El-pants and I-gulls

Some friends of ours kindly invited us along to the B-List circus over the weekend.  Olivia has never been so excited about anything for a prolonged period of time!  I think she is getting to the stage where she is beginning to understand the concept of past, present, and future.  

She talked about the el-pants (elephants) and i-gulls (tigers) all day.  I asked her what elephants eat, and she confidently replied, "dog food."  She did also inform me that tigers eat grass.

They had several extra tickets, so we invited Giga and Poppy along for the show.

I'll admit, it was all a bit overwhelming.

Jed arrived and they checked out the elephants for a few more minutes, and then we went inside the big top to wait, wait, and wait some more.  We arrived at 3:45 p.m. as suggested, and the show began 30 minutes late at 5:00 p.m..  Uncle Buddy gave Livi some spending money, so we thought it would be a good idea to upgrade our free seats.  It was.

While we waited, Giga thought it would be a great idea to introduce Livi to cotton candy.  She is a very skeptical child, and was nervous about her first bite, but then she couldn't get enough.  She thought it was so funny that she got to rip it off in pieces.  

 This is what I looked like in middle school, plus 100 pounds and really jacked up teeth.

We made it to the intermission and then were too restless to continue, but I think if we hadn't waited so long for the show to start, she would have made it.  She was enthralled by every act!  This is such a fun age!  Thanks again Knights for the awesome day!

Spring in Our Step

Our first Spring morning of 2014 began like this:

And ended like this:

We really can't complain.  Everyone else has been buried under twelve feet of snow since November, and we're unhappy about the incessant rain in the 50's, in March.  But we're almost there!  And we enjoyed some free Rita's tonight to celebrate.  She loved it.

Pizza Night

That's What You Call Vintage

We finally took Livi's photos in Ben's family's Christening gown.  Olivia wasn't christened, but we thought it would be fun to have some pictures in the heirloom gown, which is over 100 years old!

Olivia Kellenbenz

Ben really hates this outfit.  He says it looks like a costume.  While I might tend to agree, I think it is precious on Olivia and I wanted to have some poor-quality over-edited amateur pictures before she grows out of it.  Seventeen of the best months of our lives are all wrapped up in this little German-girl dress.

And one for the #highlightreal

Livi Lately

For all of you Aunties and Great Aunties who keep asking for an update :)

The bedtime trifecta: Blankee, binkie, Minnie. 

Very proud for putting on her bib all by herself! 

Many days she will spend almost 30 minutes "reading" to herself.

She loves playing up in her room!
In our tiny house it adds some variety :)

Waiting for Micah!

What was actually happing during Micah's photoshoot...

We are heading up to Maryland this week for my cousin Jennifer's wedding!  Ben will be holding down the fort while we're gone.  All four of the cousins on my (Kellenbenz) side of the family will be together for the first time, bringing lots of noise joy to their Great-Grandfather Bowen :)

Have a great week!

Blast(s) From the Past

I finally had the time to sit down and figure out how to post a video to blog-land. 

I can't believe she was ever this little!  

18 Weeks, Yobe, & Aunt SeeBee

19 Weeks in Walker

A Very Super Bowl

This year was somewhat non-traditional.  Mom and Dad got a fifth wheel a few weeks ago, so naturally they have been finding every excuse to go someplace (like they've ever needed an excuse before?!).  We were all the better for it, and spent most of Sunday at James Island County Park hammin' it up in the RV.  It was quite nice, especially since the furniture is more comfortable than what we have at home.  Recipes below!

An early predictor that the Ravens would be #1!

Helping Poppy to get things fixed. 

On a walk with Giga and Mommy!

This is for all of her Auntie's and Great Auntie's who haven't seen her teeth yet!

My main #1 squeeze

My #2 squeeze

Mom documenting her first party spread.

Speaking of spreads, would anyone like the recipe for crack?

Mix together 1 lb of browned and drained ground sausage, 

16 oz cream cheese, and 1 can of Ro-Tel tomatoes.  

Put it in the crock pot on low and stir.  

Thank me later.

Chex Mix is a Scott family tradition that I just wrapped my head around a few weeks ago.  I'm glad it is for football season only, or else I'd need to be working out at least 100% more than normal.

You can find it here.  We always make it in the oven.  

I added mini crackers this time and my very picky party mix husband admitted that it was spot on.

Olivia and her most favorite food, Chobani.  

She eats a whole one for breakfast every single day.  

Bless her heart.

Pretending to crawl.

Mommy and her girl right before she expired.

Barricaded on Giga and Poppy's ridiculously comfortable bed.

Too bad next year she won't be allowed to watch the game because of all the sickening commercials!!!!!  Really, the Gag-Daddy commercial is the one that comes to mind.  Anybody else?!

Thank you to Aunt Amy for the Ravens gear and to Auntie Chris for the precious tutu!