spring break skiing

 it's spring break {for trevor} and we have spent the week at grandma's house. we have enjoyed the perfect weather and trev has done A LOT of golfing...i'm talking an average of 40 holes a day. 

crazy person. 

he was kind enough to take the morning off {he had a tee time for right when we got home} on wednesday and go skiing with us.after all he couldn't miss out on emma's first time skiing! she started off with an hour private lesson and then skied with grandma dschaak. 

she is pretty much fearless.

 i'm sure next year she will be going down the mountain faster than me.

it's our last official spring break for a couple years until our kids are actually in school and we sure are taking advantage of it. what a bonus to top it all off with Easter! we will be kicking off all things Easter tomorrow with a church Easter egg hunt!

the kid is one

okay, so life got crazy after kellen turned one and i never got around to the one year old pictures. 

so here they are! 

 he didn't know what to think about this tie today. 

 i was having flashbacks of taking emma's one year old pics and how it is SO hard to get kids to smile at this age for a picture.

and i had to bribe emma to help me get kellen's attention by promising to take her pictures too. 

spring fever

happy first day of spring!

spring is my second choice to fall as far as seasons go and last week gave us some serious spring fever around here with highs in the 50's and 60's. so i broke out a little bit of spring fashion!

i finally added a denim shirt to my closet after scoring this one for $3 at jcpenny. and my awesome hubby and i went on a date where i scored some burlap Tom's. i'm a lucky girl. 

i also got to wear my mint shirt and cream "Bob's" {sketchers version of Tom's}that i got back in december from my mom.

*red skinnies- maurices, mint shirt- aeropostale, {my favorite}denim skinnies- american eagle hi-rise super skinny jeans*

tom's/bob's and skinnies will most definitely be spring staples from here on out!

unfortunately the nice sunny weather didn't stick around, but i will say that i don't mind a good lazy rainy day like today.

what's your favorite spring fashion?

you're not a terrible parent if...

how is it that one day your can accomplish SO much and feel like "mom of the year" and the next you just can't seem to get off the couch? 

story. of. my. life. 

i was just over reading and here's to you, Mrs. Robinson and she had the best article link on her page.

find it here

basically this is exactly what i need to read...

"If you are a parent of small children, you know that there are moments of spectacular delight, and you can’t believe you get to be around these little people. But let me be the one who says the following things out loud:

You are not a terrible parent if you can’t figure out a way for your children to eat as healthy as your friend’s children do. She’s obviously using a bizarre and probably illegal form of hypnotism.

You are not a terrible parent if you yell at your kids sometimes. You have little dictators living in your house. If someone else talked to you like that, they’d be put in prison.

You are not a terrible parent if you can’t figure out how to calmly give them appropriate consequences in real time for every single act of terrorism that they so creatively devise.

You are not a terrible parent if you’d rather be at work.

You are not a terrible parent if you just can’t wait for them to go to bed.

You are not a terrible parent if the sound of their voices sometimes makes you want to drink and never stop.

You’re not a terrible parent."

could it have been put any better? i think not. 

i am seriously guilty of saying, "i just can't stand her {emma's} voice anymore!" 

emma is a talker and i am thankful that it helps her to be outgoing and make friends with anyone but when i am the only person to talk to. man it gets hard. 

like popping advil daily kind of hard.  

kids really are great but in those crazy moments it is so easy to forget

so here's to my kids...

emma i love that you.... are such a good helper with your brother, tell me you love me multiple times a day, want to be independent, are a good sleeper, let me do your hair, try and dress yourself, want to play every sport just like your dad.

kellen i love that you...are a snuggler, laugh at your sisters craziness, say hi to everyone around, act silly to make people laugh, try so hard to do everything emma is doing, know just when to give hugs and kisses.

good days really do make up for the bad ones, even if they are few and far between. 

favorite things friday

yay for friday! 

here are a few of my favorite things from this week...

*playing at the park for the first time this spring

* shopping day in twin falls

*my newly made easter wreath

DIY:

this wreath was super simple and i made it from start to finish in about 30-45 minutes. all you need is a stick wreath, wood letter, fabric scraps, spray paint, and any other embellishments you may want!

basically i spray painted the wreath (hanging it seemed to be the easiest) and while it was drying i made the fabric flowers. hot glue the flowers to the letter and then bring in the wreath and hot glue the letter to the wreath. my letter had a clear tab on it so it could hang at the store, so i used that and a light blue string and attached the letter to the wreath as well for extra security. add any other embellishments and you are done!

what are your favorite things from this week?

{inside} photography tips

i am really bad at taking pictures in the winter. mostly it is because we don't do much and we are trapped inside all day every day going crazy...and no one really cares to remember those kind of days. 

but another reason is because i don't ever like how my indoor pictures turn out...you know, with that orangish yellow tint. ugly. 

take kellen's 9 month pictures for example. i usually end up turning them to black & white because i can't stand it. 

so today i was doing my usual nap time things like dishes, laundry, facebook, pinterest, blogging and i just happened to stumble across these photography tips. i was excited to try them out and the pictures surpassed my expectations. 

i know, i know. i have had my DSLR for 3 years now and i am just now learning the in's and out's. 

can anyone say lazzzy?

who knew that indoor pictures were all about fixing the white balance and no flash? 

probably a lot of people. but not me. 

check out the tips above and you will not be disappointed. 

here's proof. 

not one single edit.

she was a trooper. yes, we are still in our pj's at 3pm. 

on the move

emma is spending the weekend at grandma dschaak's house so i am taking a little extra "practice" time with kellen. 

this kid has been pulling himself up on things since about 6 1/2 months old and walking around things a little after 7 months. i was sure he would be walking by thanksgiving or at least christmas!

but here he is coming up on 13 months of age and just took his first steps 2 weeks ago...after i had to stand him up. this week kellen learned to get from crawling to standing on his own! such a big boy :) but he still has to be bribed to take a few steps instead of just plopping back down on the ground. 

em didn't walk until 14 months (but she also didn't crawl until 10 months) so i guess he isn't too far behind.

this little man also has 2 molars cutting through for a total of 10 teeth!

...should have sent him to grandma's for the weekend too ; )

spring

march always makes me itch for warm weather and change. i actually "want" to clean...kinda. i also find myself opening every single set of blinds/curtains in my house. today i even researched the best flowers to plant in idaho. 

{it's a little known secret that i LOVE to garden. not vegetables. just flowers.}

anyway, i have a few DIY projects planned and already finished one to go with my spring decor!

DIY: rag garland

 basically for the rag garland i just used scrap fabric that i already had and gray ribbon. i cut strips about 6 inches long and tied them to the ribbon. easy peasy! 

now i REALLY need some input about this stupid built-in. don't get me wrong...i love built-in's. but the wood  is seriously clashing with my front room. it has been an eye sore since we moved in a year ago and i haven't really done anything because we will probably be moving in a little over a year and it's just a rental. but really i think i would just be doing our sweet old landlords a favor...considering the entire rest of the house is beige with white trim. plus thinking about looking at it for another year annoys me. 

so here's the dilemma...all white or beige inside with white trim?

and here is the "spring" printable that i created!

stay tuned for the next DIY...a spring wreath!