Happy Trickoween....

Cowboy Beau & BB
Mickey & GranDee

Mommy & Mickey

Family Foto

Nana & Luke

Uncle Jeff & Cowboy Beau

Daddy Mouse

Mommy Mouse

Nana & GranDee

GranDee & Jason

Me & Mom

Yard Spooks

Casper and his friendly ghosts

Mickey would ring the doorbells and then immediately peek in people's windows.

Luke was scared of this lady. But, I went up with him. She was real nice, gave him some candy. Instead of saying, "Thank You" he looked at her with big wide eyes and said, "Sorry"...

An adorable lil Strawberry we passed on our trick or treating venture.

Luke was very intrigued by this skeleton. He played with it's feet and hands.

Trick or Treater of the Year pose.

Hay bailin' it with Mickey

Ohhhhhhhh....creepy spider!

GranDee, Mickey and the Scarecrow

Cowboy Beau's reaction when he saw "Polyester Poppa".

First stop on the trick or treat route: Poppa & Nana's. Nana had special treats for the boys.

We're just getting started

Scary...Somebody quick, get the straight jacket.

Cowboy Beau, "Polyester Poppa"& Mickey

Most frightening sight of the night. "Polyester Poppa" really use to wear those pants 35+ years ago. Nana even remembers the shirt he wore with them. Pretty impressive that they still fit him. He owes that svelte physique to clean livin'.

Off to the next house....

Don't mess with me partner...

The fun is about to begin....

Daddy & Mickey

"Happy Trickoween", were Luke's words to the first person who opened their door tonight to give him candy. Right before he walked right into their house... Hope you enjoy the pic's of Mickey and his Cowboy Cuzzin. Oh, and beware of the scary guy in the plaid pants, we like to call him "Polyester Poppa".

We prayed for wisdom...

We (Luke & I) just returned from the hospital. Before we left, the surgeon came out to discuss how Carolyn's procedure went. He was NOT able to remove the cancerous area in the colon. It's about 10cm up inside and because of the angles he was not comfortable with being able to fully reach the area. Because this is cancer we're dealing with he erred on the side of caution and did NOT want to cut into her, if he couldn't fully remove the cancerous portion. It would risk some cancer cells "spilling" out into her body and lodging elsewhere. He worked over an hour probing, trying different instruments, different angles to no avail.

So, when she gets out of recovery Gary is going to have to pass on the news that they weren't able to do anything and that further more invasive surgery is a high probability. We prayed before she went into the OR that the Lord would grant the Dr's. wisdom when he got in there. I feel like HE heard our prayers by giving the Dr. insight to stop when he did. She will not have to spend the night in the hospital tonight. Once she's feeling better from anesthesia they will discharge her. Further appt's. will be scheduled for later on in the week. As they want to be expedient about the cancer being removed.

Please continue to pray for Carolyn, as I'm sure this is going to be a HUGE disappointment when she awakens. Pray for Gary to deliver the words to Carolyn in a supporting, loving way with emphasis on the positives. As her Dr. put it so well..."we cannot risk cutting in and spreading the cancer". "If we go with the other surgical options there is a high probability that she will NOT have to undergo any radiation therapy post-op." May HIS will be done and may HE be glorified through this trial.

Thanks to our friends Pete and Marsha who came up to the hospital and stayed the entire time with Gary, Luke and I. I personally appreciate all your help with keeping Luke occupied. Where would we be without friends? Thank you for your continued prayers. Heather & Family

UPDATE: Thankfully the surgeon relayed the news to Carolyn about his inability to remove the cancer today with this procedure, before she even left the OR. So, Gary didn't have to be the bearer of not so good news. Thank you God for small (and LARGE) blessings.

Prayers Needed...

Please keep Jason's mother, Carolyn in your prayers tomorrow as she undergoes surgery to remove cancer in her colon. The Dr's. feel like they've caught it at an early stage and that they'll be able to remove it during the surgery.

However, they will not know until they get in there. She will have an overnight stay post-op and radiation treatments. Our family covets your prayers for a swift recovery and that the Dr's. have the wisdom to get all the cancer out. Thank you so much. Heather

The Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

I love that...

Luke can eat A piece of bread and call it "Toast" or a "Sandwish".

I love that he gives his "Light-ting Queen" a carwash WITH his sippy cup water ON the ottoman.

He's so fascinated with pumpkins. He told me his favorite one was the one he broke last night, which is now in the trash. Yeah, he's starting to throw them down on the floor and roll them w/his feet. Good thing we're visiting the Pumpkin Patch today to get another. Don't worry I'll get lots of pic's.

That's it for now! T.G.I.F.

Heather

Tea-making, brownie-making, orange-peeling, sippy-cup washing...Enough hypens for ya?

Here are a few things I've been pondering this morning...

Tea-making: Am I the only one out there that uses my coffee pot EXCLUSIVELY for making tea, not coffee?

Brownie-making: Does anyone pull out their big mixer just to whip up a box of brownies? I'm thinking my "fork-stirring" works just fine.

Orange-peeling: I love oranges, hate to peel them. I remember as a child my mom would put oranges in my sack lunch (had to switch to sacks because I left HER favorite Tupperware lunchbox at school--the last day of 5th grade) I think subconsiciously I did it on purpose because I hated to carry it. It was red plastic and everyone else's Strawberry Shortcake, Holly Hobby, Miss Piggy, Care Bear & My Little Pony lunchboxes were so much cuter than mine. Anyway...I digressed. Mom use to put a little "knife starting mark" on my oranges making it easier for me to peel. Well..just today I had this idea to cut my orange in quarters THEN peel. It worked great. Think about all that vitamin C I missed out on all those years as I boycotted peeling oranges. Maybe everyone else has been doing this for years. Sometimes, I'm a little slow on the uptake.

And finally....
Sippy Cup- washing: Tired of all those loose rubber sippy cup valves in your "cup washing basket"??? You know the one's regulate liquid flow to the sippy cup lid. Well...if you turn them over and slip the valve out of the "sockets" they fit snugly in between the two valve openings on the back of the lid. It makes it so much easier to wash. Evidently, it was designed to house the valve while dishwashing....Far be it from me to read the directions prior to using a sippy cup. I mean come on, how hard? Well...evidently it IS harder than I thought. It ONLY took me 3+ years to figure this one out. Don't be a loser mom like me. Read the directions. Thank you to my friend Jen K. for filling me in on this important fact. I was like, "that is so cool that you thought of that" she said, "Well...I just read it on the directions"...Duh!

I'm a dork, what can I say.

Heather

Irony....

Ok, I noticed a couple of things in my travels today. First, I was driving south on Hwy 75, Central Expressway otherwise known as Death Rd. (because of the atrocious way Dallas drivers...err DRIVE!) This thought popped into my head, right as I was passing Turrentine Funeral Home. The City of Allen & Turrentine's in a joint "revenue-ing" effort should erect a HUGE billboard out in front the funeral homes that says: "Slow Down, Or You'll End Up In Here". Aren't I philanthropic? Gosh, I should have been in advertising. Nothing like making a little dough off the dearly departed, right? Before you get all "Hints from Heloise" on me, know that I'm fully aware of how irreverant that would be, funny though (hey, you know you laughed) The Turrentine Funeral Home could bring in some extra fundage from the people NOT heeding the sign and City of Allen could get a little extra revenue by hiding under the underpass right before the exit to Turrentine. By the way, I hate Allen cops. When we lived in Allen they were always a day late and a dollar short when my druggie next door neighbor was dropping acid in the garage or making drug deals with the various people who'd stop by for a "visit" AT 3AM? And you wonder why we moved. I've heard that since our departure from Grassy Creek Dr. in 2006 that Mary Jane (yes that really IS her name--talk about IRONY) spent months in rehab. Maybe she's clean now. I hope for her 3 kids sake she is. Maybe CPS finally heeded MY warning.

In ironic news....I went up to visit my friend Allie (fellow bariatric patient w/complications) up at Baylor Hospital last night. I visited with her a couple hours rehashing our surgery war stories....I was such a great friend sneaking in contraband cheese crackers and tootsie rolls. I remember how comforting it was for Jason to sneak me in a Dr. Pepper when I was NPO (which means no food OR drink). You try to go 2 months w/o a Dr. Pepper. It can't be done.

Back to my story...as I was leaving the hospital I padded my way down the hall to the elevators. I stopped to laugh when I noticed this sign on the wall, "Please do not park ANY equipment/carts in front of this emergency shut-off valve"....You may ask, "Why is THAT so funny?"..Well, let me tell you. It was funny because in FRONT of the sign was parked a whole slew of medical equipment i.e. blood pressure taking machines. Yeah, IN FRONT of the emergency shut off valve. Anyway....I just got a kick outta Baylor. Always contradicting their own policies. Amazing.....

Allie is still awaiting a visit from the Dr. who hasn't come by since she was admitted on Wed. night. Her blood pressure is low and she's feeling lots of pain in her stomach. Luckily, the Fentanyl pain patch IS working, praise God. Please keep her in your prayers.

P.S. Why do I always get to ride on elevators with people who either smell like moth balls or cheap 1970's cologne. Tonight, I got the latter. Ugh! Followed by making the wrong turn down "pee pee" corridor, as I tried to locate Allie's hospital room. My senses are still feeling assaulted.

That's all the entertainment for now friends....

Heather

Tricycle parade....sans tricycle...

Luke & "Dorothy" (Joy)
Joy & Judah
Luke's Class, can't find him!

"Q"Dogg (Quinn), Matt & Brittany

He's our church youth pastor.

Cruse--in

Cruse "Drool Is Cool" Ross. Our pastor's grandson. He looks like a little mini- Pastor Randy, minus the pulpit.

Fire Chief Cade Ross...reporting for duty. I make McGruff look like a pansy.

Also, grandson to our pastor and bro to Cruse "Drool Is Cool".

Jarod, Shannon & Fire Chief Cade Ross.

Our pastor's daughter & hub's.

Mommy and Mickey Mouse. I'd like to come inside his clubhouse.

Cowboy & Cowgirl

Mickey Mouse...reporting for Grand Marshall duty.

Tate

Phoebe

Fire Chief Cade Ross

At least one little boy let him borrow his bike for a minute.

"Lucky" (Peggy) & "Patch" (Kelley)--Luke's Teacher's

Luke's Class

Fire Chief Cade Ross

Ok... let me first start off by saying I'm probably not going to win the "Mother Of The Year" award for this one. But, let me explain. I was pulling "single parent duty" this morning as Jason is in NY on business so, I wasn't able to load Luke's bicycle into the car on my own.

So, yes Luke was the only one in his class that didn't have a "vehicle" to ride on in his school's tricycle parade. So, shoot me! Heck, they gave him an even more important role of Grand Marshall since he was sans tricycle. He got to lead his class in to the gym to showcase their decorated bikes, trikes and scooters.

Let me remind you it was 50F degrees out, raining cats & dogs. I had to lug Luke, kid size Buzz Lightyear umbrella, napmat, my purse, the camera, Luke's backpack and Luke's lunch pail. All, while trying to get a 3 year old Mickey Mouse to stop splashing in the puddles (even though he was equipped w/rain boots). It was quite the feat let me tell ya. God, how did my mom do it as a single parent.

Anyway, the kids had a blast at their tricycle parade. The parents got some good laughs watching their little munchkins traipse around to and fro while completely dressed in Halloween attire. Beau sorry I missed seeing my cute little cowboy-clad nephew. Auntie, sorry I didn't get "the shots" of your little buckaroo. It was chaos in there.

I did however get lots of shots of Luke's class friends. These costumes and bikes were totally tricked out. One kid in his class came as a pirate and his bike was his "treasure chest". There were lots of Snow Whites, Supermen & various animals. Luke was Mickey Mouse. Can I get an M.I.C.K.E.Y. M.O.U.S.E. Love that boy! Enjoy the pic's.

What should I be for Halloween...

You know me, I always dress up for the big candy-eatting day. What should I be for Halloween this year? Need your suggestions.....

I'm about this close (squinching fingers together) to wearing a black ladies slip with a nametag that says, "Freudian" on it....I know Amber, you probably don't get it. But, for those of you who do...what do you think?

Have more ideas? Make your comments.

Heather

Lucky 13...

Well...to all of you who know about the car troubles we've been having with our Expedition, you'll be happy to know we traded it in today. Not only are my days of shorted out spark plugs, and cylinder coils over, the gas-guzzling just went WAY DOWN too.

We bought a 2006 Honda Accord. I can hardly wait to get over 14 mpg. on a vehicle. We needed something with a warranty and this car is practically new, with only 16K miles on it. Wahoo!

So, as much as I hated to say goodbye to our faithful (until last week) Ford Expedition, I won't miss filling you up with gas. You were a faithful "road tripping" vehicle. You've made 2 trips to KY and one to CO. But, we had to let you go. You were breaking down and had 91K miles. We'll miss you, but you've been replaced.

Hopefully car #13 (that's how many we've bought since we've been together-for those of you counting) will be a bit more efficient than car #12 was. If it's not, I'm sure in a couple years we'll be on to car #14....do you see a pattern here?

Heather

I wanna be like mommy when I grow up...

This was a picture submitted for a
'What do I want to be contest' by young Amanda Marsh of Westview Elementary school in Reno, Nevada. If your full time job involves any type of pole, you might not want to explain to our kiddo's what mommy does for a living. It was too funny for me NOT to post on here!

We've got spirit how bout' you....Go Faux Hawks!

Ms. "Piggy", Lukey & Ms. Kelley (plus stray kid who we couldn't get to get outta the picture)

Side view of "the do"....I love you, you love me, we're all one big family....

Can you say, "proud of my faux-hawk"...

Crazy-haired cuzzin's unite!
The other half of the "Duke Boys"...look at those dimples and eyelashes! I don't even think Tom Wopat was this cute!

Today was Crazy Hair Spirit Day at Luke and Beau's school. It was because of Luke's coif that his class won the coveted "Spirit Bear", his teacher said. As you will see his "updo" was crafted by a very expensive, world-renowned stylist--ME. His color is a rich shade of emerald green with a few blonde highlights (compliments of the BIG MAN above). His faux-hawk, as we like to call it was a big hit with his classmates and teachers, Ms. Kelley & Ms. Peggy (Ms. Piggy as Luke calls her). Also, Beau had crazy hair too. As you can see the two little monkeys definitely win for the cute-ness factor. I hope you enjoy the photogs...make sure you get Luke's autograph next time you see him because he's destined for fame.