The girls have really taken an interest in cooking/baking lately. I've always wanted them to learn how to cook and bake before leaving the home and I'm so glad that they are actually interested!!!!
Yes, it tests my patience to have them in the kitchen but I also love it!
Our family nights on Monday include a special treat and we rotate who's turn it is to choose. At the time this photo was taken, it was Taryn's turn to pick. She wanted brownies with chocolate chips in them. Both girls were all in with helping make them :)
And the veggies! If they help prep it, their more willing to eat it!
Caddie's favorite foods are french fries, Mac & Cheese, and donuts.
She's a pro at making Mac & Cheese!
I'm always happy when the winter weather warms up enough for me to go for a run outdoors. I love my pilates, yoga or HIIT training I can do in my basement, but man- getting outdoors feels SOOOO much better.
We love our time we get with friends at our home.
Haddie, Olivia and Coco all play so well together and this little tea party was supper cute!
Our friends told us about this amazing Napoliation pizzeria in the area so we went with them to try it out. It was amazing and delicious!!! Our girls had been inside all day with the freezing temps and wind chill so they were bouncing around like crazy after eating. But we made it through and loved our time with the Pulvers.
Oh and I love that we go out to a great Italian eatery and our girls order cotton candy gelato! Haha!
It's always a special occasion when we get to ride the metro into D.C. The girls think it's the best and Tyson is mighty happy that riding the metro is now a once and awhile event instead of part of his tail commute to work. Remind me that living within 10 minute walking distance of work is pure bliss.
Love this guy!
We don't often stay out past dark so I love to catch the last of the sunsets when we actually see them. Who knew people stay out past 8pm ;)
Haddie, Jane and Taryn in Cafe Rio playing some game they made up. We love Brad and Amanda Glenn and were so sad they moved away from Arlington to go to school in Boston. Thankfully their family trips have taken them down our direction several times. Each time they are passing through, we try and meet up at Cafe Rio. We actually ran into them accidentally at Good Stuff Eatery (In May 2018) while they were moving al their stuff to Texas to start Brad's job there. They were just passing through and wanted to stop of shakes and take them to go. We totally lucked out that we were there taking my sister and her husband out to dinner as a Congratulations to them for finishing job training and moving their family to California. Now we have to plan a trip to Texas to see the Glenn's !
Taryn played basketball over the winter season and loved it. She learned lots of drills and met new kids. Her couch was so fantastic! Taryn would count in her head how many baskets she would make during practice and report to us at the end. She loves her sports!
I'm still busy making cakes and I love it. Some months (November-February) are slow for me. I won't complain because the holidays are a crazy time and everyone is gone for vacation. March-July are super crazy busy and fun. Each cake has been so different and fun. I'm trying to better my food photography skills and working with fondant. That last thing is still scary to me.
Or friends have been telling us all about shark tooth hunting for awhile now and it's been on our bucket list for a long time. We finally ventured out to Maryland - Flags Pong Beach, to hunt for shark teeth. Taryn, who loves sharks and studies all about them, was super excited!
The wind was chilly and the water was probably 35 degrees. BONE CHILLING! And yes, we did put our feet in to really dig for shark teeth.
We started out super excited but we were surprised at how fast out girls grew tired of hunting. They were discouraged when they couldn't find the large magaldone
I love catching these little moments.
Totally in his element. Nature is Tyson's de-stresser.
This girl is just as crazy funny as ever.
We pulled off about 30 minutes from home because we saw signs for the "Home of Dr. Samuel Mudd" and knew we had to just go see what it was all about. It was a brief stop but we learned a bit of history on John Wilkes Booth and Dr. Mudd, so it was worth it!
LOVE seeing this sing on our way home from a day trip.
The girls play "Family" all the time and often tend to their babies, travel to Arizona or more recently South Carolina because that's where Tyson traveled of work a few weeks back. If the girls have to go to bed, they ask for me to take a picture of what their toys look like so they won't forget in the morning. I have so many pictures like this one on my phone! :)
This is how breakfast goes in our home. Early mornings, cereal and fruit for Haddie.
Oh, and her blanket because she is always freezing.
Notice the kitty/cheetah ears on the girls. They get into full character when those are on their heads.
Also, Taryn's love for dogs runs DEEP. She asks me for a dog, writes letters to the tooth fairy asking for a dog instead of money, wishes for a dog when she finds an eyelash, wishbone and dandelion puff and more. She often writes in her journals about how she is sad because she wants a dog but I won't let her have one. So therefore I am a mean mom - haha!
Our friends from way back in our Arizona days came to visit! Aaron's sister lives about 1.5 hours away so they decided to spend one day with us in D.C. We miss them but we know they are happy in Washington state. It's always fun to have friends in town and take them around D.C. & Virginia !
We had such a blast at our first family skate night. The girls were total champs and kept trying over and over even after falling flat on their bums. They shared the assistance bar back and forth and asked to come back for weeks later. I loved spending time as a family trying something new!
Our 2nd go around was not as smooth. The girls were too over tired, my GoodWill roller-skates broke and we kept getting separated. But we still managed to have some fun and get through the night. Having more friends like the Williams, Plowmans and Ringgers there helped for sure!
Taryn has lost so many teeth recently. She is looking more and more grown up. She won't let us pull out her teeth, even when they are hanging by a thread. Our friend Lindsey Williams suggested using our stomp rocket to help and Tayrn was all for it! So far, Taryn has lost her teeth via stomp rocket twice, wrestling with Haddie and twisting the tooth around completely at school after a friend said it would help the tooth come out. She is raking in the money from the tooth fairy.
Since this picture in January, she has lost 3 more teeth !
