five on friday (08/12)

Posted on August 12, 2016 by tara

Friday AGAIN? Seriously! Today is actually my half-birthday (you totally get half a party or half a cake for that, right? 😉 ), which also means that it was just about six months ago that we found out we were expecting our little Pumpkin. Somehow, that feels like yesterday and an eternity ago all at the same time! Time is such a strange thing.

Here are our top five moments from the week:

ONE. Our sweet neighbor/fellow church member gifted us some toys she was getting rid of, and one of them was this alphabet puzzle. Kaya has been obsessed with it all week long, and I have to say, I’m so proud of her for being able to put it together on her own! Her letter-recognition skills are strong! 🙂 TWO. We braved the 100% humidity and spent some time outside. Outdoors is our favorite place to be, and any amount of sweat, heat, and sunscreen is worth seeing these smiles (and in all honesty, the weather almost feels cool once the sun starts going down, anyway)! Post-nap pigtails are the messiest… 🙂

THREE. If you had unexpectedly stopped by my house for dinner any night this week, there’s a 90% chance that this is what you would have had on your plate- a pepper-jack grilled cheese with roasted red peppers. I’ve had a lot of nausea this week, and nothing really sounds good to me anymore… but apparently this is acceptable to my stomach.

FOUR. Kaya stole one of my old t-shirts for bed one day this week, and now she wants to wear it every single night. She’s a big Snoopy fan, which is only made even more appropriate by the fact that his “real” birthday was apparently on Wednesday. Happy Birthday, Snoopy!

FIVE. Michael posted this a couple of weeks ago, but I just had to share it. That giggle! She melts my heart every single day.

Laptop? Check. Purse? Check. Pants? Who needs those? #readyforwork #crazylaugh

A video posted by Michael Irwin (@mikesir87) on Jul 28, 2016 at 5:13pm PDT

Happy Friday!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

five on friday (07/08)

Posted on July 8, 2016 by tara

A couple of these things are from last week, but they’re too cute to just leave off the blog! Some weeks, it seems like I have way more than just five things to share on Friday, and others, it seems like nothing too interesting happened all week. So, I’m just balancing it all out today! 🙂

ONE. This little girl has fallen head over heels for her Daddy. She’ll cuddle him, with her whole body wrapped around his arm and her head on his shoulder, when she first wakes up in the morning, when he gets home from work, and just before going to bed again. I love how sweet and tender she is.

TWO. Over the past month, I’ve gotten some good deals using Amazon’s “subscribe and save” option. Well, all those things didn’t ship until a much later date than I bought them, and then I also happened to order guinea pig food and bedding around the same time, so one day, we came home to a HUGE stack of boxes at our door! I was pretty impressed that the mail-lady could stack them so high. Too bad it was mostly boring toilet paper and other things that we actually needed. 😉

THREE. I let these crazy girls have ice cream after dinner one night this week, and you’d think it was the best day of their lives. They aren’t strangers to sweets, but they don’t get dessert often (on less than a weekly basis), so this really was a thrilling treat for them. They say that your kids will like eating whatever you ate during your pregnancy… so this really should be no surprise to anyone! 😉FOUR. We found this awesome Melissa and Doug puzzle at the thrift store this week for 99 cents! I think I get some kind of adrenaline rush from scoring a good deal, but the girls were equally excited about this find. Needless to say, we’ve heard a whole lot of elephants, penguins, and zebras in our house this week.FIVE. We’ve had a TON of rain this week, so there hasn’t been a whole lot of playing outside for us, but this video is from all our fun last week. I love summertime and evenings outside with my family.

Happy weekend!

Linking up here!

five on friday (06/03)

Posted on June 3, 2016 by tara

Happy Friday!!! It’s been a whirlwind of a week, with doctor appointments, photoshoots, and lots of quality family time. I’m hoping we get to relax a little this weekend, but we always have a pretty big to-do list, so we’ll see if that actually happens. 🙂

ONE. We kicked off the week in the best way possible- church, followed by naps! I think Michael uses the girls as his secret weapon for waking me up… because who could be upset about waking up to those precious little faces? They love to snuggle lately, and I’ll gladly take any chance to cuddle up with them that I can.TWO. We’ve had fantastic weather this week, and have played outside just about every day. Kaya was excited to introduce Daddy to the merry-go-round! I think this might be her new favorite place.They love going through this tunnel, too!
THREE. This wouldn’t be a Five on Friday post without a cheesy video, right? Haha. This turned out really cute… and blowing bubbles is one of our favorite things to do (truthfully, I think I like it as much as the kids do)!

FOUR. Kaya helped me make some strawberry freezer jam this week! We had leftover strawberries, so what better thing to do than make a strawberry slushie? Both girls LOVED this drink (just pureed strawberries and crushed ice); it disappeared in no time!

FIVE. I did it… I bought my three (!) girls their first matching clothes! I saw these fruity-themed leggings on clearance at Target this week, and just couldn’t pass them up for next summer. I’m sure this is the first of many matching outfits to come. I cannot wait to see them all wearing these next year. 🙂

And now I’m craving all the fruit…

Happy weekend!

Linking up here!

five on friday (03/25)

Posted on March 25, 2016 by tara

Happy Easter weekend! We’ve been so excited for this weekend and all the festivities coming up. Here’s to springtime and sunshine!

ONE. We had our preschool Easter party this week! It was my turn to host a party, and thankfully, it all went well. I always get a little nervous and really tried to make it a good time for the kids. I think I succeeded, because afterward, Kaya just kept telling me she wanted to do it all again with our friends.

We did several different activities, but I really loved these little “birdhouse” snacks we made.Cute, easy, and delicious.
TWO. Sometimes, this is what it looks like to be a “girl dad”. He’s the best (and those little toes are still my favorite…)

THREE. These cheeks were FULL of pickle slices! Kaelyn is so open to trying new foods lately, and I love that I can count on her to eat almost anything I make. Also… those baby blues. My other favorite thing!FOUR. We spent some time outside in the sunshine this week. There is nothing like exercise, fresh air, and a break from being at home with all the chores and other distractions. I love this time with my babies.

Kaya loved it until a fly landed on her hat… and then she was too frightened to play anymore. We’re working on tolerating bugs at the playground… 😉

FIVE. Now that Kaya can recognize the letters in the word “donut”, I’m calling all our homeschool preschool learning a success (or maybe we really have just had too many donuts lately). Seriously though, I am SO proud of her and happy to see that she is retaining information.

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on Mar 25, 2016 at 9:26am PDT

Happy Easter!
Linking up here!

oh christmas tree (2015)

Posted on December 23, 2015 by tara

We obviously did this a few weeks ago… so right along with my usual timing, this post is late! We also tend to make a huuuuge mess when we put up the tree, so excuse the boxes and plastic pine needles everywhere in these photos.The girls were both sooo excited to see all these new things come from our storage closet! They fell in love with these Santa hats, and Kaelyn spent most of her time just playing with all the musical, battery-operated knickknacks we brought out. Kaya thought the stockings were for wearing on her feet… Michael put the basic frame together, and I did the lights, per usual. Michael unboxed all the ornaments so that Kaya and I could hang them. She was so into it this year! Of course, a lot of ornaments ended up on the very bottom of the tree, so we had to do some rearranging later. 🙂Obviously, there’s a home video to go with all these photos…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zORMMr4azLs

2 more days!!! I can’t believe it!

five on friday (10/02)

Posted on October 2, 2015 by tara

Happy Friday everyone! We’re looking forward to a weekend of General Conference and staying out of the rain (and hopefully Hurricane Joaquin really does keep out of our neighborhood)!

Here are my favorite things from the week:

ONE. Oh, sisters… I love how much these two adore each other (I know, I know, the teenage years might be a whole different story). Kaya saw me taking Kaelyn’s monthly photo and wanted to take one with her. Kaelyn tried to give her big kisses as soon as they were both sitting down! And then the most adorable hug ever happened… _MG_9395 TWO. I took my two monkeys in for their 3-year and 15-month checkups this week. Daddy didn’t come with us like he usually does, and Kaya always gets so upset around doctors and nurses, so I wasn’t sure how handling both kids alone would go. Well… Kaya didn’t cry! She did everything they asked her to and really surprised me with how calm and grown-up she acted. I guess she really is a big girl now!

THREE. I signed Kaya up for a short gymnastics course that begins in a couple weeks. She is beyond excited and just keeps “doing gymnastics” all over the house. I think she’s really going to love it!

FOUR. This totally makes me sound all housewife-y, but I bought a steam mop on sale a few weeks ago, and it finally came in the mail. I always use too much water with a traditional mop, and it takes forever to dry (not to mention creating potential water damage). It’s nice not to worry about chemicals on the floor or a bucket of water sitting out with little kids. I think getting excited about a mop officially makes me an adult though… bleh.

FIVE. Yeah, we all knew it was true, but it’s official: I’m the second favorite around here. Daddy is the best of course 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYS2IfV28cQ

Linking up here today!

a “rainbow rainbow cat” birthday party

Posted on September 23, 2015 by tara

I can’t believe it, but Kaya’s 3rd birthday party has already come and gone! It always feels like I spend more time preparing for it than the amount of time the party actually lasts.

This year was the most fun by far, because she had been asking about her birthday for months (especially after seeing Kaelyn have a special cake and presents). She all but counted down the days… she was so excited! When she woke up on Saturday morning, she immediately looked down the hallway to see if I decorated… and the biggest grin came over her face when she saw the streamers. She ran through them and excitedly proclaimed “it mine birt-day!” several times.

Michael took her down to the local bakery (a.k.a. the best place in town) to get some special birthday donuts. Can you tell what kind we like the most?

_MG_9252 We practiced singing and blowing out the candles at breakfast! 🙂 We moved the table and put up some balloons and streamers (thank you to Lelia and my mom for lending me a hand)! _MG_9267 Kaya’s request this year was a “rainbow rainbow cat” cake. I actually made it the day before the party, so for once, I didn’t stress about getting it done on the morning of. The ruffles are buttercream and the little cat is made of fondant. Kaya saw the cat a day early, and immediately told me “I want to hold him”. I told her she had to wait until her party, and she said “But I need him!” in the sweetest, most tender little voice. I guess he looked enough like a real kitten, then, to get that reaction out of her. 😉 _MG_9261 Uncle Karl and Kaitlyn came. I think he spent the whole party trying to win Kaelyn over. He even hand-fed her some pizza! She alternated between crying when she saw him and wanting to sit on his lap… _MG_9271 Uncle Jeff and Auntie Lelia drove up all the way from Richmond! _MG_9272 We sang “happy birthday”, and she was beaming the whole time. She even blew out all three candles on the first try! _MG_9284 We had cake and ice cream, and then it was present time! Honestly, we were all starting to crash a little at this point, especially the birthday girl. Going two days without a nap and eating a ton of cake will do that to you! _MG_9288 She was spoiled with a Fisher Price DoodlePro, a stuffed Daniel Tiger, and lots of books! _MG_9290 Michael and I gave her a “GoGo My Walking Pup”, and she wasn’t so sure about having a robotic dog around at first, but now she loves walking and “feeding” her. (also, present-opening apparently makes a HUGE mess!) _MG_9299 We had an amazing party and a wonderful weekend.

And because I just love these little videos that Google automatically puts together, I have to share this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5slNIA58ic

We love you so much Peeky! Seeing you truly enjoy your day was my favorite part of everything.

weekend

Posted on September 15, 2015 by tara

We had a great weekend, with a lot of church meetings and some family time mixed in. I had an auxiliary training meeting for Young Women’s on Saturday morning. Afterward, I came home, napped with the kids, and then we headed out to the mall for some family time.

I don’t know what it is about going to the mall together, but it’s one of my favorite things to do as a family. We don’t even shop, and it’s a TINY little row of stores (many people even mock it for being called a “mall” at all), but we always have a good time.

We used to always go there and get something from Dairy Queen, but then it suddenly closed last winter, so we just stopped going to the mall completely. Well… I realized that it wasn’t the ice cream that I liked so much as just sitting with my family, people watching, and getting out of the house together.

So we went and tried a new (to us, it’s probably been there at least a year) cookie place and enjoyed our family time. They even had milkshakes, so we let Kaelyn try a few sips for the first time…
… and she loved it! But who wouldn’t love some frozen chocolate?
We let Kaya pick out her own cookie, and she chose Elmo. She’s never watched him on TV and doesn’t even know what Sesame Street is, so I’m thinking she just liked his happy face. Either way, I’m sure she made Grandpa Skip proud (he’s always singing the Elmo’s World song… la la la la… and now it’s stuck in your head. you’re welcome)!
We let them play on the mall playground, and it was so obvious to us how happy Kaelyn was for doing something “big kids” would do. She just couldn’t stop laughing and smiling ear to ear. Google auto-awesomed this super corny movie…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=casw_g81rjc
We window shopped and found a new toy store. Kaya danced and squealed in front of the window until we had to leave because the mall was closing. I love how much joy she receives from the smallest things.
Sunday was a pretty typical day at church. Sometimes, we give our neighbor a ride, and when we do, I sit in the back with the babies. I wanted a picture with Kaya, but the only way she’d take one was if she could make goofy face. This is what she came up with… haha! Love my crazy girl so much.
Michael took this when we came home after meetings and sent it to me. I just had to include it because it sums up our Sundays perfectly. He got her out of the car seat and into the house without waking her up!

auto-awesome done right

Posted on July 8, 2015 by tara

I only just recently turned on Google’s automatic photo backup on my phone. I know I’m super late to that party.

Since it backed up a bunch of things all at once, I keep getting notifications of all the things it deemed worthy to “auto-awesome”. Usually it’s just a collage or a weird animation.

But then I got this video.

And I couldn’t stop laughing.

I’m not sure if it’s the whistling, or the way it pans in on Kaelyn’s smile, or just the fact that it made a normal visit to the park into a super-cheesy home movie.

Either way, this cracks me up, so I figured I’d share the laugh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMBsw32T8MA

five on friday: walks, chinese food, and sisters

Posted on April 24, 2015 by tara

We had such a fantastic week, filled with the kind of little moments that I love. Here are my favorite things:

ONE. Spending so much time out in the sunshine with my sidekicks. Seriously… there’s no one else I’d rather spend my days with. It was still a bit chilly most days, as you can surely tell by looking at Kaelyn’s adorable sweater and hat (both made by Grandma, by the way)! Kaya rocks those sunglasses any chance she gets. TWO. We had a family dinner date out to a Chinese buffet! It’s been sooo long since we did anything like that, and it was so fun to get out as a family. Kaya loves Chinese so much that she probably eats more in one sitting than she does during a whole week of home-cooked dinners! We let her have ice cream for dessert, and she insisted on using her fork. Hilarious! Also, don’t mind her super-messy-played-outside-sunscreeny hair… THREE. These two… playing together. There is nothing sweeter, and I just love watching them grow to adore each other more and more each day. Kaya set up this little pretend picnic for them. She spoon-fed Kaelyn some fake yogurt, and then gave her a felt donut. Kaya had a pretend slice of cake and offered me some grapes!

FOUR. Baby laughter is my favorite sound ever. I also just love how Kaya made her giggle so hard that she was throwing her head back and laughing! #cutestbabyever

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on Apr 24, 2015 at 11:42am PDT

FIVE. What better way to start Friday off than with a chocolate-glazed donut? Or two. Haha. Thank you Michael for spoiling me with these! 🙂
Happy weekend!

Linking up with Christina and friends today!

Michael and Tara

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