hiding from the fireworks

Posted on July 7, 2015 by tara

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…)Kaya is always eager to help me bake and decorate! She was so good at carefully putting the sprinkles on.
Pretty sure you could get a sugar high just from looking at these. 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! 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!We 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.
After dinner, we headed out for the fireworks. Our town puts on such a great display every year. We are never disappointed! 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! Kaya, 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.

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!

five on friday: happy things!

Posted on July 3, 2015 by tara

We’re slipping back into normalcy around here with a Five on Friday post! Here are some of my favorite things lately:

ONE. This donut recipe. Mmmm. I could eat these all day every day. They have the best texture of any cake donut I’ve made thus far, and are just so moist that it’s got to be illegal or something.

TWO. Summer days, green grass, fresh air, and watching my babies enjoy all of it. We have had absolutely perfect weather for playing outdoors most of this week. The rest of the world would probably consider these to be more like springtime temperatures, but hey, I’ve definitely enjoyed a break from the heat. We’ve had our windows open (instead of using A/C) and I love it.

THREE. It’s safe to say that baby laughter will always be one of my favorite things.

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on Jun 30, 2015 at 5:24pm PDT

FOUR. I’m extra grateful for these simple, yet sweet, moments with my little girl. She loved riding the seesaw with mommy (and technically Kaelyn too, since I was wearing her in the Ergo)!

FIVE. This crazy guy. I ~~kind of~~ love him. And yes, we totally took a #carselfie for no reason other than that we could. Happy Friday!!!Linking up with April today!

rose garden cupcakes

Posted on May 27, 2015 by tara

Confession: I made these cupcakes for a church party last spring, and never posted them! They’re just too cute to not share, and they could serve as inspiration for someone’s baking endeavors, so I say better late than never!

The roses were actually pretty easy- I followed this tutorial! I cut the leaves out by hand with a knife.
Just make your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe and top it with your favorite chocolate buttercream. Crush up some chocolate-filled Oreos (I used store brand), dip the frosted cupcakes into the crumbs, and voila! You have fake dirt for your garden.
And there you go… perfect for a spring garden party!

five on friday: cinnamon buns, sunhats and lemons

Posted on May 15, 2015 by tara

What a WEEK! We’ve been busy and had so many great moments these past few days. Here we go:

ONE. Monday was Michael’s last day of seminary! I am having a hard time believing that we already completed a whole school year. Seminary is a HUGE time commitment and definitely requires sacrifice, but Michael handled it so well. I know he’d do it again in a heartbeat (and hey, he most likely will be doing it again next year)! He loves his students and was sad to see them walk away for the last time as they caught the bus to school.

I made cinnamon buns for the first seminary breakfast, so I did it again for the final one. My mom-in-law’s recipe is the absolute best!

TWO. We did some shopping for our upcoming beach trip… which included getting some sunhats! Don’t be fooled by Kaelyn’s giant grin… she tries to rip this thing off every few seconds!

THREE. We had our playdate this week outside in the sunshine! It was much windier than any of us thought it would be, though, so we ended up running back home for some jackets. Katherine snapped this photo. I just love seeing these two little BFFs together!

FOUR. Two years ago, when my Maggie passed away, two of our dear friends brought me this little stuffed guinea pig. Now, this is the only stuffed animal Kaelyn will cuddle with! She holds her every night and it just melts my heart. (also, if you can’t tell, she loves to sleep up against the crib bars! she’s like this almost every time I check on her!)

FIVE. Kaya asked to try a lemon… so we let her, and it resulted in the cutest little sour face you ever did see. I think she changed her mind!

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on May 11, 2015 at 5:52pm PDT

Happy Friday!!!

(linking up with April!)

five on friday: a great baby and some good eats

Posted on April 17, 2015 by tara

ONE. With all the rain we’ve been having (plus Kaya being sick), we only made it out for one walk this week. This sweet baby definitely enjoyed her fresh air (and 30-minute nap in the stroller, which she so desperately needed but never would have taken at home)! I think she just has the cutest little scrunchy-faced grin. 🙂

TWO. Kaelyn definitely enjoyed playing with anything she wanted to while Kaya vegged out on the couch this week. It’s not often that she gets to even touch any of Kaya’s toys without there being some sort of toddler protest. The shape sorter is a pretty hot commodity around here! (p.s.- her baby blues… be still my heart!)

THREE. We had the sister missionaries over for dinner this week, and I tried this new enchilada recipe. It was a hit and SO easy!

FOUR. We also might’ve gone through a whole tray of these cookie bars in a week. Oops. I haven’t made them for at least a year, but they were just as amazing as we remembered!

FIVE. No cookies for this peanut, but she did get to try some pureed veggies this week. It seems like she’s more of a fruit lover, so these vegetables didn’t thrill her. She’s such a good sport (and an amazing baby) that she gave them a fair try anyway. Love this messy little face!Happy weekend! 🙂

Linking up with Christina and friends today!

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!

five on friday: currently…

Posted on March 13, 2015 by tara

Currently, I’m…

ONE. Baking… Donuts for seminary breakfast this morning! I spent yesterday afternoon making these, and as Michael put it, they were “spectacular!” Seriously, try these cinnamon-sugar ones. They’re amazing! The chocolate recipe is from here.

I make such a big mess when I’m glazing them that I have to put a towel underneath the cooling racks to catch the drips… it does save a lot of clean-up time, though!TWO. Daydreaming… about taking some sort of family trip! Being cooped up indoors all winter seems to give me the itch to travel somewhere new. Lately, I’ve been thinking about us maybe heading to Pigeon Forge, TN for a few days early this summer… but then I might miss going to the beach, so we might just end up waiting until fall to take a beach trip. Maybe everyone else already knows about this, but I discovered Roadtrippers.com, and it seems like a fun and handy tool for planning a trip! The map alone is pretty cool.THREE. Planning… Kaelyn’s 1st birthday party! It’s still 3.5 months out, so I’m not making any serious decisions over here, but I am putting together some ideas. A baby giraffe theme is what I’m leaning toward!FOUR. Dancing… with this little muffin! We had a mini dance party on Wednesday night, and this girl loved having some one-on-one time with her mama. She also LOVES to spin in circles!

FIVE. Feeling… grateful for some green(er) grass and that the snow is all melted! We enjoyed so much time outside this week, and I’m hoping we don’t see any more snow this season!

HAPPY FRIDAY! 🙂

Linking up with Christina and friends today!

birthday weekend

Posted on February 24, 2015 by tara

It’s taken me over a week to write about my birthday, because my mom was originally planning to come up and celebrate with us this past weekend. However, due to 500 inches of snow (okay, okay, more like 14), she didn’t get to come. We missed her, but still had a great weekend!

Michael surprised me with these decorations (and donuts!) on the morning of my real birthday! With all the dreary winter days we’ve had here, these decorations have helped brighten everything up. I probably won’t take them down until the end of the month!
My friend Brittany really surprised me when she made a cake and brought it to our institute class that evening! You have to love the hashtag! #obviouslythisisasocialmediathemedcake My sweethearts baked me a cake this past Saturday night! Kaya had so much fun helping in the kitchen. She’s a mini supervisor! Too little to help, but too cute to leave out her picture. Dark chocolate cake with cookie dough frosting… as I requested. Mmmm! Also, we apparently didn’t have a “2” candle, so Michael turned a “5” backwards, haha! Having a homemade cake meant so much to me.There’s no better gift on your birthday than being with the people you love most.
We blew the candles out four or five times… Kaya’s getting a lot of practice for her next birthday cake!Here’s to 27!

a whole lot of lately

Posted on January 22, 2015 by tara

We haven’t been up to anything too crazy lately, other than trying to survive these dog days of winter. We’ve been making the most of our small family activities, which helps the dreary days go by a little more smoothly! I keep daydreaming about spring, taking walks, and playing on the playground… but we still have a little while before then!

Last week, we had a family date to Dairy Queen… one of our favorite places for sure! We tried the new Birthday Cake Oreo blizzard, and I’m telling you, it tasted just like eating a can of frosting. A delicious, amazing, dreamy can of frosting. #yesIjustreferredtofrostingasdreamy We’ve made more whole wheat waffles (with a cup of chocolate chips added to the batter) in the past two weeks than we probably have in the past two years. I have to give Michael credit for making a few batches (and adding sprinkles or M&Ms to make these even more fun)! Kaelyn has been blowing “raspberries” at us nonstop lately…And the rest of the time, we’ve just been super sleepyheads. Last Wednesday, both girls took a very long morning nap… which is so out of the ordinary, especially for Kaya! My only guess is that there may be some growth spurts going on. Nevertheless, it was nice to have a few quiet morning hours!Michael came home on Wednesday night and passed out on the floor. Kaya tucked him in with her Olaf blanket, and then proceeded to lay down on top of him!We ended the week with this incredible Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread I made for seminary breakfast on Friday! It was just like a coffee cake, but so much easier! I doubled it and baked it in a 9×13 pan.What’s your favorite thing to bake in winter?

five on friday! (10/17)

Posted on October 17, 2014 by tara

I’m finally sitting down and writing this at 9:30 pm on a Friday…better late than never! (And yes, we’re old married folk by now who are actually home nearly every Friday night, snuggling babies to sleep, doing dishes, and finishing up laundry… already in our pajamas. My how things have changed in just a few short years. But I’ll tell you what… I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else!)

ONE. For weeks now, I’ve been brainstorming family-themed Halloween costumes, and I think I’ve changed my mind more times than a mom might change her newborn baby’s diaper (okay, not really, because we all know that’s about every five minutes)… but I’ve finally made a decision and started working on the costumes! I’ve had to measure the girls to be sure everything is the right size, so Kaya caught on pretty quickly and had a whole lot of fun “measuring” her baby doll, too.

TWO. This little cutie took her first-ever nap in the crib this week! It’s only happened once (mostly because we’ve been busy out of the house and I haven’t tried again), but I’m so excited she’s starting to fall into some sort of nap schedule. Good naps = happy babies!THREE. I was curious to see if I could create my own pumpkin muffin recipe, and this week, I decided to go for it. They turned out soft, with just the right amount of spices and chocolate chips! Hopefully I’ll be sharing the recipe soon, but I first need to make it again to be sure they’re consistently delicious!FOUR. Everyone says how photogenic my babies are, and I definitely won’t disagree… but here’s a little reality for you- sometimes they’re less than thrilled to have their pictures taken! (but how adorable is that little baby yawn?)Most of the time, though, I think I have a little baby model on my hands. FIVE. After a stormy week, the weather was absolutely perfect today. Kaya is old enough now to take short walks without the stroller, and I love seeing her explore every tiny thing she finds. Today, she just had to bring her Halloween bucket with her (with Kitty inside, of course). I’m soaking up these days because I know it won’t be long before we’ll be barricaded in by snow and ice. Sidenote: when did my first baby get so very tall?!Happy weekend!!!

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

Michael and Tara

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