The Royal Tea Party

Before we get to tea...Rowan is still being drowned with toys via his sister. 

Commissioning Nathan to paint her toes...

Coloring...she is still pretty ambidextrous. 

Showing our support at school before the big ISU vs. Iowa game...our support wasn't enough to pull off a win. 

Getting princessfied...I bought these curler things to do her hair and amazingly she let me put them in and they stayed in for a least an hour! I was shocked. They worked pretty well on her pig tails but not so much for the back. I need to modify my technique. 

The finished product...

We of course invited the only two other princesses we knew that would appreciate a princess tea as much as us! Harper and Grace. 

Heading into the tea party. 

The spread...

Both Grandmas were there to join in on the fun...

There was coloring, jewelry scavenger hunts and balance-a-sugar-cube-on-a-spoon races. The girls had a ton of fun! 

ISU and Friends

We tried to recreate our ISU cousin photo again this year...since we added another cousin. I still haven't seen the final results....as you can imagine, trying to photograph 5 small children together is like trying to herd cats. 

I think they look like the ISU football team before the game when they walk onto the field holding hands, lol! 

Vivian also always gets really excited around her cousins and gets more wild than usual. We moved to another place in the park to get better light and she started running away from me, tripped, and fell on her face busting open her bottom lip. We were lucky that's all that was injured, when I heard her fall and hit the pavement I was sure she had hit her teeth. She had grass in her mouth and of course we had lots of tears. But she recovered like a champ and we actually took a few pics after the incident! 

These were all post lip meeting the pavement...

One of our good friends from vet school got married a few weeks ago and he was also one of Nathan's fraternity brothers. Congrats Lichty! Brad, Chris, Nathan and Dusty. 

Another one of our classmates from vet school (Craig) was the best man...

Dancing Kittens

Aunt Nancy had a litter of kittens on the farm that just turned 6 weeks old...the perfect age to introduce them to a toddler! Needless to say Viv was in love. She had so much fun with the kittens. 

The funny thing was she didn't really cuddle them...she just held them like this...and tried to corral them which didn't really go that well for her. It was very rewarding watching her chase something that wouldn't stay where she told them to stay for once! ha! She quickly learned trying to herd cats was quite a chore! 

Even Rowan got in on the action and petted the kittens. The black and white one was my favorite...he had bright blue eyes and the most unique markings. 

Viv started dance a couple of weeks ago. She is so darn cute! She started off strong and loved her outfit and shoes, etc. But as soon as class started we had major drama and tears/screaming. This went on for two weeks. So we tried a different class/time and had an assistant hold her the whole time and she stopped crying and actually participated. I now have hope that we will make it through the end of the year to the recital!

7 months

'Rowboat' is 7 months old this month. He's growing like a weed and he's already worn a couple of 12 mo outfits with no problem other than we had to roll the pants up a bit. We started him in a Parent's Day Out program one day a week at a church downtown. He seems to be doing well and is quite the charmer. He doesn't have separation anxiety as bad as his sister did. The report I got today was that he flirted with the women all day long. He's just getting over another cold and so was a little off his game this last week but is getting back to his old self. Still no teeth but he drools like crazy...he is the gooiest little baby! Especially this week with his runny nose too! I bet we go through at least 3 bibs a day and he is always soaked. He still spits up a lot...I think I remember Viv pretty much stopping the 'blurping' stuff up around 6 months old....Not this guy. I'm afraid he's going to have his father's sensitive digestive tract. 

We also started Kindermusik this fall and he seems to enjoy his class. He loves to be sung to....I sing to him every night before bed. We usually sing 'Jesus Loves Me' and 'Seek Ye First'...and he just lays there and smiles through his pacifier. 

Seek, Seek ye first the kingdom of God

And his righteousness 

And all these things shall be added unto him

Hallelu, hallelujah