Maggie and her Boys

I'm quite sure I have posted about this group before - but we have new photos, 

so I will revisit this subject!

We moved to Forney when Maggie was in the second grade - the first friend she met was Josh Duncan. He was riding his bike as we drove down the street with our windows rolled down, looking for a lot to build our house on - he stopped and talked to Mags through the window and they have been friends ever since. Soon after, there were a few more move-ins to our neighborhood - Trey Givens, Ociel and Josiel Ontiveros and Kaleb Callaway.

The boys became fast friends and thankfully, even though she was a gross girl, Maggie was considered by all to be part of them.  The whole neighborhood and all of the kids in their classes knew that where you find Maggie - you are sure to find these boys. 

Over the years I have heard a lot of other moms question my decision to allow Maggie to be friends with a group of all boys. Didn't I worry that she didn't have a girlie group to have slumber parties and girl talk with? Didn't I worry about her always playing in the gutter or 

getting messy with all of those boys? 

The answer is a resounding NO! 

Those boys taught her so much - how to be comfortable around boys - how to be unimpressed by the teen aged male - they took the mystery out of boys, which helped her so much when she began dating - no boy stood a chance in trig to get away with anything concerning Maggie - she had already seen how the neighbors behaved around girls - she was wise to the male tricks! Mostly, they taught her the value of being part of a friend group where you never doubt that everyone there is supportive of you no matter what!

There did come a time - about middle school - when those boys did in fact notice that she was female, but they got over that very quickly.

I'll never forget it - Maggie was upstairs taking a nap and the boys were at the kitchen table eating sandwiches. Maggie woke up, came downstairs wearing sleep shorts which 

showed off her legs a little bit. 

Kaleb said "Wow - look who turned into a girl!" and Josh quickly corrected him by saying

 "Dude - we HANG out with Maggie, we don't GO out with Maggie" 

That was the end of that!

Maggie will always love her boys and I have no doubt that no matter how far apart life takes them all, they will always love her right back!

L to R:
Kaleb, Trey, Ociel, Maggie, Josh and Josiel
circa 8th grade

The boys chose her wardrobe for her (mainly Kaleb)

getting a little bit older!

 

On this day, Maggie had just come home from having a laser surgery on her mouth. She wasn't feeling great so Kaleb was trying to cheer her up!

As they drove away after this photo - 1 week with her licence - Maggie wrecked her car. Josh was the only one who could hug her, as she is not one who likes affection when she is upset. Thank goodness he was there!

Kaleb attacked her and her milkshake with a roll of tape!

This is what every single summer looked like. The boys would come over early and they would swim all morning - then come in for lunch and chill out in the house until they got bored. Then it was back outside until bed.
I miss all of those summer days and the many forts they built, games of tag, races and
 general mischief that they found themselves in!
I can't believe how much I miss dragging them all to and from school everyday - being privy to all of their ridiculous conversations - hearing them support each other if there was ever a problem or drama.
 Maggie was one lucky girl to have found herself stuck with these guys and I was just as lucky to be the neighborhood mom who got to look out for them!

These next photos we're taken just before they all headed away for college. It was so great having them all together one last time. Sitting in the living room, listening to them reminisce was so bittersweet. I am so proud of all of these kids. I am grateful that Maggie was loved by these boys. As they got older, they were unable to hang out as much - between school work, activities,  different friend groups, girlfriends, boyfriends etc - but they were all so happy to get together for a couple of days one last time -
Kaleb has actually moved out of state and even he was able to come back for their last hoorah!

Nope - they haven't changed a bit!