our little beasts in the wilds

oh. 

hey. 

so, apparently, i have a blog. 

i seem to have forgotten that. 

the good news is, i start classes next week, so we should really be on the up and up for the next few years...

anyway. 

it seems as though i went in here a month or so ago and uploaded some photos. 

and then never looked back. 

so, here are some old photos. . . 

in July, we took a little "staycation" and had some fun in the Columbus area. 

early in the week, we also went out to The Wilds and did an open-air tour. 

it was a really great time and the boys had a blast!

look at that mug. 

The Wilds is a conservation center in Ohio, and the tour started out looking a lot like this. 

and this. 

and, when we came upon our first animals. . . this. 

fortunately, the rest of them that day turned to face in our direction. 

there were occasional stops where we were able to get out and explore. 

and even feed the animals. :) 

and, at one point, ben made this face. 
i'm not sure what this particular face is. 
angry? debonair? 
but here you have it. 

me, my grey hair, and the boys. 
ben still looks uncertain about everything. 
perhaps it was the tiger behind us. 

again. 
ben. 
oh, ben.
also: important life updates. . . 
ben, formerly known has benny, has asked to be called ben moving forward. 


that's better. 
this is the smile we usually see. 

too. much. 
love them. 

this was benny's favorite stop. :)
ok. 
for real. 
i just typed "benny." 
ugh. 
this is going to take a while. 

i love some sassy signage. 

they gave us a little guide to keep track of all the animals we saw. 
clearly, anth took the wheel on this one. 

this gem came UP to the bus. 
and started pecking (do ostriches peck?) at the bolts on the outside of the bus. 
neat. 

the giraffe wasn't cooperating. 

while we were off having our family adventure, rocky was off having. . . his own. 
so we picked up our very sleepy, and slightly high, puppy on the way home. 

more summer antics to come. . .

in, like, november. 

people told me puppies are like babies...

and they kind of are. 

...except that babies come with one very critical added bonus. 

diapers.  

i never ONCE wondered if anth or benny might poop on the floor when they were 12 weeks old. 

for several reasons. 

one, i knew they were wherever i put them. 

two, because tiny humans are not mobile. 

(this is kind of an awesome design.)

three, THEY. WORE. DIAPERS. 

this being said, I haven't managed to find much time to post about the latest addition to the Savvy clan. 

this was last Friday, the day we picked up Rocky.

this photo was taken at the vet's office in their Pup in a Cup prop. 

no, he's not THAT tiny. 

and this was little man getting cozy in his bed. 

that i didn't even have to TRY to introduce to him. 

he just saw it and assumed. 

the boys. 

so. many. boys. 

he still looked a little anxious on day 1. things have settled in a bit now. 

a bit. 

ben likes him best when he is sleeping. 

and, of course, we chose a dog that doesn't do well in extremely cold (or hot) weather. 

during the worst winter in some time. 

so, this is his vest. 

sometimes just the idea of taking it on and off is exhausting to him. 

yep. 

that's a darth vader nametag. 

because, again, boys. 

he basically has the entire first floor at his disposal while we are able to be with him. 

but this. 

this 4-inch floor-to-ceiling spot?

clearly the place to be. 

also. 

this is what "productivity" currently looks like for me. 

"productivity" has morphed and shifted and been reinvented many times for me since anth entered the scene in April of 2005, so this is just a new iteration. 

i kind of wish i had a similar photo of benny or anth splayed across my lap like this, but I didn't actually do that. 

i promise. 

(perhaps because i didn't think of it.)

full disclosure: THIS is how I managed to write this post. 

thanks, anth. 

wish us, or Rocky, luck!

someone is going to need it. . . 

'tis the season...for football

ok, friends. 
brace yourselves. 
for lots of photos. 
lots and lots of buckeye photos. 
last weekend was the 2nd annual Buckeye Kickoff event. 
it is a really fun event for the first year class, held in the Ohio Stadium. 
the boys loved it last year and asked to go again. 


anth was really excited for the event. 


benny was. . . benny. 
he didn't want to pose for a picture. 


check him out. 
this is benny intently staring into the distance and refusing to look at my camera. 
i had to respect the concentration, if nothing else. 

thankfully, one of his favorite buckeye ladies, beth, came around and brought him out of his shell. 

and, of course, The Best Damn Band In The Land can always get him out of his seat. 
he genuinely loves them.
(he is not alone in this sentiment.)

look at them. 
both smiling beautifully. 
fun fact: benny is only smiling this way because there is a bunny-ears-in-progress behind anth's back.
i'll take what i can get. 

this was almost a really cool picture. 

and then the band walked away. 

oops. 

this is bern teaching benny the proper rhythm for the song. 
i went through a similar lesson before my first game in 2001. . . 
in the car from bowling green to columbus. 
almost the whole way. 
festive. . .

if i were a much taller, you might be able to tell that there is a fully formed Script Ohio behind them. . .

after the band left the field, benny was super interested in the rest of the show. . .

although he was happy to join daddy on the field for the first year class picture. 
again, i'm not tall enough, nor high enough in the stands to show what this means. 
here you go. 

timmy siverd was very proud of this photo, so i am giving him proper photo credit. 

he took this one, too. 
come back soon for the tragic Fail Photo version of this one. . .

all 3 of my savvy boys. 
(which, PS, the savvy is short for Savarese. someone admitted they didn't realize the connection between our name and the name of the blog. which brings me back to this post, in which i explain that i am trying to be punny, not cocky. . .)

anth and one of his favorite camp counselors, Danny. 
:)

per usual, not sure what benny is doing. 
but otherwise (minus the random array of first year students behind us) this is actually a decent family photo.
life's little victories. 

Dr. J (Dr. Javaune Adams-Gaston, our Vice President of Student Life) tried to photo-bomb our family photo. 
and just ended up in it. 
genius. 

another gem of a human, Moe Samad, teaching benny some of the finer points of football. 

most of my pictures of these two ended up looking like this. 

with a little bit of this. 

but by the end of his lesson, they were ready. 


perhaps benny was a little too ready. . .

i have about 43 Fail Photos of this one, too. 
all of them are worth a 1,000 words. 
most of the words being along the lines of, "mom, why on earth are you trying to make us hold still on the Buckeye football field?"

and, of course, i ended the night with a few photos with some of my favorite buckeyes.
including jen. 
whose hair is still long enough to make a perfect mustache. 
i was worried. 
(yes, this only makes sense if you know her.)


moe stopped running around long enough for a photo. 

and, of course, a pic with the now most-senior Assistant Director of Residence Life, curtis. 
whose hat i should have borrowed as to not be eating my hair in this photo. 
charming. 

also? 
one of these days i will remember to get a picture of bernie and i at this event. 
oops. 

anyway. 
all of this to say. . .
Happy Buckeye Football Season!