five on friday (03/17)

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

ONE. Daylight Savings was so good to us on Sunday. Afternoon church is a big struggle with little kids who are missing their naps, but skipping ahead an hour and having a little “extra” sunshine (and lollipops) made everyone a little less cranky​.And yes, I love matching dresses with my baby.
TWO. In honor of “Pi Day”, we made a chocolate chip cookie pie (with this crust) to bring to our youth mutual activity on Tuesday night. If you like gooey amazingness… this is the perfect pie.

Kaelyn actually rolled out the crust herself and did a great job (all while making the silliest faces)!THREE. Once a month for past few months, Michael has been holding training meetups for a company named Docker. There, he teaches some of the latest software development practices. Our girls are obsessed with their whale logo, and when Nella was born, they actually sent a onesie just for her. This baby looks so good in blue!Michael had his meeting this week, which coincided with Docker’s birthday. He needed to bring cupcakes, so naturally, the girls and I whipped some up. Yellow cake with chocolate buttercream might be my current favorite combination.

FOUR. Michael has been painting our bedroom this week, and apparently reviewing the alphabet with Kaya at the same time! Haha. If you’re thinking that this blue looks the same as the color in the office, you’re right. I’m kind of obsessed with it, but I promise this is the last room in the house that’s going to be blue.

FIVE. Of course, we had to make some art for St. Patrick’s Day! The girls finger painted rainbows and we learned a little bit about the holiday and the mythological leprechauns.Kaelyn’s art was a little more abstract, but I still love it (and her silly faces)!

Happy weekend!

five on friday (11/20)

ONE. Kaya had her last gymnastics class (for this 6-week course, anyway), and that meant that they got to play with the parachute! She was a little uncertain at first, but it turned out to be her favorite activity yet.

Overall, she ended up loving gymnastics. She became more confident around people she doesn’t know well, and is now more comfortable with learning new skills. I’m so glad we signed her up.

TWO. For the past few years, I’ve wanted to get an Angel from the Christmas Angel Tree program… and every year, I always seemed to miss it. Turns out, I never realized how early you have to go pick one off the tree. We were sure to get to the mall on time this year to choose a child, and I am so happy we finally did.

And you know, while you’re at the mall, you might as well get Chinese food for dinner.

THREE. I hosted our little preschool co-op group this week, and we learned the letter “L”! Naturally, we had to make some “lions”. I just love seeing what the kids create and how each one is unique. (Kaya’s is on the top left.)

FOUR. My littlest princess is getting four molars all at once… and it must have been hurting her so badly last night, because she wouldn’t stop screaming and crying, even when we were holding her. It reminded me so much of those unsoothable early newborn nights. My sweet husband rocked and snuggled her nearly all night long. I am blessed.

FIVE. It’s almost a joke to me how often things seem to break around here sometimes. This week, both the microwave and the oven stopped working. It’s like a personal record for me, or something. Hide all your appliances when I come over, because apparently I don’t have good luck… haha.

Happy weekend!

kid tested, mom approved: mommy & me craft

When I saw that the topic for “Kid Tested, Mom Approved” today was a craft, I honestly had a little bit of a hard time coming up with something. I really wanted to give Kaya the chance to create something, but at 11 months old, it doesn’t seem like there’s a whole lot she can really “make”.

I thought about it for a few days and decided that we would finger paint. I whipped up some paint using this recipe, taped a piece of paper to the kitchen floor, and let her make a giant mess.fingerpaint3082013 I suggest you wear only a diaper junky clothes for this activity too. Just because you’re not the one painting doesn’t mean a messy little monster won’t grab all over you with her blue hands.fignerpaint1082013 Eventually she just started painting the floor…fingerpaint2082013 After all the blue paint dried (which really didn’t seem to take that long after I cleaned up the floor and Kaya had a bath), I mixed up orange paint and put some on both of our hands so that we could make “mommy and baby” fishies.

I know it’s not going to be in a museum anytime soon ever … but I think I’ll cherish this forever.mommymefishfingerpaintartlabel