first date and a woodland adventure

Posted on April 7, 2015 by tara

My in-laws came up for Easter weekend and camped nearby, which meant that we got to have a whole lot of fun, do a little bit of hiking, and take advantage of some free babysitting! All that pretty much equals a perfect weekend.

On Friday night, Michael and I headed out for our first date with just the two of us in two years. Crazy! I cannot believe how fast that time has gone by. We headed to Cracker Barrel and somehow ended our date by goofing off in the toy aisle at Walmart. We apparently don’t need to have the kids with us to still act like kids…
We visited Mom and Dad at the campground, and enjoyed walking some of the trails. Kaya walked over a mile and a half all on her own, which is so far for such little legs! She also enjoyed riding on Grandpa’s shoulders. 🙂 I love the mountains, especially in spring. Grandma made matching “Easter” hats for the girls. Seriously… how cute is my baby? I love everything about her happy little face!We had a fantastic Easter Sunday too, but there are so many pictures that it’ll have to be another post! We definitely love our family time.

april 2015 goals

Posted on April 6, 2015 by tara

I feel like I’ve been struggling a lot with my goals these past couple months, and I think I finally realized that it’s because I’m not making them “manageable” enough. I’ve been putting huge items on my to-do list and I think I need to break it down a little more.

I’ve also spent a lot of time working on things that weren’t even on my official “goals” list… like making a photo yearbook and doing Personal Progress!

Here was March:

1. Read one book.- I’m 50% done with the book I was hoping to have finished…

~~2. Abs.~~ FINALLY I am seeing a difference in my stomach… nine months after I have a baby! Haha. As they say, it takes nine months for your body to stretch and grow and nine months for it to go back…

3. Export and back-up 2014 photos. I have a LOT of photos… and I got about 5% of the way done with the export. At least I started!

~~4. Sew a baby dress or toy.~~

5. Organize 15 areas of our home- 60% score on this one… but I donated 7 bags of stuff we weren’t using and tossed a bunch of other items. It feels so much better in here already and I’m just happy for progress.

6. Start learning crochet (for real this time)! Add it to the list for next month…

1. Complete two books. (the one I didn’t finish from last month plus one more.)

2. Abs as always.

3. Export 50% of the 2014 photos.

4. Sew something (I’m thinking sunhats for my girls)!

5. Organize 5 more areas.

6. Crochet.

7. Complete 4 value experiences for Personal Progress.

five on friday: fauxhawks and easter eggs

Posted on April 3, 2015 by tara

ONE. We’ve been enjoying the sunshine so much this week! Nothing makes me happier than spending all morning outdoors with my babies and feeling the warmth on my skin. I love how much they both enjoy walks and connecting with nature. These are the days I long for all winter! TWO. We had an Easter egg hunt with friends on Thursday! We hardly hid the eggs at all and mostly just threw them on the ground for the kids to pick up… but they LOVED it and had such a great time. Kaya loved opening the eggs and feeding most of the jelly beans to Mia! Haha. THREE. This girl and her fauxhawk (and how ’bout them cheeks?)! She woke up like this, and her hair held its shape for most of the day.I think she’s ready to rock and roll (well, she’s at least got the rolling part down…) FOUR. Kaya really still needs to be strapped in for meals in order to avoid crumbs and sticky hands everywhere, so I figured it’d be useful to have a second seat where Kaelyn could join us at the table and eat her purees. I bought this one, originally intending for Kaelyn to use it, but Kaya thinks it’s the most fun thing ever to sit in “Baba’s seat”! When we take the tray off, it’s actually been a really great booster seat for Kaya to eat directly on the table. I love having everyone sitting together at mealtimes now!FIVE. Happy Easter! #BecauseHeLives

Linking up with Christina and friends today!

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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Monthly Archives: April 2015

first date and a woodland adventure

april 2015 goals

five on friday: fauxhawks and easter eggs

easter baskets 2015