Happy Halloween

Things have been pretty hectic here at the O'Quinn house but I'm due for a blog. What better occasion than Halloween when you KNOW I've got some fun pics of my kids and the happenings around here.

First of all...I hope that you are all having a fun day and that your kids aren't as sugar-addicted as mine. Why is it that I always end up with twice the amount of candy as I started with at the end of the night?

This year, Maggie wanted to go and pick out a special pumpkin and carve it herself. I reluctantly let her have a paring knife and go at it! She was totally grossed out by the hallowing out of the pumpkin (as I vividly remembering being as a kid myself) but pushed through it anyway. She picked out a "Tin Man" pumpkin pattern off the web and was so big about tracing and carving it all out. This went along with the Wizard of Oz theme we had going on here with our costumes. She got a little bit knife happy around the eyes and accidentally lost them in one big stroke. I was so proud of how precise she was and how she stuck with it until she was finished! It's the little things that reveal how big she's getting.

She wanted me to do a "spooky" pumpkin. Since when is spooky appealing to a 4 year old girl? I settled on carving her the witch from Snow White.

Here are our creations all lit up...

More photos of the kids in costume to come...

Fun and Free

I have been thinking a lot about the fact that for me and my family, getting out typically involves spending money. Why is that? Why can't we think of fun AND free things to do just for the sake of being together. The weather is so nice right now and I really want to take advantage of being out in it!

As a stay-at-home mom, there have been numerous days where I just need to get out of the house and get my kids out from in front of the tv...but I can't think of anything that won't involve purchasing food, admission, or some other random item.

I wanted to use this post as a sounding board from some of you. What do you and your family do for fun that's free?

These are a few things that we've done in the past but help me add to the list...

• Picnic in the Park
• Story time at Barnes and Noble or Pottery Barn Kids
• Mall play area (ours is a tree)
• Go fishing (worms aren't that expensive)
• Free Jazz night at Market Street (this one is specific to our area, sorry)

Dinner Time Prayer

Tonight I had a very special moment as a mom and a believer.

Rory has been learning how to pray at bedtime and mentions all of the things from his day that he can think of to thank God for.

Tonight, Maggie nominated him to pray before we ate. He's never had the opportunity to do that before and acted honored to be chosen for the coveted nightly task.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

Clasped his hands tight...

then, began...

"tank you God for today,
tank you God for food,
[his voice breaks a little and he gets this very serious tone]
for mom,
for dad,
for maggs,
for penny [our dog],
[then there was something in audible about us going
and getting new tires put on my car today],
love you God, AMEN!"

I was flooded with visions of him as a grown man leading his family in their dinner time prayer and the next thing I knew, I was crying. What a precious memory I will always treasure of my little man's first prayer at dinner.

Thank you, God, for Rory.


This moment was immediately followed by Casey laughing and telling Rory that he could ask Mommy for anything he wanted and he'd probably get it.

He didn't miss a beat and said, "Mom, can I have candy corn?"

Pet Peeves

I participated in a blog poll recently about hidden talents and "things you don't know about me". The culmination of that and watching one of my favorite Friends episodes recently got me thinking about something. It was the episode where we find out that Monica's pet peeve is "Animals dressed as humans". I would have to agree with that one. I started trying to pin-point my pet peeves because I know I have a couple of them.

My BIGGEST pet peeve is when people tap on me.

I just hate being tapped! Maggie has started doing it and it utterly drives me up a wall. I can see her standing in front of me and she taps my arm. Why does this bother me? I don't know why, but it does.

I feel slightly psychotic for how much I allow this to unnerve me so I'd love to hear some of your random pet peeves. Maybe it will help bring the sanity back to this hormonal and edgy (don't tap me!) woman.

Poodle Girls

Casey's uncle owns the Texas Opry House in Magnolia, TX. It's a very cute, very fun place where you can get a home-cooked meal and listen to some great country music.

This past Saturday they had their "50's Night" and asked if I'd come and sing and so I did. Why is it, though that I allow myself to get entangled with events requiring costumes when I am very much pregnant? Flash-back to me being 7 months pregnant with Rory and singing "The Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" at a girls retreat. They don't make maternity military outfits!

For this show I was the 'knocked-up' Pink Lady for the first half and wore a humongous poodle skirt for the second half of the show. Maggie came along because she loves the music and couldn't pass up an opportunity to wear one of her favorite outfits. She actually made it through the whole show but as you can tell from this picture... this poodle is pooped!

Still a surprise...

Casey and I went to the doctor today for our 20 week ultrasound. We got to see our little angel for a good while and saw all of its precious fingers and toes. We saw its full belly and beating heart. Isn't God good! What a miracle to get to see your baby sucking on its hand inside your belly.

Casey made sure to tell the technician that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby so she avoided that area all together.

"If you don't want to know...we don't need to know," she said.

I was secretly hoping that the baby would flip and give me an inadvertent look at its goodies but I never got the opportunity to sneak a peek.

We truly will be surprised when this baby arrives.

Take a look at my belly, though. I have never looked this pointy with my other babies! Any theories on what this indicates? Boy/girl?

New York, New York...it's a wonderful town

I'm sorry to say that I've been back for 4 days now and blogging has just had to take a back seat to all of the laundry, e-mail catching-up and weeks worth of cuddling that I had to do with my kids after being in New York all last week.

Casey and I had a fantastic time with our good friends, Conn and Ashley. They had never been so it was fun to show them all of the cool things that New York has to offer. The weather was less than desirable with a misty start to the week and a torrential down pour the last night that we were there. It was cooler than it is here, which was nice.

Rockefeller Plaza

We walked a lot and carrying around this extra belly was a different New York experience for me! We got to be in the audience for the Late Show with David Letterman and saw J.Lo (who is undoubtedly preggers!)... went to the Today Show and got on camera for about 10 seconds!!!...and saw an amazing show called Curtains with David Hyde Pierce and Debra Monk (aka George's mom on Grey's). Unfortunately for us, DHP was MIA and we saw his understudy but the show was fabulous none the less.

I love NY for it's quirkiness. Where else would you get serenaded with hymns on the subway or walk past a yoga class in Central Park? Or actually want to get your picture taken with a "Naked Cowboy" in Times Square!? Only in New York.

Serendipity, Cafe Lalo and Little Italy...YUM! We truly had some great food while we were there.

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park

Click here if you'd like to look at my complete NYC '07 Photo Gallery!

Carly's Top Ten

These are my top ten reasons why I HEART NY...


10. Because it smells like urine, concrete and exhaust; something that disgusts you when you first smell it but sticks in your memory as a "good" smell by the end of your trip.

9. SoHo sidewalk cafes where you can just sit and people watch.

8. Chinatown for it's not so genuine trendy purses.

7. Times Square at night because of all the lights and the people.

6. The Upper West Side in the fall for it's slower pace, crisp air and Cafe Lalo desserts.

5. Because you can pass a celebrity on a crosswalk and be forced to pretend like that's a normal occurance.

4. Going to Central Park for a stroll and seeing the Bethesda Fountain.

3. Rockefeller Plaza when the skating rink opens.

2. The sounds and smells of the subway and noticing how people manage to get groceries and take them back to their apartments in small roller carts.

1. Because I'm going there next week!!!

My man

1. Who is your man? Casey
   
2. How long have you been together? Since Jan 31, 1997...10+ years
   
3. How long dated? 3 and half years
   
4. How old is your man? 29
   
5. Who eats more? me...he's such a light weight!
   
6. Who said "I love you" first? He did...we were on my driveway and it totally caught me off guard but I felt the same way
   
7. Who is taller? Him, by about 1/2 inch. I was practically barefoot for our wedding!
   
8. Who sings better? well, to say me feels boastful but I was a vocal major and his singing mostly consists of making fun of a song. He does have a really good voice, though.
   
9. Who is smarter? Depends on the topic...music, entertainment & pop culture are all me the rest I would say are him
10. Whose temper is worse? Mine :o(
    
11. Who does the laundry? Me
12. Who takes out the garbage? He sees a full trash can as an opportunity to shove just a little bit more into it. I usually bag it up and he takes it out.
    
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Him
    
14. Who pays the bills? Me
    
15. Who is better with the computer? I love my Computer Geek! I'll give that one to him since he does it for a living
    
16. Who mows the lawn? He does, but I've been known to be pregnant and frustrated that he hasn't gotten around to it and will rev up the mower myself for the sake of getting it done.
    
17. Who cooks dinner? Me
    
18. Who drives when you are together? Him. It's my job to tend to the kids in the back seat
    
19. Who pays when you go out? He does
    
20. Who is most stubborn? We take turns with this one
    
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? We both work really hard on this
    
22. Whose spends more time in front of the mirror? Ummmm...me. He did have long hair for a while and would spend an superfluous amount of time coiffing. It made me laugh!
    
23. Who kissed who first? On our third date, I asked him if he was ever going to kiss me. He smiled and finally did. Man was I pushy!?
    
24. Who asked who out? He came into Grapevine Books where I was working and asked me out.
    
25. Who proposed? He did. On a beautiful fall Thursday in Nashville's Centennial Park where we'd go to study. I was on a bench and he got down on his knee.
    
26. Who is more sensitive? Me and my hormones
    
27. Who has more friends? Me
    
28. Who has more siblings? We both have 1 sister
    
29. Who prays at the dinner table? Maggie
    
30. Who wears the pants in the family? Literally or figuratively speaking? :o)
    

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning

Why is it that when you're pregnant, you can wake up and BE up at anytime of the night?

For the past two nights, 2:30 am has been my hour of stirring where I can do nothing but lay in bed and hope that sleep will overcome my restlessness. I have had plenty of time to reflect, pray, feel the baby wiggling and just plain stress-out about things that one shouldn't be thinking about at 2 am.

This past week has been such a wonderful week and a sad week all at the same time...

*I have gotten way too involved in some sad blog tales that ended tragically this week.

*My dear friend's grandfather's funeral was today and even though he could never remember my name when I saw him, he was full of life and the celebration of that life was overwhelmingly moving.

but now on to the joyful events...
*My college roommate and good friend had a precious baby girl (9 days early) and she is absolutely gorgeous!

*Another sweet baby girl arrived to my friend, Emily who I blogged was on bed rest a while back. Whew! Congratulations!!! & welcome, baby girls :o)

I hope that tonight, I will be sleeping when 2:30 rolls around but if not, I may have to get up and be productive instead of allowing myself to try and solve the world problems while drifting in and out of consciousness.