazy amount of email, so PLEASE don't hate me if you don't hear back from me. Love ya!

Click here for my Terms of Use

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Monkey Business.

Wow, I started blogging way too late tonight. hehe. It's 12:48am. And i'm just starting... Lets see if I can make this fast :)

I slept in today! No early morning appointment :) I think it was around 9am when i finally crawled out of bed. I went out to see what the kids were doing. And at 9:30am, I went to see why Jim hadn't woken up yet. Ha! He's not one to sleep in - hehe :) He was snoozing away, and woke up when I came in.

Check out the snow in El Paso!!! The kids had to check it out.





The kids and I had fun playing with my phone for a while. Siri can be funny :)


I decided to do something more productive than playing on the phone, so i turned on some Christmas tunes, and cleaned the sinks and counters in the bathroom. There ya go! hehe :)
We had some lunch, and then more free time. The kids were being mostly good. Mostly. I took a shower, and decided to actually straighten my hair, and do my make up, and put on good clothes. Not that I had plans for the day or anything. Ha! Maybe if I got all ready, then I'd get some plans, right???

When I was all ready and pretty (ha!), the kids wanted to go outside and play. So I went out to get some photos. They had a lot of fun, but it was REALLY cold!












Jake came home from Kim's house, and was super tired. So he took a nap on the couch. Kim and I talked about it, and we think maybe his meds are leveling out, and maybe he needs to go up a dose. He's getting "frisky" again.... Or maybe he just needs to go back to school and get back on his routine. Christmas break is kicking his butt! He's being a little more aggressive with the other kids than I'd like, though.
I really wanted to go somewhere and do something, but couldn't find anyone to play with me. So I took a nap and watched X-files at the same time. Cause I have mad skills, you know. ha!

Until I couldn't take it anymore, and I had to leave the house. And I decided, instead of "running away", that I'd take the kids with me. And that we'd go to Big Lots and to Fallas and spend the Grandma Ida dollars from Christmas and the Grandma Lyn/Grandpa Steve money too. That way, the kids would have presents! Sounded like a good idea at the time.

There were like a million people at Fallas. Yeah, Jake didn't like it at all! I forgot about that. I found some winter hats for a few of the kids, Eme found something for her Grandma Ida money, and Jake found something for his, we paid, and headed to Big Lots.

And the kids spent the rest of the money. They really did find a lot of good stuff! I'll blog about what it was on Christmas when we open it - hehe. It seemed like we were in the stores forever, though. It really did.

Finally, we all loaded up and headed back to post. And made plans to meet Kim and Kids at the "Jesus tree", as Josephine calls it. See, we walked to the BIG lit tree by the Ft Bliss religious center buildings last year as a family, and saw the nativity scene, and it was a GREAT time. So we wanted to do it again this year. Yeah, NOT the great time it was last year...

Jake was done with being out in public. And was grouchy. Well, mean, mostly. He was throwing snowballs at the kids, and chasing them, and knocking them down. And then laughing. And when I'd try and correct him, he was obstinate. Not a good evening. And he kept throwing snowballs at the nativity scene. Not appropriate...

I gave up. Kim hadn't even gotten there yet, and I led my kids back to the truck. We got about 1/2 way there, and she pulled up with Hot Chocolate. The kids got out and played a bit longer, we passed out the hot chocolate, and we finally left when Jake was about to unplug the tree. Sigh. Naughty! I'm SO ready for this deployment to be over! I need a week off!!!

This is my really? face...
Tom and I


She needs to learn to pull her sock hat down a bit - ha!
Jake was happy when we left, at least! He just doesn't do well when he's bored...
We got home, and got everyone situated. I told the kids that after another round of chores, that they could have electronics until 10pm. Then it was bedtime. Joe refused to do chores, so he was sent right to bed. And I told Jake and Tom that I'd buy them a candy bar of their choice for doing his chores. Yeah, that got their attention. LOL.

We realized that while at Big Lots, our electronics that we meant to purchase didn't get rung up. It was still sitting on the counter, un-purchased. sigh. So I needed to go back. That's ok, I needed a trip out without the kids - ha! Kim and Tim wanted to come too!

I left the kids with about 30 minutes before they were going to bed, and out we headed. Kim was driving. We swung by Big Lots, and I ran in and got the electronics that I needed. Then we went to the Transmountain Walmart. Tim headed off to the Electronics, and Kim, poor thing, wasn't feeling well after eating Dominos for dinner. So she had to run off to the bathroom to puke her guts out.

Amanda texted, and said that she was at Walmart too!!! So we Skyped, and shopped! We only were able to get a good enough signal to talk for about 10 minutes, but it was fun!!! Just like old time :) Thanks, girl!!! I miss ya!!!! I know you wanna come and visit me!

Kim started to feel better, and came and caught up with us. Here's a few pictures I snapped while on Skype

You know, it's amazing how much stuff people ditch on the wrong shelves at Walmart. And yeah, I know, I'm as guilty as the next guy. But really? If it's frozen goods? I'm not gonna ditch it in the beef jerky section at the check out!!!
I also found a head of lettuce with the peanut butter, and a package of chorrizo (Mexican sausage) with the cosmetics. Nice, huh? I don't get some people...

For Christmas, my kids and I are going over to Kim and Tim's house, and I'm in charge of desserts. So I got some stuff for pies. And mostly, we just wandered around yawning and being sleepy. hehe. We just wanted to get out of the house for a bit.

Eventually, we were done. And got in line, and paid. It wasn't even that busy. Well, compared to what it COULD have been. I think the nasty weather was keeping people away. And Kim was starting to feel icky again. And Tim had had something to drink before we came, so that left ME as the driver. hehe. That's ok. I joke with Kim that I drive her car more than she does when we go out. RofL!

I drove myself home, and she felt good enough to drive by the time we got there. Hope ya feel better, hon! My kids were all in bed (but of course, every light in the house was on...), and the chores were done. Good job! Butterfinger earned!

I wrapped a few presents, and started blogging and watching X-files. It's now 1:19am. *yawns*. Off to sleep! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I need to think about what presents to let my kids open tomorrow. If we lived near my family, we'd be doing presents from my parents and from my grandparents tomorrow evening.... Plus, if they get toys tomorrow, they will be entertained... ROFL!

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!


SUPER cute, Sharon!!! I'm loving this layout!!!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Horse Play

First off, I just wanted to show you guys a couple of my older bundles that I have inside of the store! No new releases this week, since it's Christmas and all. BUT, you can still go shop! I'm gonna be adding a new bundle here soon, too! But be sure to check these out first! They are AWESOME! And I try real hard to make sure that there aren't a lot of duplicates within the bundles. One may slip in here and there, but it's totally not my intent.










How is it even possible that it's THIS close to Christmas??? As I was pre-publishing the blog, Dec 23rd was the date. Are you kidding me? Does that really mean that tomorrow is Christmas Eve??? No freakin' way! That really snuck up on me!

My alarm went off at 7:45am, and instead of waking right up, I hit snooze. And finally got out of bed at 8:10am. I had about 5 minutes to get ready and be out the door. Ha! I hustled really fast, made sure that the kids were all good (only Tom was awake), and off to my Therapy session on the West side I headed.

It was a good session, too. I'd considered texting and rescheduling. Because I hadn't done anything that I was supposed to. And we talked about that. How I was feeling SO overwhelmed with all of the stuff that I was supposed to be doing. And instead of doing something, I do nothing. I run from my "problems". OK, guilty as charged. And that, of course, makes things worse. So, my task for the 2 weeks was to NOT run. But to face them, and to work thru them.
,
So, I went home, and when Rebecca texted and said that she couldn't meet to exercise, I texted Kari and Kim to see if they wanted to walk. Because exercise makes me feel good. And satisfies my need for social time. Two in one.

The kids were all awake by the time I got home (Joe was still at Leo's house), I changed my shoes, and headed to the park to meet the girls. And we started walking. Check out our happy shadows! hehe :) (me and kim and kari)
After the walk, we headed back to our homes. But Kim stopped by real quick to pick up her purses that came in. We'd both gotten stuff with my 30% discount, so she'd come to pick it up.

And then I bit the bullet, and cleaned. We turned off the electronics, and plugged in the music, and started cleaning. Everyone did their chores. Except Jake. He disappeared, and I couldn't find him. I texted Kari to see if she was at his house, but she had left. (and Joe had come home) I texted Kim, but no response. Sigh. I guess Jake would do his chores when I saw him next, right?

It took about an hour, but the house looked a TON better afterwords. Everyone was in a pretty good mood, aside from Joe. He must not have gotten a lot of sleep at Leo's house. Cause he was SO grouchy. But I guess that's what Christmas break is about, right? Hanging with friends? Especially if your dad is gone...

Check out the pictures that I took of my Christmas Cactus!!!
Jimmy wanted to be in the photo with the cactus and the flowers :)
We hung at the house for a bit, and relaxed for a while. It was a good time with the kids. Terra texted after a bit, and asked if I wanted to sneak away for a bit to go to Big Lots and Albertsons. Actually, her phone said Alberta, Canada, but I knew what she meant. ROFL!

She came and got me, and we went to Big Lots. But weren't there long. I did find a few things for Stocking Stuffers, though. And then we headed to Albertsons. She wanted to look for snacks for her family for Christmas Eve night. And you know me, I always find stuff that I find humorous...

Festive? Really? hehe :)
This name cracked me up!
After Albertsons, Terra dropped me off at the house, and the house was still mostly clean. Good job, kids! hehe. We straightened up a little bit more, and Jim and Joe and I took a little cat nap.
They wanted to snuggle with "laundry pillow" with me. hehe. Joe only stayed for a few minutes, but Jimmy stayed for quite a while. It was nice snuggling with him. I must have dozed off for a while, though. ha!

The kids had dinner, and then Kim texted and asked if I wanted to go do some Christmas Shopping with her and Tim. Sounded like a good time to me. And since I'd spent quite a lot of time with the kids today already, I didn't feel bad leaving. See, I wasn't running. ha!

I stocked up my new purse with ONLY the essentials... ROFL!
And headed to Kim's house. Jake was there! THAT's where the kid went! I had him go home to do his chores, and said that he could go back to Kim's house.

Then we headed out to Big Lots. And when Jake went back to Kim's house, Joe went with him. So only Tom and Eme and Jim were at my house.

We had fun walking around Big Lots, and looking at random stuff... Um, yeah, you DON'T wanna know what Tim called his collection of things. hehe :)

Sock monkey strikes again!!!We paid, and headed over to Toys R Us. It's right next door. And check out this Santa booth they had right outside the door. Ha! I thought it was pretty podunk! hehe.
We walked around for a bit inside of Toys R Us, and found the few things that we needed. I needed a certain game for a certain child... And what's up with these dolls? Ugly Charlie? Glad I didn't name any of my kids Charlie, right? hehe.

Never noticed this Smurf before....
Hang on, Army Dude!!!
Miss you, Captain America!!! Come home soon!
After Toys R Us, we drove over to Barnes and Nobles/Dollar Tree. Tim went in the bookstore, and Kim and I went to Dollar Tree. Check out the Sock Monkey puzzle I found!!!
We grabbed the few things that we needed, and got a text from Tim saying that he was at Best Buy (right in the middle of the 2 places). So we wandered down. And remember how that chinese buffet has those signs I find so funny about the "don't leave our ice cream outside"? Here's why!!!!
Really? Who wastes perfectly good ice cream like that??? hehe :) We walked around Best Buy for a while, and look at what there was to see. Nothing for me in there. Kim and Tim found and ton of stuff, though. hehe. They paid, then headed out.

Next stop, Walgreens. Kim wanted to get a Pillow Pal for one of her kids. I considered getting on for Jim, but it was above my price range. But now that I think about it, Fallas has generic ones! I think I'll go and look there tomorrow. He'd reallly like that!! Good idea, me!

I found this hat there, and liked it :)

And bought it! Kims is more black, and mine is more tan. So they're not identical. hehe. Tim was hungry when we left Walgreens, so we went to Applebees on the way home. Score!
Oh yeah, we really dressed up for our night out on the town. hehe.
We're such dorks. We all 3 sat around playing on our iPhone 4s's. Kim and I played a few rounds of Family Feud on her phone. Mine was dying SUPER fast. We played with Siri, and asked her all sorts of stuff.

Our waitress was new, and not very good. Bless her heart. I'm sure she'll get better with some practice. She dropped and broke her money bag first thing, then messed up the drinks. We're nice though, so it's all good :)

Tim got the steak and shrimp something, I got the quesidilla burger, and Kim got the pineapple something salad. And after forever, our food came out. My burger was awesome. I ate most of it, and brought the rest of it home to Tom.
Kim's salad was SO super spicy, that she couldn't eat it. Poor girl. So she asked if she could get something else. You know it's bad when she's asking for something else. She even asked for a ton of extra dressing to drown out the spicy. Nope, not even that worked. So she got an appetizer trio for her meal. And it wasn't spicy. Thank goodness!

I ended up drinking like 3-4 waters at dinner, and got SUPER stuffed. ha! We had fun messing around with the phones and joking and just hanging out. It's nice to have friends, you know. Especially friends that will distract you from that fact that your BEST friend is gone over Christmas.... Miss you, honey :(

After eating, we paid, and headed back to post. They came in with me, and helped me carry in my stuff. I'd bought some hampers for clothes in the laundry room, and Tim carried them in. He'd never seen the inside of a 4 bedroom house, and since we'd cleaned today, I wasn't super embarrassed by it - ROFL!

They headed home, and I hid the Christmas stuff in my secret hiding place. Then worked to get the kids to bed. Jake came home to take his meds, then headed back to spend the night at Kim's. Both him and Joe were gonna spend the night there.

I turned on some X-files, and started blogging. There are no new releases this week, but I am gonna have sales. Look for those to come! My plan for tomorrow is to SLEEP IN! No appointments tomorrow :) My day is open wide. I'm hoping to get the Christmas stuff put out once and for all. Since Christmas is Sunday, you know! ha!

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!


Awe, look at that!!! Love pictures of kids playing with their dads!!! So fun :) Great job, Sharon!