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.