The Kassel Family Project Life 365

I was dropping Andy off at work on September 11, 2001 when the radio announcer said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  My first thought was, “Somebody piloted their small plane right into a tower.”  It didn’t occur to me that it was something much, much more.  After dropping Andy off and saying goodbye to him, I drove to the parking garage.  As I was parking the car, I heard that another plane had hit the other tower.  It was then that I thought, “This is not some mistake.”  I ran to work and immediately logged into my computer only to discover that all major news websites were down.  Too much traffic trying to figure out what was going on.  Americans from all over the country searching for every ounce of information they could find.  I was so stunned.  I had no words.  Work was horrifyingly quiet all day.  About mid-morning, I walked to the University Bookstore because I had to pick up a book that my office had ordered.  Normally, the MU campus is bustling – chatter, laughter, etc.  It was completely silent.  Every person I passed was silent.  No words at all.  In the bookstore, screens were set up with projectors running the news.  That was the first time I saw the news footage of the planes crashing into the towers.  Tears started to stream down my face.  In that moment, I knew that life would never be the same.  Never.  It was in that moment that the world stopped turning for me for minutes.  I will truly never forget.  9/11/01 changed us all.  May God Bless those lost and everyone affected by that horrifying day.  Today, I especially think of the men and women of the Armed Forces who stood up and said, “You will never do this to us again.”   Please watch over them and return them home safely to their families.

We went to the circus today!  The kids had a blast!  The Lowery Family went with us too.

For a small travelling circus, it was a surprisingly long show – nearly 2 hours.  Laura’s favorite part was the trapeze act.  She also enjoyed seeing the elephants, the dog act and the pygmy hippo.  John’s favorite part was the elephants.  A great time was had by all!

Tonight we went to the Dothage house to watch the Missouri vs. Arizona State Game on the outdoor big screen.

It was such a fun time that unfortunately had to end at halftime of the game because it was already 11:15 pm and the kids were EXHAUSTED.  The kids played hard and had so much fun.  It was an evening of go, go, go for the kids and relax, relax, relax for the adults!  Great food, great drinks, awesome people, and a beautiful evening were more than we could have asked for.

In the mornings before school, Laura has been watching “The Fresh Beat Band.”  It is a show on Nickelodeon about a band of four members that sing and dance.  Today’s episode was all about tap dancing.  On the way to the bus stop, Laura was tap dancing her little heart out.  It was so cute!  This was her “big finish!”

Meet Blue!  Blue would be John’s blanket.  He LOVES this thing.  From the very first time Andy wrapped him in it as a small baby to now and beyond, he always carries his Blue.  When he was a baby, it had a calming effect on him like I have never seen.  Wrapping him in it meant that he would instantly stop crying and often go right to sleep.  Andy and I used to call it “The Magic Blanket.”  The older John got, it became his security blanket.  It got the name, “Blue,” because we would always say, “Go get your blue blanket.”  Blue blanket became “Blue.”  Every morning when he comes upstairs to our bedroom, he will climb in our bed and say, “Will you nuggle (snuggle) me with Blue?”  It’s repeated at nap time and again every night.  Today, I thought to myself, “Oh, Blue, what would we do without you?  Thanks for always making John happy!”  I know it’s just a blanket, but Blue is so much more to John.

Alia Lowery is 3!  I can hardly believe the pretty girl is 3.  When I was pregnant with John, Rachel was pregnant with Alia.  Alia REALLY signals the end of “babydom” for me.  The Lowerys and the Kassels have no more babies in our houses!  It’s happy and sad at the same time, but I digress…  To celebrate Alia’s birthday today, we went to McDonald’s for dinner and then to Going Bonkers! (otherwise known as Bonkers).

Andy was proud because I finally gave up and climbed around on all the play equipment at Bonkers.  It was lots of guilty fun!

After fun times at Bonkers, we went back to our house for Strawberry cake with some of the most awesome frosting I’ve ever had.  It was a great night!  Love you Alia!  Happy Birthday Pretty Girl!

You know how sometimes you get “that” picture that you didn’t really mean to take?

I truly love this picture.  John was so happy today while he was batting.  I just happened to snap the picture a bit too late and this was the result – a happy, smiling, fantastic little boy.