Painting

Over the years, my mom and several other crazy people have given the boys paint. I have never been brave enough to actually pull the paint out and let the kids use it for fear of my walls, blinds, floors and various other things in my house being covered in it. But the other day, I thought, Oh what the hell. So I covered the kitchen table with newspaper and let them at it. Thatcher could not quite grasp the concept of using a brush, so we started with his hands. That was a tad bit messy, so he did best with a little piece of sponge that I cut. Sawyer did really good with the brush, and he sat and painted for about an hour! They had so much fun, we even took it all back out the next day!! And after all the worrying, we didn't even get one drop of paint on the floor!! :)

All of their beautiful artwork!!

Eyelashes

Why don't I have eyelashes like these??

Thatcher

Lately Thatcher just seems like he is growing up so fast. He is doing so many big boy things, well, except for going on the potty. We are slowly working on that! But he can wash his hands all by himself. The step stool wasn't there, so he even went into Sawyer's room all by himself and got it! He can brush his own teeth, and he will even let you floss them! He has been spending a lot of time playing on the computer at www.starfall.com. It is a wonderful learning site. He now knows all of his letters by recognition, except for just a few. Pat was totally blown away this morning when he started pointing to all the letters in one of his ABC books and telling us what they were. And his vocabulary still amazes us. He is using 7, 8, 9 word sentences. He talks just like Sawyer! It is so cute to watch the two of them have conversations. He has also been going over one of his friends house, Kadence, for playdates without mommy! They just grow up too fast sometimes! Luckily he still lets me sing him a song before he goes to bed at night!

My big boy in preschool!

Sawyer has been in school for about 6 weeks now. The first week he really loved it and could not wait to go. He instantly made friends with a little girl that he met at meet the teacher. Then for 2 weeks he did not want to go. I think he felt like he was missing out at the stuff we were doing at home. Also, one of the joys of having a child in school, the whole family was sick for about a week, so Sawyer missed a couple days of school.

Now that he has been going for awhile he really likes it. Every school day, he wakes up and gets dressed and wants to go to school right that minute. He has made lots of friends, most of which are girls! He is holding his pencil correctly (finally!) and is getting really good at writing his name. Sometimes the 'S' is just backwards. I am so thankful to Pat's Grandma for paying for Sawyer to go to preschool. I can not wait to see what he will be doing over the rest of the school year!! Here are some pictures of some of the work that he has brought home!

First trip to the dentist

Yesterday we took the boys to the dentist for the first time. It sure was an adventure. Thatcher was a champ. He hopped right up in the chair for his x-rays. He hopped up in the chair so they could clean his teeth. He opened wide when he was supposed to and I think he actually had fun! Sawyer on the other hand, screamed during the x0rays, then screamed even louder during the teeth cleaning and exam. He had a horrible time. The dentists were great though and said that it was very common for the kids to cry and be upset the first time. If you are looking for a great dentist for your kids I highly recommend this place. It is called Sweet Tooth Pediatric Dentistry and is located at Power and Ray. The entire office was just great.

At the end of the visit both the boys got a token to get a prize out of a machine. Then they got a balloon and a goodie bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, tooth timer and floss! I was also impressed by the fact that they had emailed me a thank you letter by the time we had got home!!

I was very happy with both of my boys because neither one had any cavities!! YIPEE!!

Thatcher getting his x-rays.

Ready to get his teeth cleaned

This was the only picture that I got of Sawyer. This is about 15 minutes after he was all done, so you can only imagine how happy he looked in the office!!

First Day of School!

Today was Sawyer's first day of Kindergarten Prep. He was so excited! We have had a calendar on our refrigerator that we have been using to count down the days. Last night we set out his outfit so it would be good to go in the morning. As soon as he woke up, he got dressed... backpack and all! Pat and I were definitely more nervous than he was. Sawyer and I had talked all week about how he was going to stay at school and Mommy and Daddy were going to go home.... so he was totally prepared. I was doing fine and taking lots of pictures until my baby got in line to go inside the classroom. He looked over at me and waved and said "Bye Mommy!' A little tear totally came to my eye! So then the 3 of us left to run some errands and Thatcher asked where Sawyer was. We told him Sawyer was going to stay at school. He totally started crying. I kept asking him if he wanted cereal or anything and he just told me, "No, I so sad." It was like he just lost his best friend.

So after some errands, we went back to pick up Sawyer and he came running out of the classroom with the biggest smile on his face. He said he had so much fun at school! It is going to be so neat to see how much he learns this year! I can't wait!!

Sawyer playing with his new friend.

Standing in line waiting to go into the classroom.

So excited to see us, running out of class.

After we picked him up from school, we went out to lunch at McDonalds, just to make the day extra special. I hope he doesn't expect this everytime!!

Goof ball!

Here is a conversation between Sawyer and I...

Me: I love you Sawyer.
Sawyer: Thank you.
Me: Thank you??
Sawyer: You're welcome.

Such a goofy boy!! He is finally starting to grow up and his quirky little personality it definitely showing through!!

Time-Out

Lately Thatcher has been doing a lot of time-outs. He really likes to knock down Sawyer's buildings and this creates lot of arguments. So yesterday he came and told me that his bunny was in time-out. I said, "oh, ya... what did he do?" Thatcher then says, "He hit me!" I totally started cracking up! Those damn stuffed animals!! :)

No more pa-pa!

Yesterday, Thatcher threw away his last 'pa-pa.' (Sawyer has always called his pacifier a pa-pa so when Thatcher came along, the name just stuck!) My rule with Sawyer was when he was 2 years old the pacifier was for just at night time and then when he was 2 1/2 we got rid of them altogether. Well... Thatcher turned 2 1/2 in May, so we were a little behind. He had 3 pacifiers left, so at night when I would check on him, I would pull one out of his mouth. One time he woke up and I told him he didn't need his pacifier and he said to me "I need it!" So all of a sudden, they began to get 'broken.' I snipped the ends off of the first 2 over a weeks time. The last one I was a little worried about because I didn't know how much he needed it to fall asleep. With the last one I just cut a slit in it. Every time one of them was broken, I would have Thatcher throw them away. The picture is of him throwing away his last pacifier!! When he went to bed last night, he looked to the corner of his bed where the pacifier usually is and said, "No more pa-pa." It was so cute! Now if only I could get him potty trained!!

Update a week later: Every time before Thatcher goes to sleep now, he looks to the corner where is pacifier used to be and he still says no more pa-pa with the saddest little voice. I feel like I broke his little heart every time he says it!!

School

We registered Sawyer for the Kindergarten Prep. program this morning. The program is through the J.O. Combs School District and is located at a brand new elementary school, called Ranch Elementary. I can not believe in a couple of weeks, my baby will be going to school! We are going school shopping soon to get him a spiffy new outfit for the first day and a backpack. He is only going to be gone 3 days a week and 3 hours each day. It is going to be so weird!! I don't think Thatcher will know what to do with himself. Pat and I are so excited for him!! On August 7th we have meet the teacher so we will get to see his classroom. My baby is growing up so fast!!