The Art Barn

My neighbor invited us to join her, her sons and her MIL (Mother-in-law) at The Art Barn. I'd never heard of it but it was so much fun. We started the morning out by meeting Farmer Sue & Vera Bradley (the chicken). Mrs. Debbie read stories to the children and then we headed out to learn about the animals and pet them. Thompson was very nervous at the beginning but he finally warmed up to them and came out of his shell. Mrs. Debbie took us on a hay ride and Thompson got to drive the tractor since he had the most recent birthday. We used some of his birthday money from family to go (Thank You). After, the tractor ride we did an art project and then had a picnic lunch. The Art Farm did a great job engaging the children and we hope to come back soon. Presently, my boys are wiped and are napping! Daddy just got home and headed out on an 18mile run. He is training for the Marine Corps Marathon.

 

 Wednesday, Firemen were doing a drill in our neighborhood and Thompson was thrilled. The firemen were very kind and let him get into the truck.

Thompson's excitement at seeing the truck:

Thompson is 3!

TWM,

Happy Birthday little man!  It is hard to believe you are already three years old.  A lot has happened in those years:

·         You were born in Bremerton Naval Hospital in WA

·         We moved across country to Atlanta, GA

·         Rented a house for 6 months, then moved to a new home

·         You learned to walk and talk and now you talk all the time (just like you dad, when I was little people called me Motor Mouth Monk)

      ·         You became a big brother

I love you very much and I pray God continues to bless you the next three years and rest of your life.  What I want most of all for you is for you to be joyful in the Lord, which is something God is still teaching me to do.Love, Daddy

Thompson,

You light up our lives and are a constant source of humor for us! You are very energetic, stubborn, funny, loving, smart, and determined and we pray that you use those qualities to glorify God. You love people & are very outgoing. You often greet someone by saying, “Hey Friend.”   You’re handsome and athletic. You enjoy playing with your bikes on the driveway, swimming, playing at chick-fil-a, and anything that involves running. You are very stubborn and want to do it your way.

This past year your vocabulary has grown and now we can have conversations. You repeat anything we say which keeps us on our toes. Here are some of your most common sayings: It’s too heavy…when you don’t want to do something, or lets go see them for a minute, its stuck, take Jon-a-fin (you are very concerned that we might leave him), one more time that’s it (you’ve heard me say that…so now you say it to me), What are you doing?, member-dat (Often right after you did something you loved). I love you Mommy & Daddy.

I can’t believe you are already 3; the time has passed so quickly. I thank God for giving me YOU!  I got emotional today thinking of how fast you’re growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I want you to need me less and less each day. But, I love the hugs and kisses you give me and it’s hard for me to think of a time when I won’t get to have you in my house every day.  I heard this quote and it sums up how I feel, “The days go by slow but the years fly by.” You are my first baby and I never knew love like this. It is a slight glimpse for me of our heavenly Father’s love for us.   Mothering you has been the best job and I am so blessed to spend my days with you.  I love you always and forever, mommy

Today, I took you to “School” and I went to bible study. I brought donut hole’s for your class, then we came home had lunch, naps (for you and JRM), took a friend a meal and then the park. Daddy came home and rode bikes and then grilled out Hotdogs!  You also had a cupcake with a candle! I think you liked turning 3. The pictures are from tonight's birthday celebration:  

Road Race

I ran my first road race two weeks ago! It was a 5k for Kaiser Permanente. GE had a team and so I joined them! It was a fun "date" but I don't enjoy the feeling of having a ton of people running past me in a confined space. Maybe, it’s because I'm short? However, It was a great experince and we ran/walked it.

We headed to Rome on Saturday. William helped his parents move stuff out of their old house and they gave us one of their beds. This past week/weekend we all had a cold and it was a real bummer. Thompson got croup and Jonathan got a stuffy nose. We helped our friends move on Saturday since their son also had a cold and we were dying to be out of the house. Hopefully, we are on the up and up! Our oldest baby turns 3 on Wednesday. So, I will have a post dedicated to him. I can't believe he is 3!

10 Years Later-9/11

Our precious sons,  
10 years ago on September, 11 2001 two planes hit the world trade center buildings in NYC. The WTC buildings were icons of architecture, tourism, and the skyline. Your dad and I wanted to tell you where we were on that day. This is your dad’s first post on our blog. He always helps me with them but he hasn’t written one yet.  

From Mommy:
I was a senior at Charlotte Latin and on a camping trip with my environmental science class in the NC mountains. We didn’t have tv or radio so as we hiked back to the bus around 11am we passed people with radios and they said that planes had hit the towers. We started hurrying to get back to the bus. Our teacher turned on the radio and we had it on the entire way back to Charlotte. I was scared about what was going to happen. There was a plane that was brought down by passengers in PA. A plane hit the pentagon. The USA was under attack.  How would this change our country and even the world? There would be a war and it was a day that I will never forget.

Ten years later; I feel great joy in my life. I’m so proud of your dad for defending our country. He is a hero and I love him tons and tons! We are blessed to have each other and to know Jesus. I pray that you make God your rock. I love you both!

From Daddy:
The morning of 11 SEP 2001, I went to work at Scientific Atlanta (now Cisco) as a Co-op. I was sitting in my shared cube when a colleague walked by and stated “a plane just crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers, probably just a small prop plane”.  I didn’t think much of it and kept checking my email.  About 10 minutes later, everyone was going into the lab (SA makes cable distribution equipment, so our labs contained hundreds of TVs) to watch the news.  I suddenly saw on every new station the live TV coverage and learned the crashes were no small prop planes.  We all watched in disbelief and really didn’t know what to make of it.

My team director sent everyone home for the day, so I went home to my dorm at GA Tech.  My fraternity brothers and I watched the news the rest of the day and by the end the events finally sank in as to what really happened. 

Anger set in and I asked myself many questions.  Who were these people, the news was talking about who attacked America? Where were these terrorists from again?  Why would they conduct such a horrific attack?  What did this all mean for the future safety of Americans?    

11 SEP 2001 was the first day I felt God calling me to join the US military. Three main reasons, listed below lead me to this decision:

1)      American pride, sense of duty and retaliation for the 9/11 attacks.

2)      Your great grandfather, William Ridley Monk I was a Naval Officer in WWII.

3)      Earlier that year, I saw 20% of the Scientific Atlanta let go due to the tech bubble burst and I thought there was much more to life than being an engineer in Corp. America.

Two years later I graduated GA Tech and completed Officer Candidate School to earn my Commission in the US Navy.

I am sitting here writing this letter to you 10 years later and can clearly remember that day.  I took you both to church this morning and we prayed for the victims’ relatives, American’s leadership and even our enemies of the 9/11 attack.  11 SEP 2001 has been the craziest and most horrifying experience of my life.  I prayed this morning, that neither of you would have to witness such a tragedy.  However, if you do, know our Lord has been there since the beginning and will be here until the end.

 Your mom dressed you both in American colors and I felt very proud to be an American and to serve this great country of ours.  I am very proud to be your father and married to your mother.  I love you all very much, Daddy              

Labor Day Weekend

We enjoyed a "staycation" AKA vacation at home for Labor Day Weekend. It was a lot of fun! On friday, we met daddy at the YMCA. We worked out and swam! Jonathan stayed in the nursery so we got some great one-on-one time with Thompson. We had dinner out to Mellow Mushroom and then icecream at PinkBerry.

Saturday: Daddy got up early and went on a run to Piedmont Park! He is training for the Marine Corps Marathon! We met Julia and Bennett and played at the new Splash Pad. Thompson loved all the water shooting up and Jonathan enjoyed watching everyone and he got in the water a little too!

Sunday, we drove to Macon to see the Cudniks. Beth Anne was a wonderful host and took us to their pool with a waterslide! Katherine and Abigail are just precious and we enjoyed catching up with them. We drove home that night. Thompson didn't like the slide at first but then he started to love it.

Monday, we headed to the Atlanta Children's Museum. Daddy had never been and he enjoyed playing there almost as much as Thompson. We had lunch at the Varsity and grilled out for dinner.