Field Trip Day 2

It just so happened that the boys had field trips two days in a row. Today, the big boys' class went to go hear a symphony. This trip was fun for both of the boys, but I have to say this was definitely a trip that was right up Shawn's alley. He LOVES classical music!

Here he is clapping for the orchestra that was playing! (He is also saying, "Bravo!" but that doesn't translate very well in a still picture. lol)

Field Trip

The big boys had their first field trip of the year today. They had a BLAST making mud bricks, learning about panning for gold, and even making tortillas!

Learning some history

Getting ready to jump in the mud for brick making!

Get on in there, Jay!

   

Shawn decided to try roping a steer...

Bummer, just missed him!

Learning about panning for gold.

Giving this panning thing a try!

Fun day!

It's Circus Time!

Welcome to Jack's version of his future...

The ticket taker - "Step right up, everyone!"

The entrance - "Jack's World Famous CIRCUS!"
(notice the fancy lettering he used there)

The ring master performing for his audience!

Future

Every now and then, I like to check in with the boys and see what they think they'd like to do in the future with the old, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question. A love the small glimpse into the world as they see it that their answers provide.

Jack: "I want to be in the Ringling Brother's Circus!" Yes, it was said with and exclamation and was full of all kinds of enthusiasm. lol

Jason: (at breakfast while eating a giant cinnamon roll donut from the shop) "I think I'd like to be either a biologist or a chemist...or person who makes pastries." I'm not sure, but his answer may have been heavily influenced by the activity at the moment. :)

Shawn: At first he went with his standard reply of "pumpkin" for this question. (Don't ask, I have NO idea why he always says "pumpkin.") Anyway, I asked again, and this time he said something that surprised me a bit. "A doctor. I want to be a doctor." He wouldn't give me any more than that no matter how I pressed him. Sigh. Still, I love that this kid is even thinking about being a doctor, especially because he still to this day has a strong weariness of anything medical.

So there you have it! 💜

Jason and the District Spelling Bee

Today, Jason participated in the district spelling bee.

This spelling bee was open to the winners and runners-up from all the schools in the district.

There were 19 kids there today.

Jason did a-maz-ing-ly! He actually came in as second runner-up! So cool!



Of course, when we got home we had to have a celebratory doughnut.

We're VERY proud of you, Jay!

A Year

It's been a year since grandma passed away. We all still miss her dearly. We chose to keep the day quiet; we acknowledged the date and cried a little. Then we each went our own ways to reflect.

Shawn still asks just about every day about grandma. A few days ago, after a particularly stressful moment for him, he even begged me to call her. It just about broke my heart all over again.

Jason has been more stoic. We talk about our memories, but he holds his hurt in more than his brother does; at least he holds it in until the tears escape. We have lots of snuggles and quiet time when that happens.

It has been hard to tell with Jack. It is clear that he misses her, and he has asked to go to her house a few times.

We are in the process of selling her house. The boys were there with me while we went through the process of cleaning it out and getting it ready. For a long time, Shawn refused to go there, or if we did manage to get him in the house, he immediately wanted to leave. He has just recently gotten to a point where he would stay there without a LOT of protest longer than a few minutes. The boys seem to understand that we're selling the house to a new family (Jason is partial to the idea that kids will be there) and that we wont go there any more, but again, it is hard to tell how it will affect them until the time actually comes. We will just have to see.

Because this is the boys' blog, I thought it was important to record how they have been dealing with this huge loss to our family. Someday, when they are older, and they come back here to remember our lives while they were small, I want them to have a small sense of how this time was for them.

Friday Five

This was a short week for us all due to President's Day. We all welcomed the respite from the daily grind, but man, we were still exhausted come Friday. It's funny how four day weeks end up being crazier than a five day weeks. Maybe it is just the same amount of crazy gets crammed into a smaller number of days? I don't know, but crazy it was, and we are SO happy the weekend is here.

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Speaking of weekend, it seems that we get to go to a district wide Spelling Bee tomorrow. I shall dub this event as "Spelling Bee Part Deux." Jason will, as runner-up in his school's spelling bee, get another chance to win a spot at the county level spelling bee. Fingers crossed for him!

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It has been super cold for some time now; it's been cold enough, in fact, to actually have the school hold PE inside this week. I'll tell you what I have learned from this cold spell. We would not make good snow/cold weather people. There is a reason we live in the climate we do! lol

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Why oh why do these boys of ours go out of their way to pester each other? It is their mission in life, right now, to bug their brothers, and they are all guilty. Boys.

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It's Shawn's favorite time of the year -- chocolate Easter egg time! The boy absolutely LOVES chocolate eggs (and Cadbury eggs, for that matter) and would eat them year round if it was possible. lol. He almost died from delight when he saw those eggs on the shelf at Target this afternoon. lol. Any guess as to what he chose for his dessert this evening? Ha!

Ready!

He came out like this...

That's quite a look you're giving me, kid.

Why? Who knows. lol

Way Back Wednesday!

These two playing together...probably the last time they did so without fighting! Ha!

5 years ago! 2013

Hey, Shawn

Me: Hey, Shawn. If you could do anything you wanted with mommy, what would it be?

Him: (with a sly little grin) Snuggle.

Me: There's nothing else you'd want to do with mommy?

Him: Well, there's always Target.

Ha! This kid is so mine! lol

Another One

Another one bites the dust. A molar this time!

Jason was kind enough to circle his new hole! lol

Character

If you know nothing else about this kid, know that he is quite the character. He is a source of constant entertainment. Take tonight, for instance. He came out of the kitchen, got on the ground, and put this piece of paper over his head.

"Help! I'm inside a clam! Help!"
And yes, those are goggles he has on under the paper. Ahem.

Cute Big Boy Saturday

Found this gem on the table this morning...

"dear mom. it is valentines day I like disnyland ralroad (railroad)  Love Jack"

I sometimes wonder if we have created a Disney obsessed monster with our Christmas trip. lol. He REALLY enjoyed himself, and he's talked about it almost every day since!

Reading Together

They sat and read one of Jack's books together. Jack insisted, and finally Jason obliged. lol. It was so cute!

Art

We have a four day weekend ahead of us due to President's Day. Jack drew a picture to commemorate the occasion. ;)

Abraham Lincoln!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Today was a great day for Team Lopez.

It started out with a rainbow...how could the day go wrong with a rainbow at the start? It was a sign that the day was going to be fantastic, and it was. :)

We asked girls to be our Valentines. We joined the "rejection squad" when they declined. We got and gave Valentines. We partied. We even had our favorite dinner and chocolates for dessert.

Can't get much better than that. :)

Ready!

Spent the night getting ready for tomorrow! :)

Decisions, Decisions

He wanted to choose a Tsum Tsum, but couldn't decide which one was the one to pick. So he set them all out to get a better look at them. All of them. LOL

In the end, he decided against all of them,