Cute Big Boy Saturday

The Elusive Jackness Monster...

We have a creature that inhabits our pool.
It seems to have a lock neck and glides along the surface much like the Loch Ness Monster

No Loch Ness Monster here, though...
We have ourselves our own Jackness Monster.
Beware!

Flashback Friday

September 1, 2014. Isn't he too cute?!

Throwback Thursday

End of July, 2012. Walking the neighborhood with the crew...

Throwback Wednesday...

8 years ago this week!

😍😍😍😍😍

Throwback Tuesday

School started for me this week, so this mama is worn out. It's a throwback kind of day. (It may be a throwback kind of week if the way I feel today is any indication!)

Our guys in September 2013...

Monday Throwback

This came up on my Facebook memories today. 3 years ago today...

Oh my, how cute this kiddo is! Toothless Jack!

Well...

Well, the crew was less excited to get to sleep tonight. It seems that the grind of the school year is upon us. lol

It took a while for everyone to get to sleep, and it seems there may be some sort of something viral hanging around in the not so distant future. Sigh.

35 school weeks to go until summer!

Cute Big Boy Saturday

Looked at the pool to see this...

After my mini heart attack, he came up for air.

LOL. He was just hanging out...under water. Nothing to see there. Nope.

He has run outside to swim in the pool every day this week. He LOVES the water!

Friday Five

Well, the boys' first week of school is in the books. By the time Friday rolled around, we were all feeling it. Getting back into the swing of things is hard, man.

Everyone seems to like their teachers/schools, too, which is nice. For the first time, the boys have zero classes together. That is just really strange to wrap my brain around.

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Friday Target trip tonight! Yea! The boys are looking forward to it.

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The boys have the option of eating school lunch for free, but for some reason, none of them are willing to partake of what is offered. lol. Maybe someday, we can get away from making lunches every day.

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Dare I say it? We've managed to make it through the first week of school with NO ONE getting sick! Wonder how long our luck will hold!

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As I told Jason after school today, only 35 more weeks of school left until summer! (He did not seem to think that was inspirational. Go figure.) :)

Visitor

We had another visitor to our yard!

This little guy is bright yellow and loved sitting in the lemon tree this afternoon. He's a cloudless sulphur butterfly. So pretty!

First Day!

The boys had their first day of school today!

We had to split up this year. I took Jack to his school, where he was clearly loving me taking his picture while we waited for his teacher. LOL

Dad took the big boys to their school -- junior high! (There are no pictures of this because OMG how embarrassing! lol)

They all said they had a good day and like their teachers. Sounds like a win, win, win! Here's to a great year for everyone!

Eve

We spent the day in our pjs, playing way too much iPad, swimming in the pool for the last time before school, and hanging out. I was quiet and nice.

I have to say this day is always bittersweet for me. I love these days with our guys, and I know they'll be in the past long before I'm ready to let them go. Sigh.

We've got great things on the horizon, though. New adventures and excitement is ahead! We can't wait to see what junior high and third grade brings these boys of ours!

Look out school! Here we come!!!

Almost

Eeking out the last few moments of summer...so sad to see it end. T-minus two days...

Locks

New this year is that the boys will be changing into PE clothes for PE, which means our guys get the fun of combination locks! We spent the day practicing, but we think Jay's got it. Shawn may need to get a key lock, we think, because the numbers are so tiny on the lock! We shall see how it goes. :)

T minus three days until junior high!

Book Update

Reading right along...

Shawn has finished the book he was on and stared his SIXTH book! He's now reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid book 2. Keep on working, kiddo!

Jack has finished his book and has moved into the second one of that series The Worst Night  Ever by Dave Barry. He really seems to like the series--he asks to read!

Jason is working on the second book in his series, Eldest by Christopher Paolini. He's already 118 pages in!

Friday Five

Today's event at school went well for the boys. They don't remember the names of who they talked to and the details of what they actually did are a bit sketchy, but they survived and are willing to go back on Wednesday when school actually starts. Yeah, they had fun they say. 🤷‍♀️ We will call it a win. lol

(Man, getting up early was hard today! It's going to be rough next week.)

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Wednesday. It will be here before we know it. That leaves us 4 days to cram in as much summer fun as we can. I think we are up for the challenge.

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While the big two guys were at school this morning, Jack and I went for a walk and explored the neighborhood. We had a good time as just the two of us, something that doesn't happen all that often. :)

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All around us the weather is supposed to be really hot. Here it's been strange--low clouds and wind with just enough sun to make you think you should be out in it, but it's on the cooler side when you're out. At the same time, it's 80* in the house.

Jack and Shawn were fooled and went swimming. They only managed to stay in the pool for about 15 minutes before their chattering teeth and shudders forced them back inside. So weird!

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Overheard this evening...

Jason: If you hurt me, I’m going to hurt you. Understand?

Jack (excitedly): It’s a deal!

I’m not sure that’s what Jason was expecting. 🤣😂

Wet Toes

Tomorrow, the big boys will get a chance to dip their toes into the junior high water when they attend a WEB (Where Everyone Belongs) event at their new school. For three hours they'll get a chance to do some team building activities, meet some new friends, and get a sense of their school. Fingers crossed that they have a fantastic time!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

He swam a little. Lost a tooth. Played some iPad. All in a day's work, I guess!

It's Official

We have two junior high students in the house! Today we went and registered at the boys' new school and picked up their 6th grade schedules. For the first time, our guys will not have the same classes with the exception of PE and lunch. How crazy is that?!

Funny story:

After we had toured the school and finished registration, Jason and I were sitting on some benches waiting for Shawn to talk to his friend. Jason's friend came over and asked him about his schedule. They compared notes and found that they share a lot of the same classes. (yay!)

Jason's friend started telling Jason how he'd heard one of the 6th grade teachers was mean and strict. "You're so lucky you don't have her!" he told Jay. We talked back and forth about it a bit before I said that it looks like Shawn has this teacher.

"Oh, he's going to be alright." Jason's friend said. "Shawn makes everyone fall in love with him right away."

How funny is that?! Made me chuckle. It's like Shawn has some sort of magic potion on him, which makes everyone fall in love. 🤣 He does have a certain way about him, but it was kind of funny to hear another kid describe it, too. lol

Growing Up

I cut this kid's hair today, and how old he looks almost took my breath away...

Tomorrow is 6th grade registration day. Gulp. My teeny tiny guys are growing up.

Summer Bucket List 2019 - Camping

Team Lopez went camping!

Jack tried to pack himself into the suitcase. lol

Our home away from home

The view from our cabin

Jason lounging on the deck

Our living room/dining room area

Shawn relaxing on the couch

Jack tested out the bed in one of the rooms

 We then went for a hike and ended up in this cute little playground area.

 We painted rocks to leave around our campsite (for the next campers to find).

After the rocks dried, we put them out. Shawn's putting some of the rocks out here

Our campsite had wild peacocks roaming around, which was pretty neat. 

 We went on several hikes to explore.

 Our last hike of the trip landed us at a creek. The boys LOVED it! We threw rocks and waded around. So fun!

At night we had campfires and roasted marshmallows for smores.

This is from the second night

Dad got a funny picture of Jason, Jack, and I in bed the first night. These two kiddos were having a giggle fest. (Shawn and dad were in the other bedroom doing a whole lot more sleeping that we were in this room. Lol)

They all had a great time. This is definitely something that we're going to be doing again soon!