Project 19 to 19: Day 16

Staying Active

About the time the Boy started high school, his opportunities to stay active started to dry up. He was only required to have 1 year of PE in school, he aged out of the local rec sports soccer league, and he was never very keen to join us in the garage for a workout.

One summer, however, we talked him in to coming to an Olympic lifting class with us and we soon discovered he had a real knack for it!


These days, his fitness options have all but evaporated. I know he had hoped to join some intramural club once on campus, but of course, that is just one more thing that is not currently on the table.


Playing VR games is NOT a fitness activity, but at least he has a fun way to unwind regardless of the weather!

Project 19 to 19: Day 15

I Love You More

Almost as soon as the Boy learned to say "I love you" he jumped into the game of "No, I love YOU!" vs "No, *I* love you MORE!

It's definitely one of my all time favorite games and even if I lose, I win!

This snap was taken in 2015, on Valentine's Day. Wonder Boy and his dad surprised me with this plaque and another similar one. I'll admit I was a bit overwhelmed and my reaction (bursting into tears) definitely surprised him.


I can't tell you how happy it makes me that this little game lives on today! Every night at tuck in, everytime someone leaves the house, and these days, often when the Boy notices one of us is having a rough day, he will launch another round and remind us that we have a live-in cheering section.

Project 19 to 19: Day 14

Easier Than Breathing

From the earliest of days, Wonder Boy has been comfortable with numbers. Long before he could write full sentences, he could add, subtract, anddeal with fractions. He has always taken to math like a duck to water, or as I explained to the review board for the gifted and talented program at his middle school, math comes to him like breathing to you or I.


The Boy's prowess with numbers truly became obvious as he entered middle school. He tested out of 7th grade math and jumped ahead a year, finishing his first year of high school Algebra by the end of 8th grade. He spent a summer at Mathematical Problem Solving camp. And again, in high school tested out of pre-Calculus so he could get two years of calculus under his belt before leaving high school

His academic success in the mathematical arena has been fun to watch, but honestly, it is the countless hours of independent study he has put in over the years that always boggles my mind.


His favorite summer activity was watching math videos on YouTube and working his way through his favorite proofs and theorems. He filled his whiteboards with his favorite proofs and problems. And he couldn't wait to explain the things he learned to those he loved the most.

These days, his whole world is about independent learning. The years he spent researching subjects he enjoyed and pushing himself to understand all that he could, is paying major dividends these days. His transition to virtual learning has been much easier than many of his classmates because of this.

Even now that he is in college and already in his second semester of calculus, he happily works through this more advanced text book he requested as a gift last Christmas. He has set himself up for success all while enjoying one of hif absolute favorite topics. That sounds like a formula for a lifetime of happiness to me!

Project 19 to 19: Day 13

Bubba's Boy

I have featured photos of these two every year for a reason - theirs is a very special bond and it makes me happy to share it!


Wonder Boy begins and ends each and every day with Wonder Mutt. They romp and play throughout the day. And it doesn't seem to matter how deeply asleep the Mutt may be, when the Boy comes downstairs between classes during the day, the Mutt is always ready for some serious attention from his favorite human ever.


The Mutt and the Puppy Princess have both seen a number of benefits of pandemic living, but by far the highlight for both of them, is having the Boy home all day, every day!

Project 19 to 19: Day 12

A Natural Reaction

One of the greatest joys for me in being a parent has been sharing a love of exploration with the Boy. He, like most kids, was always curious about how the world works and he loved hands on learning to dive home a lesson.

Unlike me, Wonder Boy always had a penchant for physical sciences. In contrast, I was always drawn to the biological sciences but those never sparked the Boy's imagination like physics and chemistry.

To foster that love of learning and investigation, we often did little experiments in the kitchen. We grew crystals (sugary, grape-flavored ones you could eat!). We mixed baking soda and acids to watch them foam and bubble, once we even used the gasses released to inflate a baloon. We made lava lamps and water gloves. We even made milk planets and soap monsters along with a dozen other things to fill a rainy day or to serve as a fun project during summer vacation or spring break.

But one of my favorite experiments is featured here:


For as far back as I can recall, Wonder Boy always had a school holiday for Good Friday. So we generally set aside that day to prepare our Easter creations. For this particular year, we made egg geodes to go along with our regular dyed eggs. The coolest part of this experiment is that the Boy STILL has the results of this experiment. It was fun for us all and gave us a keepsake that has lasted for many, many years!


Wonder Boy kept his love of all things physics and chemistry as he made his way through high school and beyond (really, both of them are just applied math, so it's a double love for the Boy). But being stuck in a virtual classroom, there isn't much hands on experimentation going on. These days, he watches labs performed over video, records the data, and writes up his chemistry labs from there. I truly hope that he will get a bit of hands on experience when he starts his physics lab next spring!

Project 19 to 19: Day 11

Genetic Predisposition
From an incredibly early age, Wonder Boy has been drawn to situations in which he has the opportunity to teach others. When he was very small, he would teach one of us the things he learned at day care or that he taught himself. As he got older and we started to enjoy performing science experiments together, he would consent to me recording him so that he could send a recroded lesson to his grandparents or cousins.


In this series of photos, the Boy was giving a lesson on how to mix the perfect glass of chocolate milk. This was a lesson with a lot of staying power - we still follow his method today!


Wonder Boy comes from a long line of teachers. His Great Great Grandmother was a teacher in a one-room school house. Her only daughter, the Boy's Great Grandmother, followed in her footsteps to the school house door and taught for over 40 years. Again, her only daughter, Wonder Boy's Great Aunt, made her career teaching and passed on the teacher gene to one of her daughters and one of her granddaughters as well. That's quite a lineage of teaching, don't you think?!

Wonder Boy spent his high school years heavily involved in the Computer Science team. He loved the challenge and problem solving aspect, but another big draw to being part of the team was his mentoring role for younger or less experienced teammates.

We were not sure if he would be able to find any kind of mentoring opportunities in this day of the virtual classroom, but I am so pleased to say that, well, life finds a way! The Boy has a friend from high school in his programming class and she is a novice programmer. So the Boy has dedicated a bit of his time each week to going over the assignments with her and making sure she has all the skills needed to succeed in this class! He also stays on the Zoom session after he has completed the assignments to act as a virtual help desk for anyone else who might need a hand.

The Boy claims that he wants to program for a living some day after graduation, but I hope that, no matter what path he decides to follow, I hope that he can continue to find opportunities to teach. It is in his blood and seeing the natural high he rides after a tutoring session is reason enough for me to hope he sticks with it in some form or fashion!

Project 19 to 19: Day 10

the Guys

This photo from 2010 is one of my all time favorites. I have it in the rotation of photos in my digital photo frame on my desk at work and every time it pops up, I stop and smile for a minute, no matter how hectic my day may be.


I have always loved seeing them together, but there is something simple and honest about this photo for me. This shot was snagged while the guys were both in the middle of a martial arts class. Wonder Boy had started muay thai lessons and Dad was doing a cardio kick boxing class at the same location. Here they had a break in the action at the same time and took a minute to chat and crack a joke. And their simple interaction warms my heart to its deepest core.

For today, I couldn't find a time when they were both free and willing to step in front of the camera at the same time, but I did see this awesome shoe rack/bench Wonder Dad just finished making for the boy.


This bench is another simple and honest expression of their relationship. Wonder Dad knows his boy well. And there is no greater articulation of his dedication to his boy than a project like this bench. I have caught both of them stopping to take in the bench when they enter his room. Wonder Dad is proud of his finished project and the Boy is glad to have this special addition to his room. I love that this is one more thing that they get to share together.

Project 19 to 19: Day 9

Color Shift
I've shared before that Wonder Boy has long had a signature color of blue. He loves all hues, especially the darker part of the spectrum. Since the first days where we encouraged the Boy to select his own clothes, he has just naturally gravitated to blue.


If I close my eyes and picture my Boy, I have always imagined him covered in blue.

But in recent months, there has been a noticable shift in color. Gone are the blue hues while maroon no dominates his wardrobe!


I admit it - I love it! He still looks awesome in blue, but he is rockin' the maroon as well! And since I know that this is an outward expression of his excitement over starting classes at TAMU, I'm even more pumped to see him covered in maroon!

Project 19 to 19: Day 8

Bubba's Best Girl

We have had dogs in our home since before the Boy was born, so he has never known life without a canine companion. Our dogs, Ruby and Chucho took a while to warm up to the Boy after we introduced him to our little pack. They grew to accept him and even love him, but it was not the same as having a dog of your own.

The Puppy Princess was born to a local breeder in November. We took the Boy with us to make our pick of the litter and all 3 of us agreed she was the one for us! At the tail end (yes, pun intended) of 2008, just before New Years, we were finally able to bring her home!


The Boy fell for his Princes right away, but she was a Mama's girl from day one. He spent years chasing after her, but it really wasn't until the Mutt came into the house that she decided Wonder Boy was worth her time.


I am glad that she found her way to him, especially since he has given so much of himself to her over the years. Our old girl is really getting up there in age to the point where we are not sure how mcuh longer she will be with us. I have struggled to find the silver linings to this Pandemic, but having extra time with the Boy and him having extra time with the Princess is definitely one of those cases.

Project 19 to 19: Day 7

Who is that Masked Man?!?

Today marks a week into this project and I am so glad that we still have another 12 days to go!

This flash back photo from 2007, brings an INSTANT smile to my face! This was taken the Friday before his first day of Kindergarten. He was taking "Little Dragons" martial arts lessons at a local karate dojo and they held a big blowout to celebrate the end of summer and the start of the new school year. The theme was "Super Hero Training Camp."


As you can see, Wonder Boy was well prepared for the event! He's in his Incredibles outfit and mask. He's donned his Batman cape. And he has his trusty Jedi light saber at his side!

Like every other kid in attendance, he flew around that dojo like never before that evening! He showed off his high flying skills, leaping tall towers (of training mits) in a single bound. His dexterity was on display as he climbed mighty cliffs (played by the instructors). And he gave us all a demonstration of his strength as he knocked out pushups, sit ups, and punched every heavy bag in the building!

A great time was had by all, especially by those of us watching our little Supers run wild.

Believe it or not, every time the Boy leaves home these days, he is also sporting a mask.


While this mask is a fun one to look at, wearing one right now is not a laughing matter.

This is, of course, yet another reminder of life in the time of the Corona virus. On the rare occasion that we leave home, we wear a mask and usually disposable gloves as well. We remain at least 6 feet away from others. All packages/supplies coming into the house go into a 3 day quarantine. And we generally do not have in person visits with anyone.

We have lived like this since mid-March and there doesn't seem to be any indication that things will change in the next few months. This is why Wonder Boy is doing his first full semester of college from the relative safety of our home. All of his classes are on-line.

It wasn't an easy decision to keep him home this fall. But with the number of students on campus contracting the virus, we are all certain it was the right call to make. We are still very hopeful that before long the Boy will be able to attend classes on campus. And our biggest wish right now is that he will be able to live on campus by next fall!

Today's masks may not evoke the same smile or hit that tender spot in my heart, but they go a long way towards protecting us. So I guess in that same way, the Boy is still my favorite Super!

Project 19 to 19: Day #6

Favorite Foods

If you have known Wonder Boy for any length of time, then you know that food does not hold a high priority in his life. His list of favorite foods has never been very long. We tease him and say he has a "selective palate."


We see our sweet boy here enjoying a bowl of cheerios, watching TV (most like watching "Go, Diego, Go!"), and breaking in the Batman cape and cowl made for him by his grandma. I was so thankful that breakfast was a pretty easy meal since both lunch and dinner were bound to be a struggle.

I am thankful that these days, it really isn't a struggle to keep him fed. It's true that he prefers simple foods, with a fondness for steak, chicken, and pork leading his list. And at the very tip top of that list, is bacon! According to the Boy, Bacon is heaven sent and should be enjoyed as often as possible.

In days past, bacon was reserved for the weekend, but since the pandemic has us all at home, all day, every day, it is not unusual for it to find its way onto the menu for breakfast and/or lunch.


Our dear boy has only one request for his birthday this year - bacon at every meal.Looks like I have some meal planning to do!

Project 19 to 19: Day #5

Focus, Discipline, Work Ethic

Focus, discipline, and a strong work ethic. If you had asked me back in the days before we transitioned from a couple to a family, what lessons I would hope to impart to any future family members, I likely would have included these 3 in the list.

There are days when I think we must have breathed that into the Boy from before he took his first breath because they are the first three characteristics that come to mind when I stop to ponder the man our Wonder Boy is rapidly becoming.

It started with focus. The Boy has always had an uncanny ability to target his mind on the task at hand. When he was small, we would see this when he sat down to draw, paint, build, or play. It was like the rest of the world was just background music and his activity was all that mattered.


Discipline is supposed to be a learned trait, but it has come as naturally to the boy as breathing. And I have always been amazed to see it when it comes to his school work. Most of us can remain diligent when working on something we enjoy, but have trouble maintaining that when it is a task we despise. However, that is NOT the way the Boy is wired. He will often knock off first the thing he hates the most. I have long admired that as I am wired the exact opposite way.


Today is Sunday, typically a day of rest. But after a full week of working hard each day, the Boy started off his day today with a chemistry pre-lab write up. He followed that up with hours of research toward putting together a degree plan for the next 3 semesters so he will be ready for a meeting with his advisor on Friday. He schedules his work himself. We know next to nothing of his assignments, test schedules, or degree requirements. We could find it out, of course, but our young man does not need our assistance. He has earned our trust in his organizational skills and we know he has things well in hand.

I hope he knows how proud he makes us!

Project 19 to 19: Day #4

Video Game Master

Like so many of his generation, Wonder Boy has been completely enamored with video games from a very early age. Back when this photo was taken in 2004, we severely limited his time "on the box" and only got him games with an educational spin.


The game shown here was his favorite for a long time - a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse game that focused on the alphabet and colors. It was bright and colorful and had a bubbly sound track to accompany it.

Since those early days, the Boy has delved into all things video game related. He spent time building levels on games he purchased. He has programmed his own games. He has sketched out all his favorite characters. And he's learned to bang out some of the tunes featured in his favorite games on his piano or guitar.

In short, there is very little aspect about video games which the Boy has not explored.

As of late, he has been all but obsessed with the musical aspect of his favorite games. He wakes up in the morning humming those tunes. Once class is over, he likes to pluck a tune on his guitar or dabble around on the piano. Sometimes he will send us the link to a video on YouTube. And any time we take a car ride togehter, his favorite topic is discussion the types of music in his favorite games, especially those he enjoyed when he was young.

All of that talk must be seeping into my subconscious because I find myself being drawn to game music too. The Boy and I had recently been talking about one of his first truly favorite games - Little Big Planet. And just by a strange twist of fate, one of its most iconic songs ended up in my YouTube play list the very next day!


Wonder Boy and his dad must have played that game for a good solid year, only moving on when the Little Big Planet 2 was released. I do not have a flair for game play, but LPB was so pretty and the music so captivating that I couldn't help but spend hours watching them play.

The screenshot above was from my favorite level, called "the Wedding Reception" and the video below is the song that plays throughout the level. Thanks to my boy, it now has a permanent home on my playlist!

Project 19 to 19: Day #3

Style By Mom

I have never been confused with a fasion plate. When it comes to personal grooming, I like to keep it simple. So I never intended to take on the task of taming WonderBoy's hair. But in his early years, he was overly wary of letting a barber or stylist get near him with scissors or clippers, so a few simple cuts at home seemed to be the best option.

About a week before this photo was taken, I strapped the Boy into his high chair, gave him some snacks to busy his hands, put on his favorite cartoon of the day and grabbed my scissors to clean up his side burns and get the hair out of his eyes. I had hardly gotten started when he very suddenly decided to turn his head and show me how many cheerios he could fit into one hand. As you can guess, this did not end well. In fact, I missed his hair all together and lopped off the top of his left ear instead.


I was devistated! Wonder Dad was a 20 minute drive away at work and couldn't get home to us, but a neighbor came to the rescue and whisked us off to the doctor's office. Thankfully the Boy didn't need any stitches, but Momma's heart was permanently scarred, so this would be the last time I got near him with scissors.

However, Daddy came to the rescue with a set of hair clippers. Neither of us had much in the way of skill with them though, so the end result was the buzz cut you see above. The Boy didn't mind. It was a super hot summer, and we told him the cut made him more aerodynamic and therefore faster on the soccer pitch. He was small enough to buy into it, so all was well.

These days, the boy has a good relationship with the family stylist - she's been cutting Wonder Dad's hair since long before Wonder Boy came along and these days she keeps all of us looking our best. However, pandemic living has ended our visits to the salon. So once again we are relying on the clippers Wonder Dad brought home all those years ago. Thankfully, we are much more skilled with the clippers these days and do not have to resort to a full on buzz cut.


All things considered, I think Wonder Boy looks rather handsome! I know he will be glad to get back to the Salon, but until then, at least we can keep his sideburns under control and keep the hair out of his eyes. I guess some things never change!

Project 19 to 19: Day #2

Virtual Campus

School is a hot topic these days. You cannot turn on the TV or the radio or browse your favorite social media without hearing/seeing SOMETHING about school or teachers or school kids or ... well ... we'll get back to that.

All of that talk brought back the memory of Wonder Boy's earliest school days - and in this case, or course, I mean his start to preschool/day care.

The first full year, maybe even year and a half, Wonder Boy was not a huge fan of "school" and he would fuss all the way there and then do his best to convince us that we should not leave him there to fend for himself. It was hard on all of us. I want to point out that, as soon as we would leave, he would be fine and would be happy and content when we came to pick him up. We often would stay long enough to watch through the blinds to see how quickly he would settle down and sometimes we would show up unannounced to make sure all was well and every single time, he was good to go.


I am happy to say that the separation anxiety of his early years faded fast and school became a comfortable arena for him.

This summer, the Boy graduated from high schol (with honors!) and took his first college course, earning his first college "A" and coming into his first full semester this fall with a 4.0 GPA!

We had hoped beyond hope that he would be moving into the Engineering Honors dorm at TAMU this fall, but the pandemic had other plans, so instead we worked to transform his video game playing area upstairs into a workable virtual classroom.


I am oh so proud to report that the Boy is handling the string of disappointments surrounding his launch into independent living better than anyone in the family. True to his analytical nature, he has taken each situation in stride until a work-around is figured out and then he doesn't look back. He doesn't spend his time worrying about what could have been.

He has spent years learning the things he wanted to learn on-line and through books, so the transition to the kind of independent learning that is needed for distance education has not phased him too much to this point. I hope and pray that these skills will serve him well this fall and beyond!

Project 19 to 19: Day #1

Hamming It Up

I'll be honest, I really didn't expect to be able to continue this project after last year. But if I can find any silver lining in the pandemic lifestyle to which we are all adjusting in 2020, it is having extra time with my dear Wonder Boy (Wonder Guy?, he IS about to turn 19 after all).

As I sat down to find a photo to kick start things for this year, I thought "why not start off with the Boy's very first photo?!". Truth be told, this is NOT his very first photo, it's his second, taken in my 22nd week of pregnancy. Our first ultrasound was taken at the 9 week mark, but at that point, we did not know whether the little bean on the screen was a boy or a girl, so I count this one as his first photo!


We got 3 different little prints on this momentous day, but this one was my favorite because it looked a bit like he was waving at us. I knew even then that my Wonder Boy would be a ham for the camera (though I didn't know how quickly he would grow tired of my mom-tographer ways).

So here we are on Day #1 in our countdown to the Boy's 19th birthday and, as you can see, he is STILL hamming it up for me and my camera!


He acutally does this grandiose emergence from his bedroom several times a day. We left the tinsel curtain hanging after his graduation and first day of college celebrations. He really seems to love passing through it as he comes and goes.

In truth, only Wonder Mutt seems to be put out by it and he refuses to walk through unless one of us parts the way for him. But the rest of us get a kick out of it so I think it will stay!

This year has been .... unusual ... trying ... and just so different from every other build up to the Boy's birthday. Reasons to celebrate have been few and far between and the ability to hold even the smallest of festive gatherings has been all but impossible, I think that makes this project and the annual countdown even more important than ever. And I hope the Boy will appreciate it as much as I do!