weekend wednesday

I’m writing about the weekend on a Wednesday (that’s what all the cool kids are doing now, right?), and it’s not that we did anything too out of the ordinary, but we did get some quality family time in. And that deserves to be documented!

Friday night, we all went out to dinner together for the first time in months. It felt great to do something different and just focus on each other. We decided on Red Robin (because who doesn’t love bottomless carbs?), and I think the kids were equally happy with our choice. They loved the food, but they actually might have been even more excited about coloring on the kids’ menu.

Free crayons are the way to her heart.Bruschetta chicken is the way to mine! 🙂

Saturday was spent doing a lot of chores around the apartment, and then Michael headed off to church meetings late that afternoon. Sunday morning brought super-early bishopric meetings for him, as well as an opportunity to play piano for a musical number at another meeting later that night! He was gone a lot, so after church and nap time, the girls and I watched a movie- we chose Beauty and the Beast! It was their first time seeing it, and I was a little worried that Kaya would be scared, but they both loved it! I think Lumière was their favorite character and elicited the most giggles from them.

Daddy arrived home in time to help with the bedtime routine. These little girls went crazy and started going down the slide as quickly as they could together. I love how anything they do together is a million times more fun than if they had done the same activity alone._MG_1637 _MG_1639

five on friday (04/22)

How is it Friday again? In a way, it feels like it’s always the weekend… and then sometimes, it feels like all we do is wait for the weekend to get here. Time is a funny thing. We’ve spent a lot of time outside this week, so I have a lot of happy, bright photos for today.

ONE. Last Saturday was “Virginia Tech Remembrance Day” (officially named so as of this year, by the governor). The university always hold a 5k run in memory of those who were lost that day, but I never sign up for it… all because I get too emotional about it. I lived on campus when the tragedy struck and lost a classmate, so it’s easy to feel sensitive about April 16th. Anyway, I ended up completing a solo. 7.8-mile, run that morning. It felt good to be in the sunshine, push my body a little harder than usual, and still spend time remembering the Hokies we lost 9 years ago.

TWO. Michael has been working so hard these days with his regular job, revamping his online camp registration system, and teaching a real college course. He hasn’t had a whole lot of time to play games, so I was happy to see him enjoying some time online with his brothers last weekend. Of course, Kaya had to join in! _MG_1606 THREE. Lately, we’ve been walking up to the bus stop to “pick up Daddy”, as Kaya says. She begs me to let her bring her baby doll stroller with us, and because it’s a short walk, I say yes. This is the happiest girl in the world right here._MG_1616

Kaelyn loves to see Daddy get off the bus. She was running to him as fast as she could when she saw him walking toward us! Of course, New Piggy has to go everywhere lately, too.

FOUR. We’ve been taking short family walks (which somehow still end up taking an hour when we let the little people stretch their legs), and enjoying all the sights of spring. Kaya loves to sit on any big rock she sees, so naturally, we had to sit down by the pond for a bit._MG_1622They also love the horses in a nearby field. This gray gelding is named “Chance” (I used to work over at the barn he’s at, so that is actually his real name), and he’s Kaya’s current favorite.
It’s on these warm sunny days that I really miss riding._MG_1626

FIVE. We tried a new soup recipe this week, and it was definitely something to make again. This Italian minestrone reminded me a lot of my days in Switzerland. It required a lot more vegetable-chopping than I normally like to do, but it was worth it!

Happy weekend!

Linking up here!

tall towers and pizza bigger than my face

My in-laws came up to visit this past weekend! As always, we had a really great time with them. They arrived late on Friday night, after the kids were already in bed (disclaimer: just because they were in bed does not mean they were sleeping…)

Mom went with Michael and Kaya to her final gymnastics class on Saturday morning. After running, I made a new batch of muffins for Dad- they’re his favorite, and he eats them for breakfast and lunch when he visits.

After everyone came home, had eaten, and got cleaned up, we headed out to the children’s museum. Grandpa was really into the jumbo-sized blocks.

They built the tallest towers together (and had fun knocking them down of course)!

Shopping with Grandma! Kaelyn wasn’t quite her peppy self (we thought maybe she was teething, but it might have actually been the start of a cold…).

We came home, and the kids took much-needed naps while Dad and I played some Wii! At dinnertime, they insisted that we take advantage of their offer to babysit and go on a date (we only ever seem to go out on our own when they’re here to watch the kids)!

We ended up driving around for about 20 minutes before we could make a decision on where to go! We ended up at this little locally-owned Italian place that we had gone to once before Kaya was born, and then forgotten about. It turned out to be the perfect choice, and since we never really go out as just the two of us, we totally splurged. Mozzarella sticks for appetizers! 

And then I ordered two slices of pizza and they turned out to be bigger than my face. I seriously ate this pizza for three meals… and it was consistently delicious!02272016collage2

We saved room for this triple chocolate cake. Best cake ever. I’d order a whole cake for every one of my future birthdays if I could.

We returned home to find a crazy game of “hide and seek” going on. And then Grandpa taught Kaya how to “lose” her thumb while sucking it, and then blow on it to get it to reappear. This girl was cracking up.collage02272016We enjoyed going to church together on Sunday, and after lunch, they headed home. We can’t wait to see them again in a few weeks!

labor day long weekend

Yes, I’m finally writing about our weekend… on a Wednesday! Since we had Monday off, I think I can cut myself some slack though, right? #ijustkeepthinkingitsonlytuesday

We didn’t do anything monumental by any means, but we did have some relaxing family time, and that’s always what I like best. On Saturday, Grandma texted us and told us that they were getting Chinese, and I made the mistake of reading it aloud. For the rest of the day, Kaya kept reiterating “I want Chineeeeeese”. Who are we to deny a little girl happiness?

She even offered to drive, but her feet don’t quite reach the pedals yet (and yes, she buckled Kitty in too)!

Kaelyn knows what to do at a Chinese buffet (she was sure to wear her favorite blue necklace out on the town, too)…

I think it’s pretty obvious that I have the best husband ever- he let me sleep in on Monday morning, went and donated platelets at the Red Cross during nap time, and then did all my grocery shopping. Oh, and how sweet is he for reading to our princesses?_MG_9195Lelia came down for the football game on Monday night, so she joined us for dinner (these amazing chicken tacos). When she headed to the game, we went out for a walk and to the playground.

Sadly, the Hokies lost… but Lelia stuck around until nap time on Tuesday to hang out with us! She made up a counting puppy song with my babies, and even watched them so I could take a shower without having to worry about one kid injuring the other (real life mom problems, you guys)… Then she came out for a walk with us. We had a genuinely good time and it was so great to catch up with each other.

Kaya loves her Auntie Lelia so much, and when she left after lunch, Kaya said “Lelia move away? Oh. Miss her.” She’ll be back in about a week for your birthday, sweetie!

the guy behind the blog (july 2015 edition)

I love including Michael on the blog whenever I can, so when I saw this fun little survey here, I just had to ask him to participate! I want our girls to be able to look back one day and read something that their dad wrote, instead of just hearing from their mom all the time!

Before I turn this post over to him, I can’t go without mentioning how seriously adorable this photo is…  I’m convinced that there’s no faster way to melt a mama’s heart than a daddy dancing with his littlest girl. Anyway…_MG_8878

1. What is your all time favorite food?

Hmm… this is a tough one. I’ll basically eat anything that’s put in front of me (except for items in Question #4 below). I’m not very picky. So, not sure if I have a favorite right now. But, my favorite growing up was either mom’s homemade bread or Chicken Florentine. I think I was lucky enough once to have both in the same meal and I’m sure I probably exploded. Talk about some good food!

2. Who is the cook between you and your significant other?

Um… definitely not me. I can do cookies. And breakfast. I make some mean waffles. Beyond that, I haven’t had to make much. Tara does a fantastic job!

3. What is the weirdest thing you have ever eaten?

On my mission, we had some Filipino Elders that occasionally dared us to try some of their food. So, I went with the balut challenge. Definitely the weirdest thing I’ve ever had and totally backs up my thought that a cultural delicacy is something only that culture would eat. (Be warned if you Google it)

4. Are there any foods that you absolutely detest?

Mushrooms and olives. Probably the only two things I can’t do. Mushrooms is just a texture thing. Olives has a story to it…

On my mission, we visited a lady’s home where she invited us in and offered to make us a salad (it was lunch time). She came back with a Greek salad, complete with green olives, olive dressing, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the lettuce was some distant olive cousin. Basically, too. much. olive. Ever since then, I haven’t been able to stomach olives.

5. What is your favorite local, little-known, or hole in the wall place to eat?

We frequent a small Greek restaurant here in town. It’s a small family-run restaurant, but they have the BEST gyros!

hiding from the fireworks

We had the most fantastic holiday weekend. It was so low-key, and apparently just what we needed. We had some quality family time and made some great memories.

We also made some fantastic cupcakes… because what is a holiday without special sweets? I saw these tie-dye cupcakes and just had to give them a try. That vanilla cake recipe is the best! (This photo is before frosting, obviously, or I would have just called them muffins…)_MG_8369Kaya is always eager to help me bake and decorate! She was so good at carefully putting the sprinkles on.
_MG_8376 Pretty sure you could get a sugar high just from looking at these._MG_8381 She insisted on wearing her [much-too-small] Kitty shirt that day, but I did talk her into at least wearing a red skirt. I think the cupcake is sporting enough blue for the both of them, anyway!_MG_8385 It was supposed to rain all day long, so I didn’t plan a cookout like we usually do. Instead, we had this pulled pork and these green beans. Both recipes live up to the hype! Kaya shocked me by eating two mini pork sandwiches!_MG_8377We had to balance out all that deliciousness with a little bit of exercise. Michael ended up with a free Fitbit One and passed it on to me! I love anything that tells me numbers and statistics, so this is a lot of fun. Saturday was my first day with it, and I was pretty excited to see how high my step count was just after going through a regular day.
Screenshot_2015-07-06-00-11-01~01 After dinner, we headed out for the fireworks. Our town puts on such a great display every year. We are never disappointed!_MG_8401 Kaelyn was a little nervous at first because of all the loud booms, but she quickly settled in to watching and enjoying the lights. This was her first firework show, since she was barely a week old last year!_MG_8412 _MG_8397Kaya, on the other hand, was begging to go home from the moment it started. She ended up “watching” the fireworks from under her cat blanket._MG_8411

By the time we got home on Saturday night, both babies went to bed super late. Thankfully, they gave us the gift of sleeping in on Sunday morning before church. (And yes, Kaya still prefers to sleep on the floor!)Hope you had a happy 4th!

weekend scenes

Our weekend started off with a dreary, rainy Friday. We didn’t even leave the house after Michael got home, but that didn’t mean that Kaya had to miss out on any fun…_MG_3464Kaya loves pretending that anything and everything is a slide, so Michael had the idea to take one of our folding tables out of the craft room and let her go down it. This might’ve been the best day of her life (minus any day she gets to share Daddy’s Reese’s)! I know we’re supposed to be responsible adults now that we’re parents… but hey, it’s so much more fun to stay a kid!_MG_3463We tried out these pepperoni rolls for dinner… Mmm!
Processed with VSCOcam with a4 presetSaturday afternoon, we went to visit Ben and Brittany and their sweet new baby, Caroline, at the hospital! I had the privilege of taking a few photos for them. Here’s one of my favorites:
_MG_3506 Sunday morning was church, of course, and then we came home with the hope that we’d all nap._MG_3541

I think Jax gets more sleep than anyone in the house right now. He’s also a nursing-pillow thief.Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 preset I skipped napping and instead made homemade French bread. It was my first time doing it, and I have to say, it was super easy and turned out great!Processed with VSCOcam with hb1 presetIt was a fast, fun weekend. Happy Monday everyone!

blog every day in may | day 9: a favorite meal

My dad-in-law and I are mac-‘n-cheese-aholics (I’m pretty sure that’s the whole reason we go to Cracker Barrel. The chicken is good, but the mac is ahhh-maz-ing. Anyway…)

I really like making things from scratch, so I’m always trying new mac ‘n cheese recipes at home. We made this one this week, and it actually turned out deliciously creamy! Even Kaya loved it 🙂

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Linking up with Erin!

little things

These are the posts that probably bore other people right into a deep sleep in their computer chairs.

But honestly, the most mundane weekends can hide some of the best little moments.

For example…

I had a good 6-mile run early on Saturday morning, and my pregnant hips didn’t hurt one bit.

We had our church’s regional biannual conference (known as “stake conference”) on Saturday night. However, it’s for youth and adults 12 and up, and I knew Kaya would be a distraction, so I stayed home with her to let Michael go. It was weird to miss it, but I had some quality time with my little girl.
_MG_1595 Kaya was the sweetest cuddlebug on Sunday morning._MG_1634 I just love the way she looks at her Daddy._MG_1632We had a great time at church, and for dinner I tried this new recipe for sweet and sour chicken (which actually completes my March goal to try four new recipes. Woohoo)! It was sooo good. Sometimes, I feel like I’m in the kitchen forever making a meal, but when it comes down to it, I really love doing it for my family and seeing them happy with the end result.
Processed with VSCOcam with g3 presetHappy Monday!

five on friday: (mostly) outside things

Every week seems to go by a little faster… am I right? Here are five of my favorite moments from this week:

ONE. Spring came to visit for a couple days, and we soaked up as much sunshine as we could. Kaya LOVED being able to run around all on her own and explore nature a little bit.

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She just didn’t like getting dirt on her hands…_MG_1559

TWO. We took a family bike ride on Monday evening, and it ended with these two climbing a tree. I love my little monkeys!Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

THREE. I made this foccacia bread for our paninis this week, and it was better than anything you could get at the store or even Panera. Mmmmm. The best part was that it was SO easy and took almost no skill. Seriously, if you can stir some ingredients together, you can make this bread. Try it!Processed with VSCOcam with c1 preset

FOUR. Babies are starting to be born 🙂 Michael sent me this picture from his bike ride last Saturday. I miss my horse time so much!Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

FIVE. I’m in trouble. She’s figured out how to go get the stepstool, climb on it, and open drawers. She also learned how to unlock the dishwasher this week. Ahhh! (Also, please notice her amazing outfit… designed by daddy! Haha.)kayacollage03092014Happy Friday!

Linking up with Natasha, April, Christina, and Darci today!