Reflecting

It is hard to believe that it has been 10 years since the attacks on America.  I have been thinking for days what I want to write and I have never sat down and written out the story of what happened to me that day although I have verbally told the story many times.

10 years ago I was at work teaching 2nd grade.  It was a half day of school for the students which meant that the teachers would have meetings once the students left at 11:30 until the end of the day.  I was also 9 months pregnant with a due date of September 24, 2001.  Being my first pregnancy I was so anxious and so ready to meet the baby that was inside of me.  The guidance counselor came to my classroom that morning to teach her guidance lesson and I left the room to go to the main office because I was feeling what I thought were contractions.  I went to the main office and used the phone in the conference room to call my OB.  The nurse I talked to said that if I thought I was in labor I needed to go to the hospital.  I had no clue whether I was or wasn't in labor and went to talk to the office staff.  I was crying and not sure what to do about the way I was feeling, then the telephone rang.  A woman named Angela answered the phone everyone was already around her desk talking to me helping me figure out what to do.  While she answered the phone we were all standing there quietly.  All of sudden she screamed and dropped the phone then started crying.  I can still vividly see the image in my mind.  Someone else picked up the phone and talked to the caller.  Come to find out Angela's brother worked at the World Trade Center and someone was calling to tell her about the attacks, I can't remember if it was a family member of hers or not.

(Thankfully we later found out that her brother had not gone to work that morning, but it did take a while to get that answer.)

The next few minutes were very blurry for me but I remember walking back to my classroom and all I could think about was what had just happened.  I entered my classroom and privately talked to the guidance counselor and told her what I just found out.  She left and I went back to my students.

Finally the students were dismissed at 11:30 and I had also heard something had happened to the Pentagon as well which is a little too close to my family.  I remember calling my mom and she told me that they were alright, but I still just felt weird.  Eric's cousin worked at the Pentagon and we were worried about her as well, thankfully she was safe.

We were dismissed from school and all of our meetings were cancelled.  I remember going home and watching TV for the rest of the afternoon just crying over the devastation.  Actually I remember watching TV for many days after and crying just the same every time. 

America changed so much after that day and I will NEVER forget!  As America reflects on the events 10 years ago it is still so unbelievable to me that it did happen.

I never remember having any more contractions and I guess they were just Braxton Hicks because my little man wasn't born until September 26, 2001.

September 11th is also one of my friends birthdays so I remember calling her and wishing her a happy birthday that day.

Bananas

I am slow excited to see bananas on our banana tree. Can't wait til they are ready to eat. Now these bananas are not the same you would buy in a store. They are smaller in size and much sweeter.

Waterpark

My boys have been begging me all summer to take them to the waterpark. I finally gave in today and took them. I was hoping to be able to go with another friend so I had someone to talk to, but I didn't and it was OK because that means my boys had 100% attention from mom. :0) We were there for about 4 hours and it was still hot even in the water.
Reed has mastered the slides in this area. Tyler and I finally convinced him that he could go on the big slides. He walked up the stairs and then walked all the way back down once he got to the top. Maybe next year he will feel a little more secure and be ready.
Do you see him...at the top of the slide?

Umm...Reed???

Uh...hello???

I'm over here!!!

Well, hello there sweet boy!
He was having way too much fun to stop and look at mom. ;0)

This was during the "code brown" when everyone had to get out of the water.

Most of the day I hung with Reed while Tyler ventured over to the obstacle course or water slides, or lazy river. With the rule that after every third time come check back in. Well...
We only had one time when we couldn't find each other and it was my fault. Tyler was on the lazy river and Reed wanted to go on the lazy river and I thought we would find him. Well we must have just missed each other as Reed went around fast looking for him and I lazed on my tube. When Reed couldn't find him he came back to me and we got out to look for Tyler. But Tyler did the right thing with coming to check in and when we weren't there he went to the life guard who sent him to the manager. The manager was so kind to Tyler and walked with him until we found each other. Thank you manager!!! I didn't get to personally thank you because Tyler saw me and took off running for me and the manager went back into his air conditioned office.

Interesting things you learn about your children...

So yesterday I took the boys to the grocery store with me, not something I do often. (Taking the boys with me to the grocery store that is, not going to the grocery store.) We always end up with more in the cart then what I had planned, but oh well their little personalities do come out.
So we were back in the meat section and sitting on the ledge was a box of Slim Jim's.
Reed: Oo, oo, can I have that?
Me: You like those?
Reed: Yes!
Me: How do you know?
Reed: Christopher gave me one at baseball?
Me: Oh? Well that one is really big.
And we continue shoppng.
We are standing in line waiting to check out and he has a box of 4 small Slim Jims.
Reed: Mom, can I have this?
Me: I guess.
Driving home he has them in his hand because he never let the bagger bag them.
Reed: Mom, can I eat these?
Me: After lunch you can have one.
Well, he forgot about it after lunch, but after dinner he saw them and got one out to eat with dinner.

The little cross necklace was from the gum ball type machines at check out at the grocery store! I used to always have to get something from those machines too when I went shopping with my mom. :0)

Soccer boys

Soccer season is about to begin here.
For Tyler it will begin next week and will continue on for the next 10 months.

The boys are practicing juggling with the soccer ball. One thing that we learned from Coach Adrian (Tyler's U9 soccer coach) was how important juggling is because it helps the kids with ball control. That is how the beginning of every practice started with Coach Adrian.
Reed was told that he had to juggle the ball twice before he could practice shooting at our backyard goal. He did and was so excited!!!

Reed is super excited about playing soccer again. He played soccer Fall '09 and Spring '10. Then took a break and played t-ball all last year. Eric bought cleats, a soccer ball and shin guards for him this weekend. His soccer cleats are very cool because you can change the color of the Nike swoosh on the outside of the cleat. I will have to try to get a picture of that. Right now he has one yellow and one green. Red is his favorite color and that is why he got a red ball. Soccer for him will not start until the beginning of September, hopefully he doesn't break in his shoes too much that he needs a new pair before then. :0}

Summer Fun

Yesterday we went to a friend's house. The boys swam in their pool, played on their water slide, and devoured cookies and cream cupcakes. Later in the evening I took the boys on a 4.10 mile bike ride around the neighborhood.

Guess who now wants a water slide in their backyard?

Got to love summer time and the endless possibilities of where the day takes you!

I am giddy with excitement!!!

Do you see them???
All 3 of them???

You know as you browse the Target dollar spot (you do, right?) they will sometimes have these seed packets for a dollar.
Well last year I picked one up, a strawberry plant one. I was very hesitant to try it because I bought one in the past, a bigger packet and pot that cost me more than a dollar, and got nothing, but soil! Finally last week I decided the small pot and pack of seeds needed to get off the shelf in my kitchen. So I planted it, crossed my fingers and said a little prayer for these seeds to grow.
Well guess what??? They did!!! And I am giddy with excitement!!!
This picture was actaully taken around 10 p.m. last night because I could not miss this chance to capture these little sprouts.

Now again my fingers are crossed and I am saying a little prayer that they grow and actually grow strawberries!

Once they are about 3 inches tall I will need to transfer them to a bigger pot.

Oh please cross your fingers and say a little prayer that they do, if you feel so inclined! :0)