Sawyer turned eleven in May and had both a friend and a family party. He picked a couple of buddies and his dad and I took them all out to dinner at the Olive Garden and then to do laser tag. They also played tons of arcade games and were so hyper!! We came home for cake and presents--just in time for the parents to arrive. He had a blast. He is such a super guy! We love him so much!!

The Birthdays Begin--2009

The Birthday Boy--Eleven

May begins the Birthday Season at our house. All four of our kids' birthdays are about 2-3 weeks apart. Phew! Sawyer starts it all on May 4. Actually, his celebrations lasted about a week, from a friend party, family party, birthday dinner, lunch at school, etc... He did have a great birthday this year and commented that he "loved every one of his presents!" Thank goodness! Of course, he did ask for a foam pillow and a heating pad! What a goofball. He also got tons of sporting equipment: basketball, tennis racket, yoga ball, cologne, "cool" clothes. We are so lucky to have Sawyer in our family. He is a wonderful young man and I love watching him become a fabulous person. We love our Saw-saw so much!

Family fun with the cousins

An ice cream cake with some of his Buds!

A bunch of crazy boys

He loves his Mom!

Super Chef Sawyer

Sawyer wanted to make dinner the other night, and as everyone who knows my culinary level will comment, "It's about time!" Surprised he has been able to wait ten years for some real food? Me too! He did such a great job--we had sausage and peppers with Alfredo sauce and yellow rice! I now know he will not starve on his mission. He's such an awesome young man!

A Stitch in Time

Last week, in 7 degree weather, Sawyer, his dad, and two friends were playing basketball in our driveway. Sarah was out there as well, apparently riding her bike. (These people are all crazy!) Well, Sarah finds a lump of ice on the ground and brilliantly decides to throw it at her unsuspecting brother. "I was throwing it at his chest!" she claims. I tend to believe her, as I (1) have seen her play basketball and (2) know she couldn't have hit him with such precision if she had tried a million times. Yep, she busted open his eyebrow. Luckily we have a doctor in the house. Jackson gave Sawyer his little Rexie to hold and we all loaded up the van and drove to Matt's office. Sawyer was very brave, especially during the shots, but he did need to hold his Mom's hand. ( I finally felt needed!) Only two stitches were required, but Sawyer wanted us to tell everyone he had four stitches. I felt really bad for him, but on the way home we stopped at church for a meeting and he ended up playing basketball with the 12-18 year old boys! He made several shots and ended up having his stitches bleed with a knock in the head. Boys will always be boys, I believe. However, for our first kid to get stitches, Sawyer did an awesome job!

The Rest of Halloween

I finally uploaded more of my pictures so I needed to post some photos of my older two or there could be claims of favoritism in our family. Sarah was the Bride of Frankenstein and Sawyer was some zombie thing. They both had fun roaming the neighborhood with the walkie talkies. Sarah and the little boys rode around on a wagon getting their candy.

This last picture is of Drew's favorite webkinz, Rexie. He was dressed up as a superhero with a washrag cape and a tiny pumpkin trick-or-treat bag. Drew set him in the window when he left so that Rexie could watch everything that was going on outside! Drew is so cute! (Ignore the peeling paint on our window sill. Our window leaked and Matt has caulked so all is well, but I still need to sand and repaint. Add it to my list...)

School Halloween Bash

Jackson insisted that all cowboys pose like this!

The kids enjoyed dressing up for their school's Halloween Bash. Drew designed his costume all by himself using things he already had around the house. Apparently he was a Spy/Secret Agent. Our neighbor is a real FBI Agent and he did comment that he dresses exactly like Drew when he goes to work. Drew also dressed Jackson up for us as well using stuff from our dress-up box. This is only one of the three costumes Jackson wore--none of which was the Ninja Turtle costume I actually purchased for him!

Sawyer and his "posse" are too cool to go to school in their costumes. They had lots of fun, in fact they had almost too much fun at the Bash. (We thought we might have to bail them out of jail by the end of the night). Just the type of situation that calls for some more candy, right?!

Back to School (A.K.A "Day of Joy")

These are late, but I wanted to post my kids' back to school photos. It is a beautiful, sunny morning and they are all so excited. I love the way everyone jumps up and gets ready so fast on the first day of school! Sarah is in the seventh grade, Sawyer in the fifth, Drew in second, and Jackson is in his second and final year of preschool. Now, don't misconstrue my post. I totally love my children. I would throw myself in front of a bus to save them and all that jazz ... However, the first day of school always makes me feel GIDDY! ( Like angels singing "AHHH- Hal-le-lu-jah! ") Jackson and I cleaned the house, did several loads of laundry, went to Costco, took a nap, and still had time to go out for our annual "first day of school" celebratory lunch with my neighbor. The kids arrived home excited and hungry. We had our yearly first day snack--turkey and cheese bruschetta at my house and brownies at our neighbors. Our family loves to be together, but we also love some time apart to have our own adventures that we come back and share together! A side note: I think home-school moms are either Saints or Crazy! Go School!!! (Or should I say, "Go To School!")