'Tis the Season to Be Green...

This year, the Bradleys are going green. We hope you enjoy our earth friendly holiday greeting. And that you have a wonderful season of celebration. Much love!

Out of the Mouth of Our Babe

The light dusting of snow we had earlier this week prompted Lola to ask, "Does that mean Santa Claus is coming now?"

Our babe's choice of breakfast is peanut butter and crackers. In fact, many mornings she wakes up with this plea, "Mommy, I want peanut butter and crackers. PLEASE!!!" A couple of days ago, I guess she noticed as I threw the empty peanut butter jar away. The next day when I asked her if that is what she wanted and proceeded to fix her favorite breakfast plate, she crawled up in a chair next to the bar and said, "We have peanut butter! Why did you get that peanut butter?"
"I got it for you, Lola. Because I know you like it."
"Wow! You're AWEsome, Mom!"

Let it be known by all, I AM AWESOME!!!

Twelve Dates of Christmas

I'm always looking for ways to create meaning in our holiday celebrations. I love to eat as much as anyone but for people who have great meals all the time, I don't think big family meals are necessarily the way to make our holidays special. My favorite Christmas traditions of my childhood include the obvious gathering of family but three things stand out most for me.

First, my Dad involved us all in decking our house out Griswald-style. He was a welder and had created all kinds of cool yule decor. He lit everything with spotlights, covered the house in lights, we had the plastic snowmen, and a nativity scene with a custom stable that was awesome. I loved playing with the plastic baby Jesus. We had a huge star that shared the rooftop with Santa and his reindeer. Somehow Dad mounted the sleigh where it looked like they were taking off to share toys with the rest of the world. We also had a HUGE cross beside our house. Since this was how I knew Christmas even before seeing Christmas Vacation, some of the humor was lost on me. I remember being upset that his family wouldn't help him and wondering why they wouldn't want to decorate. We loved watching the cars drive slowly around our block as they checked out our house. Our roofline is crazy steep and the lot behind the house is empty so Dad always made sure the back of the house lit up, too.

Second, I remember all five of us crammed in the car or truck and driving around looking at lights. Dad always made sure Christmas music was blaring and my brother was usually telling me to quit singing. Although, there were several songs that became sing-alongs.

Third, there was the children's Christmas program at church. Carolyn, our children's pastor, and all of her family were so amazing. It was always so much fun to participate. Of course, this always came with a new dress sewn by Mom who can make anything. So there were several days of fittings, rehearsals, and abuse for my family as they had to listen to me sing and rehearse lines prior to this.

Randy and I have a few traditions of our own. Over the next few weeks you might hear about a few of them. But this year we are starting a new one inspired by the Twelve Days of Christmas and by Lola. She and Randy have had a couple of Daddy-Lola dates to the movies over the past month or two. Soon after one of their dates, all three of us went to dinner and to the same cinema. She said, "This is where Daddy-Lola dates are. But this is a Daddy-Lola-Mommy date!" We got a kick out of it and whenever we drive by she always exclaims that we are passing our date place. Anyhow, when thinking of special ways to celebrate as a family I decided to create the Twelve Dates of Christmas in which we will find twelve special outings or activities to celebrate together as a family.

Tonight is our First Date of Christmas. We are having a light supper of summer sausage, crackers, cheeses, fruits and spreads. Then we are heading downtown to the Civic Center Music Hall to Merry POPs with the OKC Philharmonic. Afterwards, we'll try to catch the Sonic Santa in Bricktown and head back for hot chocolate with marshmallows and white chocolate dipped pretzels. I better go get dressed or I'm going to be late!

They Know Anatomy...

... the proof is in the oven. I just had to highlight this photo of my cutie patooties: cousin Christina & little sister Dana. Lola has two more cousins on the way! Christina will give birth to little boy Racen Dell Stacy around the first of March. We're still waiting to find out what Dana will be having around the first of May. Lola keeps asking for her own baby to carry in her stomach. Patience, my dear.

Anatomy 101

Disclaimer: If you are sensitive to anatomy discussions, discontinue reading now. Mother, don't be horrified that I'm actually writing this on the world wide web. It's funny, and Randy keeps telling me I should write with more sarcasm and humor so that I can become some famous blogger who rolls in the advertising bucks. Keep dreaming, Randal, but just in case...

OK, to the point. Today I was putting on my bra when Lola walked in my room and started a nonstop rant that sounded like this and came with wide eyes. "What's that? I don't have one of those. It's for big, BIG boobies. I don't have big boobies. I have itty-bitty boobies. I have to get older to get big, BIG boobies. Mine are just little."

I assured her that if she ate her green beans, her boobies would grow to be as voluptuous as mine.

Cheese Fries & Friends

A couple of weeks ago, some of our very good friends came back to Oklahoma for a visit. Currently they call Colorado home. We took the opportunity to meet them and our other dear friends for cheese fries and more good food at Eskimo Joe's. These girls are Lola's first friends - Bailee held her the night she was born and some of her coolest clothes have come from Ella. Jaxson can thank Bailee for the special hug technique that Lola learned. And the boys... she's pretty smitten with them. Here's a look at how the Bradleys, Walters, Kofahls, and one Riley kid terrorized Joe.

Gobble, Gobble

We had a great Thanksgiving! We spent time with family and friends truly giving thanks and honoring the Lord and each other. We ate incredible food. And, we battled a nasty stomach virus. Thankfully, Lola & I are back to normal. Here are slide shows from our gatherings. Enjoy!


Giving Thanks Together on Sunday

Thanksgiving Day at our House

Thanksgiving Feast at Mom & Dad's

Preparing to Feast

Actually the feasting began last night with our gathering. We had a really beautiful moment of raising our glasses and thanking God for some amazing things in our lives. Several of us were moved to tears over our food, remembering Christ and recognizing His goodness to us! I'm positive that this is what Christ meant when He spoke at the last supper - this is true communion.

I'm looking forward to more of that communion this week. Randy & I are hosting our first Thanksgiving. I'm disappointed that more of our family won't be able to be here, but we are excited to celebrate in a meaningful way. We are going all out. I won't spoil all the details but suffice it to say that we are creating ways to truly give thanks besides filling our bellies. There will be plenty of that, though. Here's a look at the menu:

Appetizers
Crab Dip
Veggie Tray
Green Apple Salsa & Chips

The Main Event
Fried Turkey
Ham Rolls
Garlic Three-Cheese Potatoes
Green Bean Casserole
Smokin' Macaroni & Cheese
Pecan-Praline Sweet Potatoes
Spiced Tea Cranberry Sauce
Green Stuff
Homemade Rolls
Salad

The Sweet Stuff
Pecan Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Tiramisu Pudding
Espresso Cheesecake with Mocha Sauce
and other desserts from Grandma & Donna

That's just Thursday's goodness! On Saturday, we'll be celebrating in Warner with my side of the family. Mmmmm, Mmmmm Good!

Helping Hands Turned Blue

About a week ago, our faith community spent the day at City Rescue Mission in downtown Oklahoma City. The mission offers emergency relief services to meet the immediate physical needs of men, women and children who are homeless and others who need help. Our crew has committed to befriend City Rescue Mission and make the deepest impact possible with our missions efforts. For us this means deep personal involvement rather than merely tossing some money their direction. Although we believe in that, too! On that particular Saturday, we cleaned and painted throughout the facility. The paint was a bright, deep blue and oil-based - explaining our blue hands. It was such a fun day, yet sobering. I made the comment that I had observed pain and loss versus hope and comfort. I thought it would have been entirely possible to walk away and be overwhelmed by the needs. But what I walked away with was overwhelming hope.... HOPE WINS! Other feelings were gratitude, humility, heartache, empathy, and friendship. We met so many people with stories that should be told, stories that I pray find a way to intertwine with Christ's story. Like the man with three college degrees, who worked for the CIA, started the first ambulance service in Oklahoma that wasn't owned by a funeral home only to be forced out of business when EMSA won the city contract, he eventually ended up with Multiple Sclerosis and is now struggling to stay healthy which takes precedence over housing. So he's finding help at City Rescue Mission. Or the recovering drug addict who ended up in Oklahoma because he was trying to find his parents after being raised in a children's home in Texas. There were moms with babies and other kids in tow. People who wouldn't look you in the eye and others who grabbed paintbrushes and jumped in to help. It's so easy to turn a blind eye to the severely impoverished among us. They hang out around shelters in areas of the city that we don't pass by much. We might occassionaly see one on the corner with a cardboard sign but are afraid to help because we might be enabling someone. I wish everyone could spend a day elbow to elbow with those who really aren't so different from us. I know it impacted our group more than our paint job did for the mission. Praise God I have an amazing family and friends who have helped us out so much over the years and that while I have made some pretty stupid decisions, none of them have been so devastating as to render me with nowhere to go. Praise God for City Rescue Mission and others who spend their lives ministering to those in need.

The volunteer director Jonathan told us that OKC has one of the highest homeless rates in the nation. OKC also has one of the largest faith-based populations in the nation. It's kind of staggering to think that in a place with so many Christians, churches, and other religions represented on every street corner, there's still such a lack of resources. I know that the problem will always exist; Jesus said the poor would always be among us. However, in all the talk of OKC becoming such an amazing city that is leading the way in revitalization, I pray that we become examples of how to take care of our neighbors. "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40

To learn more about City Rescue Mission, click here.

Scurring Squirrels

Lola and I have added a new dimension to our relationship... partnership. For the last two days, we have been "scurring" squirrels away from the new bird feeder. Randy replaced the hummingbird feeder with a finch feeder and we've been watching lots of birds snack right outside our huge window. Of course, we've also been watching the squirrels chase the birds away and steal their food. Lola & I take turns noticing a bushy tail swinging from the feeder and rushing over to the window to hopefully frighten it away for good. At first all it took was a knock and a loud "hey" but now we are resorting to beating on the window and barking like dogs. I'm afraid of what will come next. After returning to our seats, my work and her show, following the last round of pretending to be big dogs, she and I looked at each other and burst into laughter and proceeded to discuss how crazy the whole situation is. She seemed so grown-up and I realized it was a really special moment... we had switched from caretaker and toddler (ok, sometime parasite) to partners in saving the bird feeder.

Before you start feeling sorry for the squirrels, they have total access to another bird feeder from which they are free to steal all the seed... and do just that. This feeder is on a small plant pole that is likely to spring right into our beautiful window if one of our theiving squirrels climbs it just right. And, the little bushy-tailed rodents are keeping the birds away from our viewing pleasure!

Transformation

Recently I witnessed a transformation... Randy from doting father to proud, puffed-chest, spectator/father. Let me explain. Lola has been taking swim lessons. Actually, let me tell you the whole story.

Most of you know about Lola's social issue with strangers. Our bright, funny, performer daughter turns into a super shy, hands-stuffed-in-mouth toddler whenever forced to interact with strangers. However, if they show her no attention she's yelling for theirs. In addition, she is a very independent chick when it comes to playing. Trying to get her to follow direction is quite difficult, she wants to put her creative spin on everything. I wonder where she gets that? So knowing this, I enrolled Lola in the Mommy & Me swim class. I knew she would be way too advanced and was right at the end of the age limit for the class; but I really didn't think I could get her to participate if I weren't in the class with her.

Our first class proved to be way below Lola's skill level. The class was intended to get kids used to water - splashing, blowing bubbles, lying on their backs, etc. But Lola is a fish! She has no fear of the water and is a great swimmer (with floaties of course). The instructor recommended I send her to the next class; but as she noticed how Lola would freeze whenever she came around she began to understand my dilemma. Skip forward to the next class, Lola is taking off sans floaties with a noodle instead. The new instructor suggests moving Lola up, again I hesitate but Lola proves my point as she resists the new instructor. Class three and Daddy comes with, Lola recognizes the instructor from the last week and she does much better. The teacher suggests we stay for the next class which is more advanced. I slowly slink out of the water and Lola begins the class with resistance. It is hard to get her to cooperate, we even offer her ice cream to which she says no. Finally, after she gets out of the water again, we tell her that we are going home and she could swim more but she chose to leave the class. She decides to try again and to our amazement came out of her shell! I go to change clothes and when I return she is swimming at the other end of the pool. Randy explains that she was swimming so fast she was leaving the instructor and other kids behind. She's just playing, swimming in circles, waiting on them to catch up with her. He tells me about overhearing other parents talking about what a great swimmer Lola is and the teacher telling them that it is her first swim class and calling her a fish. We are both really proud of her.



But here's where the transformation takes place - her second "big kid" class. Lola takes a bit to warm up but finally decides to participate. The class swims to the rope and back and Lola doesn't realize that all of them are supposed to be swimming - usually the teacher only lets them swim one at a time. The teacher calls for Lola to jump in and swim. The other kids who are boys aged four and five are way ahead of her. Randy leans over and says, "Watch it, she's going to beat those kids." I say something like, "No way, Randy. She is starting so far behind them." To which he answers, "She'll be the first one to touch." I can literally hear the wind sucking into Randy's chest as I glance at him, arms crossed, chest out. He's trying so hard to not beam rays of pride. Trying so hard that in fact, he looks quite somber. It's hard to explain. I watch Lola as she laps the boys and reaches out in a Michael Phelps-like moment to touch first. She didn't even know she was racing, but in that moment I think Randy heard a symphony of Olympic medals clanking, anthems ringing, and the roar of pride residing in his chest. I look back over and he's still retaining composure. It was eerie.

These pics are from her third big-kid class.

Ouch!

Lola had an accident with an exercise ball. I think this is going to take a while to heal.

See photo.

Countdown to Thanksgiving

I helped Lola create a turkey with enough feathers to countdown to Thanksgiving. I'm trying to teach her about being thankful and that we are going to celebrate all the good things in our life with family and friends with some big feasts at the end of this month. I don't think she is ready for Pilgrims and Indians yet, she's much more interested in making up her own stories. It's a struggle to get her to let me read a book to her, it's always her turn. So I'm keeping it simple.

We created the turkey a couple of nights ago and forgot to take our feather off, so the next day we took two. When I asked her what she was thankful for, without hesitation she said, "Jaxson!" So I let her scribble on the feather and then I wrote Jaxson. For the second feather she said, "Dustin & Dana." We repeated the writing sequence and put our feathers in our glass canister. Yesterday, when we removed the feather her answer was Jaxson and Dana. We told her they were already in the jar that we needed to think of something else we were thankful for... we told her to think about what she prays each night - again, she brought up Jaxson and Dana. Finally, I said, "How about Jesus? Are you thankful that you can pray to Jesus?" She answered yes and started scribbling. I really wanted to say, "How about Mommy and Daddy? I mean, we take care of you everyday. Who do you think brought you into this world?" But I retained some self-control and decided not to manipulate her into being thankful for me - today at least. But if I don't show up on a feather before the end of the countdown is near, you can guarantee I'll be reminding her how much she owes me!

A Little Pixie Dust

Lola made a fabulous Tinkerbell for Halloween. It's strange how much she actually looks like Tinkerbell. I think it's her eyes. People have always said she looks like a pixie, even since she was an itty bitty baby. Of course Lola loved getting all the candy but I think she most enjoyed getting her makeup done and the glitter hairspray.

We had a pretty busy day. I got her ready and dropped her off at Randy's work for a little gathering they had for all the employee's kids. I had to sing at a funeral so I didn't return for a while. When I did get there, she didn't want to leave. She was "working" on the computer and answering the phone. We took the opportunity for a little photo op with the horse in Jordan's lobby and at the fountains in front. Lola loves the fountains at Daddy's work.

We caught an early dinner at PF Chang's and then came home to ready ourselves for trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood was pretty dead so we headed a few blocks south to Nichols Hills for a bout of speed trick-or-treating. Randy was right, we hit the jackpot on candy. Full size Snickers bars, the big movie boxes of candy, traffic jams in the neighborhood, police bullhorns declaring trick-or-treat hours were over - it was pretty fun. Lola was having a blast and really enjoyed that her friend Zaine was with us.

Next we headed over to Eric, Erin & Nickie's to hang out for a bit and enjoy some cupcakes. Our last stop was our friend Micah's Halloween Party. Wow! She threw an incredible party. It was so creative with great gory food and fun people. Finally, we made it home to get all our Halloween garb off and snooze til morning. October was a crazy fun month and the candy will last quite a while if I can keep it away from Lola.

Once Upon A Time

One of our Halloween week activities was a trip through the Storybook Forest at Lake Arcadia. What a great idea! It was super crowded and we had to wait in line but it was lots of fun. We walked through a trail decorated with scenes from fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Randy & I realized that we haven't been very good with teaching Lola traditional stories and songs. I don't think she knew any of the stories but Rock-a-bye Baby. Of course, it was her favorite because she could rock the baby. I guess I should be on the hunt for a fairy tale book so that she will be well read. After she gathered all her candy on the trail, she played games and then we took a hayride. They also had fire pits where you could roast your own hot dogs and marshmallows. Next year, we'll have to take some friends.

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Under The Big Top

One lazy morning not so long ago, Lola woke up wanting a story. I told her one about Zadie, our sweet cocker spaniel, running off to join the circus. Then she made up her own story and began declaring many times a day how she wanted to go to the circus. Despite the theme of her nursery and baby shower being a cool retro carnivale/circus, we've never actually taken Lola to the Big Top. So when Randy found a flier for the Family Fun Circus being held in Edmond last week, he took off work early and we set out for the circus before our planned trick-or-treat trip to the Storybook Forest.

Lola was super excited. As we walked up to the Big Top, we passed the pony rides and she started begging right away. We assured her that she would definitely get to ride the pony but that the show was about to begin so we had to hurry inside the tent. We payed a crazy price to get in - but Lola was free- and $4 for two cans of Dr. Pepper. Then we took our seats. This is a good time to point out that the Ringmaster was more of a salesman than anything else. Between each act was a sales pitch and special deal. I was surprised how many people kept falling for the deals and even more surprised that Lola never begged for anything they were selling: light sticks, peanuts, balloons on a stick, pictures with SpongeBob.

The acts were pretty good. We were definitely entertained and you couldn't have beat our seats. We were super close to the action. The hoola hoop girl was pretty amazing. Especially after the impromptu hoola hoop contest we had at my parents not long ago. We had special appreciation for her talents. Lola loved watching the dancing horses and the aerial acrobatics. She was also excited to see SpongeBob SquarePants and she thought the young clown was pretty funny, too. Randy & I were probably most entertained by the obviously veteran human cannonball. We were actually amazed that he made it out of the cannon. You might be able to tell why by the photo up there.

Since it was the 4:30pm show and the crowd was pretty small, the cheering was lame. Randy, Lola & I took the roles of cheerleaders and led the crowd in appreciating the talent. Lola was hilarious. Everyone around us was laughing at how she was getting into the woohooing and clapping.

After the show, Lola rode the pony, bounced in the moonbounce, admired the animals at the petting zoo, and changed into her costume for the Storybook Forest. It was a pretty expensive couple of hours but totally worth it.

Meow! A Tale of Three Kitties

Our neighbors across the street host an annual Halloween neighborhood block party. Last year, we were moving in that weekend and weren't able to join them. This year, we donned our costumes and headed across the lawns. Our costumes were pretty retro which I loved. I kind of felt like a pinup girl in my Betty Paige hair. Lola will be Tinkerbell for the actual Halloween festivities but she had seen a Dora episode in which Dora dressed as a black kitty for the holiday. She has been asking to be a kitty so we thought it was a great idea to go to the party as a family of black kitty cats.

Lola had a blast with the kids. She especially made friends with one of the neighbor girls Sophie who is about two years older than her. She woke up the next morning talking about going to the party again. Then she would go to the door and look out and ask if Sophie was inside. She only did that about five times, but I can imagine my days may get pretty full of requests to play with Sophie. I'm actually grateful. I've been praying for little girls for Lola to befriend. All her friends here are boys.

We had a good time but I think the most fun was had getting ready. I forgot how fun it was to wear a costume. Ours were simple and retro but you should have seen the other costumes at the party. These people are serious about their costume contest. I better start thinking about next year's costumes.

She's a Foodie

On Friday, I served Lola her lunch. I'm ashamed to say that I gave her SpaghettiOs or Chef Boyardee (I can't recall which) Shapes & Meatballs. She picked at it for a few minutes and then asked for more meatballs. I obliged and gave her the rest of the meatballs and told her she should eat everything, pasta too. Lola sweetly gave her response, "But Mom, they're not very TASty!"

It makes me think about the time we went to Deep Fork Grill, a very nice upscale restaurant here in OKC. We ordered fries for Lola. Their fries come with a white truffle cream. The waiter was attentive to her age and brought a bottle of ketchup for her instead. We requested he bring the truffle cream because I wanted to taste it. At the time, Lola detested ketchup but she was scarfing the truffle cream. When the waiter came back around and noticed he remarked, "Gosh, that kid has great taste. Super expensive, the truffles are locked in the safe; but great taste."

That's my girl!

The Hair Wars Continue

A couple of days ago, Lola kept asking for Raffi all day. I persisted in telling her that Raffi was probably in her bed and she could go get him. Because she was too lazy to go look for herself, she continued to whine about it and because I was trying to be a good mommy and teach her some responsibility, I continued to stick to my line. For the past couple of weeks, she will state that she wants something but can't find it even before she has looked. She just wants me to be her slave, hence my tough stance. Honestly, she thinks I'm being so mean.

Fast forward to late afternoon. I was working on a big project involving time on the computer. Lola was bored and had decided to climb up beside me and comb my hair. As she was jerking the comb through my hair, I kept at my work trying to meet my self-imposed deadline. We were leaving for Stroud soon and I needed to finish the first round of my project, so I suffered through the hair-pulling and her constant repositioning of my head - much like she must endure from me. She went towards the kitchen and came back carrying something underneath her shirt. I thought it may be Raffi. She carries him like that sometimes and often puts him in her shirt as she is going to sleep at night. She climbed back up beside me. Wanting to prove my point that she was very capable of finding Raffi, I asked her what was in her shirt. She refused to answer and started grabbing the comb to go after my hair again. I noticed her being a bit sneaky and again I asked what was in her shirt. With no answer, I turned and faced her and forced her to show me what she was hiding. She pulled out the craft scissors that cousin Christina had bought her for her birthday. She was going to cut my hair!!! And she knew enough to be sneaky. I lectured her about not cutting hair, about only using scissors on paper that mommy approves and about not climbing on things. I had put the scissors in a plastic box, inside a basket, on top of a chest in the laundry room. I have no idea how she actually climbed up to get them or how she even knew where I had put them.

Disaster avoided this time. Battles won in the Hair Wars: Lola - 1, Mommy-1. Please pray for me. You have probably figured out by now that I really need it!

To The Moon & Back

Since Lola was very little I've always said to her, "Lola, I love you to the moon and back and as big as all the stars in the sky."

This morning I woke up and she was laying beside me looking at me. She said, "Mommy, I love you to the moon and back." This was accompanied by the most beautiful grin I've ever seen.

Yes, Lola. You can come crawl in our bed in the wee hours of every night, crowding me to 10 inches of space in that huge king-size bed. It's worth it.

This says it all...

As much as I would like to credit whoever created this, all I know is that he/she is a graphic design senior at Oklahoma State University. Go Pokes!

The Way The Other Half Lives

We live next to Casady School. Behind its iron gates, lies a pretty little pond and a playground that caught Lola's eye. Driving down the road, she exclaimed to us, "I want to play there." Randy explained that we could not play there because it was locked up.

"Why?"
"Because they don't want us in there," he said.
"Why not?"
"Because they don't like to share. They're kind of mean."

At which point, I said, "I'm totally blogging that."

Will The Real Birthday Please Step Forward?

It was a boot scootin' birthday. Lola semi-cooperated with a third birthday photo shoot. During our painful photo opp, she got a phone call from Nana, Poppy, Dana, Dustin & Jaxson. After they finished their round of Happy Birthday, she cried, "Sing it again!" and they obliged.

When asked what she wanted to eat for her birthday lunch, she said, "Pasta!" Like father, like daughter. We went to Spaghetti Warehouse and they arranged for all around us to sing to her. She slid down in her seat and stayed there for about five minutes. We asked her what was wrong, knowing full well she was embarrassed and she told Randy, "I'm shy, Daddy."

After lunch, we went to the Oklahoma City Museum of Art to see the Roman Art Exhibit from the Louvre. It was the last day of the exhibit and since I'm not sure I'll ever make it to Paris, I insisted that we see it. It was extremely fascinating. I mentioned to Randy that I wondered if Paul, the disciples, or even Jesus had looked upon some of the pieces. There were public mosaics and statues that definitely were throughout the Roman empire during that time.

We rushed home from the museum to put chili on for our Sunday night gathering. Our friends brought Lola gifts and lots of love. This little girl has really been celebrated!

To POPS and Beyond

On Saturday we had the most amazing time with MiMi & ProPro! It was the day before Lola's actual birthday and we were in celebratory mode. We met in Arcadia at POPS which is an ultra cool gas station/diner/convenience store which specializes in pop. They have over 500 varieties. As you can tell from the photos above, there's some cool design involved and I think it is a unique experience that you should definitely make happen. I couldn't believe how busy the joint was. We waited outside in the hot sun for about a half hour only to get a seat on the patio. There was a huge yard where Lola played and got considerably muddy. For some reason they didn't have the umbrellas out and we baked while we ate our food but it still tasted great. Lola actually wanted and ate her first cheeseburger. For some reason, this kid has rejected all kinds of sandwiches. Very rarely, you can get her to eat a bit of a grilled cheese. But since POPS, I think we've entered a new era. I had a cheeseburger for lunch a couple of days ago and she grabbed it out of my hand for a couple of bites. Anyhow, back to Saturday's story...

After POPS we headed down the road to the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch. We waited in line and lamented how this would be the last time Lola would get in somewhere free for being 2 or under. But we quickly turned to excitement again as we headed towards all the animals with our bag of feed. Lola swayed from timid with the animals to aggressively demanding to ride the pony. It amazes me how she can be scared of the mechanical car outside of Walmart but not at all frightened by the pony. However, I was horse crazy as a young girl, so I'm relieved to know there's some of me in her after all. She and ProPro animatedly ran us through the corn maze and she picked up all the hidden pumpkins with arrows and threw them. We tried to stop her and return what we could be she was a girl on a mission. No one will probably find their way through there again! Right at the end she led us out the side instead of finishing because she heard the tractor. She was not about to miss another turn on the hayride. She also had fun in the tire swing and the hammocks, climbing on hay bales, and picking out pumpkins. Lola & I were oblivious (or pretended to be) to the other's mourning for OU's loss to Texas. Eventually, we convinced Lola it was time to leave, load up our pumpkins and part ways with MiMi & ProPro.

As we were pulling out on Route 66, we decided to see if one of our old haunts and favorite BBQ places had ever reopened. Praise the Lord, it had. It was yummy food, but ended up a strange experience since I ran into someone I had went to high school with and not seen in 15+ years - a crazy suprise and a long way from Warner.

We hustled back to The Village and threw a spread together for noshing with the Nemcoks and Eric while we cheered the Oklahoma State Cowboys to victory over Missouri. GO POKES!!! By the time we hit the hay, metaphorically speaking, we had no trouble falling asleep.

Family Time

Last week we had a special treat. Randy's family came to visit. His brother Steven just finished tech school for the Air Force and was home on leave before heading to his new station in Denver. Grandma Carol, Grandpa Wilmer, Kaylie, Steven, Eric, Randy, Lola & I shared dinner, stories, laughs, and hugs. We don't get to see each other nearly enough. Lola had Grandma down in the floor and everywhere else she asked. She made sure to tell Grandma when she could and could not take her picture. Lola also took some photos herself. Several from the show below are her shots. The black & white had some coloring issues but actually turned out to be a great pic of Grandma & Grandpa. We may have a budding photographer on our hands.

I know, I know. I'm queen of the slide shows today. But I need to do some catching up with posting and I want to share these photos with everyone!

2008 Hayride Birthday Bash

I firmly believe in celebrating birthdays. And I absolutely believe in celebrating birthday months. Lola has had two solid weeks of celebration, I think it is waning. But costume and candy fun is around the corner so October definitely won't fizzle out.

We kicked this celebration off with a birthday bash for Ariel, Nicole, and Lola. We needed to do something special since this will be Ariel's 16th birthday; and because all three girls are October babies and getting family together is difficult, we had a triple birthday celebration. After the kids rode the Gator around the front yard, we moved inside for some food. We started out with a HUGE pot of chili, hot dogs, bratwurst, sauerkraut, chips and dips. Then we veered from the usual birthday cake and had brownie cupcakes. Then the girls opened their loot and boy, did they walk away with some treasure. Afterward, Uncle Dustin drove our rather large crew on a hayride where we played games, sang songs, told stories, and blinded people with flashlights and camera flashes. We came back to s'mores and hot apple cider. Randy is an expert s'more maker. He should patent his s'more contraption.

Unfortunately, the slide show above doesn't have any pictures of the actual hayride. Those are on Mom's camera and I neglected to download them. I'm betting most of them were pretty bad since the lighting was obviously atrocious, it being night and all.

I do however want you to pay special attention to this photo:



MeMe: "What are you doing, Linda?"

Mom: "I'm screwing the scarecrow."

Really.

These Are Some GRAND Kids!!!

We recently celebrated all of the girls' birthdays which happen to be in October. I'll post more about that soon. But I wanted to share this slide show of some of the photos we captured during our weekend together. Enjoy!

Hair Wars

Yesterday, I cut Lola's hair. After we got out of the shower I told her we should blow dry her hair and make it pretty for Daddy. She refused a couple of times and finally said, "I don't want to talk about it." So I proceeded to dry my own hair. She walked in and I asked her again to which she replied, "I can do it." So I told her to hold the brush and I would dry her hair, she wasn't going for it and ran out of the bathroom. I shouted, "Lola, please. Let's make your hair pretty for Daddy." Her reply? "No, Mom, I don't want to. PLEASE, don't make me sad," in the most sing-song pleading voice she could muster.

The Road To...

After about twenty rounds of Where's the pink butterfly?, Where's the yellow flower?, Where's the green grasshopper?, Lola responded with, "Daddy, you're driving me CRAZY!!!"

Recycling 101

Make Trash Fun!!!

The Gator box was recycled by Randy to make a playhouse for Lola & Jaxson. They had lots of fun during our stay at Nana & Poppy's.

Creepy Crawly

"Daddy, it's a corn cob spider!" ~ Lola

Special Note: I actually had our own incredible shot of a similar monster, but I deleted it by mistake. I had to settle for this.

Midnight Tacos

I wrote this on Friday night but due to technical difficulties, I'm just now able to post it.

12:04am - I guess that makes it Saturday morning...

I'm having a slumber party with my dad at the hospital tonight. It's been pretty tame although he's super funny because of all the pain meds. He's also really hungry. He has been talking about tacos for about an hour. He keeps waking up and asking me what I want to eat, asking me where his taco is, or looking for it in his sheets. My sister came upstairs after she got off her shift in the Emergency Room. She took his order and is now on a midnight taco run. Dad’s snoozing again. I wonder if he’ll ask what the heck Dana is doing with a taco, when he wakes up.

I can connect to the hospital network but for some rason I can't get any internet access. The hours would go by faster if I could surf around the WWW. I guess it's time to pull out my trusty Sudoku game.

Dad just woke up and asked where Dana went to get tacos. On cue, she walked thru the door. Bon Appétit!

6:37pm - Sunday evening

I'm about to hit the road to relieve my sister at the hospital. I've got another slumber party with Dad tonight. What new adventures will we have?

New Digs

Last Saturday we drove to Stroud to visit MiMi & ProPro and check out their new abode. It's a great house and they have a large chunk of land with lots of room for grandkids to run around. After we arrived we took a tour and then we all piled in cars to eat at the BBQ joint down the road. By all, I mean Aunt Rhonda, GiGi, MiMi, and cousins David, Trina, Drake & Dylan in addition to Randy, Lola & I. After dinner, we stood outside and I heard cars running. Sonic was next door but it sounded like our car was running. Since it was hot outside, I thought if it wasn't our car then we should get the air going. So I asked Randy if he started the car. In his usual sarcastic manner he said, "Oh no, I left it running!" I shot him a look while his grandma GiGi laughed. We piled into our car and headed back to the house. Randy almost took off to the golf course before I jogged his memory that his parents didn't live there anymore. Once we got back to the house, GiGi came inside with her sing-song, "Misty, you won't believe what Rhonda did!" It turns out that Rhonda really had left her car running the entire time we were eating in the restaurant. Weird coincidence, right?

Lola had a great time playing with her cousins Drake and Dylan. She was sad that Drake had to leave to go to a Redhawks game. But ProPro came home from the golf tournament and it wasn't long before he & Lola were running through a sprinkler in the back yard. Lola had so much fun! I hadn't brought her extra clothes or a bathing suit so we stripped her down to her panties and let her go wild. Before you start thinking the poor kid had to go the rest of the day without underwear, don't sweat! Her skirt had built-in bloomers. After the water works, Lola & ProPro spent a long while snacking and rocking on the front porch while watching the passing neighbors and listening for a neighborhood motorcycle.

We spent the rest of the evening eating a fabulous meal of grilled chicken, fried squash, salad, and bread - and watching the Olympics of course! It was also a treat to see Uncle Dennis & Aunt Novie. We can't wait to go back and stay in our new room at MiMi & ProPro's.

Randy's brother Eric, Erin & Nickie moved into a new house just a few streets south of us. It feels great to have them in the neighborhood now. It's been a crazy couple of weeks so we haven't seen much of each other but just knowing they are closer is fun.

On Sunday we had brunch with a good friend at her new place. Donna was Jeff & Mary's neighbor until recently. We have gotten to know her by hanging out at the Nemcok house, having dinner, sharing drinks and wonderful conversation. She is a sweet, spunky lady who is absolutely fascinating and we think it is so cool that she hangs out with us. She recently moved into Concordia, a retirement village. It's like a resort... I want to live there! Brunch was an incredible buffet and we enjoyed some lovely mimosas. But the company was the best. Here is a photo of myself, Donna, and Mary.



Here's to all our loved ones and their new digs! May your homes be blessed and full of life, love and joy!!!

Country Cooking

Sometimes you just need a good home-cooked meal... country cooking as people around Oklahoma call it. Our meal last night fit this category; however, instead of the eight side dishes you usually find on dining room tables around here, I only made two. We're trying to watch portion sizes and highlight foods which means simplify in my book. It may not seem like a very healthy dinner but I did use olive oil and Smart Balance - and considerably less than in the past!

I took pictures while still cooking so here's our illustrated menu:

Pork Chops: These were yummy! I'm not much of a pork person and I'm particular about my chops. I like them with the bone in and pan fried. Salt, pepper & garlic - that's all you need.



Fried Okra: ...or a mess of Okra as we Okies say. We grew a garden this year but I didn't plant okra. I actually haven't seen any fresh okra in the market or heard of anyone whose okra made good this year. So sadly, this was frozen okra which I floured and spiced before tossing it in hot olive oil. It was still delicious. Like the pork chops, this okra isn't done yet. It was nice and crunchy in the end.



Apples Deuce in Cinnamon Brown Butter: A duo of Golden & Red Delicious Apples cooked to perfection with a lovely sprinkling of sugar and Saigon cinnamon. The butter was really Smart Balance, but that isn't quite as appetizing as a moniker.



We also had tomatoes fresh out of our garden. Actually, I had tomatoes. Randy isn't a fan of fresh tomatoes - only cooked. He's CRAZY!!! Of course, we drank Iced Tea. Dessert was served much later and consisted of Chocolate Chunk Brownies.

I'm heading into the kitchen to make dinner now. Tonight it's tilapia. I made fresh salsa yesterday so dinner could take on a Latin flair... maybe fish tacos?

He's Seen Better Birthdays

My dad, better known as Poppy, fell at work yesterday and broke his hip. He lost his footing on a 2x4 that was propping up a boat. He was there by himself and thank goodness he had his phone on him. He called 911 and had an ambulance take him to the hospital, but he didn't call them first. He called his cousin Ronnie to come and lock the business, pull the boats inside, etc. When his esophagus ruptured (almost three years ago now), he was knocking on death's door and telling my mom about an invoice that needed to be paid. Last week, I took my mom to have a routine medical test that required sedation and they had given her some extra pain medication. She's a tiny woman and she was quite loopy. Right after she said she needed two more days of that kind of sleep, she started asking me what I thought about a business idea... that's the kind of work ethic my parents have.

Today Poppy had surgery to repair his hip. Tomorrow is his birthday and Saturday is my parent's 36th wedding anniversary. Our celebration was to include a big crab boil but I suppose we'll postpone that. They probably won't read this post for a while but here's to Nana & Poppy!



Poppy - Get Well & Happy Birthday, which seems a bit ridiculous to say right now even though we have so much to be grateful for...

Mom & Dad - Congratulations on doing what seems impossible for most people these days. You are both pretty amazing!

Note: The photo is from my dad's 30th birthday at a gig he was playing with his band The Sundance Band. That was 26 years ago. You do the math.

Bitter:Sweet

A couple of weekends ago, we trailed off to Dallas with some of our best friends Mary & Jeff to hit a concert by my current favorite band. I've been a fan of Bitter:Sweet for a few years now. Their sound is a bit hard to define because it is a melting pot of sounds - retro, ambient, jazz, James Bond (yes, that's a sound), and more. Their music is definitely fun to dance to and it makes me feel a little flirty so Randy & I joke about it being my "sexy" music. The concert was absolutely incredible. The venue was small - the Pontiac Garage at Dallas House of Blues - which is about the only way I will go to a live show. Otherwise, I prefer to catch my fave acts on television where I can actually see them and not pay the crazy concert prices for the view from my binoculars. But that is a rant for another blog. Back to the show... it was full of retro coolness, phenomenal musicianship, amusing showmanship, playful seductiveness, and the band was quite friendly. We took photos with Bitter:Sweet, but I don't have them to post right now. But you can check out the band here: www.bittersweetmusic.com

We drove to Dallas on Saturday after I took Lola to meet Mom who happened to be in OKC for a church outing. Our first stop in Texas was at David and Daniela's house where we stayed the night. David is Jeff's older brother and his wife Dani is from Brazil. They were amazing hosts and have a beautiful home. It was great getting to know them. We met up with Mary's sister Casey for dinner at a yummy Mexican cafe in Lakewood and went back to her place to eat cupcakes from Sprinkles, have a glass of red wine, and cheer Michael Phelps and the rest of the amazing USA team in their last relay to victory.

On Sunday, we noshed on some fruit, bagels, and a buffet of fruit juices. I'm not kidding, they had about five kinds of juice! Then Mary, Dani and I headed out for some shopping and a trip to Ikea. We barely made it back to the house in time to change into our uptown clothes and eventually missed our dinner reservations. But it turned out fine because we were still able to get into Sangria and dine on some really fabulous tapas with plenty of time to roam the neighborhood. Casey had joined us for dinner and acted as tour guide. We finished off with custard from Wild About Harry's and jumped into Z Gallerie (my favorite home store ever! it's like walking inside myself) so that I could ooh and ah over my wish list. Then we scooted on over to the concert.


Jeff & Mary waiting to get in the concert.

Our tickets had seating information on them so we were surprised when we got into the concert hall to find that there was no seating. Mary and I were both in heels and I was in a dress. The concert was getting a late start and we were growing more uncomfortable so we decided to head out to the car to change our clothes. On our way out, we ran into Mary's closest friends from MBA school and met some people they were going to the concert with so that was a fun bonus.


Posing at Waffle House.

By the time the concert was over, we had all worked up an appetite again. So on our way home we found a Waffle House and to our surprise the cook was related to Erin! Erin is our good friend and the girlfriend of Randy's brother Eric. What a small world! Randy, Jeff & Mary all had to work on Monday morning so I was the chauffeur on the way home. Once we got there, we crashed into bed about 3:45am!