Rememberance

Today is a day that beckons me to pause and consider the tragedy that forever changed our world ten years ago.  It is hallowed by the lives who were lost and the families who still grieve.  I cannot believe it has already been a decade.  I remember it all in vivid, and petrified recollection.  I had a student this week ask me if I thought that Americans would still remember this tragedy 100 years from now.  I considered the question for a second and realized that the answer to that question is what motivates me to teach.  I answered, "it's my job to make sure they don't."  As I write this blog and consider all that was lost, I find myself feeling incredibly blessed and grateful for all that I have. 

 John Thomas and I had so much fun this weekend.  We didn't have any visitors this weekend, but managed to stay plenty busy.  He was still looking for "Mimi" though, so I had to wrangle one more shot from last weekend.  Mary, please don't kill me.  Thanks for introducing us to "Toddler Tunes" because it's been on our TV almost every night this week!

Saturday we had a unexpectedly busy day.  We left the house at 9:15 and didn't get home until 7:30!  It included Nana Gay's, tailgating, Italian ice, a walk downtown and an impromptu water park splashfest with Lola!   

Sunday was the usual; church, lunch, playtime, nap time and the rest is TBD.  This week, John Thomas will be 17 months old!  Talk about time flying!  He is getting cuter by the day and has quite the sense of humor.  I love to watch him learn.  He is an avid book lover, a water lover (as of 3 weeks ago), an animal lover and he loves to snuggle and laugh.  He is such a special little boy. P.S. Happy Birthday Nicole! 

Season Opener

Who doesn't love an extra long weekend? Well we had all sorts of stuff to be excited about this Labor Day. One of my oldest and dearest friends, Mary (a.k.a. Aunt Mimi), came in to visit and take me to my first UT game in two years. John Thomas loves him some Mimi. She's even been very helpful in giving him his antibiotic, since he came down with strep throat this week.

We made a day out of our Saturday outing. Lunch, movie and then (of course) the game. She searched long and hard to find us tickets on the 10th row, 40 yard line, in the shade. They seriously were the best seats I've ever had. We were so close to the field, I could see Derek Dooley's eyelashes.

I think the last time Mary and I took a picture like this, I was wearing a tie-dye, weighed about 25 pounds heavier and was at least nine years ago. I sure love spending time with friends that have seen me at my worst and still love me. She's one of the best.

As I previously mentioned, John Thomas didn't take long to warm up to Mary. In fact, he crawled in her lap the first morning she was here just to enjoy his morning milk. I hate to even say this, because I realize there may be some jealous grandparents reading this, but he was saying "Mimi" within the first few hours of hanging out. We get to spend one more day together before she has to head back to Nashville. I'll have to keep my eye on John Thomas to make sure he doesn't try to stow away with Aunt Mimi.

Getting in the Swing of Things

After looking back on the blog for the past little bit, I've realized that I must love to take pictures of John Thomas in this outfit. It's not like it's his only set of PJ's or the cutest outfit he owns, but apparently I can't get enough of him in it. Although these two have been peas in a pod for a long time, it's quite the challenge to capture them both sitting still and being cute at the same time.

John Thomas has learned to climb into the chairs on the deck all by himself. Again, it was really more of a photo opp about 30 seconds before this picture was taken, but they WERE leaning on each other and being really sweet before he realized that girls have cooties.

Yes, he is all boy, so please don't let the pink watering can fool you. It came in a set of very masculine outdoor toys. Real men water with pink watering cans anyway. Right?

Last Day of Summer Break

It only took us the whole summer to realize that the best toy in the house was the toy box! It doubles as an awesome fort where you can keep watch from any angle. It even makes a pretty great drum as long as you've got sturdy drumsticks.

John Thomas has really started using the basketball goal a little more as well. Chester isn't as fond of this new playtime game because it usually includes getting his squeaky toys caught up in the net.

This has been one of my most memorable summers! We got to go on all sorts of fun family trips, like Charleston and Colorado. We went on lots of walks, played at the playground, went swimming and read a ba-gillion books! Wish us luck this week as we start our new routine tomorrow and we're back in the real world.

Birthday Pie?

There are some birthdays that just seem to go unnoticed. Not because they're dreaded, but because they are obscure years, like 32, and they fall on a random weekday, like Tuesday. I'm not complaining because I was doing exactly what I wanted to; spending time with my family, eating delectable and dangerous sweets, and opening some very thoughtful cards and gifts. My mom was even able to make the trip down from Wisconsin to spend the week with us. After getting tons of QT in with John Thomas, I bet she felt like it was her birthday too! Watching my mom love every second with our babe just warmed my heart. He sure loves being showered with affection from his Gramma!

As all kids do, John Thomas has gone through many phases. Had I realized the abundance of goodnight kisses would soon give way to one or two kisses a week, I might have relished them even more (if that's possible). So we are not going to let his new phase of loving to crawl into our laps and read a book slip by without savoring every page! John Thomas must sense our weakness, because he's using the same strategy to delay bath time and bedtime. I think he convinced his daddy to read "Noisy Peekaboo" at least five times before we had to throw in the towel (so to speak) and start bath time.

You may notice an absence of glasses in the picture. Well, get used to it because Jason decided to give me the gift of perfect vision for my birthday. When I woke up Thursday, I needed glasses and after LASIK, I have 20/20 vision! Not going to lie, it was the scariest 15 minutes of my life. I'm still having to wear goggles to bed at night (very hot), and can't wear make-up for a few more days, but it was totally worth it!

Thanks to everyone who sent me cards, messages, texts, calls on my birthday...I love you all and I felt really special. This is my last week before I go back to work, so I'm going to be very busy soaking up every second of time with my honey bear that I can get!

Two Much Fun

This week, I had the opportunity to babysit for the first time in 15 years. It was so much fun having two sweet, yet mobile, babes all over the house. One would be headed to the kitchen, while the other wanted to go to the bedroom, and I just wanted to make sure that everyone had fun and didn't get hurt. After three hours of non-stop baby madness, I was blissfully exhausted. They jumped on the bed (pictured above), rolled on the couch, played in the dirt and tossed toys all over the living room. It gave me a much needed reality check of how much energy it's going to take whenever the next Kirkpatrick comes along. I also didn't appreciate how different it was to change a girl's diaper. I'm sure if we have a little girl one day, I'll have to really improve my girl diapering skills.

My friend, Cara, also came in for our annual summer luncheon this week. She brought her vivacious boys, Jackson (above) and Grayson (below). It was fun to be around some older boys and get a sense of what our house is going to be like in a few years. Jackson was busy climbing our tree, blowing bubbles and trying to make John Thomas laugh. While Grayson found good luck as he happened upon a four-leaf clover in our front yard. I'm so glad they could all make the trip and hopefully we'll see them again really soon.

I couldn't resist one more picture of the from Friday. Charlotte is not going to be the type of girl that is going to let anybody push her around, but she didn't mind John Thomas taking her for a spin in his shiny wagon. In fact, Charlotte will turn one on Tuesday so we all got together for her party last night at Norris Dam State Park. I think there were as many adults there as there were kids, and they loved it. Although, I'm going to blame the humidity for my hair in this picture. I know it's weird that it only affected my hair, but I promise it did not look like a wig when I left my house. Angelina (on the right) is going on a mission trip to Haiti this week, so if you're a prayerful person, please keep her in your prayers. And since it's becoming customary for me to send birthday wishes on the blog, Happy 1st Birthday Charlotte!

More Than Toddling

I have to confess that our babysitter, Kara, took more pictures of John Thomas this week than we did. With two doctors appointments and a day at the lake, he got to spend lots of quality time with his favorite and only babysitter. Don't let the photo above fool you, he loves having her around and she does a fantastic job. She even babysat Charlotte and John Thomas together on Wednesday so that the ladies/moms could spend a day at the lake.

Chester was in doggy heaven at snack time with these two cuties. They have both learned the sheer delight of dropping food to an ever-eager yellow dog. Although it seemed like a relatively quiet week, we had some major accomplishments around the Kirkpatrick house. One, our toddling/crawling baby boy decided to let go of Momma's finger and embark on the world on his own. He still crawls some, but walks all over whenever he wants. Already my favorite thing in the whole world is when John Thomas walks towards me with his arms open wide and a big smile on his face just wanting to be snuggled. I'm not sure it gets any better than that. The second point of interest is that I found out the Bible study I wrote is going to be published! I'm really nervous and very excited about the whole prospect. It's going to be several months before the finished product will be out, with editing, cover design, marketing..., but I can't wait!

This must be a new theme here at the Kirkpatrick's corner, John Thomas and Lo doing something really cute together. Since I know all the grandparents read the blog, I need to send out a few birthday wishes to Grandpa Danny and Papa. I hope you had or will have a great birthday and we love you.