Where were you (when the world stopped turning)?

That song, by Alan Jackson, perfectly summed up the mood of the country immediately following September 11, 2001.  Nine years ago.  It doesn't seem that long.  That day and the days that followed are etched in my mind like it was yesterday.  I'm sure every American who was old enough to understand what was happening can say the same thing.

I was working as a director at WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida.  My shift was 2:45-11:45.  It suited me because I am not a morning person.  My normal routine was to come home from work, stay up half the night and sleep until noon.  It didn't quite work that way on September 11th.  I was asleep when the planes hit the towers in New York City.  Mark (at the time we were just friends) called me on the phone and woke me up to talk about what happened.  I had no idea what he was talking about but turned on the TV and was quickly drawn in to the horror that was happening in New York.  I watched the first tower fall.  It didn't seem like this could really be happening but it was.

After the first tower fell I decided to try and get a little more sleep.  After all, my night had been cut short and the rest of the day would likely be busy and difficult.  In my mind I didn't really think the 2nd tower would fall because the plane had hit it at a different spot.  Right before turning the TV off, they were talking about reports of smoke near the Pentagon and speculating a helicopter might have crashed.  Of course, I didn't fall back to sleep.  That was not mentally possibly no matter how tired I was.  When I turned the TV back on the 2nd tower had already fallen and they knew a plane had crashed in to the Pentagon.

The Pentagon plane was the one that personally concerned me.  My brother Rob works as a government consultant in Washington, D.C. and worked at the Naval Yard.  I knew he occasionally went to the Pentagon for meetings.  Thankfully that was not one of those days.  When I talked to him several hours later he was safe at the Naval Yard on the highest level of military lockdown.  He had driven past the Pentagon shortly before the plane hit but that was as close as he came.

The rest of the day at work was surreal.  We sat and watched TV all day along with the rest of America.  Occasionally we would do a little work.  Most of our newscasts were cancelled.  When I went home that night I watched more coverage.  Then I tried to sleep.  That didn't happen.  My exhausted body was no match for the images that were going through my mind of the horror of that day.  There is a line in the Alan Jackson song "Did you open your eyes and hope it never happened  Close your eyes and not go to sleep."  That was me.  I didn't sleep until the following night and alternately cursed Mark for waking me up and being glad he did because it was important to know what happened.

Like all local stations, our news team immediately started looking for the local connection to the events in New York, Washington and Shanksville.  They didn't have to look too far.  President Bush was at an elementary school in Sarasota when the planes hit and he learned about it.  One of our reporters was there covering the President.

One of the flight attendants on the Shanksville flight was from Fort Myers.  Her name was CeeCee Lyles.  Her husband Lorne was a local police officer.  In the weeks that followed, we did a lot of satellite uplinks for national news shows.  Mr Lyles came in several times.  Watching the quiet grief and confusion of this man was heartbreaking.  We all felt so bad for him and there was nothing we could do to make it better.   CeeCee and Lorne Lyles had a blended family of 4 boys ranging from about 6-16.  I'll never forget one night when he was on Larry King.   The other guests had younger children who had a parent killed and Larry was asking how they were dealing with explaining what happened.  After the show ended, Mr. Lyles told one of our camera people that he wished Larry had asked him that question.  His children were older and could comprehend what happened.  How was he supposed to help his kids?  The confusion and sorrow in that grieving man will stay with me forever.

The other local connection was the owner of a SW Florida flying school.  Two of the hijackers had learned to fly at his school.  He came in often to go on the national news shows too.  What an arrogant, rude man!  He was full of himself and his 15 minutes of fame.  I just wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him the story wasn't about him.  It was about the victims who died and the ones left behind like the Lyles family.

In the midst of everything that week, a tropical storm hit SW Florida.  Normally that would have been a bigger deal and we would have been doing a ton of weather coverage.  That week it just seemed like an afterthought.  The night after I finally slept I ended up staying at the station for most of the night to run weather crawls.  That was the point I couldn't take the news coverage anymore.  Alan Jackson wrote "Did you turn off that violent old movie you're watching and turn on "I Love Lucy" reruns."  I spent the night scanning the cable channels for any old show that wasn't depressing.


9 years ago.  For all of us it is a day we can never forget, but isn't something we think of every day.  The feelings are stirred up on the anniversary but it isn't a part of our every day lives.  For the families of the victims the pain will never end.  I know from media reports it took years for Lorne Lyles to put his life back together.  It is for all the victims on the planes, in the Twin Towers and the Pentagon that we remember this day.  It is for the families left behind that we still feel sympathy and give our support.  We won't forget.  We can't forget.  Where were you?

Properly Attired

Today is the first Penn State football game this season.  We are a Penn State crazy family.  Not only did Mark and I meet at Penn State, both of our brothers are also alumni.  My parents had season tickets for many years and my brother still does.  As soon as we knew we were having triplets, it became a priority to have them properly attired.

6 weeks old

Mark could not wait to buy Penn State baby clothes.  He came home from working a basketball game while I was pregnant with 3 cute onesies and bibs.  They were 0-3 month size.  The first time the kids wore them they were about 6 weeks old and about 5-6 pounds.  The clothes were too big for the kids but we dressed them up anyway and took pictures.  That first game we were at my parents' house.  Mark was out of town for work.   We packed up and drove 6 hours because I was in a panic about being left alone for a week with 3 infants who needed to be fed 24/7.  It was kind of cool the first week, so we took more pictures the following game.

Ben still looked jaundiced at 6 weeks.

7 weeks old

When they were one, Uncle Rob started making it a priority to make sure his nieces and nephew were properly attired.  He came to our house after the first football game with tiny t-shirts and sweatshirts.  It was much harder to get them to stay still long enough to take pictures that year!

Katie, one year old

Abby, one year old

Ben,  one year old

The only way to get a 3 shot that day!

At age 2  Uncle Rob came through again.  As 2 year olds, the kids were more willing to pose.

Touchdown!   Age 2

At age 3, Daddy got back in the clothing game and picked up t-shirts for the crew.  The kids, however, weren't so cooperative for pictures.

As good as it gets, age 3

Today, at age 4, it is Grandma and Grandpa who furnished the clothes.  They were part of their birthday presents.  Although still a challenge, it was easier to get them to pose this year.

Age 4

Always have to end with the silly shot when you are 4!

The day Mommy let us get muddy

Yes, I am normally one of "those moms."  The kind that doesn't really like their kids to get too dirty.  I know I'm not the only one.  Some moms I know have different levels of clothing they have their kids wear so they only get dirty in certain clothes.  I don't do that, but AM guilty of often steering the kids away from activities that will get them messy. 

Today I let them get muddy. It didn't start our that way. We had another 90 degree day and weren't going anywhere. Since it is September 1st in Pennsylvania, there probably won't be too many more of these days. It seemed like a good day to let the kids play in the sprinkler.

They all ran in and out of the sprinkler at first, but soon Abby and Ben lost interest and began to play on the deck.  Katie kept playing in the sprinkler.

After about 40 minutes I warned the kids it was almost time to turn the sprinkler off.  I would let them play outside for a little while longer but then it was bath time.  They always have grass clippings stuck to them after sprinkler play so a bath is necessary.  Before I could turn the water off, Katie realized all that water had made some mud puddles and she started playing in one.  Usually I tell them to stop splashing, but not today.  Once Abby and Ben realized what was happening they had to get in on the fun.  It isn't every day Mommy lets them splash in the mud!

After I turned the sprinkler off it was time for damage control.  Everyone got hosed down, stripped on the deck, toweled off and marched right up to the tub.  They had a great time!

First Sleepover

We spent most of the week after Mark went back to Charlotte getting over our colds.  By the next weekend we had recovered and had things to do.  Mark's sisters invited the kids to their first sleepover on Saturday night.  This worked very well because we had an Open House scheduled on Sunday and I could finish cleaning in peace.

The kids had been excited about the sleepover but as the time got closer Katie got nervous because she thought she was going to miss me.  However, after Aunt Vanessa called and told her she was going to sleep in a new sleeping bag she was fine.  Apparently a sleeping bag wins over mommy!

They had a great time!  McDonald's for supper, pancakes and bacon for breakfast.  They took 2 walks, watered the plants, played games, blew bubbles and had a "picnic" of fruit and chips on the driveway right before I picked them up.

In the meantime, I cleaned.  Putting 2 coats of polish on the hardwood floors was SO exciting!  They do look better, though.  I let the kids have one last ride on their ride on toys before they left.  I think the train we got from my parents' house after our other ride on broke is what was scratching the floors so bad.  Besides, they are 4 years old and getting big for them.  It was kind of bitter sweet for me.  They have had so much fun with those ride ons the last 3 years.  I think I was sadder than the kids, but they do miss them.

Ben on the train

Katie on the car

Abby on the rocket

While waiting for the first coat of floor polish to dry, I did manage to sneak in some fun.  I went shopping by myself.  OK, it was all stuff for the kids, but alone time hasn't happened much the last month.  I also picked up some take out from Quaker Steak n Lube.  No cooking and being able to eat without waiting on kids is a treat by itself.

Sunday morning I did the last minute cleaning and picking up for the Open House and picked up the kids.  They were very excited to tell me all about everything they did at the sleepover and show me the gifts Aunt Luciann bought them.  As with most sleepovers, there wasn't much sleep.  I had 3 cranky, tired kids.  Since we had to kill several hours, the first thing I did was drive around so they would nap.  Then we had a late lunch at Burger King where I let them play on the play area and a trip to Home Depot to kill time. 

The Open House wasn't very successful.  We had some people come through but none of them were serious buyers.  I love spending hours cleaning for nothing.  At this rate we may be living apart from Mark forever. 

All Hail Disney!

That is our new motto around here.  All Hail Disney!  Mark is now employed by ESPN Regional which is owned by Disney.  That makes him a brand new Disney employee with all the benefits that come with that.  The biggest benefit is health insurance, of course.  Mark has been self-employed for the 20 years since he graduated from college.  The only time he had health benefits that he didn't pay 100% was the almost 3 years of our marriage before children when I worked and carried the benefits.  Health insurance is expensive!  For our family of 5 it would have cost us about $11,000-$12,000 this year.  We will still pay for family benefits through Disney but it is a substantial savings.

The fun benefit will be free admission to Disney parks except for blackout dates.  We will live about 8 hours from the closest park so that isn't something that we will be using often.  It sure will be great when we get to use it!

The benefit we have actually used is the one that is a big deal to a bunch of 4 year olds and their parents.  We get a discount at The Disney Store!  Last Saturday Mark took his brand new discount card out for a test drive to get each of the kids a gift.  He picked clothes out for them at The Disney Store in Charlotte and I called up the pictures on their website to get kid approval.  Frankly, it was a bit of a toss up as to which they were more excited about all week.  Daddy visiting or the Cinderella, Belle and Lightning McQueen clothes!  OK, Daddy won that contest but the clothes were a big hit! 

Introducing the Super Hero

Introducing Super Hero Abby (wearing Ben's dress up clothes), her self proclaimed Trusty Sidekick Katie, and The Bad Guy (Ben).

Super Hero Abby

The Bad Guy, The Super Hero and The Trusty Sidekick