Those Big Guys

Last night, we had our final ORU Golden Eagles call in show of the season. It was held at the Mabee Center and all the players were there.I felt a little sense of relief that the season is coming to an end, but great sadness that this was the end of our time with two very special people: Ken Tutt and Caleb Green. People always ask me if we know the players, talk to them etc. And yes, we do have the opportunity at get togethers like these to hang out with them. I'll tell you one thing about them: they are tall!!!! When you are watching them out on the floor, they look like big, strong men, but it isn't until you stand next to them and realize that you are looking directly into their belly buttons that you comprehend the size of our players. If they look that big to me, then I imagine that that to little Luke, they are the giants. I guess that's why he calls them "those big guys." Actually, to my family and Kim's family, they are warriors. They go to battle every night for their team, for ORU and for us. They have big hearts and persevere against adversity to work their buns off every day either in a practice or a game. We think our husbands picked some pretty awesome people to represent ORU. We love our players, we appreciate them, and we pray for them. They mean a lot to us.

But They Don't Look Like Manicas...

I told the kids on the way to school this morning that the Mabee Maniacs were coming over after school to do some work in our garage. You would have thought I'd said The President was coming or in Luke's case, Lightning McQueen. They were pumped. Like waiting for Santa, they counted down the minutes until they finally arrived at 4:30. But.... these people weren't dressed wild and didn't wear any makeup!!! They weren't screaming crazy ORU chants and actually looked like normal people. Joy and Stewart were super nice (and aren't they cute too?) but they unfortunately didn't quite meet the expectations of the kids. Next time, I'll have to ask them to come over in full costume! These college kids, though, did meet my expectations, fully cleaning out the garage (which contains about 12 different sizes of bikes, 4 scooters, a large red wagon, 36 balls of different sorts, golf clubs, a lemonade stand, a big container of random shoes, another large container of soccer shoes, a beat up filing cabinent, gift wrapping paraphanalia, the top bunk bed that we have removed from Luke's room - can you imagine THAT? - all kinds of art supplies, a huge roll of bubble wrap, 2 tangled kites, 3 bike helmets, 1 humongous rake, assorted shovels, dogfood and about 1,021 dead leaves. ) They swept it out and then helped me reorganize it, all in one hour flat. That project takes Tom and I one whole Sunday afternoon, so I appreciated the help of the Maniacs!!! I am thrilled that they are traveling to Oakland, Michigan to support our ORU Golden Eagles as we play our final conference game of the season on Saturday. Go Golden Eagles. May God bless you and Keep you and Make His Face Shine Upon You!

Thanks for the Last 4 Years

Fun with Pans and Cups

Luke, you always like a challenge. You constantly want to add an extra element of difficulty to whatever you are doing. Jumping over a pan - fun. Jumping over a pan with a cup on top - more fun. Jumping over a pan with a stack of cups on top -AWESOME fun. The problem is that you wanted to keep adding cups until it was impossible to jump over them anymore. Then, you just enjoyed the thrill of crashing into the cups with great gusto, rolling on the ground with the cups falling like a rainstorm around you.

In the Spirit of St. Valentine

Valentine's Day is always the perfect time to think about those we love.... or at least have crushes on. Today, Luke's friend Bonnie was over before school, sitting with him at the bar while he ate breakfast. They talked and laughed like miniature grown-ups for a few minutes, and then Luke looked at me with true sincerity and said, "I think I'm going to kiss Bonnie." Bonnie grinned a great big banana grin. Luke never went for the kiss, but it was about the cutest moment I think I'll ever see in my entire life.

Don't Miss This

Here is a link to some pictures that were taken of my niece, Maggie, by a friend of mine named Kelly. Her photography is beautiful and inspires me to be a better photographer. Kim, these pics are amazing!!!!!

It's a Small World After All

Ellie: Mom, it's a small world, isn't it?

Me: Yes, it is. Why do you say that?

Ellie: Well, I take gymastics at Tulsa World on Tuesdays at 5:00, and Brooke (her good friend) takes gymastics on Monday at 5:00. Isn't it a small world?

Me: You are right Ellie; it is a very small world.

Survey Says

When asked, here is what the kids named as their three favorite things:

Kami: Family, Life and Sports

Ellie: Dogs, TV and People

Luke: Hot wheels, Rocket ships and Speed

(I didn't have to prompt Luke and Ellie, but I guess the older you get, the harder these things get to answer. Kami struggled with the question a bit. She started with Jesus and Trees, and I said, "Kami, we know you love Jesus, and WHY did you pick trees?" She answered, "Well, those things are important. Trees help us breathe." "But what," I asked are your FAVORITE THINGS? It took a while to come up with this.)

What are your favorite things? !

Namesake

Of course, Luke James Hankins, you know that you are named after your papa. We talk about that all the time. We marvel at the uncanny similarities between you and your papa, and it's funny how several people who don't even know you two that well have commented to me, "Luke reminds me of your Dad." Yes, he does. But I'm also hoping you inherit some traits of your lesser-known namesake, Luke Spencer-Gardner. Luke Spencer-Gardner came to ORU from his native Australia. He played for us for four years and was a junior the year you were born. Uncle Scott often referred to him as the "heart and soul" of our team. And that he was. It was his leadership, his teamwork, and his work ethic that made him shine on the court. It was his speech on senior night that gave me a real window into the kind of person he is: intelligent, genuine, and God-fearing. I hope you get a few of those qualities, and I won't mind if you inherit his knack for shooting the THREE either. (Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuke Spencer-Gardner for 1-2-THREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!) Luke gets back to some ORU games once in a while. He is quite busy being married and living in Kansas, doing GREAT in his first year of medical school. LSG's mom took this picture of you two before the Montana game, and sent it to us from Australia. That's a little about your namesake.