Picture Perfect

All dressed up for Christmas Eve worship at church. And kids who were actually willing to smile and pose for pictures! Woo-hoo! Turns out, even with everything going for you, getting the perfect shot proves elusive.

 "Stand in front of the tree and smile! Oops, get your hands out of your mouth!"

"You look so pretty in your dress! Oh no, don't pull it up!"

"Okay, how about a picture on your 'stage'? Now look up, and get your hands down, please!"

"Yes, your shoes are verrrrrry sparkly! Where's your smile?"

"Yes, that IS a smile, but it does look just a little forced...how about showing me some excitement?!"

"Now, how about a big smile! Show me your teeth!"

"Okay, Punka. You're off the hook."

Yep, as usual, Trav is a little easier. :)

 

Smiley, easy-going, happy guy.

So then off we went to church. It was a beautiful service with lots of special music, and Kurt even got to sit with us, which almost never happens. On top of that, the kids were behaving really well and enjoying the music and we didn't have to leave to go to the toy room five minutes into the service. Great! This is just great! Until Travis, sitting on Kurt's lap, excitedly moved too quick and bucked his Daddy right in the nose, which caused...yep, you guessed it...a bloody nose. Right before Kurt had to go up and read in front of everyone. That was our cue to excuse ourselves! It was nothing if not memorable!

And finally, late Christmas Eve night, the stockings were stuffed - even one for Jovi. Off to bed to get some rest before the best fun begins!

Almost Christmas

The last weekend before Christmas we wanted to spend doing some fun things in Des Moines but after the snowstorm we had, we weren't able to get down there like we planned. So instead we explored a couple small towns north of us. Here we are having lunch at a restaurant in Iowa Falls.

And before we knew it, Christmas Eve morning was upon us. Our new family tradition includes opening some of our presents that morning. 

 Cassidy, all ready to open her first present. She "needed" to wear a purple bow headband to open presents.

Many wonderful, thoughtful gifts were received this Christmas, but none could compare to the Rapunzel dress, braid, and shoes from Kayla (and Sheri, Aaron, and Khloe of course). 

And Travis, well, once he opened his Letter Factory toy from Dawn, Josh, Jake and Ruby, there was no looking back. Or looking at the camera. Oh well.

My little (snow) angels

Yay! Snow has arrived! And just in time for Christmas. Our entire family couldn't be happier. We made it to Ames and back today for groceries, but the roads were still pretty treacherous so we decided to stay put and just play! We got about a foot of powder but with the high winds, it has blown and drifted to the point that we can almost see the grass under the snow in some spots. Iowa snow isn't Michigan snow, but we'll take it! Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

 Kurt thinks Cassidy's getting pretty good with the snow shovel!

 My baby boy, making his first-ever snow angel. Awwwww!!!

 One little snow angel and one just-slightly-bigger little snow angel.

Cassidy and Kurt made caves, or as Cassidy says, "cave-s" (like "caviss"). She made them so a mouse would have a place to live. How sweet. Didn't have the heart to tell her mice aren't allowed that close to my house. :)

Daddy's Guy

Isn't Trav's tiger shirt cute? It's Kurt's from when he was little! Yep, this was Kurt's most favorite tiger shirt and he has vivid memories of wearing it a lot when he was young (he says he actually called it his "lion shirt". Ha!). It's so very fun that it fits Travis now! Thanks to FarFar and FarMor for saving it for all these years and sharing it with us now.

Christmas Fun!

We've been having lots of Christmas fun! Last weekend we enjoyed an IMAX showing of The Polar Express, which both kids really enjoyed. I tried to get a picture of both of them before we left for the day, but Travis kept running away! So here's the Pretty Pumpkin, all ready for a Saturday of Christmas fun!

What makes "special" special

A princess castle with all the royal family people, horses, and castle furniture, all carved out of wood. A pink and purple ladybug purse. A set of DVDs of a favorite TV show. A specially-requested red monkey that talks to you. All of these things were wonderful presents for Cassidy's fourth birthday. They all get played with daily and are treasured. But what made Cassidy's Special List this year? These handmade cards from Jake and Ruby. She read them over and over, turning them in her hands to inspect each hand-drawn inch of both cards. She even took them to bed with her and when I told her they might get wrinkled in her bed, she put them in the blanket bed on the floor next to her bed, where all her special stuffed animals sleep. And asked about them first thing next morning! I know these were crafted with love and detail by two of the most precious kids on the planet, but I wonder if they knew just how SPECIAL they would be to Cassidy. Thanks, Jake and Ruby! We love you!

 

 

Preschool birthday

 Today was Cassidy's day to celebrate her birthday at preschool and I was invited to sit in on the party. It was so much fun to see her play with her friends and get a glimpse into her day there. 

 The color of the day was pink and the kids were asked to wear that color (not so easy for all the boys!). It wasn't too hard for Cassidy though!

 Here she is playing grocery store with some of the boys.

 Sitting with Maylee, her best friend at preschool.

As the birthday girl, Cassidy got to go in front of the class and tell all about her birthday: party, presents, etc. She put the candles on the felt birthday cake and everyone sang to her.

 The birthday treat bucket, filled with the animal crackers we brought to hand out to all of her classmates...

 ...which she then got to distribute in everyone's backpack to take home. What a fun day at preschool!

Two Birthdays, One Pool Party

  Having birthdays just a few weeks apart, our kids celebrated together this year with one big pool party. Everyone had a blast - the kids loved swimming in the pool, and afterwards we had pizza and cupcakes. Such fun and so easy! In addition to the Jensen grandparents, we had three other families join us. We are so blessed and just couldn't ask for better friends. 

FarFar and FarMor were so helpful with the kids in the pool. It was Travis' first swimming experience and he was just a little scared at first, but soon was jumping off the side of the pool into Daddy's arms. It sure is fun watching your kids experience something so fun for the very first time!

 Cassidy overcame her fear and learned to jump into the pool too! Thanks, FarFar, for the encouragement and for being a safe place to land! 

  Cassidy's favorite part in the water was swimming on her back. She still talks about it, and even interrupted her preschool teacher this morning to tell her, "I can swim on my back!"

 Cassidy, Ruby, Travis and Blake, having fun with the balloons!

 Charlotte got in on the balloon fun too.

 Cassidy requested a rainbow cake, so I made these rainbow cupcakes. With just a little creativity and a whole lot of food coloring, one can accomplish anything! Ha!

 

 On top of everything else, the kids got awesome presents from their friends! Thanks so much, everyone!

 Travis was so tired by this point, I think he may be briefly asleep in this picture.