Friday Four

It's hard to believe that 2021 is now nearly over. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but I don't think it lived up to last year's expectations. Here is hoping that 2022, will be a calmer year.

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Somehow, week 2 of our winter break has come to an end. We haven't done a lot but lay around and be lazy. It has been raining pretty hard, which has made it even easier to be lazy. My work starts up next week. The boys still have another week off on break.

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Shawn had an eye appointment yesterday. He did amazing and was such a rock star! We are so proud of him. He'll be sporting some new glasses soon. Yay!

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Tonight is New Year's Eve. We have our usual sparkling cider and poppers planned. Wild time at Casa Lopez tonight!

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Not much has happened, so I think it's been a Friday Four kind of week. :)

Friday Five

Woohoo! We are on winter break! The boys have 3 weeks off; I have 2 weeks off. Let the Christmas fun begin!

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Shawn's glasses broke this week. We scrambled to find another pair of frames for us to pop the lenses into, but this was not something we needed on our plates this time of year. I guess it is time for us to make an appointment for an eye exam, too.

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Our elf has been having a blast leaving gifts and getting into mischief around the house. The first thing Jack does in the morning is search for Elfie to see what he was up to. So fun!

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It rained again this week, so the boys got to take another day off of school. This time, I took a day off, too! It was so lovely to get a little winter break preview! It was also lovely to not have to be out in the rain - it came down hard most of the day!

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Jack's highlight this week was getting to wear his Christmas PJs to school today. It's the little things that make school fun, I guess. LOL

Immunized

This guy got his second shot. We are all now officially vaccinated! Yay!

Friday Five

This week went by pretty fast because of the holiday yesterday. Next week, the boys have conference week, so they'll get out early each day. The week after that is fall break! Yay!

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I got my booster on Wednesday. While I didn't have as severe of a reaction as I had for dose #2, I still spent much of Thursday in bed. :( Thankfully, I am feeling better today. Isaac will get his booster next week.

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Jack did pretty good after his first shot. He looked a little droopy after school on Tuesday and Wednesday, but he never said he didn't feel well. He did say his arm hurt, though. He'll get his second dose at the end of the month.

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We decided it is time to finally take down the pool, and wouldn't you know it that we have a mini heat wave? It has been in the upper 80s today, and it is supposed to be warm again tomorrow. Sigh.

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It's time to take out the Christmas tree, too! My plan is to get the living room rearranged so the tree will fit and put it up. We wont decorate it until after Thanksgiving, but we will get to enjoy the pretty lights until then. Yay!

So Brave

This guy couldn't wait for his shot. He did so good, too! He was a little annoyed at the tech who told him the shot wouldn't hurt, though. He spent some time giving the tech the evil eye after it did, indeed, hurt a bit. LOL

Friday Five

We are all playing hooky from school/work today while we are on our trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We left after school yesterday. We'll be here through tomorrow afternoon.

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Shawn was so looking forward to his hotel trip, but I think this adventure has caused some extra anxiety for him. Poor guy. We have looked around the lodge and done a little bit of small things, but he hasn't enjoyed how loud it is. So, we left the other two to go into the water park with dad, and Shawn and I headed out to Target! lol (It should be noted that this was a much nicer Target that ours around home, so it was actually a fun trip within the trip!)

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Jason and Jack are having the time of their lives! I think I heard, "This is the best trip ever!" more than a few times since we've been here. LOL

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On another note, they've finally released the vaccine for kids 5-11! The earliest appointments I could find were on Sunday, but they were taken before I could submit our info online. They went FAST. So, Jack's appointment is on Monday. We can't wait!

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Two more weeks until fall break! We can't wait!

Eye Exam

Today, Jason and Jack went to the optometrist for eye exams. 

It has been awhile since Jack last went to the optometrist (2017). He did so well and was so polite to everyone!

His vision looks really good. He does have a slight astigmatism in his right eye that we'll be watching. 

Jason did really well for his exam, too. 

Jason's vision is a mixed review. His left eye has actually improved since his last visit in 2019. His right eye declined a bit since his last visit.

Then we picked out some new specs...

Jay got some grey Raybans. The shape is a little
different from his previous pair. I think he looks awesome in them.

Jack is also going to get some glasses!
His will be for reading and using iPad/Computers. 
He told him to be sure to wear them when his eyes
are tired.

Jack picked out his frames - he knew immediately which ones he wanted and never wavered from that initial pick. lol. He was so different from Jason who actually did some serious browsing before he found his.

Their glasses should be here in 8-10 days. Yay!

Friday Five - No, Six!

Well, we had every intention of making this a productive week. Instead, it ended up being a week filled with some boredom (we are still learning how to deal with this issue - lol) and loads of down time. I think it was something we all needed, so we rolled with it. Productivity can wait another week. :)

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Shawn had a doctor's visit this week. Surprisingly, he is now a solid 95 pounds. Wow!

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We spent all day Thursday without power and internet because the city was replacing a telephone pole in our neighborhood. It made for a very long day, but we did think it was interesting to watch the very large crane they were using.

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We have a caterpillar explosion outside. At last count, we had 74 chrysalises around the yard. There are so many caterpillars, they've just about eaten the milkweed clean! This presents a bit of a problem...do we replenish the milkweed supply or not? (I vote yes. Isaac votes no.)

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The new pool is so much fun! The boys were out in the pool every day but 1 this week! They have the tans to match, too!

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We made another trip to Target this week. We wore our masks, but it was a bit disheartening to see how many people chose to not. With the new variant, we do need to be careful to keep the boys safe. Sigh.

The Aftermath

The dynamic duo made it through the day about as well as we could have hoped. Both were definitely tired and lacked energy. Jason said a few times throughout the day that his head hurt, too. Shawn experienced the most symptoms. He had a low grade fever and a bit of nausea toward the end of the day. Hopefully with a good night's sleep, they'll wake up feeling back to themselves. 

We are just so proud of these boys willingly getting their shots so that we can all get closer back to normal.

Jack is waiting for his shot, too!

Friday Five

Another week down - only 2 more to go!

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Shawn and Jason go get their 2nd Covid vaccine dose today. Fingers crossed that all goes well, and that they fare better than their parents with any side effects. ❤️

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Jack worked hard this week and managed to reach his point goal of 100.2 for AR! So proud of him! He will be getting a trophy for all of his hard work.

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Shawn got recommended to be a WEB leader for school next year! I am not sure that Shawn actually wants to do it, but it is really nice that his teacher nominated him for it. ❤️

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Jason gave a virtual presentation this week in his AVID class on his college research. He totally knocked it out of the park, too. Way to go, Jay!

Doing Our Part

Keeping themselves and others healthy. I'm so proud of both of them!

We went to CVS to get their vaccines. Jack also went and was THRILLED that a store was open. lol. We may no longer be able to say we can't go to stores because they are all close. Darn. LOL

They each got to pick out a little something from the store as a bonus, too. :)

Friday Five

Another week of school is in the books. We've all hit the stage of the year at which we are officially over it. It has been quite the year. 

5 more weeks left. We are so ready for summer.

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Today, the big boys go get their vaccine! They are so ready for it. They are even more ready for us to get out and about again.

The CDC dropped the mask mandate for people who are vaccinated, but because Jack isn't yet old enough to get his vaccine, we will all still be wearing our masks out in public. We want to keep him safe just as much as we want to keep the big boys safe.

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Our garden is doing well! I think our corn has hit 12 inches tall, and everything else has now sprouted. Now we just water and wait. :)

corn

tomatoes

flowers (the kind escapes me for the moment)

carrots, beans, radishes, and lettuce

cucumbers!

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Speaking of the garden, we found our first critters in the lettuce. We found some cabbage butterfly caterpillars. Sigh. I was sad to have to make them leave, but the vegies are off limits. 🤷

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Jack has discovered fresh pears. He LOVES them. It isn't a fruit I normally think of when buying groceries, but for some reason I ordered them last week. Jack ate them all in two days. I got some more and he has gone through these super fast, too. He says that pears are his favorite now. lol

Dentist Visit for Shawn

Today was Shawn's big dental visit. He had some cavities to fill, so we opted to give him some gas to make the whole appointment easier on him. 

Shawn after getting a little bit of happy juice.
He got quite loopy. He couldn't even remember 
which brother was which after that. LOL

He was out for about an hour and a half while they worked on him. It took a LONG while for everything to work its way out of his system, so he spent the rest of the day like this.

His eyes popped open at about 8:30pm when I closed the blinds in his room. He couldn't figure out where the day had gone, and legit thought I had stolen it from him. lol. 

He was back to his regular self by the next morning, though. :)

Friday Five

This week seemed to drag on longer than previous weeks have. I think we all hit the wall somewhere around Tuesday. Sheesh. I don't know if it was because we had the added stress of dentist appointments or what, but it was a rough week.

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Speaking of dentist appointments, Jason had two cavities, one on each side. Of course that meant two appointments because they didn't want to numb both sides of his mouth at once. Fun!

Jason was SUCH a trooper, even when he had a flair of pain from one of the nerves. :( I am so proud of him. Plus, now that the hard stuff is behind him, he slept so much better last night.

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Shawn will get his chance to go back to the dentist in April. We know that sitting in the dentist chair for any length of time will be nearly impossible for him, so we are opting to not stress him when we don't have to. He's going to get any/all work done in April under the comfort and obliviousness of some happy juice. I think he'd prefer it that way. (Heck, I'd prefer it that way for myself, too!)

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Jack's teacher told the class about the Spelling Bee. The kid is SO EXCITED about that. He's been waiting for his crack at the Spelling Bee for years now. lol

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We need to find some sort of adventure to go on...we're all going a bit stir crazy. Hopefully the feeling will pass soon!

Appointment

Jason had another dental appointment today. He did an AMAZING job and was a total ROCK STAR.

I am so very proud of him for facing his fears!

Friday Five

We're getting back into the grove of this whole school thing after the long winter break. The big boys have just passed the midpoint of their second trimester this year. Report cards grades should be coming home soon. Jack continues to get all of his assignments in, and he's doing well, too.

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Speaking of Jack, he has been assigned the California Mission project. He has to create a mission and write about it. It is due next Friday. Much as I tried to lobby that he use one of the two completed missions in the garage, Jack nixed that idea. And...because of course...he chose a completely different mission than them, so we are in for the whole project all over again. :( I think I have finally figured out what Jack really wants to do the project for. He remembers when the big boys did their projects and created their bubble wrap roofs. That is pretty much the only thing he wants to do. LOL. It cracks me up that of all the things about that time, it is the roof design that he remembers. 

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After a heat wave and Santa Ana winds, we are finally back to cooler weather. It is supposed to rain tonight into tomorrow and next week. Because of the rain prospect, we have put off working in the garden and planting anything until that is over. I don't want the rain to wash all of our seeds around the garden, and with our luck, that is exactly what would happen.

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We have had a fun time with the air fryer we got Isaac for his birthday this year. It makes the best, non-greasy French fries. (I will admit that FFs are my comfort food, so we have been having them a LOT lately. Don't judge.) I am hoping that we can work on making the new donut recipe this weekend, too. This one is supposed to rise more, so I am hoping it will make the donuts lighter and fluffier. Fingers crossed.

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We went out more this week than we have since March with the two dentist visits. It felt so odd to actually put on clothes and talk to people other than our family. Jason has two more appointments to fill some cavities (a cavity on each side of his mouth which means one appt for each side). Hoping that goes well for him. Shawn has his follow up appt in April.

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Shawn has his Homecoming Day on Monday! We can't wait!

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Rocking the dentist...

Dentist Visit

Shawn had a dentist visit today. He did SO well! We are very proud of him, too!

Jason has his appointment tomorrow. :)

ManChild

He had a well child visit at the pediatrician today. He totally ROCKED it, even did his blood pressure (not his favorite) and got 2 shots without so much as a complaint. Awesome!

On the way home. Isaac sent me this shot. He is SO GROWN all of a sudden. Where did my itty bitty baby go?!

Dentist Round 2

Jack went to the dentist for the second time and had a second tooth extracted today.

He did SO well again. So proud of him.

This evening before bed, he had to brush his tooth to get it ready for the Tooth Fairy. Too cute!