five on friday (11/13)

Posted on November 13, 2015 by tara

Happy Friday!!! 🙂

ONE. We’ve still been enjoying amazing weather here lately, and Kaya pleaded for me to let her ride her bike this week. The catch was that she also wanted to go to the playground, which meant that she’d be riding for over two miles. I wasn’t sure if she had enough stamina to go that far (or if I could help her on the hills while pushing the stroller), but I always try to give her opportunities to have fun, learn something, and get stronger… so I said yes. To my amazement, she rode for 2.25 miles, only fell once, and figured out how to walk her bike up the hills.

TWO. We had Karl and Kaitlyn over for a small (belated) birthday celebration on Wednesday night. There were tacos and Wii Party and brownies with ice cream. That’s pretty much the ultimate birthday shindig, am I right? I love my goofball brother. Happy 23rd, pal!THREE. We started our co-op preschool group this week, so for the first time ever, I dropped Kaya off and left. I was worried about how it would go, but she was just fine and had a great time.

Kaelyn and I then had some time to run errands all on our own… which really means that we ended up at the fabric store for forever because it was busier than I have ever seen it in my lifetime. Kaelyn loves these little “beanie boos” (beanie babies) and gets so excited anytime she sees them anywhere. Naturally, she had to cuddle them all (and tell each one “hi!” as she hugged them).

Aaaaand we might’ve come home with one… because my kids are only going to be little once, and sometimes it’s fun to give them a surprise gift for no reason. “Blue Kitty” hasn’t left her side all week. 🙂 _MG_0035 Of course, we brought home a surprise for Kaya, too- a baby dragon!FOUR. That moment when you’re folding and hanging laundry, and look over to see your baby wearing underwear on her head… Hahaha. She has another pair halfway up her leg because she wants to be just like her big sister and wear undies (only over her diaper, of course. No way are we ready for potty training again)!

FIVE. #awkwardselfie award. I won’t tell you how many of these are on my phone, just from today (maybe because there are too many to count… haha)!

Linking up here today!

five on friday (10/23)

Posted on October 23, 2015 by tara

ONE. We kicked off our week with PINK EYE (for Kaya) and some lingering colds for Kaelyn and me. Luckily, we quickly got Kaya to the doctor for some antibiotic drops, so she had a just a mild case and is no longer contagious. Sick babies means everyone gets to relax a little extra and enjoy some Daniel Tiger.

TWO. Despite being sick, we still made it outside to play a few times. The weather has been all over the place, with temperatures as low as 28 degrees and as high as 69. It felt crazy to break out some of our winter gear already!

Kaya had a couple of great bike rides on the warmer days. (And don’t dare to tell her that she has a tricycle. It’s a BIKE to her and she will correct you!)

THREE. It’s hard to stay awake for 30 seconds after you come home from a walk, while mommy brings the stroller inside… She was out cold.

It’s also difficult to stay awake during lunch, even when candy corn is used as bribery. FOUR. Kaya got herself all dressed on Wednesday morning, and then put this little jean jacket on… and she was too adorable to not take a picture. Between the boots and the denim and the leaves, these pictures just scream “autumn” to me. Love my girl. Admittedly, I still haven’t taken her 3-year portraits (a whole month late now!), and these are so cute that I almost just want to count them as it and be done. FIVE. Because fall is my favorite season, and there is no beauty like the Earth’s.

HAPPY FRIDAY! 🙂

Linking up here today!

five on friday (09/25)

Posted on September 25, 2015 by tara

We’ve been spending most of our week playing outside (in drizzle or sunshine), so I just have a bunch of phone pictures for you this week. They might not seem very momentous to anyone, but being outdoors with my kids is my definition of happiness, so these are some of my favorites.

ONE. This is the first year that Kaya has been so aware of the change in seasons. She was fascinated that so many leaves are now on the ground instead of on the trees! She might have carried this one all the way home to show Daddy.
TWO. I feel like this photo perfectly sums up their sisterhood: the little sister looks to the big one for guidance and direction, and the big sister tenderly takes her by the hand and makes sure she’s safe. All while pretending to nurse Kitty, because he was hungry of course. Haha.

THREE. My dad restored this old tricycle to give to all his grandchildren, and since Kaya is the oldest grandkid, she obviously has first dibs. She had her very first ride on it this week and absolutely loved it. We didn’t think she’d make it very far, so she truly surprised us when she pedaled for about 1.5 miles. My kid is hardcore.

FOUR. I have the cutest baby ever… and I just can’t get over how adorable she looks with these little neon sneakers that I picked up for $3.50. Her shirt says #toocute and I think it’s spot-on accurate. 🙂

FIVE. Because we all know how obsessed I am with these Google video compilations… and you know you want to see three crazy girls go down the slide all at once…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GShC55ZkXI4

Happy weekend everyone!

family weekend

Posted on June 30, 2015 by tara

We had a busy, family-filled weekend, which I think was just what we needed after the shock of this past week. Being surrounded by loved ones definitely helped take our minds off of what happened, at least temporarily.

My dad has been fixing up a tricycle for Kaya for a while now, and he recently finished it! My mom brought it up this weekend to surprise her. This little girl cannot stop talking about her “bike” and wants to ride it all the time. We’ve only been letting her practice in the house and on the porch until her head is healed up and she can wear a helmet again.

Kaya also enjoyed plenty of bubble blowing this weekend… On Friday night, we headed out to Mom and Dad Irwin’s campground. Karl and Kaitlyn met us there to visit for a while, since they would be working the next day during Kaelyn’s birthday party. We had a fun time hanging out, swapping stories, and making s’mores. Saturday was Kaelyn’s birthday party, which will be a whole separate post! I will give you a sneak peek of my cute little one-year-old though:

Sunday was church, followed by a mostly-failed attempt to take naps, and then more time at the campground. Mom Irwin made this amazing stew in the Dutch oven over the fire. Seriously… I need to go camping just so I can eat this again.

Love spending time with this group. Kaelyn didn’t have any stew, but she did put down some apple-blueberry puree. Grandma loved feeding it to her!We had such a great time with family. I’m excited to share pictures from Kaelyn’s party later in the week! 🙂

130 miles for diabetes

Posted on April 28, 2015 by tara

Michael completed yet another bike race this past weekend! It was his fifth Tour de Cure race and third 100-mile race, and although he had to cope with the worst weather yet, he did it! It was a bleak, rainy day, and he was pretty wet and cold by the end of it. The best part about this year? His mom joined him for the 30-mile route! They both did so great! Total, they raised $2400 for the American Diabetes Association. We ended up staying back home instead of traveling to the race with Michael. I was sad not to be there to see him cross the finish line, but after seeing how bad the weather was, it was probably better that we didn’t go.

With staying inside because of the rain and Michael having the car, we did our best to get crazy indoors. I made Kaya’s first-ever braid! I know it’s totally tiny and imperfect… but hey, she had enough hair to do it! I was excited and she loved it.
We painted a lot of pictures. And Kaya painted over my pictures (please notice how she turned Kaelyn into just a blotted-out blob…) Michael got home super late on Saturday night (it was technically almost Sunday)! Both girls were so happy to wake up and see Daddy for the first time in two days!

I love these two little rascals, and we really had the best time we could have had at home without Daddy, but I will say- parenting by myself for a couple days with zero help totally wore me out! I have so much respect for moms who don’t regularly have their husbands home to help with baths and bedtime. Even just a couple hours with him home makes a big difference! 🙂

run bike eat (weekend)

Posted on April 21, 2015 by tara

We had the most beautiful weather this past weekend, so we took advantage of it with plenty of exercising and cooking out. My favorite days are the ones we spend outside (and with friends)!

The morning was perfect, so I started running and just kept on going. Michael also put in 42 miles on his bike!

My running buddy definitely earned his right to lick the bottom of the peanut butter jar! 🙂

Later in the day, we had a cookout with Ben and Brittany! Hotdogs, grapes, and cookie bars were on the menu.

Also, it’s really hard to get three babies smiling (or even looking) at the camera all at once.

I love these two buddies! 🙂 It’s a good thing I took this when I did, because not long afterward, Kaya saw a bug and was so afraid that it ruined her whole evening. Every little speck of dirt turned into “a buggy!” and she was almost inconsolable. Poor baby.

Kaelyn was happy as a clam just sitting on a blanket with baby Caroline!

Until she started throwing punches (not really)! Haha.

On Sunday morning, I had a Young Women meeting to go to. I brought these muffins. They’re a lot different from my usual recipe, but if you like your muffins fluffy and looking like they came from a bakery (and who doesn’t?) you need to give these a try!Michael somehow ended up sleeping in Kaya’s bed, and this was the position they were in when I left for my meeting. I’m really not sure how Kaya could be comfortable, but I guess she was, since they slept in until 9:30!

Happy Tuesday! How was your weekend?

bike rides and sunshine

Posted on June 2, 2014 by tara

Michael drove down to Charlotte, NC this weekend to complete yet another Tour de Cure bike race! He took his friend Marwan with him, and they met up with another random guy to make their own little riding team. They finished 65 miles, although Michael said the route was a little more hilly than he was expecting it to be.

Chester the Cheetah was there before the race, so naturally, Michael asked for a picture with him.

Kaya and I stayed home (since traveling at 35 weeks pregnant might not be the best idea) and tried to entertain ourselves. How could I ever be bored with such a cute and funny sidekick?

We finished a 4-mile walk (Kaya probably slept for about 2 miles of it, which is totally crazy considering how bumpy the walking path is)! After a real nap, we headed to the pool, although Kaya didn’t want much to do with the water at all.She enjoyed her snacks in the shade, and I actually got to relax and read a magazine for a little while! Sitting out in the sunshine reminds me how much I love summer days.

Daddy was home in time for dinner, and we enjoyed a (much-needed) restful Sunday.

Happy Monday! 🙂

100-mile weekend

Posted on April 28, 2014 by tara

Michael had his annual bike race this weekend! It’s the Tour de Cure, an effort to raise money for diabetes research. He did 100 miles again- in 5:51:06 (that’s an average of 17.21 mph, and ten minutes faster than his ride last year)! We could not be more proud of him.This was the first year that we didn’t make the trip there with him. It was just too many hours in the car in a short timespan (and most of his family is currently working all crazy hours and wouldn’t really have time to visit with us anyway…)

So Kaya and I stayed home and tried to keep busy without Daddy. She probably totaled about 100 miles herself on her rocking horse…

On Saturday, she actually slept in until 9! It still feels a little strange to me when I’m up and about before she is.Michael had perfect weather for his ride, and we had a perfect day for spending lots of time on the playground!She never actually went down the slide… she just kept climbing up as far as she could and would slink down with a giant grin on her face!We were so happy to have Daddy come home in time for dinner on Sunday night. Kaya is a happy, easy-to-care-for kid, but it is always nice to have his help! 🙂

How was your weekend?

five on friday: (mostly) outside things

Posted on March 14, 2014 by tara

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.

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

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

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!

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!

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.)Happy Friday!

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

fried chicken, bike rides, and a dog who thinks he’s a baby

Posted on September 10, 2013 by tara

Lately…

We’ve enjoyed date nights as a family of three. We used some of Michael’s birthday money to go out to eat one night (hello chocolate oreo milkshake)! Kaya enjoyed her usual favorite thing- graham crackers (but we do let her have a few bites of our dessert).
Michael acquired a bike trailer from one of his co-workers last week, so we just had to try it out! We biked to our institute class, and then to a Hokie soccer game! Kaya really seemed to enjoy it (if only because she could laugh at how goofy her mama looks on a bike…) We’ve had play dates and a church chili cook-off (I brought the cornbread).A certain someone has been a little feverish and taking extra long naps (I’m blaming the new molar…) And someone else only wishes he could be a human baby and steals Kaya’s things any chance he gets.

Michael and Tara

It's Us!

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