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.