Glimpse

Jack's teacher sent out some pictures of the kids the day they were making applesauce.

Jack doing some practice work while they waited for the applesauce to finish.

Dad went to help everyone cut up their apples. 

The finished product.
Looks yummy!

Cute Big Boy Saturday - Hand Prints 2018

We fell into this tradition by accident, but once I realized it could be a thing, I made it one. Every year on this date, I make the boys stamp their hand prints on paper.

We started it in 2011 - Jack's first year on Earth. He was not quite 6 months old. The big boys were nearing 4.



Jason, Shawn, and Jack (left to right)
September 28, 2011



They were all so tiny then.

They keep getting bigger, these boys.  





Shawn, Jason, and Jack (left to right)
September 28, 2012



Bigger.

Shawn, Jason, and Jack (left to right)
September 28, 2013

And bigger.

September 28, 2014
Shawn, Jason, and Jack

And stronger.

September 28, 2015
Shawn, Jason, and Jack

And even stronger. 

September 30, 2016
Jason, Shawn, and Jack

And even stronger!

September 28. 2017
Shawn, Jason, and Jack

These guys are nearing puberty now. What?!

They're getting so big, they're hands are almost as big as mine.

My hand on the left; Jason's hand on the right.

It's mind blowing to me. How can they be this big?

Their hand prints are such a visual representation of how much they've changed, a tangible way of seeing the passage of time when sometimes it's so hard to grasp in day to day living of life.

These hand prints tell the tale. Our boys are not so little anymore.

Friday Five

We are nearing October, and the big boys are getting very excited for their birthday. Soon, we'll have two 11 year olds in the house. Whoa.

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The boys have started to list a few things they'd like for their birthday. It's so funny; I've been watching them play with a left over box for the past week. Why do they actually need presents if a box brings this much fun? lol

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And with the idea of turning 11, it's official...someone's voice (Shawn's!) was heard cracking lately. One of my babies' voices is starting to change. I am just not ready!

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Jack's class made applesauce today, and daddy went in to help all the kids cut up their apples. After the applesauce cooked, the kids got the chance to have some of their creation, too. Jack said he liked it.

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Jason has established a sweet relationship with Gracie. She still is a bit leery of everyone during the day, when everyone is so loud and busy, but she is very happy to let Jason love on her at bedtime. She even meets him in his room at bedtime each night. lol

Question of the Week

Question: If you could ask a wild animal any question, what would you ask?

Jason: "Will you be my ally? I'd ask a bunch of viscous predator animals."

Jack: "Help. I'd tell the lions, help."

Shawn: "I'd ask a kangaroo if he likes to hop."

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Apple Builder

In class last week, the kids built structures with apple slices and toothpicks. The goal was to see how tall they could make their structures. They had a blast!

Here is Jack working on his structure!

Question of the Week

Question of the Week: If you opened a store, what would you sell?

Jason: Expensive goods like jewelry and toys. It would be called "Lopez Jewelers" and I'd make lots of money. I'd sell like diamonds and stuff.

Shawn: I'd sell cars. (I asked him if that meant toys or real cars.) I'd sell cars I could drive. Yeah.

Jack: I'd sell bananas. (I asked if that meant like in a grocery store.) Yeah, I'd have a grocery store. I'd sell bananas. (anything else?) Nope. Just bananas.

So there you have it. Each of these answers surprised me, too! Wouldn't have guessed these answers for any of them. LOL

Drone

He spent much of the day perfecting and analyzing his creation. It's pretty awesome how meticulous he was to every detail. He planned for just about every scenario while he was at it.

I'm so impressed by our Jay. This kid has quite the brain on him!

Cute Big Boy Saturday

A little picture of the fun at Target...

(Jack was off wandering around the store, getting himself into trouble. lol)

Friday Four

Dad got to help out in Jack's room and the big boys' classroom this week. He's pretty awesome and the boys are very lucky to have him. (And the teachers are, too!)

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Every night when I tuck them into bed, I ask them what they want to dream about that night. This week I got...

"Cats. I want to dream about a mountain of cats."

"I'm going to be a race car driver. I'm number 20. I'm going to win."

"I'm just going to sleep. I'm too tired." (and then he laughed manically) 

LOL. Can you guess who said what?

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It seems that some big boys around these parts are starting to think about a birthday coming up in a few short weeks. It's crazy, but these amazing kiddos are about to turn 11!

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Jay accidentally fell on his tailbone at school this week. Ouch! He says his tailbone is still a little sore now, and it's been 3 days. Poor guy!

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I think it is a Friday four kind of day. Here's to a great weekend!

Throwback Thursday

Our cutie patooties way back in late August/early September 2014...

Chillaxin' watching the tube...

Breathing right while he had a cold (and snored like a 70 year old man)

Hanging at work while mommy sets up her classroom.

It still always takes my breath away when I see how tiny they were!

Conversations With 7 Year Olds

He came out of his room holding his iPad out in front of him.

"Mom," he cried pitifully. "My wee fee isn't working."

I had to laugh...he meant wifi.

Slo Mo

Who'd have thought that this kid - someone who once thought he was drowning when a drop would splash his face - would ever feel this comfortable in the water?




Also, we've got a little boy ingenuity going on with the whole slide in the pool thing, but what am I going to do? I'm out numbered! lol

Conversations With 10 Year Olds

He asked me, “Did you see mom come and throw something at me?”

I replied, “I don’t think so.”

Then he said to me, “Why are you supporting her sack of lies?”

I replied, “You’ll understand better when you get married buddy.”

Squirt

He was cracking me up outside today, being a little squirt...quite literally!

Cute Big Boy Saturday

It was chillier than we expected, so we didn't stay outside long. I did manage to snap this shot before we came back inside. :)

Friday Five

Today has been quite the day. All three boys ended up in the office today (all for hurts/accidents), and the office had to call home for each one of them.

Apparently, when we go to the office, we go big.

Then, in the middle of all of the drama at school, Isaac accidentally locked his keys in the house. Because that's how things go when it gets crazy, right? lol

Sigh. We are all happy for the weekend after this!

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We're very proud of our Jason. He did very well on all of his reading assessments this week!

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We are also excited to find something that will make reading a bit easier for Shawn. It's hard for him to read when there is a lot of writing on a page. (It's kind of like trying to hear a quiet conversation at a concert...only for his eyes. Too many words on a page are a concert for his eyes, so it's hard to "read" the quiet conversation.) A program we just got him allows us to reduce the words on a page for him, which makes it easier for him to read what is there. Yay! Exciting!

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Jack had some fun today building structures with apple slices and toothpicks. He thought the whole thing was pretty cool. The group with the tallest freestanding structure got it to stand 8" high!

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So...we got digital copies of the boys' pictures. They are not the best. Let's just say that I am again perplexed at the photography skills of the people doing these pictures. I mean, how hard is it to look at the digital screen you've got right in front of you and know that you probably need to try the shot again? Apparently, it is REALLY hard. Sigh.

More Back to School Night Fun

Here are a few more gems from the boys' Back to School Night...

Jason drew some sweet little birds in the flowers.

Shawn drew a chicken.

Jack wrote a story:
One day a dog was playing in the park.
The dog found a stick ("stike") under the slide.
Next he chomped ("comped") the stick and it broke.
The dog goes home.