Ready.....aim.....FIRE!

In the fall Brandon sold popcorn again for Cub Scouts. This year for doing such a good job he earned a bow and arrow set. Since it was so nice out the other day, Daddy took Brandon outside and showed him how to use it. He got really good at aiming and coming pretty close to his target.

Logan even got to try his hand at it. He wasn't too bad either.

That morning the boys worked really hard on making their own targets. They drew different monsters on papers and put point values on them. They're so creative.

Even though we're goobers, we make pretty cool kids.

Enter The Dragon

Sawyer's got this face that he makes all the time. I mean all. The. Time. Everytime I get my camera out he starts doing it. I can't believe how much of a ham he already is. But when he gets this little face going it's so adorable. We call it The Chinese Dragon. The other morning he was chasing the boys around giving them the face. They were cracking up and the louder they laughed the more concentrated Sawyer's look got. He's so dang cute!

The Science Fair

This year Brandon wanted to enter his class science project into the district science fair. When we went to the school fair and saw his projects next to the other kids in his grade, we were very impressed. As was his teacher. She left various notes throughout the journal of his report commenting on how well he did in all of the areas he covered. But at the district level.....wow. These kids mean business.  He was pretty bummed out when he didn't win anything. We told him that he just needs to work harder next year. We practically had to beat the kid to get him to work on what he DID get done. So hopefully he's learned that if he really puts the effort into it next time around, he might do better. We're still so proud of his work though.

Chris brought Brandon, signed him in early in the morning, and waited for the judging to be over. Then after the judging I took the younger boys to the science fair to meet Chris and Brandon for the awards ceremony. Before they gave out the prizes, they had the Pacific Science Center there to put on an electricity in action show. But there was far more there for the boys to explore and they couldn't be bothered by what was being presented on the stage.

They got to dig around in boxes of dirt and compost to find worms and other bugs to examine through nifty little observation devices.  There were rubber tubs that contained pond water filled with pollywogs, mudfish, water skippers, and crayfish. The kids were allowed to play with the creatures and examine them too. The poor things were getting manhandled by tons of little kids. I felt bad for them.

Then they got to make air rockets out of paper. There were launching stations set up outside where the kids could send their creations sailing through the heavens. They ran back to shoot their rockets over and over and over again.

The boys had so much fun. I was really suprised at how much they had there to do. There were a bunch of booths that they didn't have a chance to get to. They didn't seem to mind though. It was a great (free) way to spend an afternoon.

Through the eyes of a child

This is the kind of photographic genius that comes from letting the kids play with the camera. Usually when I let the kids take pictures, all I get is three dozen shots of the tv. But every once in awhile, there are some gems in there.

Taekwondo

Logan has recently started Taekwondo lessons. His teacher is my uncle's girlfriend Ginger and she is great at what she does. Logan has taken right to it. He's a little natural. He gets so focused and tries so hard to do exactly what Ginger tells him to do. He is the only one in his class right now, which has been nice. All of the teaching is focused on him so he's able to get more practice.

So far he absolutly loves it. I'm so glad that we've found something for him to be involved in that's all his. He's so used to following behind Brandon and his activities. It's nice to see him excelling at something on his own. I really hope that he decides to stick with Taekwondo for awhile.

Sawyer and his spoon

Yesterday when I was doing the dishes Sawyer kept trying to climb into the dishwasher, so I gave him a little wooden spoon to play with. He loved it. But when I was done doing the dishes I took it away from him and he threw a fit. He immediatly started crying. I would have given it back to him but it was naptime so I just put him in his crib and he went out like a light.

Later when I was making dinner he was following me around the kitchen again so I brought out his little wooden spoon for him to play with. The spoon did not leave that kids hand until it was bedtime, nearly two and a half hours later!! Everywhere he went, everything he was playing with, invovled the spoon. He was even crawling around on the floor with it clutched tight in his little fist. And when Daddy took it from him before putting him in bed, he was screaming his little head off. The spoon had little bite marks all over it and the end of the handle was all dark and soggy from where he drooled all over the wood. Kids grow attached to the craziest things. At least now we know how to distract him: bring out the spoon!

"I love my spoon....."

"It's so yummy!!"

"Get away from my spoon!"

"It's all miiiiiiiine!!"

"Quick Brandon! Get me out of here before they try and take it away again!"

9 month check up

Sawyer is quickly approaching the 10 month mark here in a few days. But last week was his 9 month check up. He got a clean bill of health from Dr. Oriel. He is now 27 inches long and weighs 19 pounds. That puts him in the 25th percentile for his height and his weight. So he's smaller than an average 9 month old. His head on the other hand.......well he's got a huge head. It measured in at the 97th percentile. That's just about right for a Date kid though. They've got to have big heads to house those giant brains!

Dr. Oriel got wide eyed when he heard that Sawyer is walking. It was the same look he gave me when he heard that Sawyer crawling at 4 months, or when he walked in at his 6 month appointment to see him standing up. I don't know why he's always so shocked though. All of our kids have been the same way. Very advanced little boys. Sawyer had to get two shots. Both of them flu shots. And just like Logan when he gets shots, there were no tears. Just a quick grunt and scrunching of the face, then it was over. It must be the meaty thighs. They provide padding to absorb the needles or something.

I'd like to say that we have the best pediatrician in the world. Dr. Oriel is such a great man and I hope he never retires! He was the one that had us put Brandon in speech therapy when he was 3. When Logan was first born and in the NICU for the first few days of his little life, Dr. Oriel was down there every couple of hours to check on him, and then continued to check in on me to make sure I was doing alright too (thank goodness his office is right next to the hospital). We brought Logan home on a Friday, and Dr. Oriel made us a special appointment for the next day (when he should have been at home with his OWN kids) to make sure that he did okay at home that first night. When Logan had to go into the office to have his stitches above his eye out, instead of letting a nurse do it, which is the normal proceedure, Dr. Oriel made one of his other appointments wait a few extra minutes so that he could do the job himself. Whenever we come in, he always asks how Brandon is doing in school, and makes sure that he's staying out of trouble. He never tip toes around anything and is always very straight forward with me. Most importantly, he's really made a connection with each of the kids and they all adore him. He was born to be a pediatrician. I don't know what I would do without him.

Daddy the jungle gym

I can't handle the boys jumping around on me. They love to pig pile, wrestle, play horsey, and pretend fight. Mommy doesn't do those things. So thank goodness for Daddy! In a house full of boys it's good to have such a strong sturdy guy around to take on all of the rough housing. They boys love jumping around on Daddy. He just sits there and lets them do their worst.

Good thing he's just a goofy as they are.

A Date totem pole.

Mommy's little helper

When it's time to do the dishes, I first make sure Sawyer is distracted with toys so I can sneak off into the kitchen and try to unload the dishwasher. First is the bottom rack with the knives, silverware, and plates. The breakables and things that can hurt Sawyer. I unload these as fast as I can because it's only a matter of seconds until he realizes where I am. Then in he comes. Ready to help Mommy. He loves to slide the bottom rack in and out. Sometimes he gets a little crazy and pulls it completely off of the runners. He loves to climb up on the door and pull the cups and plastic utensils off of the top rack (of course under my watchful eye). Eventually his "helping" gets a little overwhelming for Mommy, and he gets put into his highchair with some snacks. I like letting him play around and help me out. My hope is that as he gets older, his love for the dishwasher will turn into a love for washing dishes! But I'm not counting on that.

Tickle monster!!

I love tickling Sawyer. He is so giggly and it's fun to watch him crack up. He throws his little head back and screams in delight. It's so cute to see his little mouth open so wide and showing all of his six little teeth.

And he's off!

Sawyer is a walking fool!! He's been trying and trying for a few weeks now, and he's finally got it down! When he's moving from one place to the next, he always starts out walking. Most of the time he gets to where he's going without falling down. When he does fall down he just finishes with a crawl. He can't stand up from a sitting position yet, but I'm sure that's not too far away. He's right on track with his brothers as far as development. They were both right around 9 month walkers too. Our kids are geniuses! Apparently I'm not though because I just had to double check with Chris on how to spell 'geniuses'. Good thing their dad is smart!