An Eventful Easter!

There have been several Easters where I felt that one was not necessarily "better" than another because each Easter is special to me, but I would have to say that this Easter has been the BEST Easter that I have ever had! There were so many aspects to this year's Easter that made each and every moment more and more special as the day went on.

If you can believe this, I actually planned this year. Typically, I am one of those "last minute, go out and grab a couple of items to throw into last year's Easter basket, hope they will like it type of Moms. This year? Completely different! I hit Wal-Mart when all of the good stuff came out a couple of weeks after Valentine's Day. One thing that I have never understood is why holidays always start months before they actually are. It seems like Christmas shoppers are starting in September anymore.

So, the kids woke up LONG before the chickens and, after a pancake breakfast, they tore into their Easter baskets. Rachel gets excited when she gets stuff. She was so used to getting stuff all of the time before, and now, she gets stuff as a reward or such as this case, Easter. She ripped into her Easter basket, and just squealed. I tried to keep the candy to a minimum because of our healthy eating habits now, so there were all kinds of toys, figurines, etc. in there for her.


Sam followed Rachel's lead when it came to his Easter basket. He'd watch Rachel dig around in hers and see her get excited, so, the little guy dug into his and got excited. He had no idea what most of the stuff was, but he didn't care. He made this noise that sounded like someone was just surprised. It was quite possibly the cutest thing that I have ever seen!

After Easter baskets were devoured and jelly beans tested, we went to the Sunrise Service at church. They didn't have childcare at this service because it was so early in the morning, so the kids came to "big church" with us. It was, to say the least, interesting. Thank God that the church thought ahead. They gave each of the kids a coloring book and crayons to keep them quiet. This strategy worked on Rachel the whole time, but Sam was another story. Sam decided that he didn't want to color. He wanted to play with the crayons, the bibles, the chair, his shoes, Mommy's shirt, Daddy's shoes, his shoes, his socks, and whatever else he could see. Finally, after all of that became boring, he decided that he wanted to talk very loudly. So, to keep him quiet, I pulled out my camera and started showing him pictures. He loves to point at people that he knows, and tell me their name. So, for the rest of the service, up until communion, he whispered names to me...Whew! It was time for communion. Rusty went up to get ours, and Sam started crying because Rusty left without saying goodbye. So, Sam and I left to. We went out into the lobby and walked around.


Immediately after church, we went home. Rachel and I colored eggs while Sam and Rusty played. I had never colored eggs as an adult, so I wasn't very good at it. But, the benefit of having young kids is that they don't know any different!!!


After we finished the eggs, we went to my Mom's church for an Easter egg hunt. Rachel scored a whopping 32 eggs from the hunt, and Sammy got 1 egg. Sam didn't quite grasp the concept of the Easter Egg Hunt, so he was more interested in playing on the toys. The one that he did get was by luck. Sam was the youngest kid there, so all of the other kids snatched up all of the eggs long before I could help Sam find another one. We almost had two eggs, but as we were walking toward the egg to pick it up, a little girl grabbed it up. Oh well!


Nap time! We went back to Mom's house for Easter dinner, after we found her keys that she put onto someone's car that drove away (the keys were on the side of the road), and put Sam down for his nap. He sleeps about two hours, so in the meantime, we all ate dinner, and then I took a catnap. I love midday naps. Rachel borrowed Sam's sidewalk chalk that the Easter Bunny gave him, and took to the driveway. What a mess!


Mom was keeping the kids for us that night because both Rusty and I had to be at work very early the next morning, so at around 5:00, we started to leave. I wanted Sam to experience an Easter Egg Hunt, so I took the 33 eggs from earlier out into Mom's front yard and hid all of them. As we left, Mom had the kids outside hunting eggs...again. Rachel was a little bored with the process, but I think that she was in the beginning stages of her onset of walking pneumonia that she was diagnosed with on Monday (Another story, but she's doing fine now). Sam, however, tore into the game. He was running through the yard with his Easter basket slung over his arm. He would pick up the egg and chuck it into the basket. At one point, I saw him trying for two at one time! Ah, to be a kid again!


Rusty and I got home, and we just collapsed into the chairs on the porch. He called his Mother, and I think that he talked to Cody as well to wish them both a Happy Easter! While he was on the phone, my mind got to wandering, as it typically does. So, I loaded up into the car, went to the store, and as soon as I got back, I did it. Turns out that my suspicions were correct.

We are pregnant!

Yeah....us too!! We were just as surprised as you are! Rusty and I JUST started thinking about the possibility of having more kids...in the future. We never expected this to happen. Don't get me wrong. We are very happy, but I think shocked would be a good word as well.



Two weeks ago, I had my well-woman exam, and the doctor mentioned that because of all my weight loss (73 pounds now), it would be okay for us to get pregnant. The next day, my friend, Melissa, said that we better be careful because we could get pregnant (weight loss, again). Then, my Aunt Corny tells me that she'd love for us to have more kids, but thinks that it would be a good idea to wait until we get back from our cruise in September. I completely and totally agreed with that statement. Rusty and I celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this weekend, and we have yet to have a honeymoon...this was to be our honeymoon. Don't worry, we are still going...I'll just be 6-7 months pregnant!


My unofficial due date is November 26, 2008 (The day before Thanksgiving), and I am 4 weeks pregnant. I have a doctor's appointment set up for April 11th, so I can update everyone on the due date, if it changes.


So, to say the least, our Easter was one for the books! I always said that I wanted to have three kids. But, I guess we are already working on number 4!

What is it with Toes?

So, I'd like to preface this with the fact that I would have normally not posted this as a blog topic because it is just disgusting. I have to warn you, if you have a weak stomach, you don't want to continue reading. Just know that I am an awesome blogger, and leave it at that..

You remember how I "broke" my toe a few weekends ago? Well, thanks for asking...it's doing just fine!

Rusty's toe, however, is not doing so good.

Rusty works Monday through Saturday at an electrical supply company. They basically supply Electricians in the field with their supplies: light bulbs, wire, etc. On Saturdays, Rusty and a coworker, Terrell, organize the warehouse for the next week's orders. It's very physical work more often than not, so Rusty loves Saturdays and all of the extra points (Weight Watchers) that he gets.

This past Saturday, Rusty and Terrell were moving spools of copper wire from one part of the warehouse to another. I never knew this, but Rusty tells me that copper wire spools are VERY heavy.

It is a known fact in our family, that the right hand can sometimes sabotage you. For whatever reason, Rusty and Cody both have issues with their right hands having minds of their own. For example, Cody could be holding the remote control with his right hand, and randomly, he'll drop it..for no reason. Rusty has issues as well, but none come to mind. Let's just say that we always blame the right hand phenomenon for dropsies...even if it has nothing to do with it.

So, Saturday, Rusty and Terrell are moving all of this wire from one place to another. For those of you that don't know Rusty all that well, he is a VERY strong guy. Where Terrell was putting the wire on a cart and pulling it over to the other side of the warehouse, Rusty was carrying the wire...silly man.

You see where this is going, but you would never believe how much damage an 80 pound spool of copper wire could do to a toe. Rusty dropped the wire from about 4 feet in the air onto the corner of his shoe smashing in to his entire big toe. A few choice words and possibly a few tears later, Rusty thought that his toe may or may not still be attached. He slowly took off of shoe. This was the last time that he wore a shoe for several days.

Now, Corley men want nothing to do with doctors. They will go out of their way to NOT see a doctor at all costs. Rusty STILL has not gone to the doctor about this toe. As you can see, it's black, blue, and all sorts of different colors.

I apologize for the graphic pictures, but you have to understand the "toe" situation. I break my toe last weekend, and then this past weekend, Rusty smashes his.

His toe is feeling a little better, but he is going to be forced into the doctor's office to get his toenail removed sometime this week. That's all there is to it. If he doesn't, his poor wittle toe will never be the same.

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R

Sleep Walking

According to Wikipedia, sleep walking can be entertaining as well as dangerous.

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepwalking

I have always had a problem with sleepwalking. I've had more a problem with talking in my sleep, but sleepwalking can be one of those random things that I do. Not too terribly long ago, I found myself standing in the middle of our bedroom trying to turn on the light by the pull cord on the fan. I had been there for about 5 minutes according to Rusty. Apparently, I wasn't pulling the cord hard enough. Rusty finally asked me what I was doing, and I guess I realized that I was standing in the middle of the room. I really don't remember very much about the incident. Rusty has told me most of it.

Some people have embarrassing moments while sleepwalking. I have never personally experienced it, that I know of, but a friend of mine has a story on embarrassing sleepwalking experiences.

My friend, Melissa has two sisters. I was talking to Melissa last night, and the subject of sleep walking came up. She told me that her sister has always had a problem with sleepwalking. One of the several stories that she told me was of a time that her sister came very close to an embarrassing moment.

Forgive me if I don't tell the story perfectly, but I think I can give you the general idea of what happened.

Melissa's Dad was asleep one night, and he was awakened to a noise coming from his closet. This was not your usual "middle-of-the-night" noise either. He sprang up into a sitting position on the bed, yet still under the covers as to not frighten the mysterious creature in the closet.

I can remember those nights where you think that you hear something unusual. I know, just as most of you do, that staying under the covers is more of a comfort for your sanity than for the noise's sanity.

Melissa's Dad took the covers off, swung his legs to the side of the bed, and listened. The noise was strange and frightening at the same time. It sounded as though there was a fierce wind blowing around all of the hangers in the closet.

As he opened the closet ever so slowly, he saw his daughter's blond hair. Melissa's sister was reaching into the hangers and moving them around. He asked her what she was doing, and she responded that she was looking for the light switch because she had to use the bathroom! This sleepwalking experience was a close call in the embarrassment arena.

Sleepwalking can also be dangerous. I would imagine that people could hurt themselves in many different ways while they were sleep walking. People could run into walls, cut themselves, or even fall down stairs. Sleepwalking, as funny as some situations can be, is a very dangerous behavior.

So, apparently, sleep walking is hereditary.

Last night, I was talking to Melissa on the phone. I stepped out onto the porch so that my talking would not awake the kids. Sometimes, I get a little bit louder than I'd like. It started getting cold, so I came inside, and as I walked out of the bedroom, there stood Rachel.

Rachel has a serious problem with sleepwalking. At least once a week (that we know of), she will come out of her room, stand in the hallway, and just look around. Typically, we ask her if everything is okay. She'll mumble that she's fine, and then continue to stand there. So, we send her back to bed where she collapses into a deep sleep.

So, back to last night. Rachel is standing in the hallway between the kitchen and the fireplace as though she has just left her room. The weirdest thing though, was that she was holding the jar of mayonnaise from the refrigerator. Of course, I ask her what she is doing with the mayonnaise, and with glazed over eyes, and a soft, slow voice, she said, "I waaasss mmaakinggg a sssnnnnnnaaaaacck."

I thought I was going to die laughing. Here's my daughter that NEVER goes into the refrigerator without permission standing in her footie pajamas holding mayonnaise. There's no telling how long she had been walking around the house holding the jar of mayonnaise. It was all I could do to not completely crack up in her face. She would have never known just what it was that I was laughing at, nor would she have ever remembered the situation, but my fear was that I would actually wake her up, and it would be difficult to get her back into bed.

So, I told Rachel that she needed to put the mayonnaise back into the refrigerator and go to bed. She had no qualms with my instruction. She put the mayonnaise back, and walked to her bedroom. A few minutes later, I ventured into her bedroom to make sure that she was asleep, and I think that she just collapsed onto the bed and that was that. If there is one thing that Rachel is good at, it's sleeping!

I seriously doubt that she remembers anything at all about the incident, and I'm sure that when I tell her what she was doing, she will crack up laughing as well.

As for the future episodes of sleep walking. I am now convinced that sleep walking can be very dangerous. We will be installing a chain lock on the front door tonight.

Some Cool Kids

Rusty and I visited our church's yard sale a couple of weekends ago, and Rachel just HAD to have a "brand new to her" pair of 25 cent sunglasses. Rachel decided that since she had her "new" pair of sunglasses, she would give her old ones to Sammy. She loves to give her old stuff to Sammy.

So, the next morning, we load up in the car to go to church. I look in the back seat, and there are my babies, cool cats that they are, wearing their sunglasses. It just touched my heart.

A Green St. Patrick's Day

So, today is St. Patrick's Day. Typically, everyone wears green in the spirit of the holiday.

Of course, I NEVER remember to wear green, so naturally, I put a green sticker on my shirt and call it a day.

I went to Po'Boys (Creole food) for lunch today where they serve the best fried pickles in the world! There are several locations in Tallahassee. The one by my office was cluttered with drunk college students fresh off of Spring Break. Everyone was covered in green shirts, hats, beads, etc. That location was serving .50 green beer. Blah...I hate beer.

The other Po'Boys is in the more "family" side of town, so we made the trek across town to the nicer one. This location also had people wearing green, but they were more of the business class, so it wasn't out of control. Ironically, the green beer at this Po'Boys cost $1.00. Hmmm..

So, I'm sitting outside, eating my fried, green pickles, watching people that are wearing green in several different ways and drinking green beer, proudly wearing my green sticker star, and I look over to the parking lot.

For some silly reason, every single car that was parked in this particular section of the parking lot had once been a shiny black vehicle...now, they are as green as everything else today.

The pollen around Tallahassee is absolutely ridiculous. EVERYTHING turns green. I don't remember it being this bad when I was growing up, but it seems that for some reason, it is just horrible here. The green seems to get in the smallest of places too. I don't understand how it travels underneath things. My porch is maroon in color, but ironically, it is green underneath the benches.

Whatever. I'm thankful for spring, but I'm ready for the pollen to go away! I love green, but not in the way that it covers everything!!

Why?

We painted again this weekend....a lot!

Rachel's room was bright blue, so not only did we have to paint it...we had to primer it as well...blah!!! We ended up painting Rachel's room, the hallway, and the kids' bathroom. Not fun at all, but blasting the music so loud that I'm sure they neighbors were singing along makes the experience not too terribly agonizing.

As if painting wasn't enough torture all in itself, I ended up breaking my poor pinky toe. It's inevitable that I will kick something and stub my toe(s) at least once a week or so. It seems that Rusty and I have this in common. My sudden hatred for any random object is something that I will never understand. Stubbing toes and biting your tongue. Why?

My poor wittle toe....I think it's about 4 different shades of blue, black, purple, and black.

The most frustrating thing about breaking my toe other than the obvious pain? I just bought two new pairs of shoes Friday night, and I can't even enjoy them!!

Oh well..

Painting

I really HATE painting.

I am one of those "crafty" people that only truly become "crafty" while standing in front of endless arts and crafts supplies. I see all these supplies and have high hopes, but ultimately, arts and crafts are not my forte'. I step into a Michaels or a Hobby Lobby, and that is the end. I INSTANTLY become a craft makin' machine. I buy everything under the sun that I "think" that I can do, and as soon as I step into the house, I lose my new found talent. Gone. Nothing.

I have a friend that can scrapbook like there's no tomorrow. Somehow, she can take a picture that would ordinarily be "not so nice", and she can turn it into this amazing page. She adds trinkets and stamps and who knows what else to the page. Ultimately, it becomes a work of art. She even makes a few bucks scrap booking for her coworkers from time to time. SHE is what one would call "crafty".

I love the idea of being crafty, but wishing for craftiness and having to paint your house is a completely different animal.

It's funny though. I realize that I hate it only after I begin the process. Somehow, I forget my severe dislike of this process.

This weekend, we started painting the house. We began in Sam's room because we are going to use his room to ultimately store stuff while we move. Rusty and I went to Lowe's to buy the stuff for painting (paint, rollers, brushes, etc). We get all of the stuff back to the house, and immediately, I am ready to get to work. I have somehow convinced myself that this will be an adventure.

Whatever.

Beth gets wind of us having to paint, and suddenly her eyes light up. She apparently LOVES to paint. Cha-ching! Jackpot! Finally, I don't have to do this alone. Somehow, Rusty is perfectly fine with painting...one strip of the wall...and then he's done..leaving the rest for me to do with him randomly coming into the room to take the paintbrush from me only to paint a new strip onto the wall and walk away. So, when Beth tells me that she LOVES to paint, I'm so over-the-top happy, I don't know what to do with myself!

So, we still have all of the house left to do with the exception of Sam's room. I have to say, Beth painted 97% of Sam's room with a smile on her face yesterday, and I loved every minute of it. It's so cool to have someone that loves to do things that you absolutely despise. Another thing that I despise? Gift wrapping...Guess who LOVES to gift wrap? And guess who gets to do my gift wrapping every year? You guessed it...Beffie!!

Love you, pookie!