By the Numbers

95 - school days down...just 5 more school days until the big 100th day
100 - objects Jack is tasked to find and take to school that day
0 - 100th day projects that need to be completed this year
1 - happy mother! Yay!

Ready

He came out of his room this morning looking as cute as could be. I told him I was going to take his picture, so he grabbed my glasses and posed.

I showed him the picture. Apparently it wasn't to his liking because he told me I had to take t again. He grabbed something and posed again. 

"I'm ready for school now!" he told me.

He held a domino "calculator" in his hand, quite pleased with himself. :)

He's too cute!

Economics Lesson

The boy was itching to head to Target to buy a new game for his XBox. He scanned the titles of games, a growing look of frustration on his face.

"Man, I guess the makers of XBox are millionaires! Look at how much these games are!"

Lol. Needless to say, he did not get a game at Target.

Cure Big Boy Saturday

Cruising right along! Go, Shawn, go!!!!

Honored!

Today, Jason received a Student of the Monrh award! Way to go, Jay! We are so proud of you!

Homecoming Selfie

So proud of this kid!

Happy Homecoming Day, Shawn!

On this day, 9 years ago, our Shawn finally came home after 90 days in the hospital! 

It's a day that is very important to us, and we will continue to celebrate for as long as the boys will let us!

Shawn woke up to some decorations on his door.

He got to pick what he wanted to watch on television and decided what we had for dinner.

Then we sang "Happy Homecoming Day to You!" and watched as he blew out some candles. (He chose three, his favorite number. Lol)

He was so excited to get some stacking dolls and Pez dispenser. He's started to collect both lately, so this was a huge hit.

:)

Happy Homecoming Day, Shawn! Hope you had a fantastic day!

More Art

I stand corrected. They used colored glue!

This is Jason's project. Love them both!

Art

They had to gather leaves and take them to school for an art project. Here we have wax and watercolor...

Way to go, Shawn!

5 Yeas Ago...

We had our first family picture taken on this day five years ago. ❤❤❤

Cute Big Boy Saturday

Snuggle time...

Friday Five

We've been watching kid cooking shows on the Food Network lately. The boys actually think its pretty cool to see all that they do. I think it's pretty funny to hear how opinionated they are about the food they see, especially because they are not very adventurous eaters.

~~~

For Christmas, grandma got the boys new decals to put on the walls of their rooms. It looks like that will be on the agenda for us to do this rainy weekend. Fun!

~~~

Isaac has been going to help out in Jack's kindie class this year. This week, their class got a new student, a little boy who only speaks Arabic. Isaac spent yesterday learning how to say his colors and a few other key words so he can communicate with the little guy better while he's helping out. So sweet!

~~~

Shawn has taken to collecting nesting dolls, I think because he saw someone showing them on YouTube kids. Now Shawn puts on (often with audience participation) "shows" displaying the nesting dolls he has just like he's seen in the videos. Cracks me up.

~~~

Middle child came home early from school today. He said his throat was a bit sore this morning before school, but we all thought he'd be okay once he got to school. By lunch, he had reached vomiting stage and came home.

This actually ended in a little milestone of sorts. Jason got to stay home by himself for a few minutes while his dad went to go pick up the other boys. He was quite proud of himself for being so brave!

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Him: Mom, Mrs. (teacher) says that I'm the class's human dictionary.

Me: She does? Why is that?

Him: Today, she was looking in the dictionary to see if she wrote "rectangular" correctly. She found it in the dictionary before I got the chance to tell her that she did.

Me: Well, aren't you a smartie pants!

Him: I don't try to be a smartie pants. She just asks me, and I know.

Me: I think it's good to be smart. Way to go, buddy!

Lol!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

He was sleeping like this last night. I couldn't resist...

Could you find him? He was almost lost amongst his babies! Lol

All About Dad Part 3

WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say...

This is what Jack had to say:

*What is something dad says a lot?

 Says stop saying my hiccups

*What makes dad happy? 

 Playing

*What makes daddy sad?

 When he can't go outside and play

*How tall is daddy?

 As big as a house

*What's daddy's favorite thing to do?

 To build something 

*What is daddy's favorite food?

 cereal

*If dad could go anywhere, where would it be?

 With his brothers

*Do you think you could live without dad?

 no

*How does daddy annoy you?

 He bugs when he bugs me

*What is daddy's favorite TV show?

 Toy Story

All About Dad Part 2

WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say...

This is what Jason had to say:

*What is something dad says a lot?

I love you.

*What makes dad happy? 

 When I behave

*What makes daddy sad?

 When I misbehave

*How tall is daddy?

 Five feet

*What's daddy's favorite thing to do?

  Play with me

*What is daddy's favorite food?

 Everything

*If dad could go anywhere, where would it be?

 He would go to school with me.

*Do you think you could live without dad?

 "If I had you (mom), yes."

*How does daddy annoy you?

 Saying no.

*What is daddy's favorite TV show?

Pirates of the Caribbean

All About Dad

WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say...

This is what Shawn had to say:

*What is something dad says a lot?

Vacuum the floors (um? We don't vacuum our floors!)

*What makes dad happy? 

Eating fruit

*What makes daddy sad?

When I do mad faces

*How tall is daddy?

He is 4 feet tall

*What's daddy's favorite thing to do?

 He likes to take showers

*What is daddy's favorite food?

He likes cheesy potato burritos 

*If dad could go anywhere, where would it be?

Strawberry picking

*Do you think you could live without dad?

Yeah

*How does daddy annoy you?

 He gets my attention (when he gets into trouble)

*What is daddy's favorite TV show?

Home Alone

Cute Big Boy Saturday

He came in and found me in the kitchen. "Mom, come take my picture," he tells me.

So off to take his picture I went...

But he kept covering his face. He inspected the pictures and was content. I have NO idea why! Lol

Friday Four...

Because I just didn't have five in me tonight. Getting back into the swing of things has been tough on me.

~~~

The boys' first week back in school after break is done. Everyone was happy to get back into the swing of things, although they are happy to have a three day weekend now. lol

~~~

Jason brought home an announcement that he will receive an award at next week's assembly. He is so excited, and we are very proud of his hard work!

~~~

The big boys are working on narrative writing. I just love their topics: Jason is writing about the first time he swam under water. Shawn is writing about going recycling with mom and running into a bear that wanted his honey back. lol

~~~

Jack has been bugging me about giving him a box to use to make a spaceship. Yesterday, he got that wish. He's quite the happy camper! We may need to break out the paint tomorrow so he can jazz it up a bit. :)

Oh, This Boy

Today it rained. Hard.

Who had to call his parents for a change of clothes after he was jumping in puddles at school? 

Our Jack, that's who. Oh this boy keeps things interesting. Lol

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Him: Mom, I can't find my cars. Can you find them?

Me: I looked, babe. I don't see them either.

Him: Well, did you look in the lost and found?!

Me: Okay, you little comedian. Get to bed!

There was something about this exchange that made me laugh so hard!

Head Scratcher

Every now and then I find something interesting when I go through their rooms. This was tonight's edition...

Seems someone has my flair for organization! Lol

And They're Back!

First day back to school for our Terrific Trio. Everyone was ready to go back, and thankfully, everyone had a great day! Woohoo!

Lil Dentists

The boys played Dentist with Play Doh...

They need a bit more training before they'd be anywhere near ready for real mouths. Lol

Conversations With 9 Year Olds

Him: "Mom, you're my favorite. I love you."

Me: *melt*

Friday Five

Today is the last day of the boys' winter vacation. I think they had a nice break. Even more importantly, I think they are all looking forward to going back on Monday. Double score!

~~~

Plans are in the works to go to a family camping weekend. I'm so excited. It is going to blow their minds!

~~~

Jason has made it a mission to teach Jack how to play Minecraft. They are playing the Xbox right now. It's pretty cute.

~~~

Shawn, on the other hand, would much rather play his iPad than Xbox. It works out quite nicely, actually, especially because the Xbox Minecraft game is only two players.

~~~

We have finally finished the third Harry Potter book. Looks like we'll get to enjoy a movie this cold, rainy weekend. Yay!

Throwback Thursday: The Wonder of Genetics

(Originally posted January 1, 2011)

I have always had a hard time telling people who the boys look like. Sure, I can tell you who acts like whom (mostly their father, especially when they are challenging!), but the physical attributes have always left me scratching my head. If I am pressed, I'd tell you that Shawn has the skin tone of Isaac's side but physically takes after my side of the family. Jason is the reverse. He has the skin tone of his poor, pasty pale mother, but looks more like Isaac. Still, I would only say that because other people have told me those things--not because I actually see that myself.

But sometimes, I look at the curve of Jason's mouth and am struck by how much it resembles Isaac's mouth. Other times, I look at Shawn and am amazed at how much he reminds me of my nephew when he was a toddler.

Usually though, I just think of them as their own people. Each boy is a wonderful mix of the best (and worst at times!) of both of us. They look like...well, themselves!

Then the other day, my aunt sent me this picture and asked me if it reminded me of anyone.



Oh boy did it. It was like someone took my little Shawn and photoshopped him into an old photograph.

There it was.

Proof.

This picture is of my dad (left), my uncle (right), and my aunt  (center). I'd guess my dad is about 3ish years old here.

The look on his face...

The way his hair falls across his forehead...

Shawn looks like that now! To be honest, he also has that same look that Norman has on his face often enough. Jason gets that look, too. :-)

It blows me away, frankly.

I guess he really does look like my side of the family!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday - My Helper

He insisted he help me put our new organizational cubes together. :)

Nothing Like a Little Pretending

Isaac turned on the light and caught us lying in the dark, camping in the woods, and telling ghost stories. We had a lot of fun on our pretend trip, too!

We still all fit on the same twin bed...for the time being at least! ❤

Happy New Year!

2016 was quite the year...we are ready for a new year full of love, laughter, fun, and health for all. Bring on 2017!

Love how these pictures show the boys' personalities. Too funny!

Just Dance

We spent this last day of my vacation (boo 😢) playing video games on the Xbox and Wii. (Yea! 😃)

Fun!

Questions About Mom 3

WITHOUT prompting, ask your child these questions and write EXACTLY what they say...

This is what Shawn had to say:

*What is something I say a lot?

I love you.

*What makes me happy? 

Funny faces

*What makes me sad?

Cloudy skies

*How tall am I?

The tallest...you're this tall. (He held up his arms.)

*What's my favorite thing to do?

 Give haircuts (That's really funny, kid. Lol)

*What is my favorite food?

(Laughing) garbage? No. Pizza

*If I could go anywhere, where would it be!"

To the grocery store

*Do you think you could live without me?

Mom...no

*How do I annoy you?

 Making me watch movies (that he doesn't want to watch)

*What is my favorite TV show?

Angry Birds