Sooner B-Ball, Baby!

I hope all of you loyal Sooner fans out there watched our boys play West Virginia tonight and win ON THE ROAD to a ranked team in double OT!!!! That's our second win in a row against ranked opponents (did you see them beat Gonzaga????), and I have to say... we looked good!!!

I'm proud to be a season ticket holder. Boomer Sooner, baby! And Capel, you rock!

Can't wait for the football match-up against WV Wednesday- we can make it a double victory!

I'm not excited, or anything.

A Family Christmas

I hope you all had a great Christmas... we sure did! We celebrated Sunday with my parents, brother & sister & their families. Above is a pic of all the cousins. What a good-lookin' bunch!
Luke & Payt had a great time with their cousins- it was fun to watch them play together. I sure wish they could be together more often. They really enjoyed their time together, and surprisingly, stayed out of trouble!
I couldn't resist posting this picture of Buzz, Buzz, & Buzz. My mom got Luke and Eli Buzz Lightyear costumes from the Disney store, which they adorned instantly. They stood with Uncle Buzz and all did a little, "To infinity and beyond!"
Here Luke & Payt are on Christmas Eve just after reading The Night Before Christmas. They were worn out from a hard day of Guitar Hero and playing with the cousins!
Christmas morning was so much fun this year! Both boys really got into opening their presents and they spent ALL day playing with them! Blogger wouldn't let me post anymore pics on this post, but I'll put more up soon. I hope you all had as great a time as us...

"The Real Christmas Story"

Tonight was our church's Children's Christmas Program called, "The Real Christmas Story." Both the boys were in it- Luke was a shepherd and Payt was a sheep. Talk about cute! Here they are before the program started.
This is Payt and his best buddy, Kamden. A couple of good lookin' sheep on the prowl.
What's a church event without a picture of Luke and Hope together??? I was so proud of them standing together with nice smiles!
Here Luke's checking out Baby Jesus (or Baby Sadie... take your pick). He did such an awesome job standing on the stage for so long without moving! Sure he had some big-mouth yawning action going on, but darn it, he didn't move!
Payt was a crowd pleaser during the finale. He didn't want to sit with the sheep, he wanted to stand with the big kids and sing songs he didn't know. I think he really sold it... look at the hands on the hips! He has some definite stage presence. :)

Ahhhh, Christmas time... is there anything better?

Jinx Joke and Other Happenings

Okay, okay. It serves me right for saying something about those without power... we lost power about 4 am Tuesday, but we did get it back on last night (love OEC! I have a feeling it would've been a lot longer if we used OG&E). My parents were gracious enough to let us stay at their house while they were out of town and our power was out. I love their house, but it's good to be back in our own home! We should be here just long enough to lose power again with this weekend's storm...

On another note, Todd and I just celebrated our 9th Anniversary! I can't believe it's already been 9 years (man, I got married young!!!). I thank God for such an awesome marriage to a wonderful man! Love you, Todd! I'm looking forward to retirement traveling to OU games in a pimped out RV with you... :)

"Ice Storm 2007"

Here I find myself in the midst of "Ice Sorm 2007"- a name the media have so aptly given the inclement weather now upon us. I'm a little perturbed by the name, though. I'm fairly certain there were a few other "Ice Storm 2007s" here this year. That is why I am proposing a new Ice Storm naming system- similar to the naming of hurricanes and tropical storms. I'm thinking Ice Storm Abominable, Ice Storm Blitzen, Clause, Donner, Elf, and so on and so forth. What do you think?

I have some great pictures of the havoc ice has wreaked on our home and trees, but Blogger is not cooperating today- so maybe later. I will say my 3 1/2 year old house is cracking under the pressure of INCHES of ice on our roof. We have sprung a few leaks. To my insurance pals out there- any chance we might be covered??? :)

We have been pretty lucky, though. Most of our friends in the big college town down the road are without power and without safe water (power at the water plant is out) and here we are in the sticks- still have power and still have water! I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

Anyway- we are enjoying the downtime and taking it easy I hope you're all keeping warm. Adios!

Shameless Plug

Okay, I've gone and done something big. I registered for the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in San Diego in November of 2008! I will be walking 60 miles in 3-Days to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer. I know, I know... that's A LOT of walking! I started training last night!!!

Many of you who read this know that I lost a very dear friend to breast cancer this year. Melinda had been looking forward to doing the 3-Day herself. Now I will honor her memory as I walk.

I thank Kathryn R. for getting me interested in doing this awesome event- she has done it 3 times now (she's a rockstar walker!). I'm nervous about all the training and time involved, but I am committed to doing this, and I'm very excited!

If you want to learn more about the 3-Day, you can go to the website here. Now here's the shameless plug part... I have to raise $2200 in order to be able to participate in the 3-Day. Every bit of that money goes to Susan G. Komen and the National Philanthropic Trust Project (I pay my own way there). If you are so inclined to contribute, I would be truly grateful. One awesome thing about contributions is that if you work for a company that does matching funds for charitable contributions, this should qualify and you can double your contribution just like that. If you are interested in contributing, you can do it online by going to http://www.the3day.org/ and clicking on "Make a Donation- 2008 Events." Next you put in my name and state and go from there.

It's Christmas time and I know many of you are stretched right now, so if you can't donate financially, I would love your prayers on behalf of myself and the team I am walking with. Thanks for your support!

On the Farm

We spent last week at Todd's parents' house on a farm in Indiana. The first thing the boys wanted to do, of course, was ride on the machines! Above Luke and Payt are with Grandma & Grandpa in the Combine (Luke knows the difference between a Combine and a Tractor, and he WILL correct you when you refer to the Combine as a "tractor"). Below they are in the Tractor. Dream come true for two little boys!
Below is a picture of their house. It is a wonderful farmhouse built in the 1800s! You can't see the back, but it's actually quite a large house. Even though it was built so long ago, much of the inside has been updated without taking away from the character of the house. Sure, you might freeze to death on a cold Indiana night, but it's charming, isn't it?

Run, Forrest, Run!

I know, I know... it's been forever since I've blogged. I have a good excuse! I took a week off and headed to the farmlands of Indiana to visit Todd's family. I totally disconnected from email, blogs, internet in general (what did I do??? Oh yeah, I knit some scarves). Anyway, I'm back and have lots to talk about since my disconnect. I'll take it in pieces and spread it over several blog posts. This one is dedicated to Todd and Rusty.

Last Saturday we headed out to Tulsa after Luke's soccer game and met up with Rusty & the fam for dinner. Payt wanted to sit by Mitzi and Hope during dinner (poor Mitzi... I hope that pepperoni comes out of your jeans...). It was lots of fun, but we were all anxious to get back to our hotel rooms to watch the big OU game. Several hours and many angry words later we finally got the the boys to sleep, then I couldn't bare to watch the game anymore (your breakin' my heart, Sooners).

Bright and early Sunday morning we all met up at the race site downtown. It was so much fun to watch all the runners! We lost Todd and Rusty in the jumble of the starting line, but eventually found them and then we were able to go to one spot to see them run by. I was so impressed by how effortless they made running look- I thought I might just get up and join them, but then I remembered Phoebe in that episode of "Friends" where she is running with Rachel. I wasn't afraid I would look like her... I was afraid Rusty would start running that way to embarass me. :) Actually, I just remembered that I couldn't run a half-marathon.

We waited at the finish line and I got to see Todd finish! I was so excited for him to finish his first half-marathon, and he did it under his goal time of 2 hours- he made it in 1:55:something (see the picture). Rusty finished not too long after him and they both got cool medals, which the children immediately confiscated as their own.

Below is the after-running picture. Still alive and smiling! Now they are planning their next half-marathon. I'm hoping for California or Hawaii, but I don't think it's going to happen. Hey, a girl can dream, right???
Congrats guys, I'm proud of you!

Life in General

So, life has been a little crazy lately. I've had very little time to sit down and come up with a meaningful post. So, here's a collection of randomness about my life right now.

-I love that I can let my kids play in the back yard by themselves now. Sayonara kids, I've got TV to watch! (Just kidding! Well, a little.)

-If you leave Halloween candy sitting on the counter, I will eat it.

-OU Men's Basketball rocks. Season tickets rock. Sweet old people behind us rock. Crazy little girl in cheerleader outfit across the aisle does not rock.

-Christmas is coming soon. I have 7 Christmas parties to attend this year (so far). I love Christmas and I love parties.

-My hair bothers me. One day good, next day bad.

-I'm good at figuring out people's secrets. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

-I like to knit. There. I said it. I can't make anything other than hats and scarves, but I like to do it. I aspire to knit like Mitzi. I know, I'm a dork.

-It's nearly 80 degrees and it is November. It's just plain wrong.

-I have been married for almost 9 years now. Awesome!

-Life is going by crazy fast. Luke is almost 5, and Payt is almost 3. in some ways it downs't seem possible, in other ways I can hardly remember life without them (no, it's not old age).

-I hate whining.

And on that note, Payt is crying, I must go.

Booty Shakin' Santa

The 7 Days of Halloween

Well, it's official. I've never spent so much time celebrating Halloween. It all began last Wednesday when Payt had his FIRST class Halloween party at Mother's Day Out. That's right. The first. Thursday they had another one. That's right. The next day. Then, on Friday, Luke's class had a fieldtrip to the Pumpkin Patch (my baby's first field trip!). He and Whit had a grand old time running around together, jumping on hay, riding bikes and going through hay and corn mazes.
Next was the Fall Festival at church on Sunday night. what a great event Odra and the team put on! The boys loved the moon bounce, games, and trunk-or-treating. The picture at the top is of Luke and Hope at the festival. Just above is Payt and my mom (will the woman ever look at the camera?).
Monday Todd and I took both boys to the Pumpkin Patch since Payt had not gotten a chance to go yet. We went about 45 minutes before it closed, so we had to rush around. Payt was hilarious running after big brother and daddy in the corn maze.
Halloween day brought many more festivities. First was Luke's class party, which Todd and I got to go to. How fun to see him interact with his school buddies! Right ater the party was over, I got a phone call that my mom was being taken to the ER by an ambulance. She had some sort of super-dizzy spell at work and was unable to get off the floor. Luke and I spent the next 4 hours or so in the ER with my mom and dad (Todd and my brother were there for a while also). There was no shortage of "Oh, look at the cute little firefighter!" in the hospital. Apparently hospital workers dig the uni. Later, after my mom was admitted to a room and was doing a better, my dad took me and the boys to the place where he has physical therapy for his shoulder (recovering from rotator cuff surgery) because they were having a little carnival. It was pretty cool, actually, they played games, ate hotdogs and loaded up on even more candy!

We returned to the hospital for a few minutes, then home to get ready for trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. Luke and Payt had an awesometime walking the neighborhood for candy. Payt would say the following everytime somebody answered their door, "Trick-or-treat-or-treating!" Too cute. We finished up by trick-or-treating at Gramp's house. From there Gramps and I returned to the hospital for a while. I'm happy to report that mom is now out of the hospital (still no explanation of what happened) and doing better. I'm also happy to report that Halloween is OVER!!! Now, if only I could get rid of all of this candy!!!

Race for the Cure 2007 Video

Race for the Cure 2007

I've been looking forward to the Race for the Cure for a while now. Last year was our first year to put together a team from church. We called it "Team Melinda" in honor of Melinda Evans, a dear friend, who was, at the time, battling breast cancer. We had about 65 people on our team last year. Melinda told me so many times how awesome and encouraging it was to have so many people come out to support her and raise money for the cure. Melinda was a warrior. On August 17th of this year, Melinda lost her battle. But it's not over. We continue to fight for her and for so many other people affected by this disease.

Yesterday was the 2nd annual RFC for our church team. This year we called it "Team Evans" because now, not only do we honor Melinda's strength, wonderful personality and awesome legacy, but we also honor her family, who have to continue on without her. How big was our team this year? We had OVER 150 people! I'm proud to say we had the biggest non-corporate team. What a powerful statement of love and support! You can bet that every one of us thought of Melinda, thought of her family while we ran/walked. I was overjoyed by the sheer size and amount of support. I was also saddened that this year Melinda wasn't with us. In her absence she provided strength and endurance to those of us participating.

I know we will continue to do this race every year, and I hope it continues to grow each time. Melinda's legacy really does live on.

So, now I know you are wondering, how did I do in the race??? Horrible. Not to make excuses or anything, but I was sick, proven by the bloody nose I got DURING the race. I had to stop for a little bit, then walk for a while before I could run again. I think my time ended up an abysmal 46 minutes for the 5K. Ouch.

The picture above is the back of the t-shirt Kathryn and I made this year for Team Evans. Later this week I hope to post a video with lots of pictures from the race. Stay tuned...

-ectomies

Yesterday Payt had a tonsillectomy and adnoidectomy. Here was my sweet, brave boy just before surgery. What a trooper! Surgery went well... doc came out and said his tonsils were huge and adnoids were so big they were blocking 75% of his nasal passage. They told us he would probably throw up once after the surgery because of the junk that runs down to their tummies during surgery. Well, at 7 pm and at least 6 changes of clothes later, the on-call doctor called in some nausea meds for poor Payt. Happy to report he has not thrown up since and he is in a happy drug-induced nap as we speak.

On another note, Luke had another soccer game this morning. He did great! He scored one goal all by himself, and then he and another teammate, Joel, kicked the ball at the same time for another goal. He did such a great job at keeping his hands to himself and playing hard that he got to go have a special lunch at Red Lobster after the game (is it bad to bribe your kid like that???). Ahhhh.... these are the days...

Dancing With My Little Stars

One of Payt's more tame versions of DWTS.

A Week in Review

Last week was Premiere Week, one of my favorite times of the year (yes, sad, I know). A week in review:

Monday: Dancing With the Stars- the Women. Holy cow! Cheetah Girl has some moves!
Two & A Half Men- funny as always, a little raunchy, but to be expected.
CSI: Miami. Don't ask why. I don't like David Caruso. But the crime... ahhhh... I love the crime.

Tuesday: Dancing With the Stars- the Men. Floyd Mayweather, I expected more. Wayne Newton, go home. Most of the guys had some good moves!
The Unit- Interesting storyline. I never know what's going to happen next. Good show you should watch!
Law & Order SVU- Mariska H. was awesome as usual. Not too fond of the haircut, but I'll get over it. And seriously, we all knew Munch couldn't be the Lieu for long.

Wednesday: Dancing With the Stars (I know! 3 nights in a row.... how awesome is that???). Skinny model with no muscle and no moves goes home. Not too sad about that.
Criminal Minds- This is only the second season I've been watching this show, but I love it! I could not believe they are going to get rid of Gideon!
Private Practice- Love it. Love the cast. I'm watching.
CSI:NY- Where do they come up with this stuff? Blood on the Statue of Liberty? As if. I still love it. Who doesn't like Gary Sinese?

Thursday: Ugly Betty- Guilty pleasure. So stupid, yet so funny.
CSI- This show rocks. It is absolutely captivating. They finally outed Sarah & Grissom.
Grey's Anatomy- I still don't like Izzy. Homewrecker.
Without a Trace- Thank goodness it's on a new night! I got so sick of missing half the episodes because I would set them to record and inevitably, a football game would go long and I'd only get a little bit of the show.
ER- I wish I could say I saw it. Stupid DVR.

Friday: Like I got to see anything. It was the Alameda Ladies Retreat- and it was awesome. Who needs sleep, anyway?

Saturday: OU Football. I needed sleep. I slept through the first 3 quarters on the couch. I woke up in time to see them LOSE. I won't even go there.

Sunday: Brothers & Sisters. I haven't gotten to watch it yet because I'm in here writing this. That reminds me... I need to go... the DVR awaits me. Later.

Good Times

So this weekend was the Revolve Tour in Dallas. I must say, I've gotta be an awesome sponsor. I got us all floor seats, so when the girls' favorite band, Hawk Nelson, came out, they all got to go up in front of the stage. Hawk Nelson actually saw one of our girls singing all the words to his songs and pulled her up on stage to sing with him. Talk about a dream come true for her! I really had a blast getting to know the teen girls of our church. I was surprised by the leadership qualities that were so evident, and also surprised by their taste in food. Dude, who likes What-A-Burger? We stopped there for dinner because we were in a hurry and that's the place the girls chose. Let's just say there was an incident with a bug in a burger. The manager came over and refunded Jenny J. her money, then turned around and told the cashier, "That's why I don't eat at this restaurant." We promptly threw away all of our food. Pizza at midnight, anyone? We now fondly (or not so fondly) refer to it as "What-a-bugger."

Today Luke came home all excited because his school was having a skate night and he really wanted to go. I had Coffee Talk, but Todd was able to take him, and he had a great time. He could actually get around on those skates without falling (Todd and Luke)! Todd also met some of Luke's buddies and their parents. It's so fun to learn about the kids your child has made friends with and watch them interact. I can't believe Luke and Payt are getting so big. It's funny how your kids age, but you stay in your 20s forever. :)

What to say???

It's been several days since my last post and I'm already getting ribbed for not writing more. Well, I don't have anything too interesting, so here's a little collection of what's going on in my life right now:

The curse continues. Broke the hubcap on my van today. On a mailbox. On Jenny's mailbox. I think it's fair to say I no longer like my van or mailboxes.

Sooner born, and Sooner bred. Today when I picked Payt up from school, his teacher told me that he and Kamden earlier in the day had scooted their chairs together as close as they could, then they were shouting "Go OU!" "Boomer Sooner!" The teachers asked what they were doing. Their reply? "Watching an OU football game." We're raising them right. Last week Payt and Kamden played catch with a football at recess. THEY ARE ONLY 2!!!

I think I might be certifiable (crazy, that is). I am one of three sponsors taking some of our teen girls at church down to Dallas for the Revolve Tour. Did I mention that I don't like drama? There's a reason God gave me boys. I do think that it will be a great time, though. I'm looking forward to getting to know the girls better and to going to this kickin' conference. Let the good times roll!

What's On Your iPod?

Somebody asked me the other day what I listen to on my iPod. I thought it would be kind of fun to share what I listen to, and see what all of you are listening to out there. Here it goes:

*Collective Soul
*Bon Jovi (the old stuff, you know, "You Give Love a Bad Name...")
*Live
*Def Leppard ("Pour Some Sugar On Me" is one of my all-time faves)
*Van Halen
*Bryan Adams
*Oasis (as in "Champagne Supernova," not our church Oasis CD)
*Counting Crows
*The Verve
*REO Speedwagon
*Phil Wickham
*Ben Folds Five
*Creed
*Bush
*The Temptations
*A few songs from "Dirty Dancing" and "Top Gun"

That's pretty much it. I hope to get some Pearl Jam on there soon and a few other things. What do you listen to?

Start 'em Early

Little Todd here had his second "race" at the beginning of this month. Last October he walked the Race for the Cure with me, but earlier this month he ran the kids' 50-yard Dash at a local race. He was a little unsure of what to do since it was his first time in a group running without us, but he was fast and he had a good time. Can you tell he doesn't like to have his picture taken? That part is just like his mom!

Todd is training to run a half-marathon in November. It is unbelievable- he hadn't been running in a long time, but a friend asked if he wanted to run the race with him and Todd decided to start running again. He was a stellar cross country runner in high school, and if I'm not mistaken, he still holds a school record for something (don't ask me what, I don't know!). He has been really doing great... he ran over 7 miles the other night! So, keep up the good work, Todd (and Rusty)!

You Know You're a Redneck If...

...You take your grandparents to a gas station steakhouse karaoke joint for their 60th Wedding Anniversary.

This weekend I went with my mom to Arkansas to celebrate my grandparent's 60th anniversary. All I knew went I left was that all of my aunts and uncles had been planning a big party for the occasion. Little did I know they had planned to take them to a "steakhouse" that is actually adjoined to a gas station. A place you would never stop to eat if you were driving along the highway. Turns out the food was okay, but I don't know how I feel about spending $40 for my own meal at a gas station steakhouse. There was lively entertainment, though. Above is a picture of my aunt and my cousin singing karaoke (thank the good Lord you weren't there to hear it). Let's just say there was more than a fair amount of alcohol present. A guy that works there also serenaded my grandparents with a Clint Black song- he was pretty good. I must say, there's a lot of country music in Arkansas. And a lot of beer. I couldn't help but picture my grandparents looking around at our crew drinking up their buckets of beer (myself not included- I have standards) and thinking, "What have we done?"

We followed up the dinner with cake and champagne at my grandparents house. Below is a cute picture of them trying to figure out how to cross arms to drink their champagne.

Crazy as my family is, it was good to see them, and even better to be there as my grandparents celebrated such an important milestone. I am so proud that they have shared their life together for so long. These days you don't find many people who have been married 10 years, let alone 60. Congrats, Granny & Papa!

A Few of My Favorite Things...

On a happier note from the last post (I'm feeling better now, thank you), and in honor of Jessica's post on the same thing, here is a list of some of my favorite things:

*Hugs and kisses from my kids
*Laying on the couch with Todd watching movies
*Taking naps with my kids all snuggled up together
*Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas
*OU football
*Kirk Herbstreit
*Cold weather
*Sweatshirts
*Yummy homemade zucchini and pumpkin bread
*Historically accurate movies
*Starsky & Hutch, the movie (yes, I know, a departure from the line above, oh well)
*OU basketball
*Homecooked popcorn wth lots of salt and butter
*March Madness (aren't there still some people who owe me for winning this year's bracket?)
*My entire family
*My Alameda family
*Coffee Talk with the girls on Monday nights
*Being in a boat, on a jetski, swimming.... anything on or near water
*Watching my kids becoming best friends
*Snow
*Backpacking with Todd and friends
*Shopping
*Beating Todd at bowling, or for that matter, anything
*Witty comebacks
*A fire in the fireplace on a cold, dark night
*Victoria's fettuccini alfredo and cheese bread
*Sharing a bottle of wine and a picnic dinner with my hubby
*Days at work when Luke's school doesn't call to tell me he's injured himself (yes, this happened today- ANOTHER huge bump on his head, but he's ok)
*Doing, rather than saying
*Scrapbooking
*Shopping (did I already mention this?)
*Watching my children dance like rockstars
*Cookouts
*My iPod
*Listening to Granny Ruby talk (she's pretty sassy, can you guess if she's my mom's mom, or my dad's mom?)
*Game night with friends
*Doing the Race for the Cure in Plano and OKC
*Sitting on the porch at Granny & Papa Tyler's house
*Seeing Luke score goals in soccer
*Watching Payt practice with Luke's soccer team- he's pretty good
*The mother's ring Todd got me
*Tent camping in the Fall
*Reading a good book

Okay, so it's more than a few, but these are some of my favorite things!

Caving in.

I am not one to cave under stress. Often. But every now and then everything seems to just cave in on me. I am experiencing that tonight. The other night I was at the mall with some friends and we thought it would be fun to stop at the little blood pressure cuff machine and test all of our bp's (Yeah, we're old). Mine was a little on the high side... 124/91. Hmm. Weird. Later I was talking with Charlotte (a friend who is a PA) and I mention my high bp. "Are you stressed?" she asked. My reply, "No." Two days later my answer is totally different. I guess it just hit me.

In the last month my friend died from cancer, my son got stitches in his head, another friend's 6 month old baby might have to have surgery to correct a problem with his soft spots on his head, another friend is struggling because her friend, age 27, has just been diagnosed with colon cancer, three people connected to my church were murdered, my youngest son will soon have surgery to remove his tonsils and adnoids, good friends are struggling with fertility, and the list goes on.

In the midst of all of this, I am overwhelmed with what seems like 50 projects at church. I love most of them and wouldn't dream of giving them up... I enjoy the things I do there very much, but sometimes working with people can be very demanding and stressful. I lashed out a little tonight and I feel badly. I even took it out on Todd a little. I gave him the ice cold Bob Stoops stare (you know the one from Saturday, where he tripped over the ball boy, then stood up and gave the poor guy the look of death?) for saying I should "calm down." (Note to guys: never say this to your wife... it makes her even madder). I apologized soon after and now I'm venting here. My husband is so good to me, he knowsI was just stressed, and he let me get it out of my system. In fact, we hardly ever fight, and I am truly grateful and blessed to have him as my husband (love you, Todd).

So, if I've been short with you lately, I'm sorry. I need a break. If I had a passport I'd go to Mexico for a week's vacation. Scratch that- too many hurricanes there lately. Maybe Alaska. Or maybe I'll just try getting to bed at a decent hour.

Well, it's a new post, "A. Fan.," but it's not a fun one. Maybe tomorrow. :)

So Happy Together

Okay, so it's a little early for Halloween, but aren't they cute?!? I love Halloween and Halloween costumes, and my kids love dressing up! Today we went to Old Navy and got our costumes. Luke was very excited and decided he wanted to wear his costume in the mall. I decided he would not. I'm convinced that if we let the child choose his own clothes he would rotate only between Buzz Lightyear, Cowboy, Pumpkin, and Firefighter. Seriously, he loves to wear costumes!

As for Payt, he had no choice what he would be this year. I saw the skunk costume and knew is was perfect! We've been watching some Looney Tunes DVDs lately so Payt likes to say that he is going to be "dadada Poo" (Pepe Le Pew). And as much as Luke likes to dress up, Payt likes juice. That is why he has a cup with him in EVERY picture!

I love the Fall. Football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Basketball, Christmas (ok, so this is more winter, but you know what I mean)... it's the best time of the year!

Crush.

It's official. Luke has his first crusH. ThIs is Luke and Hope a few months ago...you should see them now! Hope is a really sweet girl in our church Life Group. They follow each other around at LG and at church, giGgling and carrying on. Hope thinks it's hilArious when Luke pretends to run into walls, bounce off of walls, and fall down and Hope laughing, of course, keeps Luke doing these things. Last week at LG they found some plastic handcuffs at CoopeR's house and the next thing we knew, theY were handcuffed to each other running around the yard. This is unreal- I am afraid I'm going to turn around and Luke is going to have his first kiss- YIKES!

I know I have a cute kid and all, but this is the SECOND girl to have a crush on him. The first was another sweet girl from his Mother's Day out program named Trinity. She liked to tell me that she and Luke were going to get married. She even wrote him love notes at home!!! I still see Trinity when I drop Payt off at school, and she always asks me where Luke is.

Did I mention that Luke is only 4??? He's gonna be a heartbreaker. I don't think I'm ready for this. Sigh.

Peace

Services for Melinda were yesterday. I can't tell you what a wonderful job Rusty did... I have such peace now. I looked back at my last post and realized that God has really worked through all the prayers people have been directing my way. So many people have been so kind, lots of hugs and sweet conversations. I really do have an awesome church family!

I got to have such a wonderful experience that I think really helped me get over my anxiety about Melinda's passing. Mark asked me to put together a video for Melinda's funeral. I was so honored, and I know it was hard for him to ask because he knew it would be emotional and hard. I got to spend several hours at the Evans house Tuesday putting the video together. I spent about half that time getting to hear stories about Melinda from her parents, Henry & Julia. They were stories I had never heard, but I wasn't surprised by them, Melinda definitely had a lot of personality! It was so nice just to be together with the family. I know they're going to make it. Such a strong family and what a wonderful support system they have through friends and church. I am still sad thinking about the time I will miss with her, the things we were going to do, but I know there is joy in her new home in Heaven. I still feel a little selfish- I would rather she be here, but I feel some peace about it now.

A song I used in the video was called "Legacy." Melinda's sister-in-law, Nikki, said it best in the beautiful obituary she wrote (this is my paraphrase)... Melinda was a beloved daughter, faithful wife, cherished sister, amazing mother, and dedicated friend. What a legacy she leaves behind.

Losing Melinda

Friday night my dear friend Melinda passed away. Only 31 years old, she leaves behind 3 children, ages 6, 4, & 1, and an adoring husband. My heart breaks for her youngest, who will never really know his mother, or how much she loved him and doted on him. My heart breaks for her 4-year-old son who will never have the comfort of his mother or her presence at a soccer game again. My heart breaks for her daughter who won't have her mom to take her shopping or help her plan her wedding. My heart breaks for her sweet husband who has been by her side, loving her for most of his life.

I'm also mad. Not at God. I'm just mad at death. Why now? Why her? She battled and beat breast cancer! She was in the midst of reconstructive surgeries when everything went wrong. Even through this last hospital stay, I sat with her in her room and she was talking about going to the retreat and Ladies Night Out. She was a fighter. She shouldn't have lost this fight. It's not fair- I know death never is- but it hurts so much. I am so sad that I will never see Melinda again. Or talk to her on the phone. Or teach her how to use email. Or just see her smile. I just hurt. We all do. We are all so blessed to have known her and been loved by her.

The post below is a video that Mark posted on YouTube a while ago. I went to Melinda's house one night to make this for her so she could show it at church one Wednesday night. She was talking about her battle with cancer and was such an inspiration to everyone there. She was also so nervous she thought she was going to throw up. We actually made this video to take up time so she wouldn't have to talk so long! Man, I miss her.

Goodbye, Melinda. I love you and I miss you, and I will never forget you.

Breast Cancer

First Day of Pre-K

Today was Luke's first day of half-day Pre-K at Blanchard Elementary. Luke was excited to go and play with Cooper and Whit at school! As we were leaving the house he realized Payt was not going with us (Todd was staying with him until I got back), he said, "Bye, Payt." Then he turned to leave and stopped dead in his tracks. "And Payt, don't touch my cars."

When we got to his classroom (after a grueling line of cars getting to the school), Luke walked right in and started playing! He was ready for school. A couple of hours later I went to pick him up (they bring them right to your car!), and he said he had a good day, except the teacher wouldn't let them play with the kitchen (there is a kitchen play center that all the boys quickly became attached to on Meet Your Teacher night). Other than that, he was happy to play on a new playground and in a new classroom.

If you can believe it, I didn't even cry! It was sad to drop him off knowing he is going to school every day now, but I think it will be worse next year when he is going all day, every day. That's a worry for next year, though. In the meantime, I think he's really going to like his new school.

Ladies Night Out

Last night I met with about 13 other friends for dinner at BJ's restaurant. The place is always packed and they are so snooty about reservations that they say 90% of your party has to be there within 10 minutes of your reservation or you're not getting in. Not only that, there will be no separate checks. Oh, and parking is hard to find, but if you park in the empty restaurant lot next door, they'll tow you. (Remind me again why we decided to go here?)

So, luckily, we all made it in time and got seated. They got our orders and later, much later, they started bringing out our food. Except it was like one person at a time. Finally, all but 3 of us had our food. Those last three did not end up getting their food until the rest of us had FINISHED our dinners. And several of the orders were wrong in one way or another.

Okay, so the dinner course was a disaster, but who can resist a Pizzookie? Not us. Several of us got them and shared (YUMMY!). Just when we thought the evening was finally getting better, over the racket of the very busy and noisy restaurant we hear a woman screaming obscenities at a manager over by the bar (um, yes, she was drunk). She caused such a scene that the ENTIRE restaurant got quiet. She ended up storming out. A few minutes later, Jennifer and I got up to leave. Just as we walked out the door, crazy drunk lady pulls up right in front of the restaurant (yes, she was driving!). After she parked like a maniac, she got out and started to go inside when the manager saw her and made it outside first. We got to witness another altercation between the two, then the manager informed her that the police were on their way.

She turns and heads back to the car. At this point, Jennifer and I are like, "Seriously, she's crazy drunk and getting in her car", so I went where I could get her license plate to tell the cops when they got there. Fortunately, she decided since the cops were oming that wasn't a good choice. I guess Jennifer and I look friendly enough, because crazy drunk lady then decides she needs to talk to us about all this. Jennifer asked her how much she had to drink and she says 1 beer (the questions running though my mind: and how many shots of tequila? and how many prescription pain killers?)- there is no way all she has had is one beer- she reaked of alcohol.

After a few minutes the cops show up and administer a test and what do you know... she's drunk! They handcuff her and take her to the police car. She is so drunk she can't even lift her legs into the car at this point. The cops have to literally pick up her legs and assist her in.

Now our fun is over and Jennifer and I head home. What a night out.

The Curse

It all began on my brother's 30th birthday, March 15, 2007. The Ides of March. Todd and Payt were home sick, but Luke and I went to Buzz's birthday dinner in the city, then we were headed to the bowling alley on the east side of Norman for the rest of the festivities. I was so close to making it there. I was stopped at a red light not even a block from the bowling alley when all of a sudden there was a big THUD and I was pushing on the brake as hard as I could to keep from going in the middle of the intersection. Some creepy, drunk, old man had plowed right into the back of my van without ever even hitting his brakes! Luke was scared, I was shaking from the impact and had tensed up so much that my back and neck were hurting. We spent the next hour or so waiting for and talking to the cops (even though drunk old man would rather just exchange insurance and be on his way). There are a lot of fun details to this story, too much to write here, but trust me, it's a good story. So, thus begins my dealing with the first insurance company.

April, 2007. Todd is on his way home from a doctor's appointment. He is stopped at a stop sign when a big black SUV rear-ends him. Insurance company #2.

April, 2007. I come out of the mall with the kids, notice a note on my windshield. I read it just as the security guard pulls up. A man hit my parked van. Gash in the back rear passenger side. Just then the man who hit me comes out of the mall. Insurance company #3.

May, 2007. Blanchard May Daze. A weekend where everyone has garage sales. We decide to have one this year, as well. Old woman who should not be driving pulls into our long driveway. Looks at the goods. Gets back in car and starts to reverse. Enter Todd running up the driveway waving arms wildy. CRASH. The brick mailbox is now all over the road. Insurance company #4.

At this point, all of our friends have funny things to say about our luck and whether they should be in a vehicle with us. Not long after the mailbox incident, Jenny's brick mailbox gets ran over by a builder in her neighborhood. Brian is now embarrassed he made fun. Forget insurance, he's a builder, he'll take care of everything.

Yesterday Charlotte was hit by a Hummer while taking her kids to daycare (no one was hurt). Said Hummer driver is the owner of a local car dealership. Forget the insurance, his dealership will fix the car and give her one to drive in the meantime.

In the meantime, I'm still dealing with the insurance. Not fair.

Seriously?

So, I've been wanting to watch the new Zodiac movie for a while, and it finally came out on video a few weeks ago. We rented it the first weekend it was out. I found it very interesting, but it left me wanting to know more about the notorious serial killer who haunted the west coast for so long. So.... I went to the library and checked out the book by Robert Graysmith (the newspaper cartoonist in the movie who becomes obsessed with Zodiac). I must say, I'm only halfway through the book, but I am so confused! This man (Graysmith) spent so much time investigating Zodiac that he has mountains of info and no good way to present it. There are some really fascinating details in the book, but if I were you, I'd stick to the movie (not that you were going to rush to the library to read the book- I know, I'm weird like that).

Ouch!

Luke had a rough morning. The boys went outside early this morning to play while Todd was watering the plants. Luke was on his bike goofing around with Payt when Payt decided to push Luke off of his bike (he's pretty tough for a 2-year-old). Let's just say there was a gaping hole in Luke's forehead. Todd brought him in and we got Luke cleaned up and sat him at the table while Todd went to change clothes to take luke to Urgent Care. While we were waiting, Luke was whining that he didn't want to leave:

"Luke, you need to go so the doctor can look at your head."
"Is it my noggin?"

"Yes, it's your noggin."

Then, in the saddest, most pitiful voice I've ever heard, "Did it fall off?"

I couldn't help but laugh.

Six stitches later, Luke is chillin' on the couch, watching a movie. As for Payt, he got in trouble, but I must say, it's hard to get onto a kid this cute.

Completely Disgusted

The homepage on my laptop is still set to AOL as it was when I bought it. Tonight when I opened the internet and looked at the news stories on the AOL page, the very first story was about a 5-year-old boy in Noble who was shot in the head and killed by a police officer who was trying to shoot a snake out of a tree. As if what happened were not horrible enough, I happened to catch a glimpse of some of the comments at the bottom of the page. I was COMPLETELY DISGUSTED by the comments AOL was allowing to be posted. Several people even made complaints about the comments, yet they still appear there.

I, for one, will NEVER READ AOL AGAIN. I hope you don't either.

Feel the Burn!

After a long hiatus, I have decided to get back on the treadmill! Before Sunday, the last time I had been on was before I started Weight Watchers in April. What a difference 25 pounds makes! The intervals Sunday night felt good... it was an easy pace. Tonight I decided to up the challenge just a little. I can tell you a few things:
1. It sucks when you finish your 5 minute warm-up only to remember you didn't stretch before you took on your 40-minute endeavor
2. I am not smart enought to stop and stretch properly
3. I already had an injury from playing the Wii (don't judge me)
4. I was literally dripping sweat
5. I wanted to give up
6. I did not give up
7. I feel awesome now (ask me again tomorrow)

Really, it's nice to be exercising again. There are some fringe benefits, too. For instance, when you finish a workout, those greasy chips just don't sound as good anymore. I've been reaching for the fruit after my treadmill time (maybe I should run before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, too).

See you at the Race for the Cure in October!

A Community of Faith

This morning I found out that a good friend of mine was admitted to the ICU at a hospital in the city. She had her second of four reconstructive surgeries following breast cancer on Thursday and for whatever reason she came up with a condition that affected her liver and was causing internal bleeding. We received a phone call at the church office informing us of her condition and telling us that her husband was sitting alone at the hospital. Immediately two of our ministers were off to be with them. I called Todd and we both took off work and spent the first half of our day just sitting in the waiting room with her husand and her parents (who made it to the hospital just after our ministers). We were of no use, really, but I know it meant a lot to them that people would take off of work just to sit. That simple act, I have come to believe, is a powerful statement of our community of faith.

After I got home, I found I not only had email messages, but phone messages making sure I knew what was going on. There truly is no church family like the one we have found at Alameda! The connections we have made with people go deeper than the suface. These are relationships that share the highs and lows of life. I hope all of you have found a place like Alameda, and if you haven't... give us a try!

A final thought... My friend who is in the hospital has told us before that her dad is not a very "spiritual" man. I finally got a chance to visit with him while I was there today, and to see the way God is working on him through this is amazing! He said as soon as he learned of his daughter's condition, he hopped in the car for the 2 hour drive here and he "talked to the Lord" the whole way here. He could not remember the drive and said, "God was driving."

By the way, my friend seems to be doing much better now. Doctors say they don't know what happened, but "for no reason" her body is mending itself. I know it is the power of prayer.

Red Shoes

Payt is quite fond of his red shoes. These are the cheap shoes I bought for him just to play in the yard in and get nasty. These are the ONLY shoes Payt will wear now. Earlier today the boys and I went into town for lunch and to rent a movie. On our way home, Payt fell asleep in the van. When we got home, I took his shoes off and put him in bed. 3 1/2 hours later, Payt wakes up screaming...
"MY SHOES!!!"
"Payt, it's okay..."
"M'shoes! M'shoes are gone!!!"
The kid sleeps for hours and hours and literally the first thing he thinks when he wakes up is that his shoes are gone. As you can see, I returned the shoes and he was still mad at me! I think we might have a problem when the shoes no longer fit.

An Obsession

Not only am I counting down to football season, I'm already looking at all the TV network websites looking for dates of season premiers. Am I bad or what? This summer has been nice because none of my shows are on and I've been able to read several books, but I am ready for my shows to come back! Here are some of my favorites that I am looking forward to (in no particular order):

Lost (okay, it's a mid-season show and crazy, but a true obsession)
CSI
CSI:NY
CSI:Miami (I do NOT like David Caruso! Something better needs to come on Monday nights at 9!)
Without a Trace
Brothers and Sisters
Grey's Anatomy
Ugly Betty
ER (yes, still)
The Unit
Men In Trees
October Road
Law & Order SVU
Criminal Minds
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Two and a Half Men

Sad, I know! Surely there's something I forgot, too! I've only seen one new show that I think might be okay so far: it is a new show based on the Women's Murder Club books by James Patterson- it will be on Fridays.

You'll be proud, though. I have only been watching one show since the finale of Studio 60 (I'm so mad it got cancelled!), it is Traveler. Gotta watch something, right?!?

Now, don't think too badly of me... I try not to watch any TV (even in the Fall) when the boys are still awake. I LOVE my DVR. That's for me-time! Still bad, I know...

37 Days... and Counting

It's official. I have football fever. I am now counting down the days until the first OU game. Just 37 to go...

I was sitting on the porch a few minutes ago watching the kids play on the gator and "mow" the lawn. As I was watching them, I realized it's a really nice day. Unseasonably nice. It was actually nice, not hot, on the porch, and a light breeze to boot. I was taken to my favorite time of year... August through December. The newness of the school year, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Basketball and sweatshirt weather.

Summer's been fun and busy, but I'm ready for fall and football! Boomer Sooner!

What Happens When 4-Year-Olds Dress Themselves

Pictures

Payt can fly!

Okay, there were going to be more pics, but blogger keeps giving me errors! Maybe next time.

Miracles Do Happen

I got Todd a Wii for his 30th birthday! I started writing out the whole story about how long it took me to find the thing, but the story of all my adventures takes a while to tell. Long story short, after weeks of searching, I finally got a Wii at 4pm yesterday, his birthday. About an hour later I was giving him his gift. Miracles do happen (ask all my friends who I made crazy having them look for a Wii everywhere they went).

The next miracle will be when VBS is over and I get to sleep.

Another Year Older

Today is my birthday. This morning my sweet little Payt ran in the room and sang Happy Birthday to me. This is going to be a wonderful day.

"Mom! Payt pushed me!"
"Luke, you're bigger than him, you're okay."
"He's strong..."
"Don't touch each other."
"Mom..."
This is going to be a wonderful day.

Okay, so the morning is a little stressful, maybe they'll be better if I take them somewhere (this is the part where every parent reading shakes their head and knows better). So we load up and TRY to go finish a little birthday shopping for Todd (whose birthday is tomorrow).

"Payt, come back!"
"No, you may not get that."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Why?"
"Stop talking."
"Mom, Payt's trying to hug me!"
"HUG!"
"No, Payt!"
"HUG!"
"Hands to yourself!"
"HUG!"
"Payt, he doesn't want a hug..."
This is going to be a wonderful day.

A couple of spankings later, both boys are napping. This is a wonderful day!

Despite a rough start, I think there is hope for the rest of the day. Going to dinner with the fam at Saltgrass, then heading to Payt's swim lessons. Luke will get to swim, too, so we should all be happy and tired by day's end.

Then I can work on VBS.
This is going to be a wonderful day.

Everyone Needs a Shirley

Most of you know that I work at a church. I am so blessed to work with my dearest Shirley. Shirley is one of our "Classics" at church and she volunteers her time on Sundays and Mondays working at the church. You will not find a person her age more skilled on the computer. More impressive than the blessing of her computer gifts, Shirley has the ability to make you feel special. She's the one who asks you how you are doing and truly cares. If you are suffering, she suffers with you. She loves fun shoes and she has the most contagious laughter.

I admire my Shirley's quiet service. She works quietly behind the scenes doing the daily tasks that make our lives easier at the church. In fact, Shirley takes care of those things at the church that you never think about, but would notice if they weren't right. She never asks for recognition and is actually embarrassed when you praise her. You would never know she is uncomfortable in social settings because she has the sweetest, most genuine smile and will talk to or do anything for anyone.

It wasn't long ago that my sweet Shirley lost her son. I am embarrassed to say this is the first time I actually visited Shirley at her home. Even in her grief, Shirley made me feel special. I came to let her know I care, but I know I was the one blessed by the visit. I got to share a special moment outside with Shirley just being quiet and being together. I will never forget the time I share with her.

Friends, there are Shirleys all around us. Get out of your comfort zones and find those people like my Shirley who exude wisdom and the love of God. You will be blessed like I am every time I see my dear Shirley.

I Don't Know What I'm Doing

That's right. I know you don't hear it often, but I don't know what I'm doing. My friends (hmmmjennyhmmm) have been after me for a while to start blogging, so, here I go!

Just to catch you up if I haven't talked to you in a while: I've been married for 8 1/2 years now. I turn 28 next week and my husband turns 30!!! Yikes! To tell you the truth, I give him a hard time about being old, but 30 really doesn't bother me. Most of my friends are in their 30's. Of course, I'm not there yet and I might have a meltdown, but that's for future posts, I'm sure.

I also have two AMAZING boys. Luke is 4 and Payt is 2. They are so much fun now! They are the best of friends and it melts my heart to see them hugging each other and smiling and having so much fun together. Sometime (soon, I hope) I will figure out how to get pictures up and I will post some pics of the two cutest little guys!

Well, thus ends my first post. I hope I can do this right. Keep checking back, I'll have more interesting things to say later!