Hoppy Halloween

sorry, couldn't resist the cheesy title.

So apparently, this is what Sean does when I ask him to smile . . . great.

for your viewing pleasure

Sean has recently learned two really important life skills: singing and blowing his nose! funny boy!

Oct. 17

My sister in law (Ryan's brother's wife) Stacey has blessed us with a couple photo album books of Sean that we will treasure for the rest of our lives. She is very talented both in taking pictures, but also in designing these albums. Needless to say we were very excited for her when she decided to make a go at it as a career. Here is her website where you can see samples of her work. I have put a link on my sidebar as well.

Today Sean and I went up to Swanson's Nursery. This is a great place to visit during the fall/winter because there is a great little resaurant that has wonderful coffee, an indoor coy pond with fish food available for the kiddos to throw, and of course beautiful plants to looks at. The nursery is always decorated so amazingly. So right now of course all their fall plants are out and they have been getting ready for their fall festival which starts tomorrow.

So we stopped in, got some coffee, visited with Katie :), fed the fish, then walked over to the fall festival area which was pretty much completed. There were beautiful pumkins, gourds, and squash all over, and a hay maze that was the perfect size for Sean. Because the other festivities (tractor ride, face paint, sqash car races) don't start until tomorrow it was not crowded at all so Sean had a blast running around (although he was a little hesitant around the huge inflatable spider hanging over one end of the hay maze). I would highly recommend this event for any locals out there. I may pop in again next Friday morning if anyone wants to brave the maze with us . . .

9 on 10 & 1 on 11

Banana pancakes
I don't really post about food often, but everytime I have made these lately I have had the urge to post the recipe . . . . and I finally gave in. So the 3 of you that read this blog can now make these also.

It is such an easy recipe, and a wonderful nutritious breakfast - they really don't need any topping and are great as leftovers just toasted up a bit. I can't really take full credit for the recipe. My sister made them for us once, and she got the recipe from the food network, but I have made a couple small changes that I think make them a little tastier.

Full recipe makes about 8 - 10 medium pancakes

Banana pancakes

Whisk together in a large bowl:

2 large eggs

3/4 C plus 1 Tbs milk

1/2 C sour cream (I use the full fat, organic kind, it give the pancakes a richer flavor)

1 tsp pure vanilla

1 tsp lemon zest

Sift together:

1 1/2 C flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 Tbs sugar (could use less with ripe bananas, or substitute honey or other sweetener)

Add dry ingredients to wet just until mixed.

Gently stir in 2 sliced bananas.

That is it! Easy and good!

movement

Sean is such a lucky boy.
While I work during the week Sean gets to hang out with Nana (my mom). Every Thursday they go to (lets call it) movement class together. Today was an inservice day at school so I played hookie for an hour and got to experience the class with them. It was so fun to see Sean learning and having fun, but it warmed my heart even more to watch him with my mom. I have seen them together in many settings, but this was special - it was a time that was and is special for the two of them. I am not sure who enjoys it more :)

So thank you mom for loving our boy so much, and for all you do for us. We all love you very much, and Happy Birthday!

I know the first day of fall has come and past, but in the last week it has become very evident in our daily lives that we have indeed changed seasons. Sean has moved from eating corn on the cob to pumpkins:

and many of our outdoor activities have been put on hold until the spring (that sounds pretty depressing). However, with Sean older this fall/winter he can actually do more indoor activities.

I guess it is time that I start getting creative. Anyone out there have good fun indoor activity ideas????

swim lessons

We finally enrolled Sean in swim lessons at the pool just down the street. Yesterday was his first time and after he got over the shock of it he warmed up pretty good and started having a lot of fun. It was a blast watching him and Ryan!