Remember when we won the Super Bowl?!

It seems like a long time ago, but the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl was awesome! We watched it at our house and made all sorts of fun snacks. We decided not to go to the parade because is was so cold, but we watched from home. The boys are so lucky -- a World Series and a Super Bowl both during their childhoods!

 And Valentine's was pretty soon after the Super Bowl. They boys did their annual scavenger hunt, compliments of Nathan.

Henry is 9

Well I just realized I didn't do Henry's birthday post! Oh no -- we will do it right now. He had a party at a gymnastics place so they got run around and be crazy, and play games the whole time. Lucky the Elf also messed up our Christmas tree again this year and turned it in a birthday tree for Henry.

Henry's favorites right now are:

Food: Mel's greek food, Mommy's spaghetti, fruit, peanut butter pie

Things to do: play xBox with his friends, read, play with Poppy

TV show: Ninjago

We also celebrated his birthday with a trip to the symphony for the family Christmas concert. We met Grandma Pam, Grandpa Glen and Uncle Will beforehand to go to Union Station and eat at Jack Stack.

Henry has been a delight since the day he was born and still is. He is sweet, caring and so smart. I love talking to him about his day and just hanging out with him. He is kind to his friends and loves school (despite what he will tell you). He loves to bake with me and has made several things on his own, including oatmeal muffins and brownies. He is just the best -- we love you Henry!

Staying at Home

Well, it's week 3 of staying at home. The first week was spring break so it didn't feel too weird. It did rain quite a bit so that was a bummer. The second week was the first week of school and the stay at home order started. And now we're in the third week and maybe this is becoming our new normal. We have left the house to go on a few bikes rides and walk on some trails around town. And we take Poppy on walks in the neighborhood every day. But other than that they boys haven't gone anywhere.

Yesterday was April Fool's and the boys woke up with mysterious mustaches. I had also baked them a pan of brown "E's. I though it was hilarious and they eventually started laughing.

We've been keeping busy with school and playing outside. Jack is learning ukulele and keeping us entertained with new songs. School takes Henry about an hour and a half everyday, and it takes Jack about three hours. In the afternoon they get to play some video games and just hang out. They are also getting ready for their virtual piano recital. Henry and I went on a bike ride on Tuesday and his bike chain came off! Luckily he realized he had no brakes and went into the grass before he crashed. We're also trying new recipes and baking more than usual. And buying ice cream more than usual! Here's some pictures from the first 2 and a half weeks of being at home.

Jack is 12

Our baby turned 12 a couple of weeks ago and it was a birthday we will all remember because it was the start of the lock down due to coronavirus. We had his friend birthday party on Thursday, March 12 and really by the next day things were beginning to shut down. Going to Above All and Buffalo Wild Wings is the last "normal" thing we did.

The birthday boy was very excited about his new and awesome ramen noodle sweatshirt and wireless earbuds.

Nathan also found him a cool Pi Day shirt, since his birthday is on Pi Day.

On his birthday, he announced he now a teenager! I guess he's skipping the last year of being a tween. We are so proud of him and the way he has transitioned to middle school. He has done amazing all year! Not that we are surprised. We've had two rounds of parent teacher conferences and his teachers tell me he is kind to everyone. Yes, he's getting all A's but I am so proud that he is kind. He is a good friend and his group of guys have a great time together. They play xBox almost every day of the week and wear their headsets so they can talk to each other and scream a lot -- either in the agony of defeat or the glory of a victory royale in Fortnite.

For his party they jumped to heart's content at the trampoline park and played dodgeball. Then we went and ate at Buffalo Wild Wings. Then I drove them all home and they screamed the whole way.
It was a great birthday and we love you so much Jack!

Favorites right now are:
Food: takis, chocolate cake
Drink: root beer
Things to do: play ukulele, play xBox

Last Day for Lilo's

On Saturday we went to Lilo's (our shaved ice place) for the last time this summer. Even though school started a couple of weeks ago, it has still felt a bit like summer. Sadly, Lilo's closing for the season makes it really feel we have to let go of summer for this year. I asked the boys what their favorite parts of summer were and both said Jamaica. Henry first said his very favorite part was the swim up bar, but then changed his mind to all the family time we had while we were there. They both agree that their various ailments in Jamaica (puking on the plane and mystery rash) were the worst parts of the summer. 

For me, Jamaica was definitely the highlight, but the four precious weeks we had at home were a close second. We had two weeks in between the end of school and camp, and then two weeks after camp before school started. I intentionally kept us at home during those four weeks. We filled our days with sleeping in for the boys (late, like 9:30 most days!), playing outside with neighbors, and just being together. I have always been happiest when the boys are home (and even happier when Nathan is home too) and they are just playing. They are still in the precious part of childhood when you ask them what they're going to do today and they just look at you and answer, "Play". 

Our driveway and front yard have been the site of countless hours of fun since the time they were little and this summer we got back to that, if only for four short weeks. They rode scooters, hung out on the hammock, pulled all their Legos out and took them to the front porch to trade with neighbors, chattered about Pokemon, played Four Square, celebrated "Frozen Friday" at a different ice cream place each week, and every night we took Poppy on a walk after dinner. 

I have an app on my phone that tells me how many weeks we have left with each boy before they leave for college. We have 360 left with Jack and 516 left with Henry. This summer we spent four of those weeks at home and while I'm sad to see them go, I'm so thankful for the driveway days we had and loved this summer. 

1st Day of School - 3rd and 6th Grades

Henry started school almost a month ago and I think this is Jack's third week of school. Their years are off to a great start!

The night before school I made them read The Kissing Hand, just like we do every year. Instead of sweetly listening to the book, they now interject with helpful comments such as, "This is a baby book", but then they settle down and listen. We have listened to this book every year on the night before school since Jack was starting his first year of preschool. That's nine years of The Kissing Hand. So it's not going away anytime soon.

Henry - 3rd Grade

Henry's teachers are Ms. Thompson and Ms. Baker and they are awesome. So far his favorite activities at school have been taking care of the 3rd grade gardens, independent reading time and recess! He's read the entire Percy Jackson series just since school started and loves it. It rained on the morning of the first day so we had to hurry to get pictures in before we got wet.

Here he is at his cubby on the first morning. He told Jack and I we couldn't go in with him at first and then he said he guessed we could come in, but just to take a picture. He was pretty happy to be back at school with all his buddies. His best friend since preschool switched schools and now goes to EPiC -- they are happy to be together again!

Jack - 6th Grade

After we dropped Henry off at school, Jack and I headed to the Big Biscuit for breakfast and then we were off to his new school -- Liberty Middle School. That day was orientation and he got his schedule and locker. After failed attempts by BOTH of us to open his locker, a teacher saved us and showed him how to open it. In my defense, it is a hard locker to open! He was excited to put a few decorations up, including pictures of Jamaica and Poppy.

After orientation day, he still had an entire week before school started! We had a great week together and soon it was time for WEB Day. This is another transition day just for 6th graders and a few 8th grade leaders. After WEB Day we met up at Culver's with all of his EPiC buddies for a lunch with familiar faces. These guys have been together in the same class since 1st grade. I'm so glad they got to see each other because they all got split up and went to different middle schools.

He is riding the bus this year, so he walked to the bus stop with our neighbors. I couldn't wait for him to get home to hear about his day. His first day was great! His favorite classes are Orchestra and Industrial Tech, he sits at a lunch table with all of his friends and he's enjoying all of his new independence. The other day he came home and said he and his friends noticed a boy sitting by himself at lunch. So they all got up and moved from their table to sit with the little boy who was by himself. I am so proud of him and his friends for showing kindness to someone who needed it that day -- especially in the middle school cafeteria. We are so happy, but not surprised at all, that he is loving middle school.

He was very excited about his new laptop after the first day.

Summer Fun

We got back from Colorado and camp on Saturday afternoon and everyone was very glad to be home. The boys and I have had time to do fun things like go to the zoo and take Poppy to the park for a walk. We are enjoying being home and having some normal summer days.

They have been on the zoo train a million times, but this time the seats were getting pretty small for them! Their long legs don't fit so comfortably in the tiny seats anymore. 

Jack bought himself some cool new shades at the gift shop. Henry bought a new stuffed animal.

Our trip to the park was made more exciting by bringing Poppy along and using her new puppy car seat thing. 

These last pictures are from earlier this summer, but they sum up our summer well. READING! I think we've checked out close to 200 books this summer. Just the other day we had 80 checked out in our account. The boys fly through them. I love the sound of the car on the way home from the library. No talking, just book pages turning. 

Henry's 1/2 Birthday

Henry's 1/2 birthday was June 21 -- the longest day of the year as he likes to point out! He had a baseball game that night and he got his very own Jayhawk baseball hat. He is the sweetest 8 1/2 year in the world. At his yearly check up at the pediatrician she told us he is still very tall and very skinny, which wasn't a surprise. Right now his favorite thing is reading. He has read so many hours this summer and flown through tons of book series. Since being back from camp, he has spent many hours sitting on the front porch with our neighbors trading Pokemon cards. Life as an 8 1/2 year is great!