First Valentine

 

Huston, 

This past year has been full of a lot of exciting changes and new things; but nothing compares to your first Valentine! You are dating, as much as you can "date" in the 5th grade, a sweet girl named Lara. You two have a lot in common and it's pretty cute to hear you two talking on the phone. 

Unfortunately, you both had to quarantine over Valentine's Day, you were exposed to COVID-19 and Lara was positive. Her mom and I arranged a porch gift drop off/pick up and you opened your gifts over FaceTime. 

 

You both ended up getting each other a necklace, candy and sloth plushie. You got her a locket and she got you a cross necklace. Once Lara felt better you watched the Lion King together on Disney+. 

I am so happy that you found a nice girl like Lara for your first real girlfriend. She is sweet, polite and supportive. My job as a mom is to raise you to be a respectful, kind and caring young man. But it is also important for you to know that who you choose as a partner in life is so important. You will want to be with someone who supports you for who you are and doesn't try to change you, someone who you enjoy being with and makes you laugh and someone who makes you want to be a better person. Lara may not end up being your forever Valentine, but I do think she, and her family, are a great example of what relationships should be like. I think you might even text her mom more than you text me :). 

I love you Huston Dean and I hope you will always come to me when you have questions or need advice. And never forget, you and your brother are always my favorite Valentines forever!  

Deep in the Heart of Texas

 

Boys, we are officially Texans! (again for Huston and I) In May Mom was offered a job with the City of Waco and it was such a great opportunity we took the leap! You both were a little hesitant to leave Stillwater, but were also excited about a new adventure and have settled in so well. 

We technically live in Waco, but are in China Spring school district. Moving mid-pandemic...yes COVID is still going strong...was a challenge but I did lots of research to make sure we lived where you'd get the best school and we came across a rental house from the sweetest family; everything just fell into place. 

Even though virtual school was an option, we opted for in person school so that you could both make new friends, you are now China Spring Cougars. I have to give it to you, you both are resilient and make friends so easy that you are both doing great in school and have made friends with great kiddos. Huston, you are in a group with several boys and Reed, Aiden & Titus are your best buds. (oh and you have a girlfriend, more about that later). Nolan, your best friend is Eli and you talk about him nonstop. 

  

One thing that really helped get you settled in is you both signed up for flag football. Huston you really found your love for sports this year and you also played soccer and are currently playing basketball! Spring soccer is just around the corner too. Nolan, you made it into UIL chess puzzle team and Huston you made Social Studies. I love watching you both find things you love and learn new things. 

    

I hope when you read this one day you will know that sometimes you just have to take a leap and follow your dreams! Even though things may seem scary at first, you can always get a fresh start or a new adventure and things will work out just as they are meant to. I truly believe that this move is what we needed and I am so excited to see you grow up in our new community. I love you both and am so proud of you every day!

School's Out for...COVID

Well, boys, when you left Westwood for Spring Break you didn't really expect to not return this school year. Although we had heard on the news about a virus, COVID-19 (also known as the Cornonavirus), in other countries I don't think people had taken it very seriously. Over Spring Break more cases were found in the U.S. and people realized how serious it was, administration decided to close school buildings for the remainder of the year. Note: at this point we have not been directly associated with anyone who has a confirmed case but we can see the numbers rising daily in the U.S. 

Life looks very different. Businesses, restaurants, retailers...anything that isn't considered essential is closed and initially people were not supposed to gather in groups larger than 10, but that has now been increased to only leaving your home for food, medical needs or essential work. This means no eating out, playing with neighbor friends, no trips to the store, no extracurricular activities, etc.

Probably the biggest change - you will finish out the remainder of the school year with distance learning. There are a few things that you will miss that make me sad: State Night for Huston, field trips, your first WW Art Show, Spring Picture Day (so no group class photo), no Westwood Field Day, no Running Club, no goodbyes. But, Westwood has done an amazing job of making the experience the best that it can be in these circumstances. It's the Westwood Way! Your teachers have kept in touch, given us great ideas on things to do at home, administration is keeping everyone involved by doing fun things on social media, still having our Friday assemblies online and providing lots of resources for you to keep up with learning. This last semester will not count toward your final grade, but it will keep you learning and from turning into big ol' couch potatoes! 

Probably both of your favorites....Zoom Class Meetings.

 

Distance learning looks different for everyone. We have decided to focus mainly on the istation reading and math and do a few activities in Art, P.E. and STEM each week. You both are my children and love a good list and chalk markers, so we made a chart to track daily/weekly items. Once you complete all 4, including your chores, you get to pick a reward for the night. We did make the decision to do more throughout the week so we can have Friday's off. Huston, you added "back scratches" which makes me smile because you have LOVED your back scratched lightly since you were a baby.

I'm sure a lot of people will agree, an unexpected benefit of a "shelter in place" order is that without all of the busy and crazy schedules we are spending a lot of time at home cooking, playing games, doing fun projects, etc. I have seen a lot of growth in your relationship which is pretty much the best thing that can happen to my momma heart. One of my biggest wishes is that you two will become best friends and support each other through life. Right now you are both really into building forts, wrestling, the Exploding Kittens game, Minecraft (together) and Dragon Mania Legend (all three of us) and playing with Ms. Oreo Whiteboots and Mrs. Artichoke Fuzzypants, your cats.

With the technology available, we've been able to order our groceries online and access most of what we need from home. It has been tough financially, as I am not able to go to work and there is limited work I can do from home. But when you are on lock down you don't spend as much either, so we will make it work and you have both been very understanding. It has given us a great opportunity to discuss money and how your income and expenses must align. Huston, you were shocked and appalled when you found out we had to pay for electricity. You feel very strongly that it should just come with the house.

So, this is what life is like early April 2020. Nobody can really predict how long this will go on or the long term impacts it will have. But I truly feel blessed for this bonus time with you and am so happy that we have ALL grown closer. My hearts go out to all of those that have suffered the illness and those essential workers that are keeping things going, treating the patients and managing the chaos.

Hugs & Kisses.

_______________________________________________________________________________

CORONAVIRUS

People may be sick with the virus for 1 to 14 days before developing symptoms. The most common symptoms of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are fever, tiredness, and dry cough. Most people (about 80%) recover from the disease without needing special treatment.

More rarely, the disease can be serious and even fatal. Older people, and people with other medical conditions (such as asthma, diabetes, or heart disease), may be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill.

---

People may experience:

cough

fever

tiredness

difficulty breathing (severe cases)

STATISTICS (as of 4/7/2020)

Double Digits, what?

Wait, what? How are you almost TEN years old? Watching you grow up so quickly is both a joy and a little bittersweet because I'm afraid if I blink you will be grown up.

Huston, being a mom to you and Nolan is my favorite thing. I feel so lucky to be your mom and I can't even explain the way my heart swells every time I see you do something kind, learn something new, say something with your quick wit or crawl into my lap. Whenever you get frustrated with something I'm trying to teach you, I ask you the same question. What is my number one job as your mom other than keeping you safe? You roll your eyes and smile because you've had to say it back to me so many times, "To raise two kind, responsible gentlemen." Now, how I do that may change as you grow up and may different between you and your brother. I wasn't born knowing how to be a mom and you weren't born knowing how to be a kind and responsible gentleman. But as long as we both are always trying to be our best things will turn out like they are supposed to.

This past year I have watched you mature so much. You put so much thought into things that it sometimes takes me by surprise. You are branching out and making new friends, and notice when they are or aren't they type of kid you want to be around. You are opening up and telling so many stories, sharing your thoughts on why you think things happen and are so full of questions. You have a desire to learn and figure things out and that makes me so happy because that is something that will make you so successful in life. Although it worries me that you take on too much responsibility for your brother, I also enjoy watching you trying to teach him things and explain things to him. And, you two are genuinely starting to enjoy time together. I mean, don't get me wrong, you do still fight, you are brothers right?

You are about to start fourth grade and you do so well in school. You have an interest in math which is so amazing, because you did not get that from me at all. I hear from your teachers that you are helpful and kind and you love spending time with your friends.

We often have a houseful of your friends. Right now tag, legos, forts and hide and seek can last for hours. I'll admit initially I wanted to be the house where the kids hang out to get to know your friends and be aware of who you spend time with, but I have so much fun listening to your conversations and watching you all play.

Baby boy, I love you so much and am so proud of you every day. You are kind and smart and when you start turning into a hormonal teenager I want you to remember this. Even when things get rough, my love will never change. xoxox

Nolan - January 2019

So very handsome

Nolan Michael Jones, you have grown a bit since my last post to you, I was locked out of my account for almost a year, but I'm back! There is no possible way to catch you up on everything that has happened because you are growing up so fast and learning so much.

You are still as silly and sweet at six years old as you were before. You love cuddles, animals, box forts, games, friends, "shushi", pasketti with meatballs, YouTube videos and your brother. Reading just clicked one day and now you read every word you come across out loud and can spell pretty great too! I love how smart you are but even more so, I love your sweet side. You think about other people's feelings a lot and express your love so freely. Now, that's not to say there isn't a little stinker in you, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.

I absolutely adore that you still have your baby voice, but I can tell that it is slowly slipping away. There are only a few words that still come out in your sweet little way and you get really frustrated that you can't say "girl" right, it comes out more like "glurl". I know you can't be my baby forever but your tiny voice is about the only baby left so I'm loving it while I can.

Shushi date

Mrs. Fuzzypants sleeps on you every night

Barnaby giving you love

I also found out you are a little daredevil. We got season tickets to Frontier City and you wanted to ride ALL the rides. The upside down ones were your favorites! We went as a group one day and I had to take you back by yourself so you could ride them again.

Silver Bullet was two thumbs up

We are still working on getting you to sleep all night in your bed, you usually slip in mine in the middle of the night for cuddles. Our goal is 30 nights in yours in a row and I will buy you a big boy, full-size bed.

This year you have joined Cub Scouts and are a "Lion". So far you haven't done any sports this year, but are talking about t-ball again. I keep trying to get one of y'all to play basketball and it just isn't happening.

I love you sweet boy and am thankful every day that I get to be your mommy!

Boy Mom

My favorite hashtag is #boymom. I use it all the time. Why? Because it's a an experience that is hard to understand unless you are a boy mom. As I type this my laptop is jumping up and down like an earthquake in my living room because you both have created a pile of blankets and pillows on the living room floor and are jumping on them. We've stopped once for a chin to the head injury but I have no doubt you will be back at it in no time.

On any given day you will find someone in our house is covered in blood or dirt and bandaids and ice packs are always out. I frequently find dirty socks, granola bar wrappers and cups tucked in the cushions or under the bed. But I also find "I love you" written on my bathroom mirror, get constant requests for cuddles and am surrounded by uncontrollable laughter. You two play hard and love hard I love being your boymom.

Mommy (by Huston Jones)

my mom is the best mom in world and she is cool and fun.ssssssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee cccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccccoooooooooooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!