First Warm Day

It was great to have a nice and warm day on Saturday. Lucas took advantage of the day by going to playgrounds in town. First, we went to Funtopia. He had a lot of fun swinging, climbing, sliding, and hanging. Then, we went for ice cream at McDonalds. He had to play on their slides too. All was good until he decided to brave the longest climb and the tallest slide. He thought he was lost and got a little scared. He made it out fine, but had to go after that. Then we went by his school. The playground gates were open, so he decided to check them out. He really liked the little playground and the big playground. He even had a motorcycle wreck!!! We're looking forward to more warm days to play outside.

Playhouse Disney Live

Yesterday, we took Lucas to see Playhouse Disney Live in Evansville. He was excited to go. When it started, Lucas climbed into Brad's lap and stayed there most of the show. He was so serious and then he got embarrassed. I tried to get him to clap, sing, and dance, but he just wouldn't budge. He did finally laugh when Goofy and Donald came out. When we left, he said "that was fun". We're going to Disney on Ice in a couple of weeks. Maybe he'll loosen up a little then.

Ice Storm

Tuesday

Evening

Wednesday Morning

Well, the past 12 days have been interesting. We lost power on Tuesday, January 27th at about 7:15 pm. We stayed in our home that night and it was about 57 degrees when we woke up and still no power,water, or phones.THis is what we had to drive under to leave our home. Limbs were falling one after the other.

Of course, Brad headed out to work and we really didn't know when we would see him again. After a little while, I started on cleaning off the car. About 2 hours later, the car was finally clean enough to drive, so Lucas and I headed to a friend's house to stay warm for the day. She never lost power. I had found some Duraflame logs, so before dark, we headed home and started a fire in the fireplace. We closed off all of the bedrooms and pulled Lucas' mattress into the living room. Lucas and I hung out in front of the fire and colored in coloring books by flashlight. We still didn't have power and didn't have water or phones either. On Thursday morning, Lucas woke up with a fever, terribly runny nose and bright red cheeks. I decided we had to get out. I only had 2 logs left and no hope of another heat source. A coworker told me that there were hotel rooms in Bowling Green. We were able to see his Pediatrician, get a prescription filled, and headed south to Bowling Green. After over 36 hours, I was finally able to reach my Mom and Dad. They met me in Bowling Green where we spent 2 nights in warmth and scoured the city for supplies. On Saturday, we decided to go home and stay at a friend's house. Well, about 7:30 that night, my power finally came back on. I've never been so thankful for power and heat. Now, it's Sunday, February 8th, and Brad finally came home about noon and hopes he's done with the storm. My family finally got their power restored lastnight and we are ready to get our lives back to some normalcy!!! We are thankful that we had the means to get out when we needed to and that all of our family is safe. We will definitely prepare so that we aren't left without heat int he future. We hope this never happens again!!!

Christmas 2008

We had a very blessed Christmas this year. On Christmas Eve, Lucas had to spread the carrots in the back yard for the Reindeer and we had to make sugar cookies for Santa. Lucas was early to bed for him. I think he was excited.

On Christmas morning, I had to wake Lucas up. When I told him that I thought Santa had been here, he said "let's go". I carried him into the living room. He surveyed everything and said "Santa hasn't been here yet." It was clear that Santa did come during the night. He said "He didn't bring my guitar and microphone". We had to remind him that Santa also made a stop at Gigi and Papaw's house. After he thought about it, he got excited about his new lawn mower, train table, race track, art easel, trucks, horses, cowboys, Indians, horse trailers, tools, etc.... Then he opened present from us.

After all of the presents were opened and we ate our annual doughnuts, we got ready and headed to Gigi and Papaw's house. When we got there, boy was Lucas relieved when he realized that Santa brought his guitar and microphone to their house. He also got a keyboard to go along with his guitar. He had a really good time with his one man band. He also got a Handy Manny truck and tools.

We went to E.O. and Nanny's house for dinner. After dinner, we also opened gifts there. Lucas got a whole hot wheels town. He also got a remote control corvette, a stable, , more tools, a tool box, and horses with a truck and horse trailer. He was also really interested in Kaylea's dollhouse. Too bad they don't make them for boys.

We went to Mimi and Pappy's house for supper. Lucas had a ball playing with Buzzy. And of course, he opened more presents. He got more tools, motorcycles, and a book with a flute (Thanks Leslie). We had a great and blessed Christmas. It was spent with all of our family and we couldn't have asked for anything more.

Christmas dinner at Grandma "Goofy's"

Sunday evening, we went to a family dinner at Pop Pop Cook and Grandma Dorothy's house. Lucas can't quite say Dorothy right, so he says "Grandma Goofy". At least that is what it sounds like. We had a good meal and Lucas had a ball playing with the girls. He was definitely out numbered, but I think he really enjoyed himself. It's nice to have family get togethers and see those that we haven't seen in a long time.

Tonight, we went through Christmas in the Park and saw all of the Christmas lights. Lucas loved looking at the lights. He is going to have a ball this Christmas.

Snow Angels

When Lucas saw the snow last night, he dropped to the floor and started doing snow angels. He just could not hardly wait to go out in the snow today to do real snow angels. When I got home from work, he was more than happy to put on his very snug snow suit from last winter and head outdoors. The first thing that him and Brad did was drop to the ground in the front yard and they did snow angels. The ground was a little icy, but they managed to do it. Lucas then threw snowballs at me and he just had to shovel the yard and the driveway. He even went down his "ice slide" on his swing set. He had a ball!!! Can't wait for a good powdery snow.

Opryland 2008

We spent the weekend in Nashville, TN. The first thing we had to do was go to ICE by Opryland Hotel. Lucas has talked about the ice slides for 2 weeks now. He did the slides 3 or 4 times, but it just got too cold, so we had to move on. This is the last year for The Grinch, so Lucas enjoyed it even more this year. We spent a while at Opry Mills, checked into our hotel and then headed to the outlet mall in Lebanon. After dinner, we just chilled in Gigi and Papaw's room, that is until Papaw started tossing his cookies. We quickly retreated to our room and stayed there. On Sunday, Brad, Lucas, and I went to Loveless Cafe for breakfast, then went to Opryland Hotel. Lucas really enjoyed seeing all of the Christmas lights, even in the daytime. He stopped every chance he got to see "cheeeese" and get his picture taken. He finally gave out so we had to go home. We had a really good time. Papaw is feeling better and we're just praying that we don't get sick. We're looking forward to Christmas with our family.

New ride

Lucas has a new ride at Gigi and Papaw's house. It's a John Deere "Alligator". He loves it. I think that him and Papaw are going to use it next time he's there to haul bricks.

Oh Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree and Santa brought a visitor to keep Lucas company. Lucas loves the Christmas tree. He's watching all of the Mickey Mouse Christmas movies over and over now. The morning after we put the tree up, a package appeared under the tree. It was for Lucas. Santa sent an elf to watch over Lucas to make sure he's good until Christmas. Lucas named his elf "Austin". Austin travels back to the North Pole each evening and reports to Santa about Lucas' behavior. He travels back each morning and lands in a different place every day. Lucas loves looking for him. Christmas is going to be fun this year. It's a good year for Lucas to better understand the real meaning of Christmas.

Thanksgiving and Family - Good Times

We had a really good Thanksgiving. First, we went to Nanny and E.O.'s to eat dinner. Kaylea was a little under the weather, so we didn't get to eat as a whole family. It was just E.O., Nanny, and the three of us. Lucas said the blessing. He said "Dear God, I'm thankful for my family and I'm thankful for this food, Amen". We had a good dinner and even got serenaded by Lucas' piano playing.

About 4 hours later, we ate supper at Gigi and Papaw's house. The whole family was together. Buzzy said the blessing and we all ate supper together. Lucas and Buzzy played and played and played. Henry even showed us a new trick. Everyone had a great time. These times together are the memories we'll cherish forever. We can't wait for Christmas.