Circus!

Last year we thought they were too little and would be overwhelmed but this year we broke down and took 'em to the circus in Des Moines. I hadn't been to a circus since I was very little so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. But boy, was Cassidy excited. She said, "I want to see elephants and clowns and acrobats!" So apparently she had a good idea of what went on at a circus even beforehand. They loved it (though we only stayed for the first half - it was LOUD and LONG and we felt we'd gotten all we needed to out of it by then) and we'll probably take them again next year. But we'll be more prepared for the prices. The tickets aren't bad but the cotton candy was $8! A ride on the elephant? $10! Luckily they didn't even notice those things, there was so much else to look at. And besides, they had reasonably priced popcorn, so Cassidy was verrrrrrry happy. :)

 

 

Happy Kiddos

Just a couple pictures of some very happy kids. :)

First Love

We've been noticing for a loooooooong time (about a year now) that Travis has an innate love for letters and numbers. His adoration and excitement for them has grown and grown and it's been very entertaining to watch him explore his first love. :) There aren't many moments through the day (or night, for that matter!) that he isn't playing with, talking or singing about, looking for or pointing out letters and numbers. People everywhere notice this and comment and laugh at this tiny little boy with such overflowing joy! When we put the kids to bed at night and pray with them, we leave open spaces for them to thank God for whatever is on their heart that day. Among lots of names of family and friends and other things, Travis will often say, "Thank you, God, for abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" or "Thank you, God, for ALL the letters". A few minutes ago he walked over to me clutching a handful of foam letters and said, "Mommy, each letter has a sound. *sigh* I love all the letters." At the grocery store and other places he sees words, spells them aloud and then announces (loudly) what they say. He knows upper and lower case and can read them upside down. His favorite show by far is Word World, which he asks for many times a day. Don't get me wrong, he loves other toys too (especially tractors and various farm and construction equipment, planes/trains, building things and destroying them, etc. - all the usual boy stuff). But for Travis, there is none so sweet as a letter...or the whole alphabet!

Easter Party

We've been excited all week to head to Living History Farms for their Family Easter Party today. Even the rain couldn't stop us! It's a neat place and we'll enjoy going back again on a regular non-event day, especially if it's not rainy, wet and muddy! Oh well. The kids had a blast with an egg hunt, milk and cookies and toys for their basket, a visit and picture with The Easter Bunny, and more snacks and treats along the way. 

Cassidy: You have ears but you are NOT a real bunny, just "rattand".  

This is one of very few pictures I have of both kids smiling at the camera at the same time. 

Thank you, Easter Bunny!

Cassidy showing off her basket "full" of three eggs.

A pretty great threesome, in my opinion. :)

One of the treats along the village road was popcorn! Can you believe it?! My Popcorn Monster gets her favorite treat again! They must've heard she was coming. (And it was good popcorn too, with real butter and just the right amount of salt - yum!)

Travis almost fed his rubber ducky to one of the live animals. 

Dress-up

Cassidy loves to play dress-up with her array of princess dresses, shoes, tiaras/crowns, purses, etc. But today she came up with her own design - she appeared in the kitchen and announced, "I'm a shepherd!" And then giggled for about 10 minutes straight. :)

 

She decided "shepherds have short hair" and that hers shouldn't show.

St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patty's Day! We had a fun afternoon and supper with our friends and the kids had such fun with their big green leprechaun hats. 

  Travis's green hat kept falling down over his eyes so he found another hat to wear - Cassidy's pink bonnet. Kurt was mortified but, hey - you can pull it off when you're two!

 

I can't see!!

Tolerance

 I've never been a "cat person" but our awesome kitty, Jovi, has really brought me around. I mean, come on - what other cat is this easygoing? Cassidy regularly accessorizes her with absolutely no debate from Jovi. A princess crown, an airplane on her head, a dragonfly toy - all adorned our "Princess Jovi" today. She is definitely Cassidy's cat! 

  

 

Daddy's Hand-Me-Downs

Snow Picnic!

We were forecasted a HUGE snowstorm a few days ago, which unfortunately only gave us about 3 inches of snow. Fast forward to today and it's almost gone already. But we still bundled up to go play in it! We'll take whatever we can get! It was relatively warm and very sunny so when Cassidy got hungry, she requested a picnic! Why not?

 The sun was right in her eyes!

 Yesterday Kurt scraped together what snow he could to make the kids a mini snowcave. What a Dad!

We have sleds but the kids prefer to be pushed around in our "Yooper-Scooper" mega snow pusher.

2nd Annual Valentines Day Party

We started a new tradition last year and had a blast continuing it this year! The kids hosted their 2nd annual Valentines Day party for their friends. Such fun and an over-abundance of cuteness!

 Joel gave Cassidy a ring...a ring pop, that is. It may be edible, but we still count it as an engagement ring. :)

 Cute little boys caught up in watching Daniel Tiger.

The Girls Schaben: Charlotte 1 1/2 and Ruby, almost 4

Baby Zach aka Sweetcheeks

Zeke! On his bouncy ball, of course. :)

Blake, the soon-to-be big bro. When asked to smile, he said, "Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze!"

 Almost caught this full-on hug between buds...it is Valentines Day, after all. 

Eating pizza for lunch

After pizza lunch, we decorated heart-shaped cookies with frosting and a plethora of fun candy!

Does this face look creative? You bet! Wait till you see his creations!

Great job, Blake!

Cassidy mostly wanted large spoonfuls of m & m's (or Lemon-M's, as she calls them!)

Awesome, Joel!

Cute Baby Charlotte, soon to be a big sister to ????? the Schaben Mysterybaby!