The McDonald Family

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Oh, baby Sawyer, please don't go! I could eat you up, I love you so!!

Every day my little baby boy is slipping through my fingers. It makes me sick. I think he looks so old in these pictures, and every one on this post were taken a month ago! Ugh. There have been lots of changes going on...mostly good, one notably bad. The bad one is that I think he's done with naps. Done. Zippo. Yuck.
Yesterday, I forced him to take one, and he was awake (in bed) until 10:00. No fun. So, for the most part, I don't guess we'll be doing naps anymore.

Here he is helping Daddy put his big boy bed together...

And here he is loving the finished product...

dancing in his big boy underwear...so sad!!

And at the playground...

There's this baby (a cute, giant baby), that comes to our playground. For whatever reason, Sawyer is terrified of him. Whenever cute, giant baby shows up, Sawyer high-tails it to me and clings to my neck...making me feel once again like I have my baby back (unlike Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights when I just have possessed toddler-boy clinging to my neck!).

Maybe I'll volunteer to babysit cute, giant baby so I can hold onto mine just a little bit longer.

Sunday, July 05, 2009

A Day Out With Thomas...

Last weekend, we took the kids (mainly, Sawyer) to see Thomas the train. Sawyer loves Thomas and Addie Grace has been begging for a train ride for the last year, so we were able to kill two birds with one stone! We all had such a great time...It really was a perfect way to spend our day!!

Ready to go and see Thomas!

Sawyer kept yelling, "I see him, I see him!!"

Getting ready to yell, "All aboard!" with the conductor...

with Thomas...

and Sir Topham Hatt...

and the nice little conductor man...

and there were lots of other fun things to do!!

We could hardly get Sawyer away from the putt putt course! Once we got there, he didn't want to go anywhere else. We asked him if he wanted to go see the firetruck...nope. If he wanted to go ride in the barrel cars...nope. If he wanted to get ice cream...nope. He just wanted to play golf...it made his Daddy very proud.

Addie Grace was very impressed with the firetruck.

And the barrel cars...she rode three times. Sawyer? Nope...he was still playing golf.

And my favorite part of the day...Sawyer feeding the goat! He was so tickled when it took the cup out of his hands...he had tears in his eyes!! It was so funny!

After Thomas, we rushed home to get ready for a visit from my cousins! Tim, Corley and Cameron came and spent the night with us, and we had such a great time visiting. Unfortunately, I was too busy talking and didn't take any pictures! Hopefully they'll come back soon, and I'll have a chance to redeem myself!
Next post...Nashville!!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Twinkle Toes

Last week, we had internet connection issues on our PC, so I've been unable to blog. We are FINALLY up and running again, so my mother will finally be able to sleep again tonight. She has been anxiously awaiting this post!
Anyway, last Sunday was Addie Grace's dance recital. I am one proud momma!! At home, when I was able to force her to practice, she would just kind of do the dance half-heartedly, so that's what I expected her to do at the recital, too. However, when Addie Grace's group was up, she marched out there on a mission!! I was sitting in my seat, and when I saw her getting into it, I COULD NOT stay back...I was the obnoxious mother climbing over people to get down front to take pictures. Unfortunately, I was so tickled at her, that I still didn't get any great shots! Here are the videos followed by some pictures. Please excuse her PG rated costume...I was scared her daddy was going to make her wear a turtle neck and sweat pants underneath!!
We were so proud of her despite her risque' attire!!

And lastly, a few of my 4,016 pictures...

Here are some of her adoring fans!! Sorry I didn't get you in the shot Kim, Morganne, Kristy, Jennifer and Benjamin!! You are getting your honorable mention here! Since we had never done a recital before and didn't know what to expect, we didn't invite anyone, so it really meant alot to us, especially Addie Grace, that she had such a great turnout from people just asking if they could come!!!

And one more video...whenever Addie Grace would practice, Sawyer would usually end up joining in. This isn't a great video because I couldn't get him to put down his golf club long enough to perform. I wish I could have gotten some of the times that he was really getting into it. He was probably trying to avoid giving me evidence so that he could maintain at least a tiny bit of dignity in 11 or so years! Anyway...here he is halfway doing it...

Thanks for enduring such a long post!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Happy, Happy Birthday, Sawyer!!!

On Thursday, Sawyer turned TWO!! My little boy is growing up! We had his birthday party last Saturday. We had a great time despite the fact that we were missing several cousins due to a mission trip and camps.
Here are some pictures of our day...

On Sawyer's actual birthday we went to the Children's Museum. We were going to go to the Canal and ride pedal boats, but it kind of looked like it was going to rain, so we decided against it. Even though we go to the Children's Museum pretty regularly with friends, Brian doesn't usually get to tag along, so it was a special treat anyway! We had a great day celebrating our sweet Sawyer!

Oh yeah, one last thing...Sawyer's absolute favorite thing to eat is donuts, so we brought him Krispy Kreme for his birthday breakfast...

For a split second, there was a "two" on top of that donut...do you think he enjoyed it??

Saturday, May 30, 2009

My Monkeys...

When I was little, I used to give my mother fits by climbing to the highest point that I could possibly climb in our trees, so I guess Addie Grace gets it honestly. We were at my parents this weekend for my nephew's graduation (more about that to come in another post), and Addie Grace found her inner ~~beast~~ monkey. She loved it and that's all she wanted to do. She kept begging us to let her go "just a little bit higher!!" Sawyer was definitely a fan too. Since he couldn't really climb the tree, he would just grab onto one of the lower branches and hold his feet up and swing back and forth. He thought it was great!

Besides the tree climbing adventures, Addie Grace and Sawyer caught some rest in the wagon while making poor Pappy run faster and faster pulling them! Don't feel sorry for him...he's a sucker (and besides, look at the smile on his face...he doesn't seem to be minding it too awfully much!)!!!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

So incredibly blessed...

I'm a sucker for sentimental...all of those little projects that kids do in preschool about their handprints on the windows and what-not...those are geared specifically for me. I love them. I can hardly make it through reading them without Brian having to bring out the straight jacket. So, when Brian casually asked if for Mother's Day, I would rather have something sentimental, or something I've been asking for, I of course, jumped on the sentimental! Besides getting breakfast in bed, flowers, and a picnic at White River Park (complete with a surrey ride), Brian made me this cd that, no kidding, I have watched probably 20 times and cried every single time. I love it so much and I will treasure it forever!! It honestly is my favorite gift I have ever been given. I truly don't have the words to voice how incredibly blessed I feel to get to share my life with these three...here are a few reasons why...

Thursday, April 30, 2009

just stuff...

Just thought I'd post some random pictures of this past week.

Sawyer has a new obsession with brushing his teeth. I think he might be a dental hygienist when he grows up! He will let us brush his teeth too as long as you don't try and remove his hand from the toothbrush. Apparently, he's concerned that our skills aren't up to his standards!

Addie Grace had Shelby over to spend the night. They are so funny...they called me in the room and asked me to take a picture of them with their sleep masks on (thanks, Aunt Tami!!). I told them to pretend to be asleep...hmm...not sure that they pulled it off!

And Addie Grace finally got to use her EasyBake oven! I don't think anything that I ever cooked in mine ever turned out, however, her cake was pretty good! She wants to cook our whole dinner in it one night for us!

Soccer is well underway. Addie Grace is loving it, and Sawyer is dying to play. Sydney (Shelby's little sister and Sawyer's buddy) is always content to sit and watch the game...not Sawyer. I usually have to wrestle him off the field during the practices and the games. Luckily, his cousin Jack was there at the last game to keep him somewhat preoccupied!

Miss Linda (Addie Grace's preschool teacher) came out to support her 3 students on the team! We LOVE Miss Linda!

Jack and Sawyer thought something was funny!

Enjoy your weekend!!!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

The Result of Negligent Parenting...

Sawyer got caught playing in my mascara this afternoon!!! I wish you could have heard the startled squeal (his, not mine!) when I walked into the bathroom!!! Little rat!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

a McCool family Easter...

For almost every Easter Sunday in my lifetime, we have gathered with my Dad's side of the family at my grandparents' house to celebrate Easter. Since Poppy's death (and now Mawsie's too), we haven't been carrying on the tradition. Even though Addie Grace and Sawyer have celebrated Easter and had egg hunts and everything that goes along with it, somehow, each year, I felt that they were missing out. With talks of Mawsie and Poppy's property being sold, this year we gathered together and celebrated the way we have for most every other year for the last 36+ years. It was such a special day. Mawsie and Poppy's house and most of the property looks exactly the same way that it has my whole life. There was something so special about watching my kids and my cousin's kids trample through the yard and the field looking for Easter eggs in the same exact spots that I used to. I loved standing at the "creek" (a very ambitious description of the drainage ditch that runs along the front yard and under the driveway) with my cousin Wendy and telling our girls stories about us growing up at Mawsie's and Poppy's on Easters...just like this. I loved telling them the few sure fire spots to find the golden egg (which didn't pan out). I loved the laughter, the reminiscing and just being together. We ended the day at the family cemetery that is behind the house and we sang songs and we prayed. We stood together, being thankful for our heritage. Thankful for an earthly heritage that has always pointed to our spiritual heritage. I feel so blessed that Mawsie and Poppy were Godly examples who raised faithful children, and I'm beyond thankful to get to gather with my family to celebrate for the most important reason of all...an empty tomb!

I know I'm posting ALOT of pictures, but believe me, I've cut out ALOT!!

Before I post the ones of Mawsie and Poppy's house, here are the ones leading up to Easter.
Here are Addie Grace and Sawyer coloring Easter eggs...

And here they are at Mom and Dad's after church. I tried and tried to get a good picture of both of them, but it just wasn't in the cards. (I made their Easter outfits this year! I was afraid that they were going to fall apart as we were walking into church or something, but they didn't!! As I said, these pictures were taken after church, and they are still intact!!! Hooray!)