Easter And Other Fun Ways to Tire Oneself

Whew! What a whirlwind weekend this has been! I am so tired that I may fall asleep in the middle of writing this blog!

We came off a week of Spring Break, doctor and dentist appointments scheduled, and Hannah having the roughest stomach virus of her life. I had a CAT scan last Monday (results came back normal Saturday!), but everything else kind of got canceled due to Mr. Puke Bug. By the end of the week, she was coming around, but not back to 100% yet.

On Friday afternoon, I was busily preparing for the weekend in my old hometown, for staying over at my folks' house, and helping them with some incoming company for Sunday dinner. I knew that I needed to pack my things and be ready to leave by at least noon on Saturday.

Now those of us with 5 children or more know what it is like to move a small army, complete with "dress uniforms" for 2 services of church on Sunday. I had the troops mobilized and preparing to move out for the most part.

Also in the mix was the "speech factor." Sam and Dan are giving a speech in town on Monday night in a high school competition, and we had to polish those this weekend as well. Then, all homework left from Spring Break also had to be ready to be turned in on Monday morning.

Tim was off on Friday, and I thought he would be of some assistance in getting the "troops" moving in the right direction. Instead, our beloved "commander" was sick as a dog. I think the Tennessee allergy season is definitely in full swing, and he was so sick, as he has been nearly every Easter since we moved here. So he was in bed all day and was not able to help get ready for the weekend.

On Friday afternoon, my future sister-in-law's mother emailed that she was ready to have a fitting for Sarah's flower girl dress, and she was wondering if I could bring her to just over the border into Alabama on Saturday morning, Monday or Tuesday. Since Monday and Tuesday were school days, Saturday seemed to be it. Well, realizing that I was nowhere near ready to leave early the next morning, panic set in. General Mama had to go back to the war room and redraw plans for battle. We had to unpack our bags---those that were packed---because I knew that there was no way I could get every single thing I would have to carry for Easter packed Friday night, so it would have to stay here, and we would just have to drive back Saturday night.

Further complicating things was the fact that we had a lingerie shower scheduled for 5 p.m. on Saturday, so the family would have to wait at Mom's til this was over so we could make the two-hour drive home.

Friday night ended up being a very late night, getting clothes situated for the following day (you know, the troops cannot travel without backup uniforms in case someone spills upon, poops upon, spits up upon, or otherwise sullies their outfits.) I surely was not ready to get up on four hours of sleep Saturday morning and then ride three hours! I was in la-la-land.

I had hoped I could sneak a nap in somewhere between the dress fitting and the shower. It was not to be. Micah had to have something to wear on Sunday. The boy is positively shooting out of his clothes now, and so I went in search of a suit his size. I went to several stores in their limited little town, and nothing was the right size for him. Some stores do not even carry boys' dress clothing any more.

Soooo, before I knew it, it was time for all the ladies to meet at a nice little restaurant there in town for the lingerie shower. Brooke got several beautiful little "band-aids" to paste on during her honeymoon! LOL! The funniest thing happened as she started to open her presents. Her little niece who is about Hannah's age was there with Brooke's sister, and as Brooke began to open her packages, the baby just started laughing hysterically. It was one of those precious belly laughs that babies do at that age, and it was contagious. Pretty soon, the whole table of ladies was laughing so hard that I know people thought we were crazy! I have never seen a baby get so tickled over lingerie before. Well, we were giving the mother a hard time---telling her that most babies like binkies and foofoo's, and her baby seems attached to teddies! (But not the stuffed kind!!!)

Well, after the shower was over, we all went to Drew and Brooke's new house to see how the decorating is coming along. They are nearly all set---gifts unwrapped and in place, furniture in, drapes hung, etc. It is a gorgeous place. They have worked so hard on it. Well, little Raley (spelling?), the teddy baby, entertained us some more by playing with the lingerie a little more before we all left. We discovered that the girl will definitely like lingerie! She was a doll!

Then came the grueling drive back home. I stopped at Penney's with 10 minutes til closing and snagged a suit for Micah, praying it would fit. And next came the even more grueling task of playing Easter bunny before bed, finishing laying out the Easter clothing, and trying to think of everything we would need for Sunday. Another 4 hour night left me beginning to feel like a real soldier who rarely gets more than 4 hours a night!

Sunday morning found us scurrying like bunnies to dress and get to church on time. Daniel was set to be an usher, but he got switched to song leading when the scheduled guy had a sore throat. Sam had scripture reading, and I was proud of my two "bookends" who looked so suave! Micah completed the family rotation with assisting at the Lord's table. Only Tim got a pass today on having to do anything. It was a good thing, as he was busy taking out Miss Hannah, who is a little too verbal in church most days. She is certainly not the passive little girl Sarah was in that regard!

After morning church, we drove on down to Mom and Dad's and all the family was showing up for dinner. My Dad's cousin Philis and her husband, Guy were also there with their two boys. It was a full house, and the food was stupendous. I am still full at 11:00 at night! We had ham AND turkey AND potroast with every vegetable known to man, Steph's dressing and Mom's famous potato salad, spinach dip and cheeseball appetizers....you name it, it was there. Very few of us were able to touch dessert. I ate the "sugar free cupcake" which was really not sugar free but rather Philis Ann's scraping off of some of the icing and lying to me about the rest! :) Brother Doug was ailing today and unable to attend, and Brooke and Drew were no-shows as well! :( I guess they were feasting down in 'Bama.

The afternoon seemed so short. We got a few pictures in, and Sarah played with her beloved cousins Ben and Kelsey. We remarked that we have never seen three love each other to the degree that these three do. They suck every last bit of fun out of every second of every moment they are together.

Philis shared memories of our Edwards relatives and made us laugh. Guy is a hoot to be with too. He is a public defender for 5 West Tennessee counties, so he never lacks for stories to tell, and he is quite good at it!

Brother Dan (the "Parsons") shared with all of us his hilarious account of how he took home some furry Easter GOATS yesterday to his incredulous family! He bought four goats on a shopping trip out to the Farm Supply store, when an old guy in town absolutely would not take "no" for an answer---or so Dan says! :) One goat promptly got away, and the family---Dan, Steph, Ben and Kelsey took out in hot pursuit! Now these goats are still just teeny tiny, but they can run faster than a full grown Parsons. He chased the goat down the dirt road, silently saying a little prayer that the good Lord would allow him to catch this goat, lest he be in worse trouble with the wife for loosing the newly purchased Easter goat. Quite providentially, it seems, a stray Great Pyrenees puppy appeared out of nowhere and cornered the goat. Now by this time, Dan had arrived in front of the mobile home of four men who were using the day to drink and play poker in the front yard. Puppy cornered goat before Dan became the latest statistic in his county, and the men even kindly yelled out that he could take the stray dog home too! Wasn't that nice of them?

So, Dan and Steph now have 4 new goats, a new puppy, and two very happy kids (not the baaah-ing kind!) All I can say is that Steph is one good woman! She has accepted the fact that Dan will forever be bringing home strays of all kinds, and she truly hopes that when Dan gets his Masters Degree soon in Psychology and Counseling, and hangs his shingle out, that his first client is himself!

In other happy news, double mastectomy patient and friend, Tina, who I told you about earlier last week was at church this morning. I told her I was going to get her a shirt that said "SuperTina" on it. She is truly amazing. I hope she did not overdo it too soon.

Tim's aunt Rita is ailing right now, and she is in our thoughts and prayers. They are still trying to work out what is wrong with her, so for the meantime, she is out of the hospital and being tended to by Tim's parents. We continue to remember my grandmother in Florida who is slowly recovering from a stroke last year. (Hi Marni! Hi Pappaw! Love you!)

Well, that is all the news that is news tonight. I am whipped for good now, and I may sleep about a week now. I need a week to get over my Spring Break week. Things are going to be just crazy between now and the middle of April, when we have both Dan and Sam's A.C.E. conference, where Dan is entered in 9 events and Sam in about as many. April 16th is also wedding day for Brooke and Drew, and a week before that, Dan has ACT test. So we are going to be an insane family for a while. I promised them, though, that when all this is over, we are getting out of here for a while and having at least a whole week of doing nothing but staring at an ocean somewhere.

Hope that wherever you are, your Easter was just very Hoppy! Sorry, it is late. I'm allowed to be giddy.