Schenk Sightings

Monday, January 19, 2015

Sawyer's 5th Birthday

Sawyer's 5th birthday was filled with fun! He awoke to a pile of balloons and a birthday banner. And he got to choose 1 present to open right away. He chose the largest gift and it didn't disappoint…a large Lego set from Papa and Mema!

Excited before he even got the wrapping paper off

Sawyer had school on his birthday, so we brought in a treat for his class. Mini donuts and chocolate milk were a hit. He also got to show off Nora and Kolter to his class.

Though we had a small party I couldn't help creating some invites…the location is blurred out.

After lunch and rest time (which he couldn't wait for because he got to play with his new Lego's) it was party time! Kyle came home early, grabbed Sawyer and they were off to pick-up his friends. He chose a "boys only" event with 2 of his friends to SkyMax, a trampoline facility. The kids had a blast bouncing around for an hour.

sorry for the blurriness…it's kind of difficult to capture 3 jumping 5 year olds

After literally bouncing off the walls for an hour they were famished.

eating their sandwiches…they had no need for the veggies

They came to our house for a gourmet dinner of Sawyer's choice, PB&J :) Uncle Cliff, Aunt Jess and Cadence also came over to celebrate. After eating (I made more than just sandwiches :) Sawyer opened his gifts. He received all kinds of fun items like Lego's, planes, a bow & arrow set and a remote control car. We got him soccer cleats, shin guards and his very own soccer goal. He is all set for his soccer team this spring. He later said that was his favorite part of the day!

Then we concluded the evening with singing, cake and ice cream. Sawyer wanted chocolate cake with chocolate icing, so that's what he got. I love that he loves to keep things simple. Sometimes I want to go overboard with the parties, but when I ask what he wants it's always super simple…love him!

my very amateur cake, but it's exactly what Sawyer wanted and that's all that matters

I did very little decorating for Sawyer's party, but when we saw these echo microphones on clearance at Target we had to pick them up (the kids always want to buy them). Then I couldn't help creating a little printable for the party favor. Before the party the kids and I had fun personalizing each microphone with their names. Then at the party I put out all kinds of stickers for the kids to decorate their own microphone. It was a super simple craft they all enjoyed.

3 cute 5 year old friends

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

9 months

You can't win all the photo shoots…it was already well past his 9 month mark, but with the bad weather (i.e. bad lighting conditions) and sickness we just had to get it done…he wasn't very happy about it :)

You:

weigh 17 lbs. 1 oz. (2%)

are 26.75 inches long (5%)

have a 17 inch head circumference (5%)

are tiny

like hanging around

are a speedy crawler

pull up on everything

prefer standing to any other position

Standing by yourself with no support

still only have 2 teeth

have poor sleep habits, we blame it on the teething

play games with the big boys (Tic Tock Croc, wrestling, evil twin)

loving his 1st Christmas

eat cheerios, your 1st experience was finding a Cheerio on the floor and you haven't looked back sense

love to eat pureed and table food of all kinds

say Dada and all done

are fearless, several times a day you will pull up on something or someone and just let go

climb stairs very swiftly

have a heart murmur…this was first noticed at your 1 week check-up and seemed to have resolved itself, but then it presented itself again. Thankfully you show no signs or symptoms of it being severe so at this point no further action is needed. We will keep an eye on you and check it again in 3 months. If the heart murmur is still present we will probably take you for an ultrasound

loved your 1st Christmas

are laid back

had your first 16 hours of driving in 1 day and you did fantastic!

only take your pacifier at sleep times

take a nap at 9:30 am and 1:00 pm

go to sleep around 8:30 pm

Monday, January 12, 2015

Family Fun {Christmas Edition}

Just a few more shots from our Christmas fun in Kansas. These are pretty random, but all special!

On our drive I put the farm address in our map app and these are the final directions...you know you're going to the middle of nowhere when the map directions tell you to simply turn left without any indication of street name and the final direction states: prepare to park your car (instead of the destination is on the right).

I couldn't quit giggling at these directions!

the kids did really well on the long drive and this is evidence that Mum-mums were essential to Kolter's happiness

These two...back together again and as silly as ever...friends forever!

these 2 are so close in age I hope they are friends forever too

Cadence and Aunt Jess

Papa entertaining Kolter

The Schenk girls in their matching skirts and hair bows. Those are some cute kids if I do say so myself!

entertaining themselves at the Gillen Christmas lunch

Nora is a major Papa's girl...she was attached to him the whole visit

Aunt Candace with sleeping Kolter

Kolter never falls asleep in public anymore, but this afternoon the poor guy was so tired. Kyle even threw him in the air (which he loves) several times, but he continued to sleep through all the bouncing and flying. I guess he was a little exhausted :)

There is always a lot of wrestling and kid piles when the Schenk's get together. See the evidence below:

Sunset at the farm

Nora and I went caroling with the church. I was nervous about how Nora would react to all the older people (we sang primarily at nursing homes and assisted living facilities). We talked about it before we went. But she really surprised me. She talked to every single person at every single place! It was so sweet! She was also often rewarded with a treat, so that may have provided some motivation. At one facility we sang at the door opened and then nice woman held out a whole tub of cookies and I realized it was my high school BFF's grandma. Both of the above pictures of grandparents of some of my best friends...you've got to love small towns!

This is completely random, but I couldn't stop laughing...this was a decoration at one of the nice, new facilities...who thinks to have a porcelain cat? Then to place it on a fancy footstool? Then to decorate it for Christmas? Again only in a small town!