five on friday (08/17)

Posted on August 17, 2018 by tara

Happy Friiiiiiday!!! The weeks are flying on by, and I feel like I can’t keep up, but I at least put together a Five on Friday post!

ONE. On Saturday, we went to a Turkish barbecue hosted by one of Michael’s co-workers, Russ. It was the perfect evening to be outside, and I was really looking forward to the food, since Mediterranean cuisine is my favorite. It was also really fun to show off our brand new little princess!It was nice to get out and do something- I’ve been a total homebody since Eve was born.
Kaelyn wants to hold her sister any chance she can. This is true happiness for her!
It’s not a real party unless your face is covered in chocolate at some point during the evening, right? More true happiness!

TWO. We’ve been doing a whole lot of walking around here, mostly because I’m not currently running. Each week, I’ve tried to make one of those walks a “family walk” that includes everyone (which is sometimes more challenging that it might seem). Both Kaya and Kaelyn wanted to hold my hand one night while Michael pushed the stroller, and it was just so sweet.We’ve enjoyed some stops at the playground, too!Who is this big kid trying to climb the ladder?And this big kid on a grown-up swing?

THREE. Evie wore this special little dress to church on Sunday. It brings back so many memories for me because this was the dress Kaya wore on her first day of church, and all the other girls have worn it, too. It’s still just as adorable as it was on day one!Love these two so so much.

FOUR. We’ve had some really great kid-created art happening around here! They wanted to paint one morning, and I loved seeing what they came up with. (Nella is too little to use paint just yet, but she still wanted to sit for the picture!)

FIVE. I had to put some sister pictures in here because they are too sweet! The three big girls were sitting in the chair together, so I just had to put the baby in there too and take the opportunity for a photo. This is Nella’s most-commonly-made face these days. We’ll talk to her and she’ll pretend she isn’t looking at us.What is it about seeing your baby kiss your baby? Melt my heart.Eve was also hugged by a tiger this week!Tiger kisses!Happy weekend! These will be our final days off before we officially start homeschool on Monday (although that hasn’t stopped the girls from working on some of their books already)!

five on friday (01/12)

Posted on January 12, 2018 by tara

This was our first week back in our regular routine after the holidays, so I think I speak for everyone in my house when I say that going back to reality is exhausting! We really accomplished a lot this week though, so it feels good to know we worked hard.

ONE. The biggest news of the year so far… Kaelyn is a SUNBEAM! At church, when the new year rolls around, all the three-year-olds get to go to the main children’s class, called Primary, instead of staying in the more play-oriented class, called Nursery. I am not exaggerating when I say that Kaelyn has been talking about going to Primary for about a year now. She was counting down the days until she could go with Kaya to the primary room, and this past Sunday, all her dreams came true.
I snapped these pictures in the five seconds before we had to rush out the door for church. Also, Kaelyn found my old foam rollers and has been asking to wear them to bed, so I put them in her hair on Saturday night after her bath. She was so excited to have special, curly pigtails for her first day as a Sunbeam.And Kaya is in CTR 5 now! I feel like she was in Nursery just yesterday. She also wanted foam rollers, but I just put a couple on top, since her natural curls were looking good already. I can’t look at those adorably puffy curls atop her head without instantly being transported back to the 90s though!Everyone was still smiling after church……for the most part, anyway. Kaya takes a little longer to adjust to changes, like having new teachers, but it didn’t take long for her to feel like herself again once we got home.TWO. I was really looking forward to taking a nap after church, but then I found a pile of silly people snuggling in my bed! Seriously. I love these happy goofballs.THREE. We’re back to school now, but I’ve realized how important it was that we took a break over the holidays. It’s easy for me to forget that we started our schooling all the way back in early July, without taking any significant time off. We kept pushing through right up until about a week and a half before Christmas, and I’m surprised to see how much we’re getting done now that we are feeling rested and refreshed.

Kaya is still crazy for math. She would probably sit down and finish the rest of her math book in one day if I let her! We just started doing word problems, and I love that she gets reading practice through that as well.
Kaelyn has suddenly started trying to write real letters! I printed some out for her to work on tracing, although she was more interested in just coloring them. That’s okay, too!We also started something new this week- The Good and the Beautiful’s Language Arts curriculum! I had looked into these books before, but while we were at Michael’s cousin Jenny’s house for the family Christmas party, she showed me hers, and after leafing through them, I felt that this was what we needed to do next.

I wasn’t really sure where to go after completing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and we had tried Phonics Pathways again, but we just weren’t loving it. Kaya is excited about these books and looks forward to doing them, so hopefully that continues. Although her reading is above grade level, I still started her in the Kindergarten books so that we could work on spelling and fluency.FOUR. I moved all the dress-up clothes to the girls’ closet, and now they are using them everyday! I am always surprised to see what kind of outfits they come up with, and I love when they excitedly come to show me what they’re wearing. Seriously… What is cuter than kids in costumes?Please notice that Kaya’s “pet” cat, Bootsie, is also dressed up with leopard ears. Haha!FIVE. We’re finally out of the polar vortex, so we definitely needed some outdoor playtime! Forty degrees felt like spring (although we probably still should have had gloves on). The swing is one of Nella’s all-time favorite things.Kaya also took her on the slide for the first time! They both loved it.Happy Friday!!!

five favorites (10/09)

Posted on October 9, 2017 by tara

I’m too late for a Five on Friday, but it’s been kind of busy around here, so I’ll settle for a Monday favorites post. 🙂

ONE. We enjoyed snuggling up and watching General Conference last weekend! What’s better than having church right on your couch? Nella clapped excitedly for all the music and smiled so much. She ended up napping for most of it, but it was cute to see her excitement while she was awake. Kaya worked on some “General Conference bingo” while we tried our hardest to listen.

TWO. I love my little walking crew, crisp autumn mornings, and that gorgeous light bursting through the color-changing leaves. Everyone is always a lot happier when we have some time outdoors.

Kaya and Kaelyn are currently obsessed with picking as many of these “soft things” (I think I used to call them “cattails” when I was a kid) as they possibly can when we take walks lately. Kaelyn inevitably loses some along the way, so it kind of turns into a treasure hunt. I love how happy these simple little plants make them.

THREE. I surprised the girls one morning when I told them to get ready and hop in the car, without revealing where we were going. They were so excited to find out where our secret destination was, but I managed to not tell them until we arrived- at Kangaroo Kids! This picture doesn’t even begin to show how truly happy they were. For the rest of the day, Kaelyn just kept telling me, in the most grateful little voice, “That was a good surprise mommy!”

Nels was obsessed with catching the bubbles at the end!FOUR. Everyone always wants to be just like Daddy! They love pretending to “program” (and yes, Kaya’s using the pillows as a fake laptop)!Cutest little nerds ever.
FIVE. Scout can be a serious goofball sometimes, but she’s obsessed with her family. Anytime Michael or I leave, she sits and watches for us at the door. I love having a dog again.

five on friday (03/17)

Posted on March 17, 2017 by tara

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!

happy birthday to me! (29)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by tara

On my birthday, I woke up to the sweetest surprise from my best friend- flowers and my favorite candy! These, vibrant, beautiful flowers ended up lasting for about two weeks, which is quite possibly the longest I’ve ever had anything green stay alive in my house.

The girls were so very excited to surprise me, and now that Kaelyn is using sentences, she repeatedly told me “happy burtday mama!” Her soft, sincere little voice melts my heart.
My birthday was on a Sunday this year, which meant that there wouldn’t be much time for celebrating, since we have church pretty much all day long. In addition to our regular schedule, we had our special New Beginnings program for the Young Women later that night. I love church, but I honestly was feeling a little disappointed that we wouldn’t have time to do anything special together as a family.
However, my heart immediately changed when I arrived at church and saw our Young Women, all excitedly shouting “happy birthday!” After all my previous feelings of disappointment, I realized that being with these amazing young ladies was right where I wanted (and probably needed) to spend my birthday. I made cinnamon rolls to bring to New Beginnings that evening, and we had a fun and uplifting day.
Later in the week, my mom came up to throw a belated mini birthday party for me. She read the girls all the books they asked her to and even played some games with them. No one can resist kissing these cheeks!And no one wants to nap when grandparents come to visit… until this happens:
My mom brought me a cookies and cream cake with fluffy, whipped frosting!My girls were so excited to have a tiny party for their mommy. I really can’t believe that all three of these little sweethearts are mine.
My mom gets all the credit for putting this birthday together! We’ve got some crazy blowing-out-the-candles faces, that’s for sure. My mom spoiled me with some potholders, kitchen utensils, and a shirt. The kids were so into helping me open everything that it almost turned into a race!

That’s the end of the birthday shenanigans. Here’s to making the last year of my twenties amazing!

nella’s blessing day

Posted on February 13, 2017 by tara

Our little Nella Joy received her baby blessing a few weeks ago! I had a really hard time narrowing down which photos to post… but that’s not really a problem when your baby is just so sweet and perfect, right?

Grandma Gina crocheted this gorgeous dress and headband. I’m lucky to have such a talented mother-in-law! The blanket and her booties were made by her Great-Grandma Teerlink. Great-Grandma crocheted and stored away a plethora of baby items for all of her future great-grandbabies, including those born after she passed away. I’m so grateful that even though she isn’t here on earth anymore, Nella still has these special gifts from her.
I’m so overwhelmed with love for this sweet angel.
Kaya and Kaelyn were so excited for Nella’s special day, too! Grandpa Skip, Grandma Gina, and Grandma Debbie all came up to be there for her blessing. We love having family visit, especially for memorable days like these. Michael gave her the most beautiful blessing. I always cry during our babies’ blessings, so it was no surprise that tears welled up in my eyes when he carried her up to the front of the chapel. I had a sense of just how precious our youngest daughter truly is, and I’m so grateful she came to our family.

We sure do love you, Nella Joy!

christmas day 2016

Posted on January 19, 2017 by tara

I’m writing about our Christmas day about 3.5 weeks after the fact, but hey, this way, I get to relive our special family moments over again. Christmas morning seems to become more fun each year as our kids grow older. Their excitement seems to multiply exponentially with age, and I truly wish this trend could continue forever.

As usual, Michael and I stayed up far too late on Christmas Eve (it was nearly 3 am when we finally crawled into bed), cleaning the house and wrapping gifts. It just seems like there’s always so much to do in preparation for a holiday.

Thankfully, the girls slept in until about 8 am. I’m sure they won’t always be willing to stay in bed so long on future Christmas mornings! I felt so grateful to have these three little girls of mine under the tree this year. Everyone was anxious to dive into opening gifts. Kaelyn instantly cuddled all of her new stuffed animals. Kaya received various Hello Kitty paraphernalia (a water bottle, a plush, and a jewelry box)… Kitty Surprise! This Puppy Surprise was the only thing Kaelyn asked for for Christmas. She had talked about it every day for at least a month, and I was so excited to see her open it. Of course, we had to immediately count how many babies were in her tummy! This little girl was the puppy queen this Christmas.I just can’t get through a holiday without gifting something educational!Kaya had been asking for a “camper truck” for about 4 months. She loves to visit Grandma Gina and Grandpa Skip in their real camper when they come out to visit, so she wanted one for her little bunnies to drive around, too.The girls’ big combined gift was a Furreal Friends baby dragon! Her name is Torch, and they love taking care of her every day.This gift was Michael’s favorite- a STEM robot mouse. He’s already preparing their young minds for coding!
When you’re an adult, you get very excited about new slippers.I’d call this “the slipper Christmas”, since we all received new ones. I love those fuzzy little feet on each end.
We had our traditional snowmen donuts, but this was probably the fastest we’d ever eaten them, since we had to be on our way to church before long.
Church only lasted about 45 minutes, and then we returned home to play, nap, and cook a Christmas meal.My favorite gift this year goes without saying…
I love having a new baby at Christmastime, because it helps me remember our Savior’s birth even more often. This little angel had a wonderful first Christmas. I’m so grateful to have her.We really do love her so very much.
I made our traditional pot roast, mashed potatoes, veggies, and biscuits.I think Kaya and Kaelyn ate more M&Ms than anything else on Christmas day.We ended the evening with choco-mint freeze, cuddles, and my sweet Kaya telling me how happy she was. I love celebrating this most special day with my sweetheart and my babies.

weekend

Posted on June 13, 2016 by tara

The weather on Friday evening was perfectly cool, so we started our weekend off with some outdoor playtime and daddy-daughter snuggles in the hammock. Sometimes, you smile so big that you just can’t keep your eyes open…Of course, they had to do a silly pose for me, too.
Saturday morning was the hottest we’ve seen of this season so far. I got in a 6.5-mile run, and Michael went out to work in the yard and also help a new family at church with moving. While he was out, Kaya pleaded with me to “do preschool”, so yes, we did some “math” on a Saturday. We played this game and she loved it!

On Saturday night, Michael was the pianist for a baptism, and then we had a family date to Red Robin. Kaya was so excited and kept exclaiming “family date! family date!” all while we were out. I’m so glad she loves spending time together.

We ran some errands at Walmart, Home Depot, and Target, and I picked up some paint chip samples to take home. I really wish we would have gotten some actual sample paint to test out on the walls… but it was already late and we still had a couple of stops to make, so hopefully we can take care of that one night this week.

Sunday morning came too early for all of us. In fact, I randomly woke up at 5:45 to find Michael still asleep next to me, when he was supposed to be ready to head to bishopric meetings at 6 am. Luckily, he’s quick to get ready, so he was still on time.We miraculously arrived at church about 5 minutes earlier than we usually do! I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on “the importance of a living prophet”. I was very nervous and basically just ended up reading from my notes, but I received some positive comments afterward, so it must not have been all that bad! 😉

Kaya drew this picture in her sunbeam class! I have been so impressed to see how her art has evolved from just circles and random scribbles into recognizable forms. We ended the weekend with lots of book-reading and even more snuggles. This little princess is becoming a real daddy’s girl.

five on friday: christmas edition

Posted on December 18, 2015 by tara

We’ve been doing a lot of little things to get ready for Christmas over these past few weeks… so I thought I’d combine them all into a nice, neat list for Friday. I can’t believe Christmas is only one week away now!

ONE. Kaya had her preschool Christmas party this week! She made so many fun things, including a snowman, a Santa ornament shaped from her hand, and rice krispies Christmas trees! She had such a fun time.

(Kaya’s is on the far right)

TWO. Kaya’s been doing several fun Christmas-themed crafts this month! My favorites were this Santa ornament and this paper-plate tree 🙂

THREE. We had our ward Christmas party a few weekends ago… and I never wrote anything about it because I took about two photos from the whole thing. Kaya was SO excited that the table centerpiece was a jar of candy canes. She also was given the foil-covered cardboard star from the nativity play to take home… and her night was made.

FOUR. Kaya attended another free Lowe’s Build and Grow activity on Saturday, and made her very own holiday train! She’s getting really good at these building projects- Michael said she drove most of the nails in herself this time (with close supervision, of course)!

FIVE. It seems like we’ve spent a lot of time at the grocery store, stocking up on baking supplies for Christmas treats and ingredients for our holiday dinner. My little reindeer babies just love riding in the special car cart.

At Food Lion, Kaya even got to push her very own kid-sized cart for the first time. Of course, Kitty (or “Meowy”, as he’s known lately), had to ride in the cart, along with all our bags of chocolate chips. And yes, we really bought that many.

7 more days!

conference weekend

Posted on October 6, 2015 by tara

We had a fantastic weekend, filled with plenty of family time… and RAIN! I had a nice, chilly run in the rain on Saturday morning, but I’m so glad the worst of the weather skipped over us.

Friday afternoon, we walked over to the grocery store, and I let Kaya pick out a mini pumpkin to paint. She asked to paint it all day long, but there just wasn’t time after we had naps and dinner. On Saturday morning, she was more than ready to get started! I have never seen anyone so excited to paint a pumpkin! 🙂 _MG_9404 She really did a fantastic job, if you ask me. _MG_9403 We also enjoyed watching General Conference! I love hearing from our modern-day Prophet and apostles. There were so many inspiring quotes, but this was a favorite of mine: 12108996_10153551990901550_540695057927460055_n Michael went to the priesthood session late on Saturday night. He came home with the brightest flowers I’ve ever seen in his hand- a surprise for me! He chose these for me because he felt they reflect my “colorful and energetic personality” and wanted to make me smile. Awww. We all slept in on Sunday morning (that’s no small miracle around here), and I whipped up some donuts for a special breakfast. Kaya insisted on putting the sprinkles on by herself! _MG_9408 We enjoyed more of Conference cuddled up on the couch together. I love these crazy cuties. _MG_9421 Lest you think we’ve become too serious… Grandma Gina and Grandpa Skip came into town late Sunday afternoon, and they had some birthday presents for Kaya. She was so excited for it to be “her birthday” again and is over-the-moon in love with this Baby Margaret (from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood). _MG_9447 Kaya ended the weekend by making up her own song about brushing your teeth: