E (Love)

TONS of new goodies in the store, girls! I know you want them! hehe. Click HERE to go to my store to give it a look see! And THANKS to Sharon for all of this weeks layouts! You rock!








Hey there girls! What's up?? Having a good week? I am! Everyone was feeling good when they woke up in the morning, thank goodness! (Why is it underlined? Oh well, just go with it....)

After the kids got on the bus at 7:30am, Jake took the dog for a walk, and I went back to bed for a few minutes. Then Jim and I had breakfast, and I chatted on the phone with Andrea for a bit. She was heading on post (they live about 30 minutes away, I think) and called for a chat. Awe, thanks hon! Miss ya too!

And then I got ready for my hike, Jake got back from his walk, and Laurie came over and dropped off Rowan. And Kari and Laurie and I headed up to the mountains.

And it was SO hard today! I think because it was my first workout for the week, and because I'd been sick-ish the past few days. But once I got to the top, it felt REALLY good. I'm definitely gonna be feeling it tomorrow. And it was in the 70's today, so it was nice out for our hike too. Not like us freezing last week - hehe.





We got home in plenty of time for me to get Jim to the bus. And when we got there, he showed me his tummy - ROF!
Yeah, he doesn't get his fashion sense from me. I dress WAY better than that - ROFL!



Or not - ROFL! Maybe he DOES get it from me - hehe.

I headed back home, and Jake and Rowan and I hung out for another hour or so. Laurie had a luncheon to go to, and Jake and I watched Rowan. He's a good kid, and he and Jake just watched a movie together.

We had lunch, and soon Laurie was there to pick up Rowan. We were gonna go to the hospital today for Jake's xrays, but put it off one more day. Since he'd been babysitting in the morning, he hadn't done school. So I laid on the couch and snoozed, and he did school on the other couch. Yeah, it was a restful afternoon - hehe.

At one point, my laptop was gonna die, and Jake ran for my cord, and plugged it in for me. And got his arm stuck behind the couch. ROFL! Poor kid - hehe.I went to get Jim from the bus at 2:30, and then laid down in my bed for a better nap. I must not be totally over whatever bug was going around. And I woke up in time to greet Joe from the bus and then go and pick up Tom and Eme from school (AQ). I told Jake that I was gonna run to the store to pick up some apples, so that I'd be home in about an hour.

We stopped by Albertsons and got apples and water bottles. They were only $1.99 for a case! So we got 2. And some grapes, because they were only $0.99 a lb. We got 2 lbs, and I knew that was just barely enough for everyone to get a taste. hehe.

And then we looked around Family Dollar for a bit, and then went to Little Caesers. 2 pizzas for the kids, and I didn't have to cook! Sounded perfect to me! And then we headed home.I told the kids that they had to do their chores before dinner, so for the next 30 minutes, we cleaned the house. And then had pizza and grapes for dinner - hehe. I had my turkey burger and steamed veggies, with apple. And got the little boys ready for hockey, and out the door we went.

Tom and Eme wanted to come too, which left Jake and Boxer at home. And off we went, singing to the Glee soundtrack the whole way there - hehe. I got the little boys their skates, and then went and sat in the bleachers with Tom and Eme and Kari the rest of the time.

About 3/4 of the way through, Jim had had enough, and came off the ice. And yeah, I was too tired to even care. This is how bad it was - I didn't even realize until we walked into the ice rink that both of them had failed to put on shoes! They only had on hockey uniforms and SOCKS! hehe. Bad Parent award, I'm telling ya - hehe :)

After hockey, we gathered everyone up, and headed home. And it was 7:30 by the time we got home, and we put the little kids to bed, and Jake and Tom and I watched 2 episodes of Chuck. And here it is, 9:13pm, and I'm done. I've loaded my store. And blogged. And hosted the freebie. And now I can either read or watch a movie. And just relax. And drink my warm herbal tea (all 64 oz of it...). I wish Captain America would get online so I could Skype with him.... Maybe I"ll leave my computer out, just in case...
Last of the Love series today! Hope you guys have liked it! Sharon has 2 more AWESOME layouts for us all! Thanks, my dear!

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V (Love)

So the word for the day was sick. Yeah, NOT fun in the Harty Household. After playing on Facebook and Pinerest, I watched a movie. A horror movie. A scary one! By myself. In the dark. hehe.

It was called Solstice (2008, i think), and was PG 13. I kinda liked it. It had that girl from Letters to Juliet, and a kid from XMen. I like a good scary movie that leaves no loose ends, and this one didn't disappoint.

And I went to bed around 11:30pm. And fell right asleep. And woke up at 7am, and went out to the living room. And went to see who was sick. Eme didn't feel well, no school for her. Joe was puny still, so no school for him. Tom said he puked at 1:43 am (and made a HUGE mess in the upstairs bathroom, apparently), so he wasn't going to school. Jim's bus didn't come until 11am. Jake homeschools. Yeah, I totally went back to bed.

I was feeling SUPER tired. I think it was my body trying to fight off the crud that everyone in my house had...

And when I eventually woke up, I had breakfast, threw on some clothes, and headed out for errands. And to escape the germs. hehe. I went to the housing office, and put in my work orders. And they're coming next Tuesday to fix my carpet in my room, and the strip between the linoleum/hardwood in the dining room/living rooms, the door bell, drawers in the kitchen, and re-caulk my bathtub. And they were coming this afternoon to unstop the toilet! Horray!!!

And then I headed to the commissary. I'd been meaning to buy spray butter for AGES, and just kept forgetting it. So I got some today. And I got some more peanut butter, and some sugar free raspberry preserves for me, and some more microwave lite kettle corn, and a 12 pack of soda (can't believe HOW much it costs!), and a 6 pack of diet nasty for Jake, and a few other need to have things.

And Zicam. Because everyone said how it works SO well. So I got the cough drop kind. You're supposed to take one, suck on it, and repeat every 3 hours. So I figured I'd give it a try. And, if it did work, it was TOTALLY worth my $7.

And I went to the self check out, and as I was putting Jake's soda from the scanner to my cart, I knicked it on the cart, and it EXPLODED everywhere! I was a little stunned. hehe. After the shock wore off, I went and found the worker guy, and he came to clean up the mess, and I went to get a different 6 pack of diet nasty. Never had that one happen before. hehe. As I left, I told him "At least it was diet and won't be sticky!". Yeah, I don't think he thought it was as funny as I did. hehe.

And I headed home. But not before grabbing a Zicam...

I got home, and put all the stuff away, and got the kids ready for the doctor. I'd asked Maggie to watch Jim and get him to the bus for school when we went to the doctors office, but I had to take the other sickies. SO not fun...

So we loaded up, and headed out. Thank goodness Jake and Tom had listened to me and showered while I was running errands.

We waited in the waiting room for a bit, and then it was our turn. They did height and weight, then vision testing, then went to the room for blood pressure and such. Then we went to the doctors waiting room.

And yeah, they were in rare form today... At least they smiled for the picture, right?

You like Jake's Ed Grimley hair?

And the autism was kicking in, and he was being mouthy and not keeping his hands to himself, and I was about to smack someone. The other kids were all being good, but Jake was being annoying. Sigh...

And the doctor said that it looked like Tom was due for 11 yr old shots at the immunization desk, and that Jake had mild scoliosis, and needed some x-rays. So we needed to go to the lab for that.

So we grabbed our physical papers, and our school notes, and off we went to the x-ray lab. And yeah, we were gonna have to go to the hospital, because they didn't have a big enough xray machine there. Sigh. NOT today. I'm not taking ALL my kids to the hospital for x-rays. Jake and I will do it tomorrow when everyone is back at school. Because they WILL be better tomorrow. ha!

So we headed to the immunization lab, and I filled out papers, and we waited in the waiting room again. And Jake was being HORRIBLE. Finally, I told him that I was gonna make him a shirt that he was gonna have to wear that said "Please don't blame my mom, I'm Autistic". Yeah, he didn't find the humor in it like I did. Because really, people look at this 5'7", 195 lb 13 yr old, and the way he's acting, and I'm sure they judge him (and me) harshly. He's a little different, people. And nothing is gonna change that. Autism comes with good traits and bad traits.... All wrapped up into one odd package - hehe. Good thing I like him so much - ROFL! (like now, as I sit in my room and write this, Jake is wondering around the house with an ace bandage wrapped around his face so he can't see. And Tom is guiding him around....)

Finally, it's Tom's turn, and we go back, and he gets 2 shots. And 2 bandaids, and the nice lady imputs all of Toms other shot records into the computer, and gives us a print out. Sa-weet! And I add it to my ever growing "important papers" folder.

And we gather up our stuff, and head home.

I called Jacobs homeschool teacher, and we chatted about his progress, and about my struggles being a deployment single parent. Her hubby had been in the military, so she kinda knew what I was going through. And she talked with Jake for a while, and it really was a good chat.

I'd bought Top Ramen at the commissary, so that was lunch. Cause that's like chicken soup, right? And I was still feeling tired. I ate lunch, cleaned up the house enough so that I wasn't embarrassed when the repair dude came, and laid down on the couch. The kids watched something or another, but I slept through it.

And that's kinda what I did the rest of the afternoon. Lounge on the couch. Check out my cool Leprechaun socks!

My flowers :)

Does this look like a sick kid? Yeah, I think he's getting better...

I got Jim from the bus at 2:40pm, and we came home, and I lounged around some more. I really didn't feel good. I felt tired. And just a bit off. Not really "I'm gonna puke" sick, but off... So I nixed the exercise for the day, and just chilled.

At 4:30pm, the repair dude came, and in 5 minutes, the toilet was unclogged. Thank heavens! But, after having been clogged with CRAP for like 10 days, it was SO disgusting. So I sprayed it down and let it soak.

I watched some TV on my computer in my room, and at around 6pm, I made dinner. I just had my regular lunch for dinner. Cheese sandwich. And the kids had, you guessed it, Ramen. Sorry, guys. When we're all better tomorrow, we'll have real food. I promise.

And then we did a few more chores, and I worked on putting kids to bed. See, I don't look so hot, do I?
And here it is, 7:57 pm, and the little kids are all in their room (yeah, SO not asleep, as I can hear loud noises from their room, but the door is shut, so I'm not really compaining), and the big kids are in the living room watching Chuck, and I"m getting ready to join them. And I'm SO hoping that I feel better in the morning. SO hoping!

Click on the links 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, it's SO sweet, Sharon! Lovin' it!

O (Love)

Good morning, my dears! Hope you all had a GRAND Valentine's day :) And that your sweetheart was very sweet to your heart :) hehe.

I couldn't find my phone last night when I went to bed. hehe. Apparently it was under laundry man. Yeah, he didn't quite go away. But they laundry was all on hangers. And in nice, orderly piles, ready to be hung up, according to color. Yeah, my closet is BEAUTIFUL :) hehe. If you EVER need to borrow something, you know where to come!

Anyway, I just figured that my kids would come and wake me up in the morning, so I went to sleep. And I woke up 1 minute before my phone went off. Under laundry man. I was glad to have found it, though :)

I, of course, went back to sleep. and got up around 7:15am. I coked eggs sandwiches in the shape of hearts (new sandwich cutter). Well, Tom cooked the eggs individually in the microwave, and I buttered the bread and cut them out. We made a good team!

And I got Tom and Eme and Joe out the door and on the bus. And I decided to play Just Dance for exercise. And yeah, I don't like Just Dance. I like Just Dance 2, but not the first one. So I decided to do a workout video. And you know what? I hate workout videos. I only made it about 4 minutes into the workout, and quit. Yeah, I needed some other kinda workout. That wasn't gonna cut it.

So I hopped in the shower, and got all ready and cute for the day. I wore that new shirt from yesterday that looked like it had the striped shirt under it (it was all one piece), and my new black flowy pants. That have a slit up to the knee. hehe. Only in El Paso, right?

The second I was all ready and dressed and about to go and get my morning snack, the phone rang. It was the school. Joe had gotten sick and barfed ALL over the classroom. POOR kid! So I grabbed my purse and phone and headed out the door. They said that he didn't have a fever, and that they thought he'd probably just had too much candy the night before, but that because he'd puked, he had to go home. Poor kid. He had puke all over his pants and shoes and socks. My baby could come home!

And Captain America Skype called my phone as I walked out the door. And I chatted with him to the school, and as I picked up Joe, and all the way home, and for a few minutes at home. And then I got a text from Terra saying that she was here to pick me up.

I'd decided to keep my appointments for the day (lunch with Terra and therapy appointment), because the nurse had said that he wasn't really sick. So I figured that he could stay with Jake, watch cartoons, and be fine.

I got him all settled with a movie and some gatorade, Jake was doing school nicely, and Jim was ready for his bus, and off Terra and I headed to the West side.

I found these 3D glasses in her van. Apparently the middle schoolers think it's cool to wear them at school. Yeah, I could totally pull off this look, huh? hehe.


First stop, Target to return something. Some cord that hooks up Terra's computer to the TV. I looked at it and told her it was a male/male, and she didn't know what I was talking about. You know what I mean, right? She's never heard that term when referring to components before. The male/female thing.

Anyway, while in the return line, I saw this parked there, and about fell over laughing. Really? You need one of these inside the Target? It's not a super target. It's not in a mall. I just kept thinking about Paul Blart, Mall Cop. And I SO wanted to hop on and take a picture, but I didn't. I held back..

And I had a little bit TOO much fun in the dollar section...

I ended up getting a few pairs of dollar socks. 2 St Patricks ones, and 1 Easter pair. SO cute! Can't wait to wear them. And then we headed to Howdys for a drink. But couldn't find a close one, so settled for Circle K. Which, of course, had no Diet Dr Pepper. Sigh. So I got a (gag) Diet Coke. Still, it's not Diet Pepsi... Terra got a sprite, I think.

See, I'll drink it, but I don't have to like it - hehe. And the lady behind the counter said that the 24 hour Circle K's all have Diet Dr Pepper. Huh? Didn't know that. Very good to know. Captain America and I always tried to figure out if there was any rhyme or reason to it.



And then we headed to the Dollar Tree. Because we had a few more minutes to kill before my therapy appointment. And I couldn't help but take a few more pictures. Yeah, I TRIED to get Terra to take some too, but she was having nothing to do with it. I'll keep working on her - hehe.

Designer tweezers. How cool is that?

Really? You want me to pay a dollar for 3 bags of fart smell? Are you freakin' kidding me? Wait, maybe I'm in the wrong line of work.....

hehe

We ended up buying mirrors for our girls, and these cute stickers to put their names on it. SUCH a cute idea, don't you think? After the dollar tree, we sat in the parking lot of my therapists office for 10 minutes and played with stickers. hehe.

And then I went in for my appointment, and Terra headed out for an hour. Her twins (2 yr olds) got to Daycare 2 days a week for a few hours, so she gets to have a little bit of adult (read:sane) time...

Here's me waiting in the waiting room, with my YUMMY (ha!) soda :)

It was a good session. I was SO proud of myself for sticking to my diet for the week. Like I promised that I would. And I liked the fact that I didn't necessarily promise that I'd stick to the diet, just that I promised that I would text Dr. Slade BEFORE I cheated, if I wanted to. So it wasn't like I couldn't if I really really really wanted to. Whatever the reason, it worked for me. I lost 6 lbs this week. See how much I must have been eating to loose 6 lbs by just eating good foods??? I was glad that I could stop my yoyo cycle from going any further. Usually, I lose weight, then balloon WAY back up, then loose weight, then balloon. And I only gained about 10-15 lbs this time (some of that muscle). And now I'm only about 5-7 lbs away from my goal weight. So I was feeling pretty good about myself!

And then we were done, and Terra came and picked me up, and we headed to lunch at El Taco Tote. Mmmmm, SO good. I practically inhaled the Brochetta part, and SO wanted to lick my plate when I was done, but didn't. I don't know what Terra would have done - hehe. I know she thinks I'm a spaz as it is! ROFL! She must like it, though, because she keeps inviting me places :)

I got a to-go box for the rice and beans and tortillas and extra chips. I figured that I could make food for Tom for his babysitting class tonight. He needs a sack dinner, and he would SO love this one! I was watching out for ya, Tom!

And then we headed home. It really was an enjoyable morning. Terra is a fun friend to hang with. We had a lot of nice grown up conversation and laughs! I need more of that in my life - hehe.

She dropped me off at home, and headed to pick up her girls. Jake and Jim were at home watching TV when I got home. And Jake had the extra laptop out, working on school. What a good babysitter. Jim had gotten on the bus just fine, and Jake had had lunch. Joe said that his belly was upset.

And then he proceeded to puke throughout the rest of the day. Yeah, nurse, I guess he really was sick... My poor baby! He spent the rest of the day on the couch.

I'd bought some St. Patricks day decorations at the Dollar Tree, so I hung those up before I had to get Jim from the bus. See, aren't they cute!?

I baked the final roll of cookie dough (those swirly ones), and got them all ready and prepared for the library. I like to bring a snack there when I go. Yeah, I know, I know, I go for the free food, but then I feel bad that my kids are eating so much, and I wanna help out - hehe.

I left Jake at home with Joe, and we headed out to the library. I took 2 of Laurie's kids with me, and she took Jim with her. The kids watched a movie on King Tut, and Kari and Laurie and I chatted. And I had time to design 1 WordArt pack.

And then it was time to take Tom and Elise (Laurie's oldest daughter) to babysitter class. So I gathered up all of my kids +1, and off we went. It was at the close location tonight, so it only took a few minutes. And I dropped them off, and headed back home. I think we were only gone about an hour.

And I made sure that Joe was doing ok, that his blanket was all good, and that he had a movie that he liked, and got hime more gatoraide, and some crackers for when he wanted some. He really wanted me to come and snuggle with him, but yeah, I don't need to get sick. I CAN'T be sick as a deployment single parent. Sorry, Joe. I hope you understand...

And then Jake told me that he wasn't feeling good. Sigh. And Eme said that her stomach was feeling upset. Really? Everyone's gonna get sick now? SO not cool. Jake ended up puking a few times during the course of the evening. At least he made it to the toilet. Poor guy. He looked pretty pitiful...

And Eme was pretty mellow during the evening. We watched the movie Babies together. Have you seen it? It follows the first year of life for 4 different babies. One from the states (San Fransisco), one from Tokyo, one from Mongolia, and one from Africa. And there wasn't a narrator or anything, just footage of the babies and their families. And my kids sat and watched the WHOLE stinkin' thing. It was SO well done and cute! LOVED every minute of it.

I must warn you, there's a lot of boobs in it - hehe. Breastfeeding moms and such. And those ladies in the village in Africa didn't wear shirts, so there were long hangy boobies there too. But, you know what? Women have boobs, and they feed their babies with them. And I guess that's ok if my kids see it in that context, in a documentary setting. No one was giggling or laughing or making fun, so I think they received it in the manner that they should have.

I loved the fact that the Mongolian baby and the African baby just crawled around and played with dirt and rocks and sticks and such. Makes me feel like a better mom for letting them eat M&M's from the couch cushions. ROFL! I know that the kids "favorite" part was when the African newborn pooped with no diaper on, and the mom used her knee to wipe the babys bottom, then used a corn cob to wipe her knee. They were SO grossed out - hehe.

Andrea called at some point during the movie, and I chatted with her for about 15 minutes. She was on her way home from Church mid-week activities. She's such a fun friend! Love ya, sis!

And then we finished up the movie, and I put kids to bed. Early. Because people were feeling sick. Joe is sleeping on the couch, cause it's easier to clean up puke there. And Tom came home at 8pm, and I made him and Jake go to bed too. Yeah, Jake was NOT happy about that. Change in the routine of a mildly autistic kid is NOT good.

Why, mom? Why can't we watch it?

Because you're sick, Jacob.

That's not a very good reason, mom.

Excuse me? I don't NEED to have a very good reason, Jacob. I said no....

Yeah, it went a bit like that. And there was some stomping and slamming of doors, but he got over it. He came down about 15 minutes later asking me to help him find a good book to read. And he wasn't upset anymore. I guess I just need to be patient, and figure out how to work with Autistic kids more...

And it's not 9:45pm. And my house is quite. The dog has put himself in his kennel for a nap. Joe is sleeping peacefully on the couch. The upstairs rooms are quite. Jim has stopped coming out of his room, so I'm assuming he's asleep too.

I missed Glee tonight, so I'm gonna have to catch it on hulu tomorrow... Love that show :)

I have doctors appointments (sports physicals) for 2 of the 5 kids tomorrow. We'll see how I possibly manage that one, what with sick kids and all. Pray for me - 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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This one is SO adorable, Sharon! I love love love it!!!