Cool patterns.

JT's creation. Note he added 1-4 to complete his square and match
the rest.
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What were you doing?

Today is the 9th anniversary of 9/11. The day when the towers fell. The day when innocent women and men, of all nationalities, had their lives cut short by a few extremists. The day we witnessed the best and worst of human nature itself - the blatant disregard for human life by those attackers, and the self-sacrifice by those in public service (and by those who just happened to be there).

I will never forget.

I was at home - a rental house I lived in off Duncan Street in Fayetteville, Arkansas. My roommate had already left for work, I was getting ready for class. My boyfriend (now my awesome husband) was also at work.

I had the television on, my cat and my roommate's cat were chasing each other around the house.

I was about to walk out the door when the news reported the first plane had hit the first tower. I honestly thought it was some sort of movie at first - it's what caught my eye, since I was watching the news and I was trying to figure out how the channel had changed.

I sat and watched in horror - I saw the second plane hit. I saw the towers fall. I listened as the reporters gave what information they had. I missed my classes.

I cried. I prayed.

I refuse to think about the terrorists. They don't deserve my thoughts or my anger. What I do think about are the heroes who stepped up that day. The innocent people that died, and the families they left behind.

I like to think that they are in a better place, looking down on us.

Today, I remember.

Spelling

Literally!
JT brought me these blocks... Then ran upstairs and came back with
ING - and added it to the end.
He was way proud - so am I!

Sweet JT

Today we went fishing and to the park in our neighborhood with our friends. Mom, dad, Audrey's best friend and his little sister (3).

At one point, Audrey, her friend and his little sister were playing soccer, and JT decided to play with them. He sort of followed Audrey's friend around... even running with him to get the ball when it went in the trees :)

Perhaps the sweetest thing I've ever seen was when Audrey's buddy's little sister was sitting down on a step by herself. She was away from everyone else, and she had just proclaimed to her mommy, "I have no one to play with!" JT was following Audrey and her friend, but he saw her sitting by herself. And he went down the hill, sat right beside her and looked at her little face. And smiled. It was absolutely precious.

JT's talking surprises me a lot - I could have NEVER dreamed of the progress he's making there! But I think that this was a bigger surprise. He wanted to make her feel better... such a sweet boy.

Back to School!

It's that time of year again... time for back to school fun!

Audrey started first grade August 25, and JT's first day in PreK (his last year) was September 2.

Both of them are happy - wonderful teachers (JT has the same awesome ladies from last year :) ), good friends and just good times.

College football starts today, the weather is slowly (and I do mean SLOWLY) getting cooler (hey, I think we're out of the 90's 3 of the next 10 days!) - fall is almost here! Best season ever...

Now, if I could just avoid the dreaded 30th birthday I have coming up in a month...

All kinds of surprises...

JT is busy talking away. He talks SO much that sometimes I forget that not long ago, he didn't talk at all.

Some new and interesting developments...
JT is scared of monsters. Really scared of them. In fact, if Audrey (or anyone else) mentions a monster somewhere, it's enough to send him screaming. Sometimes he'll come get me, upset, and tell me 'it's a monster' and point (usually upstairs or in my walk-in closet).
He's drawing moons. Like, really trying to draw, and really drawing them. And 'happy' - happy faces.
He tells me what he wants when he wants it. I never thought I'd see the day when I wouldn't have to guess what he wanted in some sort of mad dash - but it's true. He is very certain about what he wants, and tells me exactly what it is. Using words. Amazing.
He holds my hands when we go places. When he lets go, he doesn't run away. Have no clue when this happened, but it's fantastic. He may go a few steps ahead, but he also stops when I tell him to. Crazy!
He knows all his letters and the sounds.
He can spell and make words. So far, using The Hubs's iPhone and a letter game (where you just drag and drop whatever letter you want) he has spelled STOP (he always proudly says, "A SIGN!" haha), POP, POPOP (papa is his grandpa's name :) ), MAD, JET and CAT. In fact, he got his alphabet blocks C A and T, and a toy cat, and carried them around last week. Pretty cool! We have no idea what else he can spell, but he can sound ANYTHING out. I love it!
He loves 'mine' and 'yours'. Everything is 'mine' or 'yours'. If it's 'yours', he will hand it to you. Cute.
He misses his grandparents. Sort of sad, but when we go to the grocery store and we see someone that remotely resembles my mom (nanny), my dad (papa) or stepmom (ginny) he will yell out "It's nanny/papa/ninny (ginny)". It's precious and heartbreaking to have to tell him it's not them.
He's talking on the phone (with my dad). Super funny.

I'll have to update more later. I'm just making a list of my favorite 'new' things in JT-land.

School starts in less than 2 weeks - I am SO excited for his teachers to see all the cool new things he's learning!

Summertime

Wow... it has been WAY too long since I've posted!

Summer is a very busy (aka hectic) time around here. Between no school and visitors, we've been really busy!

My mom and her roommate came and stayed several days with us in mid-July (right around Miss Audrey's birthday).

Then, my dad and stepmom flew in last Friday and didn't leave until today.

We are going to be very lonely around here now... with no planned visits anytime soon :(

School starts for Audrey next Wednesday (1st grade!) and JT the following Thursday (it's his last year of preschool). They are growing up WAY too fast!