Another Halloween...

Well... we took Joel to OC tonight to do a Trick-or-Treat in the women's dorms. The girls were so nice and friendly to all the kids that came out... We really appreciated it. Joel was great! At about the last 2 doors, he finally got it! GET THE CANDY! A couple of the doors, he said his "helwhooooo" and a cute "bye". It was a good night. BTW... he was a giraffe.

Tomorrow is Friday! Yea! Weekend is here. Lindsay is getting a little more active and I think that Jeanise is REALLY ready for her to come... but not ready if you know what I mean.

Gotta go to bed... it's late. Here are some pictures of tonight.

Oh ooh... now we've done it...

It has begun... my son is now communicating in language that his mother and I can interpret as "english."

We all came home the other night from some outing... Joel found his toy cell phone in the floor, picked it up, opened it, held it up to his ear (upside down) and said, "Hewwwwoohhhhhhh." It was almost "Elmer-Fuddish" and it cracked us up! This was the first... and we got it on tape! It was pretty funny. Then on Sunday, he walked into his class and said, "Hewwwwoohhhhhhhh." It was just too funny that now he knows what to say and what it means. He's doing all sorts of things now that we've been waiting for... the list is just starting.

He's a pretty funny character.

Anyway... that's it for now. Had a wonderful Fall Break... really didn't do anything... a friend of mine called my Saturday in my PJ's an "I-don-wanna" day. I like that... and IT SURE WAS!

Wanna see pictures of my kid?

I'm in one of these kinds of moods... you know where the proud parents is soooooooooooo proud of their kids that they just have to show them off?!?!!?

Well... Joel is such a smart kid. For his birthday, last weekend, one of his presents was a "magna-doodle". One of those toys (like an "etch-a-sketch--for those of us in the "old school") where you can draw on it and erase. PERFECT for our child, who has used up a ton of paper on his new drawing hobby.

Anyway... Joel brought me his magna doodle the other night so that I could draw for him. I thought, "HEY! I start the alphabet with him." Well... unbenonst to me (sp?-oh well) he starts telling me what they are BEFORE I EVEN WRITE THEM! WHAT!?!?!?! He got thru the letters A - L... stopped a bit... continued with a few more... stopped at 1 or 2... then finished the alphabet. I thought, "THOSE MOVIES ABOUT LETTERS AND NUMBERS ARE REALLY PAYING OFF!" Well... I was just so proud of my son! Gave him a big hug and kiss and thought, I'm ready to put this kid on JEOPARDY! Hold those horses! Actually, Jeanise has been teaching him his alphabet for a couple of days. At first, I felt bad because I hadn't really taught him anything or didn't know that he and mom were even working on it. But then I was thrilled, because at least he's learning from his parents... not Elmo. :-)

Lindsay countdown... 3 weeks! AH! Getting those last minute honey do's done befor she gets here.

Later.

We came... we saw... we... PARTIED!

Well... it's official... JOEL IS NOW 2 !!!!! We had Joel's birthdays this week. That' s right... 2 birthdays. We had 1 Friday night with family and then Saturday night with friends. We had a blast. Joel still didn't quite know what to think about a whole bunch of people huddled around him and all the new toys that suddenly "appeared" in that strange "stuff" around the toys. But mommy did a good job of tearing all the stuff that didn't matter, so that Joel could have the toys.

From grandparents, Joel got a Radio Flyer wagon and a beginners' train set. Joel just loves them both! and can't stop playing with them. Uncle Robert, got him a toy that lets Joel hammer cartoon people and they make all sorts of racket... he REALLY loves that! Joel partied HARD this weekend... so hard that he litterally just CRASHED in his bed Sat. night when we got home. And even slept in until 7:30! Wish that was all the time. And so does mommy...

Joel got a bunch of other presents and stuff too... but it's really late and I'm about to fall asleep at the computer. Have a great week!

Importance of celebrating...

As I'm sitting here checking emails and reading the online newspaper (why buy it in paper form, when there's an online paper, right?)... I hear Joel's baby-monitor going off. His morning routine is to wake up at some point while I'm getting ready for school and start counting! He doesn't "talk" very much... a lot of babbling still... but the vocabulary is slowly coming about. Anyway... one of his toys that counts (a basketball goal!-- gotta build those skills too) counts to 10 and then yells "YEA! ALRIGHT!" Well... Joel likes to get to 10 and then says "YEA!" (or in OK... his is "yea...A"). To us... it's really cute and a celebration that he actually made it to 10. For him, though, it may just be another "number" or something that you do after you get to 10.

I've started something a little new... I've been keeping a "do" list (not 2-do list) in a planner that was given to me at school at the beginning of the year. As I get stuff done, I check it off. Now this may be nothing new to some of you, but I'm so scatter-brained sometimes, I forget what I need to do or what needs to be done 1/2 the time. So yesterday, I got to check off ALL 15 OF MY DO'S! As little as they might have been, I leaned back in my chair and celebrated... I ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING TODAY! Didn't have to worry so much about whether or not I forgot to do something today... I had proof that I had it done. I felt good and celebrated with a "YEA!" right in my classroom (no one was there... don't want them thinking I'm strange or anything... HA!).

Long story short... find something to celebrate today or this week. If you can't find anything... count to 10!

BTW... the Celtics are coming to OKC on DEC. 7th! YEA! (there I go again...)

Getting closer...

Jeanise mentioned last night that we are at the 5 week mark... AH! How time flies... although maybe not for Jeanise. Lindsay has been pretty active lately and is "exercising" quite frequently. Guess she's getting ready to start playing with her big brother.

Speaking of which... Joel turns 2 this week... WOW! He's getting big! He's a really good kid and we're blessed to call him ours. He really loves building with blocks... trains... and basketball. YEA! When we come home, pull the car in the driveway, he always goes, "AHHHH!" for when we're playing basketball and he dunks it, he says that. (dad taught him that--if I am getting too old to do it, he might as well learn, right?) He also likes the word "uh oh" which dad also taught him. Mommy has been on the academy-part of his learning... he can count 5 - 10 (with a yea! at the end) and is working on the first 4 numbers. He also can spell his name!... and every other word he sees spells J-O-E-L... JOEL as well. It's too funny to be in the middle of something and you hear J-O-E-L... JOEL ! Too funny...

It's been a pretty good weekend. Friday, we had Homecoming at school... it was also the day that I received approval for my Grant! WHOOOOO HOOOO! First grant that I've ever written and it got approved! I'm stoked! The grant was for ~$1000 digital cameras for my newspaper and web design classes. They each have a project for the school that a higher end digital camera is needed. I'm pretty excited and will probably get to go get those later this week (I hope). The weekend then, went very nicely... weather changed--cooler... and I spent Saturday hosting a friend, my dad, and Jeanise's dad, to watch the OU vs. TEXAS game. A little disappointed in the outcome, but Texas did play well. Sunday was nice... went to lunch after church and mowed a few lawns before our Connections' group met. And yesterday (Monday) was just an all-around good day!

Basketball is going well. The kids are working hard! We're pretty young this year, lots of sophomores and a few juniors... and our senior leadership is getting us where we need to be. I'm really excited about starting the scrimmage season.

Well... Joel just woke up (6:40 am) and I guess I'll close this, say goodbye to him, and head out to school. You all have a great week!

Amazing love...

Isn't it amazing? You're probably wondering... what? Well... it just amazes me how a 2 year old can really just make you shake your head. Joel is approaching those "terrible 2's" and is letting his little personality out. Now, don't get me wrong... he's a good kid some of the time too... but today was a bit interesting. Long story-short... he decided that he was going to throw his ball thru our nice TV set. Mommy asked him not to do that (now, he KNOWS what mommy said... and KNOWS that he aught to do what she says... but DOESN'T DO it... hm). He then picks up another ball and does it. Testy little kid, ain't he. Well... Joel has picked up the "no" word and proceeds to do what HE wants to do... knowing the consequences are lingering around the corner. After the 3rd time, Jeanise turned him around, got in his face this time and said "Mommy said NO." He then told her NO and slapped her on the arm. NOT GOOD! Jeanise didn't spank him... 'cause that was about the time that I walked in. It's funny how he's testing the boundaries and showing us what HE wants to do and how HE wants to do it.

Funny how we do the same things to God... we know that there are rules out there that God has established and for us to follow. But there are moments when WE want to do them and HOW we want them done. And we even know what the consequences are when it happens...

... So where's the good part? When it's time for Joel to go to bed... he knows it's time and what the routine is. He climbs into his bed, puts his head on the pillows, curls up into a ball and waits for the flooding of kisses from his mom and dad. No matter what the day has been like, mommy and daddy love that little snot... I mean that kid and all is forgotten. We're so blessed to be loved by a father that operates in a similar way. It's just amazing to me. Getting excited to have another one join us in November. Lindsay is getting excited to, because she's driving Jeanise bonkers!

Nite all!