The Willingham Family

2010 Year in Review

2010-12-12T10:21:00.000-08:00

In case you hadn't noticed, I don't ever keep up with this blog. But I have recently ordered my Christmas postcards again this year (although I'm getting worried and I'm not even sure that they will be here by Christmas now), and I did print this blog address on the back of our Christmas postcards. So if I'm going to keep this blog alive, I should at least post something once a year here. It is the "Willingham Family Udpate" after all.

I almost deleted this blog, as I have the other one that explains a lot. As a year has now passed since the tragic murder of my sweet brother, our family is doing our best to live with that loss and change in our lives. I know it must seem to a lot of people that JD's death consumed my life, and to be honest, it did. I do still have a family on this earth, and we did not only survive the last year, we actually did live a little. In fact, we may have done more living than we have our entire lives. For anyone who thinks we may have curled up into a ball and let 11/5 defeat us, I encourage them to see how we have not. It has not been pretty all of the time, and we are certainly not the same, but we are not defeated. You will probably be tired after you read this entire post. It has been a nice reminder to me while writing this that our lives are so full and blessed, despite the extreme circumstances we have been in during the last year.

In January, I "met" an incredible young lady named Jessica Hansen through the power of the internet who has now become a very dear friend. Her fiance', Patrick Zeigler, was shot in the head and in 3 other places on the same day, in the same room and by the same man that killed JD. Patrick and Jessica have been through more than anyone could explain in a sentence, a paragraph, a lifetime. You can read her amazing, intelligent words of inspiration and preservance here.

In fact as I type this today, Patrick and Jessica are "moving that bus" to reveal their new home provided by Extreme Makeover, Home Edition. I can not think of a more deserving couple. They have suffered and lost a tremendous amount in the last year, and our family is so thrilled that they are receiving a home to heal and live in.

In February, my baby turned 4. We celebrated at our great gym, The Cooper Fitness Center, complete with a bounce house, dozens of friends and the most incredible Barbie Rapunzel cake a girl could dream of.

Malia and I have made a tradition of also celebrating her birthday by taking a trip back to Altus, Oklahoma and attending the Miss Altus Pageant each year, as it falls close to her birthday. This has become a mommy-daughter trip that she absolutely cherishes, and so do I. The Miss Altus family has been an indescribable support and source of love for our family for over 10 years.

We also had record snows here in Dallas in February and March. We built a couple of JD snowmen and had a great time pretending we didn't live in a warm climate.

In March, we also made an emotional first trip down to Fort Hood, only a 3 hour drive from us. We visited the place that JD was murdered and started forming relationships with people that we now know as our "November fifth family." Although he's not in many pictures (because he was always taking them), Mitch was beside me every step of the way.

One of the my new November fifth family members also came up to Dallas in March, and we ran the Dallas Rock N Roll half marathon in honor of JD and the other victims of 11/5/09. Jeannette Jurroff, a first responder of the shooting, has become a dear friend to us. We saw her family and Mitch and the kids, but somehow missed both of my parents, who made a great effort to go downtown and look for us to run by. We caught up with them back at home. It was a great 13.1 mile journey and a healing experience.

We celebrated Easter again at our gym. They have great activities for the kids and we really feel blessed to be a part of it.

I attempted to plant vegetables this year. Sort of a "healing" garden, I guess. Mitch helped me construct a wire fence around the selected site in our back yard to keep the rabbits out (which didn't work. I think we attracted more rabbits by challenging them to break in). Here you see it started out promising. However, I grew bitter, inedible lettuce, burnt my cucumbers to a pickle-y crisp, grew ONE watermelon that I harvested too early out of excitement and couldn't eat it and a couple of peppers. The only thing I did manage to not kill was okra. Loads and loads and loads of okra. Mitch never complained once, however, about eating okra with every meal for 4 months. We felt like the Bubba Gump of okra preparers. Fried okra, okra soup, okra and tomatoes, steamed okra, sauteed okra, okra and squash...

I also was invited by another dear friend we have grown to love to a fun race called the Warrior Dash. It's not about being the best athlete, it's just about rolling in mud and sliding down hills and jumping over fire until you are covered with slime. It was a lot of fun. It was, to me, a very poignant demonstration of going through mud and fire and coming out okay on the other side.

In April, Mitch and I participated in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon events. He ran the full marathon, I ran the half marathon. Running to honor victims of a terrorist attack has a new meaning to us now. I figured I had already ran a little in the previous months, and did not train much for it. Mitch, however, always the athlete, has really been getting in to these races and also participated in a triathlon this year. He does great.
May was a super busy month, as it always is for us. We had Mother's Day, Mitch's 35th birthday, Makai turned 6 and had a great Indiana Jones themed party at a gymnastics place. He graduated from an incredible Christian preschool that we have been so blessed by. Malia was the cutest ballerina on the planet at her recital. We took another trip down to Fort Hood to hang wreathes on the fence at the sight of the shooting where JD and 12 others were killed on 11/5/09. We were able to offer a $1000 JD Hunt Scholarship to an incredible young lady in Tipton, Oklahoma. I was honored to be asked to speak at the Plano, Texas Memorial Day ceremony and spoke of honoring our fallen heroes.

June marked one year that Mitch has been with Sleep Experts as the Vice President of Merchandising. The kids took swimming lessons early in the summer, and within a few weeks, they were both swimming independently on their own.

My mom's CAO (Casualty Assistance Officer), CWO Mark Kelsey, retired in July, and it was a sad but proud moment for many gold star families. He was thought to be one of the best in the nation at comforting and helping families who have lost loved ones in the military.
The summer was filled with swimming and skipping rocks in the creek for the kids. We all had great tans, even though we are sunscreen freaks.

Mitch's parents came through Texas this summer and spent the fourth of July with us. The kids love seeing their Grandma and PawPaw.
We also had an emotional time as the Patriot Guard Riders and other patriots stood over JD's grave until he had a grave marker. We could not be more proud of the honor JD has earned, and the people who show that to him are incredible.

Jessica invited me along with Operation Homefront to meet Tim McGraw at his concert to discuss supporting victims of the 11/5/09 shooting. It was kind of nice to have some girl time with an incredible person who knows all the pain that I know and then some. It was quite an honor.
I also attended a T.A.P.S. (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) grief seminar at Fort Hood this summer. It was very emotional and healing. I have met some incredible support through this program.
A lot of the summer was consumed with planning the biggest birthday celebration of life for JD ever. Tipton, Oklahoma, supported and helped make this happen in the most heart warming, emotional way. We were so blessed to have more people than I can even list come a very long way to show their love for JD. The First Cavalry Band from Fort Hood even graced the streets of Tipton in their uniforms in August to lead the most incredible parade ever. JD would have been 23 years old this year.
Mitch participated in his first triathlon - an Olympic. He swam in open water, biked and ran and we were so proud of him.

We ended the summer with a beautiful wedding on the beaches of Virginia. Mitch's sister got married at Fort Story, and it was absolutely gorgeous. She took us out on her and her new husband's boat, and we were surrounded by dolphins on a gorgeous August afternoon. It was quite a memory for us all.

August and September marked the start of a new school year for the kids. I turned 31, er, 21 again, on 9/14. Makai started kindergarten and has a great teacher. He lost his first tooth on the first day of kindergarten!! Malia started her last year at the preschool she loves so much. She got into the same class with the same teachers as Makai had last year, and we could not be happier about that.

Makai has since kept the tooth fairy very busy. He can rightfully sing "All I Want For Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"...

We had to say goodbye to Kitty, our precious family member of 14 years. She has been through a lot with us, and it is still very, very hard to deal with the fact that she is not with us anymore. But we know Uncle JD is taking good care of her.
October is always kind of fun. We love Halloween around here. Makai convinced Malia to play along with his new love for Harry Potter, so we had a Harry and an Hermoine. She didn't mind much - she loves her brother. Mitch and I decided to playfully dress as grapes. We went to a Halloween party, and we were the only adults dressed up. We also went to the Texas State Fair. An October tradition for us. Lots of fun.

Makai even wanted to carve a pumpkin to reflect our life-changing events.
In November, we went back down the roller coaster ride, as we attended the 1 year memorial events of the shooting. We went to 3 memorials in 1 day, ran a half marathon and did many other emotionally exhausting things. It is very nice to know that JD and the other heroes will never be forgotten, no matter how tired we are.

November also marked the end of the Article 32 hearing for Nidal Malik Hasan, the man accused of the 11/5/09 shooting. My dad came to McKinney to go to Makai's school for his Veteran's Day program. I was also asked to speak in Tipton, Oklahoma, at the unveiling of a stunning memorial built to honor JD and other Tipton Alumni veterans. It was an amazing Veteran's Day assembly in Tipton, as everything they do is. It was a sad, proud, exhausting November.

This December, Malia will play Mary at her preschool Christmas program. We find this really neat because Makai was chosen to play Joseph last year at the same preschool.

We have been to see Santa and given him our lists. The kids say he is the real Santa because his boots are real, not those black pleather shin guards that slip over your shoes to look like boots. Real boots = real Santa in our house. Malia has asked for a Barbie Rapunzel tower and other Barbies and Makai has asked for Harry Potter legos, a golden snitch (from Harry Potter) and a Power Wing scooter (scooter with a place for each foot instead of just one).
We've become quite a patriotic family (well, I have, and I drag everyone along with me). Now a proud member myself of the Patriot Guard Riders, I will never again take for granted the sacrifices our American heroes make for us. JD gave us so many gifts. One especially wonderful gift he has given to me is the pride and appreciation of living in a country he died defending.

I decided to go a little less traditional for Christmas this year. Never losing sight of the reason for the season, I wanted to celebrate the Lord's birthday by thanking Him for setting an example of sacrifice that so many of His children have followed. Mitch gladly played along and helped me deck our halls with red, white and blue. We were proud to see a "Best Theme" sign in our yard yesterday from our neighborhood association. How wonderful that the Lord has spread His spirit of sacrifice to so many.

Please pray for healing for our son, Makai. He had a prolonged sickness that we could not figure out and we recently confirmed that it is mono. This is a long, draining virus, and he has had some really rough days with it so far. We want him to feel better soon and enjoy Christmas.

Here's to a less exhausting, healing new year. May the Lord continue work miracles of healing. May He look after my brother in heaven. May He continue to bless our family and yours.

2009 Year in Review

2009-11-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

I wasn't sure if I could do it this year. I had planned to do my annual "Year in Review" on this blog, as I did last year. But as the world knows, our year has ended in the worst way. I wasn't sure if I could ever get to a point of talking about vacations and birthday parties again. It will never be the same.

Nonetheless, Mitch and I have 2 wonderful children who are still in need of parents to love and nurture them. Although the pain of losing their Uncle Jason may not feel as great to them as mine of losing my baby brother, they have also lost a great part of their future. But they deserve what Uncle Jason fought for them to have. The freedom to travel and see great things. The opportunities to be educated and healthy. The right to live freely and remember his sacrifice not only as their Uncle, but truly as an American Hero. JD has set a great example for my children to live a life as selfless and loving as he did.

I hope this holiday season will give us more to celebrate than to mourn, yet I would be foolish to say there will be no tears. Celebrating that JD gets to spend Christmas with Christ Himself - so happy for you lil' bro. I hope a lot of people will remember JD and be thankful for what soldiers like him provide for us this holiday season. And I hope you all have a peaceful and meaningful Christmas.

Here is our year in review:

January

We had a great visit from Mitch's sister, Marci. She is also active duty Army and is an extremely admired as a Major, as well as a wonderful aunt and sister and daughter. The kids love her and so do we. Malia started a new tradition with Daddy: Waiting to go to bed, then asking (in the sweetest voice) to get back up and share a peanut butter and banana "sammich"with him. Both kids had bouts with wheezing during winter illnesses and had to do breathing treatments. And for some reason, they both love to wear Daddy's shoes. Also introduced "family band night." But for the neighbors sake, we haven't done it since.

February

Malia turns 3! We had a big Wizard of Oz celebration at our house, complete with all GREEN food to ad to our Emerald City decor and even a green Mommy dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West. I took Malia to Altus for a mommy-daughter weekend, and was honored to have the Miss Altus Pageant give her up-close and personal time with some real princesses. Grandpa Gary came to visit on his motorcycle. Pretty sure the kids think they have coolest grandparents ever.

March

My mom came to visit and dyed Easter eggs with the kids. Eggs from the chicken on her farm! My mom wanted to give Makai an early birthday present and took us all to Six Flags. My brother came too. I'll never forget how he took off like a big kid, riding all the roller coasters. I'm glad he got to do that.

April

After the Easter Egg hunts, I was ready to finish what I had been training for 18 weeks to do - run a full marathon for the first time. I did it! I accomplished my goal of running it under 6 hours. We visited our great Oklahoma friends while we were there for the OKC Memorial Marathon.

May

Happy Birthday Makai and Mitch! At the beginning of May, we took what has become our yearly San Diego trip. We did the beach, Legoland and then drove with Mitch's parents to Mesa, AZ to visit them as well as my Aunt Carol. It was a great trip. We came home and had an awesome Spongebob Squarepants bash for an awesome 5 year old.

June

We found ways to beat the heat by camping in the backyard with friends, swimming, ice skating and roller skating. Mitch took Malia to their 2nd Annual Daddy Daughter Dance. She will forever be talking about how Daddy danced with her at the ball.

July

Mitch's parents came down and we had a great visit filled with cookie baking and light saber fights. My mom came for the 4th and we went to a festival and had a picnic. Mitch and I competed in our first triathlon sprint at the Cooper Aerobics Center. Swim, bike, run - it was fun.

August

Malia started ballet and loves it. We paid my mom a long overdue visit to Frederick, Oklahoma. The kids got to pick some vegetables from her garden and played with the puppies. Then we went to OKC to JD's wedding. I've never seen him look so handsome and manly. He wore a beautiful tux with a turquoise tie. He was so nervous beforehand - it was adorable.

September

Happy Birthday to me! 30th that is. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. But after some sneaky planning by my friends and husband, I was surprised with one of the most special nights. Surprise pedicure with on of my BFF's Amy, then to a restaurant to be greeted by friends from Oklahoma! And the icing on the cake, literally, was this AMAZING cake shaped like a pink purse complete with high heeled shoes made by Amy. Eat your heart out Cake Boss! She blows me away with her talent and kindness. The kids both started an amazing preschool. We also went to both the Oklahoma and Texas state fairs. The kids have found a love for funnel cakes.

October

This is the month that I earned my soccer mom stripes. The busiest month of the year. Fall festivals, school projects, pumpkin patches, trick-or-treating and Makai started soccer. To top it off, we went to San Antonio to Sea World and visited the Alamo. Whew! Wonder Woman and C3PO wore out their costumes though. It was a fun month.

November

The saddest month of our lives. I hope there are no more like them. Ever.

December

Wishing you Love this holiday season. God is Love. 1 John 4:8

For JD

2009-11-16T06:40:00.000-08:00

This is what I wrote and read at my baby brother's funeral on November the 14, 2009. I wanted to share it with the world - people who wanted to attend his service but couldn't.

Hello. I am JD’s sister, Leila. I’m sure a lot of you who knew him well, especially military people know me as the annoying, motherly sister. I became an actual mother 5 years ago when I had my son, Makai, Jason’s nephew. But I truly became a mother the day he was born. You can imagine an 8 year old little girl with a live baby doll to diaper and dress. The poor little guy never had a chance to escape me from the day he was born.

Forgive me for calling him JD. This is something he was working on me to change. You see, he was JD all his life. He was named after his dad, Gary Dean Hunt. So Jason Dean Hunt just became JD for short. Well, as you all know, when we get to high school, we think we become too cool for school and decide to do things to stand out our stand up for ourselves. One of his friend’s called one afternoon and asked, “Is Jason there?” Who??? Jason doesn’t live here, I said. Oh? You mean JD – Um okay. So then he slowly became known as Jason by his friends. I’m sorry though – he is and always will be JD to me.

So you can imagine when he enlisted in the Army in 2006, he immediately became his last name, Hunt. He would even say that to me on the phone – “Hello – this is Hunt” Who? JD? Is that you?

While he was in Basic Training, he wrote me a lot of letters. Now, I married into a military family, so I thank God for them for helping me understand everything JD was going through when he went off to Basic. I was so worried about my little baby brother, off becoming a man without someone to check his temperature or make sure he was eating enough. But a man he became.

The first letters, he’d hate to admit, were much different than the first ones. He was a smaller kid from an even smaller town – thrown into a world he had never known about. He didn’t play sports in high school and even he’d admit at the time he wasn’t very athletic. So the first letters would be about how his arms were burning from holding a bag too long and how he had blisters on his feet from running 1 mile. By the end of it, he was saying how running 5 miles was nothing to him. And he planned to do extra workouts. Just for fun.

I saw pride forming within him during his Basic Training. In a letter he wrote me in April of 2006, he said “Well sis thanks for the support. Tell everyone I said hi and I am coming back as He-man.”

He knew that this was changing his life. He said in May, “Yea I can’t wait to get home but I keep thinking I’m going to act weird around normal people with the way I talk and stand and sit and everything will be instinct.” Well, he couldn’t be more right.

Now, like I said, I have a military reference in my husband so I was constantly asking him to decipher some of JD’s letters. The military has a language all it’s own, as a lot of you in this room will probably know exactly what I’m talking about. For our family however, it was as foreign as asking us to call him Jason. Abbreviating every thing you say, telling time in quadruple digits, and I had never before been asked about a trip to the “latrine” until JD said it. When he told me he was eating MRE’s, I thought they were feeding him bullets or something. It’s not Velcro, its “hook and fasteners.” I just learned that one from his roommate and escort, SPC Borgeling. One letter he wrote to me said this: “Things are okay. Everyone’s just tired because this week we have first squad as duty squad and all other squads have two shifts of either CQ, AWOL, or Fire Guard if that makes sense. “ Um, no. It doesn’t.

When the end of Basic was approaching, I could sense the excitement and pride in his letters. He was so excited to show us what he had done, what he had become in just 4 months. He wrote “Will everyone be able to come to family day at our Basic graduation? I think that’s when you can even meet my Drill Sergeants. Our SDS is the best. (there he goes again – that means Senior Drill Seargeant) Drill Sergeant Holmes. He will probably say how I always have the same “cold” expression and how he calls me Iceman. Yea that’s my nickname according to Drill Sergeant Holmes and now the platoon. Iceman. I’ve had a lot of nicknames here. Pretty sure that will be the final one though.”

And that day we saw him at his Basic graduation in Ft Benning, Georgia was an incredible day. He marched past me and I could hardly believe my eyes. I almost didn’t recognize the man before me. A lean, fit MAN. No longer a boy, the Army changed him into a man. I still beam with pride looking at all the pictures we took that day. They are many of the pictures you have all seen. And they are pictures of a smiling, proud man. Most military pictures I see are of people with the stern, respectable face that must somehow be a requirement of taking a picture in uniform. But all the ones I got – smiles and pride in every one.

When he was then stationed in Ft. Stewart, he continued his proud military life and set goals of starting a family. That man wanted to have his own family at a younger age than most men do. When he met Jennifer, he was so excited to have found what he had been looking for. The day they got married, he told me he had what he had always wanted.

When he went to Iraq for 15 months, he continued to try to teach me about his new life. When he told us he was a driver, my mom and I just started telling everyone he drives tanks. He’d get SO mad. They’re not TANKS GUYS! They’re “Bradleys” Okay – not sure we knew the difference. While he was in Iraq, I had a birthday and was surprised to see a bouquet of beautiful pink flowers in a pink vase delivered to my home. I first thought “Wow my husband really pulled through this year” When I read the card, I was amazed: “Happy Birthday Sis! Sorry I couldn’t do better, I promise I’ll take you and the kids out when I get back from Iraq. Thank you for all your support with everything. I couldn’t have done it without you. Happy Birthday! Love, Jason” That’s the kind of man my brother was. In the midst of fighting in a war, in another country, he still took time to have flowers delivered to his sister on her birthday and apologized for not doing more.

When he returned home from Iraq he had lots of stories for me. Some I didn’t want to hear. It’s been established that I worried about him all the time. But he was telling me “he said this and I said that and then I said “hooah “ I said, “You said what?” “Hooah. It just means yea. Or yes sir. Or okay. Or lots of things.” “WHOO AHH?” I tried. He laughed that little snicker laugh that sounds like my dad. “No. Just “hooah”” I tried again “HUH!?” He finally just gave up. “Close enough” he said.

So I’ve been practicing.

I know my brother loved his family growing up. And I know my brother loved the military and what it was shaping him to be. Some people die of old age, some people are in car wrecks, some even gunned down in a convenience store. All tragic and sad on their own. But how many of those people get the honor and respect of this kind of ceremony? How many people have the President of the United States and Generals say their name in honor? How many of them are willing to die for a purpose instead of by accident?

So as a tribute to my brother and what he has inspired in this great nation – For a fallen husband. For a mother and a father’s son who served his country. For JD. Jason. Iceman. He-man. Hunt - can I get one last loud HOOAH.
(*THUNDEROUS REPLY FROM SOLDIERS PRESENT "HOOAH!!!!!!!!"*)

The Willinghams do the Monster Mash

2009-10-06T13:37:00.000-07:00

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Vote for Malia!

2009-09-27T16:35:00.001-07:00

Okay - I KNOW. It's been a LONG time. And what a time to throw up a post. For a selfish reason. Forgive me! ha ha

Just got an AWESOME photo shoot done by my photographer friend, and they are AMAZING! Shannon Gurney, you ROCK!

So I decided to enter them in the Gap casting call contest. I know - everyone thinks their kid is the cutest - that's why so many people enter! But, as Malia would say, PWEASE vote for her pic!

The prize is a family trip to Jamaica...where Mitch and I got married almost 7 years ago. It may be a long shot - the leader already has 1000 votes!

It takes just a minute to register, but then you can vote once a day until Nov 22! So PWEASE...vote for Malia :)

San Diego/Mesa vamily vacation

2009-05-08T08:11:00.000-07:00

Wow - what a trip! I look forward to this every year, as we have now made this a tradition. This was our 3rd and best year. We decided on 2 days of Legoland since we have already conquered San Diego's other great things like the Zoo, Sea World, etc. Makai's birthday is next week so we wanted this to be something he really remembered for his 5th birthday. And since Legos are his #1 favorite thing right now, he could not have had a better time.

Mitch's parents drove from Mesa and picked us up after 3 days of playing in San Diego. We drove 6 hours to Mesa and spent 2 days with them. We even got to see my Aunt Carol - she lives about 30 minutes from them.

Boy are we tired, but we had SUCH a great time!

Look what Makai built! ha ha

Giant pancake with Snickers candy bar in it from Hash House

You Westerners don't know how good you have it

Driving to Mesa - you can see the fence along the Mexican border in this little town

Swimming with PawPaw

Riding Jasmine's horse in their backyard

Making S'mores at a cool restaurant Aunt Carol took us to - my beautiful cousin Jasmine

Marathon play-by-play

2009-04-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

I did it!!! It feels great! I reached my goal of completing it under 6 hours. 5:37.37 to be exact. Woo hoo!!

Mitch was so supportive. He ran this with me, but you would think he just took a stroll in the park or something, ha ha. He drove all the way home the same day, and has been taking care of the kids and let me sleep until 10:30am - I JUST woke up! He said I could go get a massage today too - he's the best. He was so supportive during the whole race. He was "coaching" me and telling me how good I was doing. I love that guy.

The only thing I wish I could do differently could not be controlled - and that was the bathroom stops. There were port-a-potties all along the way (at all the wrong times for me!) but waiting in line and taking care of business sure does add those unwanted minutes to your time. Oh well - I guess you gotta do what you gotta do in 6 hours! TMI? ha ha

I had "mini-goals" throughout the race that helped me mentally stay on task. The first one was obviously to finish under 6 hours. The next one was to do the first 2 sets of 5 miles in an hour each. So the first 5 I was right at 1 hour. Second 5 - right at 2 hours. I hit mile 15 right at 3 hours, so I added one more set of 5 to my goal of 1 hour each set! Then we hit the lake. Lake Hefner - in OKLAHOMA, mind you - wow. That wind is something else. It was almost funny - almost. Running south, into the wind, on a lake - I could barely stand up in some parts. So that's where I slowed down quite a bit.

And the last half was definitely harder than the first half, of course. I hit 13.1 at 2:37 feeling pretty good. But the last 6-8 miles were just brutal! Very hard, very, very windy. Everytime I would have to stop for a minute or two, it was excruciating to start running again. It was almost better not to stop, but my body had to have breaks very often toward the end.

At about mile 24, I realized that even if I walked...slowly...for the last 2 miles, I would still get there under 6 hours. But I still managed to do an ugly sort-of-running shuffle every 5 minutes so I didn't feel like I was quitting. We rounded the corner and into the shoot around 5:30-something and I decided to finish with every single thing I had left. So I sprinted. I'm sure that "sprint" was comical to anyone who might think that was a sprint, but to me, I was leaving smoke behind me, ha ha.

At the finish, Mitch scooped me up and hugged me and I had an emotional and physical release of everything I had just went through and the letdown of that last push. It was great!!

I can confidently say I will never do that again, but I am so glad I accomplished something so monumental before my 30th birthday. Now it's time to rest and get a massage and get ready for next week's vacation in San Diego!

Here are my averages, per my Garmin watch. I knew I would have to average 13-14 minute miles to reach my goal so I tried to stay close to that, speeding up when I had more energy, or running downhill to make up for times I knew I would need to rest.

Mile 1: 11.35
Mile 2: 12.12
Mile 3: 11.58
Mile 4: 11.59
Mile 5: 11.51
Mile 6: 11.42
Mile 7: 11.33
Mile 8: 11.25
Mile 9: 11.55
Mile 10: 11.40
Mile 11: 12.31
Mile 12: 11.44
Mile 13: 12.46
Mile 14: 11.29
Mile 15: 14.02 (This was the lake stretch with the wind)
Mile 16: 12.03
Mile 17: 11.42
Mile 18: 12.40
Mile 19: 12.38
Mile 20: 12.05
Mile 21: 13.13
Mile 22: 13.47
Mile 23: 13.45
Mile 24: 14.31
Mile 25: 12.48
Mile 26: 13.44
And 6 minutes for the last bit!

Before the race. With a Spongebob wristband from Makai. I look so hopeful and rested!

I only had my phone with me - the camera on it is not good. This is what it looks like before the sun comes up (I never knew). Standing in front of the beautiful OKC bombing Memorial just before it started - but of course you can't see.

I took this of myself with the camera phone at 13.1 - the half, while Mitch was talking to a fellow runner. Feeling *okay* at this point. It was SO humid - I was sweating at mile 5 unusually hard.

About mile 24 - the wind on this street was coming right at us, and was literally pushing me backwards at some times - I was ticked off!

Just after we finished - our friends took this pic.

The wind blowing my finisher shirt back at our friend's house.

Ready or not, marathon, here I come

2009-04-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

Three more days until the big run! I must say, I'm a little nervous. I started my training very dedicated, doing every suggested run on the program I chose. But toward the end, I got sick of running, running, running for 18 weeks straight, so I have been slacking. I hope I've trained my body enough to get through this! Because I'm certain I will never done another one again.

My goal is to finish, #1. But my secondary goal is to do it under 6 hours, which, unless I WALK the entire time, should not be too hard. Well, yes, it will be hard, but I will be pretty disappointed in myself if I don't finish under 6 hours. At my slow 13ish-minute pace, that will be...carry the 1... hmmmmm...TOO stinking close! Cross your fingers for me that I get there - I don't think you get a finisher shirt unless you finish under 6!

Just for fun, I looked up some famous people who have run marathons and their times. You would be surprised! Some fit people take a long time and some unexpected people are crazy fast!

Meredith Baxter (Family Ties mom) 4:08 - Wow!
Will Ferrell: 3:56 - HOLY cow!
Mario Lopez: 5:41 (must have been flirting with the ladies a lot)
Freddie Prinze Jr: 5:50 - okay, I can hang with that
Oprah Winfrey: 4:29 - must've been skinny Oprah
Lance Armstrong: 2:47 - why did I even put this on here?
Ali Landry: 5:41
Katie Holmes: 5:30

Happy Easter

2009-04-09T11:35:00.000-07:00

Praying for:
Jason
Lynn
Jill's mom
Our US troops

Thankful for:
My two beautiful children
My too-good-to-be-true husband
Good friends
His sacrifice
Family
Health

Spring Photo Shoot

2009-03-31T16:35:00.000-07:00

I'll admit, I am not bragging on this one. It was colder than I expected. Malia had to wear Mitch's coat after her first few solo pics because her little lips were quivering. And me - well, it's obvious that the spray tan booth is working if you compare me to my vampire-like pale family.

Speaking of vampires, I was running around the outside track at our gym, listening to my new favorite thing, Twilight, on my Ipod (gotta love audiobooks when you're a busy mom). As cheesy as it sounds (more cheesy than listening to Twilight on an Ipod), I thought the track circled around a pretty wooded area, like Forks or the meadow in the book. So I drug my poor family here on a cold Spring day. Everyone was kind of grumpy by the end - not a particularly good photo shoot, but if you look at the cute kids in the images and not from a picky photographer's point of view, there are a few good pictures.

We usually do 2 photo shoots a year - Fall and Spring. I'm loving our last fall pictures so much anyway, it will be hard to top. But I love to take them two times a year because the kids grow so fast. Spring pictures are for Makai's birthday - these are his "almost-five-years-old" pictures. I can't believe it!

This is my favorite picture - almost of all time. I'm glad we did the photo shoot, just for this picture.

Follow up on racers hit by car last November

2009-03-26T14:51:00.001-07:00

Some of you may remember me blogging about my first half marathon, the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon around White Rock Lake in November 2008. I didn't write on my blog about what happened just after we finished the race. Perhaps I was too stung and shocked. Although I did think about it - I felt like writing about it would somehow take away from the actual victims, and I was only a witness.

After we finished the race, my friend and I met with our waiting families and kids, ate some of the free food and stretched. When we finally thought we could hobble to our cars, we said goodbye and my friend went with her family and left. I was going to attempt to trade my race shirt for a different size, so I went to my car, grabbed the shirt and went to the shirt tent. No luck there.

As I walked back to my car, I heard "HELP!!!!! GET THE MEDIC!! THEY NEED AN AMBULANCE OVER HERE!!" People were VERY shaken up, sprinting past me back toward the race site for help. I had heard a weird scraping sound and thud and wondered if this was related to it. I walked just a few hundred feet over a short hill where I was heading to go back to my car and a fellow racer stopped me. "You don't want to look over there," he warned. Of course, I did. I have never seen anything so gruesome. People sprinkled all over the road and grass, like they fell right from the sky and died where they lay. Bent in the most awkward positions - I remember one person's position - looked like some sort of contortionist with their leg bent completely the wrong way.

I realized help was on it's way and there were too many people already there for me to be of any assistance, so I just went to my car, literally 25 feet away from these people moaning and bleeding on the ground and prayed. I've never prayed so forcefully and outloud like that. I was crying and shaking - and I felt silly yet helpless because I just could not help them and they NEEDED help. One lady even came up to me in my car and asked if I was okay because she saw how shaken up I was. She was a nurse. I asked if she thought they would be okay and she said, "That, I can't say - but I know the people helping her will do everything they can." I felt like I was watching a father die in front of me - a mother or a daughter - I didn't know, but only the worst situations were popping into my head.

One man, laying underneath the responsible car was literally covered in blood. I mean, his face was red, like someone poured 5 buckets of blood right on his head. He was literally under the car - only his legs were sticking out.

It was horrible!!!!

The first thing I did, I should mention, was run to my car and call my friend. I wasn't sure if she had actually made it to her car, even though she walked to a completely different place I was going, I was panicked to even think it could be her under that car. Her shoes - what color were her shoes?? I couldn't even concentrate I was so shaken up, but since all I could make out were legs and shoes because everyone was so unrecognizable, I tried to remember. I couldn't, so I called and left a frantic message on her voicemail. I was pretty sure it wasn't her - it wasn't. Of course, selfishly, I thought that could've been me. I couldn't get over how I was seconds from being under that car. Those people didn't do anything differently than I was doing, just crossing the street after their race to get to their car in the exact same place I was going 1 minute later. I was very shaken up, wondering if they lived, if they had families, and even if it were me, would I be as strong as I've learned they were and made it through.

I was happy to see the Dallas Morning News did a follow-up story on these wonderful survivors. It made the front page of yesterday's paper.

Read about it here, and thank God for their survival!

A few of our favorite things

2009-03-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

So my friend's daughter just turned 3 and she wanted The Sound of Music birthday party, and it reminded me that we, too, have lots of "favorite things" in our family. It also reminded me that even 3 year-olds love and appreciate really, really old movies that are great.

So here's our list - and it's long. I'm sure we could add much more!

First off, gotta give props to our Homeboy. He's the bomb dot com.

I'll start my other favorites right under Jesus, since He is first, and He can undo all of my gluttony, vanity and addictions:

The two places I frequent. And when I say frequent - I seriously mean EVERY day.

My next favorites involve lots of food. No wonder I have cholesterol problems! I didn't realize how many really BAD favorite foods I have.
You all probably read about my first one. One a day keeps irregularity at bay. TMI? Those should be my initials. But then my name would have to be Tina Marie Istanbol or something. I'm just sayin'. You can take fiber pills, or you can take a few swigs of Diet Dr. Pepper. And since I'm not a coffee drinker, a mom's gotta get a pick-me-up sometimes too.

I am a HUGE breakfast fan. I have been known to peel out, huff and puff, and angrily say, "UGH - OKAY, thank you" in a McDonald's and Chick Fil A drive-thru when they tell me I missed the breakfast deadline. Like I said, Jesus covers me on this. Especially since I'm positive the Egg McMuffin and Chicken Minis were created from His very hands and sent from Heaven above.

When I miss my 10:30 cutoff, I settle for something a *little* more nutritious, as well as a pretty good combo with a DDP.

This is a family favorite (minus Mitch). We love to eat raw "butter" (batter). Ewe, I know. But this is the ultimate best kind.

Best smelling kids product ever - I will use this on them until they are 15 years old.

The next one is hard to share b/c I am still very devastated that this has been discontinued. I had to order 10 bottles off of Ebay and they have been sitting in my refrigerator for over a year. I don't want you people searching online and taking the remaining bottles in this world. They're mine - all mine people. The best moisturizer on the planet and it's under $5. I've been using it for over 10 years.

Speaking of beauty products, this is a new favorite of mine. I use to be a Oil of Olay loyalist, but this new product is really, really great. I love my moisture (see above) and Garnier Skin Renew Daily Moisture Lotion has lots of it, plus, it gets rid of nasty sunspots and has an SPF 28. I sound like a commercial, but my face seriously looks brighter when I use this!

Loving this distressed jean trend! A housewife's dream. I've been settling for workout attire all day, but now I get all fancy and dressed up in my ripped up jeans and v neck t-shirt. My favorites come from the Gap, in a "sunkissed wash" that is so vintage-y and comfy. I seriously have multiple pairs of holy jeans, and these t-shirts in every color. Also, summer scarves: the oxymoron I love now. Sometimes I wear the jeans, v neck and scarf all at once, if I'm really feeling saucy. You might be seeing me in this uniform for many years.

The cutest children's book every written. Not just for girls, Makai loves it too. The illustrations are even better than the story.

This one's a no-brainer. The whole family is still this movie's #1 fan. We go to Wizard of Oz plays, buy memoribilia, play dress-up, reinact scenes and sing songs - All. The. Time.

This one's just for my baby boy. His new attraction: everything Spongebob Squarepants and Legos. You can not say "Whooooo....." in this house without a joyful "...lives in a pineapple under the sea" to follow. So we bought this kit and he can put it together by himself, while quoting Spongebob episodes.

This one is JUST for Mitch. He hasn't seen this post yet, but I KNOW he will insist this one is included, if this is to be a list of family favorites (I can see him smiling right now). He thinks that Quik Trips (QTs) are the best thing in this world right now. He raves about them almost on a daily basis to me. He loves the management, the layout, the cleanliness, the "quickness" - everything. He even talks about buying one or learning how their training program works. Um, okay. I have cookie dough, he can have his gas station.

Mitch and my favorite American Idol season of all time is this year!

Extreme talent, great personalities and is it just me, or is this the most attractive bunch yet? The girls are gorgeous and the young men are all very handsome!
I don't think I could be rooting harder for 2 guys. THIS is the music I like - where are the Bryan McKnights of this generation??? RIGHT HERE! Vote for Danny Gokey and Matt Giraurd!!

And finally, a huge family favorite. We love the and CHANGE of the Obama administration. What a beautiful family with beautiful hope. Yes, that's right. I started my post with Jesus and ended with Obama. It's hard to be a Christian AND a Democrat (some say impossible), but I yam what I yam.

Mommy/Daughter weekend at Miss Altus

2009-02-23T13:36:00.000-08:00

Many of you know I was in a few pageants in my early 20's, which is getting farther and farther behind me. Every year my 1st pageant family is so kind to involve us in their annual pageant and all it's fun activities. This year I was excited to take Malia, because I thought it would be the first year she would really appreciate it. So for her 3rd birthday, I took her as a gift just from mommy. We stayed up late (I'm talking, I'm-a-bad-mom, late) in the hotel, jumped on the bed and got to be in the company of all the princesses and queens - "REAL PWINCESSESS Mommy!!". She got to meet lots of Miss Altus's, the current Miss Oklahoma (who was a star on TLC's Countdown To The Crown last month) and her favorite little princess, a 10 year old Miss Altus Oklahoma Star and fellow friend. As far as she's concerned, this equates a trip to Disneyworld and visiting with the Disney Princesses.

She was in awe. The first night we arrived, we went to dress rehearsal, where she marveled at all the talent and glitz and wardrobe. "Look at their shoes!!" she kept exclaiming as each girl came out in a different gown. Real life Barbies!! What more could a 3 year-old want? Then we got to attend the contestant tea before their interviews, where Malia asked each contestant sign her program book. She was in heaven. Not shy at all (as if she ever is) . She asked each girl "Can you sign my book pweeeez?"

She charmed a lot of people in typical precious Malia fashion, but most of all she had a blast and can't stop talking about it. Her favorite talent was that of the outgoing Miss Altus, Ashley Hyde, who is an artist. Ashley paints pictures on stage during a song and reveals a portrait at the end - so cool! So when we got home, Malia appreciated the significance of a few of mommy's crowns and practiced her smile in the mirror, saying "I won the cwown for PAINTING!!!!" She just could not believe that someone could win something so beautiful for doing something so fun. I see the finger paints coming out in the near future.

So fun and so memorable, for her and I both.

Conversations with a 4 1/2 year old

2009-02-17T13:02:00.001-08:00

Today I was working on the kids to convince Daddy they want another brother or sister. I said "Wouldn't you like to have another brother or sister in our family?" Makai's eyes got as wide as saucers and said "YES. And I want it to be Jamison." Jamison is his best friend since birth from Oklahoma that he misses terribly - they are two boys cut from the same cloth as far as personalities.

Then I said "No, we can't take other people's brothers and sisters, we would make our own - and we would name it something that starts with an "M" like Makai, Malia..." He said, "MARIO!! And he can wear blue overalls and a red shirt!" Someone plays too much Nintendo!

We are watching Wall-E right now - (he's being so cute lately!) I asked him "what happened?" when Eve first sees the plants and locks down. He said "Wall-E just gave her a flower and she's allergic to it" ha ha ha ha ha

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-07T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hapiness is...

2009-02-03T21:12:00.000-08:00

Filling your marble jar for good behaviors

A new way to do the happy breakfast plate

A little girl who honestly loves yoga as much as her mommy

Tree pose...

Ohhhhhhmmmmmmm....

Down dog...

Plank...

Family Band Night

2009-01-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

The singing is pretty brutal, I am the first to admit. But my kids think I sound like Carrie Underwood, someone told me, so I don't care. I love how our entire family participated, and by participating, I mean including dodging unidentified flying harmonicas. I love Makai REALLY keeping the beat on the drums (since there is no note in key, this is a bonus). I love LOVE the way he counts out every song - I see a mini Travis Barker in him already. I love that Malia had to be on the coffee table because if she doesn't have a stage, it's not worth doing. I love our family.

26.2 before 30

2009-01-27T19:10:00.001-08:00

That's right. The thing I swore I would never do again. I'm going to run a full marathon this year. It's my goal for myself before my 30th birthday in September. After running my first half in November, I thought I'd never do anything like it again. But I changed my mind.

I just started training - wow it's going to be tough! Especially in the cold. I am a cold snob. I don't go outside if it's below 50. So my first long run on Saturday, 10 miles, was on a treadmill because I think it was 49.5 degrees outside :) I REALLY CAN'T DO IT! ha ha The good thing about the treadmill is that you can watch two full episodes of What Not To Wear. The bad thing is - well, it's 2 hours on the treadmill - 'nuff said.

My sweet husband surprised me with an hour massage he bought b/c he wants to support this goal of mine and, having completed 2 himself, he knew how sore I'd be after my 1st long run. I will either be running the OKC marathon in April or we've discussed taking our family vacation early to San Diego - they have one May 31st there. It will probably be the sooner. Either way, I will chant:

I may be slow
It won't be purty
But I will finish
Before I'm thirty!
~Another seriously copyrighted poem by Leila Willingham

Can he be any sweeter?

2009-01-21T14:21:00.002-08:00

Makai: You know what?
Me: What?
Makai: When I grow up, I'm gonna marry you (pointing intently at me).
Me: Oh, honey that's so sweet.
Makai: So I can be a dad.
xoxo

You. Aw. BANISHED!!!!!!

2009-01-15T21:30:00.001-08:00

That is what Malia tells us when she is mad. Thanks Hello Kitty DVDs.

Time to take a bath Malia. "NO!!!!!!!!" Malia, don't make me tell you again - bath time. "I DON'T WANT TO!" I'm sorry but it's time to take a bath. "MOMMY!!!!!!!! YOU. AW. BANISHED!!!!!!!" (Although at first I thought she was saying I was "managed" which doesn't make any more sense).

Makai says I'm "fired" all the time too.

Parenting: It's the only job you can be banished and fired multiple times a day and still be able to laugh at your boss hysterically.

The joy she brings to people's lives: Immeasurable.

2009-01-10T22:29:00.000-08:00

Watching her method of re-folding already folded laundry with her Daddy: Adorable.

Listening to her sing "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" (and attempt the pitch changes): Priceless.

OHHHH, we're off to see the Wizard...

2009-01-10T20:54:00.000-08:00

Now it's time to plan Malia's birthday party!! It is a no-brainer that it will be Wizard of Oz themed. Her choice, of course. It won over Barbie and Strawberry Shortcake again! It truly amazes me that a 2 year-old can love an old musical movie this much. Every new piece of clothing we get for her now has to have some sort of red in it, since her "wooby wed swippas" are worn every single day.

I am having SO much fun getting this party ready! Her invites are going to be soooo cute! I made a slot for a cutout of her to "slide" down the yellow brick road - even found some ruby slipper paperclips to attach to her cutout.

I made an Emerald City for the backdrop in our kitchen. Makai wanted to help with it, and we've had our share of green paint for the year. I also did a Tinman (in crayon this time) for a good ol' game of pin-the-heart-on-the-tinman. It turned out pretty good! I free-handed it off of a great design I saw online. I've made lollipop centerpieces and great green glittery flower arrangements (thanks to Christmas clearances) for our Emerald City. I made a "cloud" out of posterboard and used black charcoal (my artist friends would cringe, ha ha) and wrote "Malia" and glued the Wicked Witch flying away. I even found a hot air balloon bounce house we may try to rent, weather permitting. She helped me put together goodie boxes shaped like Dorothy's baskets last night and she was laughing and giggling and so happy, she could barely contain herself. I even talked the Target lady into making a great WOZ cake for me, after I provided some props for the top and taking her a picture I found online (why no one has a Wizard of Oz kit, I don't know!). It's going to be sooooo cool!!!

Too much stuff!

2009-01-03T07:33:00.000-08:00

My New Year's resolution - simplify!! Too much stuff! Too many shoes in my closet, too many toys in this house, too much too much! Too much food! This gluttony is the American Way and I am the guiltiest of them all. I started by posting 25 pairs of shoes on Craigslist last night (and that doesn't even put a dent in it, as embarrassing as that is).

But it's sooo hard when my little ones give me so much joy when they were opening their presents this year. Malia got her coveted Dorothy Barbie (still her favorite gift) and Makai says his favorite is his Ben 10 jacket, made by Mimi, er, Santa. He has worn it almost every day - we need a back up so we can wash it sometimes!

Happy New Year!

Thanks Santa, but next year, pack your sleigh much lighter.

Our year in review

2008-12-04T00:14:00.001-08:00

Call me crazy, but my FAVORITE part of Christmas traditions are the cards. Maybe because I like to design them, maybe because I like to see so many of my friends and family put their taste and personality into their cards. I personally put a great deal of thought into my Christmas card each year. I research new patterns and color schemes, think long and hard about the wording and what I want to express that year, and what picture(s) to use. My favorite part of the day each December is around 2pm when I go out to my mailbox and (hopefully) find new cards to display in my entryway as part of my Christmas decor. Maybe I am just THAT bored and a trip to the mailbox is that exciting to me. I get so upset if Mitch checks the mail in December before me! I want to be the first to see who sends us a card! And I send out over 100, so we get that many and more in return. I LOVE it!!!

Many of you have received (or will receive) this Christmas card from us in the mail this year (above). Like it?? I designed it of course and opted for a postcard this year to save money on postage and to test out a new way of printing - I think the quality turned out great!
I really enjoy getting the letters that some people put in their Christmas cards with their exciting news of the past year.
I decided to put my blog address on our Christmas cards this year
and update anyone who is interested this way.
Hello technology!
______________________________________

Here is a summary (with pictures of course!)
of 2008 for the Willinghams:

_______________________________________

January
My brother, Jason, comes home for 2 weeks R&R from Iraq, after have only been deployed for 1 month. He returned after that for a year and is now back on US soil at the end of this rotation, as of today, December 4th! Welcome home bro!

February
Malia turns 2! We celebrate her 2nd birthday at the Wiggly Play Center in Frisco, TX. She has 1 celebration at school as well. Friends from OKC come to Dallas to celebrate with us, just missing a hail storm that produced golfball to baseball-sized hail and totaled my friend and neighbor's car!
Malia randomly gets a black eye from hitting a ledge, it snows twice,
and I meet Miss America in Altus while visiting my pageant family.

March
We lost Mitch's beloved 88 year-old grandmother, Edith this month. What a beautiful woman. Mitch wins an All American award trip through his company and we go on an incredible, all-expense paid trip to Cancun, where he is announced Salesman of the year.

April
Mitch completes his first marathon in Oklahoma City in just over 4 hours.
He is running his 2nd marathon on December 14th and has done so much more training and hard work, with a goal of completing it in well under 4 hours. (He'll smoke that!)

May
Makai turns 4! We have a big celebration at our house, complete with Ben 10 decor and a big scavenger hunt with a real treasure map! He also had a school performance that didn't go so well - poor little guy learned about stage fright at a very early age. Malia and Makai both love school. They go 2 days a week; Malia for 3 hours and Makai for 5. Malia is learning her letters and can spell (half) her name. She loves to talk about shapes and colors and sing songs and practice gymnastics moves that Miss Debbie teaches her. Makai can write his name, knows a few states and their capitals and is learning simple math. He loves to be the weather reporter at school has a good day when he stays on "green" for good behavior. He loves to spell his top 5 favorite words: Ben 10, Mom, Dad, Malia and Makai (wait, is that 6?). Sometimes he spells mom "M-A-M" and dad "D-O-D" but he usually figures out that something is wrong there and fixes it. Also, Mitch turns 33...and Mother's Day - all 3 events are only days apart...a busy time each year!

Publish Post

June
Mitch has sleep apnea surgery. THANK GOODNESS! He has his uvula removed, tonsillectomy and his nose bone shaved down (he is now 100% cured from sleep apnea and we ALL get better sleep). Two days later he is Father of the Year and takes Malia to a father/daughter dance, goes swimming and makes S'mores with the kids in the backyard.
He goes on to lose about 20 pounds and starts training vigorously for his December marathon.

July
Makai starts karate and does really well, except for the occasional issue with the uniform. Family comes down from Florida and Arizona and visit us in McKinney! We also went to Six Flags for a day and had our friends from OKC here for a total of 6 kids
playing and having fun at our house in Texas!

August
August gets 2 collages. It was a busy month! We went to the circus, a luau at our gym and our biggest event of the year, our family vacation! It was our 2nd year to go to San Diego and it was even more wonderful than the first time. The kids are at a perfect age to really enjoy Sea World, Legoland, the zoo, the beach and our awesome hotel on Mission Bay. It's a tradition now!
We will probably go back every year!

September
I (Leila) turn 29 and celebrate with a cake shaped like a hot dog, root beer and french fries. It is the first time the kids will not eat cake,
because they do not want to eat something that very well could taste like a real hot dog. More for me! We decide that I should start my photography business back up for a while to make some extra money.

October
We go to the Texas State Fair, pumpkin patch, festival at Cooper Aerobics Center, and of course, trick-or-treating. Makai had a different costume for every event, including Ben 10, a Transformer and a Power Ranger. Malia was consistently Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, her FAVORITE movie (she knows ALL the words and often acts out the movie in public, calling me the Wicked Witch of the West. At least I think she's acting out the movie...). My mom returns from a year-long teaching experience in South Korea.

November
Found a new Saturday ritual of going to Lowe's and building something with a great free kit they provide for kids every other week. The kids love to finger paint, but it's a messy hobby! I complete a half marathon with one of my best friends and neighbor, Amy! Yay! We drive to Frederick, OK and spend Thanksgiving at my mom's.

December
Merry Christmas! The kids have made their lists, been visited by our new live-in Elf, Winston, and our decorations are up! We are looking forward to seeing Mitch's parents for the holidays and also welcoming home my brother, Jason and Mitch's sister, Marci back from Iraq!

What an incredible year!!! We feel so thankful for the many blessings our wonderful Lord has given us. We hope you all have had a wonderful year as well. Keep checking this blog - I update it often with new pictures and news of our family. If you want to hear more about our year, scroll down and read more posts or click the months and categories on the top, left-hand side to see older posts. Or you can check the highlighted links throughout this post that will take you to more stories.

Yours and His,
The Willinghams
Mitch, Leila, Makai and Malia

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

How to make a Pez dispenser display

2008-12-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

I can't take all the credit for this - thanks Amy for the brilliant suggestion! The kids both have quite a Pez Dispenser collection. They also collect toys, junk, stuff and trash. I blame their mother, who is a pack rat and has a hard time letting go of things. Anyway, I reorganized the entire playroom closet, so now it is not a safety hazard. I moved the bin organizer to Makai's room to hold his 5,000 Ben 10 figurines and more. It looks so nice!

Anyway, I wanted to make something for his Pez collection. I bought a big pegboard for $4 at Lowes and had them cut it into 4 pieces. I spray painted one of them white, bought some camo ribbon to hang it with and those removable hooks by 3M. Threaded strips of black elastic through the holes and tied knots in the back so they wouldn't slip out. And voila! Pretty cool! And look how nice his teeny tiny closet looks now!

Move over Griswolds!

2008-12-03T14:56:00.000-08:00

As we add more and more gaudy clearance items each year, our house at Christmastime almost becomes comical. I've said it before, but I always reminisce about the good 'ol days when I had a beautiful color-coordinating tree with classy white lights. If I dared to decorate outside, it would be white lights everywhere. It dawned on me a couple of years ago as we took our small children to see Christmas lights, they would never "awe" at the white lights. It was always some one's 10 food blow-up snowman or a row of blinking candy canes.

So I started going to stores the day after Christmas to replace my pretty decorations with bright, gaudy, loud things, things that no one buys when they are regular priced before Christmas, that would send most people into a seizure. I think we have succeeded this year. Our tree is has every color of the rainbow somewhere on it, and is filled with ornaments that have been given to us or made by the kids instead of anything glass, breakable or pretty. I feel I should note, to defend our tree, the reason it looks so puny and ugly is also for sentimental reasons - Mitch and I bought that fake-y for $20 at Walmart the first year we were married. We refuse to get another one, though we've had to replace parts of it and would be better off getting another one, LOL. Same with the star on top. I have a picture of Mitch with that star when we got married in '02. I am very surprised it still works!

The kids had so much fun putting up the tree and getting that annoying train out that circles the bottom (who wouldn't put a volume button on a train that loud?? ALL ABOARD!!!). They decorated their own mini trees to put in their rooms. Mitch strung all the outdoor lights "backwards" meaning he finished everything and when it was time plug them in (you know, because you do that AFTER you finish, ha ha) he realized he ended with a female part where he needed a male. He was going to make a male-male adapter thing, but thank goodness I talked him out of it. For the sake of Christmas lights, I think we should avoid electrocution. So now we added 10 extension cords to our gaudiness. We only turn the lights on when it gets dark and off when we go to bed, so for about 3 hours a night, I have to admit, I think about where the fire extinguishers are at all times.

Outside we have rainbow lights, rainbow icicle lights, candy canes, a train, a light-up snowman and huge ornaments hanging from our front tree (can't see in these pics b/c it's dark). Actually these pics don't do it justice. If you were to come to our house, I would suggest bringing glasses or a brown paper bag to put over your head for short periods to silence your brain from all the chaos our decorations would cause. I'm sure the neighbors love us! But WE love it - especially the kids. Now they "awe" at our little gaudy, gingerbread house they get to live in. Does anyone know where I can find any pink flamingos???

I Am Second

2008-12-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

If any of you haven't heard the new promo going around called "I am second" please check it out!! It is AWESOME! Last week in church, we watched the clip on Brian Welch, former member of the heavy metal band Korn (not hard to spot him - long hair, tattoos from head to toe). His story of coming to Christ is AMAZING and will bring you to tears.

And they finally got a site up and guess who is on one of the clips?? Our pastor!! His name is Pete Briscoe - the really handsome thin guy with the big bright smile. Can you tell we are a little bit in love with him (Mitch and I both)?? He is probably the most wonderful Christ follower I have ever listened to. Listen to his story - not as "sad" as Brian Welch's but you can see the passion for Christ in his eyes - something he shows us every Sunday. He cries like that almost every week too :))) His parents are from England - famous missionaries Jill Briscoe, you may have heard of her. Jason Castro from American Idol is another one in this campaign! Check it out!

www.iamsecond.com

:))) Leila

Winston - The Elf on our Shelf

2008-11-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

As we were winding down from our trip to Mimi's, and something incredible happened!

A ring of the doorbell and *gasp* a present appeared on our doorstep! The kids must have missed the whizzing sound I heard above our heads and the little red streak of light zooming over us. They ripped into the present, excited that they were permitted to open a gift before Christmas. It was a book. (Awe, just a book??!) But it was a book about a new friend who would be reporting to Santa each night about our behavior of the day. We read the book "The Elf on a Shelf - A Christmas Tradition" and were instructed to name a little guy we haven't met - one who was already hiding in our house. We chose the name "Winston" and wrote it in our book. Then the book told us to find him somewhere in our house.

The kids were quite scared. Would Winston be big? Would he bite? What kind of noise does he make? They were pleased to find him dangling at a safe distance away from them on the light fixture above the kitchen table, just in time for dinner reporting. Winston will be happy to report to Santa tonight that the kids ate all their leftover Thanksgiving dinner that survived the 4-hour car-ride home. I love Winston. I think he will be just the helper I need to keep 2 anxious kids behaving well while they are out of school during the Christmas break. You can't touch him, and he can't speak, or he may lose his ability to fly back to the North Pole every night to tell Santa how good you have been.

If you haven't heard of Elf on the Shelf, check it out! A cute, light Christmas tradition to do with your young kids. We still very much remind our kids about the true meaning of Christmas. We are waiting for Jesus on the Shelf to come out :)

Our Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

We started our trek to SW Oklahoma Wed and arrived at my mom's house around 6pm. The kids were so excited to see her! They love her house, so new and fun to explore. They wanted to show her EVERYTHING - even things that were hers. "Look Mimi - it's your salt shaker!" "Look! You have a pantry!"

We grabbed some groceries and some dinner at Subway and went back home to show my mom some more of her own things. Then Malia sweet-talked her way into Mimi's bed. I rescued her (Mimi) around 11pm so she could get some rest.

Actual turkey day was great! The food was unreal- we had about 20 people and food to feed 120. A huge turkey, a ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green-bean cassarole, and, I'm not kidding, about twenty desserts. Every kind of pie, pumkin, pecan, apple, cherry and strawberry cheescakes, pineapple cake, cookies with icing on top (guess who's creation those were?) and more! We visited with Grandma Kay, Aunt Patty and Uncle Jerry, Daniel and Veronica, Micheal, Jimmy, Crystal, James and Angel. Mimi had all her Christmas decorations up already. The kids LOVED looking at her tree and presents with their names on them (my mom starts Christmas shopping in August). Makai even found a Ben 10 jacket EXACTLY like the one he wants for Christmas hanging in Mimi's closet. What a coincidence!! Oops.

Malia wore mommy's favorite little preppy menswear-inspired outfit ever made by Old Navy (oh how I wish I had a career in children's fashion design). Makai loved walking out the back door to the grocery store, practically in Mimi's backyard. They both love, and equally fear, Mimi's "secret room" - her carpeted stairway that leads to her finished basement/computer room.

Now we're home- stuffed like turkeys and ready to put up our own Christmas decorations tomorrow. We're so tired - Makai says he has a "storm in his brain." We can't figure out if he has a brilliant idea, or a sugar rush from all the dessert he ate today.

My Mom's house in Frederick, OK

My cousin Jimmy's boy, James.
Little stinker stole my camera for a self portrait, LOL
Didn't know until I got home - how cute!

Grandma Kay playing ring around the rosie.

What's wrong Makai? Must be the storm in your brain.

Aunt Patty is every kid's favorite - you can tell she is a 1st grade teacher!

Who's blond kid is this?

Beautiful little Old Navy model

My handsome guys

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-24T13:27:00.000-08:00

Okay, so HERE are my pictures...I just can't post without pictures!

Why so glum, Chief Drama Mama? Maybe she heard that
M&M's are not a traditional Thanksgiving dessert.

But there is a chance for cake??? That's more like it!

Makai is already practicing his post-meal,

football-watching relaxed pose.
This is Mitch's favorite thing that Makai does -

even the closed-eyes-smirk thing.

Sometimes he just plops down on the floor and does this.

Makes us think he's thinking,

"Ah, life is good." So cute.

Just finished my Christmas card!

2008-11-23T20:30:00.001-08:00

You can blog without a picture, right? LOL I'm still pretty new to this - and I ALWAYS have a picture. But just thoughts today :)

I have to say, I am getting more excited about the holiday season this year. I am usually a scrooge because I get so sick of the commercialization of the holiday, the rush, the stress, the lost meaning. And then I go out and buy my kids more toys?? I get sucked in too!! But this year, I am actually really looking forward to it. The kids are getting older, so they get excited about putting up decorations, looking at lights in the neighborhood, and of course presents. Hey, they're kids right! Not to mention the fact that my mom is finally home and since we missed Christmas with her last year, we are excited to see her and my brother coming home from Iraq. My in-laws are also coming in December and we miss them so much as well!

So this year, in an effort to save money on postage as well as try something new, I designed a postcard for our Christmas card. It took me a while to decide on the right wording and scripture, but I think it will be nice!

Keep checking back for our holiday adventures and also keep your eye out for a teeny tiny card with no envelope from the Willnghams in your mailbox in December ;)

Could this be any cuter?

2008-11-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

I know there are lots of pictures and mention of my friend and neighbors and their kids, but we seriously talk EVERY day! And Makai and Malia just love them. First Malia became obsessed with their now four year-old little girl (Happy birthday Riley!) but now Makai is realizing that they have a lot in common. And I think he has a bit of a crush on her. He told me in the car the other day that he just "loves Riley so much and she makes my heart happy." Then he asked ME to tell her that. He wanted her to know, just too shy to say it himself, LOL. Here is Malia and Riley on Riley's birthday. I found these shirts on clearance in each size and couldn't resist. They both already had the boots, and well, almost every thing in their closests are the same because my friend and I shop at the same places and have the same taste. I think this is one of the cutest pictures ever!

I ran a half marathon!!!

2008-11-03T06:08:00.000-08:00

We did it! Me and my homegirl...we rock! It felt sooo good to hobble, er, run across that finish line!!! We ran the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon around White Rock Lake on November 2nd.

Mile 1-3: We could do it in our sleep
Mile 3-8: Piece of cake!
Mile 8-10: Getting harder - would've liked to stop and felt accomplished
Mile 10-13.2: Easily compared to early stages of labor

We made a great partnership - we pushed each other and have the same capabilities and pace. And it was fun! Cookie and Gatorade stops, a beautiful view of White Rock Lake in the fall and gorgeous warm weather!

We have some great photos coming from the sports photo people, I'm sure - lots of funny posing. But not sure if I can buy them digitally for posting or if they will cost $50 a print either, ha ha. So here's one, taken by her hubby, just before crossing the finish line.

For those avid runners wanting to know our time, I have 2 words (not numbers) for you: we finished! :)

**EDIT: Sport Photos have our pictures ready! But as I suspected, they are a bit pricey. So if you are interested in seeing some funny/cute pics of me and my friend running, go to www.sportphoto.com, click on the DRC Half Marathon and 5K and enter bib number 1733. Man, I want to buy some, but I'll have to do some more photography sessions first! I love the ones at the finish line - we look SO relieved that it's over!

The Wicked Witch of the West

2008-11-02T20:34:00.000-08:00

I even got into the Halloween spirit this year. We went to a super fun Halloween party at my friend Shannon's house. She had lots of good food, pumpkin painting, a BOUNCE HOUSE, and almost everyone there was in costume, even the adults. I decided on living up to my popular name in the house, the Wicked Witch of the West (hee hee hee). Mostly because I had the wig from last year and green paint and a witch hat only set me back 2 bucks. I let the kids paint my face with paintbrushes so they wouldn't be scared of me. Malia was thrilled that I was the perfect accessory to her Dorothy costume. Don't worry - sometimes she calls me Glinda the Good Witch too.

Mimi's home!

2008-10-25T14:17:00.000-07:00

After a year of teaching English in South Korea, my mom ("Mimi" to the kids) is home! Makai made a beautiful welcome home sign for her and we took it to the airport to welcome her (isn't the airplane adorable?!). She can't say it was her favorite year of her life, but she got to see some interesting things and meet new people. Here are some pictures she took over there and a couple from a few days ago when we picked her up.

Malia is definitely making up for lost time, sometimes stealing her away from Makai a little too much. But we have lots of time to catch up and we are excited to have her home for the holidays. Now all we need is my brother and sister-in-law home from Iraq!

Her apartment

From the outside

Downtown Daegu, where she lived

A classroom she taught in

A fruit stand in the open-air market

The cherry blossoms look like this every spring

A structure to a mountain entrance

A temple at the top of a mountain

A sky lift at the top of a mountain

Welcome home!

Read to me Mimi!

The Cooper Aerobics Center Fall Festival

2008-10-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Another fun festival! The kids have seriously been looking forward to this since the day it was over last October. Our gym has the best fall festival and it's right across the street from us. Pony rides, bounce houses, vendors with free food and coupons, games and prizes, face painting and a train that circles the outdoor running track. Here's Little Miss Dorothy (on her naughtiest behavior all day) and the Transformer. Malia's best friend who lives in our neighborhood, Little Miss Bumblebee, is truly Malia's soul sister. She is a precious sweet girl and her mom (MY soul sister) MAKES her costumes every year. Isn't this bumblebee costume to die for??? You should've seen the stinger on the back...and the wings had black webbing in them. Too cute for words!! Look at how Malia admires her.

Painting Pumpkins

2008-10-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Here we are painting the pumpkins we picked from the farm. Apparently I didn't have the right paint because it's already flaking off. But here are our versions of a witch, a ghost and...you guessed it (or did you?): a Transformer. That is Daddy's art, just to be clear.

Big Orange Pumpkin Farm

2008-10-17T16:18:00.000-07:00

I love this time of year. We live in a great area filled with fall festivals and activities. My friend Amy found this great pumpkin farm in a rural area near us. We fed cows and goats, rode on a hay ride, roped a fake bull, and even climed on a spider made out of a giant hay bale! We got to pick our pumpkins out of the ground (we always buy them at Walmart so this was a fun first). Makai wasn't feeling so hot, so that's why there are many more pictures of Malia than him. Cute place! http://www.bigorangepumpkinfarm.com

The red minivan in all it's awesomeness

2008-10-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah. She's a beaut. We are on a mission to get both cars paid off in 2009! We started by downsizing my totally pimped out minivan to this '04 version. 30K miles in an '04 - what a deal!

The interior seriously reminds me of a black and neon comforter I had in the early 80's. I named her Smelly Red until the dealership doused her with citrus spray of some sort. Now she is just Red. But it needs something...maybe I'll change her name to Fancy. Like Reba McEntire Fancy.

Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.

Cute and fun Halloween snack!

2008-10-16T12:11:00.000-07:00

The kids loved these! To make "Halloween Spiders" all you need are: Ritz Crackers, raisins, candy corn (or any candy to decorate the top), peanut butter and pretzel sticks. I read it an article - I think you can "sandwich" the two crackers together and stick the legs in between so they will stick better and be less messy. Learned that the hard way.

I dwad on the chaiw!

2008-10-16T12:08:00.000-07:00

Oh yes you did. You dwad on the expensive Pottery Barn chaiw. And it's not coming out. Any tips on how to get ink out of fabric?

Halloween Costumes

2008-10-14T20:15:00.000-07:00

Makai has been waffling over several costumes in his closet. We have quite the collection. First it was DEFINITELY this Transformer costume (which was not in his closet). Then Ben 10, a Power Ranger, Peter Pan and a DIFFERENT Transformer. We had our cutoff date, so I think he's going back to the beginning with this Bumblebee Transformer.

Malia, on the other hand does not waffle.

Do you want to be a princess?
NO! Dorothy!
Do you want to be a ballerina?
NO! Dorothy!

Finally - someone in this house who is not indecisive!

I took the tag off her "wooby wed swippas" soon after this picture. We have, however, traded the dog in this pic for a black "TOE DOE" (SO cute - I can't bear to correct her).

An Ode to Diet Dr. Pepper

2008-10-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

So what will my first post be about? Malia's favorite Wizard of Oz song? Makai's poop jokes? "You know you're a mom when..." stories? No. I think I'll start with what I start with every morning.

Sweet Diet Dr. Pepper.
Oh, let me count the ways.
You pick me up, then I fall.
Inside my teeth decay.
Without you I am nothing but
A walking zombie gal.
And even if my kidneys fail
you'll always be my pal.

~By Leila
(SERIOUSLY copyrighted material)

I'm a blogger!

2008-10-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

So I never thought I would do it! I just wanted to stick with what I know - mass emails describing what was going on with our family. I was intimidated by the blog world. Now you're all in trouble! I can post every messy face, every potty picture, every cute thing my kids say without feeling like I'm bombarding everyone with dumb emails. Watch out!