K, I’m sorry I got mad this morning.

I was tired, H was in the room, and you were insistent on only wanting mom.

It was just like this perfect little storm.

See, it started, in part, because we let H sleep on the air mattress in our room last night.

Then you woke up at some point, and mom put you in bed with us.

And then mom went to workout at 5:00 AM.

So when you rolled over at 5:30 crying for mom, there was not much I could do to help.

I said I would hold you, but you just cried anyway.

I begged you to stop and let me snuggle you, telling you that you were about to wake H up.

When you kept crying, I got mad and told you to stop it – or I was going to be really upset.

And then, hearing my tone, you really started to wail…

I picked you up quickly and tried to get out of the bedroom, but H was already sitting up looking at us confused.

So there we were ten minutes later at 5:50 AM, all sitting on the couch awake when mom got home.

On top of everything, I stayed up late last night reading.

It’s just sleep though…

And that’s just not worth being mad at your daughter about.

You are an angel.

And I’m sorry again.

I love you.

-Dad

H and K, this weekend you went to your first football game!

Texas Tech played Oklahoma here in town, so when mom got free tickets from the bank, we just couldn’t turn it down.

It was a little cold and the game didn’t start until 7:00 PM, but we braved it anyway and went.

We parked on the sixth floor of the tall parking garage across the street and walked across the walkway over Marsha Sharp.

Before we made it to our seats we stopped for Coke and popcorn.

You girls are so silly – you always want to stop for Coke and popcorn.

Of course, your favorite parts were seeing the Masked Rider, Raider Red, and participating in all the cheering.

We stayed until the Goin’ Band finished their halftime performance and called it a night.

K, you had fallen asleep in mom’s arms by the time we left.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that an unusual number of OU fans were sitting around us and cheering obnoxiously. I remember thinking that they wouldn’t have gotten away with all that if we had been sitting closer to the student section – there would have been a fight.

H, I carried you in on my shoulders all the way from the car to the stadium – I carried you back out to the car the same way.

On the way out, we stopped and got cotton candy, naturally.

I love you.

-Dad

For Halloween, this year mom and I had a little independent Minnie Mouse and a tough and brave Batgirl on our hands.

H, you dressed as Batgirl.

Mask and all, you looked ready for a fight all night long.

And K, you dressed as Minnie Mouse.

You had the reddest polka dot dress, complete with Minnie Mouse ears.

Unfortunately, our annual trunk-or-treat festival at church was canceled this year due to the rain and cold.

They turned the whole thing into an elaborate drive-thru to pass out all the accumulated candy – and hotdogs – that I’m sure someone spent all day cooking.

We stopped by your school to show off your costumes – because H insisted – and got to church at 5:45 right when it started.

Four hotdogs. Four chips. And two bags of candy, for two kiddos.

We stopped and ate in the front seat of the car on the back corner of the church parking lot.

Afterward, we drove the 100 yards to Craig’s house to trick-or-treat (he works with mom).

We headed toward home and luckily found a row of eight or nine houses just west down our street that were all handing out candy.

It was cold, but we made it to every house that had a porch light on.

We made a fire when we got home.

Y’all were both so beautiful.

K and I slept in the master bedroom and H and mom slept on an air mattress in front of the fire.

I remember last year’s Halloween so vividly.

Halloween the year before last too.

The years are moving so fast.

I love you.

I love you so much.

-Dad