In the swim of things

Connor and Jackson got up bright and early this morning...and we headed to the pool! Yep, we started swimming lessons! The boys really enjoyed it. Connor hollered at me from across the pool...Mom, this is awesome! then gave me a big thumbs up.

Poor Jackson (who has no fat on his entire body)was shivering as he got out of the pool....

Here's Connor...talking the entire way out of the pool. He can't wait for the next lesson!

Sweet Treats

There were some pretty cute trick or treaters in Lancaster last night. I'm a little biased I know..but...

Craig headed over to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Steve's house without me for dinner (I was stuck at work)...then Grandma, PopPop, Aunt Lisa, and cousins Lindsey and Seth headed out to fill their trick or treat bags.

Here's a look at our crews....Connor even got a brand new spiderman outfit to replace the shredded old one...

Jackson loved being Thomas...

Mitchell wasn't feeling so well....poor guy...

and of course, our wild pony, Sawyer.

What a fun...sugar filled...night!

By the way, I finally figured out how to rotate my pictures! Yeah!

On any given day

This is something you'll see a lot in our house. Little boys surrounding the train table. One of the best things we've been seeing lately is all of them playing together. They really take turns nicely. I love seeing them help one another find a train or put together a piece of track.

While his big brothers were playing at the train table, I put Mitchell in his swing. He loved it. As you can clearly see....

I actually took this picture in mid-swing. Look at that face! I could just cover it with kisses. Anyway, as Mitchell was swinging, his brother would occassionally walk over to the swing. Sawyer would push the swing....Jackson would try to give him a kiss...then they'd go back to their trains. Well, at one point, I looked in the room and I knew I had to grab my camera because I saw this....

The picture isn't very good, but Connor had pulled out a book and was reading to Mitchell. It was soooo cute. After Connor would "read" the page, he'd hold the book up so that Mitchell could see the pictures. What a sweet thing.

Go Phillies!!!!

Of course, we are big Phillies fans in our house. Daddy wouldn't have it any other way! So, in honor of the teams return to the World Series...we got as close to Phillies wear as possible.

Connor's been wearing his Phillies hat to school everyday...even the bus driver is a Phillies fan.
(I'll have to get a picture tomorrow. )

Mitchells shirt...underneath all that drool...says Daddy's team! Sure is. He and Jackson were waiting for the start of the game with anticipation.



Here, they're so excited they can hardly hold it together. Okay, not really. The truth is...we got everyone bathed and pretty much to bed before the end of the first inning. Daddy eventually went downstairs to watch...and hoot and holler all he wanted. He came to bed around 11:30-ish...with a big smile on his face and told mommy that the Phils had won big time. 6-1, I think. Yeah. Go Phillies.

Fabulous Fall

We've had a fun fall here at our house. Granted it's rained more days than I care to count, but we've been enjoying the season none the less.

In the beginning of October we went to our neighbors and picked up some pumpkins. The boys had a blast...and helped me to arrange them on the porch. Here's the results...



This weekend Aunt Lynn was over. She pulled out our biggest, best butcher knife...and performed major surgery....

Here's the end results! She drew out a few options for the boys to choose from. They picked the happy, nice jack o' lantern! Pretty cute, huh...

Here's another big milestone to report. Mitchell is sitting up by himself. He's not rock solid quite yet....but he's getting there. He loves to sit up and grab whatever is in front of him....which of course ends up in his mouth. (Excuse his dirty, dirty face...he just finished with a bitter biscuit and I wanted to take the picture quick while everyone was still happy!)

Whenever the boys see me with the camera out...they all get really excited and want to pose. So, I always try to get a few pics.

Here are the boys going head to head...in a good way. Sawyer was too into watching Thomas the Tank Engine to join in. Look at those smiles! What a bunch...


Again, ignore Mitchell's stained face...and the big toes sticking into the bottom of the picture. Details...details...

I am amazingly blessed.

Random Thoughts

Just a few odd tidbits....

• the boys have all had the swine flu
• we're cheering for the Phillies as they head into their second consecutive world series
• i made name banners for connor and jackson to hang in their room
• we went to halloween at hershey...and the boys had a major meltdown
• we're getting ready for our annual halloween get together with family
• connor had his first "homework" assignment...he had to pick a character from a book to dress up as on friday...then he had to draw a picture of the character in the setting of the book. he did a great job!
• connor has been bringing home books from school to read to us. he's doing great. we couldnt' be prouder
• jackson is the train king! he is constantly making up scenariios and rebuilding tracks in the play room. he could be there for hourson end!
• life is good beyond measure
• jackson and connor sang in children's choir. it was jackson's first time. he kept looking at the littel girl next to him. they both did awesome. the battery of the video camera died 19 second into the song!

So much

I've got a lot of catching up to do. There's been so much going on..and I'm way behind in posting things.

After Craig's great birthday celebration (I'm still trying to figure out how to download the pictures from Craig's mom's camera to my computer)...we weren't done celebrating.

That's because Sawyer turned 2 on October 13th.

He was ready. After watching so many others blow out their candles...he didn't skip a beat. The cake wasn't even out of my hands before you was puffing up those cheeks and letting loose. Connor and Jackson were disappointed that they didn't get a chance to help.



We ended up inviting the whole family over for dinner. Craig had asked for lasagna for his birthday dinner...and didn't get it because of the party...so we had lasagna. We had a full house!

We ended up singing Happy Birthday to Sawyer, Craig, my mom, and our nephew Austin. All celebrated a birthday between October 10-14th. WOW! Lots to be thankful for.

Sawyer got lots of help opening...and playing with his new toys. He got a cute little golf set from Grandma, some new trucks with a cool garage from Aunt Lori, and a new tricycle from mommy and daddy. :) He and Jackson are both enjoying that.

So Sawyer is 2!

Amazing.

At 2, Sawyer is....

• super sweet
• always on the go
• an early riser...he starts singing or talking around 5:30 some morning, but usually sleeps until 6
• very social..loves people and enjoys crowds
• a tough guy...if he wants you to move, he'll stand behind you and push...as if you are a blocking sled
• starting to talk...says momma, poppa (for daddy), go, no, ball, i got it, i do it, yes, bye-bye, hi
• he has the cutest little wave when saying good bye
• tries to sit on the potty like his big brothers (so far, nothing has happened)
• loves his blankie and carries it with him almost everywhere he goes (after it got mulch stuck to it this summer, he longer takes it outside)
• smiles all the time (his smile will be featured in our dentists ad campaign later this year)
• eats and eats and eats and eats
• weighs 35 pounds and is 35 inches tall
• is a future line backer
• loves bob builder and thomas the tank engine
• has started to pretend at the train table with his brothers
• holds my heart in the palm of his hands
  

On the same day Sawyer turned 7 months old...

Such a cutie pie! He was super smiley for his 7 month photo session! Too bad most of the good pictures are vertical and i don't know how to turn them. Anyway, he such a good guy.

At 7 months, he loves to

• sleep on his belly with his legs scrunched up underneath
• loves to eat...he enjoys all vegatables and fruits...he really digs applesauce and sweet potatoes and peaches
• he enjoys playing with is toys...in particular the soft sesame street books
• he's sleeping better, but still gets up about twice a night
• he's extremely cuddly!
• he is very social and won't fall asleep if anything is going on
• he talks all the time..especially when he gets excited
• he kicks his legs with vigor when he sees people
• his hair is soooo blonde...
• his brothers love him a bunch...someimes too much!
• he has his four top teeth almost the whole way in, and two bottom teeth the whole way there
• he is precious in my eyes

The big 4-0

so, this weekend we pulled off a bit of a surprise. it was craig's big birthday..we'd been counting down and doing nice things...it all wrapped up with a big surprise party saturday night. i invited people that craig hadn't seen for years. his old boss from 14 years ago, one of the pastors who married us, high school friends, church friends, neighbors who lived across the street since he was born.

We had a great time....the only problem, i didn't take a single picture. this shot of the happy birthday banner that connor and i made was taken Sunday morning. (note the floppy balloon). my mother-in-law had her camera and took lots of shots. hopefully i'll figure out a way to post them here.

i haven't taken many pictures lately...but i thought i'd share a few...

Here are the boys with some of their favorite things. They asked me to take pictures of them with their Thomas Lego engines. Notice the big smiles. Too cute.

Tuesday is Sawyer's 2nd birthday. Can't believe it! In some ways he seems so much older. He is quite the ham. We'll celebrate with family on Tuesday. Wow.