Sunday, April 26, 2015

Sunday Shenanigans





Our go-to's for keeping these two entertained during church recently has been princess stickers and lots of markers and coloring books. Hadleigh thinks it's hilarious to put stickers on her face (or ours) and Taryn gets creative as to where to keep her markers handy. 



And we've found that though it can be hard to share certain toys, stickers are easy to share with little friends!


Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Cherry Blossoms! This year was the best!


This year, we hit the Cherry blossoms at the perfect time!!! I felt like the past 2 times we've tried, we've done ok (a little too early, then Tyson wasn't with us) but this year we really went all out and soaked in everything outside and Cherry blossom! It was glorious! We had to brave through crazy traffic but thankfully, everyone in our little family was extra patient that weekend because we sailed through without any meltdowns! Amazing!!!


The view was amazing, uplifting, and stunning. 


We had a picnic with friends at Haines Point on Saturday. The kids roamed around the play structures and munched on snacks while the adults sat on blankets and talked. It was the perfect temperature to be outside and not worry about our super sensitive skin and the sun.  We still had on plenty of sunblock, but we didn't roast which was great.



Taryn has turned a new leaf in caring for Hadleigh. She even tries to help her eat food at meal time though Hadleigh is perfectly capable of handling her utensils. But Hadleigh loves it, so we're happy it's happening.

I love this picture of Taryn. We took a walk around the peninsula that is Haines Point and looked for ducks in the water. Taryn put on Tyson's ASU hat and chomped on that apple almost the whole time. Such a peaceful, fun memory to have of her.





Our friend Stepahnie snapped a few family photos for us and captured almost the whole group. Hadleigh is hidden in my lap. I tired to lift her up at the last second when some instant seat arrangements were made but I didn't get her up in time to show her shinning face. So Tyson says I should just say she was napping in the stroller ;)





Taryn plays hard. Always. Just look at her knees! I can't keep pants hole- less for more than a few weeks! Good thing the weather is warmer so I can turn all her pants that have holes in them into cute shorts! Woohoo! Mommy win for sure!


Flat Stanely joined us at the Tidal Basin on the following Monday- peak Cherry blossom bloom. Tyson took his big Customs Broker test that day so he had off of work. We picked him up with a picnic in tow and braved the traffic once again to see the Cherry Blossoms. It was so worth it, again! Different views and a great way to spend Family time together. 


Always on that scooter!




These three are the best!


My view of a perfect day. 




Hadleigh munched on her apple as we stroller along the Tidal Basin, just loving life and the fact that she was lucky enough that she didn't have to walk all that way from the car!!!

 ;)

My sister Brittany & her husband took an extended lunch break and met us at the Tidal Basin so we could take some quick Cherry Blossom Maternity shots for her. So, we got in a few too. Though by this time we had already walked a lot and played a bunch so the girls were warn out.  


Matchy stripes




My favorite knotted Cherry Blossom tree. So much character!


And my favorite 18 month old.



That weekend (a 3 day one for us) is going down in history as one of the most beautiful, smooth sailing weekends we've ever had. I love soaking up everything around this area!

Friday, April 17, 2015

Blue Skies while scooting around








We'll probably be doing a lot of this over the weekend! Happy Friday and thank you weather for being so amazing lately!

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

A move in 24 hours. I'm pretty sure we're nuts!

I built them a city out of boxes so I could get some cleaning/boxing down with the last items in our old apartment. 



On the last Friday of March, I called my sister to ask what I could do to help her with her move that was the next day. She was moving back to Alexandria, just about 10 minutes away from me, and she being 23 weeks pregnant with twins I knew she would need to be kidnapped so she wouldn't be tempted to help out.

We got to talking and she asked about the new home we recently decided to move into. When I told her I had been making a few trips with finished boxes just with our car….and the two girls…she
                                                             1. thought I was nuts and
                          2. volunteered her moving truck and that we share the expenses the very next day. Tyson's Saturday course would take him away from 10am -6pm so it would be up to me to pack everything in the house in less than 24 hours, otherwise we would have to wait a few more weeks to move and it would have cost us more money with utilities and the truck rental- because no one out here owns a truck/trailer! Ya- I can see how others would think we were crazy. And yes- we are. But there were lots of reasons why we wanted to move in then and not later. Lots of them have to do with saving money, and lots of them have to do with our busy schedules, our landlord, and taking care of other business.

 I had already booked up our Friday and couldn't budge anything around so the entire day while the girls and I were out running errands and making visits I thought, "How am I going to do this?!?!" Tyson and I have moved a lot so we know we need to be prepared when friends show up to help load the truck. I was far from that. That night at work I was so anxious and I didn't sleep very well after getting home either. Tyson was back at home taking his practice exam which takes a few hours then he was off to bed to rest for his all day class.

Besides having just a few boxes still packed from our last move, I started boxing up everything in the house starting at 9am Saturday morning and taking down our bed and Hadleigh's crib. I was told the truck would be at my place and ready to load at 3pm. So in 6 hours, I had boxed up ALMOST the entered house with both girls at home with me (they were angels!!!!) Once the truck arrived, I was busy moving everything from our apartment to the truck along with the help of my brother-in-law and some very good friends willingly to jump in and help us VERY last minute. It was also frigid cold that day- of course- one of the last winter days we had. But it had to be done! My sister, being pregnant, jumped in to help watch the girls in our kitchen and at the same time, threw almost all of my kitchen into boxes as well.



Our bedroom ready to go!



The girl's room, mid packing. 


A last picture of my first gallery wall! I started it 4 months after moving into this apartment and it took 3 days to finish. But I have loved it so much!!! Now to recreate it with some kind of twist to fit in our new place. 

    boxes boxes boxes!!



I couldn't believe how much I had gotten done.  We were coming from a 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment and it had plenty of storage that we completely took up. Maybe because we've moved 5 times in 5.5 years of marriage, I'm just too good at this moving game now. Haha!

I was so grateful for the help we received to get everything done. It was exhausting but I can't tell you how completely worth it it has been.

After a week's worth of full time mommy and part time work at nights until 2am,  I look forward to my Saturday and Sundays to really catch up on rest. But because we had moved, I had to push through to Sunday. THEN…..on Sunday morning I wanted to mentally prepare for the upcoming week so when I glanced at the calendar. I was shocked to see I had completely forgotten about how I signed up to feed the missionaries…that day!! Everything was in shambles, boxed up. Luckily I remembered where most things were, it was just a matter of finding the boxes and shifting things around. And I had to think of a meal that didn't require lots of time and attention because we didn't have any of that at our disposal and we really needed to go to the grocery store.  So pancakes and eggs it was! I know, like the missionaries don't eat that all the time on their own (or was that just Tyson who did on his mission??!) I made buttermilk syrup and had piping hot pancakes coming off the griddle when they walked in. It was 7pm by now because our church starts at 3pm this year.  Tyson is amazing at entertaining and I left it to him while I listened with one ear, maneuvered around boxes, and attended to the girls and making the food.

Well, the girls were going a little crazy. I can only say that it was probably the move, visitors, long hours at church, and the approaching bed time that made them go a little bonkers. It was a rough dinner. Not to mention that I was almost all out of all purpose flour so I used self rising flour- no big deal unless you forget to omit the baking powder AND salt. The pancakes tasted a little off but were still edible and the missionaries liked them and had plenty- phew!

Now after the missionaries shared a message about Easter that we loved, they left and my little family stood in the kitchen laughing along with the girls who were now in better spirits. They were having a bed time snack while Tyson was asking me a question while unpacking his clothes for work the next day. Then…..we heard the giant spill……

I held my breathe. As I turned around, Hadleigh was covered in BUTTERMILK SYRUP!!!! And so was our kitchen floor. With boxes everywhere now splatter with stickiness, I surveyed the mess. I tried….like really really tried to laugh about it. We had managed to laugh our way through the night and I remember cracking a little smile, trying to muster up a laugh.  But it quickly turned to a frown and I burst into tears. I covered my face and fell on the ground. I only allowed myself to break down for 30 sends because that was all the time I had. So I got up and got to work. Tyson had dropped everything and was already being my knight in shinning armor by cleaning up the mess. I peeled of the jammies now soaked with syrup form Hadleigh and cleaned her up. Luckily, the jammies she had on were oldies with holes in the toes, having been a hand me down from my sisters neighbor, my niece, Taryn and now Hadleigh. I had no problem tossing them in the trash. That "little" event had just broke the camel's back.

Once everything was cleaned, the girls were put to bed at 10pm, when their usual bed time is 8pm. Tyson and I had to continue unpacking a few more things to prepare for Monday morning so by the time we were in bed, I think it was midnight. I was beyond mentally and physically exhausted and sore from the whole weekend. The next week dragged on as the boxes seemed to just multiply instead of disappearing after unloading them. I felt like our functioning level moved to "Survival" mode. I have grown very appreciative of weekends and what it means to recharge your batteries!!!



After one very hard day for Taryn, she crashed on the couch, no time to take off her helmet from scootering!



Exhausted from playing all day! She crashed on my bed before I could get her into her crib. 


So the past 3 weeks have been a blur, but things are settling down, yay!!!! Tyson took his big Customs Exam yesterday!! This test was a big financial decision for us and Tyson put so much mental preparation into it. I am so proud of him and all his hard work, requiring nightly studying, LONG practice exams, and classes that took up his Saturdays. Now we wait for official results….









Thursday, April 9, 2015

Our little dare devil




Hadleigh and Taryn love the tire swing by our new place (more on our crazy fast move soon!) We've been to the park several times before, but now it will become our walking- go to park which is great!
Hadleigh has grown up so much. She loves to swing on the big girl swing (although she still wants me to hold her :/ ) and she has mastered swinging by herself on the tire swing. She is one determined little chica! 
We're working on having Taryn master the self pump on the swings. I'm sure it will be fast in coming now that I have to keep a closer eye on our little dare devil Hadleigh. The other day Hadleigh walked up to the biggest, fastest slide at the park (The one behind Target, for my own record) and launched herself off. I admit, I was telling her "Stop Hadleigh!" as I ran as fast as I could to her, thinking it would end badly. Of course, she was perfectly fine and even tired to go several more times. She is one brave girl and I don't know if her mama is ready for that yet- but I guess I have to be :)



Our friends Mabel and Cora came to play a few weeks ago and the girls loved their little playmates at the park (right behind our old apartment.) Both sets are around each others age so it's always fun to get together with them. 






This is the first time that Hadleigh has been able to fully appreciate a good shovel and bucket and man is she just loving it! She is intensely focused at making sure the sand gets into the bucket. Tiny shovel full by tiny shovel full, that bucket will get full! She's more than happy to have Taryn's help too. 


Loving all things dirt related now a days!



Enjoying all the sunshine and warm weather!!! We love Spring!



Wednesday, April 1, 2015

The girls as of recently


Hadleigh insists on sitting atop one of her toy buckets. It's always at the most random times. I guess she thought it would be fun to sit while trying to play her with her playhouse (though she couldn't reach anything and just sat there, really.)


Our little friend Siri had a Pirate birthday party and Taryn had so much fun! She makes a great little pirate!




"It's Trag-door the burnantor!" says Taryn (Homestar runner, anyone?)



Tyson took the girls to a soft play room while I went to a baby shower during the cold weather recently (yay! For Spring finally being here!). Hadleigh had a "ball" and we figured it was probably the last time Taryn would be able to enjoy this particular one. She's just growing so fast!

Taryn wore this dress that their Grandma Smith sent her from Thailand when she was Hadleigh's age. I absolutely love putting on clothes for Hadleigh that have so many memories for Taryn (and us!)