We have been a bit busy here lately. I tend to laugh a bit inside when people say, "Oh, you must be well rested now that you are home full time with your kids." Yeah. I am so busy that I can't tell you whether I am coming or going half the time.

Last weekend was a bit of a speed bump. I had planned all of these great Easter activities for my kids to help teach them the importance of Jesus' death and resurrection and to downplay the Easter Bunny and all of the commercial hype. Thursday afternoon hit me with a round of stomach pain and illness, so by Saturday, I was in the hospital. I am ok, no worries, but Easter wasn't quite what I planned. It's ok, though. I still read some great Christ-centered Easter books to the kids and made their baskets. This Sunday will be our Easter outfit day for church, and Abigail and the Cherub Choir will be singing Easter songs, so I don't think it will be too bad for the kids overall.

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday digging a well and trying to piece our driveway and yard back together. We have been on a shared well all along, but if we ever sell our home, having our own well will up our home value and make more financing available for the buyers. They hit water and ended up putting our well in at 202 feet, 80 gallons per minute. (Our shared well was 12 gallons per minute.) We are pretty happy about it, even if it did cost an arm and a leg. Next, we are going to put in new drain lines for our septic and have the septic pumped, just for up-keep. We are also going to be putting in a retaining wall in front of our house. Always a project around here!

The kids are doing well. Abigail is fascinated with math, so I have to answer hundreds of math questions a day. Her hair is growing out quickly. She is excited that it is now long enough for pig-tails. Aiden is growing, and weighs 10 pounds more than Abby did at his age, so we are hoping that means a growth spurt for his height will be soon following! They have been having a blast at the YMCA while I have been running/working out.

My workout has been going well. I have turned into a half-human/half-rabbit during meals, but don't mind that at all. I have been running about 4 miles a day, and working in some pilates, free weights, Zumba, and swimming. Wes is on my team for the "Biggest Loser" competition, but has not been quite as determined as I am to be a success in it. I think I may have to give him the toddler treatment and give him a reward each time he works out or makes good food choices.

Abigail's fifth birthday is quickly approaching. We were planning on going to Tweetsie, and bringing her friends, but Tweetsie had a fire recently, so we'll have to see if they open in time or not. We might wait until Thomas the Train comes and just do a big party for both kids since Aiden never really has a party due to the timing of his birthday. Who knows! I guess I had better come up with some back-up options, just in case.

I hope everyone is doing well and that your celebration of Jesus' crucifixtion and resurrection were joyous and filled with the hope that only Jesus can give. You are all in my prayers!

Almost four years ago, I found out that I was pregnant with my second sweet baby. Wes and I had just bought a new home, and I was returning to work after 14 months at home with Abigail. After I dropped her off with my mom, I drove up mom's windy mountain road and my tire blew out, causing me to hit a guard rail. I missed my first day back to work. Last year, three months after we bought our Jeep, I dropped my kids off at my mom's, was on my way to my first day back to work after Christmas vacation, and I got into a minor accident. So this morning, I was a bit wary of my first day of actually working at the consignment. I do know that there is no such thing as luck, or Karma, but I was a bit nervous. I ddropped off my kids, drove extra slowly up mom's road, extra slowly past the previous wreck sites, and went to work at the mall. I had a great, very busy day. I went to mom's, had dinne with my family, got into my car to drive my dad to Blowing Rock to pick up his truck, when, out from no where, a deer decides to jump into my wheel well. Yes, I was hit by a deer. Our new XTerra, that we just purchased in October, totally mangled in the front passenger corner. The bumper and wheel well were mashed up into my tire. (Mind you, I had a flat tire yesterday because someone left 7 nails in my drive behind my tire again, so the only spare is on my back driver side tire. Yeah!) Well, the tire was ok (Thank you Lord!) and my dad and the kids were ok (Bigger thank you, Lord!). I am ok with just a hint of muscle strain in my shoulder, but I have had worse, so it is nothing I am worried about. I am almost tempted to wonder why these things happen when I start to work. Seriously. You can't say I was mentally looking for something to happen, because that rotten old deer decided to leap out from the bush into my bumper. I am ok with it all, though. I broke the car. Oh well. Things can be fixed. And on this earth, nothing stays new and pretty. It just gives me more reaosn to look forward to the perfection of my eternal home.

Our computer died. Completely croaked. So...it has been over two months since my last post. Wes has since bought a laptop for himself for his schooling, but we are still looking for a computer for me and the kids. I am using said laptop this evening, as Wes left it home while on night shift tonight, so I figure I had better catch you all up on what's happening around here!

I had my regular appointment with my endocrinologist the end of January. (I go every three months.) My liver is no longer producing enzymes properly, so I started a medication for it. The medicine gave me a bleeding ulcer, so I quit taking it. My only option to try to fix myself naturally is to lose weight...a lot of weight. I am currently two clothing sizes smaller than I was in high school, but have 45 pounds more to lose. I am running 7 miles a day, going to Zumba, Ballet sculpt, and pilates classes and am on a strict diet, both for weight loss and for the enzymes. I'll let you know how it goes when I see my doc next month.

I have been busy with the Spring consignment sale. I help with this consignment in the Spring and Fall. It is for high-end children's clothing and equipment. Many things that do not sell are donated to the Hope Pregnancy Center, as well as a monitary donation. If you live in Boone and have kids, please come check it out. I am working T/Th/Sat March 13-March 22. It is located in the Mall and ends on the 22nd. They do have some maternity for you guys that are expecting. If you are expecting, check out the new maternity store "Suddenly Showing', too, behind Mike's Inland. It is the best place to shop for maternity!

The kids are doing great. They have been having a blast at the YMCA's nursery every day while I've been running, swimming, and working out. Abigail is spelling quite a few words now and adds her numbers up to 20, totaling up to 40. Aiden has been speaking much better, making complex sentences. He is becoming quite the little character. He, too, is learning quite a bit, such as recognizing letters and sight-words. They are quite a team, my A-Team. I don't know what Aiden will do when Abby starts school in August. She is his little world. I am so blessed to watch them together.

Wes has decided to go back to school, which is very challenging to us all. Wes does not currently have a degree, so he will have to baby-step through it. He wants to get his Masters in Political Science. Wes found out in college (when he went before going ot BLET) that he is dyslexic, so I am reading his texts before he does so that I can "tutor" him through the reading. Yes, I am pretty much going to school again. It will benefit us in the end, though. I am thinking of going back to school once Wes finishes, too. We'll just have to wait and see...

We are definitely busy, with going to the YMCA, my working the consignment, the schooling of Wes, the schooling of my children, riding Murphy (the horse my dad bought my mom), and driving Oma to town for her shopping needs. Busy or not, though, I would love to hear form you all. Please leave me some comments or feel free to call my cell phone to catch up. You are in my prayers always!