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.