seany bear is 4

             saturday october 22 we celebrated seany's 4th birthday!  the kickoff was friday at preschool, transformer cupcakes, a visit from the birthday mouse, and a o so very special birthday crown.

saturday morning i scurried to quik trip for doughnuts, and swung by schnucks for a super hero birthday balloon.  i got back home in time to put up a couple party decorations just before my birthday boy arose from his slumber. daddy had to go to work all day, so we decided to sing and blow out the candles in the morning.

i think vito thought he was eating corn on the cob



we got all spiffied up and headed out the door to get our family photos taken.  not sure yet how they turned out, but i'm anxious to find out!!

after hank left for work and the boys woke up from their naps we headed to happy joes to eat pizza and ice cream with meemaw.   the kids had so much fun playing games and mr. kyluan won tons of tickets, which he shared so kindly with seany and vito.  we sang happy birthday to seany over an ice cream sundae, and had to promise him 2 things.  no loud horns were to be honked, and absolutely no sirens were to be screaming in his ears.  we agreed and just threw in some extra loud clapping at the end.   he smiled and said thank you!!!

 the boys checking out the prizes

after happy joes, we took a long carefree stroll through target.  meemaw let the boys pick out birthday surprises.  mr.kyluan and meemaw share the same birthday, october 13th.  vito got to choose a small surprise also, shopping is super fun when meemaw is buying.  we browsed up and down the same toy aisles over and over again, and little minds had a tough time narrowing it down to just one special something.

we headed home and seany's god mother angel came over to surprise him with a few more special gifts.  we played in the basement where the boys finally discovered the tent hank and i put up so we could have a birthday camp out.  they were excited and thats exactly where a few of us laid our sleepy heads to rest.  vito only lasted long enough to take a quick picture and then went up stairs with daddy.

i'm sure seany would agree that we had a very special day.  my babies are growing up way to fast, so we must squeeze tons of special things into a short amount of time.  before i know it camping in the basement will be uncool, with your mom at least, and little paper party hats ....no way will they be caught dead wearing one of those silly things.  i want my children to look back in the past and have lots of special memories.

yummy baked potato soup recipe

 

what you will need:

4 large baking potatoes
11 table spoons butter or margarine
2/3 cup flour
7 cups milk
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 green onions chopped in tiny pieces
12 slices cooked bacon crumbled
1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese
8 oz sour cream


lets get cooking

bake potatoes for 1 hour at 400 degrees
scoop out pulp and set aside
melt butter in large pot over low heat and add flour, stirring until smooth (cook 1 min)
gradually add milk, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly
add potato pulp, salt, pepper, 2 tbs green onions, half the bacon, and 1 cup of cheese
cook until throughly heated
stir in all the sour cream at the end
top each bowl with remaining cheese, onions, and bacon pieces


tips to speed up the process


cook potatoes in microwave
buy a package of bacon pieces (not the hard bits)
do not stop stirring, it burns very easily on the bottom
you can never have to much cheese on top, use as much as u want
enjoy
very good reheated

big helps little:0)

this was by far the sweetest moment of the week!!!

we had just walked in the font door from a blustery cold and damp night at grants farm.  i ran to answer a ringing house phone and daddy went to let the dogs out. poor vito was left stranded in the entry way trapped inside his winter coat.  thank heavens for big brothers that come to your rescue!  what sweet boys i have....

leaves are falling!!

fall is without question my most favorite time of the year.  after months of hot, sticky, and humid weather the cool fall breezes feel better than ever.  the warmer temps appear to be clinging on a little longer than usual for this time of the year but its not stopping us from our fall duties.  i've been burning my pumpkin spice candle daily and seany even helped me bake some yummy apples that the boys collected at eckerts for jonahs birthday party.

our house is adorned with the spookiest,or as vito says pookiest, halloween decorations you ever did see and   we are already equipped with this years costumes.  a robot for vito, and seany finally narrowed it down to wolverine.

seany has been working extra hard at preschool so what better reward than a surprise picnic lunch with mommy and vito after school.  we walked straight over to the park and spread our blanket out underneath a huge tree.  we talked about his day at school and for some reason he was more animated than usual.  i think he was  proud of himself  for getting a good report from the teacher at school, but more so that i acknowledged the fact.  my lil buddy is finally realizing how to go with the flow of being a big boy at school.

we collected sticks and the boys ran around in the empty racquetball court.  its always the most simple things that they enjoy best of all.

vito and i recently took a stroll through the dungeon.  this was our second attempt and it was sucessful.  the first attempt was short lived with just two tiny steps inside the front door. he put on the brakes took one good look around and that was it.  we were out of there.  vito was "cared of dose pookies".

this time he was super brave and headed straight in. he held up pretty well until we saw a wicked baby in a trash can, he did not like that one bit.

see for your self:

and then there was also "that yady".  thats when he was ready to go.

his little voice just kills me with cuteness.


we have tons to look forward to this season.  AB night at grants farm, seany's birthday, halloween play date at the house, trick or treating with our cousins and party at aunt sarah's, these are just a few.  i got to get away this past weekend for a girls weekend at the ozarks that involved 2 things, shopping and good food!!  is there anything better than that?  nope!   in november hank and i are joining our good friends for a birthday weekend in VEGAS BABY!!!   can't believe i'm gonna be 30.  this will be our first time ever leaving our kids at the same time overnight.   the boys are gonna hang with meemaw, i'm sure they'll have a good time.  pics to follow...