Friday, June 12, 2020
How was your week? Mine went by quickly! I will be linking up today with Andrea, etc. right here.
Monday was house cleaning day. For dinner that night I made homemade pizza using Skinny Biz pizza dough thanks to my reader Kim. It is really good! Simply google “Skinny Bi pizza dough” and you will find it. I also made a giant salad with homemade honey mustard dressing. My boys are loving my big salads at dinner. That makes me happy!
Tuesday morning I planned to arrive at Trader Joe’s around 8:50. The senior hour is from 8-9 and then they only allow 25 shoppers in at a time after that. You can, however, go in the liquor store attached, so that is what I did first and then I only had to wait about 2 minutes. This was only my second time to go to TJ’s so it was a nice treat!
I did my own pedicure on Tuesday in Alpine White. I am getting a bit better. One benefit of not going to the nail salon – I like to change my colors frequently and I do own a lot of polish.
I try to walk before 8 am so it isn’t too hot. This was a nice view of the sun coming up. I love the mature trees in my neighborhood.
Did you see my post yesterday about my Rice Krispies Cap’n Crunch Treats? Make them this weekend!
I picked up a plant for the master bedroom at TJ’s. I hope I don’t kill it.
Tom finished the stair railings last weekend and here is the end result! Hi Ernie!
I was going to do a separate post on this, but figured I would just include it here. We got our professional grad photos back. If you are in Louisville or nearby, Green Apple Photography is owned by a teacher at my school and his teacher wife from another school. They donated their time and talent to our senior class and offered a nice session for $10 a student. They emailed us the photos that evening! They took our family photos two years ago that we used on our Christmas cards, too. I highly recommend them!
Now, we did not get hair cuts before the photos. I asked the boys and they weren’t ready. I actually think it will add to the crazy memories from this time in our lives.
Jack:
Jack is my actor and singer. He is funny and sensitive. He likes to draw and is really good at it, too. He is teaching himself to play guitar. He is creative and might want to write t.v. shows or movies in the future, but first he wants to perform and is majoring in vocal music with a possible minor in theatre. Jack can do lots of different accents and has always made us laugh!
Mason:
Mason is a voracious reader. He wants to major in English and possibly minor in Spanish. I think he will enjoy the mandatory Theology and Philosophy classes he has to take, too. He fell in love with art in his Art History class in high school, too. Basically, Mason loves learning! He has a quick wit and is a compassionate person. Mason’s dry sense of humor has kept us laughing. He did debate for three years and then ended high school on the quick recall team that he had done years before. He loves music and has a nice record collection. He has quite a knowledge of music, too.
Jack is on the left and was born first (by a minute). He has always taken on the role of big brother. Mason defers to him on some decisions. I have always put Jack on the left in photos since they were babies. I didn’t tell the photographer this time so this was a lucky accident!
There is something about this photo that captures their relationship. Jack is confident on the left and probably making Mason laugh about something.
And, if you don’t know, they were both under 3 pounds when they were born and spent the first 5 weeks of their lives in the NICU. There were so many things that could’ve gone wrong or things they could’ve struggled with. We are blessed beyond measure and I know you can see my momma pride coming out.
This weekend is Tom’s birthday! He hasn’t told us what he wants to do yet, but hopefully we will celebrate him in a fun way.
I pray that you are still safe and healthy as things open up more.
I have spent a lot of time this week reading and listening to the current situation of unrest.
Thanks for reading and I hope you had a good week!
What was your favorite of the week?
Amy
Coffee and Cocktails at the Casa 
Great pictures! I love how different your boys are. And you know I’m going to ask boy mom questions. 🙂 Your advice/comments really do help me. I don’t have anyone in my life right now who has gone before. You happen to be at a perfect season of life, just a little ahead of me! So here goes: Did you boys find their interests on their own? I never know when to try to push them and when to give them space to find their own way. Like right now at 10 and 14, I couldn’t ever imagine them picking up a guitar and teaching themselves. And thats just an example. I’m hoping high school will give some opportunities to my oldest to spark some interests – whether it be sports or music or something else. We shall see. I’m excited to see who they become in the next 4 years. I want to cheer them on but also make sure they get opportunities to try new things. Other than video games. 🙂 Anyway, mama – the boys look ready to conquer the world! And you and your hubby gives me encouragement when looking ahead at our home with just us. Keep the couple interests alive!
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I love giving advice – sometime unsolicited! Lol!
Yes they did find on their own. Until about 9th grade they did same activities and had same friends and then in high school they branched out a bit. High school will do that I think. It was a constant struggle with the video games for us. Maybe make a summer schedule where they have to do certain things? Or have them come up with one and you approve it? Like read something, do something outside, clean something, etc. Everything is hard now. There’s just not much to do. It still feels surreal that it will just be us. I think our routine will be pretty much the same but we will see. Thanks for the kind words! Happy weekend!
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Great pictures of your boys and I love hearing more about them! You are indeed blessed, NICU is no way to start life and I can only imagine what that was like for you and Tom. Your boys sound amazing and this next chapter of their lives will be so exciting!!!
xo,
Kellyann
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Thank you Kellyann! I will be looking to you and my other empty nester bloggers for life after they move to college! NICU was hard but the people were wonderful. Tom and I can’t believe these little miracles and their accomplishments. There is lots of parenting left for us though.
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Hey Amy! I love this post on your wonderful sons. Thank you for sharing. Congrats to you and them for getting to this milestone, woohoo! I am also a mom of twins (but mine are fraternal boy + girl, 4-yrs old) and they were born at 34 weeks and spent 4 weeks in the NICU. I would love to hear more of your story of your twin pregnancy and how you handled all the different ages having twins (hands. so. full. at. all. times. !!). Thanks for continuing to blog every day during the pandemic. I’ve enjoyed reading and appreciate that you’ve kept it going during this crazy time. I’m in NC and we’re slowly but surely getting back to normal although the number of cases is rising, which concerns me that we may go back to stay-at-home orders.
PS I was the one who won your Dinnerly giveaway a few weeks back – we loved it
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Hi Kate! Of course I remember you! I’m so glad you like Dinnerly. I’m still doing it but skipping a week every now and then because I sometimes freeze the meats and have some extra now.
Thank you for the kind words. I wasn’t sure if I should keep blogging but I ultimately decided to because I need connections now more than ever and I feel that others might, too. I hope that something I post will help at least one person? I may do a post on twins. I feel that boy girl may be harder! My sister has 13 yo boy girl so maybe she would guest post with me? That would be cool!
Things are more normal here but I think KY is stricter than NC. I can’t tell if numbers are really going up bc testing has increased.
It really does feel like a milestone bc while there was lots of joy, the high school years were hard.
Don’t be scared, though! You have so much fun ahead of you!
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What wonderful senior portraits! I just painted my nails this morning. I picked a pretty light demin blue color.
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Thank you Joanne! I love that color! I tried to comment on your blog today and my iPad did something weird. Your area is really opening up!
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It is! We are pretty excited especially since we haven’t had any new cases!
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That is great!
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I love the senior pics! What a special moment of all of you! 🙂
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Thank you!
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I am so glad you enjoyed the pizza dough! We had pizza last night and its the only kind we like. Skinny Pizza Dough is LIFE! lol Best wishes to your boys as they begin this next adventure called COLLEGE! My 2 girls are both college graduates and I am extremely proud of them. I went one year and decided it wasn’t for me. I keep saying I am going to go back and get my degree- and yes I am 56. But Maybe I will be more motivated, thinking about it! Have a great weekend!
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Yes! Thank you again! Now I will splurge on the good mozzarella! Thank you – we are definitely entering a new stage of life and we are not sure we are ready. We can’t believe K-12 went so quickly. I am the first to say that college is not for everyone and that we should also focus on trade schools and on the job training. It’s never too late. My cousin became a nurse at 45!
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What great photo memories!
My brothers were full-term twins (each 6-7 pounds) so I always assumed twins were just like any other pregnancy…but in reality the risks are so different!
I loved art history too, in college. Definitely my favorite class.
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I always forget you have twin brothers! That is huge for your mom! Are you close to them? I bet you didn’t like all of the attention they garnered as twins?
Art History is one of those things that will always bring joy to your life I think. He is so knowledgeable and it makes me happy!
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