Not my best Thanksgiving but eventful and rich nonetheless. It is always good to be with family and enjoy a good meal and a little football. Oh, you Lions… you have reached new heights of suckiness. Does anyone remember how the Lions used to always win on Thanksgiving? Maybe I’m just making that up, I don’t know. Anyway, moving on to the highlights of Thanksgiving 2008:

• The turkey arrived just in time for the rest of the meal. But it was delicious and not technically late so I can’t hold it against it. You can’t hold grudges against dead birds anyhow.
• It’s not a real Thanksgiving without a little burned skin. I have yet to learn that you must not touch hot pans with bare hands. Who cares if it’s falling? Do not attempt to catch it. Ever.
• Luke had some major bonding with the toilet. Twice. Honestly, I don’t know how Jon & Kate keep track of eight toddlers. We can’t seem to keep track of one.
• The banana cream pie was 3D - delectable, divine, delicious.
• Luke happens to be a huge fan of Great Grandma’s cranberry relish. Barely touched anything else on his plate but scarfed that relish in seconds flat.
• Leftovers! We totally partook of the leftovers after all our guests had gone. Mike’s dad brought us a loaf of fresh baked bread so that we could have proper Leftover Turkey Sandwiches. Mike’s version of proper includes Miracle Whip but I tried it like that and it was wrong, all wrong. Thank God we had a small jar of good ole’ mayonnaise in the cupboard so that I could salvage that abomination he calls a sandwich. Yech. I’ll tolerate Miracle Whip but not on my Leftover Turkey Sandwich. No, sir, no.

The day totally wiped me out. My idea of the ultimate relaxation is nursing a beer while lounging on a cozy couch and listening to R.E.M. and The Cure and guess what? That is exactly what I did! And now I’m off to bed, dudes. Happy Thanksgiving!

I was just lamenting the other day that nothing exciting ever happens to us and I haven’t had a good story to tell in awhile.

I’ve gotta stop having thoughts like that.

We went to the Silver Bells parade tonight. Luke and Mike were back from Detroit in time to join me, which made me very happy. Luke loved the parade. He said “Oh, wooow” about 100 times. At one point he was up on Mike’s shoulders to get the best view of the parade - and here’s where I got my wish about having a story to blog about -

Mike was holding onto Luke’s ankles. Luke leaned back ever so slightly and his legs slipped out of his boots. He basically did a back flip off of Mike’s shoulders and landed face first on the sidewalk. It’s a six foot drop. Six feet and two inches to be exact. I had been standing in front of Mike so I didn’t see it happen. I heard the commotion and looked behind me and saw a rag doll lying on the sidewalk. No wait, that’s my son. Lying still. Those split seconds were so surreal as I realized what had happened. As soon as it dawned on me Mike swooped Luke up in his arms and rushed him into the warmth of my office building so we could inspect the damage. Half of his forehead was covered with broken blood vessels. His mouth was bleeding a little. He really didn’t look that bad on the surface but we knew we had to take him in to the hospital to be sure there wasn’t any serious damage.

Mike drove frantically to the hospital (despite my pleading to slow down… I’m such a mom) and dropped Luke and me off at the emergency room exit. I usually have a bit of trouble lifting Luke out of the car and tonight was no different so of course I bumped his head on the way out. As if he wasn’t in enough pain.

I checked us in at the front desk and they asked me if he had lost consciousness when he fell. I wasn’t sure, so they asked if he started crying right away. No, come to think of it, he didn’t. He was just lying there. Still. Not crying. I’m still replaying that moment in my mind. The nice thing about our hospital is that they have a whole separate emergency department for children, and they are staffed with the most fantastic people. Bless all their hearts, y’all. They got us into a room within minutes and took some vitals. They asked some questions, told us some stuff, and ran some tests. Luke screamed through all of it.

He especially hated the cat scan but I don’t blame him. He probably has a genetic aversion to it because I had a really bad cat scan experience when I was pregnant with him. They did let me lie up on the platform with him, if nothing more than to hold him down. I held his hands and spoke comforting words to him like “all done!” and “where’s Momma’s nose?” but none of it helped. It was so hard to look into his eyes and see the fear and anger and oh the crocodile tears. However, I knew one day I would get to explain to him how important it was that they be sure he was not bleeding in the brain. And then he would forgive me.

But here is the good news: he is not bleeding in the brain. They thought his forehead could possibly have been fractured but concluded that it was just the natural suture you see when a young child’s skull is not fully fused. Luke had started screaming shortly after he “came to” and did not stop for 40 minutes, but he did stop. By the time they let us leave he was acting like Luke again. Just a happy guy, flirting with the nurses and begging to watch ball on tv.

I imagine he’ll wake up in the morning with a major headache and a nice shiner or two.

Tomorrow Mike and Luke are driving to Detroit to help my mom and stepdad load the truck. Tomorrow is the day they leave for Oklahoma. To live. Not for vacation. The reality that my mom is going to be 38,000 miles away is hitting me slowly (so what if it’s an exaggerated reality). But hey, she’s giving us her couch and loveseat, so at least there’s that.

On a brighter note, tomorrow is the fantabulous Silver Bells in the City event in downtown Lansing. It’s a light parade! After dark! With a giant Christmas tree at the end of it! With lights! And fireworks! Yay!

What else is going on, you ask? I have a whole new set of responsibilities at work. It feels like a got a new job but I’m still at the same place with all the same great people. I just have to learn new things is all, but I love that because if I’m not learning new things or being challenged I get bored and my brain turns to mush.

My little brother is getting married next week. He isn’t so little anymore. He is much younger than I am and I still remember when he was just a baby. Now he’s all grown up. It’s craziness.

Also, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and I’m always excited for that. We have it at our house every year. It’s great. No travel and we get to keep most of the leftovers!

Mike has been to every MSU home football game so far, filling in to work security for his friend. Today’s game was going to be the only one he didn’t go to, but at the last minute another friend called and offered him a ticket.

Mike says maybe God is looking out for his inner Spartan. I think that either God is a Spartan too or he’s just rewarding Mike for all those years of working 6 days a week and all his recent long days spent with Luke here at home.

I’m just glad Mike isn’t hating life anymore. He is such a fantastic husband and father and has made many sacrifices over the years. He deserves to have some fun every once in awhile!

Luke has been gaining interest in talking so we’re using Google Images to teach him some basic words. Note at the end of this video that he has become quite familiar with Michigan State sports…

Mike and I watched a movie on Friday and one of the previews shown before the movie was for a really sappy sad movie. I said to Mike, “I probably won’t be seeing that one. I don’t really care to pay money to feel sad.” Real life gives us enough reasons to feel sad.

My grandpa is very sick right now. So sick that the medical professionals have sent him home to be cared for by hospice. He doesn’t have many days left on this earth. Mike and I went to visit him today, along with my mom and siblings and all the kiddos. We chatted about sudoku puzzles and hospital food. The kids were adorable entertainment, as always. We had a nice time.

I hate goodbyes. I am not terribly close to my Grandpa Morris, but I realized today that I love him more dearly than I knew. He is loving, generous, and thoughtful. He has the gift of hospitality and he truly enjoys being surrounded by family. It was great to see the joy on his face at having us all there in his home. It was painful to see the sadness in his eyes as we said our goodbyes. It was so hard to say goodbye. I hate goodbyes.

I hate goodbyes.

This boy, my boy, is OBSESSED with shoes. And that’s all he’s been talking about for the past week. The only words he utters lately are shoes and socks, socks and shoes. He has a shoe in particular, the one pictured below, that he has declared his BFF. He points to the shoe, he carries the shoe around the house, he brings the shoe to dinner. I even caught him holding his shoe like a blankie while sucking his thumb. He dreams about the shoe at night and he wakes up talking about the shoe. He even went to bed tonight wearing the shoe.

“Seriously, Mom. I don’t know why you insist on keeping all these toys around. All I need is a cardboard box and a shoe and I’m happy.”

There’s a story floating around about Mike’s and my first Valentine’s Day, where I marinated steaks with oil and seasoning for broiling and then managed to fill the entire one bedroom apartment with smoke. Something was dripping I guess and the oven was not happy about it. The steaks turned out great but we had to eat them out on the abnormally wide window sills, so as not to suffocate while chewing.

Well, tonight we had an exciting dinner experience that took me back to that day. We were cooking some awesome pepper bacon in the oven (bakin’ bacon, if you will) and one of the pans we used did not have sides to it. So the grease from the bacon drizzled off and down into the oven. Like our first oven, this one didn’t like that sort of thing either. Our kitchen quickly filled with smoke. Luke was in his highchair, already partaking in his meal. Having some concern for his son, Mike had to think fast. In a moment of brilliance, he wheeled his son (still in the highchair) out the side door, down the step, and into the backyard. Then he brought his BLT sammiches outside, stood next to the grill, and happily ate them. I stood at the door, breathed in the fresh air through the screen, and ate my sammiches happily. It was the weirdest family dinner ever.

I’ve had this post saved on my computer for awhile now and today is as good a day as any to finally post it. It’s a guest post from my 15-month old son, Luke. I’m starting him on blogging early, though I think Daddy would rather we spend more time working on his fast ball. Here’s what he had to say (hopefully it doesn’t stir up too much controversy):

My sister is catering a wedding this weekend (an outdoor wedding, and it’s been raining ALL DAY, doesn’t that suck.) and I offered to watch her two kids. My niece is 2 1/2 and my nephew is 6 months old. My son is 15 months old. I have all three with me and I let Mike go to the football game today.

Yes, I am certifiably nuts.

But you know what? It’s not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I’ve had them since last night and I’m not dead yet! I’ve actually been having a blast spending this amount of quality time with my niece and nephew. Charly is always adorable, and she knows it. She has figured out that she can ask for what she wants. The thing I admire about her though is that even though she keeps getting shot down (no, you cannot have marshmallows for breakfast) she is not afraid to keep asking. That is the kind of thing that will lead you to success in life.

And then there’s Aydan, the babe. Since Luke is all walking and driving now I had started to miss that cuddly baby stage. Aydan is extremely cuddly. So far I have only known Fussy Aydan, so I am enjoying this time of getting acquainted with Charming Aydan. A charmer he is, folks. He erases all the memory of his fussy time with one look into your eyes and a quick flash of that bright smile. He looks just like his daddy and is proving to have his personality as well. It is so great getting to know him better.

I’ve been wondering this whole time how you mothers with multiple children ever get time to blog, but I’ve discovered the answer: NAP TIME. How I managed to get them all napping at the same time I’ll never know, but it’s wonderful. Simply wonderful.

And now it’s over. I hear voices. Not sure who the voices belong to, but I’m positive they’re not in my head. Better go investigate!