Born to Run

Hey, you guys :) What's up? Having a good week? Mine's been pretty good. Woke up at normal time, did scriptures and prayers, and saw the kids off to school. Jake was sick, so I let him sleep. Poor kid :(

Jim and I got ready to go to Joe's 1st grade Awards ceremony. It started at 8:30am. We parked, and walked on over. And saw Laurie and family there, so sat with them.

Joe got a few awards, and was very pleased with himself. Laurie and I kept Rowan and Jim entertained with our phones and the gameboy.

You'd be proud, I'm drinking WATER!!! After 100 oz, I'll let myself have some soda :)


We came back home, and Jake had moved to the couch. I put on episodes of Buffy the Vampire slayer for him. Then I left Jim watching movies with Jake (he's SO mellow when he's sick - hehe), and headed to the commissary for an abbreviated shopping trip. I needed some apples and some more microwave dinners.

I went home, put all the stuff away, grabbed my Excedrine Migraine for Terra, dropped Jim off at the bus, and went to Terra's house. Poor thing. She was SO happy to have the girls in daycare for the afternoon. hehe.

She made a few phone calls at home, then we decided to hit Walmart. I drove home, grabbed my microwave dinner, and Terra came to pick me up.

See, I'd found out today that the on-post pools are gonna be closed for a while. Weeks. And that was a HUGE part of my summer "entertain the kids" plan. So I needed a Plan B. Big pool in the backyard. I know, I know, Captain America, you HATE pools in the backyard. But I'll do better this time. I'll replace the filters, and I'll get the chlorine.

AND, I found these shorts for Jim!

I decided to go with the biggest one. hehe. It's HUGE! I know we had a smaller one when the kids were smaller, and they absolutely LOVED it. But, we have bigger kids now. So a bigger pool is needed... Yeah, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Some Walmart dude was rolling a womans big box up to the register on a cart, and I stopped him and asked him to come back and help me. And yeah, never did. We waited for a good 5 minutes. So I went to the front to ask a cashier to call someone for me. And she came herself. And pushed it to the front. hehe. I could have done that :)




Terra and I paid, and the chickie pushed it outside. Terra pulled up, and the chickie helped me lift it up to the van. Cool beans :) And, I have a dolly at home, so it should be easy sailing from here :)

Here's me with my first soda for the day! I'd already downed 3-44 ozers of water. This is Diet Coke from McDonalds. Not wonderful, but not terrible either :)

Terra's car thought it was VERY hot outside. It was only around 99...
Terra dropped me off at the house, I carried all my bags inside the garage, got the dolly, and wheeled the pool to the backyard. I raked the corner clean, and ripped the slide off of the swing set. And yeah, the fact that I could rip it off SO stinking easily just tells you how dry it has been here. That swing set has GOT to go...

I laid out the drop tarp, then unrolled the pool. And tried to center it the best I could. That things big AND heavy. Kinda a two person job. Then, I got the vacuum, and hooked up the blower attachment, and filled up the ring at the top. And that was it I hooked up the hose, and turned it on at 2:30pm.

Then went to get Jim from the bus. And I looks SO nasty. hehe. I was SO sweaty. hehe. Terra said that she wanted to take her kids to Carls Jr playland, and asked if Jim could come too. SURE! So off he went, and I went back home. And went to cool off in my room. I watched 1 episode of 24, then the kids got home from the bus.





The kids hated it, but I made them help me clean up the backyard. We filled up the recycle can with the pool boxes, and got 3 trash bags of stuff out of the backyard. We dumped the little pool, and hung it up to dry. And the yard looked SO SO SO much better. I know the neighbors think we're the white trash neighbors. LOL :)

We had dinner (microwave dinner for me, egg sandwiches with cheese and english muffins for the kids with apples), then it was time to take Joe and Tom to baseball practice. I left Eme on the computer, and Jake with Buffy, and Joe and Jim and Tom and I headed out.

I'd let the kids have Popsicles once the backyard was cleaned, and check out what Jim's said. Um, I think that's supposed to say THREE, not TREE. Silly typos :)
We dropped Joe off at Logan field, then dropped Tom off at George Moore field, then Jim and I headed to Lowes by the Transmountain Walmart. I wanted pavers to put in the backyard. As much as housing wants to call it decorative rock, it's dirt and gravel. It really is. And it's gonna make my pool super messy. So, the pavers were a must.

Check out the ominous clouds. 30% chance of rain!

4 pavers and a case of Diet dew... Jim thought riding on the cart was FABULOUS!

We swung by Circle K, got sodas (Yeah, they were OUT of Diet Mt Dew.... ), then headed back towards the fields. And it was looking like it was gonna rain! Amazing! Hadn't rained in 120+ days!


We picked up Joe from his field 10 minutes early, and they'd canceled practice just then because of the lightening. Tom's coach called to let us know, too. We grabbed Joe, then went and got Tom. He'd had fun, though. They played kids vs adults. Fun!

We got home, and checked on the pool. Tom helped carry the paver stones to the backyard, and we placed them where they went.
Then we built the ladder. Yeah, it should have been easier than it was. AND, I can't get the filter/pump thing to work. I'm gonna need someone to come and show me what I'm doing wrong, I think...
The pool is still filling. I put the little kids to bed at 8pm, and Eme and Jake and Tom and I are watching some more Buffy. Is 9pm, and Im about ready to put them to bed. I did enjoy sitting in the backyard for a bit tonight, though. The temp dropped to around 85 after the 12 minutes rain, and it was calm and quiet. Sure, the fact that I didn't have kids outside with me probably helped.

I"m gonna turn the water off when I go to bed, and put the cover on the pool, and start again in the morning. Don't want it to flood while I sleep, you know. hehe.

Eme has her awards ceremony tomorrow morning, and Laurie invited us over for dinner around 5pm. Sounds like a plan!

So, it's the Summer of Song! I'm gonna have song title WordArts ALL summer long for y'all! Aren't you excited!!!

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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SUPER cute one, Sharon! Love your take on the song :)

June Calendar

Hey there, you guys :) My day started off bright and early, a few minutes before my alarm went off. I noticed a HUGE water beetle (they call them water beetles, but they're cock roaches to me!) climbing on my wall above my head.... Yeah, I was up! Ha!

I got dressed, read my scriptures, said prayers, and went out to see the kids. I even had time to cook waffles. Of course, no one wanted waffles. They'd all eaten or were gonna eat cereal or oatmeal. No biggie. Waffles for Dinner! hehe.

I got Jake out the door at 7am, and Joe, Eme, and Tom out the door at 7:30am. Jim and I watched a bit of TV, and I got dressed and applied a fresh coat of make up. Complete with cute brown hat :) And off we went for errands.

Aren't you proud of me, it's WATER!

First stop, post office. I taped up Captain Americas package, and sent it off overseas. Then Jim and I went back home to print out a form for camp for Tom and Eme that I'd forgotten to do before we left the house. Oops.

Oh well, it gave me a chance to switch out contacts. I swear, my right eye has HORRIBLE protein build up. And even with the fancy schmancy cleaner, it doesn't help. Even rubbing it with Baking Soda doesn't help... Drat!

I grabbed the computer, printed the forms, signed them, patted the dog, and off Jim and I were, to turn in the paperwork.
I met the woman at the office as she was locking it and getting ready to go to a meeting. I convinced her, begrudgingly, to take my paperwork, and call me if she needed anything else. Sure, it's not that far from my house, but I had plans for the rest of the day...

I texted Amanda and Terra to see if they wanted to go to the Dollar Tree with me (we needed new brooms), and Amanda said she wanted to go. So I swung by her house to pick her up. She and Jim and I headed to the Dollar Tree.

I found the broom,s and some decorations for the living room. Because we were still sporting St. Patricks day decorations. ROFL! It was time for a new holiday. They had some 4th of July stuff, so I grabbed a few things. Yeah, now I'm early. ROFL! It' good to be patriot, right?

We swung by Plato's Closet, the fancy thrift store that my friends just opened. But since I had Jim, and he had a Popsicle, my trip was VERY short. I'm gonna have to come back in that store, kid free, one of these days :)

We paid, and I realized that I didn't have time for another stop before I had to get Jim on the bus. So we headed back to post, and went to Terra's house. She was having a hard day. Some days are like that. With deployment. With kids. With twins, especially, I'm sure. We played with the girls for a few minutes, and then I took Jim to the bus, and Amanda went home.

And I undecorated, and re-decorated! Doesn't it look festive???




I left the house at 11:30pm, and headed for the west side. I had a therapy appointment. And I was meeting the girls afterwords for lunch at Souper Salad. Mmmm, good!

Oh yeah, if someone (not me) writes UPS on the back of a truck, do I get a point?
I made it to my appointment on time, and had a great session. We talked about how my eating has gotten out of control, and what I could do to reign it back in. And I think I have a good plan. I committed to 20 lbs in 6 weeks! I know I can do it. I'm enlisting all my friends for help and moral support!

I got done, and drove over to Souper Salad. Amanda and Terra were already there. And Austin and the twins. I ate a big salad, and went back for some sweeter salad (coconut mandarine oranges, walnuts, some sweet dressing), but once I got it on my plate, it wasn't as good as I thought it was gonna be. So I just had a few bites, and left the rest. See, I do have some control. LOL.

After lunch, Terra and the twins headed back to post for nap time (Terra was SO wishing she could take one too!), and Amanda and I headed to Big Lots (right next door). We looked around for a few minutes, then I realized how late it was and headed back to post. Have to get Jim by 2:35.

I got to the bus stop on time, got Jim, and headed home. And I SO wanted to nap the hour before the other kids got home. But I created a Facebook page for our weight loss group instead! Click HERE to give it a look see.

The big kids came home from the bus, and I picked them up, and we headed to the library. They watched the SHORT movie about cockroaches (ok, so it was about more than that,but that's all I took away from it), and I got them signed up for the summer reading program. They got cool free t-shirts, too! I'll take a picture of them wearing them tomorrow.

Eme lost a tooth while at the library. Nothing grosses me out faster and more thoroughly than teeth. NASTY. Just thinking about a lost tooth makes me gag. Gross! Anyway, she was pleased with herself :)

Amanda and I and Kari started on a preliminary schedule for the summer. We got a few bigger outings scheduled. And, if the pools really ARE gonna be closed like the rumor going around post says, then its gonna put a hitch in our rope... Drat!

I really need to transfer my paper calendar of camps into my phone. So that know what I"m doing. hehe.

We headed home after the library, and I had 30 minutes before Joe's practice. Again, SO wanted to take a nap. But didn't. Got the kids waffles for dinner, and I had a microwave dinner and an apple. So far, so good on the ole diet!

Joe and I headed off to practice, and Tom was left in charge. I visited with Joe's teammates mom, Louann, and had a GREAT visit :) She's thinking of going to the BIG water park this weekend, and if it happens, she want's Joe to come with them. He'd have SUCH a blast. He and Christian get along great :) AND, she used to be in the same battalion as Captain America, before she found out she was prego and had a baby. So they transferred her to a unit that wasn't deploying. Small world, huh?

After Baseball practice, we swung by the youth center to retrieve Jake. He seemed in a good mood. We drove home, had the kids do their chores, and when it became evident that no one was really doing them, I sent everyone to bed. My head hurt, so tonight was gonna be early bed time. I think it's the lack of sugar that's giving me the headache. Hopefully the withdraws will go away in a few days...

So here it is, 8:55pm. No cheats so far. I've drank 100 oz of water. TONS for me. I'm gonna go pop some Niquil, watch a few episodes of 24, and hit the sack. I'm sleepy. Tomorrow I have an awards ceremony for Joe in the morning, then we're free for a bit. But, you know me, and how I like to fill up my days with fun and excitement. 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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Wow, LOVE this one, Sharon. Great peach/orangie colors!

Back To The Grind

Today was a pretty lazy Memorial Day. I couldn't find where I set my phone last night just before bed, but definitely found it at 6:45am when the alarm for Monday morning went off. hehe. I turned it off, and went back to bed. I ended up getting up around 8am. Kids were all up by 9am, and Joe and I decided to go to Walmart to return the TV. The one with the wrong connections.

We loaded it up in the Suburban, and drove to the Jaurez Walmart. And there were NO cars in the parking lot (practically). People must have been sleeping in or something.

We waited for about 5 minutes in line for the return, then waited another 10 minutes for someone from electronics to verfiy that it really was the TV in the box that was supposed to be there..... But once the person came to customer service, I got my money back, and Joe and I went to walk around Walmart for a bit.

We decided to get stuff for homemade ice cream. My Aunt Sue had bought us an ice cream maker almost 15 years ago when Captain America and I got married. And this is the 3rd time we'll have used it. hehe. We bought some rock salt and a sugar free strawberry ice cream packet And some real strawberries to cut up and put in there too. Sounded like a plan.

We were home by 10:30am, and found the ice cream maker in the garage. Kids were pretty excited about watching it churn. Kari's son Leo came over shortly after to see if Tom and Joe could play. They had chores, and once Joe was done, he went off to Leo's house. Tom's took longer. And by the time he was done, he decided to stay and play with Jake.

At 1pm, Eme and I headed over to Kari's house for our "Spa Day". Charlotte and Maddie were there too. SO much fun! Josephine didn't clean her room, so she had to stay in her room and clean it the whole time we were there.

Here's Eme soaking her feet. I never did get around to using it!

First, we put on some masks. Kari had mud mask stuff, and I had emzyme mask and a peel off mask.





I'm such a picker. I LOVED pulling off the mask. hehe. Next, we did Satin Hands (Mary Kay), and they felt SO good! Then, we did a hot wax treatment for our hands. Never done one before, and I absolutely loved it :)








Joe stayed and played longer with Leo, and Eme and I left around 3pm. We came home, and the kids were playing nicely. We just spent the rest of the day at home, doing whatever. I watched some esisodes of 24 and designed Freebies. Eme played with her friend Estephanie. Tom and Jake played Wii together. Jim watched movies (I think he missed Joe).

It's now 8:31pm. And I'm ready for bed. I've had to take 2 doses of antihistamine today. Allergies are killing me. I've never been allergic to anything in my life, but El Paso is bad. It hasn't rained in 110+ days, and the pollen isn't washing away.

The kids are watching the end of Inspector Gadget 2, then I'm putting them all to bed. 4 more days of school till Summer Vacation :) In a way, I'm SO looking forward to it. And in a way, I'm dreading it. 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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Great one, Sharon! Sorry I've been slacking with getting you the WordArts in a timely fashion. hehe. You should be set for most of June now!