Friends Welcome

So remember how I said that I was gonna get SO much done yesterday. Well, wishful thinking on my part - LOL! We went onto Post in the morning to get our car and truck all registered, and it took a lot longer than I was expecting.

For Texas, you have to first get a vehicle emissions and safety test, then take that to the Registration place (luckily they have one on post), where they gave us new license plates and registration. Then, we got parking stickers for Fort Bliss. It took ALL morning long. We'll get new driver licenses another day. I didn't shower yesterday (bandana day), and didn't want THAT one on my license - LMBO!

We got home around 2:30, just in time to get the kids from school, and I did unpack about 4 kitchen boxes before Captain America got back from post. We got dinner, and headed out for the hockey game. Yep, I left my camera at home....again! Geesh, no one's gonna believe I actually moved to Texas if I don't have the pictures to prove it - LOL!

It was a fun game, though. It was Scout night at the Rhinos (El Paso's Hockey Team), and Scouts in uniform got a free patch. So, we all came in uniform. I have a yellow one (even the blue pants), Captain America has a TON of Scout uniforms (LOL! - he used to work for the Scouts), Jake and Tom both have them, and little Joe (5) has one that he wears, even though he's not old enough to be a scout yet. So, Jake, Tom, and Joe got patches. Grown ups didn't get them. Nice. I would TOTALLY have worn something else - hehehe. Scouting clothes aren't my favorite outfit - LOL!

Our team scored the first goal in 20 seconds, and we could tell it was gonna be a fun night. In the section next to us, there were a bunch of "Army Dudes" (to quote Jimmy (3)) in their PT (Physical Training) shirts & Jackets, and jeans. I think they must have been AIT (Advanced Individual Training - the one just after BCT (Basic Combat Training), because they looked pretty young. There were probably 200 of them. It added a bit of spirit to the game, we'll say :) We were in the front row next to them, and we watched, as all night long, the front row of "army dudes" tried to get "high fives" from anyone walking by. It was pretty fun to watch who gave them "5's" and who didn't. I even got "5's" as I walked by - hehehehe.

After the 2nd period, we had 2 sleeping kids, one super tired, one drawing pictures, and another who wanted to stay and watch the rest of the game (Tom - 9). Poor Tom lost, and we headed home. Those benches were hard on my bum - hehehehe.

We stopped at McDonalds on the way home and got them ice cream sundaes. (I was good and didn't get one. Sigh. But I did get some strawberries from Wal-Mart, so I was happy) Much cheaper than snacks at the game - LOL! Who knew that snacks at the game were so expensive? Apparently everyone but me - hehehehe. It was a fun game, and I'm glad that we went. The score was 5-1 Rhinos when we left, so I'm pretty sure we won :)

OK, on a side note, a blog reader, Jill, emailed me yesterday, and had a few questions. First, she wanted to know who did my picture at the top of my blog. Well, that was done by Irene Alexeeva, from Scraporchard. She's FANTASTIC!!! I know that she used to have a "Custom Drawn Avatar" product in her store, but I didn't see it last night when I went to look. Hmmm. Maybe she'll bring it back soon??

Her second question was this:

I have been put in charge of a Memory Book for my Mother in-laws 90th Birthday Party….all I can think of is to have people write on pieces of paper and drop into a basket or something then put it all together later…sounds kind of boring…any suggestions?

I thought that you girls would be FULL of good ideas for Jill. So, any suggestions? Anyone? Anyone?

And finally, here's your Freebee for today. This suggestion comes from Mardine. I thought it was HILARIOUS (sorry family, no offense - LOL - LOVE you guys). Click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
Friends - Annabelle JF
Welcome - Perpetua Titling
All rest - Underwood Champion

Kindness Begins with Me

So, after sitting on this for almost 2 weeks (hey, it was 2 weeks today :) .....

We now have THIS!!!!

We are the proud owners of new couches. And it only took us 12 1/2 years to get some :) LOL! Now, the trick will be to keep the little kids from trashing them - hehehe. Aren't kids fun :) I also got an end table and a coffee table, but need I need to build them.

I started on the coffee table, but the pieces weren't all right. Have you ever had that happen to you? You buy a piece of furniture that needs assembled, and whoever made it, didn't do it right? On my coffee table, some of the holes are in the wrong place. Geeze. But, I think my hubby can fix it. Gotta love 'em :)

We ended up getting our couches from a store on Dyer St called Furniture Factory Warehouse. You know, some of the other stores we walked into, the sales people were ALL over us the whole time. It was a little annoying. But not this place. When we were ready to ask questions, we actually had to TRACK someone down. Very low pressure sales approach - hehehe. But, it worked well for us :)

The couches we picked out were on clearance (woohoo!). The sofa was $469 and the loveseat was $399. It's fake leather, and very comfy. I bought a few accent pillows at Big Lots, and am SO pleased with them :) Oh yeah, the coffee table and end table/magazine rack came from Big Lots too. I just LOVE Big Lots :)

After looking back up at my picture of my couches, I think it needs an area rug, don't you :) I feel a trip to Wal-Mart coming on - LMBO! But only AFTER I unpack a few things. And move all the crud into the garage. Remember the embarassing picture of all the boxes outside my house? Yep, there still there. My hubby is slightly freaking out about how tacky and bad it looks. OK dear, we'll move it into the garage today :) I promise :) And I'll unpack some stuff. But just some. I wouldn't want to cheat myself out of the JOY of unpacking for weeks to come - spread the joy, that's it. That's what I'm doing :) ha!

And thanks to all of you who offered ideas on places to look for stuff. Freecycle was one of my FAVORITE sites back in Chicago and Ohio. I need to sign up with the El Paso one :) And I've been stalking Craigslist too :) My sister's sends me good stuff on there from time to time. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for stuff :) And that military one was really cool too. I think the one here is called Ft.BlissYardSale, or something like that. Good stuff there too :)

And, I'm gonna get around to trying some of the solutions you all offered about the crayons/sharpies/pencils on the walls, but not today. And maybe not tomorrow :) hehehehe. Remember, I'm gonna unpack something - LMBO!

And, before I give you my freebee for the day, do you wanna see my new stuff in the store???? It's ALL Valentines stuff. And, sad to say, I think I had WAY too much fun making the Attitude ones. I know, I'm bad :)

Click on the WordArt packs below to go to my store, and remember, you can pick up the WordArt packs for 20% 0ff (that makes a regular 4 pack only $2.00) for the first week.







And, on to your Freebee :) This is from a Primary song that the little kids at church sometimes sing, and that I regularly sing to my kids :) Because it is so true. Kindness really does begin with "me". How much brighter would our days be if we started the "brightness" by being kind, and happy, even when we don't feel like it. We might even trick ourselves into being happy - LOL!

So, click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

FONTS:
Kindness - LokiCola

More?

Hey all! Well, we got the rental truck turned back in yesterday. We organized just a little bit in the morning after the kids went to school, then headed out to return the truck. What a process :) We had to drive CLEAR across town (yeah, El Paso is MASSIVE) to get the truck weighed (that's how the army determines how much to pay you), then try and find a gas station to fill up, then the rental place (we only got a little turned around). It was quite the drive. Captain America was in the Rental Truck, and Jimmy and I were following behind in the Suburban.

We finally got all done at about 12:30, and went out to lunch. El Taco Tote. It was pretty good. Authentic Mexican food, apparently. It's Captain Americas new favorite place, so he had fun taking Jimmy and I there for lunch. And I just LOVED their Guacamole (which I usually HATE) salsa. WONDERFUL!

We stopped by the Boy Scout Shop to buy new Council Patches for the kids' uniforms, and saw that they are having a "Scout Night with the Rhinos". What's that, you ask? Hockey, apparently. We asked the lady up front, and they're the local hockey team. So, for $5.00 a ticket, we're gonna go watch a Hockey game this Friday night. I'm pretty excited. Never been to a hockey game before :) Should be entertaining :) hehehehe.

We got back home in time to pick up the kids from school, and turned around and drove back across town to go browse some furniture stores. I know, that was SO a priority for today (LMBO!!!). We went to 3 or 4, and found some nice couches. Who knew that furniture was SO expensive? Now I know why we just have hand-me-downs.

But, I think we'll end up getting something, because it seems that our "good" couch is molded too. The mold allergies are acting up in our house, and I think it's from the couch in the living room. It's been moved outside. We'll see if people are breathing better tomorrow with it gone. I'm just hoping/praying that the beds aren't bad too. Can you imagine having to buy new mattress for 7 people. Holy cow. I'm not even going there :)

We're gonna look around a little more, and see what kind of deals we can find. So far, the cheapest we've found is $500 ish for a sofa. We found a few that were a bit cheaper, but, well, they were pretty cheap looking, or white. Yeah right, like I'm buying white sofas with 4 little boys and a soldier for a hubby. Do I look dumb - LMBO!

Yes, I know. This one is very similar to yesterday. But that's ok, right? It sure speaks volumes with how I'm feeling right about now - hehehe. Click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

FONTS:
More -
All rest -

Really?

So I saw this saying, and just HAD to make a WordArt out of it. It TOTALLY sums up my day (week) - hehehe. Captain America got in Monday night at 3:00 am (so I guess that's Tuesday morning - lol). He woke me up long enough to help him carry the bed (WOOHOO!) up the stairs, then I went back to sleep. I can't explain how much I've missed my bed - hehehehe. I've been sleeping in a cot since August 08. My bed is my favorite. It's old, large, and SUPER firm, but I love it. It's a King size bed, which I LOVE. I don't sleep well if someone is touching me, so with the King size bed, I have my 1/3, Captain America has his 1/3, and there's the 1/3 buffer zone - LMBO! I can be in the buffer zone, but he'd better stay in his zone - LOL! I'm so bad :) How did this turn into Captain America staying on his side of the bed? ha!

After I got the kids to school, and let my poor hubby sleep in a bit (I watched Monday night's "The Bachelor" episode on line (my guilty pleasure), so I didn't mind too much), we got started on unloading the truck. HOLY CRUD! Where did all of this crap come from? And why are we moving it from place to place? I haven't used most of this stuff since July of 2007. After we moved from Chicago to Ohio, we had most of our stuff in a friends garage the whole time. I'm gonna have to go through this stuff, and figure out what we need, and what we don't. This is ridiculous :)

Like this couch. WHY did we bring it. Look how nasty it is. It went straight to the trash pile here in El Paso. There was mold and nasty-ies on it. Gross.

Every room in my house is filled with boxes and messes. OMGosh. But, we did get the entire truck unloaded. We were hustling and bustling to get it unloaded, and get the truck back to the rental place before it closed. It was a little tense at times, but it was done at about 4:45pm. We realized that the rental place closed at 4:30pm. Crud. Then Captain America says, "Oh yeah, I rented the truck 2 days later than I'd originally planned, so it doesn't need to go back until 2 days later, so it's not due until Tomorrow". Nice. Glad I busted my butt to get it unloaded. Oh well. At least it's done. AND, I have a FRIDGE!!!!! and my WASHER/DRYER back - WOOHOO!!!!

Now comes the "fun" part. Putting it all away - hehehehe. Check out our mess :)

The computer/media/library room

The living room

The tiny pathway through the garage

Ha! We didn't have enough room in the garage, so we just started putting stuff along the side of the house. I know, we're SO white trash. Oh well. We'll get most of it in today. Don't you wish you were my neighbor? ha! We had ladies from church come and bring us dinner again tonight. After our LONG day of unloading, I was SO grateful not to have to worry about food. Thanks, you guys! It was TASTY :)

Oh yeah, and here's my kids with their Christmas presents from Captain Americas brother/sister in law from St. Louis. When Captain America stopped off at their house on his trip/move, he picked them up for the kids. They were SO excited to open them yesterday.

Joe got a Star Wars toy (he was SO excited)

Tom and his toy

Jake and his toy

Eme with her BEAUTIFUL Barbie - International Barbie from Holland - so pretty!

Jimmy got the SOFTEST, most adorable stuffed animal (horse), but I didn't get a pic of him. He LOVED it so much. Captain America got the new Batman movie (which we already had, but LOST right before we moved (dad, if you find it, you can keep it)) WOOHOO!!!, and the new Narnia movie, which we haven't seen yet. I just LOVE movies :) Thanks, Illinois Hartys! We love you guys :)

OK, Mom, was that enought pictures for ya? Nothing exciting, but they're technically pictures :) ha! And, now on to WordArt. Another WordArt Wednesday for ya :) Can you believe it's already week 30? Holy cow! Click HERE to go to Scraporchard's gallery to download the zip file, and remember, you need to be logged into the gallery in order to get the file :)

Love Irresistibly

Well, yesterday was a pretty productive day. Not necessarily what I was planning on getting done, but productive none the less. I started my day off with a phone call to the Trash place, so see about getting our trash service going. Captain America said that the guy he talked to said that there should be trash cans here for us, but, um, no. No trash cans. So, I call the place, and the guy tells me that our trash pick up is on Tuesday, and it'll be 10 days or so before they'll deliver the can. Nice. Until then, he said that I could have 5 bags (tied) by the curb.

So, after getting the kids to school, Jimmy and I headed to Wal-Mart to buy the 39 gallon lawn bags. Tricky, aren't I - hehehe. All of our trash bags were accumulating in the garage, and it really needed taken care of. (plus, since we're without a washer/dryer until Captain America gets home, and I didn't want to go to the laundry mat, I bought new socks for the little boys. I know, I'm lazy - LMBO!) Jimmy and I sorted trash/cardboard for a bit, and I realized that it was the 2nd. That means that rent is due by the 3rd. Oops. So, I mapquested the rental place online (I know, I know, I keep coming back to mapquest), wrote down the directions to and from there, along with the post office address (we have a locked box for mail in our subdivision), and headed out.

And guess what? I didn't get lost at all! Woohoo. I think I'm maybe sorta kinda getting used to the city. I at least recognized a few of the places I drove today as places I've been before - LMBO! And the rental place was CLEAR across town. It was a 20 minute drive, at least. So, Woohoo for me :)

After the post office, I saw a BigK, and decided to stop for a bit. I got a really fun storage shelving thing for the little boys' room. I've ALWAYS wanted one like this.

Granted, the one in the picture is primary colors, and would go PERFECT in my little boys' room, and the one I actually got was pastels, and would go PERFECT in my daughter's room, but, whatever. Real men can do pink and purple, right? LMBO!

I also got these cool wicker baskets that I thought would be nice in my living room. We have built-ins in the living room, and I thought the baskets would be fun. Plus, they were 50% off. Can't go wrong there - hehehe.We got back home in time for lunch, built the storage shelves, organized the toys, and hurried off to get the kids from school. And sorry Mom, I keep forgetting my camera. One of these days, I'll get a pic of my kids in their uniforms :)

Only Eme had homework tonight, so the big kids played computer/games for a few hours, and helped me organize the garage for a bit. They also cleaned their rooms. You know, we really don't have that many things here, so why their rooms were trashed is beyond me. Come on, boys. Work with me here :)

Dinner, a little evening TV, kids reading in their rooms, more TV and some computer time for me. Busy day. I didn't get all the stuff put away like I wanted before Captain America got home, but I tried :) And, I did a PERFECT day of eating today. That's saying a lot. I've been, um, sigh, stress eating a bit as of late, and that's not gonna help the Christmas LBS come off - lol! But, I did a perfect day today. Tomorrow should be easier. Those first 3-4 days are rough, though. After that, your body starts feeling good, and the cravings go away.

Captain America is set to be home around Midnight. Remember, I'm prepublishing here. I think I'm gonna finish this post, and get some sleep. We've gotta be up at 7am to get the kids to school on time. I'm missing our Chicago school that started at 9am. Yeah, that was NICE! hehehehe.

Oh yeah, and before I forget, thanks for all the suggestions on the carpet stain. The nail polish remover got all the of the actual nail polish out of the carpet, but the fibers were stained pink. So, the shaving cream didn't help, because the polish itself was gone. As for the sharpies/crayons/pencil on the walls, whoever painted here used flat paint, so when you try and wipe/wash off the walls, ALL the paint come off too. Nice. Come on, people. This is a RENTAL. Use Semi-gloss - hehehehe. So, not quite sure what we'll be doing about that one. I guess that's why we paid a security deposit - LOL

So, I made you up this nice Valentine-sey WordArt, and hope that ya like it. Click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
Love - Stephanie Marie JF (one of my favorites, but boy is it spendy!)
Irresistibly - Love LetterTW

Busy

Well, church was good yesterday. We're gonna have a lot of work in Primary, that's for sure. We only had about 2 of the 8 or so teachers there though. Everyone else was a substitute. Goodness. We'll have to work on that one - hehehehe. But, the girls that I'm working with are FABULOUS! I'm so excited. They seem like a lot of fun, and fun I do like to have - LOL!

I talked to Captain America yesteday also. He was heading for Tulsa, OK. That's where he was hoping to get for the night. Of course, he was gonna stop at Super Bowl time and watch it from an Applebees or something like that. Nice to see he's got his priorities in order - LMBO! Hurry home, honey. We may not be the Superbowl, but we're still fun!

I also talked to my mom yesteday. It was her birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! She and my dad were driving home from Utah. They were there visiting my sister Madi. Mom flew out the day after we moved here to El Paso, and dad drove out on Thursday night to spend a few day and then drive her home. I think they had a good trip. New babies are always fun :) They left yesterday morning at 3:30 ish PST, and got to Florence at 8ish. Oh man, I can't drive like that. They're insane - LMBO! 16 hours straight is NOT the trip for me - hehehe. But, more power to them for being able to do it :)

Today I'm gonna do something productive. I can just feel it :) I've been on my computer for HOURS and HOURS this past weekend, and it's time to put a little attention into my real life - hehehehe. I know, not as much fun, but hey. Captain America should be home late tonight with a HUGE load of stuff from Ohio, and we kinda need a garage to unload it into. Right now, the stuff I brought from Ohio is there. I guess I should work on cleaning that out. I guess. Sheesh. Can't a girl just take a week off and do nothing? What, not with 5 kids and a hubby and being in the middle of a move? Bummer.

So, my good friend Crystal (Digiscrapalicous) emailed me a few days ago, and wanted to see if I wanted to make up some WordArt using Benevolent Boutique's newest kit, "Here Comes Trouble". I just LOVED the name, and knew that I could use it in my own scrapping (if I ever had time - LMBO!). So, I made up 2 WordArts to go with the theme, one of which you can grab over on Crystals blog (Click HERE), and, if you get a chance, check out her store at Faith Sisters. Crystal is FABULOUS!




And the other one you can get here on my blog :) Remember, leave some love if you like my work, and the girls from BB as well! Click HERE to go to my box.net account to grab this newest WordArt :)
I just have to say, I thought this one was adorable. My kids are so "busy" it makes my head spin. Already, we have nail polish on the cream carpet (anyone now how to get red nail polish out of carpet - and I already tried fingernail polish remover), pencil, crayon, and sharpie on the walls, and a gas fireplace that turns on with a light switch that's CONSTANTLY being turned on by the 3 year old. Goodness, I can feel my head spinning already :) hehehe

Greatest Invention

So, I'm getting a new calling today at church. I'm gonna be in the Primary (3-11 yr old kids) presidency (2nd counselor). That was my calling back in our Joliet ward, and I just loved it. I'm hoping it's just as great here too :) And, I have all 5 of my kids in Primary, until August when Jacob goes into Young Mens (12-18 yr olds). I'm excited to get to know the ladies I'll be working with :)

Captain America called yesterday from St. Louis. He decided to spend the day with his brother/parents there. He hasn't really seen them since Christmas '07, so it was nice for him to take a day and visit. I wish I could have been there too. I really do like Captain America's family. They're great people, and I love them dearly :)

He should be home on Monday night. I'm tiring of the moving process (I know, just the first of many army moves), and ready to start feeling settled. Sigh. One of these days :) I still need to go to the post office and get our mail coming here. Note to self - do this on Monday :) hehehehe.

Hehehe, this saying really fits my weekend. We've just kinda sat around and done nothing - LMBO! But, I did get some design time in, and got 10 new WordArt packs designed - Woohoo! And, I watched a lot of TV (online) and even a new movie (online). See, that's not procrastination. That's just doing something else besides cleaning and unpacking. hehehehe.

Click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
Greatest- BIRTH OF A HERO
All rest - AFL Font nonmetric BT

Beary Much

I'm SO glad that yesterday is over. And, I'm feeling much better today. I woke up with a HORRIBLE headache. Really, it was nasty. I didn't even drive my kids to school. I made them walk. It's only about a 5 minute walk, but I still felt bad. My head hurt so bad, I couldn't keep my eyes open, and I was puking every 20 minutes. What a way to start off the morning.

But, I made it through. I ate a few pieces of an orange so I could down some advil, set Jimmy up with the rest of the orange and some cartoon, puked a few times, then went back to bed for an hour. I was puking/sleeping/checking on Jimmy on and off till about noon. I ate a few saltine, and finally started feeling 1/2 way human again. My head still hurt, but at least I stopped puking.

I just laid and bed and watched some TV on my computer. I found if I laid still, I could watch tv and it didn't hurt my head (hehehehe). So, I watched the latest episodes of Lost, and then the first 4 episodes of The Bachelor. I just LOVE television. I know, it's not the best use of my time, and it's probably rotting my brain or something, but I just love it. Guilty pleasure, I guess. We all have one, eh?

By 2:30, I was starting to feel a bit better. Jimmy and I walked to pick up the big kids, and I swear, I almost didn't make it home. My head was pounding, and I needed to get out of the bright sun. When we got back home, I got the kids set up with activities and food, and came back upstairs to bed. Like I said, if I was lying in bed, I felt ok. But no sudden movements.

At 4:45, I went downstairs and quickly picked up the house. Since we don't have much here, it wasn't too hard. But, I got the dishes loaded in the dishwasher, swept the floor, and threw the toys in the kids' rooms. There was a girl in the ward (church congregation) who was bringing over dinner for us, and I didn't want her to think we lived in a pigpen - LOL!

It was SO nice to get dinner brought in. Sure, we don't have a fridge yet, and it makes cooking a little bit more tricky, but given the day I had, I was in no shape to cook. Thanks, Krista. You're AWESOME! I really appreciate it :)

She brought cornbread muffins, this super tasty chicken, rice, cheese, and cream cheesey dish, a salad, jello, and a HUGE chocolate chocolate cake. OMGosh! It was amazing. YUMMY. And, she let us borrow a HUGE folding table, big enough for us all to sit at to dinner. We were cramming around a dinky little card table, with 2 of us sitting on the floor previously. This was SO nice to all sit at the table and eat dinner.

After dinner, I was feeling MUCH better. My head no longer hurt, I just felt a little drained from the day. You know, lying in bed and watching TV can be such a DRAIN on a person - LOL!

I let the kids stay up and play video games till about 8:30/9:00, then put them to bed. I watched a few episodes of Life (NBC), designed this WordArt for you all, and am now gonna go to bed. While I'm not tired, my body is still recooperating for a painful day :) When we get a little bit more settled, I'm calling the Doctor and getting an appointment for some migrane medicine. I know if I had had some, it would have knocked out that headache much faster. I'm SO glad for drugs - hehehehe.

Oh yeah, and update on Captain America. He flew out to Columbus Ohio on Tuesday, and had to wait to rent the moving truck until the army money hit the bank. Now, I know us girls wouldn't have done it that way. I would have waited for the money to hit the bank, THEN flown out, but you know men. You can't tell 'em anything. Their way makes TOTAL sense to them at the time - hehehe. So, he hung out in Columbus until Thursday, when the money came in. He got the truck on Thursday, and loaded it all day Friday.

Apparently, we have more stuff than the biggest moving truck could hold, so Captain America loaded up what he could fit, and headed off to St. Louis. (He'll have to go back and get another smaller truck full of junk again sometime soon. Sigh.) His parents are now living there with Captain Americas younger brother and his wife. He's staying there for the night. Then, he'll be driving over the next several days till he gets home to El Paso. Hurry home, honey. We miss you here :)

This WordArt request comes from one of my CT, Diana. She is working on this ADORABLE layout, and wanted a "bear" wordart for it. Well, here ya go, girl! Hope you like it :) I just LOVE your layouts. You rock!

FONTS:
Beary - PumpinJF
All rest - Pussycat

Funny

Hi all! Another great day in Texas :) I just love the winter weather here. Sure, it's a little chilly, but hey, it's JANUARY!!! I'm not bundled up in my warmest jacket, freezing to death in ice and snow. No complaints from me - LOL!

I bought a few actions from Atomic Cupcake yesterday. I'd been drooling over a few of theirs for some time now. And, I finally spent a few designing dollars and got me some. I took this new wordart and did it up for ya in "pine". Isn't it fabulous! I'm not sure what you would do with it, but it's kinda neat, eh? Hehehehehe.

Storytime at the library was good. Well, chatting with the ladies afterwords was good. Apparently the library lady who does storytime is brand new. Um, she's got a lot to learn about dealing with 2 and 3 year olds. Her story choices would have been good for kindergartners or 1st graders, and she spoke much too softly. I SO wanted to jump up there and take over. But, I showed some self restraint, and smiled and was nice the whole time - hehehehe. Hopefully she'll catch on soon - ha!

A really nice lady from church, Cobi, brought us dinner tonight. It was spaghetti, french bread, a WONDERFUL salad, some gogurts, some microwave popcorn, a few bananas and a carton of strawberries. How did she know my kids so well? They LOVE bread, and strawberries, and the gogurts were a HUGE hit. Joe just ABSOLUTELY loves pasta. They were SO happy. And so was I. I didn't have to cook, and we had meat in our spaghetti. Can't really buy ground beef and expect it to keep in a cooler :) Thanks again, Cobi. You are AWESOME!!!

I'm hoping that my head feels a bit better today. I started getting a doozey of a headache last night. Geeze. I HATE headaches. Now that I have medical insurance, I really should go see a doctor, and get some better drugs for it - LMBO! 4 advil and 2 tylenol just aren't cutting it for me :) It only knocks the edge off. So, feel lucky that I like you all so much - hehehehe, this was designed for you with a headache.

Anyway, here's todays wordart - hope you like it! Click on the images below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and as always, leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
yeah, headache - just trying to get this done quick. I know one is Pupcat, and one is Loki Cola, and one is kevinandamanda.com or something like that

Special Godmother.....and MORE!!!

First off, I wanted to let you all know that yesterday, I FINALLY sat down and went through my Christmas Card emails, and emailed you all back. My final count was 43 Christmas cards! Thanks so much, you guys :) I feel loved !!! So, if you sent me a Christmas Card, and didn't get an email from me, something went horribly wrong - LMBO! Just shoot me an email, and let me now :)

We had our pinewood derby last night at Cub Scouts! Woohoo! Gotta love the Pinewood Derby. Too bad we got our cars Tuesday night - hehehehe. I just had Jake and Tom color the wood with markers, then I put clear contact paper over it (yeah, because there was some in the closet, and I didn't have time to paint them), pop in the wheels, add pennies until it weighed 5 oz, and voulla, Pinewood Derby car - ha!

They didn't win, but they didn't come in last either. And we put the least effort into our cars, so that isn't too bad. And yes, mom, I took pics on my cell phone (forgot the camera AGAIN!), and sent them to Captain America. He'll eventually email them to me, and I'll be able to put them on here. Eventually. You know, he's so busy back there in Ohio, waiting for our Army money to come in so he can rent the Truck - LMBO!

Tom colored his yellow, and called it a humvee. Ok, works for me. Jacob didn't really want to make one, since he's out of Cub Scouts and into Boy Scouts, but they were invited to participate, and he was given a car. I talked him into doing it by telling him he could decorate it to look like the RV on the movie RV. You know that one, with Robin Williams, where they go on vacation in the big RV. Well, they call it the "Rolling Turd". He colored it black, and wrote "The Rolling Turd" down each side and on the top. Yep, it was THAT cool - ha! What a great impression my kids made on all the new church people - LMBO!

Speaking of church people, I met a few of the girls at church, and they seem REALLY nice. One of them found out that our fridge wasn't here yet (yep, it's in storage in Ohio), and said that she'd bring us dinner tonight. What a sweetie. And another girl is gonna bring us dinner on Friday - SO sweet :) I had fun chatting with them, and was invited to the library today for storytime. Apparently, a lot of them meet there on Thursdays for storytime, and let the kids play. Woohoo! I'm all about that. But, that means another outing - mapquest, I might be giving google maps a chance - hehehe.

So, I'm a BAD promoter of my own stuff! Here's my new stuff from LAST WEEK - geesh! I'll never make any money this way -hehehehe.

Click HERE for Party WordArt Pack

Click HERE for invitation Wordart Pack

Click HERE for Baby Shower WordArt

Click HERE for Baby Shower Mega WordArt Pack

AND, here's a sneak peek at what's coming out on Friday. Woohoo!!!

Click HERE for Dreamer WordArt Pack (20% off first week)

Click HERE for Diet Attitude WordArt Pack (20% off first week)

Click HERE for Words Happy WordArt Pack (20% off first week)

Click HERE for Words Active WordArt Pack (20% off first week)

OK, so I got this request from Gina, for some WordArt for Godparents. Well, I designed this, and liked it SO much, that, well, you now me, I go a little overboard :) I made this one:

and these below too:
Abuela
Aunt
Brother
Child
Cousin
Daughter
Father
Godfather
Godmother
Gram
Gran
Grandad
Grandfather
Grandmother
Grandma
Grandpa
Granny
Husband
Mommy
Mother
Mum
Mummy
Nan
Nana
Oma
Papa
Son
Teacher
Uncle
Wife

I put them all into a zip file, and you can download them from my box.net account by clicking HERE :) And as always, if you like my work, leave some love in the comments :) Thanks!

FONTS:
Special - Perpetua Titling MT
Godmother - Luxury Royale JF

Winter's Butterfly

I dropped Captain America off at the airport yesterday morning. He's going back to Ohio to get our stuff. Woohoo!!!! Well, not that he's gone, but that HE'S GETTING OUR STUFF!!! Sitting in a folding chair all day long is not my idea of comfort - LMBO!

His flight left at 6:45 this morning, so he wanted to be there at 5:45am. We left the house as 5:15am, complete with my mapquest directions. All I have to say is,

Mapquest, you are DEAD TO ME!!!

No, I usually LOVE mapquest, but not yesterday. I was trying to get to the airport, and I ended up on post. Yeah, I asked the army guy at the gate, "I'm looking for the airport, am I in the wrong place?", and he looks at me like I'm some kind of freak, and said, "This is Fort Bliss". Duh! Stupid road work. It TOTALLY messed up the directions. But, he told me about 6 steps to correct mapquests mistakes, and sent us on our way. THANK GOODNESS Captain America was in the truck and paying attention. I'd have had NO idea how to get where we were supposed to go.

I dropped him off at the airport, and headed back home. Oh yeah, and got lost 3 TIMES! Curses on you, Mapquest! What are you doing to me! Trying to give me a nervous breakdown. Hehehehe. It woudln't have been so bad if it had been light. Did I mention I don't see so well in the dark? First, I was getting onto I-10, and went West instead of East. So I had to exit and try to get back on heading East.

OK, so I'm on I-10 East, and I have to take Hwy 56. Well, the exits say Ft. Bliss or Juarez. I didn't know which one to take, so, you guessed it, I passed them both. And had to turn around and try to find my way back. By this time, I've gotten ahold of Captain America, and found out that it's the Ft. Bliss one I want. Unfortunately, in all of my turning around and trying to get back on the interstate, I've been on the side streets so long, I've passed the exits AGAIN! I had to turn around again, but this time, I got it right. I was on Hwy 54, and knew my way home at this point. Woohoo!

But seriously, I was in tears, and didn't want to leave the house again until Captain America got back in a week. I was planning on settling in and not leaving. But then, I decided on a different course. If I were to give into my "fears", and just sit home, I'd be NUTS before Captain America came back. After I got the kids off to school, Jimmy and I piled into the truck, and headed off to Wal-Mart. And I did it! I didn't get lost at all. I felt really good about myself. AND, I got an antenna for my TV. We're not getting cable (I'm WAY too cheap), so I figured that investing in an antenna would be the way to go. Cable is 20 bucks a month, every month. This antenna was 30 bucks one time. AND, I get quite a few channels. ABC, CBS, PBS, NBC, FOX. All the main ones. Now, I just need to get my Digital TV converter. Sigh. One more thing to do :)

Then, I decided to head to the Thrift Store on Post. WITHOUT a map - really! I'd driven by it with Captain America the day before, and knew if (IF) I could make it onto post, I could find the thrift shop. Well, I did get a bit lost, but I didn't panic. I called Captain America at one point, and asked which street I should take to get onto post. He told me, and said to keep right on this one road, and it would take me right onto post. Well, as he was saying this, I was keeping left, and going in the TOTAL opposite directions. See, that's my problems, I don't now my left from my right - LMBO! But, I found it after a little detour! Woohoo for me :)

The thrift store had some good stuff, but it was a bit overpriced for my liking. If I'm gonna be buying someone elses old stuff, I want a REALLY good deal. My FAVORITE thrift store was the Unique Thrift Store in Joliet. It was FABULOUS. This one, not so much. I did get a pair of Jeans for me, Tom, and Eme, a nice shirt/vest/pants outfit for Joe/Jim, a fan for Jacobs room, and some hotwheels for Jimmy.

And I must say, when I headed for home, I didn't get lost at all! I was so proud of myself. I'd turned my bad morning into a positive afternoon - yeah for me! See girls, never let a bad experience keep you from doing something you want to do. And don't be afraid to fail. Just keep trying, and you'll eventually get it :)

What else did we do? Let's see. I walked to school to get the kids. I put Jimmy on his trike/bike, and attached a bungee cord to the handle bars, and pulled him to school. He thought that was the coolest thing ever :)

The kids had a lot less homework tonight than last. I think this school is a LOT more acedemic than our last school. But that's a good thing. A lot of work, but a good thing. So, we did homework, played with cars, played on the computer some, ate a late dinner, watched American Idol, and put the kids to bed. I got a chance to design a new WordArt pack for this Friday, and got to watch a little bit of TV. Woohoo for TV!!!

Click HERE to go to Scraporchard to download the ZIP file. Remember, you have to be signed into the gallery to get the WordArt, and it's only up for a week. And as always, leave some love if you like my work.

Precious Gift

Before I start this post, I just gotta say, THE H KEY ON MY COMPUTER FELL OFF!!!, and the K key is sticking. Not so fun. I'm gonna go check my warranty and see what they can do for me. Because I KNOW that shoudln't have happened :)

So today was a FABULOUS day, just like I hoped it would be :) I, um, er, *cough* could have had something to do with the fact that I started my period last night. Crazy PMS will get me every time - LMBO!

Captain America and I drove the kids to school this morning, and as we dropped them off in their classrooms, we got to meet their teachers. NICE people. And the classes seemed very friendly and welcoming. My kids were SO excited. Joe seemed a little apprehensive about going into the room, but quickly warmed up to it all. He's now an all day kindergartener, instead of 1/2 day. Hopefully it works out for him - hehhe.

Eme was SO excited she could hardly stand it. Tom's class was out and about when we dropped him off, so he just went with the office lady, and Jacob got a "boy" teacher. He was pretty excited about that. He also gets to be in Orchestra again. Back in 4th grade, he learned how to play the cello. He was pretty stoked about that.

After getting the kids to school, Captain America, Jim, and I headed into post. I'd never been there, and was pretty excited about seeing it :) Jimmy too. We first went to do some paperwork (ok, so that part was LESS than exciting), but after it was all done, we went to the ADA (Air Defense Artillery) museum. It was SO cool! Army vehicles and missles everywhere. We're definitely coming back with the big kids. They'd SO love it.

Here's some pics from Captain America's cell phone - my camera was left at home, again. sigh. one of these days I'll remember it - LOL! And yes, it was a bandana day. Some days are like that - LMBO!










After that, we went to lunch, then he had to be back with his, um, group (?), at 1pm. er, sorry, 1300 (hehehe), which lasted for 2 minutes, then we went to the Commisarry (first time!), which is the Army Grocery store (great prices, by the way), and to the PX. We looked around a little longer than we probably should have, and had to RUSH to get home in time to pick up the big kids.

But, we made it in decent time. They said that they had WONDERFUL days at school. The kids were SO nice and friendly. When we lived in Joliet Illinois (Chicago), our school was 70% hispanic. But those kids weren't really friendly to my kids. They only wanted to hang out with the other hispanic kids. But it wasn't the case here. Everyone seemed interested in making friends with them, and my kids were SO excited about it. Thats the way it should be :) My kids are DEFINITLY in the minority. I think our school here is about 95% hispanic. Eme was the only white kid in her class, and I think there was on other in Joe's. Hehehehe. It's good for them. Helps them know that we are all Heavenly Father's children, no matter our ethnicity. He loves us all, just the same :)

Anyway, they each came home with a school supply list. Great. I got to buy school supplies, not once, but TWICE this school year. sigh. So, we headed off to Wal-Mart. But first, we stopped by the school uniform store. They were having a sale, so the t-shirts were only $4 instead of $5. Not too bad. I was worrying that they'd be 10 a piece, and that would add up REAL fast. We spent almost $70 as it was. Everyone got 3 new shirt (well, they were out of Tom's size, so we had to order some for him). Yellow, black, and gray tee's with the school logo on it.

Wal-mart was LONG, but I managed to get near everything on the lists. They were out of pencil sharpeners, but had everything else. Woohoo!!! School shopping is done for the year. Again - LMBO! The kids were REALLY excited about their new supplies. Funny how they get so much joy over such seemingly small things.

Back home, ate dinner, did homework, bedtime routine. All in all, it was a great day. Busy, but fun. And I got to spend the whole day with my sweetheart. He flies out tomorrow to Columbus to move all of our stuff here. While I'm looking forward to having a TON of time on the computer, I'll miss him. Hurry back honey - I"ll miss you :)

Today's WordArt request is from Kristen. She wanted to use it on her invitations to her 4 month olds dedication. Hope you like it, girl! Click on the image below to go to my box.net account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work.

FONTS:
Precious - Champignon
G - Monotype Corsiva
ift - An Unfortunate Event DeWarped