September NY Wedding

Twas the end of September 2013 and we hopped on a plane...to Albany, New York!

Yes! Mom was SO happy not be flying solo with the boys. 1:1 ratio is so much better.

An incident in the airport left Sawyer's shirt wet...Jack was happy to loan Sawyer his extra jumpsuit. The 'tails' of the jumpsuit tucked in nicely, lol. This is how he posed, he is such a ham!

The reason for heading to upstate New York was for my cousin's wedding! Jason was marrying his high school sweetheart, Jessica. We were lucky enough to attend. My cousin (if you want to get technical it's my cousin's son) got married on the 28th of September. It was a beautiful storybook wedding. They seriously thought and planned out every detail, including an impressive firework display! All that planning paid off and everything went off without a hitch (as far as I could tell!)

Jessica & Jason :)

Congrats to the happy couple!

Love this good-looking family!
(Adam, Jason, Lisa, & John Drake)

Aunt Sue & Uncle Don during the 'Grandparent's Dance'. They're so cute. It was fun to see Don up dancing :) I would love to get my hands on some of the video footage of my cousin John's dance moves at the reception. He was awesome!

We got to ride the party bus (stretch bus limo!) to the church for the wedding. The boys LOVED not having to be in their carseats and enjoyed free reign with the abundant snacks. There were lights on the ceiling and along the floor...dancing ensued of course. 

I was worried we'd have to leave during the wedding ceremony, but the boys quieted down once the music started and everyone was walking down the aisle. (Not a very becoming photo of Jack, but I love my sis!)

Unfortunately my cell phone didn't capture very good photos in the church, but it was beautiful.

 I was so impressed with all the detail that went into their planning. They were so thoughtful -- even put little boy toys in our goodie bag that was left at our hotel room. I was amazed!

We stayed with Uncle Don and Aunt Sue in Cherry Valley. The weather was amazing. SO perfect. Sunny and clear with temps in the 70's.

The leaves were changing colors...green, yellow, orange, red. We bought fresh maple syrup from just up the road. What beautiful country!

The boys loving on Aunt Sue. It was a gold mine of vintage toys around Sue & Don's house. The boys were in heaven. It's true, they just don't make toys like they used to. No batteries and no noise coming from these toys...it was great.

Jack, our little farmer, 18-months-old in this pic.

So happy Nancy was able to make it to the wedding!

In the evenings everyone would gather in the living room to sing songs before the boys headed upstairs to bed. Thank you Sue and Don for letting us ransack your home!

Dinner spread, great company and delicious food!

Love you dad :)

Remains of Aunt Sue's tomatoes from her garden smeared across Jack's face.

The fantastic weather had us outside running and stretching and leaping and playing. It felt SO nice!

We visited Lakeview Camphouse the morning before we left. Although it was numbing, David, Mom and I took the plunge and jumped in the water. I'm guessing it was about 65F.

John and Lisa fed us a delicious meal before we hopped on the plane back to Florida. And shortly after we got home we received a package of the crab apple jelly that Lisa slaved over. It was delightful! Thank you, thank you for such a wonderful weekend. It was wonderful to be there for the spectacular wedding!

Our Perfect Boys

Our perfect boys...at least for a minute. They are spitting on each other now. 

Never a Dull Moment

So far this morning here is what I've heard (not even 9 am):

Sawyer from the bathroom: "Sorry Mommy!"

He's a brute and is learning (I hope) that when you force things they break. 

And Jack hollering from the bedroom: "Help me Mommy!"

Both boys have been climbers since they were babies. They're really good at it, although they still make my heart stop occasionally. 

Winter in Florida

I love Florida today. The boys are perfectly entertained outside. Perfect weather! The rest of the week doesn't look too bad either. Visitors welcome :)

Sawyer is THREE!

*I'm having a hard time keeping up with this ol' blog. Updates are better late than never though, so I'll keep plugging away.

Holy Smokes! My baby is 3! This boy keeps me on my toes. all. the. time. 

40" tall

38 lbs.

96.6F temp

98% oxygen

Building a tower while breakfast bakes.

Learning the art of monkey bars.

Sawyer LOVES to read (mostly be read to). We enjoy lots of quality time snuggling up to read together...meanwhile Jack is usually climbing all over us.

He amazes me everyday with his knowledge. He picks up so much and is always making connections. One that I can think of off the top of my head is that he noticed the parchment paper waving on the cookie sheet on the counter. He looked up at the fan and observed a minute and then explained to me that the fan was moving the parchment paper. His mind is always thinking!

He continually reminds me that he's a big boy and can do it. "It" can mean any and all of the following: Unload contents of the fridge for mealtime. Pack papa's lunch. Get Jack up from his nap. Go get the mail by himself (not supposed to since mailbox is right by street). Drive rocket ship (our van). Sit in the front seat without a carseat. Big boys can do ANYTHING! I do remind him that big boys listen to mom and papa.

He's been on somewhat of a naughty streak lately and is trying to get Jack to do naughty stuff as well. For example Jack still likes to nibble on play dough so I'm always reminding him it's yucky and not to eat it. Well George overheard him whispering to Jack, "Eat it!". Jack still loves to throw food and Sawyer likes to encourage this behavior. If they are laughing hysterically together it usually means they are doing something naughty. The latest was drawing all over the curtains and wall. At least they're having fun and laughing together right?? Ugh.

The other night was a particularly bad night and I was frustrated and fed up with the boys for not listening. Sawyer was being particularly stubborn (where does he get that from?!) and something switched for him and he came out from time out and gave me a big hug and a kiss and said, "I love you so much Mommy."  That changed our entire evening around and he taught me a good lesson.

He loves to have fun and is a big tease. He's very brave and courageous. I can't think of anything that he's scared of. He got on the horse and went for a ride no questions asked.

Since pictures are more fun than words, enjoy a few that we've taken during Oct/Nov 2013.

Following the gopher tortoise. 

Building shapes.

Look at that grin! If only Mom would endorse such a mode of transportation. Yea right!

A friend needed to borrow our truck so George got to drive his crotch rocket. Sawyer (and George) were in love.

He looks so cute in the midst of teasing me!

 

Sawyer still wants to be a cowboy when he grows up.

Backyard adventures. We love it when we find animals that will play with us!

Sometimes it gets so cold in Florida in the winter we have to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate in the backyard.

Wagon rides.

I have to be on guard at all times.

My big helper in the kitchen - making a batch of granola.

I guess the trike seat wasn't good enough. We had read Violet the Pilot earlier that morning...might have inspired him :)

Singin' in the rain!

We love our independent, happy Sawyer boy!