five on friday (07/01)

Posted on July 1, 2016 by tara

ONE. We’ve had gorgeous weather and a whole lot of outside playtime this week! Kaya has asked to ride her bike nearly every afternoon.

Sadly, her old tricycle was broken when we moved, and we haven’t had any luck finding the replacement part we need. Grandpa Peter just sent her a “new” tricycle, similar to the old one, and she has been loving it. This is one happy girl! TWO. When big sister is out with Daddy, Mommy and little sister will make cookie dough! Kaya is always my helper in the kitchen, so while she was gone, I eagerly gave Kaelyn the opportunity to pour, stir, and even hold the mixer. She was so excited about everything (especially licking the dough off the beaters)! THREE. I picked up these dry-erase pockets for $1 at Target last week, and we’ve used them every day that we’ve done preschool this week. The girls love them, and I love that I don’t have to laminate everything that I want them to practice doing multiple times. Totally worth $1!

FOUR. You know you hit the jackpot as far as husbands go when he brings you your favorite bakery brownie after you go to the dentist… Mmmm.

FIVE. This sweet girl… I can’t get enough of her. I managed to get in a couple of good naps for myself this week (all I want to do lately is sleep), and after Kaya woke up and used the bathroom one afternoon, she said “I don’t want to go back in my bed, I just want to cuddle with you. You want some cuddles from me?”

My heart melted… I will always want cuddles from you, Kaya. She tucked me in with her favorite cat blanket and even scratched my back. She’s going to make a fabulous mommy herself, someday.

Linking up here!

father’s day weekend 2016

Posted on June 30, 2016 by tara

We kicked off our Father’s Day weekend with an amazing dinner, cooked by a great family from church who invited us over. I’ve been dying to try this lemon pound cake, so that’s what I brought along. It was moist and lemony- definitely not a disappointment!
Michael spent Saturday morning doing what he always does since we acquired our own yard- mowing the lawn! Father’s Day didn’t get him out of this chore. Sorry, buddy.

We spent the afternoon at the pool, and after the girls had their nap, we surprised Daddy with some very small gifts. He was leaving for his trip on Saturday night, so we obviously had to celebrate a day early!

Kaya absolutely loves giving presents, and she always insists on the recipient closing his or her eyes beforehand in order to make it even more exciting. I just love this genuine joy: Both girls made him a card with a big giant fish on it.“Dear Daddy: You’re a great catch! ‘Fishing’ you a Happy Father’s Day!” It was definitely cheesy, but he loved it, and Kaya was so proud of her craftiness. We also surprised him with a new photo collage for his cubicle at work. He was in need of some updated pictures! We gave him this book to read with the girls, and our littlest bookworm snagged it immediately. We also supplied him with a few sweet treats for his flight out to Seattle. Thankfully, he isn’t opposed to sharing his stash with a couple of Swedish Fish fanatics before he had to leave town. We enjoyed a little pizza and some Wii games before we had to drop him off at the bus that would take him to the airport. On Sunday, we girls were all on our own… but church went smoothly, and we made sure to take a few silly selfies to send to Daddy.

We all wore matching coral-colored outfits. I really wish my babies could stay exactly as they are now and always think that matching with their mom is cool. 🙂

Happy Father’s Day, bestie!

donuts and a daddy-daughter date

Posted on March 10, 2016 by tara

Yeah, it’s definitely Thursday, and I’m only just writing about our weekend now. But how can you let a great weekend go undocumented?

On Saturday morning, I went out for my run, and when I came home, I discovered that we had no muffins left… and there wasn’t enough milk to make any more. What’s a girl to do when you have a breakfast crisis like this? Make donuts, of course! I haven’t made any in quite a while, so I revisited this recipe, and I think these were the best cake donuts I’ve ever made. We obviously skipped the glaze, because we’re chocolate-on-chocolate-with-sprinkles kind of people.

Michael and Kaya had a daddy-daughter date that morning. First stop- Home Depot for one of their kids’ workshops. Kaya built a miniature toy wagon, and apparently drove all the nails herself. I’m so proud of my skilled little girl!

She was also thrilled because apparently they gave out juice boxes at the workshop… and Kaya has never had juice (of any kind) before, so this really was exciting for her! She had a few sips and didn’t really know what to think of it at first.

They ran some errands at Walmart, where the bank inside just happened to be giving out balloon animals and stickers. It was Kaya’s lucky day for sure!

Daddy took her to Wendy’s for a Frosty (her favorite treat). And yes, apparently you can get a Frosty in the morning!

During nap time, Michael worked on patching our tire. We’ve had a slow leak in it for months, but we couldn’t find the cause. Finally, Michael spotted a nail stuck in the tire. He pulled it out and patched it up.
Saturday night always means bathtime! We like to have clean kids for church, at least. 😉 Someone loves her lion towel too much… I taught the young women on Sunday, we had nice long afternoon naps, and then rounded out our weekend with some coloring. These small things might not seem important, but I always love looking back at these tiny details and little moments.

And now I’m practically ready for the weekend (again)!

valentine’s day and getting snowed in again

Posted on February 18, 2016 by tara

Our Valentine’s Day was pretty low-key. Michael had church meetings at 6:30 am, so it was a normal day as far as Sundays go. I was dying to surprise him with my now-traditional homemade treat, but it just had to wait until after church.

We never do anything big for Valentine’s Day, but I love any excuse to surprise my family with gifts or sweets, so I secretly whipped up this giant “Reese’s” peanut butter cup for Michael (using this recipe). He loves anything I ever make for him.I wanted to do something fun for the girls, too, so I got them each a Valentine book (we didn’t have any in our collection… crazy!) and a $1 box of chocolate hearts.
They needed naps almost as soon as we came home from church, so surprises just had to wait until afterward. I did keep reminding Kaya throughout the day that if she was good, she might get a Valentine surprise after nap time. Every time, she’d reply, “Oh, I’m a good girl!” Give her anything with a cat on it and she’ll love you forever. Kaelyn loves anything that she doesn’t have to share with her sister. Haha. My little bookworms. We ended the day with some serious goofing off and silly shenanigans. Seeing these three play together and laugh almost incessantly just melts my heart. I love this picture because it is completely real. Their true smiles and pure joy radiate from it. I feel so blessed in these little moments.

On Sunday night, it snowed (again)! We ended up with about 8 inches of snow and an inch of ice, which was enough to close the University… again! We love it when Daddy gets to stay home with us.

We did manage to sneak out into the snow to deliver cookies to our sweet neighbor for her birthday. Kaya even helped make them, and she was so excited to shout “Happy Birthday!”, although I think her shyness got the best of her after we actually knocked on the door.

What better thing to do on a snowy day than play Xbox with Daddy? Kaelyn put this extra headset on all on her own! She has been cracking me up nonstop lately.

the last of the holiday shenanigans

Posted on January 14, 2016 by tara

The weeks leading up to and following Christmas were packed with visitors and activities, so, I’m combining all these random moments into one post, and then I promise I won’t talk about Christmas for at least a couple of months. 😉

When we arrived home from visiting my parents on the Sunday night before Christmas, we spent a couple of hours with Jeff and Lelia, who had come into town while we were gone. We hung out for a couple hours, ate pizza, and exchanged gifts. Kaya and Kaelyn could not have been more excited about their new dress-up clothes! We’ve got a couple of fairy-winged cowgirls on our hands. Jeff and Lelia surprised me with a race registration for a 10k in the spring! I’ve been running for 7 years now and have never entered a race. Insane!

Apparently I found the whole thing to be pretty hilarious…

On the night before Christmas Eve, our little family went out for Chinese food. I think my girls eat more in one sitting at this buffet-style restaurant than they typically do all week. Michael, can this be a new Christmas Eve Eve tradition? 🙂

The next morning, I made a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls to take to one of the seminary students. They had a class auction (where they could use their hard-earned “seminary bucks” to get rewards), and he bought both the tickets I put in. I’m flattered that someone likes these so much! We had a couple left over… so of course, they didn’t go to waste.

During naptime, we wrapped some presents, watched “A Christmas Story”, and snuggled some guinea pigs…

And of course, we made a few more gingerbread cookies. A few days after Christmas, we went down to our local Inn, where they always have a beautiful Christmas tree display. Kaya instantly fell in love with a glowing reindeer statue…

I dressed the girls up in their matching Christmas dresses (from Grandma Debbie) with hopes of getting a nice photo of them together in front of one of the trees. They were kind of being crazy, so this is the best we could do. I love my silly kids, and they both love their Kitties.On New Year’s Eve, Ben, Brittany, and Caroline came to visit! They moved to Texas back in August, and this is the first time they were back in Virginia. I’m so glad we got to spend a whole day hanging out with them.
Caroline was so sweet and so good at giving big hugs… We got crazy playing Wii and just catching up. And yes, I have a blinking problem. Haha.

I can’t believe that they will be a family of four next time we see them! I’m so grateful for good friends.And that wraps it up for 2015! 🙂

christmas cookie delivery 2015

Posted on December 31, 2015 by tara

Delivering Christmas goodies is quite possibly my very favorite holiday tradition. There is just nothing like gifting a homemade treat to your friends and neighbors! It takes me about two full days of baking, and it’s so worth it to see the joy on people’s faces.

I used a lot of the same recipes this year (why change something that’s already excellent?) and tried out a couple of new ones too. Here’s what we handed out:gingerbread cookies
Michigan fudge
candy cane cookies (mine ended up looking more like a mess instead of candy canes…)
no-peanut-butter kiss cookies
and buttery spritz cookies!

We delivered 15 plates again this year, same as last year.

However, this was the first year ever that it was almost too warm to wear our traditional festive hats! We were out there delivering cookies in short-sleeved t-shirts and no winter coats. We still wore our hats, although Kaya wanted to trade her reindeer for Daddy’s Santa one.

I already miss having a reason (excuse) to bake lots of cookies! Kaya is excited to decorate some again when Valentine’s Day rolls around. 🙂

christmas cookies 2015

Posted on December 22, 2015 by tara

As always, we made our favorite gingerbread cookies to give to friends and neighbors. This was Kaelyn’s first year being able to help! We started rolling and cutting cookies while Kaya was at preschool, so it was a special mommy-daughter time with just my littlest.

And really… with that smile and a smudge of flour on her cheek, she couldn’t be any cuter. She mostly just tried to scoop the dough out of the bowl and eat it, and when she wasn’t doing that, she was wearing the cookie cutters on her arm like bracelets.

When we picked Kaya up, she was super excited to help out, too.
I baked them all (and ended up with a total of 55 cookies!), and then Karl and Kaitlyn came over to help decorate them later that afternoon. I really like Karl’s “santa” made out of a stocking. We did pretty good work. (I also made a “bathing suit girl” on the top left that I found too funny… hey, gingerbread people go swimming too, right?) The kids napped through the first part of our activity, but Kaya was eager to jump into it as soon as we returned from visiting Santa. Kaya has been a sprinkler-extraordinaire this year. She’s always so willing to help me in the kitchen. I’m excited to see what she creates as she gets older!

3 more days!

halloween cookie-decorating party

Posted on October 29, 2015 by tara

On Tuesday morning, we hosted a mini (very mini) Halloween party for the kids. We invited both old and new friends, and kept it super simple. We basically just decorated some sugar cookies and then let the kids all play.

Kaya was truly the happiest little girl as she sat there and decorated cookie after cookie. I think she made more cookies than anyone else did (and actually only ate one… the very first one she made, of course)! I helped her out with the frosting, and she did an excellent job of loading them up with as many m&ms, Resse’s Pieces, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and sprinkles as possible. Would you like some cookie to go with your toppings? (this is my favorite sugar cookie recipe, by the way 😉 )

We played some Halloween music, and Mia and Kaya started dancing. I’ve said it over and over again, but I just love that my baby has a best friend. I put together some super simple goody bags for the older girls- pumpkin bubbles, glowsticks, a kaleidoscope, and some homemade pumpkin play dough. Kaya was so excited to hand them out and even more excited to open hers up. Kaelyn tried her first sugar cookie at lunchtime, after the party. She had woken up around 5:30 am that day, and so sadly, she was cranky and cried for the majority of the cookie-decorating activity.We had a great time with friends, and this little party was a great way to kick off our Halloween festivities! 🙂

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:

she made up her own teeth-brushing song! I'd say she has some talent 🙂 10.04.2015

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on Oct 4, 2015 at 6:05pm PDT

five on friday (09/04)

Posted on September 4, 2015 by tara

Happy Labor Day weekend! We are soaking up the last of these summer days 🙂 Here’s our top five from this week:

ONE. Kaya is suddenly obsessed with rainbows, so much so that she keeps telling me she wants a rainbow birthday cake… with a cat on top. Of course. She became a crazy cat lady at the record age of 2.

We’ve been playing with sidewalk chalk a lot lately, so this week, we made a rainbow together. She was over the moon. I love my happy girl.
TWO. We also tried out the big kid playground this week… and Kaya can climb this shaky bridge with no problem now. She’s been asking to go back nearly every day since. I still can’t believe my little baby has grown into such a big girl so fast.
THREE. Speaking of babies growing up, take a look at this little girl sporting her tiny ponytail! It totally makes her look so much older, and all I can think of when I see this photo is a line from my favorite Sara Evans song: “our little ponytail girl, grown up to be a woman, and she’s gone in the blink of an eye”. A couple more blinks of the eye and she really will be all grown up.
FOUR. These sisters love doing almost everything together, and this week, Kaya asked to hold Baba as they went down the slide. I hope she’s always so willing to help her baby sister and that they always love doing things together.
FIVE. Michael isn’t the seminary teacher anymore (he was released just before the start of the school year), but I was asked by the new teacher to make them some surprise cinnamon rolls for breakfast this week. It’s my mom-in-law’s recipe, and it must have left a lasting impression the last time I made them, because all the students were so excited to have them again. I’m so glad I got to do something for these kids who wake up at the crack of dawn every day to attend seminary.
And for all the guinea pig lovers… happy “wheek-end” from Freyja 🙂 _MG_9173

Linking up here today!

Michael and Tara

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