Spring Break Fun

The girls started their spring break this past Thursday. Papa and Nana Walty are here visiting and the girls have had a good time with them. Thursday brought the arrival of a minature pony to our house. His name is Peanut. He is too cute and the girls are very excited to have him here at our house. Todd's friend, Chris, brought Peanut over from his mom's horse farm. Ms. Betsy runs a horse rescue from her farm. There may even be another full size horse coming to stay with Peanut. Bailey decided to "name" our farm since we have animals now.....the house is now named Sunset Farm. Friday we went to Jekyll Island for the day. The girls enjoyed playing in the ocean and laying in the sun for a while. Today we are going to have a cook out with Papa and Nana and then tonight we will have friends over for our annual nighttime egg hunt. The kids have been looking forward to it. Tomorrow we will celebrate Easter by going to church in the morning. Sarah will be playing in the orchestra. Then we will go to Longhorn for lunch and have a ham dinner to close out the day.

Dad and Sharon are heading out on Monday for their long trip back to NY. It has been a great visit with them. Dad made a great mantle for the master bedroom and it looks great. I am so glad his work is part of my home....it makes it more personal to me. Thanks Dad! Love you!

Sarah's Excellent Adventure

We woke up yesterday at 6:18 in the morning to Bailey telling us Sarah was stuck in the bathroom. After a long and hysterical exchange of Todd and I trying to tell Bailey she was crazy and that Sarah was just locking her out, we finally decided to go "check things out". Todd discovered she really was stuck in the bathroom.......so Todd had to remove the doorknob and then try and rig it to work because a piece in the doorknob was broken. After he threatened to leave her in there cuz he had to go to work and us teasing her to tell us all her sins, he finally got the door open. It was too funny. Enjoy the video....although know that this is just before the door was opened....she was in there for a good 20 minutes before he was able to get it open.

Bailey's Sleepover and Bowling Party

Today was Bailey's birthday party with her friends. She had a couple girls sleepover last night which we survived surprisingly well, and then today we had a bowling party. She had a good time with both. We had horrible weather today so it ended up there were three girls that didn't show up, but I didn't think it was that bad knowing there were tornadoes in the area and terrential downpours....we did pretty good.

She had a great time and is chilling out right now just because she was up late and had a full day of activities.

We got her a bunny rabbit and all the accessories for her gift. She has spent the entire evening holding the rabbit. Sarah got one as well. Bailey named hers Oreo and Sarah named hers Nibblz (yes that is how she spells it) The bunnies are dwarf bunnies so the size is gonna pretty much stay the same. They are too cute!

I think that updates you all between the last two posts. Have a good rest of the weekend.

Bailey's Play

Bailey had her "Shhhh! We're Writing the Constitution" Play yesterday at school. They did a great job. Bailey had a speaking part and did very well. She looked so cute. Her sleeves were a little long on her costume, but it worked out great. We were very proud of her. I was able to miss the first part of my work day to go to the play, but I had to hurry out quick to get to work because it was class picture day.

Rough Few Days

Hey everyone....it has been a rough few days for us. Todd has been doing lots of tests for his legs. He had an MRI done last Thursday and the results of that came back normal. Yesterday he had an EMG nerve test done. It was a tough test for him, but he was a trooper. He had needles stuck in every muscle in his legs, some in his arms, hands, back, neck and tongue....yes, tongue...and he wasn't to excited about that. The doctor sent him back for another MRI today on a different part of his spine....why they didn't do it the first go round, I don't quite understand, but it is what it is. We hopefully will have the results of that MRI back tomorrow. I have been through a range of emotions, as you can imagine, but am doing okay. Todd on the other hand is extremely calm and positive about everything. I wish so bad I could be more like him in situations like this. He is not worried at all......at least I don't think he is because he tends to hide his emotions very well. It just seems like the past few days between other family members and Todd, I am sick of hearing bad health news......so for that reason, I am gonna end this conversation on a happy note....
Sarah went to band festival competiton today, and they scored superior. That is awesome. Also, she found out today she has been accepted to the Jacksonville State University Honor Band again this year which she is so psyched about! We are very proud of her.
Bailey is having her sleepover/bowling birthday party this weekend. She is very excited and can hardly contain herself. I can't believe my baby is gonna be 10....double digits scare me....but as I am told, I have to accept this.
I guess that is all for now. Hugs to all.

It is finished!

Well, my challenge of the week has been this puzzle that my mother-in-law, Karen, gave to me for my birthday. For those of you that don't know me well...I LOVE puzzles.....it is normally a very relaxing outlet for me to put together a puzzle. However, this puzzle she got me was the most challenging and annoying thing I have ever done. It was so hard, and the reason is because I didn't have a picture to reference to while I was putting it together. It was a cool puzzle though. It is a topographical map of the area where our house is....in fact the center piece is in the shape of a house and is where our actual house is on the map. It was sooooo hard. I normally can put a 1000 piece puzzle together in 1-2 days, depending if I decide to go to bed before finishing it! I become completely obsessed and sometimes can't pull myself away from them....well this sucker took 6 days!!!!! And it was only a 400 piece puzzle. I was seeing red sqiggly lines, green and white patches, and blue ponds in my sleep.....it was crazy. Todd even had to hop in and help me a bit because it was all looking the same after a while. He normally doesn't help me on my puzzles, so that tells you a lot! Ha ha! So Friday afternoon, I finally put the last piece in, Praise Jesus! I was gonna glue it all together, which I never do because I will put the puzzle together at a later date, but this one I actually considered it. Well, yesterday in my hectic morning, I had laid some papers on top of the completed puzzle that I had sitting on the coffee table like it was a trophy, and when I picked up the papers, the staple on one of the papers caught the edge of the puzzle and dragged it to the edge of the table, only to have it fall and break apart.....God's cruel joke on me....so I had to box it up, and put it up with the other puzzles to be put together again someday.....yeah right! At least Todd took pictures of me and of the puzzle so I have proof I did complete it!

Other than the puzzle challenge, we have had a good week. Sarah had nine week exams and did well on them. She is so glad that she is done with this nine weeks and only has nine more to go. It has been a really challenging year for her, but she is pulling through. Bailey is getting ready for her play that the fourth grade is putting on at the end of this month. She has a part in it, but is not nervous at all. She is just ready for it to be over. I finally told my boss that I am not coming back next year. It went well and she was very understanding. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Todd went to the neurologist this week for his leg cramps. He has the doctor in awe and baffled all at the same time. He is scheduled for an EMG test on the 23rd and an MRI as well. The doctor seems to think he has BFS....benign fasciculation syndrome. But is going to do all of the tests to rule out anything else major. I am just hoping it all goes okay. On a positive note though, Todd has begun seeing an upper cervical care doctor last Tuesday. He had his adjustment on Tuesday, and the past four nights he has not had to snap out of bed in pain at all. He actually has slept through the night completely all four nights. I am so excited for him because you all truly don't realize how much of this has become an issue for him and how much pain he is in. He is trying not to count his chickens before they hatch, but we have had success with this kind of doctor/practice in the past, so we are hoping we have reached the same kind of success. We are true believers in this kind of practice. If you have not ever researched into upper cervical care, we highly recommend it!

Well, I guess that is about all for now.

Hope you all have a Happy St. Patrick's Day! May the luck of the Irish be with you always!

Erin Go Bragh!

Another year older....

Well, tomorrow is my 42nd birthday. I don't feel any different, but when I see the number written, I think "Where is my life going?". I just feel like I need to accomplish something major to seem like that number is significant....does that make sense? I know I have accomplished a lot, especially the beautiful family I have. But I guess I am thinking more like in my "outside wife and mommyhood" life. I know God has plans for me, but sometimes I wish He would clue me in as to what is in store.....I really need to practice patience, but what the heck.....I am 42 now, how patient can I be? I still am trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up! We shall see where this year takes me....

As for my celebrations, today I am going to lunch with my dear friend, Susan, in Valdosta. We are just gonna have a girls day. It is gonna be like 80 today, so we are gonna take the convertible and do some cruisin'! Tonight, Todd wants to take me out as well, so I guess that means no cooking for me today!!!! Tomorrow, although Todd is off, we have a full day of activities. Sarah is playing in orchestra at church and Todd has a meeting at church. Maybe sometime after 2:00 we will be able to go do something as a family. That is all I want, just to spend time all together. I feel like we have all been going in different directions lately. I just want to chill together. It doesn't take much to please me.

Well, I guess I will finish up this post and get my day going. I hope you all have a great week.