I'm precious

Picked up beautiful canvas/gallery wraps of the boys' Christmas photos today. Sawyer takes one looks, let's out a slight sigh and says, "I'm precious."

Think he's heard that before?


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First tooth

I am a week late but our big boy lost his first tooth last weekend! I'm in trouble cause these wiggly teeth and holes in the mouth ick me out! He came running down the hall the next morning to show us the $5 the tooth fairy (who had no small bills) left. He is saving his money.



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Sawyer today part 2

Here he is at bedtime. He rigged up this scaffolding in order to open his book cabinet, never asking


for help. Remind anyone of a certain brother, husband or Opa we know?


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Just love him

All ready for school...just another day.


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Holiday Kickoff

We've just returned from a lovely feast in Gilmer...


(Out of respect for both of my loyal followers, I did not choose the photo from when he jumped off the tractor and peed on a tree without skipping a beat...like it was the most normal and natural thing in the world.)

The feasting was followed by a Gilmer Buckeye playoff football game. Sweet Keely performed perfectly.


We have enjoyed pulling out the holiday decor. We got a 10' tree and the boys got the cutest little trees for their rooms.


This is the first year our tree required scaffolding....I strung a few barstools together like 4'-high steping stones. (Finished product photos to come.)


The boys received a package from the North Pole...the Elf on a Shelf book. Santa writes that he is sending an elf to keep an eye on them. Ridge reacted sort of weird...as if his privacy was being invaded. Sawyer, like most kids, is buying it...hook, line and sinker.


We are fireside now, watching The Grinch and enjoying turkey pot pie. I hope the rest of our holiday season will be as pleasant as this Thanksgiving weekend has been!

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Age Appropriate

Tere's uncle asked Ridge today if he wanted to go shoot guns. (We're in Gilmer.) Ridge declined adding, "do you think that is age appropriate?"

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Contrast

Sawyer sat down to a plate of chicken spaghetti (noodles, cheese, chicken) and roasted broccoli and loudly exclaims, "oh broccoli! I looove broccoli!" On the flip side, Ridge puked when forced to try a bite.

Suppose there isn't too much Sawyer won't gnaw on...



On an unrelated note, he had two buddies over on Saturday while Tere and Ridge went camping. Aren't they cute?



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Who dat?

Sawyer:

Mommy, who is his name? Is dat God? He looks like God.



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Rapid Rewards

Overheard at the park this afternoon, Ridge to his neighborhood pal, "did you know you can use travel rewards anytime on Southwest Airlines but not on American Airlines? Southwest is the best!"

Rarely do you find a more blank expression on a kids' face.

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Crazy Cowboy

Went to tuck Sawyer in tonight and this is what greeted me. (He and I have very similar sleep habits.)


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Leaving and cleaving

And so it begins...at 3!

Sawyer told me this evening that Peyton (cute girl in his class) is his family. "She is my mama and I am her Daddy." Then later in the day, and this one stung, "mama...you are not pretty but Peyton is pretty." (Then he "fixed" my hair and I was pretty again.)

Here is Romeo in bed tonight.



And earlier this evening after a mother son Luby's date.



Clearly, a ladies man.

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Tailgating

We tailgate every Tuesday at about 7:30 am...for the garbage men. They've come to expect us and toot the horn when they come up. Big fun. Nothing gets these boys out of bed and moving quite like it!


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Sometimes he uses the toilet

But he is very fond of his "pee pee bush."



Tonight he was using the potty an said, "is there lobsters in dere?" I said no. And the whole where does my pee pee go conversation ensued. It was confusing. So he just concluded the whole thing by saying, "so I don't want to jump in there." it was a statement, not a question. More glimmers of hope for this crazy kid.

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Violin One Year Later

Breakfast Buddies

Here is the menagerie that Sawyer's bringing to breakfast these days.

Back to School Photos

It happened

I thought I was impervious to the kid-starting-Kindergarten angst. No biggy! Bring it! (It helps that Ridge is cool as a cucumber and pumped about his new school.)

And then it hit me...like a freight train on a quiet kinder eve.

Random bursts of tears started about mid-day. I'm struck (slapped upside the head, really) by how very damn fast five years can go by. I feel like this means he is not a little guy anymore, will want/need me less and like I might could've spent this time more wisely...more play, less grown up stuff.

We are coming off of a vacation high and have had a wonderful family Sunday funday...aquarium, butterfly house, swimming and grilling. I suppose that adds some bitterness to this sweet occasion. I could do without the real world. This must be how people end up home schooling. I am not that sad!

Our Ridgey Bear is a smart, kind, mature little boy and I know he will do great tomorrow and always. And I know he still needs me lots and we have many years of fun to come but this is just a sobering reminder to savor this beautiful boy while we can.


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Fun Family Vaca

Too tired to write a recap of the overall experience so here are a few favorite phone photos.



I have a video of them meeting McQueen too (the characters actually talk to them...or deliver canned/recorded lines) but can't post. Freaking awesome day for the little guys and therefore for us too. We all were pretty amazed by Cars Land.



So silly and cute in those 3-D shades. This boy has got a lot of funland fear up in him. He is probably glad we wont be torturing him again tomorrow. Any chance he will remain safety oriented?



Though he is generally void of fear, Sawyer was too awestruck to handle this one alone. So, you see me, filling in as the wind beneath Sawyer's wings.



There was no stopping me when it was time to go but scratch and sniff before and after photos would be quite a work in contrast.

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Location:Disney/California Adventure

Our California Adventure

Sawyer woke up today and said, "is tomorrow today?!" It is the big day we have been waiting months for...we are at Disney and will soon visit Radiator Springs!

Here they are discovering the pool when we got to the hotel yesterday.


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Smarshsmello coconut careecio

On Sunday, Sawyer started his campaign for smarshsmellow coconu careecio. We tried and tried to figure out what he was saying. Monday morning he continued. Ridge was smirking, and eventually came to everyone's aid and interpreted. He was saying marshmallow to cocoa ratio. Something they picked up from the movie Rio. (Starbucks should put it on their menu. Sounds fancy.)

I told him it wasn't going to happen on account of it being 107 right now. Then I found one lonely packet of cocoa, so this morning it was on. Sawyer's response, "it's not summer anymore?"

For all who are wondering about the perfect cocoa to marshmallow ratio...it's 1:6.


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Eye yi yi!

Guess which of the Hancock boys wins the ER frequent flier competition? The unlikely winner is Ridge! This is old news now but worth documenting. At the end of a weekend with a house full of boys, including our good friends the Mitchells, Ridge tripped on his trundle, hit the bed and got a good gash so very close to his eye. He was a super trooper about getting taped and glued back together. It's been over a week now and that stuff is just barely coming off.



Bubble wrapping them now so they can be their cutest for a visit to Great Grammy and our Aunts in California in a few weeks.

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Last of the potty training posts

We are nearly entirely diaper/pull up free! Sawyer is holding it through the night, for the most part. Alternatively, he gets up to go at odd hours of the morning and announces to the whole house his intentions. We woke up at 4:30 today to a very loud, "I'm going potty!" Great buddy...thanks for letting us know.

Look how big this baby is...



Much more regrettably, he is also just about done napping...at least for any designated, prolonged period. Here he is crashed on the couch.


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My Destiny

I was summoned to the boys bathroom last night for rear wiping assistance. When I got in there, I was greeted by Sawyer, atop the bathroom counter, naked from the waist down and wearing a cowboy hat, exclaiming, "Welcome destiny! It's the Dallas Zoo!"

Ain't that right?

I figured out later he was probably saying, "open sesame." It's hard to tell sometimes with that lisp.

5 going on 50

We just saw a preview for the new kids' movie, "Brave." I suggested to Ridge that we go see it. (I'll take a chick flick any day, even if it's animated and rated G.) He says, "do you think that's appropriate for someone my age?"
And Tuesday, Grammy took him to his violin lesson, then they hung out and had some fun about town. They came to my office for lunch and I got to parade them about. Ridge was enthralled and engaging. (Mom was also appropriately engaged.) We have trophies all down the hall...fancy, professional awards. So, the next day, we're driving to school and he says, "Mom, I hope you have a great day and I hope you win one of those trophies!"
He is just such a sweet little man!

An addition to this post, his Saturday morning television request continues to be The Band's Last Waltz. Quirky dude.

Rockin'!

The boys have just discovered the statement, "last one there is a rotten egg!" Only, they say rockin' egg. We can't bring ourselves to correct them. It's mighty cute and surely good for the slow guy's self esteem.

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Overwhelmed

It's our last day in Maine. And I spent a lot of it on the beach...running from waves with Sawyer and watching Ridge dig a hole to China. Over and over, I found myself thoroughly overwhelmed by love, and longing to be able to freeze time and keep them little and innocent a bit longer. I boo hoo'd. What a blessing to be their mother and have the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful family vacation with our very dear niece. My heart is as full as it could be! Thank you Lord for you have blessed me beyond measure.

Elephants can't swim

We are having a wonderful time in Maine. I gave Sawyer a few bath toys on the fly tonight...a handful of plastic animals. The response (when I, of course, expected him to be at least pleased with the effort) was, "noooo! Elephants and hippos can't swim!" He was truly upset and concerned. Love his big sweet heart under the tough guy veneer.

Pic of him with said animals -- high and dry -- yesterday.



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It's not a story without a super hero

We're about to go back to Maine so I bought a children's book about a little girl who keeps the lighthouse lamps burning while her father sails to the mainland for the family's supplies...oil for the lighthouse lamps, chicken feed, medicine for their sick mother, etc. This book is set in 1859. The illustrations are pencil sketches. And it's really long, so I was pleasantly surprised that it was holding the boys' attention.

Then, about half way through, Sawyer blurts out, "where are the bad guys?" (Again...it's 1859. The girls wear bonnets. The dad drives a sailboat.) Tere and I fell apart laughing. So then he's pointing a finger at each of us and saying, "stop that laughing you guys!"

FRUSTRATING to not get a straight answer to a serious, logical question.

Order

He spends a lot of time organizing this. "Luigi goes next by Mater. Mater goes next by Lightening." He will sit for an hour with these cars. It amuses me too.


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The Weird Thing About Ridge

Ridge: "Mom, the weird thing about me is that I hear songs all the time in my head and I can't stop singing them."
Me: "That doesn't seem so weird to me, bud. I hear music in my head too."
Ridge: "But I hear it ALL the time!"

He is very very excited about performing six songs at Merriman Park Elementary today. He is fired up about going to Kindergarten next year.

And, he told us last night...

"I am going to practice very hard and play in an orchestra one day."


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You know he is growing up when your three year old tells you, "no worries Mommy, no worries," in response to you knocking over the block tower (a.k.a. Snake house) you are building together.


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Location:A good reminder

They're all about sleeping in their costumes right now. Strikes me as horribly uncomfortable (polyester city) and extremely cute!


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We are loving the pool!


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The differences between straw and hay

Sawyer and I almost came to blows last night over materials used by the middle pig brother to build his house. I tried to rationalize my position and endorsement of straw... pointing to the word straw on the page. He insisted it was not straws, it was hay, like Nana's horses eat. (I'm so far gone down the stupid trail, he had to explain to me what hay is.) Eventually, he told me a straw is for drinkable yogurt. Not pig home building! You silly!


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Location:Home

Took this at Tball today...pretty cute, ain't he?



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Ridge kept the sheets dry last night! Go Ridge! When Tere asked how he did it, he told us that he held the pee pee in his penis and then said he needed to grow some "testibles" so he could hold more.


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Location:Testibles

Sawyer pulled out a funny today...said he formembers (what kind of sea turtle was in a picture he was looking at). Perfect intersection of forgetting and remembering. Think he is on to something!


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Location:Formember

All-time favorite video

Ridge's Great Wish

Virtually all of the kids in Ridge's class would make absurd asks of a leprechaun if they were so fortunate to catch one in the traps they built as part of the school's St. Patrick's day festivities... 108 sisters, rainbows, pots of gold, etc. Not our Ridge! His big, wild wish is for a new desk. When we asked him about this, he simply stated his was too small and he'd like a new one. Totally true...but weird that he never mentioned it to us...he waited to make it a leprechaun wish!

Sawyer came running out of the bathroom this evening, pants around his ankles and hollering, "help me mama!!" He then showed me the measuring tape in the toilet and confirmed what I suspected/feared...he was measuring what he'd produced.

Gross is such an understatement.


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Location:True story

Sawyer Beaner

When Sawyer was just an itty bitty thing, we took to calling him Soybean. It evolved to "The Bean," "Beaner," "Little Bean"...all manner of pet name spin offs. He got really serious about it as soon as he could talk and insisted that his name was SawyerBeaner; calling him Sawyer Wayne or Sawyer Hancock...well, them's fightin' words. So, this past weekend, we're at one of his classmate's 3-year birthday celebration and a mom asks if my last name is Beano because her kid always talks about his buddy Sawyer Beano. Why does he even need to offer up a last name to his contemporaries? Sheesh. Nutty nutty kid.

Rewards

Ridge randomly informed Tere and I over dinner tonight that we should start using the Tom Thumb pharmacy because they offer Rewards. What in the world?

Naturally, we asked what kinds of rewards did he think they offered. He thought about it for a good long while and said, "I don't know. I guess free medicine and stuff like that."

Is 5 when you start learning about loyalty programs these days?

He loves me? He loves me not?

Good news...Tere is back in Ridge's good graces! (Not that he was ever out...but love notes are always nice.)



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Tere says to Ridge today, "pick your clothes up and put them in the hamper. You know Mama's not your maid." (I'm not sure why he left himself out of the equation.) and Ridge says, "that's right, she is the chef."


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Location:Roles & responsibilities

Written rebellion

I'm not sure Tere will appreciate this but it's too good to not document. We don't know when Ridge wrote this or what grave injustice served by Dad provoked it. At least he didn't publicly broadcast his disdain by taping it to his door or serving it to Tere. (Note to self: don't give Ridge tape.)


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Boogers...got to put them somewhere

So...noticed over the weekend that Sawyer's belly button is looking red and irritated. As we start cleaning it out and trying to get to the bottom of the situation, he divulges that he's been putting his boogers in there. Good heavens. Why?!?! I'm just going to have to say it, WTF?

In the less-gross Sawyer funnies...he invited me to come watch Starburst with the boys in the living room tonight. The rest of us call it Star Wars.

Energy solution?

Ridge and I were reading the Chick Fil A giveaway book "Earth" this afternoon. When we got to the part about the Earth's natural resources, he says to me, "mama, did you know there's another kind of oil that doesn't come from the Earth?" (Eureka! My five year old has a solution to the nation's fossil fuel supply and demand imbalance!)
Me: Oh yeah, what's that?
Ridge (totally dead pan, serious): It's Oil of Olay.

Tough out there

Sat down at the dinner table tonight and gave our thanks to God for the grub. Sawyer concluded the blessing with his usual, enthusiastic "yeamen!" Then he leaned back, pointed out the window behind him and said, "tough day out there."

My brain told me

So...Ridge and I were discussing T-ball on the way home. Tere's going to coach his team this spring. Ridge launches into this whole discussion of how they'll need back up coaches, other than his and Luke's dad, in case one of them gets sick and has to take the day off. What 5 year old thinks of this stuff? So I asked him what made him think to cover that base (pun intended) and he says, "my brain told me to think of it."

Duh!

Spicy Hair

Sawyer told me this morning, as he has before, that "Daddy made me spicy hair." It makes him happy. His super fine hair has no chance of being spikey, but getting goop in it seems to bring about some pride in his appearence. Cutie. They survived the first day back to school after a 2 week + 1 day break, which was super fun for us all.