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.