Hello there, strangers. I know it’s been a while.

This blog started as a space to share all the fun things I would do with my three little boys, sharing our favorite books & movies and easy recipes for the family. There were pirate-themed movie nights, Ninjago birthday parties, rainbow-loomed dragons, and everything dinosaur.

Guess what, my three boys aren’t little anymore. They became these things called teenagers. Life got busy. The blog sat. I blinked and all of a sudden our life was so different. Driver’s permits and licenses!!! I can’t stand it. What happened to Play-Doh and fossils? Fruit Kabobs and Popcorn Surprises? I was looking through old posts….God, we had so much fun!

Remember these cuties?

This was taken when they were in 5th, 4th, and 2nd grade. This was the last year that all three of them were in the same school together. It has been seven years. Today was the day they all headed to the same school together. HIGH SCHOOL!!! We have a freshman, a junior, and a SENIOR! That one hurts. The years went by so fast. Now they are young men, and all I can do is pray to God that we raised them right and they won’t need to spend thousands of dollars in therapy when they’re older.

One has a driver’s license. One has a permit. The baby decided he no longer wants to be a chef, and now he wants to be a dentist. So much has changed. It is incredibly bittersweet. While it is a joy seeing them turn into young men and pave their own paths, I can’t help but feel overwhelmingly sad. If I could turn back time to when they were 10, 8, and 6, I would do it in a heartbeat. Sure, those times had their own challenges, but teenagehood is an entirely different beast. I am incredibly fortunate that they are truly good kids. They are well-mannered and don’t get into trouble. They don’t mind when I call a mandatory family movie night…as long as there is plenty of popcorn. Finn even got the Kindness Award at 8th grade graduation. Proud mom moment.

There is your little update on the McShane boys. If I have learned anything over the past few years, it is that time moves so quickly. High school will be over for them in the blink of an eye. They’ll be off living their own lives. My heart hurts to think about it. Even the dog was sad this morning when his humans went back to school. When they leave me, I am just going to have to get ALL the rescue dogs I see on Facebook.

I have always considered September the real start of the new year, as opposed to January. September is my birthday, school starts, and we get back into our routines after summer vacation. Although I don’t have fun kid activities to share, I would love to get back to this. So that’s the plan. We will see how it goes.