Immunized

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

A First

This week we had our first school confrontation. Someone said something mean to one of our guys, and our guy stood up for himself by throwing a water bottle at the kid's nose. The kid ended up with a bloody nose. While it may not have been the best choice to throw the bottle while he was angry, I'm going to guess that everyone now knows not to mess with our guy!

Our guy ended up with a lunch detention for tomorrow. He felt bad for hurting the other boy and did write an apology letter. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

Picture Retake

Now this one I can share. I can't believe how grown he is! 

8th Grade

The Dynamic Duo is 14!!!

Today we celebrated these amazing guys!

Shawn opened his big gift - a hotel trip!
It was the only thing he asked for.

Jay's showing off his new tech. These guys 
finally got phones!

We hope you had a great day, boys! We are so, so proud of the young men you have become!

Birthday Eve

I say this every year, but oh, this day...my heart feels like it will burst!

With a kiss goodnight, I said goodbye to the year of 13. Tomorrow my little 2 pound preemie miracles will wake up as FOURTEEN year olds! 14! How can that be? I swear it was just yesterday that they were born.

His last picture as a 13 year old.

His last picture as a 13 year old.

The year of 13 sure had some twists and turns, but they made it through and thrived. I am so very proud of them!

Here's hoping this year brings us lots of laughter, joy, and adventure! I imagine there will be plenty of surprises, too.

Bring it, 14. We can't wait to meet you!

Party

Today, Jason went to his first friend party in what seems like forever. He was a bit nervous beforehand, but he did it. Better yet, he had a blast! I'm so glad he got the chance to do something fun with friends!

Handprint Day!

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

And super strong!

And super, super strong!

These man boys are getting so big. Their hands larger than mine.

My hand on the right, Jason's hand on the left in 2020.

 

This year, the dynamic duos' hands are similar in size and Jack's are nearing my size now. It won't be long now. 

Jason's hand to mine a la 2021.
I told him he could stop growing now...he rolled his eyes at me.

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.

First Day of School!

In-person school, here we come!

Last first day of elementary school!

Last first day of middle school!

Last first day of middle school!

Take Me Back Tuesday

August 13, 2012...

Jason lost his first tooth!

Notice he already had an adult tooth waiting to move forward. I was so surprised. lol. In my defense, I wasn't ready for one of them to lose a tooth at 4 and a half!

Anniversary!

19 years ago today, this guy and I got married! 

Shawn was so cute. He was so excited to celebrate "our" anniversary. He figured it belongs to all of us, not just to mom and dad,, because we are a family. It's hard to argue with that logic, I guess. ❤️

Happy Anniversary to us!

Last Day of School!

These guys made it through one of the toughest school years ever. Made it through and excelled! We are so proud of how they all tackled online school!

They've grown SOOOO much this year!