Day out with Thomas

On Sadie's actual birthday we got to go as a family to a "Day out with Thomas" event. It was a fun event held in a small town just a little drive away. As with all events, the bus ride from the parking lot was possibly the highlight of the day for the kids!

 

It was incredibly hot that day but it didn't stop the kids from having a blast. First they got tattoos which they both loved!










And Sadie enjoyed watching a little magic show while Case jumped in a bounce house. I love her curly hair in this picture!

 

The event had a bunch of Thomas train tables set up that the kids got to play with, unfortunately it was in a tent that was SO hot. Matt and I were melting, but the kids loved it and almost didn't want to leave even when it was time to ride the "real" Thomas train.

Here's the best picture I got of the kids in front of the train.

And then it was time to ride! The kids were so excited!

And they loved looking out the window during the train ride. 

 

The best part was just creating fun memories as a family!

Sadie's 2nd Birthday Party!

Our sweet Sadie Belle turned 2 on June 3rd! We had a great time celebrating her birthday with a couple friends from church! It was hard for me to figure out a theme for Sadie's party. My "requirements" for a birthday party is that it's something they are really into (not just something I'm into or think I can make cute), something I can do on a budget and something that will be fun! Matt helped me come up with the thing Sadie is most in love with right now...Horses! So we did a little horse themed 2nd birthday party! Here's our little cowgirl!

Since she is only 2 it was kind of hard for me to come up with some games or activities that she could really participate in, but we ended up finding out that we could borrow a moon bounce (or bounce house, whatever you call it) for her party! It was perfect! The kids loved jumping around and it kept them entertained enough that us parents actually had the chance to sit and visit - not something I was really expecting at a two year old birthday party.

The one little game we played was pin the tail on the donkey. I think only two of the kids actually wore a blindfold but somehow we still ended up with a lot of tails no where near where a tail should actually go. But the kids had fun and Sadie REALLY loved it! After the other kids moved onto something else she continued to play with it and kept movng all the tails around.

 

I tried fondant frosting for the first time and I thought it was only okay. I probably won't use it again, but now I at least know what it's like. Here's the cake (one of the little ones got their finger in the frosting as I was carrying the cake out!). I also make some cupcakes which came out much better than the cake!

  

 

It was fun pulling a few things from our house to decorate, we got to use our cowboy boots and the adorable rocking horse that Ryan and Kari got Sadie for her birthday.

After everyone headed home, the kids took a much needed bath from a hot and humid day. And then they snuggled in together to watch a little movie in Case's room. It was so cute to see them together on their little pillow pets and there was something about it that just made Sadie seem so old!

Puddle Time

Sadie got her first pair of rain boots for Christmas this year from Aunt Alisha and last weekend was the perfect chance for her to test them out! And Case was all to happy to show her how it's done...

They were having a great time jumping and splashing and running all around in their boots. Case enjoyed pretending that his boot was stuck in the mud.

Here's Sadie trying to copy him, she'd say "Oh no!"

I went inside to tell Matt how cute they were and I came back out to Case saying, "Mommy!! Sadie fell" - I did't quite expect her to look like this!

Best Buddies

My sweet babies... oh, these two! They sure keep me busy all day everyday. They are either running around giggling, tickling, jumping on the bed, wresting, playing hide and seek or all out screaming and fighting. They are definitely hot or cold! I just try to enjoy the times they are playing so well together and ask for God's grace to help me get through the two hour long fight over a sippy cup!
Here's just a few pictures of my cutie pies together!

Davis visit!

It was pretty surprising how quickly Case forgot most of his little buddies from MN when we moved to KS, but one he still remembers and talks about often is Coleman! I don't know who was more excited, Case or me, that Andrea and her boys made the drive down from Wisconsin to come visit us. Andrea was one of my roommates in college and we were bridesmaids in each others weddings. Even though we haven't lived in the same state in 6 years we've always been able to pick up right where we left off!
The boys played so well together and when they left Case kept talking about how Coleman came to his house and then whoever we saw in the next couple days Case would say, "Do you want to come to Coleman's house with me? We can go sometime."
We also took them to Deanna Rose Farmstead where the boys had so much fun running around together.

Fishing

Feeding Goats

and eating ice cream!

The little ones were pretty much just a long for the ride!

Jensen was a great little trooper and Sadie was a little under the weather so she didn't run around too much. We had said how if these two were our only children we would've taken them out and take hundreds of pictures of them just sitting on the grass here and there but having to keep up with their older brothers didn't allow us that luxury. As we left the park we found out my minivan had a dead battery so with four little kids, that was probably our biggest adventure!

That night the boys were pretty tired and snuggled up to watch a movie. (Case's mouth is glowing because he has a flashlight in it)

We spent most of the visit playing at the park or hanging around our house letting the kids play and just catching up. It was a great visit and we are hoping to get our families together again with our husbands and "auntie" Hannah this summer! We can't wait!

Eikum Visit!

I know I won't be able to catch up on everything that I wish I would have gotten around to posting over the fall but I'll try to do a couple highlights!

Our good friends Bert and Beki Eikum along with their beautiful daughter Gwen, came to visit in October! We had so much fun showing them around Kansas City and finally getting to host them in our home. We had beautiful weather which gave us the chance to play in the backyard, go to the park and visit Deanna Rose Farmstead.

Case loved playing water guns with Bert!

Gwen had her first ride in the swing!

Heading into the farmstead - Sadie loved holding Gwen's hand!

Sadie staring down a goat at Deanna Rose - I love this picture!

The whole group all together at Deanna Rose

Having lived with the Eikums for almost a year, it was so fun having them in our house. It was so easy to fall back in to the routine of cooking meals together, relaxing around the house and catching up on everything. Bert even fixed our master bath shower while they were here!

Breakfast one morning

Me with the girls (again Sadie is holding Gwen's hand!)

Gwen got to play in the exersaucer a lot - it kept her somewhat safe from all the love Sadie and Case wanted to show her!

We also, of course, took Bert and Beki to Jack Stack! It was great having a night out just the adults. Obviously the food was amazing but it was also a great night of fellowship with two people we love so much. Then we had a great time walking around the plaza.

Come again anytime, Eikums!!

"Sade"

I have had requests to post some up to date pictures of Sadie so here goes! She currently weighs 23 lbs 8 oz (50th percentile) and is 32 inches tall (75 percentile). Which is funny to us because she seems so short!
Case calls Sadie, "Sade" and I simply love it! No one else calls her that and I think it's so sweet. I can't believe how quickly Sadie is growing and changing. She's definitely our sweetheart/drama queen/giggly/silly little girl. She has a million different expressions mostly to tell you she's not happy about something - her scowls are pretty impressive.
Sadie just loves to do whatever someone else is doing! If I am putting groceries away, she thinks she's helping and doing the same thing by emptying the pantry. As soon as I walk in the door with a grocery bag in hand she immediately starts unloading the canned goods. Same goes for laundry, the second I start to walk up the stairs with the laundry basket to put clothes away, she is right behind me ready to empty any drawer within her reach. She also loves to think she's in on the joke. If we are laughing, she laughs like it's the funniest thing she's ever heard. Case loves to play "got your nose" and she runs over to play and laugh hysterically along with us. Here she is playing with Macey - just doing whatever Macey's doing!My little mama's girl has finally become a full fledged Daddy's girl. She loves to go back and forth between us, just sharing her love and snuggles with everyone. She learned to give kisses a while back and would go back and forth between us saying "mmmmm" the whole time meaning she's coming to give a kiss. She'll climb out of my lap, go sit with Matt and smile at me like, 'aren't you so jealous I'm sitting with him now?' and then 30 seconds later climb back in my lap and give Matt the same look. Back and forth, back and forth...

She's talking some, but her words are fairly inconsistent. She'll say a word one day because you'll ask her to, but won't say it another day. She does consistently say "Amen!" - Ever since the Eikum's were here and she yelled it out when we prayed at the table and we all laughed. She also loves to say "Cheeeeez" for the camera like she's doing here in the kennel with PorkChop (she's CRAZY about dogs).She is really strong, she can push Case in our toy shopping cart which he loves! And here she is pushing Jordan in the toy car.Sadie continues to be a really good eater which is so nice! She'll sit in her high chair and sing this little "cracka, cracka, cracka" song over and over again until she gets more food ('cracker' is used for all food). Here's her first attempt at using a spoon, not exactly a successful attempt!And here's a few more of my favorite recent pictures of her!



She makes this pouty lip face all the time! It's her "thinking face".
Being Silly with Auntie Kari! I just love this one!