Running at the track

James loves to run.  He runs laps around the house, and he runs back and forth across the backyard, and if there's an open field wherever we are playing outside, he runs.  We drive past the TCU track regularly on our way to church and school (same place), and James is always looking to see if anyone is out there running.  He calls the track, "the race". 

Sometime in late October, we took the kids to the TCU "race" so James could run.  He ran 100 meters in 39.4 seconds, and he ran 400 meters in 3 minutes 23.2 seconds (and he ran the entire lap in lane 5). 

 

While James ran, Audrey organized cones.

 

 

James took a break from running to climb the bleachers with Audrey.

 

On your marks, get set...

 

 

Halloween 2012

We painted and carved our pumpkins to get ready for the biggest candy holiday of the year...

 

 

 

Our superheroes were ready and more than eager to trick or treat...

  

 

 

 

 

 

James and Audrey had such a fun night wearing their costumes and going trick or treating.  We knew James would love it, but we were surprised how much Audrey seemed to understand and love it too.  The kids also really enjoyed handing out candy to other trick or treaters once we came back home.  Fun times for the Stoner's!  Happy Halloween!

Tough Mudder

In October, Dave ran the Tough Mudder in Austin with some friends he's known for a long time (Jeremy and Sabrina Ruckel, Jeff Ruckel, and some of their friends).  The Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile obstacle course that includes lots of mud, water, barbed wire, electric current and climbing obstacles.  Dave's group finished the race in about 4 hours, and I was there to document most of it.  They all had so much fun that they're going to do it again in April, and I'm going to join in the madness this time.  Great job Dave!  You are officially a Tough Mudder!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trip to Denver

Just before Halloween, I took James to visit our friends, The Brown's, in Denver.  The Brown's lived in Fort Worth last year and moved to Denver at the end of the summer.  Owen was in James' class at school, and Owen's mom, Ann, and I have become good friends.  We are so sad that they moved away.

James hadn't been on an airplane since just before his 1st birthday, so as far as he was concerned, he'd never been on a plane before.  The anticipation of our trip and riding on an airplane was so much fun! 

 

 

We were lucky enough to arrive in Denver the day after it snowed, so James and Owen had tons of fun playing in the snow.  The boys also got to dress up in their Halloween costumes for the Brown's church's Trunk or Treat.

 

 

 

 

And, Ann and I got to go out to dinner sans kids (thank you Ryan for watching them).  We had a wonderful weekend, and we miss our friends so, so much!

A new cousin

At the end of September, we drove down to Fort Hood to see Uncle Mike and Aunt Amanda before they moved to Virginia where Mike was being re-stationed.  We also got to meet our new niece (James and Audrey's new cousin), Julia Grace, born on September 6th.

Super Heroes

In September, I made James a Batman cape, and since he didn't have a full costume (that'll come in October), he had to improvise...

James also helped Audrey find her own super hero get-up, minus the cape (that also will come in October)...

We are so lucky to have two super heroes in our home to keep us safe. Don't they look tough?

First day of preschool

This year, James started his third year of preschool, and Audrey started her first year.  Both kids are going 2 days a week (Tues/ Thurs), and they both love it! 

Audrey's is in a class with 4 other 1-year-olds, and her teacher's name is Ms. Susie.  Audrey has no problem at drop off, and often ignores me at pick up because she wants to keep playing.  She is one independent girl!

James is in a class with 14 other 3-year-olds and has 2 teachers, Mrs. Alland and Mrs. Parker.  He has so much fun, and loves having so many "friends".  He is a very social kid.  We were able to get James and a friend from his class last year, Henry, in class together this year, and they are becoming inseparable.  It's really fun to watch toddler's interact with each other.

We can't believe how fast Audrey and James are growing up (I know, so cliche, but so true).  We've seen a big difference in Audrey since school started.  She's becoming increasingly verbal, and James likes to ask her to say words.  He gets excited when she does, and he often tells me "Audrey can talk like me now."  Audrey is starting to play with other kids more, as opposed to just around other kids.  She definitely would have started doing some of these things regardless of school because they are typical milestones, but it seems like she's grown up so much in just the past month.

James is such a loving, kind and thoughtful little boy.  He adores Audrey.  He was asking me about my wedding rings the other day, and he asked if he could have them.  I told him no, but someday he will meet a girl that he really loves and they will give rings to each other.  He immediately pointed at Audrey and said, "I already found her!"  MELT MY HEART!