Staying Busy

Staying Busy? Yeah, that may be an understatement. ROFL! I was SUPER busy today. I woke up at 5am to pee (yeah, I don't know what's up with that, I NEVER do that...), and checked my email on my Droid. Handy thing, the Droid is (now I sound like Yoda...)

AND I HAD AN EMAIL FROM CAPTAIN AMERICA!!! With pictures and everything!!! He said they'd arrived at their final destination (this was sent at 4am my time), and were getting all settled in. Apparently, the unit they were replacing weren't gonna leave for another 10 days, so they're in temporary quarters until that time. In tents, or something like that.

Here's some of the pictures that he sent -

I guess they flew to Maine, and had a layover there.

Then to Ireland. I'm SO jealous!!! I SO SO SO wanna go to Ireland!

Fish and Chips!!! He did say that the ones on the Oregon Coast were better, but this IS airport food...

And the Chiefs game (his FAVORITE football team) was on in the airport.

And this is his tent that he shares with the other E-7's and above

And I thought this was the COOLEST! See how well he knows me - LOL! He knew that taking a picture of the Diet Coke in the foreign language would make my day - ROFL!

In the Email, he'd said that the MWR or someone or another had provided 17 minute phone calling cards for the soldiers. Only hitch was that they had to be to El Paso (915) phone numbers. Whaaaat? My cell is an Ohio phone (740). So he'd called the home cell phone, which was a 915 number, but the phone was out in the living room, and I didn't hear it. Sob! I"D MISSED A CALL!

I was kinda bumbed, but the email made up for it, so I wasn't too sad. He'd left me a voicemail, and it was SO nice to hear his voice. I decided that on my list of things to do today was to change my Cell Phone number! Once he gets into permanent quarters, he'll have access to Skype, but for the next 10-20 days, I wanna be able to talk to him!

I tried to go back to sleep, and eventually did. And woke up at 6:45-7am with my alarms and snoozes. hehe. I said my prayers, and got the kids all ready for school. Tom was still sick, so he was staying home. Fever and headache. Poor kid. At least it wasn't puking or diarrhea...

I got Eme and Joe on the bus, and Jake started with school, and Jim situated, and I went back to bed for a little while. 30 minutes, maybe. Then got up, and got ready for Savers. It was Monday, after all! And I chatted with my mom the whole way to Savers. Thanks, Mom, for chatting with me!

I got there right at 9 when it opened, and my strategy for the day was Skirts. That's what I wanted. See, you have to pick a section to go to and grab all the sale colored tags before they're gone. LOL!

Anyway, I found a TON of skirts that were Green Tagged (sale color), and then perused the other sections. I found some shirts and some jackets and some things for Emeline. A real nice Gap Jean jacket. Can't pass that up for $0.99!

I ended up with 33 items for $35 after tax. Wow! I was SO excited. See my "I'm happy it's a Savers day" face:

It took FOREVER to try everything on, but I ended up with a TON of good things. 15 new skirts. Yeah, I can wear a different new skirt to church for 4 months - ha! I love 'em! Especially you can't get a new skirt for cheaper than $15, and I got them ALL for $15. Some are good name brands, too!

So I headed to the Dollar Tree, because there is one REAL close to Savers, that has good bread selection. I was even considering texting Kari and Terra to see if they wanted me to pick them up some bread too. And, of course, the bread guy hadn't come yet today. Drat! Oh well. Just another excuse to come back, right??? LOL!

So I headed back to post, and got to the house right as the bus was coming for Jim. Oops. I unloaded the car (ha! I get to drive Captain America's 2003 Saturn Ion now!!), and got Jim ready for school. And drove him up there.

And checked on Tom and Jake, who were both doing fine. Jake was doing school, getting ready to take the dog for a walk, and Tom was still sick on the couch. Watching episodes of Star Trek. And I headed to Terra's house for Zumba! She has the DVD's, and had a 20 minute fast video. And it was SO much fun.

But, I'm SO horrible at it - ROFL! I really should have taken a video to prove just how dorky I am. Every time she looked over at me, she busted out laughing. ha! When I didn't know what to do, I just kinda wiggled around and moved my hands all funny like, and made a face. Yeah, I'm a dork! hehe. BUT, I was moving the whole time, and I was totally sweating when we were done. It was a FUN and GREAT workout!

I headed back home, and made myself lunch. Cheese sandwich with cucumber and apple. Mmmmm, LOVE my lunch :) No really, I do! I put Garlic and Onion seasoning in the melted mozzarella cheese, then put that on a Whole Wheat Sandwich Round, and peel a WHOLE cucumber and eat it. And an apple. VERY tasty :)

I was on the computer for a little while, then turned it off, and headed out again. First stop, Verizon. To change my number. BUT, of course, they were busy. So I put my name on the list and headed next door to Family Dollar. Because there's always something fun to look at there.

AND, they had their Christmas crap 90% off! Sa-weet!!! I got some ornaments and boxes and those little round buckets like I gave the teacher presents in this year, and a snow globe nativity scene, and 2 Ginger Bread house sets, and a BUNCH of other stuff (Including some pet cleaner spray for the carpet), all for only $15. Nice, huh? Now I just need to put it in a box for next year, and not forget I have it - ha!

And I headed back to Verizon, and waited about 5 more minutes, then it was my turn. The dude said that they COULD change my phone number, but that it would cost $15. OR, I could go home and call Verizon's 800 number, and say that I was being harassed and wanted my number changed, and it would be free. Yeah, I had WAY too many other things to worry about doing to put this off any longer. So I paid the $15 and let the dude do it for me. And I was off and on my way with my new phone number in under 5 minutes. Thanks, Verizon dude!

I swung by Walmart on my way home for hangers and Whole Wheat Sandwich Rounds. It's pretty sad when the hangers for your skirts cost MORE than your skirt. hehe. I'd decided to take over part of Captain Americas side of the closet and put my skirts over there. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Right, sweetheart? hehe.

Anyway, I grabbed the few things that I needed, and headed to the check out, then headed home. I got home 20 minutes before Jims bus, so I had time to put my stuff away, give Tom more meds, get Jake back on track for school, play with the dog, then off to get Jim from the bus.

We came back home, and I hung up all of my new skirts and rearranged my closet a little bit. Yeah, it may be time to go through it, cause it's not all fitting - hehe. Don't say anything, Captain America. You like that I have lots of pretty clothes that make me happy - ha!

Joe and Eme got off the bus at 3:30 (yeah, no AQ again - I may have them drop out, because I'm liking having them home right after school, and not having to go and pick them up.... something to consider...), and we cleaned up for a little bit, and then it was time to go to the pool.

Tom and Jake stayed home, and I took Joe and Jim and Eme. And I even wore my suit! Kari and I had planned on swimming laps.

And the pool was SUPER crowded. The Pregnant PT soldiers were there, and then there were the people swimming laps. Yeah, when we usually go, it's just us. Maybe 2 or 3 other people, but that's it. So I'm not used to swimming and sharing a lane. And yeah, as soon as someone came and asked to share a lane with me (I was about 12 half laps into it), I got out. Because I would have TOTALLY taken her out with my crazy back stroke - ROFL! I'm ALL over that lane. Besides, I'd already Zumba'ed today. I was good on exercise. Plus, my neck was starting to tense up a bit, and I only had one Imitrex left. My refill is due in the pharmacy Thursday morning by 9am. hehe.

So I got out, and Joe got out too, and he was FREEZING. So I sat and chatted on the bench with my friend Karin, and held and snuggled with Joe. He was keeping me warm, but I don't know if I was keeping him warm.

Eventually, it was time to go, and we headed home. I made homemade hamburgers for the kids. I took 1 1/2 lbs of ground turkey, 2/3 cup of oatmeal, 3 eggs, and a BUNCH of Garlic and Onion seasoning, and mixed it all together. Then split it into 6 balls, and cooked it in my big George Forman grill. And yeah, it didn't hold together too great, but it did ok. I just kinda scrapped it onto the bread when it was cooked. hehe. I had lettuce and cheese and tomato and lite miracle whip on mine. Some kids had ketchup. Some had mustard. And relish. I let them put on it whatever they wanted. They were pretty tasty.

Then we started on chores and homework. Joe, of course, was the last one working. Tom had gone to my room to escape the loudness that is Jim. His poor head. Jake was still working on school. See, he was having a hard time focusing today. So, as I'm writing this, it's 10:15pm, and he's STILL working on school. He keeps letting himself get distracted...

Anyway, at almost 8pm, we started making the Gingerbread houses. And it was SO much fun!


Jake was helping Joe and Tom, but decided to go finish school instead. Here's Tom and Joe working on their house.

And Eme and Jim

Me sitting with Jake. Mmmm, apple! And see the laundry baskets on the table? I'm SO gonna fold that laundry pile on the couch tomorrow. Seriously. I really am! One basket for each of the 5 kids.

I think Boxer will keep us...

Eme and Jim's house. I made them stop at 8:30 so I could put them to bed. I put them out in the garage so the dog wouldn't eat them after I went to bed. hehe. We'll work on them some more tomorrow after library movie.

And I've been making more time to do bed time routines. I used to be SUPER good about it with the older kids, but have fallen out of the habit with the little ones. So I went into their rooms, listened while they said their prayers, and we did scriptures, then we sang the first 9 Article of Faith songs. Yeah, I need to learn 10-13, I guess. hehe. I was amazed that they knew so much of them. Jim especially! I guess I still think of him as a little kid. He's my big 5 year old, though!

And here's Beaver Warrior. Did I ever tell you about Beaver Warrior? On year, my mom bought the kids stuffed animals from Kohls. At christmas time. I think it was from a book. Jake got the Bear, Eme and Tom got white rabbits, and Joe got the Beaver. All the other stuffed animals are LONG gone, but Beaver stuck around. He's joe's FAVORITE stuffed animal. And, Captain America turned him into a warrior. He has this CRAZY voice that Captain America makes for him, and he karate chops everyone, and chases people around the house, and uses light sabers and swords and stuff. Yeah, we all LOVE Beaver Warrior.

And it was sad, the day that Captain America left, Beaver Warrior came out to play, and told Joe that his voice was going away for a year, but that they would play when he got back. Sniff! Anyway, Beaver Warrior had lost his nose a while back, and Joe decided to shove a Carmex tube inside of him. Looks like a PERFECT nose, Joe! AND, I love this little bed he made for Beaver Warrior. He's SO well taken care of :)

It was almost 9pm by the time I got done snuggling and listening to stories from the kids, and came back out to get on the computer. I needed to blog. And answer some emails.

And then, the house phone rang. WHAAAAAT? That was Captain America, I just knew it! Jake answered it, and I SO wanted to rip the phone out of his hands. hehe. But I didn't. They chatted for about 2 minutes, then he passed the phone over. It was SOOO nice to talk with my sweetheart! He sounded happy. And I was SUPER happy to talk with him.

He told me about his trip, and the base, and the area, and I told him about my day, and the kids, and all the stuff I've been up to. We figured out that for him, if he took his time, 7:30am and added 2 hours - 9:30pm, that would give him my time. Just switched the AM/PM. Or something like that. So that would make it 8:30am his time if it's 10:30pm my time. Hmmm, I need to get a clock for the wall that's Captain America's time zone...

It's was just SOOO good to hear his voice and check in with him. It was almost like he was there. Their phone cards were good for 17 minutes, and once it ran out, he called back on another one. So we got to talk for 34 minutes. Well, 32, since Jake wasted, er, used, 2 of my minutes. hehe.

And, here's my face after I hung up with Captain America.
OK, so I know I need to shower and make myself cute, but I just thought that you could SO see how happy I was to get the call. I'm practically beaming.

I came back out and finished up blogging. Jake was writing a short story for school, (rough draft) and finished up a few minutes before I finished with this blog post. Off to bed he went, and I'm gonna be going off to bed not too long after. It's 10:30, and I'm exhausted. Probably because I'm doing such a good job at Staying Busy. 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!

4shared

box.net

It's me! Good job, Sharon! hehe. You definitely captured how BUSY my life is sometimes!

Lighten Yourself Up

Morning, Girls! Well, I survived the day! And it wasn't too bad. Of course, now tomorrow's gonna be HORRIBLE because I said that, right? hehe. Knock on wood, real fast!

Last night, I tried to watch a movie, but wasn't really into it. At 10pm, I took a sleeping pill, and fell asleep on the couch watching the movie. And went to bed at 11pm. I slept on Captain Americas side of the bed, and only woke up a few times confused - hehe. I woke up with my alarm at 7:30am, and checked on the kids.

Jake and Tom were up and showered, and Jake was getting ready to take the dog on a walk. Eme and Joe and Jim were awake, and I sent Eme to the shower. The little boys were eating Breakfast.

And I decided that I didn't wanna shower. My make up was passable from yesterday, and my hair too. And I was afraid to shower, for fear I would cry. Because historically, the shower is where I cry. It washes away all the tears, and doesn't leave your face red - hehe. Sad that I know that, right? LOL!

Anyway, I pulled my hair back, and decided to leave on my glasses. And picked out a long black skirt, and a long sleeve white/black shirt. And my fuzzy black boot/slippers. Yeah, I was being a rebel today. If I had to go to church without my husband and best friend, I was gonna be comfy! LOL!



And when I came out of my room from getting ready, there was screaming and fighting. Sigh. Jake had somehow gotten Tom in the closet, and propped a chair up to keep him in there. Really? Nice, you guys... So Jake got grounded from the TV for a while today. Poor Tom. He wasn't feeling well anyway, and locking him in he closet didn't help.

We all got ready, and I even had a few extra minutes to work on a Singing Time. They Primary President asked me to sub for 2 months while the real Singing Time lady recovers from having a baby.

I had bought big foamy dice at the dollar tree a while back, and decided to have a game with it. I took a poster board, and drew a line down the middle. One side said "Songs" and one side said "Actions". And I numbered each side from 1-6. And then had a list of songs, and a list of actions. Songs were for the Orange dice, and Actions were for the green dice.

So, I knew that if they were to roll the orange dice and get a 3, and the green dice and get a 2, we'd sing "Follow the Prophet" while standing up. That kind of thing. Eme and Tom helped me with the poster.

And then we headed out to church. And got there 10 minutes early, and our spot was TAKEN! It was Ward Conference, so there were a TON of extra people there today. Sigh. Oh well. We sat in the back, and the kids actually did pretty good.

Kids went off to classes after Sacrament, and I headed to Primary. The game went pretty good, too. Junior Primary didn't have a lot of time, but Senior Primary got to play for quite a while. And I think they all liked it :)

After church, we headed back home. Everyone was in a good mood, and there was no bickering. Wow, it was a miracle. I had Eme and Joe clean out the car, and waited for them to come inside the house, so I could make sure they shut the doors (hehe.)

I made sure everyone changed their clothes, and hung them up, too. Wearing Sunday clothes for 3 1/2 hours does NOT get them dirty, you know :) And then I made food for kids, and my own food, and changed clothes. And Captain America, you'd be happy to know, I even hung them up - LOL! Sure, the bed never got made, but I hung up my clothes! The bed is on my "to do" list...

The kids and I watched a movie, and Jake took the dog for a walk, and then hung out in the dining room. He was very apologetic for his actions, and Tom even thought that he should get to come and watch, but I didn't relent. He should have thought about that this morning. So after the movie, I let him have privileges back.

My in-laws called at some point during the movie, and I chatted with them for about 45 minutes. It was a very nice chat, and made me feel good to know that they were checking on me and the kids.

Eme and I crocheted during the movie, and I eventually got on Facebook and emails for a while. And, while I'm on that subject, THANK YOU so much to everyone for your well wishes and prayers. I know that's why I'm getting through today! You guys are awesome :)

Yeah, I made that head thingy Eme is wearing. It looks better on my head, because my head is bigger. LOL!

And this is Bob the Ball. He was "born" today. ROFL! The kids had a lot of fun making and playing with him. Yeah, it's the cheapest toys that get the most play time, I'm saying...

We watched an episode of Star Trek (where Spock has to fight Kirk in a duel to the death), and then had some quiet time. I really wanted a nap, but it didn't happen. Maybe that's for the best...

My mom called a little later, and we chatted for about 30 minutes. See, everyone loves me today - ha! We talked about phones and summer plans, and thanksgiving/christmas plans. It was a nice chat :)

Do you like the Madagascar movies? Well, my kids do. And over Christmas, Jim decided that he LOVED the Santa Claus is coming to Madagascar song, by King Julian. Yeah, it's HILARIOUS!

And even FUNNIER when Jim sings it!

And then, I asked the kids if they wanted to sing another song, and they wanted to do the "Give Said the Little Stream" song with motions. So of course, I had to jump in too!

And, after having Jim sing Merry Madagascar, we, of course, HAD to watch it. It's now almost 7pm, and once this movie is over, I'm putting kids to bed. For extra reading time, or something. 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!

Awe, thanks Sharon! I'm trying to Lighten Myself Up, you know!

4shared

box.net

We Believe

Hey there... yeah, I'm slightly holding it all together. Slightly. Captain America left yesterday. For a year. To the middle east. And I'm here. By myself. With 5 kids. And a dog (ha!). But we DO believe. We believe that it will be ok. We believe that he is doing a good thing. The saying that he repeats a lot is, "If not me, then who?" If he's not willing to stand up and fight for the things he believes in, then who does he expect to do it?

We believe that we'll become closer during this years separation. We believe that our family and friends will help us. We believe that Heavenly Father will help us. We believe that we can get through this a better, closer family. We believe that we'll make it.

But I know that it's gonna be hard. As we drove home from dropping him off, and the kids were all filing into the house, and went back and check on the truck. If I don't check to make sure that all of the doors are shut and the lights are out, who will? That's all on me. And I started thinking about ALL of the little things that would be on me for this coming year.

And there are a TON of things... But there are also good things. I will have this year to focus more on myself, on my children, on my job. We love our husbands to death, ladies, but they DO require a TON of time and attention. hehe. I know that when Captain America is gone, I find that I have more time that I'm willing to devote just to cleaning alone - ha!

Anyway, we woke up around 8:30 or 9am this morning, and hung with the family for a bit. We all had breakfast, and just spent some quality time together. And I got this REALLY good picture of Jake and Boxer.



Around 11am, we went out to the garage, and Jake and Captain America and I moved the trailer from one side to the other, and put all the remaining stuff in either the trailer, or under it. And swept stuff out, and parked the car. Perfect!

We all had lunch at home, and Captain America packed his carry on and got all of the rest of the stuff together that he needed.


He packed up some stuff that he wasn't gonna be using for the year. I helped by putting newspapers into the toes of his shoes.

And I think that it took a LOT longer than he thought it was gonna. I tired to keep the kids quiet. You know how frustrating it can be to be in a time crunch, and have noisy kids all around... Some of the kids played in the back yard, or in their rooms, and I worked on teaching Eme to crochet. I'm left handed, so I only know how to do it "backwords".. hehe. Poor girl! But she's a trooper, and kept on trying.

Eventually, he was finished. I had him and the kids, one at a time, go outside and get their pictures taken together. I'm SO glad that we got the new cameras yesterday. We got some good photos!











And then he said a preliminary goodbye to all the kids, and gave them each (and me too), a blessing. It was SO nice. He and I were both in tears by the end. But it was good.

And then he and I headed out to the battery where I was to drop him off. We got there about 10 minutes early, and just sat in the car and chatted. And hugged, and told each other that it would be ok. And then he had to go. And I watched him walk away...



And cried the whole way home. Controlled crying, though. I knew that if I lost it, I wouldn't be able to gain control. And I needed control. He had to be at the battery at 3pm, and then they were all gonna go to Milam Gym from 430-630 for a farewell "party" with the families. So I was planning on taking the kids to Milam Gym at 415.

I came home, pulled myself together, and grabbed my phone. I was gonna install Skype Mobile. And test it to see if I could talk on the phone on Skype Mobile to a computer on Skype. So I installed it and logged in, then created an account for Jacob. And tested it out. And yup, I could log onto Skype Mobile on my Droid, click on Jake's name, and call him. And he could answer on the computer. Or he could call me on his Skype account, and it would come through as a Skype Application call. Sweet! Now, when Captain America's over seas, he can "call" me on my cell! On Skype! Or send a chat in Skype, and I'll get it on my Droid as a Text in Skype Mobile. I was pretty excited.

But, I realized that it was 3:50, and I didn't have time for a shower. Crap! So I went in my room, and started getting a little weepy. I let myself cry long enough to wipe off all the old make up, then sucked it up, and applied a fresh "coat". LOL! I used the greens/teals/blues that Captain America likes on my eyes, and found an outfit that looked good with it, and called it good.

I got the kids organized, and found my camera, and my phone, and my purse, and told the kids to find something to bring in case it was boring (we had NO idea what to expect), and headed out at 4:13pm. And drove to Milam Gym, and luckily, there were plenty of parking spots.

Family members were sitting on bleachers on both sides of the gym, and there were a few booth tables set up in the middle of the gym. They were from ACS, MWR, and other agencies, and were giving away free stuff. I turned the kids loose, and let them wander and grab stuff. They had a GREAT time.

They got suckers and bouncy balls and popcorn and cookies and color books and crayons and sunscreen and pens and a BUNCH of other stuff. Jim and Joe liked it the most, I think. It distracted them from the task at hand...

The guys were still not there, but the kids were entertained, so it was ok. Then, guys with M16's started filing in. hehe. You can't take a pocket knife or nail clippers on the plane, but they can bring their M16's. ROFL! Captain America was in one of the later groups that came in.

And we hung for an hour and a half to two hours. Just sat around, chatting, eating (Just our battery had subs and chips and sodas), and taking pictures and enjoying the family. It was very relaxed, and very good.

Jake was SOOO much better this time. I found out that part of the reason he was SO poorly behaved yesterday was that he'd forgotten to eat lunch. Yeah, that would do it! Plus, i wasn't formal today. VERY relaxed. And not crowded. Or hot. Those all helped :)

My boys!

The boys were pretty impressed that all of the Soldiers had M16's. hehe

Jake and the M16

Crazy lady with a big gun!!!

Jim and the M16

Tom and the M16J

Eme and the M16

Poor Joe has SUCH bad chapped lips, and some sucker on his face. He looks like the Joker from the new Batman movie...

This end of the gym was filled with kids wacking each other with balloons. ROFL!

Tom and I

At some point, some CYS ladies brought in toys and games and puzzles and junk for the little kids to play with.

Jacob, Captain America, and Jim

Captain America and the Kids

Thankfully, someone offered to take a picture of ALL of us together!

And at 625pm, the called formation, and the guys all lined up. We did last hugs and kisses, and he went to stand with the battery.



And his battery was the first to leave. Off they went, and loaded up on a bus.
And that was that. The kids and I walked to the truck, and off we went. Tom was crying a little, but we all were laughing and joking in the truck. I had to lighten the mood a little bit. So we joked.

When we got home, I told the kids that AFTER their chores, they could have electronics. I went and changed my clothes, and hurried back out to be with the kids. I was afraid that I'd fall apart if I were by myself. I helped them all do their chores, and cleaned up the little kids' room. And then sat down to blog. It's now 8:14pm, and I really need to put the kids to bed. We have 9am church in the morning.

OK, so now it's 9:11pm, and kids are all asleep, dog is snoring on the couch, and my blog is finished. I may watch a movie. I may clean my room. I may sweep. I may read. I may design. I may just go cry myself to sleep. We'll see how I feel once I post this...

I can do this, right?

This is the 2011 Mutual Theme. I could have sworn that I'd already designed something for it, but nope. So here it is. And click HERE if you want the 2011 Primary Theme. 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!

4shared (not working again...)
box.net

GREAT bookmark, Sharon!!!