It's hard to believe that 11 years have passed since 9/11/01. I was teaching my 5th grade class, my first year at Lynn Road in Raleigh...I remember thinking, what in the world? And, how am I supposed to go along teaching for the rest of the day like nothing has happened?
It's also strange to spend today with little ones who were not even alive when that event happened.
This picture is one I always think of...
I remember seeing in our college alumni newspaper that one of these firefighters was a Cortland grad.
We had such a beautiful day again today...very thankful for what we have and the time we have together.
On our way to the playground this morning Ella and Austin insisted on wearing these...
If there was sound to go along with this photo you would hear Austin screaming with joy and Ella yelling, "wait for me, Austin!"
After about 10 minutes Ella said, "I want to take these off." I guess she realized they were not necessary.
Austin playing with his friends in the sand...pant-less. He got wet on a slide and wanted his wet pants off.
Tonight I took the boys to a playground to run off some energy. It worked...they both passed out early!
Another beautiful day...I took Ella and Austin for a walk around Shelley Lake.
While we were walking I heard about a shooting at a local shopping area. A woman was killed and a bunch of area schools were on lockdown, including Hunter's. It turned out to be a domestic issue. The man ended up killing himself. It's just crazy how, on a beautiful day like today, three little kids just lost both of their parents.
Here the kids are checking out the ducks.
Some exercise area they were using along the way.
We played at the playground for awhile. They both mastered these digging thingys...which is awesome...now I do not have to spend my time leaning over the diggers, helping them. They were both so proud they could do it!
Since Hunter's school was on lockdown he did not have recess. Therefore he has been incredibly hyper. The boys are currently spinning in circles in the living room. Austin is throwing a shirt at me. Most children are in bed by 9pm. Mine are just starting to warm up. Fun times!
When Hunter was younger we put a lock at the top of our pantry door to keep him out of it. So, obviously it was helpful to already have when Mr. Terror...aka Austin...was born. As Hunter got older if it was locked and he needed something, he got this little broom and moved the lock. I think he started this around 5.
Well, since Austin has to do EVERYTHING his brother does...here he is this morning mastering the skill at 2 1/2. I told him to stop, but had to take a picture too...excuse the naked bottom...once he got it open he stood with his hand on his hip for a few seconds and then closed the door. Turns out he didn't need anything from the pantry after all.
I took the kids to Marbles this morning as soon as it opened at 9 figuring we would have some crowd free time for a bit...I was right. The boys wanted to go to the "ball room" first...it was completely empty. They did a good job of making a mess out of the big room.
Pizza makers...it's nice to be able to play with the correct items in the correct spot.
Then we moved to the sport area...
Austin splashed around at the water table while Hunter was on the pirate ship. When he was younger he would spend ALL of his time on the pirate ship...and dress like one too.
Then we finished up our time there in the "community area." Not really sure what it's called, but it has a hospital, vet area, grocery store, etc...Hunter spent the entire time in there pretending that his foot was broken. Now he wants crutches for Christmas.
Austin was busy shopping.
And working on his patients.
He covered up all the babies in their little cribs...oh, and he insisted on wearing that monkey backpack thingy the entire time we were there.
While we were gone Chris cleaned the house and started on the lawn. After getting Austin down for a nap I asked Hunter if he wanted to go for a run with me. We ran the entire loop of our neighborhood, which is 1.5 miles. He did great. He ran close to a mile without stopping. His first mile was 12:54 and his total time was 18:59. Not too bad for a mile and a half for a six year old, on his first run! He never stopped to walk, but did stop to take a few water breaks.
Today was the first day in quite awhile where there was no humidity. It felt great. It reminded me of fall...so we made pumpkin squares...I forgot to take a picture before we cut into them.
Austin, who never used to eat sweets...really liked these and wanted another one.
Thumbs up from Hunter!
The boys went out for a swim today. It has been so hot and humid recently. Tomorrow it is supposed to cool down.
After putting his suit on, Austin decided he needed to wear his blue shorts as well.
He spent most of the time hunting poor Winnie.
Recently I came across an app on my phone called Food on the Table. It is great. You can customize it to what your family likes to eat, find quick, healthy meals, all the food is added to your grocery list, and you can link it to a local grocery store which lets you know if any of your items are one sale.
You can also take items off the grocery list if you already have them, add more if there is something else you need, etc...
The only thing I do not like is that you can only put three to four meals per week. But, that's not a huge deal.
This is the second week I've used it and our dinner tonight was called One Pot Pasta, Tomatoes, and Pesto. I switched the type of pasta that was suggested to whole wheat and made my own pesto. It was delicious.
Here's the online link to Food On the Table...which can also be used for the same purpose vs. your phone. You just print the grocery list out. http://www.foodonthetable.com/
And, while I'm on a food kick...here's a blog I have found recently that has some great recipes and ways to not eat processed foods. They also have a facebook page you can like.
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/
It's amazing how productive I can be with just two kiddos at the house and not four or five. Go figure!
We were all over the place this week, I figured a little time at home to play might not be so bad.
While Ella and Austin were busy playing, I planned out our meals for the upcoming week and then took them grocery shopping. It wasn't the best trip ever, but we survived and I was able to get everything, even with an extremely tired Austin. For some reason last night he decided to wake up around 2am and didn't fall back to sleep until 6am. Fun times!
While they napped I got dinner ready, got the mountain of clean laundry folded, and cleaned the living room.
Hunter had his second baseball game tonight. He did great.
His first time up to bat he made it to first. Here he is headed to third.
He played right field the first inning...then he played pitcher for the 2nd inning.
He struck out his second time up to bat, but had a few foul balls and some good swings.
He made it to 1st on his third time up to bat...but, another player was tagged out. He was so confused as to why the team was headed in when he was safe.
Playing catcher.
I'm pretty sure they are racing to the snacks.
Go Bees!
Wow, just realized I didn't take a single picture of Austin today. Probably because he spent most of the day throwing tantrums.
