friday favorites

Posted on July 12, 2013 by tara

With warmer temperatures and less rain, we spent a whole lot more time outside this week (and inside, we finally turned on the air conditioning)!

We met up with friends on both Tuesday and Thursday to play outside. There’s nothing like breaking a sweat, playing on the swings, and sitting on a blanket under a tree, then washing it all down with a gulp of cold water.

Kaya LOVED watching the ducks at the pond and even laughed at them. Who knew ducks could be so funny? She was so worn out that she fell asleep on the walk home.

Michael and I also took Kaya to the pool one evening after work. I love going as a family and swimming together. Our princess definitely loves the water!

I went out shopping to see if I could find a dress suitable for Kevin’s wedding without having to order it online… but didn’t have any luck. I did, however, find a bunch of other awesome things- a dress, a blouse, two tees, and two sweaters- for $22 total! I also found a Scrabble game for 95 cents. I love getting great deals.

Kaya really mastered using her sippy cup (mostly) on her own this week.

Seriously? It doesn’t get more precious than this!

And just when I think my heart is about to explode from loving her so much, she instantly becomes more adorable and forces me to fall even further in love.

~~I won’t tell you that this cute face is hiding a diaper explosion…~~ I love all the adorable faces she makes (and how much she loves this squishy ball from the dollar store… which I later saw in the dog section at Target)!Jax has had more than his fair share of cuddles this week (and may or may not have rolled himself right off the bed and onto the floor)! Happy weekend, everyone! Here’s to a relaxing one 🙂

my heart is full

Posted on July 11, 2013 by tara

When I first see you in the morning, and you grin as wide as you can, sleepy eyes and all.

When you flash me a smile from across the room.

When you laugh hysterically just by locking eyes with me.

When I pick you up out of the crib, and you plant two slobbery, open-mouthed smooches on my cheek.

When you’re tired, so you cuddle in close. Your heart beats next to mine, just like it always used to. For a moment, we feel like one again.

When you smile and giggle because you think sneezing is funny. If I say “bless you”, it becomes even funnier.

When Daddy gets your jammies on, and you look over the changing pad to the rocking chair to be sure I’m waiting there for you.

Because I feel so incredibly blessed to be your mom. You are a pure, precious angel and I am so grateful to have you in my life.

Love you so much, Little Baby Bird.

photo-a-day for june

Posted on July 10, 2013 by tara

I did this photo-a-day challenge in June! It was a lot of fun, so I’ll be doing it again for July (but hopefully in a more organized fashion this time)! Click on the pictures to make them bigger (I know you want to get up close and personal with my piece of pizza)! Somehow I missed #17, which was supposed to be “centered”. Oops!

1- B is for… Baby Bird’s Bedhead!/2- a moment/3- on my table (homemade pizza)
4- after dark (puppy cuddles)/5- environment (he tore up his pillow)/6- transport (ice cream on a spoon)
7- bright/8- an animal/9- from down low

10- you!/11- something funny (the dog and the baby constantly steal each other’s toys)/12- 11 o’clock (I was so lucky to be napping at 11 am on this day)
13- kitchen/14- texture (grass)/15- from above
16- family/18- street (we puppysat for our friends, and their cats would follow us the whole time we walked the dog)/19- currently reading (just barely started “rereading” this, since I skipped the first part last time)

20- cute/21- lunchtime (this was before my salad-eating goal!)/22- enjoying life (at the river with family)
23- last/24- negative space/25-sharp (the blender, and yes I can speak from personal experience)
26- empty (cookie dough batter bowl)/27- into the sun/28- red

29- in my bag (diapers, toys, sunscreen…)/30- handwriting (my kids at church wrote this letter for the missionaries… not too legible, but they are only 4 and 5 years old!)

three favorite quotes

Posted on July 9, 2013 by tara

Today I’m sharing three of my favorite quotes for Tuesday Topics!

(I love this video that goes with that quote!)

(source)

Most everyone has probably heard this one before, and I didn’t understand it until Kaya was born, but now I know how very true it is.

Linking up with Tiffany and Lauren!

the weekend according to my phone

Posted on July 8, 2013 by tara

By Friday afternoon, the weather was finally nice enough to spend some time at the pool! It feels like we’ve just had nonstop rain around here this summer, so we were eager to take advantage of the sunshine! (as was my glorious farmer’s tan…)

I helped Kaya practice “floating” on her back and tummy. She seemed to have a good time, and didn’t even cry when I got her face wet! Michael came straight to the pool after work to join us! You can definitely tell someone loves her daddy 🙂

Jax did his usual thing this weekend (which is just laying around)… at least he’s fancy and crossed his paws!

Kaya tried oatmeal and wasn’t too thrilled with it. Somehow she was still smiling though! (yes, that’s oatmeal on her nose…)

On Sunday night, we watched Hercules (it was the first time I’d seen it!), ate dessert and went to bed early. ~~We’re old boring married people.~~

4th of july 2013

Posted on July 5, 2013 by tara

Our Independence Day started out pretty relaxed- we slept in until about 8:30, which felt amazing! I went on a 4.5-mile run with Jax and then got to spend the rest of the day with my two favorite goofballs. My mom bought Kaya this adorable shirt a few weeks ago, but she didn’t have any matching shorts (apparently this kid only owns shorts that are pink, purple, or plaid…)! So, I sewed a pair of white ones for her super fast. I should have made them longer because they kept bunching up… but all her shorts seem to do that anyway.I love this little stinker (which apparently means that I can never decide which pictures to post. They’re all too cute)!
At dinnertime, we had a cookout with some of our best friends (but we were still missing a few who were out of town). We enjoyed hot dogs, green beans, grapes, and these chocolate chip cookies.
You can’t really tell from this picture, but Kaya loves Brittany. They’ve been buddies since Kaya was tiny.

Jax even looked festive (I sewed him this bandanna about 5 minutes before our barbecue)!
Don’t be fooled by this photo… the puppies were only calm together for about thirty seconds.
After dinner, we headed off to the town’s fireworks. We showed Kaya what sparklers can do. She was mesmerized and kept looking for more all night! She wasn’t afraid of the fireworks (I was a little concerned they’d be too loud for her). As usual, it was a great show. I’m so grateful to live in a country where we can make our own choices and express our opinions. Happy Independence Day everyone!

goal review for june and new ones for july

Posted on July 3, 2013 by tara

Setting monthly goals made me realize a couple of things about myself:
– If I start slacking on a goal, my motivation to accomplish it diminishes pretty quickly because I feel as though I already failed.
– Just as Michael reassured me, just because I don’t “measure up” to the standard I set for myself, it doesn’t mean I failed. I still made improvements and that’s what really matters.

So even if I didn’t do as well on my goals as I would have hoped, they still gave me some sense of direction and measure of progress. Here’s to hoping I can make new goals each month!

Here’s how I did for June:

1. Do at least one strength-training or ab workout per week. I rocked this one! Any workout other than running has never been my favorite thing, but there are a couple of youtube fitness channels (like here or here) that actually make it easier for me to just DO IT. I can’t say that I am any more noticeably toned yet but I usually feel pretty good when I look in the mirror.
2. Read a book. I don’t know why it is so easy to read on my phone instead of just picking up a book. Here’s to trying again this month.
3. Be more patient. I set this goal without thinking about how to measure whether I was successful or not… so I don’t know!
4. Plan at least one real date. We started planning a date together… but then the date plans actually turned into plans for Michael’s birthday party. Oops. We did have some good quality time together this month though, so I’m not complaining.
~~5. Read the scriptures earlier in the day.~~ I’d say I did really well with this one! My day seems to go so much smoother when I read the scriptures earlier, and I actually learn and retain more than I would if I do it at night.
~~6. Declutter.~~ I did file and recycle papers in the den! I still want to go through our closet, though.
7. Go to bed earlier. This seems like a cruel joke. We definitely did not get this done 🙁
~~8. Practice piano for~~ 30 minutes per week. I halfways accomplished this? I did great the first half of the month, but the second half… not so much.

Goals for July:

1. Keep doing great with early scripture reading. I’m writing this again because putting it here keeps me accountable! I’ll stop making it an official goal after it finally becomes a habit.

2. Do abs and arm workouts twice per week.

3. Clean up the closet in our room and donate unwanted items.

4. Complete two sewing projects. I haven’t made anything in quite a few months, and that’s just sad! I need a dress for Kevin and Tori’s wedding in August, so I may or may not make that one of my projects.

5. Eat a salad (or any big serving of vegetables) every day. I’ve actually already started this one, and I have to admit, I definitely notice a difference in how I feel at the end of the day if I’ve eaten more greens. I’ve also found that it helps me to make up a HUGE bowl of salad in advance and just keep it in the fridge for whenever I want it later.

6. Read a book. Hopefully it will actually happen this month!

7. Get in bed by 11 pm every day.

8. Practice piano for 15 minutes on Wednesday and 15 minutes on Saturday. Here’s to hoping that setting specific days will help me do it!

four things I learned outside of school

Posted on July 2, 2013 by tara

Tuesday Topics this week is on “four things I learned outside of school”, so here goes:

1. Be kind to others because you really, truly, never know what someone is going through.

2. Do what you feel is right for YOU. People are always going to tell you how they think you should live your life (especially once you start a family)! Only you know what is best for yourself and your family, so stick to what you know is right in your heart.

3. Your self-worth isn’t equivalent to how big (or how non-existent) your paycheck is.

4. Taking time to pursue and improve upon your talents is so important. Michael has always encouraged me to follow any interest I’ve had (and believe me, I’ve drifted between a lot of different activities, from photography to sewing to cake decorating). I’ve loved seeing myself improve over the past few years.

Linking up with Tiffany and Lauren!

out of the mouths of primary kids

Posted on July 1, 2013 by tara

We had a pretty uneventful weekend (the most exciting place I went was the grocery store. Yup. It was that uneventful).

Michael was asked to give the “Fifth Sunday” lesson (which, as you probably guessed, only happens when there is an extra Sunday in the month) at church yesterday, so he was diligently preparing for that. He gave an excellent, thought-provoking lesson, just like I knew he would.

Having Michael teach meant that Kaya had to come to my class of 4 and 5-year old kids (and she had only napped an hour total before we went to church, which meant that she was sooo t-i-r-e-d). Luckily, we avoided a huge meltdown, but having her in there definitely inspired some hilarious quotes from my kids…

L: “I used to be a cute baby boy, but then I growed up!”

(Kaya starts sucking on the leg of the chair)
L: “You’re not s’posed to lick chairs!!!”

(After L kept calling Kaya a “he”)
J: “She’s a girl ’cause she’s wearing a dress!”

L: “I can jump over babies!” (And he was ready to prove it to me.. ahh!)

K: “I was born in Hannah Montana.”

(Kaya starts trying to get my shoes and I told the kids it’s because she likes to “eat” them) L: “You have to spit them out!” (referring to my shoes)

I don’t know if those quotes seem as funny when you aren’t actually hearing the kids say them, but they had me cracking up yesterday! I love my class and am so sad to see so many of them move away this summer.

Despite our uneventful weekend, I still had a very tired husband and puppy by the end of it all…

Michael and Tara

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Monthly Archives: July 2013