in full swing

Another season of baseball is underway.

Harrison has moved up to AAA/Kid Pitch Division and whoa boy, kid pitch is certainly interesting (and slow. so, so slow).  Every time Harrison is at bat I hold my breath hoping he doesn't get hit with the ball. 

His main position this year is first base, and he is seeing a lot of action and doing an awesome job!

Sawyer is on Minor B/Coach Pitch, and the games are similarly slow moving - but you are less likely to get pegged with a pitch ;)

Sawyer is an intense little player.  And it seems appropriate that he is on the "Scrappers" team this year.

Another Scrappy-Doo - Graham.  He keeps the fans entertained.

I know he already can't wait to be old enough to play.  I'm trying not to imagine practices/games/snack stand duty/picture day X 3.  Daunting.

sawyer at six

Oh Sawyer. How to describe him...he is different by the hour...

Sawyer is forever asking Harrison to play with him, and wants to do anything that Harrison does. If Harrison won't play Sawyer will usually settle for Graham instead, lol.

He is the absolute best, most tender big brother to Campbell. He sits next to her in the van and will hold her binky or bottle for her, and is always trying to make her smile.

Sometimes Sawyer's behavior and dance moves make us wonder if he is sneaking access to HBO? Jonathan and I just look at each other and shake our heads...

Thankfully, he saves that craziness for at home - his teacher tells us what a good kid he is at school, and that is a huge relief to us ;)

Sawyer is becoming a more confident reader every day.

He is very athletic and loves to swim, play tennis, baseball and soccer. He is excited to be old enough for basketball now that he is six. Something "active" was definitely in order for his birthday party this year, so off to the rock climbing gym we went!

On Sawyer's actual birthday my aunt and uncle were visiting from Texas, so our whole family had dinner at my moms and a special cake for the guest of honor.

Sawyer loves to get the sofa cushions out and build forts, he is good enough to beat Jonathan and Harrison on the Wii, he loves to play Legos, Memory (and other board games) have Nerf battles, jump from furniture and dance to loud, obnoxious music.

On Sunday we celebrated with Jonathan's parents and more cake!

Some of Sawyer's favorite presents were silky dragon pajamas that look like they are from China (he has been obsessed ever since a girl adopted from China brought in her brother's pair when she shared on Chinese New Year) A toy claw machine, light box to trace things with and Legos.

Sawyer definitely brings a lot of personality to our family.

We love you so much Sawyer! Fly straight!!!!!

the longest soccer season ever

We had so much rain in the month of October that rescheduled games had to be rescheduled. And when it finally stopped raining? It snowed.

The boys finally had their tournament on Saturday to close out the season. Thank goodness, because it would have been tricky to play in parkas.

Sawyer played on Minor B, Team England. He scored many goals this season and definitely improved his game from last year. He also really loved playing goalie.


Harrison played Minor A, Team Italy. His position this year was defense and he was dubbed "The Oak Tree" by his teammates. He was much more competitive this year and did an awesome job protecting the goal.



Next up...basketball.

1+1

Yes, I'm sad to see them growing up...but I have to confess that after a summer of non-stop fighting, I couldn't wait to ship these two off to school.

Sawyer was very excited about starting Kindergarten. I'd be even more excited myself if the class time was longer then 2 hours and 40 minutes.

Harrison is pretty reluctant when it comes to school, but he was excited to meet his new teacher and hopeful that she'd be nice enough not to give them homework on the first day.

I love that my guys will now pass each other in the hallways!

Since our district doesn't bus for Kindergarten, I had the perfect opportunity to walk Sawyer in and snap a picture with his incredibly sweet teacher. You know the type - she's been there forever and everyone loves her.

And it wouldn't be the first day of school without the pencil cake!

Here's to a great school year ahead!!!

lost a tooth!

Sawyer's tooth had been wiggly for over a month when Harrison decided to show him some techniques that might help speed things up and get the tooth to fall out. Sawyer would use a tissue and move the loose tooth back and forth multiple times a day, he'd constantly poke at it from behind with his tongue and he'd request apples to snack on. Ordinarily, my boys have a hard tme working together...but in this case, Harrison was all too eager to be of further assistance. I had no sooner told Sawyer that no I would not yank it out and it might be another week until he lost the tooth when Harrison came running upstairs to tell me that he had gone ahead and pulled it himself! How's that for teamwork!

Sawyer is super proud of his new smile, and he's still showing off the gap to everyone we know.

brothers & baseball

Harrison & Sawyer played for different divisions this year, but both were on the Orem Owlz team for their age set. Sawyer thought this was awesome! Harrison thought it was completely unfair. I just thought "I hope I don't mix their shirts up like I did for soccer"

Sawyer abandoned the tee early in the season and had some great hits this year. He loved sliding to every base...including first...you might be impressed that even I know you are supposed to "run through" first base! I also had to teach him that just because a little boy tags you on base, you aren't actually out unless he has the ball - it's such a technical sport ;)

Harrison did great with the pitching machine this year and really stepped it up in his fielding! We've heard a lot of comments about his strong throwing arm, so maybe we have a pitcher in our future? His favorite position of the season was first base. He played on a team with lots of friends this year and the boys were undefeated - whoohoo!!! Or as us Owlz mom's liked to cheer "HOOT! HOOT!"

five

Happy Birthday Sawyer!!!

Everyone who knows Sawyer describes him as a character.

We just got back from Disney where he rode the Tower of Terror without reservation.

Sawyer is taking tennis lessons, and his coach says he's never seen such an awesome little player. He's a natural athelete.

Sawyer loves to draw, build and play games.
He bathes at least once a day, sometimes twice. But hates to brush his teeth.

His preschool teachers adore him, and say he is their best picker-upper (wish that would flow over to home life!)
Sawyer is the best at getting Graham to stop crying.

He wants to do everything that Harrison does.

He's very particular about his clothes. Despite the coldest Winter in years Sawyer refuses to wear long sleeves.
He loves chicken nugget Happy Meals, chocolate donuts and no vegetables.
He gives the best hugs.

He still climbs into bed with us in the middle of the night on a regular basis.

And I don't mind. Not one bit.

LOVE YOU BUDDY!!!!!

Things I've Learned this September

1. Don't get all excited when you sign your son up for lacrosse and it only costs you $20. Once you shop for the stick, helmet and gloves you probably won't even have $20 left in your bank account to cover the registration fee.

2. Even if you put your email address on the invitations, no one will RSVP for your parties.

3. The Phillies are having a good season (school spirit days clue me in).

4. If you start a 400 page book the day before Book Club it's going to be a stretch to finish.

5. No one wants to be a robot or root beer for Halloween, no matter how much you beg.

Born Ready

I'm convinced that little brothers are born ready for action. They need to keep up! Sawyer was walking at 9 months, riding without training wheels at 3 at this Summer he dove into the 12 ft. water at the pool, undaunted. I love that this kid believes he can do anything. Even fly.

And I know he'll soar this year in Pre-Kindergarten too.

Even if he is complaining about not being able to ride the bus like his big brother.

We're thrilled to have Mrs. Sarnese as his teacher again this year, and Mrs. Phillips is as sweet as can be, too.

Sawyer was eager to find his new cubby

So he could get to the more important matters at hand...

I think this group is prepared to handle anything

And in between play-doh and fighting crime I know Sawyer will be learning lots of things to prepare him for Kindergarten next year. I'm not worried. He's already ready ;)

{crazy} guest post

I was all set to blog about Harrison's mishap with his newly purchased "Air Hog" when I realized Jonathan had already told the story on Facebook! So without further ado, here is the tale in his own words...

This past Friday, Harrison eagerly tried out his newly purchased, allowance paid for, remote controlled helicopter. Unfortunately, on its maiden flight, it zoomed up on the roof and tumbled into the gutter. He frantically called me at work, however, his pleas for me to leave early to retrieve the lost helicopter were met with a “you’ll have to wait ‘till I get home” response.

Arriving home after work, I realized that the gutter was way out of reach of my extension ladder. A more creative approach was needed. I climbed up the porch roof, pulled the ladder up behind me and then climbed up to the next level. As I straddled across the roof line toward the suspected gutter location, I came to realize that asphalt shingles can get hot– frankly, too hot as the 2nd degree burn blisters on my hands would attest. Carrying on, I didn’t see the helicopter and even if I did, I remained unsure as to how I was going to be able to retrieve anything out of the gutter while clinging for life with blistered hands. I returned to the ground to a disappointed 7 year old, copter-less and a little queasy. The only consolation to be had was to assure Harrison that tomorrow we would purchase a new copter to replace the one that was “lost”. (I’m sure we would be chastised by Dobson or “Supernanny” regarding our bypassing a “teachable moment” to explain “consequences”, but it brought peace in the house for the rest of the evening).

The next day Harrison headed out for his replacement purchase and I contemplated the possibilities of a better way. Calling upon my inner “MacGyver” I used duct tape to rig up a paint roller with a mirror. I then leaned out the top portion of a double-hung window and was able to locate the section of the gutter in which the helicopter was trapped. I then taped a minnow net to the end of the mirror and after multiple attempts, was able to scoop out the helicopter from the crash site, much to the cheers of the boys below.

The only person happier than Harrison, was Sawyer who got a new helicopter, without having to spend his allowance.

a camping they did go...

Friday was Harrison's last day of 1st grade!

No sooner did he get off the bus and he was on his way to the church camp-out with his brother...(Tom) Sawyer
Zippity Zip Line
Yes, someone did fall in (someone always falls in!) But thankfully, my guys made it across without incident.

That night Harrison stayed up late roasting marshmallows at the camp fire.

But was still up early the next morning to fish. He caught a record seven fish this year!

Sawyer caught four. I guess you catch your age...

He also opted to have his face painted. Like what? I am not sure.

If you're wondering, Graham and I did not rough-it. We were holding down the fort at home ;)

Our first year at camp, the boys were awarded for catching the most seaweed...this year, much improved with the 2 Blue Gill award (Harrison) and Best Fish Imitation (Sawyer).

Happy Campers!!!