Sleepovers and Other Fun!

Tyce is my social butterfly and would be in heaven if he could have a friend over every single day of his life.  Over Christmas break he was able to have FOUR sleepovers!  One at Kenshi's house, one at Leah and Sarah's house, then we had Kenshi and Leah and Sarah over to sleep here.  He is such a cute host, always making sure his friends have everything they need, so sweet.

 

Here's him and Kenshi at the Jackson and Josh's basketball practice...

We took them to McDonalds for dinner...

Tyce reading to Kenshi ("Kenshi I'll teach you how to read in English and you teach me how to talk in Japanese")...

So cute these two...

Kimberly and I took the twins, Brianna, and Jake skating again.  The twins just cannot get enough of skating!  However, there's also a stupid arcade there and all the kids kept begging for money and tokens, we stood firm and said no each time.  SO, they spent their skate breaks crawling on the ground looking for tokens, money, or tickets.  Jack somehow hit the jackpot...

After four hours there they all ended up with enough tickets to buy some cheap crap that they were all thrilled with...

After skating we stopped at Café Rio for dinner, yummmmy steak nachos!!!

Tyce decided to help me clean all the bathrooms upstairs, he did a great job...love the butt crack and cowboy boots, I think that's a great way to clean...

Josh and daddy were watching the Broncos game and Josh decided to dress up as a...superhero football player?!

Sleepover with the Stathis girls, check out the awesome fort Parker built for them to watch a movie and eat popcorn in...

Tyce got Leah and Sarah breakfast in the morning while Parker and I were still in bed!

Playing games...

One day Jack decided to dress up like a cowboy and go out in the rain to shoot bow and arrows.  He told me I could take a picture as long as I didn't get the rainboots in the picture because then he would look "ridiculous."  Hahaha...

Brody being cute...

So I get a call from the assistant principal last week telling me that Jack was suspended from the bus for two days for...throwing a pencil.  One pencil, while they were still at the school waiting for everyone to get on, and he stopped as soon as he was asked to.  Our school is so over strict, especially considering it's his first "offense" and he stopped immediately after he was asked.  The east coast is a such an overly cautious place.  Anyway, I was upset because suspending him from the bus is MUCH more a punishment for ME than for HIM!  He was thrilled I had to drive him to and from!  So I decided he had to walk to school, it was under 25 degrees one day and one day it was raining.  He didn't complain once and walked the whole 1.5 miles...Obviously I followed behind him in the car so no one called child protective services on me...

He also was grounded for two full days, he spent a total of eight hours in his room without a peep.  I was proud of him and hoped he learned...not so much the dangers of throwing a pencil...but the importance of obeying rules.

We had our friends Sarah and Doug and Traci and David and all their kids over for a fun little get together, I didn't get many pics but here's two of the kids eating pizza...

 And Tyce, for some reason, was in my washing machine...

Another Basketball Season Has Begun

The twins just started their fourth year playing basketball at the Manassas Park Rec Center! 

 

The first year when they were 5...

 Second year when they were 6...

 Third year when they were 7...

 And this year when they are 8! 

Looking forward to a fun season with Jack and Josh!

Tyce also started this year!  The first couple practices were rough, he kept saying he didn't want to play.  However, when it was game time he was beyond excited and had SO much fun!  He scored two of his team's five baskets and was so proud of himself.  He kept calling himself lightning (because of his speed) and Michael Jordan (because of his skill), which, if you know Tyce at all, is hysterical. 

I snapped a few pictures during warm-ups (I couldn't get any during the game because he was running fast as "lightning"!  Or maybe because I was laughing so hard).  Tyce is the only white kid...

Totally coincidence too that Tyce and the twins are both on Bulls teams!  There's like ten teams in each age group and they happened to be the same!  They all thought that was pretty cool...

Basketball is not my favorite sport to watch but it's my favorite season because it is the closest and least time consuming of all the sports we do!  Looking forward to a fun, low key season! 

The Twins Split Up

Since the minute the twins were born they were together, they slept together, ate together, did everything together.  They were even in the same classes until 1st grade.  I think it's safe to say they have spent almost their entire lives side by side in their daily lives....

 

In the NICU...

At home...

When they were about nine months old we split them up and "naptime" was their favorite time to climb from one crib to the other...

After playing for a long time they would finally fall asleep, together, in one crib...

Then we switched them to big boy beds, but still in the same room...

 

About a month ago we were talking at dinner and I mentioned that in our next house each of the boys will have their own rooms and no one will have to share.  Tyce starting BAWLING saying "that's no fair!  That means I'll never get to share and I'll always be alone!"  He frequently yells from his bedroom at night that he is lonely and wants to sleep with someone.  So, without thinking, I said "well do you guys want so switch rooms around?"  They all three shouted YES!  Josh said that he wanted his own room and Jackson said he would love to share with Tyce.  SO..we made the switch!

 

Here is Jack and Tyce's room...

And here is Josh's room...

 

After eight and a half years, they're separated...

That night I found myself so sad to think of the twins no longer together.  I mean, it's always been Jack and Josh, like a pair.  If you know them at all you know they are NOT clingy twins, meaning they do fine apart and always have.  But there is also a closeness about them, I have witnessed many experiences that remind me how close they are in a way only twins can be.  I have always envisioned them being together and close forever.  I hope this is not symbolic of them losing that bond.  An interesting dynamic has come about over the past year, however.  Jackson and Tyce have become very very close.  They fight way more than the twins EVER did but they also have SO much fun together!  Josh is frequently the one on his own while his brothers play something slightly more juvenile than he would prefer.  Josh is much more mature than Jackson in so many ways.  I am amazing at the conversations I am able to have with Josh, he seems so much older than 8 sometimes.  That being said, I think Josh is fine on his own because that's his nature.  Jack was always the boss and he was always the follower which I think is why the two of them got along so well.  Considering they've been side by side for eight years they rarely rarely fight.  Their personalities are just so different.  Tyce and Jack have more similar personalities so they fight more but have a lot of fun too.  They've been doing great in their separate rooms and we'll see if/how their relationship changes!  I think having twins was one of the biggest blessings in my life, there's nothing like it.  Love my Jack and Josh!!