Thursday, December 17, 2020

throwback Thursday

I have been loving walking down Memory Lane this week, thanks to Timehop and Facebook memories. Side note—would you beieve that one street down from where we live is a street named Memory Lane? I do. I always think that'd be a fun street to tell people you live on. 


This was the boys on our town square about nine years ago. (Left to right: Graham, Jonah, Noah, Drew.)


And this was them with me on Monday night. (Left to right: Graham, Noah, Drew, Jonah.) The twins are graduating and Drew is moving out in the late spring or early summer. I may need therapy, but I'm sure I'll be FINE. (Missy, are you reading this? I'm FINE.) 


I pulled out this candle on Tuesday and took a picture because of what was inside of it—the penny has been in there since I used it last year. #lifewithboys


Graham was in eighth grade here in this picture and it was his very last band concert. He played percussion in the middle school band before we pulled them out of public school to start our homeschooling journey. This was in December and once they went on Christmas break, the older boys never went back. Jonah and Noah started homeschooling that same year, in August and Graham and Drew began their second semester of the same year at home with us. It's a long story about how we became a homeschooling family, but essentially, our lives changed for the better forever because of the decision we made to do this. The boys were always very independent in their learning styles and I really didn't know what I was doing, so we all just kind of muddled our way through. They're smart kiddos, though and the greatest thing about them is how clearly they speak with adults. I've been told so many times that their communication skills are really good and I think that's one of the nicest compliments that someone could give to me about them.

Homeschooling has been scary and wonderful, so very hard and at some times a breeze. I've sat up in the middle of the night several times over the last nine years, gasping because I'd forgotten to turn something in or thinking I'd messed them all up for life and may have to pay for their counseling later in life. (Just kidding—we'd make them pay for it themselves. ๐Ÿ˜‚) I am so grateful for the years I was able to do this and I still can't believe the "babies" are graduating from high school. 



Look at his sweet smile and his little self in the Santa hat. He loved playing percussion in middle school band the two and a half years he was there. Side note about these years—back in the days when they started middle school, the students had to pick a "track" for electives and it could be P.E., band or art. Graham was going to choose P.E. until he met the band teacher on a field trip there his fifth grade year. Graham hit it off with Mr. Seek really quickly that day and ended up choosing band and percussion as his elective and instrument. This teacher has passed away since then and I just think how sad it is that he's gone now. He wasn't perfect and had issues that came out later in the years, but I'll always be grateful that he made an impact on Graham in many ways that we will never forget. He encouraged him in his percussion playing and cheered him on in his endeavors as a young musician. 

On a much lighter note—


—this made me laugh ridiculously hard. I'm pretty sure Missy sent it to me. 


This is my favorite picture of Graham (in Santa's lap) and Drew from their toddler years. Drew flipped his lid over seeing Santa and kept on insisting, "I just sit on the block, Mom. I not sit on his lap." 


This has always been one of my favorite things for Christmas. I'm pretty sure my sister Lisa gave it to us and the boys used to love seeing this every year. 



I love the picture of my dad and me on my wedding day. This was Dad here at my house just this past Friday. ๐Ÿ’™

Speaking of Friday, you know I've been spending Fridays with Dad for as long as I can remember. I always used to meet him for lunch when I worked full time when Todd and I first got married. We actually worked near each other and would meet at least once a week, sometimes two times a week. We've always been very close and that goes back to my years as a very young girl.

Well, I suppose I'll wrap this up with this last picture. Thanks for reading! Love to all. 





Jen.

6 comments:

  1. The personalized Christmas truck is so cute! Yes, I am so thankful we were a homeschool family for many years. It is a great thing for a family.

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    1. Thank you! I wholeheartedly agree. The flexibility alone that it gave to us was priceless. We used to take the whole month of December off because we'd make it up the other months. I miss those days sometimes, but I also love their ages now. ❤️

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  2. I loved your throwbacks! I love the then and now photos, so sweet! Have a great day!

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    1. Thank you so much! I have to admit, I've been so emotional lately. ๐Ÿ˜‚ I hope you have a great one too!

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  3. I would LOVE to live on "Memory Lane"!!!!!! Love your throwback post. There is something so sweet about looking back at old pictures. The kids grow too fast. And I am excited for you that tomorrow is Friday and you get to spend it with your dad. Can I ask... what do you think did it for you and your dad when you were younger that caused you to be as close as you are now? Totally curious as I have two young daughters that I would love to see this type of a relationship with them and their dad (well and with me too).

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    1. Wouldn't that be amazing?! I love our street name, but Memory Lane? How fun that would be! My dad and I always played Uno together at night and he always spent quality time with me. We went on vacations together alone sometimes and when it was summer, I went to work with him. We always faithfully attended church and we just grew closer over the years. As an adult, we started meeting for lunch at least once a week and when my family started growing, he would take a half day or ask off that day and we spent it together. We always ate lunch together and we would go to the zoo or to a children's museum. Sometimes we would just meet and picnic at a park. He taught all my sons how to drive and started them all out on his tractor and his truck- he would let them drive it on his ten acres. So I would say, just all of our quality time and the fact that he always made sure to listen to me and he took the time to get to know my friends. They always wanted to go to Dad's house and they liked him more than they liked me, most likely. He told me to NEVER say no to friends coming over and we did that when my boys were young. As a result, we are very close to our sons and all their friends. ❤️ I hope all that made sense. Reach out to me on Instagram, I am JenLloydGoodwin and we can chat more over DM's.

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