a hello kitty birthday party (kaya’s 5th birthday!)

Posted on November 16, 2017 by tara

This party was two whole months ago… but as I was finally going through the photos, all I could see was my beautiful little 5-year-old daughter’s face shining with pure joy. I can easily see from looking at these- there is no doubt that she felt special and loved on her birthday, which is the definition of a successful birthday party to me.

She had decided that she wanted a Hello Kitty party months in advance, so I had plenty of time to collect random Hello Kitty-themed items and brainstorm what I would do for the cake.We surprised her with her special Hello Kitty birthday shirt that morning when she was getting ready. To say she was excited would be an understatement- a shirt with a cat wearing glasses, holding balloons, and covered in glitter is basically Kaya’s dream come true.She was just as excited to go out with Daddy and get her balloons blown up before the party! These were incredibly cute, but I’m sad to say that they didn’t really hold their shape for more than a couple of days.I wavered on whether or not to try making a 3-dimensional fondant kitty for the cake, but I ended up keeping it really simple. I loosely based the cake off of this one, but Kaya decided on the light pink frosting and strongly requested lots and lots of sprinkles.By the way, Karl and Kaitlyn were total winning with that Hello Kitty wrapping paper in the background (from Walmart)!It wasn’t a perfect cake by any means, but Kaya was thrilled to see her favorite animated cat come to life in dessert form. We love love love our little girl!I think both Kaya and Kaelyn ate more of the cake than they ever have compared to years past. Kaya frequently tells me how “yummy” it is, but when it comes down to it, I feel like none of us are really that into eating cake. I think she looked forward to opening her presents all day. She told me many, many times, that she wanted all Hello Kitty presents, and that was it. Thankfully, she got some things she needed, too. Her gifts included:

…new markers……a ton of Hello Kitty stuff from Grandma Debbie, like this toy cake…… a rescue playset….…bling (yes, still just clip-on earrings 😉 )……a big puzzle from us…… this Calico Critters baby set that she’d been asking for for over a year… …her very own BOB Books, sent by Uncle Jeff and Auntie Lelia!… and this awesome easel from Uncle Karl and Kaitlyn! Both Kaya and Kaelyn have really loved drawing on it (and we’re saving a ton of paper now, too).Karl and Kaitlyn were able to come up and spend the weekend with us! It’s always fun to get to hang out with them (and they are infatuated with Nellbells)!Grandma Debbie was able to come too, and she spent a lot of time playing all sorts of games with the girls. “Thin Ice” is always a favorite around here.Karl and Kaitlyn ran out for donuts the next morning, and brought back some mini Beanie Babies as surprises for the girls. Nella was thrilled to have something of her own!On Kaya’s real birthday, we put a candle in one of the leftover donuts and sang to her. She was beaming. After the party was over, and she was all washed up and in her pajamas, I held her for a few minutes, just like I might have when she was brand new. I kissed and hugged her and remembered that little baby girl who went from being just a dream to suddenly being so real and alive, wiggling and crying. Now, she’s running and jumping and reading. She is taking on the world, and I am so proud. I cried, but only because this is all going so fast.I’m so in love with this wonderful, amazing little girl, and I’m so glad we could spend the weekend celebrating her
We love you, Peeky!

happy 1st birthday, nella joy!

Posted on October 5, 2017 by tara

Nella Joy, you are ONE! It felt like we waited for you for so long, and then your first year flew by in a flash. Time passing by at this rate feels a little unfair, but we are so grateful for you and all the wonderful moments we’ve shared together.

I knew what your first name would be before we found out we were having a third sweet baby girl. Nella means “shining light”, and I love how perfectly that fits you. You have been a gift and an example of love and happiness to our family from the very beginning. Right up until your birth, we debated between using “Faith” or “Joy” as your middle name. Now, it seems absolutely obvious that “Joy” was made for you, because you have so much of it and share it with anyone you meet.Your Daddy loves you so much. You dance together and come looking for me, peeking around all the corners of our home until you see me, and then your eyes light up. Your family is your favorite thing.On your birthday eve, I tickled you and blew raspberries on your bare tummy and soaked in all your giggles. It’s so easy to make you laugh, and I love how your laughter brings true happiness to everyone around you.

You’ve taught me to look for the good in this world, to see the bright side of things, and to keep on smiling. I love you so much, Nellbells. Thank you for coming to our little family.

Love, Mommy

michael’s 30th birthday celebration

Posted on September 28, 2017 by tara

We celebrated Michael’s big 30th birthday while we were down in Myrtle Beach! What better way to enjoy your birthday than a full week of sunshine, waves, and family time? Okay, so maybe that’s just my dream birthday, but I do think that Michael felt like the solar eclipse was nature’s gift to him that week!

I am awake before him 95% of the time, which made it easy to blow up some surprise balloons. I snuck into the girls’ room to get them to help me, and we would have gone undetected if one hadn’t popped on us in the process. Oops.
Everyone loves surprising Daddy!(forgive my voice, it was first thing in the morning!)

We got dressed and headed out to brunch at our very favorite eatery down in Myrtle Beach, the Omega Pancake House. Michael ordered something called “The Mac Daddy French Toast”, which was basically a slice of heaven covered in frosting, pecans, bananas, and Nutella. We had to stick the candles in it for a photo! I’d been daydreaming about these pancakes for months, and they were worth the wait! Yes, that’s Nutella drizzled on top. Mmmmm! Kaelyn also ate a lemon while we were there… and loved it! She’s taking after her Uncle Karl…

We spent the rest of the day at Ripley’s Aquarium (which will have to be another blog post, because there are a lot of pictures), and then had pizza and picked up a cake, because I definitely didn’t bring all my baking supplies to the beach! Those candles just keep reappearing. We asked Kaya if 30 is old, and she told us it’s not old, it’s not young, it’s “nothing”. Good answer! Haha. I hope the girls still get this excited about birthdays when we’re 60.
Happy Birthday Buddy! Even though you’re in a whole different decade than me (for now), I still think you’re pretty cool. 😉

michael’s 30 for 30

Posted on August 31, 2017 by tara

Michael celebrated his 30th birthday last week, but because we were at the beach, I wasn’t able to finish this post in time! I thought it’d be fun to write down some things about him, especially for our girls to look back on one day. So, here we go, 30 facts for his special birthday:

1. He can make our kids laugh harder than anyone else can, over the littlest things.

2. He puts up with all the bedtime shenanigans that the girls put on nearly every night, with an incredible amount of patience and love.

3. He also comes up with the best little games/actions to make things fun- like making a heart shape with his hands, putting them over his eyes, and saying “heart binoculars!” to the girls, as they do the same back to him. They usually blow him a kiss through their “binoculars” and say, “Did you feel it?”

He also does “up and down” (lifting them in the air over and over) to put them into their beds, and gives “stuck kisses” (which are kisses on the cheek that pause for a moment in order to make whatever animal sound the girls ask for. I usually hear a lot of barking, baaing, or mooing coming from their room)! He’s the best.

4. He always tucks me in, too, and gives me a goodnight kiss. Every single night.

5. His favorite color is blue.

6. He loves sweet and spicy mixed together… like pineapples in his salsa.

7. As a kid, he was actually lactose intolerant. Thankfully, he grew out of it!

8. Everywhere we go, someone always makes it a point to tell him how outnumbered he is with all these girls in the house. I know he loves it, though I think eventually he wouldn’t mind having a boy around (especially when Kaya says “no boys allowed” in regard to whatever pretend play scenario is going on)…

9. He frequently likes to joke that we’re going to have a dozen kids. Um, nope. I love my kids, but who has time for 12 of them?!

10. Ever since I can remember, I’ve always called him “Buddy”, and he’s always called me “Roo”. I have no idea how we started the nickname thing, but I love it.

11. His favorite board game is Blokus, and he almost always wins.

12. When I asked him, he said his favorite food is spaghetti, but if I had answered for him, I would have said burgers. I don’t make them at home, so he loves when he gets to go to Five Guys or Red Robin.

13. His least favorite foods are mushrooms and olives.

14. Favorite dessert: cookies and rocky road ice cream.

15. He says he’s always known he wanted to be a “nerd” (a.k.a. software developer) when grew up.

16. To add to the nerdiness, he is now a Docker captain, and pretty proud of it.

17. His go-to outfit is a polo and khaki cargo shorts. He’s got just about every color polo you can imagine at this point. If he’s not wearing a polo, he’s probably wearing one of the million Docker t-shirts he’s brought home from conferences.

18. He really loves to watch the SpaceX rocket launches, and has started getting the girls interested in them, as well.

19. He dreams about owning a Tesla car one day.

20. His favorite place to be is anywhere outdoors. Riding his bike, sitting in the hammock, etc. One of his favorite scents is freshly-cut grass.

21. All the church callings he’s served in from his early twenties until now: full-time missionary, Sunday school teacher, 11-year old scout leader, executive secretary, online stake seminary teacher, early-morning ward seminary teacher, and ward clerk.

22. Favorite hymn: Come Thou Fount.

23. His favorite holiday is Christmas (a perfect match for me)!

24. He doesn’t cook often, but he makes great tacos, waffles, and pancakes. If we have breakfast for dinner, he’s usually the one at the griddle or waffle iron (and there’s usually a ton of chocolate chips and/or sprinkles in the batter)!

25. He’s not super into television or movies, but when asked to pick a favorite, he went with The Imitation Game.

26. He’s really one great piano player, and he’s always willing to share his talent and play at church whenever anyone asks him. He also knows how to play the trumpet!

27. Every night, we like to watch a little Jimmy Fallon and/or Studio C together.

28. His current favorite sport to play is volleyball!

29. He seriously cannot take naps… if he does nap, it ruins his sleep for later that night. He is also a night owl and gets his best work done when he stays up late.

30. In his 30s, he’s looking forward to: seeing the kids grow up, continuing what’s going on at work, and traveling around the world.

There are so many changes that have come along in our 20s. Buddy, I’m so proud of you and everything you’ve accomplished. I’m so grateful we’ve been able to bring three beautiful baby daughters into this world, and I love working on our own home together. You keep me safe, help me stay grounded, and love me more than I thought anyone ever could. I love you.

Happy 30th Birthday!

grandma debbie’s 60th birthday

Posted on August 3, 2017 by tara

My mom’s 60th birthday was in July, so we took a long weekend and headed to my parents’ home for some quality family fun. It’s been a long time since we’ve had then entire family (both of my aunts, Karl, and me) all together, so this was something really special.

Kaya kicked off the weekend by coloring with Grandma! That’s something I remember her doing with me when I was little, so it’s fun to see it continuing on with the next generation.Of course, there were Dunkin’ Donuts, courtesy of Karl! I think these will always be my favorites, despite the amazing local donut shop we have here in town.We also got to meet my parents’ new puppy (I know, he doesn’t look like much of a puppy, right?) for the first time! His name is Buddy, and he’s part pit bull, just like Scout! The only difference is that he is stronger than an ox (I’m not even exaggerating here)! Scout didn’t like being pummeled by his overzealous attempt to play with her, so they didn’t really get to be friends.
But yeah… I pretty much fell head over paws for this puppy. How could you resist those eyes? I think my Dad is pretty smitten with him, too.We had some naps on Daddy… (and a change of clothes for Kaelyn, after she tripped and landed in Buddy’s water bowl!)……and then the whole crew went to an early dinner at Cracker Barrel, which is one of my Mom and Dad’s favorite places.Clockwise: Auntie Joyce and her friend, Melissa; Karl and Kaitlyn; hopefully you know who those people are; and Auntie Carol and Alan!
Princess Nella sat in her throne with her foot upon the table for the entire meal. She also cast a spell on everyone with that sweet little smile of hers.We all headed back to the house for some cake and gifts! My dad had an Oreo cookies and creme cake for his birthday party, and everyone loved it, so of course, we had to repeat it!
It’s not a birthday party with my family unless there’s a big pile of gifts!I found this little decorative watering can at Goodwill and just knew my mom would love it!It turned out that my dad hadn’t finished his gift shopping for my mom, so the day before the party, he took me out with him to get some ideas. We went to five different places without having much luck.

However, we did find a very heavy lawn decoration in the shape of a chicken, and we kept joking around that the “concrete chicken” was our fallback gift. Seriously, I think that thing weighs more than Kaelyn.

My dad actually ended up going back and getting it, and as it turns out, my mom loves her Concrete Chicken. I think I like the joke about the gift even more than the gift itself.I also helped him choose a new bird feeder for her, shaped like a butterfly!
But Karl and Kaitlyn’s gift had to be the best of all…

An iPhone! My mom had been managing with a smartphone that had almost no space to install anything or even be used properly… so now she can actually talk to us and see all the pictures we send. She was so surprised! As you can see in the video, I persuaded Karl to wrap it in a box, and then put that box in another box, wrap it, and so on. It was so much fun.They even made a case for her that had all the kids’ pictures on the back!And, of course, there was a whole lot of baby cuddling on this trip. Auntie Joyce always loves my babies.Apparently, Nella loves pinching her Great-Auntie Joyce’s cheeks. Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around?I was so happy to see these two… it’s been way too long!Grandpa Peter was obviously smitten with “Pumpkin” (as he calls her)!
My mom said this truly was the best birthday ever. I’m so glad we got to celebrate it all together!

a minnie mouse birthday party (kaelyn’s 3rd birthday!)

Posted on July 18, 2017 by tara

Kaelyn had talked about her upcoming birthday for weeks, if not months, before the big day actually arrived. She had decided on a unicorn-themed party long ago, but somehow ended up on the fence between that and a Minnie Mouse party. A couple weeks before the party, she finally landed on Minnie Mouse, and there was no turning back. She has always had a love for Minnie, although I’m not quite sure where it came from, since she doesn’t watch her show, and we don’t have any books with her in them, either.

The day before her party, we shopped for cake-baking supplies and her balloons! She was beaming when we picked these up at the dollar store!

I based the cake off of this one, and followed that same bow tutorial as well. I used homemade fondant for the bow, polka dots, and the shape of the ears (which I then covered in melted chocolate), but the frosting is all buttercream. I was actually really happy with how smooth-looking this turned out. Kaelyn was giddy when she saw her cake, and gave me so many cute smiles (which is a big deal, because she usually doesn’t like to be photographed)!
I love this beautiful, amazing, funny little girl. Celebrating her was the best. She actually got to blow out the candles twice, because for some reason, my camera wasn’t ready the first time.

Kaelyn had requested that the inside of the cake be “sprinkles”, so I made this funfetti recipe. It was delicious, but I think she was too excited for presents and didn’t actually eat any of it! She did, however, enjoy eating Minnie Mouse’s ear! Grandma Debbie was the only one who could make it to the party, but she brought lots of surprises for the birthday girl. Kaelyn was very happy to see everything wrapped in Minnie paper! She received a remote-controlled Minnie car, but it actually didn’t work, so we exchanged it for the airplane equivalent at Target. It’s one of her favorite toys now!Have you ever seen a kid so excited about socks and shirts? (Only if they’re Minnie-themed, I guess!) Undies sent by Auntie Lelia, Uncle Jeff and baby Bryce! Her only three gifts that weren’t related to Minnie Mouse- Paw Patrol puppies… … a water coloring book… …and donut chalk from Uncle Karl and Kaitlyn! We ended the festivities with her favorite food- pizza! She was so tired, but so very happy.

We love you, Kaelyn Grace! Happy 3rd Birthday!

five on friday (06/30)

Posted on June 30, 2017 by tara

It’s super late and I should be in bed, but I have a hard time letting a Friday go by without listing five great things from the week!

ONE. The biggest event of the week- our second sweet princess turned 3 years old! We had her party last weekend, but on her real birthday, we went out to the local bakery and treated her to any cookie she wanted. She, of course, chose one that had a 10:1 frosting to cookie ratio. A girl after my own heart! She was beaming as we sang “happy birthday” to her right in the middle of the mall. We went to play on the indoor playground afterward. I love how the simple things are her favorites.

TWO. Grandma came down for Kaelyn’s party, and stayed for a couple of days at the start of the week. We had a nice long walk and some time at the playground and in the yard with her. These girls sure love their Grandma Debbie (even if I could only convince two of them to get into a photo with her)…

THREE. My garden is growing! For real! I’m amazed to see these plants growing so big, and I’m actually getting kind of attached to them, so here’s to hoping that nothing comes along and eats them. There’s no produce yet, but I have a couple of cucumber plants… … some green beans… …and one lone cherry tomato plant. I’m so excited to hopefully see some food growing on these soon!

FOUR. What’s cuter than a baby in just a tank top and her diaper? One of my favorite things about summer is being able to leave her arms and legs bare so I can see those squishy little rolls of hers! Baby chub is the best.

Also, these little toes!

FIVE. It’s been a while since Freyja and Claire have graced the blog with their presence, so here they are in all their fuzzy glory. Kaya and Kaelyn helped me give them a little “spa night” a couple weeks ago, where they had baths and got their nails clipped. The pigs didn’t enjoy the process, but I can tell you that they do like to feel clean when it’s all done. Claire reminds me of a little teddy bear!Happy weekend!

Linking up here, here, and here today!

life last week

Posted on June 28, 2017 by tara

This has been the least amount of blogging I’ve done in many months, and my guilty conscience automatically starts to apologize as soon as my fingers hit the keyboard again. But then I remember that my main reason for writing this blog is so my kids will have it when they’re grown, and I realize that I don’t have to be sorry. I think when they finally read this in 10 or 20 or 30 years, they’ll be glad that their mom was sometimes a little too busy to blog because she was playing outside with them, helping them with crafts, and putting together their birthday parties. Whenever there’s a lot to write about, there doesn’t seem to be enough time to actually blog about it, because we’re busy living it. And in a way, I’m okay with that.

We’ve been spending a lot of time outside and at the playground. These two love “rock climbing” together!Kaya is becoming a little more bold and has started practicing hanging from the monkey bars. She isn’t able to grab onto the next one and keep going yet, but I am proud of her for going out on a limb (a.k.a. monkey bar) and trying something new.
This little monkey is also trying to climb more… …while the littlest monkey isn’t monkeying at all. When you’re the third baby, you sometimes have to nap on the go! On a recent walk, a lady told me that I need more kids in my stroller. I told her that if there were any more, I might not be able to push it up the hill! Really though, I love having all these seats full (and this stroller is still one of the best things ever)!
If you were worried that the girls have just cardio at the playground as their only exercise, fear not- strength training happens via morning push-ups with Daddy!The girls worked on painting these suncatchers one afternoon. They are both pretty meticulous artists now, so they take their time, and I love seeing what they come up with at the end! They also made about a million perler-bead animals, so my iron lived on the kitchen counter for a few days so we could finish all of their creations ASAP. Waiting to melt those beads together inevitably leads to having them spill, which makes for some very sad little girls (and a crazy puppy who tries to eat any bead she discovers on the floor)! We went shopping for baking supplies for Kaelyn’s birthday cake, and Nella sat in the front seat of the shopping cart for the first time ever. As evidenced by her silly little grin, she loved it! She’s had a few more rides since last week, and she kicks her legs and smiles happily every time. Someone was excited to pick up her birthday balloons… … and someone else was excited to show off her cute little teeth! These are the days, and I’m glad I’m living them, even if I’m not writing about every detail.

grandpa peter turns 60!

Posted on April 13, 2017 by tara

When we traveled back to my parents’ neck of the woods on race weekend, we also celebrated my Dad’s 60th birthday! Having a party with all of my family was really the perfect way to end an already-great Saturday.

After the race, we headed to Longhorn Steakhouse for my Dad’s special birthday dinner! He had to wear this special blinking birthday pin that my aunts both wore on their sixtieth birthdays- it’s a tradition! Hey, at least it got him a free ice cream sundae at the restaurant.
I’m so glad everyone could be there together. Michael and I ended up on opposite ends of our very long table… so I think this picture pretty much sums up what he was doing for the duration of the dinner- wrangling these big kids! He’s such a good sport, and I love him so much for taking care of our girls. Nella’s little hand grabbing onto my arm… melt my heart. And it’s always fun to hang out with Auntie Carol and Auntie Joyce! We headed back home for cake and gifts! Kaya is so into birthdays (she actually pretends it’s her baby doll’s or Kitty’s birthdays on a nearly-daily basis at times), so anytime she’s allowed to participate in the festivities, she’s all for it.I think Grandpa liked having a candle-blowing-out, present-opening helper.
When I was about six years old, I made my dad a “birthday necklace” out of strips of paper that I had colored and stapled together. I made a giant paper birthday cake and stapled it to the center of the necklace, and of course, he had to wear it, even though it was probably the ugliest and most awkward necklace in existence. He donned this plastic, blinking birthday necklace this year, a sort of tribute to that awful paper necklace from years past. He received lots of great gifts, but Snoballs were obviously the most exciting! I think the grand-puppy was cuddled more than the grandbabies on this trip! I was a little concerned about traveling with such a young puppy, but she really did great. She slept on the floor of the van for the entire drive, and didn’t make any trouble or destroy anything at my parents’ house. I’d call that a success! I think she won my Dad over when she fell asleep in his arms. On Sunday morning, we got to sleep in, which was so refreshing after getting up early for the race the previous day. I get to share a room with Nella at my parents’ house (everyone else sleeps downstairs), and I always look forward to waking up and having some one-on-one time with this smiley little baby. My mom made us the biggest pancakes in the world for breakfast!

We walked our dogs out in the yard, and Kaelyn enjoyed putting on “makeup” (just lipstick) with Grandma. This is one of her favorite things.Before we knew it, we were back on the road and on our way home!

happy birthday to me! (29)

Posted on March 4, 2017 by tara

On my birthday, I woke up to the sweetest surprise from my best friend- flowers and my favorite candy! These, vibrant, beautiful flowers ended up lasting for about two weeks, which is quite possibly the longest I’ve ever had anything green stay alive in my house.

The girls were so very excited to surprise me, and now that Kaelyn is using sentences, she repeatedly told me “happy burtday mama!” Her soft, sincere little voice melts my heart.
My birthday was on a Sunday this year, which meant that there wouldn’t be much time for celebrating, since we have church pretty much all day long. In addition to our regular schedule, we had our special New Beginnings program for the Young Women later that night. I love church, but I honestly was feeling a little disappointed that we wouldn’t have time to do anything special together as a family.
However, my heart immediately changed when I arrived at church and saw our Young Women, all excitedly shouting “happy birthday!” After all my previous feelings of disappointment, I realized that being with these amazing young ladies was right where I wanted (and probably needed) to spend my birthday. I made cinnamon rolls to bring to New Beginnings that evening, and we had a fun and uplifting day.
Later in the week, my mom came up to throw a belated mini birthday party for me. She read the girls all the books they asked her to and even played some games with them. No one can resist kissing these cheeks!And no one wants to nap when grandparents come to visit… until this happens:
My mom brought me a cookies and cream cake with fluffy, whipped frosting!My girls were so excited to have a tiny party for their mommy. I really can’t believe that all three of these little sweethearts are mine.
My mom gets all the credit for putting this birthday together! We’ve got some crazy blowing-out-the-candles faces, that’s for sure. My mom spoiled me with some potholders, kitchen utensils, and a shirt. The kids were so into helping me open everything that it almost turned into a race!