Loaders and Graders and Mixers, Oh My!

In my previous entry I didn't explain why I referred to Sawyer as a "likely construction worker" in my e-mail signature, so I'll take the opportunity to do so now. It's not uncommon for little boys to have a fascination with big machines, but Sawyer beats anything I've ever seen! He has made it his life's purpose to know any and everything there is to know about bull dozers, cement mixers, graders, loaders, backhoes, dump trucks, cranes . . . shall I go on? And heaven forbid I should ever refer to a machine improperly--"See the road roller, Sawyer?" "Mom, that's not a road roller, it's a steam roller." "Well, ex-cuuuuuuuuse me!" I bought him a couple of books at the most recent Scholastic book sale (If I Could Drive a Tow Truck and Building the New School, in case you're wondering) and then we hit the mother lode this week at the library where we found If I Could Drive a Fire Truck, . . . an Ambulance, . . . a Mixer, . . . a Dump Truck, . . . a Grader, . . . a Crane, . . . a Loader, . . . a Bulldozer, . . . a Car Hauler, and . . . a Tanker Truck. That was along with literally twenty other books on construction equipment that he checked out. His eyes got as big as dinner plates when he found the shelf of books dedicated to his greatest passion!

Big word of the day: Sawyer got a tube of mini M&Ms in his Christmas stocking which he has yet to finish--shocking, I know. Anyway, today he was going to have a few but when he flipped the lid open it popped up unexpectedly and little tiny M&Ms went flying across the kitchen floor, at which point Sawyer said, "I am so FRUSTRATED that I spilled my M&Ms!"

We played a rousing game of Aggravation this evening after dinner and I wish I had a picture of the kids clobbering Randy, ostensibly because he was hurting my feelings! Long story short, I had three of my marbles safe in my home base so Randy announced that the object of the game was "this right here" (pointing to my remaining marble and making a flicking motion with his finger to knock it off the board). Tyler, who has all the instincts of a mother bear protecting her cub, insisted that his dad stop being mean to dear old Mom. I can always count on you to take my side, Tyler! You're the best! But anyway, Randy made one wisecrack too many and all the kids went rushing to my defense, pummeling and pounding him (in jest, of course). I think they were just looking for an excuse to wrestle--any excuse will do!

These pictures are old, but some things never change!