Quarantined...

Well, we made it all the way until mid-January until we had to quarantine. Due to a Covid case in Roen's class, his entire class was out for 10 days (unless they chose to get tested on day 5)!

Roen has loved having time at home and academically, he does so much better in a one on one environment and especially loved having the freedom to hop around from one spot to the other to complete his work! He is a pretty sweet guy and makes school from home pleasant and easy. Besides missing basketball, piano and UIL practices, I was pretty happy to have my smiley little guy at home with me! 

Of course, Micah took total advantage of having this boy home and had him out golfing 2 days of the 3 Roen was quarantined. In trying to get Roen back in the classroom as soon as possible, we went ahead and had him tested on Saturday so that he could go back today.

Little Lady was pretty happy about the extra company as well and took to spending her days right by his side!

The First Day of School 2020...

Wednesday, was the boy's First Day of School! I officially have a 4th Grader and a 5th Grader! This is Remi's last year of elementary school and that just happened a little too fast for this momma!

We woke up the earliest we have in about 5 months, I made a big breakfast, the boys scarfed it down, and we had a pretty wonderful morning!









Both boys met their teachers virtually on Monday and they were pretty excited!

Roen got the same teacher Remi had last year, which is exactly what we were all hoping for. This is the teacher that helped Remi soar last year, a rockstar when it comes to making sure students get their accommodations and loves math and science as much as my boys do! She is pretty amazing! Not only that, Roen ended up getting one of his very best friends in class, which was icing on the cake!

As a 5th Grader, Remi will have 4 teachers, so even though he does have a homeroom teacher, he will spend time with them all. We received teacher letters on Monday and after reading through and seeing that Mr. Wallace loves building, the Texas Rangers and woodworking, we realized Remi being in his homeroom class would be a perfect fit!









So far, both boys have come home with smiles and a million things to tell me!

Remi thinks his Science teacher is the bomb and couldn't wait to tell me all about the neat experiments they would get to do this year! He has two geckos and a ginny pig as class pets, which has had him looking forward to meeting Mrs. Wright since he spotted these critters in her room last year! This boy has a love for math and science that runs deep- which makes sense that he has already declared that he is going to love his math and science teachers!

Roen has a bearded dragon and two turtles as class pets, which has his turtle heart in heaven! He loves to come home telling me all about the naughty students in his class and what they did. He is pretty quiet in the classroom, so he is often sat by students who are not! As far as school goes, Roen prefers math and science, but really, this guy is all about PE and recess. He loves being active and some good competition!

The boys have literally talked my ear off from the minute they get in the car and fight over who gets to talk next! I love that they still get excited to talk to me and though I miss having the these boys home with me dearly, nothing beats reconnecting with classmates after a very long and weird summer!

Beach Vacation 2020...

Last Saturday, we got home from our week long beach vacation. This year's beach trip didn't go exactly as planned, but we made the best of it and had a wonderful time with friends, sticking our toes in the sand!

Originally, we had planned to visit the Bahamas. With the Covid still flying around, the islands over there were closed and not due to open back up until right before we had booked lodging. We had a very hard time even finding enough tickets and so with everything being so uncertain, we decided to stay in the US.

Though we have been to Florida, this was our very first time to visit Destin. I can't pretend it was as breathtakining as the Caribbean, because those waters really can't be topped, but it was beautiful! I think my favorite part was the squeaky sand! It is so white and clean, it literally squeaks under your feet! The texture is very similar to moon sand!

Traveling to Florida required masks, which none of us were thrilled about, but once we arrived, the masks got to be thrown in the suitcase- we were all so happy that they weren't mandatory there! In fact, it was all very laid back as far as the Covid goes, and for me, that was a breath of fresh air!













On the walk to our room, the boys discovered that the resort was covered in little tree lizards! So of course, there were many caught on our stay there and the boys were lizard hunting any chance they got!





Once we pulled the boys away from the lizards (which proved to be a non-stop chore the entire visit), got changed into our swimsuits, grabbed goggles, got our hands on some pretty yummy pina coladas, we finally headed down to get our first taste of salty waters in a year! That first dip is always the best!














We ended our day in the sand with a dip in the pool, the kids drinking Shirley Temples, just living their best lives...



After getting cleaned up, we ate dinner at our resort at a place called Horizons. Remi scarfed down enough sushi to feed an army, Roen learned that he loved edamame, and we were all so happy to finally be at the beach with our favorite crew!

Frogs & Balloons....

You know it's been a good day when one pulls into the driveway sporting a balloon hat and the other captures a frog brought in by the summer rain...









I wouldn't trade these past months for anything in the world.

There are some pretty scary and evil things going on in our world right now, but there are also some pretty great things going on too.

Things like a very long break from the busy, catching critters in the rain, golfing the sun down, going days without showers, covered in chiggers from great adventures, wet swimsuits, bikes flung all over the driveway... in our neck of the woods, this little break from normalcy has given our boys some time to get back to the basics of just being a boy! Sweaty, stinky, boys who play until the sun goes down and pop up ready to go again every single morning!

Roen's 9th Birthday...

On the day Roen turned 9, we planned a little surprise party for him. We have thought for months that he would have no party because of the Corona Virus. However, the closer it got to May 12th, the more things seemed to be settling down. So, I came up with a list, decided to invite and let parents make the decision if they were comfortable with their child coming. All but one (he was out of town) were able to come, which made a total of 12 boys! It was a full house!

Guests weren't due to arrive until later that afternoon, so we spent our morning cooking a big breakfast, opening a few presents and waking up to a little birthday yard art!






The boys watched a little Old Yeller while they waited for breakfast get ready






Roen has been wanting this watch for a very long time and when I asked Remi what he wanted to get him, this is the first thing he said- Roen was very happy!



Micah took Roen on a special morning of golfing while Remi, Anne and I quickly got the party set up and waited for his guests to arrive. The boys were so excited they could barely contain the themselves! When Micah and Roen finally pulled into the drive, the boys all hid behind the bar and on cue, gave Roen the biggest surprise ever! He was completely speechless, with a giant smile on his face that told us all he was one happy birthday boy! I think he stood there staring in awe, smiling, giggling for 5 minutes. Finally, when they couldn't take it anymore, all his buddies rushed over to him, with birthday wishes and smiles of their own! I will never forget that smile for as long as I live- it was priceless!!!

I kept the party pretty simple, but did go with a turtle theme for my turtle-loving boy. Our days of really big parties have passed, but I can't pass up a chance to throw in a bit of party decor! I filled his party table with some of his favorite snacks, because if there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that the secret to keeping boys happy, is with food!
































This was the crew! Once, Micah texted that they were rounding the corner, I had the boys get down to hide and you could feel the excitement in the air!






This smile didn't leave his face all day!





Once the party started, they were exploring, playing football, hopping on electronics, fishing, putting, riding bikes and being wild, wooly boys!






















I cooked a big ole spaghetti dinner for the boys and I think everyone had full, happy bellies. Roen loves spaghetti and so it has become a tradition that I cook it every year on his birthday!



The boys loved watching Roen open all his goodies! He got a scooter from Micah and I, candy, a Nerf gun, slime, a hydro flask, a new cap, some shirts, golf balls and lots of other exciting gifts!











After dinner and presents, we sang to the Birthday Boy and had cake. We let the boys stay up and play hide-n-seek in the dark before starting the wind-down process. Let me tell you, it is quite a feat to get 12 boys settled and asleep!







The next morning, the boys were up early, ate donuts and played until we started dropping off around 10. Remi and Roen actually had golf lessons that afternoon, so by the time they finished dropping boys off and golf, Roen was one worn out Birthday Boy...



Just like I will never forget the day Roen was born, I will also never forget the day he turned 9. This day was filled with giant smiles, one huge surprise, friends, laughs, playing and all of Roen's favorite things! Celebrating this boy is one of my favorite things to do!