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! 

sweet treats

I have been wanting to post this recipe for some time now. Look at these!



They are so good! Trust me...I'm pregnant!
I got the recipe from Tasty Kitchen.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies

•2 cups Butter, Divided
•¾ cups Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
•2-¾ cups Granulated White Sugar, Divided
•1 cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
•3-¼ cups All-purpose Flour, Divided
•3 whole Eggs
•½ teaspoons Salt
•½ teaspoons Baking Powder
•4 Tablespoons Milk
•3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract, Divided
•2-½ cups Mini Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips, Divided
•1 Tablespoon Shortening, Such As Crisco

For Brownies:

1 c. butter
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Prepare 13X13 baking pan by laying a piece of foil in the bottom and up the sides. Spray with cooking spray or butter the foil.

Melt 2 sticks of butter in a medium saucepan; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Add sugar, salt, eggs, and vanilla; beat with a spoon until combined. Add flour and baking powder; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread batter into pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (I always remove my brownies from the oven when a toothpick inserted 1 inch from the side of the pan comes out clean or almost clean.) Allow brownies to cool completely before moving on to the next step.

For Cookie Dough Filling:

1 c. butter, softened
1 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
4 Tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine first 5 ingredients in a mixing bowl and cream together. Add flour and stir until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread in an even layer on top of cooled brownies. Chill before adding chocolate glaze.

For Chocolate Glaze:

1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. Crisco shortening

Melt chocolate with shortening and stir until smooth. Spread over chilled cookie dough layer.

When I made these the second time, I skipped the foil part and just buttered the baking dish with perfect results. I made these as written, but did the chocolate glaze layer a little differently. I made a ganache by meting the chocolate chips with enough cream to get it to spreading/pouring consistency. Anyway, they really rich but good!

A couple of weeks ago we stopped to get donuts after church.



We really wanted donuts from Spaldings...a fantastic hole in the wall, non-chain donut shop, but the line was out the door when we drove past. Instead we got Krispy Kreme and their "HOT" sign was on and they sucked us into getting a dozen instead of just 6.

Grubby little hands were all over them!


Warm donuts....yum!


Apparently, they were close your eyes good!

tears and cheers...

That is what they called it today when I took Xavier to school for his first day of Kindergarten. I have a Kindergartener!!! How did that happen?? Xavier was so excited this morning when we woke him up for school (now I wonder how long that will last?). Here he is posing with Daddy before he left for work.



It was dark, cool and rainy this am so all pictures were taken inside. It was as if it had turned fall overnight. I am sure that it was a fluke, but after the hot and humid weather we just had, it was a bit odd.

I packed his lunch with some of his favorite things



(and a surprise note from Mom of course).He took a cream cheese and olive sandwich, doritos, fresh peaches and ...



a special treat of chocolate chip/m&m cookies that we just baked the night before. I asked Xavier what other people ate for lunch, whether they brought lunch of bought lunch. I asked him if anyone asked him what he brought. He said "Yes, Mrs. Parker asked me what I was eating and I said a cream cheese and olive sandwich!" I guess the teacher then said "You like that?" and he answered yes that it was his favorite! I know it is a bit odd but I love it too:) To our defense, of course he likes it...why would I send it, especially on the first day, if he didn't???

Xavier posed for one quick picture before we left for school.



A quick funny. As I was finishing packing his lunch Xavier and Dax were on the couch reading books before we left. Xavier came over to me and said "Is it OK if I just tooted in my uniform"? Keeping as straight of a face as I could, I answered that yes, it was OK. Then he asked. "It is not going to stink now?" Umm, no honey, I think you will be just fine.

Off to school.




I reminded Xavier that once he got up the stairs that he had to go all the way to the end of the hall. I got an "I KNOW that".....
 

All right Mr. Getting Too Big For Your Britches!! He hung up his bag and found his seat right away.



Mrs. Parker gathered a few students and put them to work sorting supplies right away.



  Bye Mom!!



The tears were not coming from him:) I will admit that I did cry....but if someone was going to do it I was glad it was me and not him!!

Dax was anxious to get out of there and get to our "date" at Panera "Dread" so he could get his grubby little mitts on this



a cinnamon crunch bagel...

which he thoroughly enjoyed!



When we picked Xavier up he told me and I quote "Kindergarten is AWESOME!" Now I call that a successful first day!

wrapping up summer....

The boys had a great swimming summer this year. We had a pool pass that we took full advantage of and both took lessons and made improvements! In addition to learning some strokes, Xavier learned to do a handstand...



and to dive at Grandma and Grandpa Noe's pool...


and to go off the high dive!!
 

He has been going off the low dive for 3 summers now but I could not believe it when he said he wanted to try the high dive. I said OK, thinking that he would get up there and pretty much chicken out but he proved me wrong. Once he went off, there was no stopping. He is just jumping though since he just learned how to dive...I put my foot down on that one for this year:)

Dax went from being really uncomfortable putting his face into the water, to this
   
And he will now go all the way under.

He really thinks he is swimming when he does this patented move...
 

Even if he can't really swim, who can resist this face??


The best thing to come out of the garden this year has definitely been the flowers.







The sunflowers were short lived but pretty and the zinnias have done especially well.



A big shout out to my friend Sallie, her husband Charles and their daughter Sophie for letting us have a plot of land at their house and for putting up with my crew traipsing over there under the pretense of gardening. The boys do not share in the same interest in gardening as their mother...they mostly just stepped on things!  So much so that Xavier asked to have his own plot at the house next year so that he could grow his own things and not worry about stepping on them:)

it needed to be done...

The boys were in desperate need of haircuts. It had been months since they had one and they were looking very scraggly. Steve took them this afternoon for a trim.



Dax looked so cute with his long hair but he really couldn't see anymore.

These are a few of my recent sewing projects. All of them were gifts and some of them were way overdo!!:)

nursing cover


dress


sibling set


I am loving the applique on the little boys shirts. It is so hard to do cute things for boys so I get really excited when I come up with something that works:)