Happy Halloween!

I didn't think Halloween was all that exciting, that is, until I had a child. After having a child, it is like holidays are fun again! Actually, more fun than when I was the child experiencing them. There is so much joy in watching them have so much fun. It is a totally different perspective, and one I couldn't possibly understand until I experienced it. As James gets a little older, the excitement just grows. Each holiday since he was born I think, "This year he will really enjoy it, he's at just the right age." Then, when the next year rolls around, I think the same exact thing and that it will even better than last year.

His Halloween party at school last night was lots of fun. It was so cute to watch them checking out their friends with the looks on their faces, as if to say, "Hmm, I know you, but you kinda look a little different, maybe its the monkey get up you're wearing?" We are really looking forward to trick-or-treating tonight.



Here are some pictures from the past Halloweens (not that there have been that many - he's only 2 1/2!)



First Halloween - Incredible Hulk (and pumpkin sweat suit after the party)

Second Halloween - University of Carolina Football Player (all football players like Smarties, right?)

Tonight's costume - a dinosaur (It's actually a dragon, but we're sticking with what he knows)

Happy Halloween!

Impressed

I got to go to the Carrie Underwood concert last night! It was a lot of fun and she is SO good. The concert was at Tulsa's brand new BOK center, which is a really nice place for events. (Similar to the Colonial Center or N. Chas. Coliseum for my SC people) It was also pretty neat that she is from Oklahoma, so she had some family there and probably people who "knew her when" in the audience. (I think maybe the young girl behind me knew her - or at least thought she did - by the way she kept screaming CARRIE!!) She sang a couple of songs about being from OK so that made it fun for the people there. I have actually driven through her hometown (by mistake) on the way to another town in OK on the 4th of July.


I liked her a lot when she was on American Idol, but I really didn't realized just how good she is. Wow she can sing! Martina McBride is one of my favorites and I think Carrie Underwood is up there with her. She sang a song from her second album called I Know You Won't which was what totally had me thinking she ranks up there with Martina McBride. Check it out sometime.


I love going to concerts and hadn't been to one in a while, so this was a nice free treat.


Here are some pics from the concert, they're not very good though. My seat was WAY up high. (what can I say, it was a free ticket!)

Fall Fun

We went to a little Fall Festival and James had a blast. They had rides for anything that moved and more pumpkins than I would think could fit in Tulsa.

Yes, that was me on a CAMEL up there. Not sure where a camel fits into the "It's Fall!" picture, but he was there.

By the end of October, James is going to be all Fall-ed out. He's been to pick out pumkins three times, has a Halloween party at school this week, then Halloween Friday night and we will probably end up at the Tulsa Zoo's Hallo-zoo-ween festivities at some point this week too. Lucky little kid :-)

Somehow Fall in Tulsa = Winter in South Carolina. They really like to think its "so warm" here. They're wrong. It was 38 this morning. There aren't many days in SC that it gets that cold in winter, much less in October. There are actually four seasons here, as opposed to SC's two (hot & not as hot). At least I get to enjoy winter clothes (without sweating) a little more than I have in the past.

Happy Fall!

To my son

I have seen several blogs where letters are written to someone in particular, and I just love that idea. I would like to write a letter to my sweet little man, though it will be some time before he can read it. A lot of this blog is for me to record memories for him, since I am not a scrapbooker (gasp!) So here goes....

My sweet baby boy,

I have so many names for you, its hard for me to settle on just one, but I call you baby most often. I know this will have to stop one day, at least publicly. I already heard from one of your friends at school about it. I said to you, "Hey baby, are you ready to go home?" and he said, "James not a baby." It was actually pretty funny, since I didn't think that sort of thing would happen until much later. You will always be my baby though (we just don't have to tell your friends).

There are so many things I want to be for you - caretaker, protector, comforter, teacher, play-time buddy, and so much more. It is not always easy, but it brings me so much joy. At the end of a long day, seeing your smiling face brings a smile to mine. I am so blessed to have you in my life. You are such a loving child, you will stop anything to give a hug or a kiss. If I give one without the other, you always remind me by tugging on me, "Kiss, kiss" you will say. Anytime, baby boy.

I have been reading a book (not sure if I should tell you its about discipline) and it talks about Proverbs 31:28. "Her children will rise up and call her blessed...." That was so interesting to me. What a goal to work toward! For you to grow up and be honored to be my son. I know that it won't come without hard work and dedication on my part. You are so worth it!

I have been watching your imagination grow lately. You make up little stories with your trains (your favorite thing to play with) that are so fun to listen to. I wish there was some way to record each and every thing you do. It is passing by too quickly.

I am so thankful to have you in my life. I am "blessed" to be chosen to raise you.

Love,
Mama

Weekend Highlights

I took James to his first Circus this weekend. We had a great time! He was mostly impressed with the animals, of course, but was probably a little too young to enjoy some of the other acts. The circus hasn't changed much from what I remember (except the admission fee!) but is still a pretty fun thing to do. Here we are in a famous "take it yourself" picture and then James with his ($20) souvenir.





I also impressed myself with a little Halloween decorating. I am not the best decorator in the world, but I am pretty happy with what I did and it makes James happy and that's what counts!





And, now, for THE most exciting part of the weekend..............





There are GAMECOCK fans in Oklahoma!! This car was parked in the church parking lot yesterday morning, and yes, I just had to take a picture! You can't tell in this picture, but the plate holder is from a car dealership in Charleston. If you know anything about me and my car dealer background, of course you know this is extra exciting. James even noticed it and said, "Cocky on that truck!" I said, "Yes, I know, it's so exciting isn't it!" I don't think he got it, but still a proud moment. Even though they lost this weekend :-( But that's ok! I was seriously tempted to leave a note, and say "Hi, you don't know me, but can we be friends?!" I sorta hoped to run into them when leaving, but that didn't happen. Maybe next time. It may be a bad sign that this sort of thing is exciting to me, but I can live with that. :-)

Oklahoma City Memorial

Yesterday I went to Oklahoma City for a conference on domestic violence for work. (ps. October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month - wear purple! ) This was my first trip to Oklahoma City since moving out here, even though it is only about an hour and a half from Tulsa. After the conference was over, I decided to go to the downtown area to look at the Oklahoma City Memorial which is in honor of those killed in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in April 1995.

I have to admit, I couldn't remember a whole lot about the bombing (shame on me and my degree in History!) just that it was a terrorist act, a lot of people died, and that Timothy McVeigh was held responsible. I was about 15 at the time, so I'm sure I should remember more, but probably didn't pay a lot of attention to the news at that time.

I was so struck by the scene when I first pulled up, it was not at all what I expected. There is a fence surrounding the main entrance and it is covered with flowers and other things people have left in remembrance. It was so surprising and refreshing to see that people don't let things like this be forgotten. We all have seen many things on the news where people put flowers out and hold vigils during tragedies, but this, 13 years later, people still honor the victims. What a wonderful tribute to the them and their families.

This is just one section of the fence where visitors had left things.



Across the street from the Memorial is a church that was also damaged by the explosion. This statue of Jesus stands on the corner. I think it is so beautiful. Below His feet it says "And Jesus Wept"



On either side of the Memorial are two very tall walls you can enter through. One wall says 9:01 and one wall says 9:03. According to the brochure, this represents the time when the city was still innocent before the attack and then the time after the attack. There is a shallow reflecting pool between the two walls that makes a very peaceful sound when you walk through the area.






These are chairs that represent the 168 people that lost their lives. The smaller chairs represent the children that died. I would love to see this at night when the bottoms are lit up and the names show through.






There was much more to the outdoor memorial, but it was getting late and dark, so I didn't get pictures of much else. There is also a museum, which I did not have time to go through, but would like to some other time. If you, like me, need a refresher about this tragedy you can read about it here or here. I was really impressed by this memorial and the tribute it pays to the victims of this tragedy.

I hope you enjoyed your little history lesson :)

Remembering....

Today would have been my dad's 56th birthday. He passed away February 14th, 2003.

I was just thinking back to all the "firsts" that happen after someone you love passes - the first birthday without them, the first Christmas, the first anniversary of their death. The firsts are so hard, and though the second, third and fourths do get easier, there is just something that sticks with you throughout the day. What would it have been like on those days if the person was still here? What would we have done together? What can I do today to show I still think of them? Is he proud of who I am now? On many of those firsts, I thought I would never make it through. I did.

When I was going through the really hard part of the greif I felt because of the loss of my own father I heard a Mercy Me song that helped me so much. It still helps me today. So many times when we're hurting, we just want to know why. What I learned from these lyrics is that even if I knew why my dad was gone, I still would want him here. I try to remember this and not continue to weigh myself down with things I cannot know. It is hard to do sometimes, but I just think about this song. The song, Homesick, says:

Help me, Lord, 'cause I don't understand your ways
The reason why, I wonder if I'll ever know
But even if you showed me, the hurt would be the same
'Cause I'm still here, so far away from home

I hope this song is helpful to you at a time when you need it.

Back in OK

My trip to SC was wonderful! James and I had a lot of time to visit with family and friends, but not nearly enough time to visit everyone we would like to have seen. We miss everyone already and can't wait until Christmas!

The plane trip was relatively uneventful - thank goodness! Pay no mind to the yellow crayon that some how ended up on the window shade! On the first leg of our return trip, the pilot announced that the plane was unbalanced and that two people from the front needed to move to the back. I'm thinking it is no coincidence that the nice folks in front of us decided to take a trip to the back. I can't say I blame them, but James did fall asleep for most of that part of the trip. I did find it pretty funny when we got to our seats on the second leg and my seat was on one side of the aisle and James' seat was on the other. The two nice gentlemen in the accompanying seats couldn't figure out why I was looking at them oddly. When I asked them politely to either switch sides or take care of my two year old, one of them quickly moved. He was sweet enough to add that his son was named James too, but I guess that didn't mean he wanted to entertain mine.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

Our trip to the beach.....

Our trip to the zoo with my mom.......

And picking out pumpkins.......

We hope to see everyone again soon!

Up, Up, Up and Down, Down, Down

Tomorrow I get to visit home! I am very excited about my visit, but starting to stress about the flight. I am flying alone with James, which I have done before a few times, but it is like the first time everytime. He has done well, for the most part, every time we have flown (thank you, Benadryl) but I just worry that this time will be the first time he a) has a really horrible diaper on the plane (where do you change diapers on airplanes??) b) has a really bad temper tantrum, or c) gets motion sickness (because you know with kids it is in the form of "projectile").

I try to come armed with everything I think I will need that meets airline standards, won't roll to the back of the plane when dropped sixty-three times and will not make noise. This is a pretty hard task. This rules out large bottles of benadryl (don't worry I have a small one), crayons, trains (his favorite!) and pretty much any toy that he gives more than a few minutes of his attention. Thank goodness for the Ipod. I have a few kids shows downloaded to my Ipod so he gets to watch a few things that no one else has to hear. He looks too cute with the little earplugs in. Like a little prodigy (which he is, right??) :-) After he's tired of that, I fill him up with snacks (if you see crumbs in your seat, know I was there) and then he pushes the window up and down and the same with the tray table and by then its usually time to land. If I time the Benadryl just right, I might get lucky enough for naptime to take place during one of the two flights.

I always feel when I'm walking through the plane that the looks I'm getting are to say "Oh boy, I hope the two year old doesn't sit next to me." Somehow though, I always end up near a really nice older woman who has a cookie in her purse or a little toy frog that surpasses his interest in my fancy Ipod.

The sercurity clearance is so stressful too. The people that work this area just make me nervous and I always feel rushed by other passengers who only have one little bag and slip-on shoes. Then you have me with a purse, book bag, child, stroller and our two pairs of shoes. Sad that even the child has to take his shoes off, but I don't question those people! Then once we get through, we have to put it all back together and still make it to my gate on time.

I think this time he understands what I mean when I say we are going on a plane. I asked him this morning where we are going tomorrow and he said "On plane to see grandmas, up up up and down down down." My little seasoned traveler! :-)

Wish me luck!