Snow Day

Uh, yeah, everyday is a snow day around here.  BUT, its not everday that I actually go outside and play with the girls- that's Eric's job! :)  But today just begged for a good tromping around in the snow.  It was sunny and warm- 30's- and not windy at all.  Perfect!  We had so much fun!  The girls went sledding, while I went 'lugging two girls on a sled'! Ha!

 They made sweet little snow angels.

 We have the perfect little hill for two little girls in our backyard.

Merry Christmas

 We hope you all have a wonderful day celebrating our Savior's birth.

Sinterklaas Day

Did anybody else celebrate Sinterklaas Day over the weekend?  We had a great celebration this year.  Look at all those sweet faces, eating all the Christmas goodies  and excited for the scavenger hunt yet to come!

 Of course there were speculaas, a spice cookie, traditional for celbrating sinterklaas day.  They taste great with a cup of cider!  You can find the recipe for them HERE, on my food blog.   

Aunt Bev brought a cute little wooden shoe for each of the kids filled with a chocolate coin and an orange slice (a candy one- so clever, right?!), two traditional goodies that Dutch boys and girls find in their shoes, except they got a real orange :)

Then we had the scavenger hunt.  We divided the kids into teams and let them loose to find the clues and their treasures at the end.  Its so fun to watch them run around the house and hunt for the clues.  So often the clue was right in front of them, but they would all miss it completely.  Ha!  So fun.

Christmas Parade

Madison's preschool was in the Lighted Christmas Parade in town tonight.  Their float was a barn and all the kids were little piggies.  Pretty Cute!  It was very cold, but I was thankful that it wasnt windy and the temps only dropped down to 27.  Not bad!  I layered the girls up so much that Madison complained she couldnt move!  Hah!

 She had a blast!

November

Man, I am terrible at keeping you all updated on our lives.  According to this blog it looks like we do NOTHING!  I wont even get into Oct. with Madi's preschool fieldtrip to a pumpkin patch or the pumpkin patch visit with all the girls cousins.  But I will offer up two little pictures from November. 

This first one is the girls sitting on the new caterpillar at the Des Moines Zoo.  And yes, its November and look how the girls are dressed- no jackets!  Nice!  We have a membership to the zoo so we have made several stops there over the summer and fall.

 Emily, my niece, came over for a sleepover a couple weeks ago.  Aren't they cuties all snuggly watching a movie? :) 

Madison's 4th birthday

For her 4th birthday today, Madison chose an Ariel theme.  I had so much fun creating one for her.  I attempted to create an underwater scene by hanging blue streamers in wave patterns with green seaweed, fish and Ariel and her friends hanging down.  On the table, each vase is filled with a goldfish with seastars next to them.

 For dinner, among other things, with had a pasta bake made with seashell pasta, blue jello aquarium with gummy fish in it, gold fish crackers and gummy sharks and fish.  I made an Ariel cake.  You cant see it, but of course it is pink inside, Madi's favorite color (had to get it in the party somewhere).  Its a white cake with blue "water" frosting.  I made Ariel, Flounder, Sebastian, the fish and the sea stars all out of chocolate.  Boy was that a job, but so fun!  Except the second time around it was a little frustrating.  Yes I had to make Ariel, Flounder and Sebastian all two times!  I broke Sebastian while drawing on his face.  Taylor dumped goldfish water all over Ariel and Flounder.  Ugh!!  The ocean rocks are Nerds.

 The chaos that is present opening!  She got some great gifts and loves them all and slept with most of them tonight!

 My sweet birthday girl!! (with a goofy smile!)

Trick or Treat

On Thursday we hit a few streets with Carolyn, my sister-in-law, and her 3 boys.

 Then on Saturday we hit another town with Dan, my brother, and his kids.

Gotta love Iowa and their multiple nights of Halloween!- the kids sure love it.

Kitties :)

We went to the harvest festival at the christian school last night.  They had carnival games, bounce houses, pony and tractor rides, face painting.  My camera died so I only got one picture, but its a cute one! 

Tutus

 I made the girls tutus this week.  I've been wanting to for about a year now but have been procrastinating (yeah, big surprise!).  Why did I wait?  They were beyond Easy and Fast!  From start to finish the two of them took 3 1/2 hrs with millions of interuptions including making and eating lunch and getting the girls down for naps.  I love how they turned out so poofy!  Way poofier than any I have found in the store and less than half the price!  And the girls love them!!

Dancing is so much more fun in a tutu!  :)

Now that I tackled these I'm really wanting to try a different version of a tutu.  I suppose I better finish all my other little projects that I have started for them like super hero capes and baby doll diapers (those are really easy too, but do require a sewing machine).  If anyone is interested in the links where I found all these instructions let me know. 

Preschool

My baby went to her first day of preschool today! ~tear :)  She was so excited!  But also a little nervous.  She repeatedly told us that she was scared because she didnt know all the kids, so I told her I would help her meet some of them before I left her.  And when she saw her cousin, Trenton, there and they gave each other a big hug, I knew she would be fine!  She came down the stairs in the morning holding her shirt that she picked out to wear for her first day.  She was ready to head out the door at 7am! 

Here she is in her classroom.  She had a blast!  She had snack time, they sang songs, colored a picture and they even had recess (which seemed to be her highlight of the morning)!

But there were almost tears!!  By this little munchkin!!  She insisted she was old enough (4, to be exact!)  And wanted to wear her lady bug backpack and have her picture taken too.  She was quite dissapointed when she realized she didnt get to stay and play too!

Haircuts

The before picture.  We had cut a decent chunk off Madisons hair several months ago, but this was the first cut for Taylor.  I was sad to see it go, especially Taylors, look how stinking long it is for a barely 2 year old!  But hair washing and combing time has become quite miserable for all of us, so it was time!

Madison, looking way too old!

And Taylor, she still has trouble keeping hair off her face, so hers usually gets pulled back somehow.

More Kitties!!!

Our kitty family has grown from 2 to 10 in less than a week!  These two cats showed up at our house last week.  They are very friendly, especially the one sitting by the water. (Madi named him Sparkles.  Very masculine name, huh?)  And the other one, Bike (yes, another great name choice by Madison) was pregnant. 

This past Thursday Bike had 7 kittens, but one died already.  If you look carefully you can actually see all six heads in this picture.  Madi found them hiding under a bush and is enthralled by them.  Im thinking we are going to have to find a home for some of them.  Any takers?  10 cats is a bit much!  But they sure are cute.

Happy Birthday Taylor!!

What a happy little birthday girl!    

A tea set from Grandpa and Grandma.  Its so funny how all the kids cram in so close during present time! :)  She is young enough that the kids got chances to "help" her open some of them. :)

Decorating a "cupcake" from Papa and Gogo.

Taylor's cousins came over to help celebrate!

First Fish

Eric took Madison fishing today and she caught her first fish (a blue gill)!  Eric said she was so excited and she was so proud to show it me.  Except that she kept telling me it was a little fish, so Eric quickly explained to her that you always tell people you caught a big fish even if you didnt!!  Ha Ha, way to teach her to lie- turning her into a true fisherman!

What a trooper, she even helped clean her fish.  She wasnt crazy about touching the blood, apparently touching the eye and making it wiggle was so much more acceptable!  And surprisingly, even Taylor liked wiggling the eye!

And, yep, we ate the little guy for dinner tonight (along with the 3 bass Eric caught).  He was yummy!! :)

Kittens!!!

We finally got the girls some kittens!  You gotta have a cat when you live on a farm, right?  Aren't they cuties?  Madi says they are twins, I think she must be right.  The only way I can tell them apart is by a small piece of matted fur on one of them or by picking them up, Madi's is bigger.  Although their personalities are coming through already.  Madi's is calm and playful.  Taylor's is fiesty and curious.  I think we are going to have to get them different colored collars just so Madison can tell which one is hers!

Madison named hers Rainbow.

And Taylor's kitten is named Sunshine.  (Taylor wasnt offering any suggestions! :)  So we let Madison name hers as well)

Im so glad Eric is a softy and let us take two home, now they aren't lonely when we leave them outside!

Taylor's Owie

We made our first trip to the ER on Sunday.  We were at a family get together and the kids were playing at a park.  We're really not sure what happened to Taylor.   She was playing in a little wooden playhouse and came out crying with a gash above her eye.  She got 5 stitches.  She has done fabulously with them though, she hasnt tried to touch them at all!  And she gets them out today already.  I was thankful that Dee and Aunt Mary were there to help clean her up and make the decision to bring her in.

Easter

The girls got little chicks in their baskets that chirp when they sit in their hands.  Madi calls it her pet- guess its going to have to do until she gets that kitty she keeps hoping for!

All dressed up.  And look, they are both smiling at the same time!

Egg hunt!  We went to Eric's Uncle Wavern and Aunt Bev's for Easter lunch.  Grandma and Aunt Bev had a great egg hunt planned for the kids.  They LOVED it!

Look at those model poses! :)  Too cute!

A spring walk