4 and fabulous

My youngest is 4! I can hardly believe that 4 years have passed since Daxton Robert came into this world (right on his due date) and made our little family of 3 into 4. Dax is one of the funniest kids I know, has a will of steel and is so full of life and energy. He has such a quick wit and you never know what he is going to come up with next. He loves to give me kisses and will do just about anything for something out of the candy bowl. I love you sweet baby cakes and am so happy that you are mine!

As tradition dictates, the birthday person gets to pick what they want for dinner and dessert on their actual birthday. As we talked about it earlier in the week, Dax wanted pizza. A day or so later he saw a commercial on tv for this


and said "Mom! You have to take me there"! He saw in the commercial that the kids meals come in car boxes and he was sold!

This was his face when we saw it from the highway


He ordered a hotdog and root beer and he was thrilled with his birthday dinner.




After dinner we went home to open presents and eat brownie sundaes with a cherry and candles on top!

Here are some pics from the day.



We had a family birthday celebration for Dax too that included his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins from Cincinnati too. He picked the theme



and it was a blast.


Thanks to all of our family for the gifts and well wishes for our 4 year old. They were much appreciated. Thanks also to my SIL Mary for taking pics so that I didn't have to:)

fall break

Xavier had a fall break and we wanted to do some fun things. Steve was able to take that Friday off so planned a few things. We decided to do a day trip to Louisville on that Friday and then some local things Sat. and Sunday. First we hit Lynn's Paradise Cafe for breakfast. They have been on the Food Network and in the Food Network Magazine and many of my friends recommended it so off we went. It was really different and unusual .... not your typical restaurant! Xavier and I split the Bourbon Ball French Toast which is one of their specialties.

   


And an order of fried green tomotoes. They were both delish! Steve ordered the chirozo frittata.


Dax got a pancake
 

and managed to eat almost all of it!

We really had a fun time!
 

Then we were off to the Science Center.


This fun mirror at the entrance was cool!


The Science Center had a lot of interactive activities for the kids. Their favorites were the water play area and the Sesame Street Body Exhibit. This was so fascinating for Dax. You pressed the button and well, you heard the toilet flushing...


you get the idea:)

We also saw an imax movie about Dinosaurs. It was a fun day and a fun trip!

The next day we went to Keeneland (a horse track here in Lexington) and watched the morning workout. We stopped for some bagels and brought hot chocolate and had breakfast right there at the track. The boys loved watching the horses warm up and I couldn't believe how close they came to us. It was beautiful to watch. We got there early around 7:45 and it was cold. Only 38 degrees. The cold didn't stop the fun though:)



On Sunday, we went to a birthday party at the pumpkin patch so it was a full long weekend filled with activities and good family fun! So much fun that it took us all a couple of days to recover:)

spookin' it up

We spent some time last weekend making the house "scary" and the boys were so excited! We did a couple of craft projects to help us along. I saw this and was inspired to make one of our own. My helpers and I



created this for our front door.





We used glitter glue on the spiders to help make them show up better. We just used spider rings to put in the wreath. We love it!

I also saw this and Dax and I made these while Xavier had a play date at a friend's house.





I found an old medical dictionary to use and thought that it added to the Halloween factor....and it is just funny:)

We then proceeded to decorate the mantel.








We found the crows at the Dollar Tree and also the skulls. They were kind of bright so we tossed them in a bag with some brown paint mixed with a little water to age them and it worked great. The boys are all about scary this year and it has been kind of fun!

I also made some homemade tomato soup. This was from a recipe I saw in the Food Network Magazine that a friend gave me a subscription to. The magazine has a ton of great recipes and food related articles in it. Love it:)




Tomato Soup

1/4 c. olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped or pressed
2 lbs tomatoes, chopped
1/2 t. sugar
1 t. salt

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until vegetable are tender, about 25 mins. Puree until smooth with immersion blender, or process in batches in blender or food processor. Season with pepper and keep warm; add water to thin soup if desired. Serves 4.

It was fast and easy and healthy. I will be making this again soon!

Here's to a spooky, scary and fun filled month!