five on friday: hey dude!

Posted on April 10, 2015 by tara

Happpppy Friday! Five memorable moments from the week:

ONE. Kaya and her animals… she’s already a horse girl. We saw some of the horses I actually used to help care for a couple years back, and Kaya could not have been more content than to just stand there and watch them eat grass. Here she is with Chance… and now she names all her fruit snacks after him and has them make a blowing sound just like a real horse before she gobbles them up. (and no, her fruit snacks aren’t horse-shaped… they actually look like fruit. go figure!) TWO. Clearance Easter candy. The best three words that can ever be said together, am I right? (okay, maybe besides “I love you”)… Cadbury eggs are my favorite and you can never go wrong with a stockpile of M&Ms for baking! THREE. Because a pile of pillows and stuffed animals on the floor is waaay better than having them piled on your bed. Kaya constructed this mess, and I love how she even tucked herself in! Also, please notice Scruffy the teddy bear wearing her polo. She wants to change his name to “Panda”, but that could get confusing with two other animals already answering to that moniker in our house. FOUR. Today is the end of an era- Jeff and Lelia are moving out of town. This was the fastest two years of my life, and I can’t believe it’s already time for them to have a new adventure. We went over there to help them load boxes last night and say our (temporary) goodbyes. I’m sad to see them go, but excited for all the new opportunities and experiences they’re about to have in this new stage of life. We love you guys!

FIVE. Love this girl and all the crazy things she says. “Hey dude!”

A video posted by Tara (@tarairwin) on Apr 6, 2015 at 7:49pm PDT

Hope you have a great weekend, “dude”! 🙂

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!

when you need a sister

Posted on March 4, 2015 by tara

We’ve had a rough couple of days this week, with all four of us battling the stomach flu. I wouldn’t usually write a whole blog post about us being sick, because I never want it to seem like I’m complaining (I know it could always be worse)!

But sometimes, you just can’t do it all alone. Yesterday, I was so blessed when my sister (in-law, technically) came over to take care of all of us. Seriously… she came into our germ-infested house to make sure we were doing okay.
Lelia disinfected everything, stripped all the beds down, washed and folded all my laundry, made playdough cookies with Kaya, let me nap, and just watched over us all afternoon. It was so comforting to not be alone during our bout of sickness and exhaustion, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

I also might’ve cried on her shoulder about how she’s moving away about a month from now.

Jeff is just as awesome for bringing us Gatorade and giving priesthood blessings to Michael and Kaya.

I don’t know what we would do without our family.

five on friday: cabin fever, awesome runs, and a photography workshop

Posted on February 27, 2015 by tara

We’ve had a bit of cabin fever over here all week… even getting out to go to the grocery store this morning seemed like so much fun! So today, I’m counting all the small blessings we’ve had this week:

ONE. Lelia and Jeff got to spend most of Sunday with us! It’s been so cold that a pipe burst at our chapel, so there were no church meetings. We had a relaxing family day. Have I mentioned how much I love seeing my babies love their aunts and uncles?

TWO. I taught a (very basic) photography workshop for our Young Women on Tuesday night and had so much fun doing it! I am usually so nervous to stand up in front of a group and talk, but teaching about my passion comes so easily to me. I’m glad I was able share a little of what I love with our girls! At the end, I gave them a photo scavenger hunt to complete, which resulted in a whole lot of craziness and laughter. photoworkshopslide

THREE. We had a few more inches of snow Wednesday night into Thursday morning, so there was no rush to leave the house… which meant that I could snuggle my littlest cutie in bed and just enjoy her. I love our one-on-one time.

FOUR. I am so grateful for clear(er) roads and running paths this week! It was hard to not go out due to the weather last week, so I appreciated my runs even more this week. I also had a couple of fast (for me) runs, which made me feel great!

FIVE. Kaya’s had her big-girl bed for about a year now, and most nights, she still climbs out and sleeps by the baby gate. Her bed has to be more comfortable than the floor! Also, how cute is her little hand holding “Panda”? I love her love for her stuffed animals.

Linking up with Christina and friends today!

weekend (pre-birthday celebration!)

Posted on February 9, 2015 by tara

I’m all about dragging my birthday celebration out over the whole month of February, so even though my actual birthday isn’t until Thursday, we started the shenanigans this weekend when my in-laws came up! They always visit right around my birthday every year and take me out for lunch/dinner- I’m a lucky girl!

Kaya has been talking about Grandpa and his motorcycle for weeks… maybe even months. She was so excited when they walked through the door on Saturday morning!
Kaelyn got her grandma nap in… until I tried to take a picture and she started to crack her eyes open.
Jeff came over in the afternoon. Both girls are suddenly in love with their uncle, which is utterly adorable… but also sad, since he’ll be moving away in a couple months!Lelia was out helping a friend shop for her wedding dress, but luckily, she was able to meet up with us for an early dinner at Cracker Barrel!
The servers sang “happy birthday” to me, and apparently I blushed… but hey, a little embarrassment from being the center of attention for a whole minute was worth this chocolate cake! Mmmmm. It was dark, moist, and delicious!Mom and Dad Irwin had to leave that same night, but we had Jeff and Lelia over to play some games. We stayed up too late, but that didn’t stop me from waking up on Sunday morning and making these cinnamon rolls! They were pretty quick (and very delicious)!
Kaya spent most of the day working on her puzzles! Under the letter “I” is an insect, and she loves to cover him up and say “night night bug!”
_MG_6359 I ended up coming home early from church for not feeling well. I felt guilty to leave early, but Kaelyn and I had a much-needed nap. We spent the night relaxing and went to bed at a decent time for once!

Happy Monday! 3 more days until my birthday!

kevin and tori come to town

Posted on January 20, 2015 by tara

Kevin and Tori flew in from Utah last week! They spent the first half of their visit on the east coast, but they came to town on Thursday afternoon to spend a few days with us. We had a fantastic long weekend filled with family time, good food, and even a little sleeping in!

I was so super excited for them to meet Kaelyn for the first time! It’s safe to say that this baby just keeps stealing hearts. Grandpa snuck some cuddles in with his “petunia” (as he calls every baby) too! Thursday night, we ordered pizza and played “Blurt!” (which is really more like “YELL!” when I’m playing it… whoops)! Michael and Lelia had to work on Friday, but the rest of us enjoyed Xbox (Kevin and Jeff), a Mario Kart tournament (Dad and me), and just plain old relaxing.Dad and Jax had a couple of really intense wrestling matches. When he wasn’t playing, my lap dog was cuddling up to (and all over) everyone.
Grandma had a lot of great snuggles, but Kaelyn still refused to nap for most of the weekend. Oh well. Friday night, we went to Red Robin to celebrate Kevin’s birthday! Nothing like free dessert on your special day. Saturday was pretty relaxed. Grandma has some serious skills, balancing both babies on her lap while helping Kaya eat her yogurt!The final thing we did before everyone left was take a family picture! The last time we were all together was Thanksgiving of last year, so it was high time for a new one. It was a warm day compared to what we’ve endured lately, and luckily, the wind held off for a few moments. The light could not have been more perfect… and I think we all clean up pretty good! 🙂
Everyone left to go home just before dinner time, and all the festivities (and lack of napping) finally caught up with my babies. Kaya passed out in her seat during dinner!If that’s not a sign of a good time, I don’t know what is. Hopefully we can all do it again real soon!

pre-christmas celebration

Posted on December 29, 2014 by tara

We celebrated Christmas for what seemed like an entire week! One of my favorite things about “growing up” (as if I ever really will) and starting a family on your own is just how much more family you gain. I’ve got the family I was born into, my awesome in-laws, and now, my own little family to celebrate the holidays with- and once you’re done seeing everyone, Christmas really does last more like a week rather than just one day. I love it!

This year, Michael’s parents came up the weekend before Christmas to celebrate Jeff’s graduation. Since everyone was already here, we decided to exchange gifts then! Jeff played Santa and handed out the gifts! (He actually stayed Santa all day long since he forgot to take off his hat!) I had Lelia for our sibling gift exchange this year. She loooves penguins, so it was fun to come up with penguin-themed gift ideas for her! In the end, I went with this crocheted penguin hat from Etsy! She was super excited!Kaya and Kaelyn were the most spoiled, of course! They received some pretty fun things, like a Leap Frog puppy who reads you stories…… and a “choochoo”! Of course, the best part of the weekend was all the family time! Grandma’s favorite gift has to be grandbaby cuddles. 🙂

christmas cookie delivery 2014

Posted on December 23, 2014 by tara

I love cookies. If eating cookie dough counted as a sport (a girl can dream, can’t she?), I’m pretty sure I’d be an Olympic champion.

Imagine, then, how excited I am each Christmas to make gingerbread cookies with my family! Here are a few of my 2014 favorites: snowmen, colorful candy canes, an American star, a hippie girl (any excuse to put Twizzlers on a cookie, am I right?), and Lelia’s most adorable Mrs. Claus (in green). I think they just get cuter every year!

I’m already sad to think that Jeff and Lelia won’t be here next year to decorate with us. Jeff is off to med school!

I thought Kaya might actually decorate some… but she was really into eating her lollipop instead.

As always, we made up plates of goodies to deliver to friends and neighbors. I just love that we can combine my childhood tradition of decorating cookies with Michael’s childhood tradition of delivering them.I felt like we really had a great assortment of sweets this year! We made:

gingerbread cookies
Michigan fudge
the best chocolate-chip cookies ever
and some buttery spritz cookies!

Kaya saw me scooping out the chocolate-chip cookie dough and was SO very excited to help!

Making cookies takes serious concentration. Obviously.

We made up 15 plates this year, which sure felt like the most we’ve ever done, but I didn’t keep count the last couple years, so I don’t actually know. We gave away all but one (our neighbors left town sooner than we realized so they missed out on these)!

Kaelyn was quite patient through this whole process. I love having a little buddy who can just sit and watch, but I know she’ll be into making a big mess with the rest of us next year!Just 2 more days!

claytor lake

Posted on September 3, 2014 by tara

We spent part of our Labor Day weekend at Claytor Lake. Michael’s parents were camping there and invited us all to come swim, relax, and enjoy the sunshine.

The pictures from that day are great, but I don’t feel like they even begin to touch on how perfectly wonderful it all was.Kaya had so much fun making a mess in the sand with her Grandpa. She was honestly still somewhat afraid of the water and waves after being pummeled by them at Myrtle Beach, but Grandpa helped her get past her fear and even had her sitting right at the water’s edge. The lake I went to nearly every day of summer during my childhood was so similar to this. It even had a dock, but it was generally where all the “big kids” would hang out. We swam out there and jumped a few times, and I couldn’t help feeling like I was finally one of the big kids, too. Of course, grandparents filled up on baby cuddles. Kaya was so very tired from all her hard playing during what would have normally been naptime.We ended the night with some of the best pizza (mozzarella, feta, and banana peppers mmmm) and a game of frisbee.Kaya also jumped off the sidewalk a few times…… and probably thought it was the best day ever when we let her carry around the bag of M&Ms.This really was the perfect way to bid summer farewell.

the time michael (almost) singed off his eyebrows…

Posted on April 14, 2014 by tara

… because apparently, using lighter fluid can be trickier than it seems. Somehow, the fire just exploded from the grill and blew him backwards and onto the ground.

I’m so glad I didn’t actually see any of it happen.

His hair and eyelashes are a little shorter, but luckily that’s all (and we still had some pretty tasty food, so everything’s good, right?)
_MG_1990 We had some much-needed sibling time this weekend. Kevin and Tori were driving through on their way back from Utah, and they decided to spend a day with us! We hardly get to see them, so it was a real treat. The weather was perfect for a cookout, so that’s exactly what we did!I love seeing Kaya get to know her aunts and uncles better!We finished off the evening with some homemade cookie bars, which tasted a little extra-amazing after all our running and biking earlier in the day. Spring weather, family time, and good food make for some of the best weekends 🙂

Michael and Tara

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