Tidbits

Here are a few random tidbits from the past week:

Tonight as I went around the house holding Payt's hand and looking for his precious blankie, Payt teared up and finally said, "Maybe it died." Where does he get this stuff?
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I don't know why.
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This is a normal scene at our house. Except I'm not sure when or how Luke learned the M.C. Hammer move.

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Too cute.

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Luke was pumped about his school's skate night. He did awesome skating without any help!

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Hello, Blanchard teachers: Meet Trouble.

This is Luke with his buddies Wyatt and Whit at skate night.

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I think Payt might kill me in my sleep one day if he ever finds out that his "plumber" picture was online for the world to see. I guess that's a worry for another day. Today I think it's pretty funny!

He's An Animal

As you might recall, my hubby Todd ran his first half-marathon the weekend before Thanksgiving. He did great- his time was 1:54:something. Well, today Todd ran his second half-marathon. This time his time was 1:39:30!!! I only wish I could run half that far in that time! :)

Now we're looking forward to his first full marathon in April. I'm excited... then again, I'm not the one running 26 miles. Go, Todd!

A Rock Star Birthday

Today we had a party to celebrate Luke's 5th and Payt's 3rd birthday. The theme, you ask? Rock Star, of course! The boys were decked out in their Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin shirts respectively, and green spikey hair. Their friends all came dressed as rock stars, too... they were hilarious! When I get a chance, I have a "Mosh Pit" video to post of them all dancing. Too funny!
Payt, the natural Rocker.

I think Luke should keep this look. The chicks dig it.

Wild and crazy fun with a game of "Freeze Dance!"

We had a great time and were blessed to have good friends to share this special time with. A few were missing from sickness and bad weather, but all in all, it was a great time. I love these kids!

Some Good News

Just a quick update on Jenny. She called today and said that her brain scan and bone scan both came back clear- no cancer there! Please keep praying for her- she's still got a long road ahead. She wants you all to know that she truly appreciates your prayers and she can almost literally feel the blanket of prayer that's being wrapped around her.

Still more tests to go, pray they all come back clear, too. Hopefully we'll know more soon. Thanks.

Jenny.

I have no idea how to start this blog post. I've typed and re-typed and there is no good way to start this, so I'll just jump right in. My dear friend, Jenny Revlett, was diagnosed with breast cancer a week ago today. Since then she has learned that it is Stage IV- it has spread to her liver. She has undergone a battery of tests and continues to have test after test. Soon they hope to find out what kind of chemo she will be given (they are treating the liver before they can treat the breast cancer), and she will probably begin that in about 2 weeks.

Anybody who knows Jenny knows that she is one tough lady. She will fight this hard. She has two sweet little boys and a husband to fight for. I write now so that you will all join me in prayer for this awesome woman and her family. I will try to keep you updated on her condition until she feels able to blog herself.

Thanks in advance for your prayers. It's hard to be so far away from her right now, but I know she feels all of our love from here in OK.

Thanks

Well, here's my family on Dad's side (my brother & his family, a few cousins & their families, and one aunt are missing). It was good to see them in Arkansas this weekend, despite the awful reason we were all there. It's not often we're all together- one uncle lives in upstate NY, one in Alaska, and my aunt lives in California.

I just wanted to thank all of you for your very kind words, thoughts, prayers, and even flowers. It meant a lot to ALL of us. Aunt Cathy had a very nice service, and I'm not sure if I've ever seen more flowers in one place! The funeral home was packed to standing room only. We truly felt the love of our friends and family during this and what a blessing it was. Thanks again.

Just Pray

I come to you all again with yet another prayer request. We found out this morning that my aunt was killed in a tornado in Arkansas last night. The news, of course, is devastating. My family has been through so much lately with health problems and hard times and now this. Please just pray for my cousins, who lost their mother; their children who lost their grandmother; and the rest of us who lost a really wonderful person. My grandma is taking this especially hard, too. Just what she needs on top of aggressive chemo treatments.

I know it's easy to watch the news and think, "Man, all those people died in those tornadoes, that's terrible," then go on with your life. I ask that you will stop and pray, not just for us in the loss of my aunt, but for all the people who lost someone special to them- the news now says the death toll is in the 50's. Just pray. Thanks.

Class Clown

So yesterday I get back to work after lunch and there is an instant message from Todd awaiting me. It read, "Your son got in trouble at school today." (yes, notice the use of "your")

As I sucked in a deep breath, I reluctantly typed, "What happened?" Next came the story. Apparently Luke decided to lock himself in a bathroom stall at school and unroll all the toilet paper. Then he refused to come out when the teacher asked him to. Now, I'm not one for disrespecting the teacher and acting out at school, but I couldn't help it when I read the story. I laughed. Hard. A 4-year-old child did this. One of his little buddies did the same thing, too. I can just picture the first-year teacher tapping her foot outside the stall in a huff. I can picture the mound of toilet paper underneath the two separate stalls. In my mind (warped as it is), it's just plain funny. Both boys received the punishment of sitting during recess and they both have to use the classroom bathroom for a week instead of the big bathrooms the other kids get to use.

I can't help but think, though, Luke's timing couldn't have been worse. Tonight is parent/teacher conference. Should be interesting.

The Strong-Willed Child

Here is classic Payt, pirate style. I'm afraid Payt possesses a super power over me. You see, it's awfully hard to say "no" to those big blue eyes and sweet smile. He's a pretty good kid most of the time, so this shouldn't really be a big problem, right? Wrong. We have been trying and trying and trying to get Payt to be interested in potty training. He IS almost 3. Here's how one of these conversations might go:

Me: "Payt, do you want to use the potty?"
Payt: "No."
Me: "Did you know all your friends use the potty?"
Payt: "Yes."
Me: "Don't you want to be a big boy like your friends and your brother?"
Payt: "I little."

The conversation continues and Payt never relents. He did finally agree that he wanted to wear big boy underwear. So, I went out and got him some Cars underwear. He was pumped about wearing them today, but let me tell you how that went.

9 am: Put big boy underwear on
9:15: try to potty
9:30: try to potty
9:45: "Daddy, I go potty in my underwear" (and it's more than just potty...)
clean underwear and trips to the potty every 20-30 minutes after the accident
2:45 (approx. 5 minutes after last trip to try the potty): Major pee accident in the underwear
nap and playing, trips to the potty every 15 min. after nap
5 pm: Time to go to a birthday party. No way Daddy is going to deal with this at the party- diaper goes on. Payt wets the diaper.

Now, I've tried everything. I'm bribing him with M&Ms to go potty, I try turning the water in the bathtub on. He has a bladder of steel for a small child and the pure will NOT to use the potty. He has used it before, but very randomly, and definitely not if he's asked to. I guess I will give up and try again later. The 2-year-old wins again.