easter 2019

Posted on May 21, 2019 by tara

We kept our Easter festivities fairly low-key, but we still had a lot of fun with the activities we did. The girls have never forgotten the marshmallow Peep houses we made for the first time when Kaya was just three years old, so it’s now a yearly tradition. Daddy helped put the walls together, and then Kaya, Kaeyln, and Nella were eager to add candies and decorations to them.

Daddy is a little (okay, a lot) crazy. They were just as excited to eat the houses over the course of the next week. They definitely have more sugar the week of Easter than the rest of the year combined. Nellie was decorating and snacking at the same time! Ta-da! After the houses, I headed outside to hide Easter eggs. I hid 53 this year, and I’m glad to say they were all found!Nella was so excited that she was squealing and running around like crazy while looking for eggs. This is the first year she’s really been able to participate in everything!Looking for eggs near our “dandelion garden”… It was a bit chilly that day.These girls were happy after they found all their eggs! Nella took all the Peeps out of her eggs and added them to her candy birdhouse. On Sunday morning, they woke up to these simple Easter baskets I put together. A Beanie Baby, a coloring book, a puzzle and some much-needed new bath toys in each. Kaelyn was wishing for this Paw Patrol book for awhile.“ELMO!!!” “A HAT!” Nellbells cracks us up.Evie had no idea what was going on, but she had fun playing with the few things in her basket. She got a sippy cup, a teething ring, a puppy, and bath toys, too. Happy First Easter, Evie! We try hard to keep the focus on Christ and His resurrection, so these activities were just a fun bonus. Leading up to Easter Sunday, we watched videos on Christ’s life and the Atonement. I know they girls could feel the Spirit and the significance of His gift to us, and that’s what I hope they’ll remember most about our Easters together.

easter bunnies, eggs, and baskets

Posted on May 4, 2017 by tara

We didn’t have a big Easter celebration this year, mostly because I really wanted to keep that Sunday truly focused on Christ and the real meaning of the holiday. We taught our girls some of the stories about Jesus during the last week of his life (I really liked using these lessons as a basis for ideas, and these Bible videos are a great supplement). They’ve loved hearing the lessons just as much as I’ve loved teaching them.

In an effort to keep things simple, I didn’t put together Easter baskets this year, but I did let them each choose a chocolate bunny at the store on the Monday after Easter (hello clearance)! Kaelyn was ready to eat as much of it as she could before I could say, “let’s put it away and save some for later”, but Kaya sobbed and sobbed that her bunny was going to disappear if she ate him. She’s a truly tender-hearted animal lover. We did have a small Easter egg hunt for family night. They were both so good at finding the eggs that I think I’m going to have to make it a lot harder next year!Have you ever seen anyone so excited about jellybeans?Grandma Debbie also sent some Easter surprises!
Kaya always gets (and adores) cats… …and Kaelyn always receives puppies (who like to give pretend kisses, apparently)! PEEPS!Nella had no idea what was going on, but she did get a cute singing lightning bug, so she was happy. Happy first Easter, Nella!

breakfast at grandma’s

Posted on April 21, 2016 by tara

We spent some time visiting with my parents when we went down to Richmond for my first official 10k race. We arrived on Friday night, enjoyed some pizza, and watched our girls get spoiled by their grandparents, per usual. My mom made them some belated Easter baskets, and Kaya and Kaelyn were so glad to have some new things to play with away from home.
Chapstick… always a favorite for Kaelyn. These chapsticks actually taste like jellybeans, so it’s amazing the kids haven’t completely used (aka eaten) them. Kaya’s also been really interested in Winnie the Pooh lately, so she was excited for this tiny plush. Later, she enjoyed watching one of the old Pooh VHS tapes I had as a child. Grandma kisses! We went to the race on Saturday morning, and then spent the rest of the day relaxing and showing my parents “Despicable Me” for the first time.

Sunday morning, Kaelyn enjoyed some chocolate donuts (what other kind is even worth mentioning?) while my mom cooked a special breakfast. Those are some sleepy eyes! French toast…This is what Michael and Kaya were doing while all the breakfast-making commotion was happening in the kitchen, right next door! Traveling really takes a lot out of all of us, especially the kids. They’re past the age when they’d nap in the car for most of the trip (even if we leave town right at nap time), and then our nap and bedtime schedule is almost nonexistent when we’re not at home. Hence, we had some exhausted kids.Socks was begging for some bacon. Too bad he’s on a green-bean diet… We finished our breakfast, headed to church, and made the drive home. It was a simple, but fun, weekend!

easter baskets 2016

Posted on April 1, 2016 by tara

I’m pretty much the slowest at finishing blogging about our Easter festivities… but better late than never! I love having all these details to look back on, so yes, I took about 30 pictures of my kids and their Easter baskets. Haha.

I am always so excited to put together any kind of gift for my kids, and Easter baskets are no exception. Here’s Kaelyn’s basket, which contained a stuffed bunny, a stuffed “Arlo” from The Good Dinosaur, finger puppets, flip-flops, two books, carrot bubbles, guinea pig stickers, a Minnie Mouse plate, a hopping chick, and of course, a chocolate bunny! And it all fit in her bucket… amazingly. Kaya’s basket had Minion stickers, a stuffed bunny and Arlo, Calico Critters with their baby stroller, two books, carrot bubbles, a rainbow necklace, a matching/memory game, a hopping bunny, a Frozen cup, and a chocolate bunny. We gave them their baskets on Saturday, after the Easter egg hunt. There just isn’t really time for it on Sunday with early church and then afternoon naps, so I thought we’d all enjoy it more if we did it a day early. I also thought it’d be nice not to worry about all the “wordly” things on a day that we should be more focused on our Savior.

We had some very excited girls.

I think that Kaelyn had no idea what some of the things in her basket were… but she was still so excited to take everything out and examine it. This is her very first pair of flip-flops. We’re ready for summer now! Frozen-themed anything is her favorite. Guinea pig stickers for my little piggy-lover… Kaya has loved the minions ever since she saw the movie with us on my birthday. They are pretty hilarious. I love that she’s old enough to enjoy silly things like that with us now. Again… I’m not sure she knew what the finger puppets were for, but she’s figured it out and loves them now!Kaya’s favorite item was her Calico Critters bunny twin set. She practically hasn’t stopped playing with them all week. They sleep up on her bed and she pushes them in the miniature stroller all around the house.
She insisted that I take a picture of them, too. I really love the little details on these guys.I couldn’t resist also making Michael a basket. He got some candy (Sour Patch Kids, a bunny, and Whoppers), and this new Apples to Apples game. I can’t wait to play it, but we obviously need to have some friends over, since it doesn’t really work well with just two people. Anyone up for a game night? 😉A certain little girl begged me for her chocolate bunny almost immediately after the basket-opening was done. I was shocked when she ate 2/3 of it in one sitting… but it was a holiday, and so I let her enjoy it. She had the sweetest little smile and made the happiest lip-smacking sounds.

Happy Friday everyone!

easter baskets and brunch

Posted on April 8, 2015 by tara

Our Easter Sunday was filled with family, good food, and General Conference! We went to bed with our tummies and hearts so full… and isn’t that when you just know you’ve had one of the best days?

I was up earlier than everyone else to get started on some donuts for brunch later, so I was pretty excited while waiting for my girls to wake up and see their baskets. I was straightening up in the living room when Kaya leaned over the gate to her room and said “Hellooo. Clean up?” I probably rushed her out of her room too quickly because I was so happy to see her awake!

It was this little sweetie’s last “first” holiday! She loved the eggs and wrapping on the baskets.
Kaya wanted to make some ice cream cones right away! … and then this happened. Haha. Kaelyn mostly just loved playing with her basket and wouldn’t have cared if we never even opened it! “Ooo… Owaf!” Kaelyn only wanted her sippy cup… … and Kaya was ready to take all her toys (which is nothing out of the ordinary, anway)! We also surprised Michael with a basket! I gave it to Kaya, and she ran out of the den yelling “PRISE!!!” She was so happy to show Daddy what she had for him. 🙂 These might not be the prettiest donuts, but they were delicious for sure. You don’t need a donut pan, and they’re baked, not fried! If you love cinnamon-sugar, give these a try (recipe here). Jeff and Lelia brought waffles; Mom and Dad brought bacon and strawberries, and we had a feast! Everything was so delicious. Kaya probably ate a pound of strawberries!

Grandma had some good cuddle time with the girls! We tried to get a good picture of them in the matching skirts I made, but Kaya just wasn’t in the mood for it. We tried to bribe her with M&Ms, and Kaelyn was so anxious to try and get hold of some!Oh well. We all had such a great holiday together!
Hope you had a fantastic Easter!

easter baskets 2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by tara

I was so super excited to make Easter baskets for my babies this year! I contemplated what I wanted to do for a long time, because I definitely don’t want the focus of Easter to be on material things, and I definitely don’t want to overload my toddler with candy, either.

Easter is about Christ. We can live again because of all that He did! Kaya and I have been talking for a couple weeks now about Jesus and how Easter celebrates His Resurrection. It’s so important to me that she understands that!

Still, giving gifts is my love language, so I might have actually gotten too many things. Oops. They’re only little once though, and so I’m having fun with it while I can.

I decided to give them one “nicer” toy, a book, and then everything else was either something they needed anyway (like the sippy cup and plate) or from the dollar store or clearance.

1. Bright Starts Links
2. Sippy cup
3. Light-up bouncy ball (dollar store)
4. Hape Push and Pull Giraffe
5. Hair bows (Walmart clearance)
6. “Guess How Much I Love You” book
1. Alphabet Sticker Book (dollar store)
2. Giant Coloring Book (dollar store)
3. Olaf and Sven plate
4. Sidewalk chalk eggs (dollar store)
5. Light-up bouncy ball (dollar store)
6. Hair bows (Walmart clearance)
7. Lego Duplo Creative Ice Cream (I was crazy and ordered it thinking it would be small enough to fit in her basket… whoops!)

I’m excited to see how surprised they are on Sunday morning! 🙂

Michael and Tara

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