FIVE has arrived

After patiently waiting the six weeks after his brother's birthday, which to a kid seems like six months, Seager finally got his celebration.  A whole week's worth!  On Sunday, we welcomed the family in for some cake, presents and fantastic pig, compliments of Big Daddy the BBQ man.  He fired up the smoker at 6:00 a.m. so we could enjoy the freshly cooked meat that afternoon.  It's sooo good right off the smoker!

A serious Seager was soon ready to begin 

and was assisted by his wing man...

He got some soccer stuff...

Then broke out the big guns!  He and his wing man love to play dress up.  Favorites include Superheroes, Firefighters and now Cowboys! 

Next up, Tuesday the actual Birth Day.  What a great day to start T-ball!  Unfortunately, the weather was just awful and once again I made the mistake of saying I could help if needed.  Yep, helping coach again.  Mamaw was in attendance and took great pleasure in informing me how funny it was to see me out there running the bases with all the five year olds.  Ha Ha Ha.  I can still run and I do know the basics of baseball.  Seager was very impressed with the catchers mask and promptly volunteered to be catcher.  This was the only picture I got and I was dodging raindrops to get this one. 

According to Mamaw, who stayed over at 3 year old t-ball, Dagon was unimpressed and refused to "play ball".  Honestly, I don't blame him.  It was cold and raining and who wouldn't rather cuddle with their Mamaw than stand around in that kind of environment waiting for your turn?  Tomorrow is round two, 40 degrees with the possibility of snow flurries.  Not gonna happen.  We will not even go to the park under those conditions.  I do have my limits and besides, this is supposed to be fun.  So, our venture into sports has been hampered by torrential rains and now global warming.  Is it a sign?

So anyway, back to the celebration.  Wednesday brings a gathering of Seager's friends at the "jumpy place".  As you can tell by the sweaty hair and flushed faces, this activity was a huge success! No cake, no singing, just run, jump, run and jump some more!

Thursday was spent shopping for outfits for a long overdue photo session.  Why can you never find what you are looking for when you need it.  Anyway, we got the job done and Friday afternoon was spent at the photography studio.  You will just have to wait to see those but I will give you a hint; it involved some cute fuzzy participants.  I haven't seen the final results yet, but I think they will be great!

And the final climax to the frenzied week...20 adults and children at Los Reyes for the final fiesta!  Now keep in mind, this was a party for the adults as well as the children.  I only photographed the children because my brain was mush by that time.  It was adults and adult beverages.  I'm sure you can picture that in your mind.

Seager, Dagon & Sydney on the party deck pretending to be firefighters with a vacuum hose. 

The kiddos preparing for the lighting of the cake.  They were a bit concerned at the amount of cake they would receive,

but I did have cupcakes for everyone else.  Seager was thrilled to have his own little cake... but I will have to say that in the future he will have to be wary.  You better watch out Seager, never walk away from a cake or a girl!  It would seem that your wingman might steal your cake and perhaps even your date when you're not looking! 

So, that concludes the arrival of FIVE.  The question seems to be why we have so many parties.  And I say, well why not?  You are only a little kid once and it's a good excuse to do fun things, eat cake, and do all of that with the people you love.  How is that bad?  Except for the fact that Mommy is exhausted beyond the point of a quick recuperation.  Hence the post several days later.  2009 Birthday Season officially closed.

Now you can also understand why my last two Friday posts have been MIA.  Believe me, it's not from lack of material, just lack of extra time and most importantly, energy.  

Until Friday, or sooner perhaps, see ya!

The Littlest Maxwell Celebrates

Three years ago today at 8:14 p.m., we welcomed our sweet Dagon into the family and we haven't been the same since!  To acknowledge this most special event, we have spent our weekend celebrating with friends and family.  I have received numerous kisses and hugs from the birthday boy stating that he had a wonderful birthday.  Pictures?????  Of course!

We begin, as always, at Los Reyes for the initial celebration.  It was a big event with several friends and Mamaw in attendance. 

Dagon gets some extra help from big brother... 

and a toy inspection from Mya and some other helpers!  After a good dose of pure sugar...

Dagon ended his evening getting scanned by his new robot! 

Fast forward to the big day...Dagon gets a visit from his Papoo, Aunt Katrina, Aunt Lori, his cousins Brooklyn and Josh, and Mamaw (still in attendance).  Big Daddy smoked some pig on Saturday and we enjoyed BBQ sandwiches for lunch.  Then it was time for the big event!

 

Woo Hoo...I'm gonna get my wish this year!

He received a new computer school keyboard and software, phonics schoolbooks, a hot potato and no birthday is complete for a little boy without the cheesy plastic laser gun and sword that lights up and makes lots of noise.  Notice Seager eyeballing those and planning his cosmic takeover of the weaponry!

And of course, the last dose of pure sugar!  Sadly, poor Dagon is destined for a lifetime of birthday pictures with a pink face.  It's just too hard to pass up all the half price Valentine Cupcakes! 

Happy Birthday Dagon from your very frugal parents, family and cherished friends!

and from us to all of you...

Happy Valentine's Day!

we really enjoyed the cupcakes and candy you didn't buy!

 

Fair Weather Fishin'

I think it is fair to say that I love this time of year.  Not too hot, a little cool at night and usually a beautiful blue sky.  We can worry about the drought in January.  Such beautiful days lead to some wonderful activities... a renewed relationship with the park, a little fishing, dining al fresco, a night at the fair and a birthday for Big Daddy.  Since I haven't posted pictures in awhile, this should satisfy your cravings.

Seager is becoming quite the fisherman.  Papoo and Josh were the first on the scene to initiate the boys in the skills of fishin'.  Notice Papoo is the one with the Tweety Bird pole and Dagon has the professional equipment. 

But Seager was the big winner of the afternoon even outfishing cousin Josh. 

Seager spent an afternoon with Daddy trying out his new Spiderman pole on the lake of a beautiful golf course (thanks Dennis!)  His luck continued! 

And on our last trip to visit Mamaw and Papoo, Dagon got some practice with Mamaw's help.   

Seager looks like he's ready for his own fishing show...

This one almost broke the line! 

One nice morning we woke to the distinct sound of progress.  Not wanting to miss a moment, the boys decided to have their breakfast on the deck...and what was all the excitement about?

You can't see it in this picture but just across our property line is this...Bob the Builder...LIVE!  

What could possibly be more exciting than that?  A night at the fair with a girl!  Miss Sydney, to be exact.  

Much to our surprise, guess who is now tall enough to ride...  I'm sure that his face was sore the next day from so much smiling and laughing.  The dare devil has found his passion and loved every second of it!  Who needs girls, this child has the need for speed! 

We all got to enjoy the carousel.  

This is one of those rare occasions when I will post the picture of Mommy.  You can thank Seager for that.  As I was looking at the pictures on the screen I pulled this one up and Seager said "hey look at us!".  My reply was "that picture is no good."  "Why not, Mommy?"  "Because Mommy looks awful, it makes me look fat."  "No Mommy, you look perfect."  Mommy is reduced to tears and includes the picture without a second thought. 

Last, but certainly not least, Big Daddy had a birthday!  He bought his own cake, can you tell by the heartfelt sentiment he had the bakery person put on it?  And written in pink icing. 

Well, look at this, a picture where everyone is looking the same direction and smiling all at one time...a miracle!  It's a keeper! 

We are now in Spooky Mode and having trouble with costume decisions.  Oh what a dilemma.  Stay tuned for all things spooky.

 

Little Pirates

Yo Ho Ho!  It's off to Chuck E. Cheese we go for a Pirate Party! 

Pirate Captain:  Seager the B-day Boy

First Mate:  Dagon 

And the rest of the crew:

Here is the table and the cakes:

Daddy was able to come for a few  minutes of fun while Mommy got everything organized...

 All the pirates arrived and scattered for fun at the games.  Seager and Dagon enjoyed the roller coaster ride...

Dagon and Joyah watched Seager and Zion drive the train...

 Seager commanded the Princess Carriage and Zion went along for the ride (he does not looked thrilled about it though!)  Can you blame him?  What respectable Pirate would be caught dead in the Princess Carriage?

We finally got the party started...

we had some pizza and then...

time for cake...

 Mia watched as Seager successfully blew out the candles and Zion cheered Touchdown!

Thankfully, as planned, it was not crowded and everyone got to play everything they wanted.  I had this horrible fear of pulling in the parking lot a seeing four school busses lined up and empty...Arggggg!  But that didn't happen...hooray!

All in all a very successful first time out "official" birthday party for this Mommy.  Of course it was only five kids and three Moms, but it was just right for us!

We brought the cake home so Daddy could celebrate too...

And of course a few nights earlier had a celebration at the Mexican Place...

  And a few days later made a trip to Mamaw and Papoo's for more celebrating...  So after three parties, three cakes, 12 cupcakes and one tired Mommy,

Seager is officially 4 YEARS OLD!