April Showers bring FUN!

With the beautiful weather, April truly brought us countless hours of fun outside and some good memories inside too. Here are highlights of the month. 

This. This is what my walks or runs with the stroller have become. The boys basically still love the stroller at age 5....Kylie however, is giving up the stroller along with her naps. Help!

 Jaden has a known peanut allergy and has had a bad reaction once. Because of this, our pediatrician recommended we wait to feed peanut butter (or anything with peanuts) until Kylie could talk and be able to tell us if she itches, can't breath, etc. One Saturday in April we tested her peanut tolerance with what else but Peanut Butter Captain Crunch! This was actually the first peanut product Jaden had and got a rash from consuming. I also had Evan try this as we have tended to shelter Evan from peanuts too. Luckily, both Evan and Kylie were just fine after consuming the cereal, which of course they found amazing!

 I used to be able to handle two, 2-year olds every day. Give me two for an afternoon now and look what happens! I literally went to boil water and these girls colored a lot of stuff, including themselves! BFFs!

True to the Schumacher love of movies, we have taken the boys to animated movies about once every-other month this year. April was Kylie's first time at the movies! With the help of the never-ending bowl of popcorn delivered right to your seat, she and everyone else did great. A fun family tradition.....I mean, I just go for the popcorn:)

Another version of movie night at home with Netflix!

Hiding from dad!

 Evan's version of flying a kite. 

 

 Bubbles and parktime fun!!

Who wants s'more s'mores?!!

Quiet play time. Kylie feeding her baby, Penny, and Jaden doing puzzle after puzzle in the toy room.

Apparently if the apple isn't sliced, this happens.

And since when has a 'real' carrot become a treat?!

 Evan came with me to a kids cooking event at the ISU Foods Lab hosted by my students. Two stations had peanut butter- so he was beyond thrilled! I think he learned an appreciation for healthy lunches too, maybe?!

Best Buds Forever.   

Mulberry School- Evan's Star of the Week!

Evan and Jaden embraced all of the events through Mulberry School this year. April was filled with fun! 

First and foremost, Evan was Star of the Week!

I joined Evan for lunch on Monday of his big Week. 

He was excited to have gourmet hotdogs for lunch....and ketchup. 

One of the pictures he brought was of him heading home from the hospital. As a baby, he had to be in a car-bed until he weighed 5 pounds. We took the car-bed to school to share with his friends. Of course the kiddos had to try and fit into the car-bed. 

ISU is home to America's oldest collegiate circus. On friday before their weekend of performances, they host a shortened version of their show to school-aged children and schools. I was fortunate to get to chaperone Evan and Jaden's class to the circus!

 This was the boys' favorite act: riding bike on the big high rope. 

Crazy Hair and Clothes Day!

 My Graduate Assistant and I came to Evan and Jaden's classroom to talk about fruits and vegetables. Our time with the kids included planting beans and of course eating colorful veggies!

Mulberry school hosted a Super Hero 5K race and kids' Fun Run. It was a cold and rainy day, but the kids enjoyed dressing up in their capes for the run.

Thanks, Mulberry School, for all of the fun memories from Pre-K!

Hoppy Easter 2017!

The kids were so excited to spend Easter weekend with Aunt Laurie and Grandma Pam. Of course they were on-the-go all weekend. They decorated Easter baskets and delivered to the neighbor ladies. 

 Never got it on video, but likely the best moment in Kylie's Easter outfit was when she danced her version of stinky butt (AKA, bunny tail dances up in the air). 

Instead of using store-bought egg dye, Home-Ec teacher Grandma Pam helped the kids color eggs using cool whip and food coloring. 

Maybe next year we will venture and use water from cooked vegetables like beets and carrots.  

 Thanks Grandpa Al for the South Dakota Beef!

 Kylie is still working on saying 'Grandma,' but regardless, she loves giving nose kisses! 

 Time for the hunt! Evan shook each plastic egg, making sure to pick ones with candy and not coins or stickers.....Evan!

 

I mean we all have the same shirt, how could we not take a selfie?!

 Evan and Jaden's new thing.....chasing the cars good-bye along the sidewalk. Come again soon Auntie and Grandma!

Go Cubs Go!

In April we took the boys to their first Cubs game! Tip for those with kiddos---you can actually bring your own snacks into the ballpark. So if you ask the boys if they had fun at the game, of course they did! They ate the whole time:) 

With our Children's Discovery Museum pass, we have free entry into the Field Museum in Chicago. Evan is very into dinosaurs, so seeing Sue, the largest most complete T-Rex, was definitely a highlight!

 Clearly we needed to stop and play hide-n-seek in this park with random art!

 

The boys are in T-ball this summer, so I am guessing we will be back next year for another Cubs game!