Joseph W. Sabatini Sr.

Papa passed away on May 12th. It all happened so quickly that I feel like I didn't get to spend a lot of time with him before he passed. He was a true Italian man and never could predict the mood he was in. He was always  picking on someone and it was an honor if it was you...he always said that he wouldn't be picking on you if he didn't love you.

Papa was a retired Military Staff Sergeant so he was buried at Jefferson Barracks and had a full service. It was really emotional and sad but at the same time an honor to attend. I cried like a baby when they gave my grandma the flag on behalf of the president; it was so touching. We even got to keep the shell casing from the shots they fired.

Here are a couple photos Ariel captured during the service.

All the kids from church holding flags while we drive away

Benjamin's Birthday Party

Benjamin has been into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles lately so we decided to through his party with the theme. He always asks for pizza since that is what the turtles eat so we had it at Incredible Pizza. He doesn't even like pizza that much and had a taco the day of his party! He's so funny! A couple of his close friends came to celebrate and they all had a blast playing all the games. He got to spin the big birthday prize wheel along with going in the ticket-blaster.

Goodbye "Potty"

Having a small potty in the house is just like having to change a diaper in my opinion; you always have to wash it out so as excited as I was to be out of diapers I was still cleaning what felt like diapers just a bit more gross. I finally had enough of it and told Benjamin that we had to say bye-bye to it so he helped me pack it up! I thought that it was going to be harder then it was...he only asked for it once.

Anniversary

David and I just celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary! We have this tradition that every year we release balloons just like we had our guest do on our wedding day. I thought that it would be so cute when we get older to see how we have aged and more importantly see how our family grew...and of course make some cool (cheesy) scrapbook.  We pick a different place every year and this year we choose my grandma's (Grams) house.

Cardinal Game

We took Benjamin to his first Cardinal game this year and he loved it. My boss gave us his tickets so we had amazing seats (we kept telling him that we normally sit up really high and not to get use to these seats) and perfect weather. I was cheap and brought food and water in as I didn't know how long Benjamin would last or if he would eat any of that food. We ended up getting him some ice-cream which he didn't eat. We left after the end of the 7th and Benjamin could of made it through the whole game but wanted to beat the crowd. He LOVED everything about the game and his favorite party was when everyone would clap when a run scored. He now thinks that whenever he puts on his Cardinal shirt he is going to the game. We will for sure be taking him to the game again this year

Saturday Fun Day!

While daddy has been doing a lot of studying Benjamin and I have been trying to find the most of our time outside of the house and luckily it is warming up. A few Saturdays ago Benjamin and I went to The Donut Stop (which was named one of the best in the USA) for breakfast, got a haircut and then a trip to Lone Elk Park. I have been to Lone Elk Park many times and never stopped by the World Bird Sanctuary which I was glad that I did. It was nice to see all the different birds and Benjamin got to run off some of that donut energy!

Dentist

This past Tuesday we took Benjamin to the dentist for the first time and he did great! He was so good that the dentist even said he was the past patient at that age. She would ask to see his teeth and he would just open his mouth up big. She was able to check for cavities, brush his teeth and floss them. He was really excited about his new toothbrush that he even asks to use it in the morning.

I was concerned about him sucking his fingers and she said let him do it and its not a problem as he may need braces but it doesn't hurt anything else. We have been telling him that when his sister arrives he will be the big brother and big brothers don't suck there fingers. Let's see how that goes...

Grants Farm

Last weekend Grant's Farm opened for the season and of course we were there! It was beautiful outside so there was a little wait and we even got there within an hour of it opening. St. Louis Cardinals Fredbird even stopped by and Benjamin got to give him a high-five.

Most importantly, we got our parking pass so if anyone needs to borrow it please ask!

Myseum

A couple weeks ago we took Benjamin to Myseum which gears towards science. It reminds me of the Magic House buy a lot smaller. We still had a blast and learned some interesting things.

This was by far his favorite 

Papa

More sad news to report...Papa went to the hospital mid last week due to some chest pains and after a lot of test they discovered that he has liver cancer. It is so bad and too late to do anything about it. They have already put him on home hospice since they can't do anything for him. He kind of knows, but doesn't really remember. I just don't know if I can handle losing both of my grandpa's in the same year let alone this close together. The one thing that I do know is that both of my grandma's are very strong women...

Easter Activities

Yesterday afternoon Benjamin and I went to Bug-A-Boo's (my sister) house to get ready for Easter. We dyed eggs and Benjamin said all of them looked like daddy. We made treats: chocolate peanut-butter Easter eggs, cheesecake nest and brownie nest.

Purina Farms

The Haupt's and I decided to try out Purina Farms on Sunday and it happened that their Springtime Village was open for Easter. We were able to get a photo with Peter Cottontail and they had a petting area with all kinds of animals. We even got to see some of the dog show until it got too windy and cold outside.

Eckert's Easter

Eckert's is my favorite place to go with Benjamin. Whenever I have an opportunity to go we are there. They have there Easter Egg-citement going on now so we we took advantage and went with Tina and her family. We got to hunt for eggs, go on a tractor ride, pet some baby chicks & bunnies, decorate a cookie, plant a seed and of course see the Easter bunny (which we had to do three times because Benjamin is in love with him). We decided to eat lunch there as we have never eaten at the restaurant and didn't even get the fried chicken which they are famous for.

 We need one of these! 

The Easter bunny gave these to him and had to bring them to school today to show everyone! 

Easter Bunny Fun

This past Saturday Megan thought that it would be a great idea if all the kiddos went Easter egg hunting at Whitecliff Park and then come over to her house afterwards for some brunch so the kiddos could play and the parents could drink!! It was a perfect day outside and I always love hanging out with everyone. Hopefully this is a new tradition we will be having yearly! 

ZOO

David and I decided that it was time to take Benjamin to the Zoo and we didn't bring a stroller. Let's just say he did great and was running the whole time except for the last 15 minutes that David had to carry him because he kept saying he was tired. We did it smart and got there right when it opened so found parking very easy and wasn't crowded at all until we were leaving, three hours later. We walked around the whole park and saw ALL the animals, I think his favorite were the hippos as they were very playful with each other. After the Zoo we headed to the Delmar Loop and eat lunch outside at Snarf's. OMG, that place was good and has great sandwiches! Here are a couple of pics from yesterday fun. 

Benjamin was refusing a nap so David took him to the park and this is what finally happened at 5:45pm...mommy was mean and only let it happen for about 45 minutes.