Morning, you guys. I woke up this morning at 6:45ish, and got my kids ready for school, and out the door and on the bus. Typical morning routine. CPT had gone for a morning exercise, and just as I was ready to get in the shower, he came back and needed to use the bathroom to get read. Oh well, I didn't really wanna get fixed up today anyway - ha!
So I goofed around on my computer for longer, and then slapped on some clothes and got somewhat ready for Jake's therapy appointment at 9am. CPT headed to work, and Jake and I headed to his appointment.
The therapist was a bit late, so we hung for a bit outside the office. Finally, she came, and it was our turn. I had a few extra questions for her this week, then it was Jake's turn. I texted back and forth with a few people, then it was my turn again. And I had more questions (ha!), and then it was time to go. Jake wanted to re-fill my soda bottle, and was SUPER impressed with the drinking fountain. Isn't it a cool option that it had?
I dropped Jake off at school, then headed back home. I was cooking chicken in the crock pot today. Leg quarters. I had 2 meals worth in the bag that I bought yesterday. So I put the other half in the fridge, and filled the crock pot with enough for us for tonight. I love chicken - hehe :)
Check out our hot sauce collection! CPT and Tom like it - me? Not so much...
I did some chores around the house, and a few other things to occupy myself until CPT got home from morning work. We'd been going on errands every day, and I was excited to see where we'd go today.
I decided to cook up a quick batch of cupcakes for Cub Scouts tonight, since I had just enough time. I had a box mix of Carrot Cake, so I decided on that. I got about 25 baby carrots out of the fridge, and put them in my food processor, and mixed them up really really good. Then, I added 1/2 an orange, peel and all. Then the juice from the other 1/2. And added that to the cake mix, as the directions called for.
And I had bought these rubber-like cupcake liners at the dollar tree a while back, and was finally gonna test them out. Luckily, they worked MARVELOUSLY!!! Pfew!
I combined a package of cream cheese, a bit of milk, a lot of powdered sugar, and some lime juice to make a loose frosting, and frosted the cupcakes. OMGosh, they were SO good! And when I peeled off the rubber liners, they were SUPER SUPER SUPER moist. Yeah, that's some good cupcakes, there!
CPT got home as the cupcakes were coming out of the oven. And he was on the phone with his Mom and Dad. I was a little annoyed, but not really. It's important for him to talk to his parents, right? So I made the frosting, and cleaned up my mess. And farted around in the kitchen for a while longer. And did a few other kitchen projects.
And he was on the phone for about an hour longer. And by the time he was done, it was almost 2pm. But then he was grouchy because we didn't really have time to go anyway before the kids got home from school. And because Eme had piano after school. I think it's that re-integration thing again... Sigh. I'm getting weary of it, let me tell you. The walking on eggshells is killing me, here. Never knowing what's gonna set them off. Please, military wives, tell me this is gonna get better???
Anyway, he got upset, and I got upset, and I decided to just go and do something productive with my 1 hour before the kids got home from school. So rather than arguing, I designed. And got 2 WordArt packs designed. I guess that made him mad, because soon, he left and went who knows where. But really, if it weren't for the bad feelings (well, somewhat bad feelings, not super bad feelings, just annoyance, really), it would be ok for us to be doing our own thing now and thing, you know... For my to take the afternoon to design, and for him to go and run an errand or two on his own. That's just natural. We don't have to be together every waking moment....
Anyway, I went to the bus to get the kids, and Kari took Joe with her to the library, I left Jim with Tom, and I headed to piano with Eme. And I brought my computer with me. I got 2 WordArt packs designed there too! Yeah me!
Right before piano got over, CPT and I texted a little and tried to sort out what had happened. I just think that this process it gonna take a long while. And we're trying to rush it. To get back to normal super fast. It's gonna take a few months.... And it's only been 2 weeks, I think.
Anyway, I got back home, and we started to dish up the chicken. And as soon as I got it out on all of the plates, Tom freaked out and said that his Basketball awards ceremony had started at 5pm (it was almost 5:30), and that we had to go NOW so that he didn't miss all of it.
Crap. I was pretty sure that it was 5:30 that it started, but we hustled, none the less. I couldn't leave anyone home with Jake, because he wasn't playing nicely with others at the moment. Sigh. Sometimes I can, and sometimes I can't. And I have a pretty good read of when those times are. Not tonight.
So I got Tom and Eme and Jim in the truck, and headed to the Youth Center. Kari still had Joe at the library. In fact, here's a picture that she texted me.
We got to the Youth Center, and it was, in fact, 5:30 for the party. Thank goodness! I'd forgotten my phone at home, and I had no way to tell CPT where I was. Cause we'd ran out of there so fast. He was on his way home too. The Youth Center let me borrow their phone, and I called him and asked him to grab my phone from the house, and to come and get the kids. Thank goodness! Jim and Eme did NOT wanna be thereE! hehe.
He dropped off the phone, and got the little kids, and then it was just Tom and I. They had group pictures
And then they got there trophies. Here's Tom with Coach Adrienne. (it's Jim's coach too!)
They totally had a typo on the trophy! I'm going with it was an "on purpose" mess up. They saved $500 by leaving out the "t". ROFL! Just kidding :)
After the awards and the pizza party, Tom and I headed back to the house. We had dinner (chicken and salad), and then got ready for Cub Scouts. We were learning about Recycling and our planet and how to keep it clean. Plus, I was giving them their projects from last week. CPT had finished them off this week. Thanks, my dear!
CPT decided to stay home with Eme and Jim, so Jake and Tom and Joe and I loaded up, headed to pick up Leo, and off we went. I was feeling pretty out of it, too. My ears had been "stuffy" all day, so I'd taken a 12 hour Sudafed. Plus, I was on an up day of my Topomax. So I was sleepy. And inattentive. Sigh. Unfortunately, I'm getting kinda used to functioning "out of it"... I really just wanted to go to sleep.
We talked about respect, and how it related to our planet. Then what we could do to keep our world clean. Then ways to recycle. And what resources they had locally. And stuff like that. And then Matthew's dad (Charlotte's hubby) read a book. We were supposed to read 3 books about keeping our planet safe, or something like that, but with as hard as it was to keep the groups attention with 1 book, I felt justified in counting it for 1. hehe.
Dave went ALL out with this book. It was a Sesame Street book, and he read the book as Grover. With the voice and everything! Grover was from the streets of LA there for a while. And trying to sell us a watch, I think. hehe. It got pretty funny towards the end. When he switched up the voices every page. Yoda came out, too! I loved it! And the boys too!
After the sit down parts, we used a Steam Cleaner box, with 3 holes cut in it, for a Bean Bag game. Except, instead of bean bags, we used Relish Packets. Because I'd gotten a WHOLE giant box of them from someone a while back. So yeah, how's that for recycling. And not one relish packet got squished. Good job, Scouts! That was showing some REAL restraint! hehe.
Anyway, I gave them each 5 packets, and had them line up by height, then we took turns throwing the relish packets into the box with circles cut in it. Yeah, they thought it was AWESOME! That was the last 10 minutes worth of den meeting. We ate a cupcake, had a prayer, and they were out of there. We decided to have a "car clinic" next time. Great den meeting!
We hung for a tad bit longer in the hall and chatted with some other church peeps, then headed home. With my kids practically pulling me the entire time. I think they were ready to go, or something... hehe.
I made Tom talk to me the whole time, so that I would stay awake. I was feeling a bit drowsy. And I did pretty good until he stopped talking. Those last 2 blocks were pretty rough. You failed me, Tom - hehe. At least I didn't crash! ha!
I got home, and CPT was putting Jim to bed. It took quite a while for everyone else to get to bed. I chatted with my girl Stephanie for a bit on messenger (she's gonna help me with some pre-bloging stuff), then uploaded my photos for the day, and designed the rest of the month's WordArt freebies. CPT cleaned in the dining room, and I continued to work. He's rearranging books. The ones that have been on the table. I'm pretty sure he and Eme moved the kid books from the dining room to a bookshelf that is upstairs in her room while we were at Scouts. One of these days, my house will be clean again :)
So here it is, 10:40am. Tomorrow, I'm going hiking with Kari. Then we have the Autism Support Group meeting at 10am. They are gonna talk about how to get a grant for an iPad for your autistic spectrum kid. I'm there - ha! That would be nice for church! Ice Skating is also tomorrow after school, and I have to load my store, but I think that's all. Sports are officially over for the Hartys for a few months. Baseball is the next thing on the docket, but that doesn't start until April, I think. NO spring soccer for us. CPT asked us to take a small break for a while :)
Click on the link below to go to my account to download the pNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. thanks1
Kim agreed to come with me to Lowes, and we headed out. We used the Miche shell, and walked around the store testing it's magnets for metal. Yeah, most of what they had was aluminum. hehe. Which magnets don't stick to - ROFL! But the duct work metal stuff DOES work :) So I bought 4 big sheets of that for $5 each. Then, we headed to Hobby Lobby for some fabric and spray adhesive.
I found some SUPER sparkly fabric that was PERFECT. I decided that I only needed about 2 yards. And good thing, because it was super expensive. hehe. We paid, and headed over to Olive Garden. And met the girls there. I was SUPER starving. OK, so maybe not starving, but I was sure hungry :)
(Liz and Kim)
(Kari and Maggie and Hannah)
Me and Terra
Kim and Me
Terra and Kari
Liz was SO funny! She was SO hungry she grabbed the salad bowl and started eating RIGHT out of it - hehe :)
After lunch, Kim and I headed to Bassett Center and check out the new Dollar Tree. It opens on Monday!!! Oh yeah, I'm SO there on Monday!!! Well, after Savers... hehe :). Then on to Bassett Center. We went to the Jewelry Box, and found a few things, then on to another store. I can't recall the name. 
While at the park, I worked on completing my Miche holders. I cut the fabric, and spray glued it to the metal. Then when I got home, I screwed it to the walls. And hung up the shells. What do you think??? I think it looks pretty good!
And just so you don't think that I spent a TON of money on each shell, I got most of them for about $12 a piece for the little ones, and $2o for the big ones. You can find them on sale, you know. hehe. Still, it's a lot of money... But it's my hobby :) And I love them. And it's still cheaper than any of CPT's hobbys! And we have no car payments OR credit card debt. So there is my justifications... hehe.
During the 3rd period, a GIANT fight broke out. It took forever to break up, and even longer to sort it out. It was kinda exciting - hehe.
These two were quite the pieces of work... They were loud and obnoxious and cussing and quite the couple. hehe. OK, so not a couple, but I had a lot of fun making up a storyline for them. hehe. Do you ever do that for people? Make up a "history" for them? 
After the game, we went outside, and stood for about 15 minutes and chatted. Until we were all freezing and had to go home. I'm glad that the girls and guys all seem to get along so well. We are all around the same age. We should totally get together again and do stuff as couples. It was a lot of fun!
