How is it that we have a 4 year old??

Guess who turned four today?

You guessed it, Stacey Reese Smith III is officially 4 YEARS OLD!! Last night I told the boys that I was picking out two special books to read since tomorrow was Stacey's birthday and it was my last night with my three-year-old. I read Birthday Monsters and then foolishly thought it would be a great tradition to read them I'll Love You Forever on the eve of their birthdays - phew - many a little tear shed by me! Such a sweet book and such a reminder of how much I love my babies and how bitter sweet each birthday is. Mostly sweet, but just a reminder of how much further they are from being my tini tiny baby just home from the hospital four years ago.

Stacey woke up to 4s all over the house and loved finding, gathering and counting them.

Daddy picked up donuts so we could have a special birthday breakfast before he had to go to work. We gave the boys a donut hole and then he offered them a sprinkled or a chocolate covered one. III replied very maturely, "Sanks Dad, but I sink this donut hole is going to be all I need. This chocolate milk is really filling me up." WHAT?? One donut hole?? We gave him a few more but one was all he ate. The overnight transformation from 3 to 4 is astounding. :) He has promised us a list longer than I can fathom of things that his is going to do when he is four, so maybe he's just following through on those lofty promises.

Then it was time for a few presents.

First, drumroll please.....not one, but two......telescopes!!!

Now before you call the nerd herd you must know that for about six months this precious has answered the "What do you want for you birthday?" question with an unchanging, unwavering, consistency that has been a little unnerving. The answer is always: a telescope and a pogo stick (stay tuned for the ladder). I think Mickey Mouse Clubhouse may have inspired his aspirations for all the great things he could do with both, but wherever the idea came from I am happy to know we fulfilled one of his (albeit strange) birthday wishes.
Wyatt was thoughtful enough to get him a new transformer!! And Bob and Jack got him a #4 t-shirt. III was quite amused by the idea of Bob and Jack shopping.

Then we opened his cards. Thank you Aunt Shirley!!

And Nana!! He loved his four crisp dolla dolla bills yall. Based on the picture below I think we're going to need to review 1 Timothy 6:10 ("for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.") JK, but seriously.

Why two telescopes you might ask...
That, and after a lot of searching I ended up ordering them online and wasn't sure if either one would be worth a dern.

The highlight of the day so far was taking those four crisp $1 bills from Nana to Dollar Tree and turning them into treasure. A styrofoam sword, spiderman water gun and car, and racing bugs were decisively chosen (I'm telling you 4 is really wowing me so far) after a little him hawing over bubbles. Don't worry the little guys got a little treasure too.
Then as the calendar would have it, it was home for our traditional and MUCH anticipated Muffin Tin Monday. I'm telling you it doesn't matter what it is, it tastes better in a muffin tin, at least to these two. Although today they seemed a little distracted. Not sure if it was the anticipation of the bug races that were up after lunch or if they were just full from the celebratory 25 cent candy I let them get at the store (you know the kind from the vending machine that I always say no to), or maybe that ONE donut hole really was all he needed today. :)
More to come on today's continued celebration of this big boy!!