This week our kids are out of school for Mid-Winter Break. Since we haven’t seen much snow this winter, we went east of the mountains to our favorite vacation spot for a few days. There wasn’t much snow east of the mountains either, but that didn’t stop us from driving up as high on the…
family
swimming lessons
I love swimming and I love that my kids have all taken a liking to it as well. Today was a HOT HOT day for us {in the 90’s : I know all you Texas gals are laughing} so we met up with my sisters and their kids at the pool. By the way, if…
One place you should visit: the most darling PNW beach town
Last week was our Spring Break. The first half of the week was spent at home; the second half was enjoyed at the most charming town on the Washington Coast called Seabrook. We spent last year’s spring break in this cute town (read about that trip here). The town was modeled after my favorite place of…
5 games I actually enjoy playing with the kids
I’m so sorry; that title sounds terrible. I like my kids. And I like playing with them. But when it comes to playing board games together as a family, there are some that are just brutal. Take Monopoly, for example. Or Sorry. I played both games for hours with my sister and cousins when we…
Tips on choosing outfits for your family photos
Every year, like many of you, we have family photos taken. And every year, like many of you, I obsess over what to dress my family in for said photos. Okay, maybe obsess is too strong a word, but I do think about it for a while. Choosing clothes that coordinate and allow personalities to show and…
a day trip to mt rainier
Ryan and I took the boys on a day trip to Mount Rainier this weekend. You know how it is when you live somewhere and take certain places for granted and skip out on doing the ‘touristy’ things because you aren’t a tourist? This was one of those things. But Ryan has summitted the mountain twice…
from our family to yours
Our cards are sent (we chose this one from minted this year), the kids are done with school and the finishing touches are being put on our plans and menus and tables and (hopefully) hearts. How did this Christmas season fly by so quickly?! A new favorite tradition is having our family photos taken –…
what we’re wearing (family photos 2014)
Tis the season for family photos. If I could, I would have photos taken every couple of months. But, alas, I live in reality and not only could I not afford it, my kids would probably go crazy if I forced them into outfits and made them smile real smiles more than once per year….
It gets easier
There’s a super cute mom at preschool pickup who reminds me so much of me just a few years ago. She has an almost four-year old who holds her almost two-year old’s hand to cross the parking lot, while she awkwardly carries her newborn in a cumbersome baby carseat carrier to pick up her just…
tiny dancer photoshoot with my baby girl
When Paige was here this past fall, we set out one very chilly morning for a girly photoshoot at this gorgeously dilapidated old farmhouse nearby. Paige styled the whole thing – choosing our outfits and bossing us around with how to do our hair (kidding. She’s not bossy. But she did have a vision and…
getting personal
First of all, G O S E A H A W K S ! The excitement in this city, this household, this girl is out of control. We love our Superbowl-bound football team! . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ryan added a new feature to the blog last…
family photos 2014
A few weeks ago, the super talented, very wise, fashionable, kind and sweetly southern Paige came for a visit and photographed our family. I’ve long admired her talent and was so thankful to have her capture our family just being us {a coordinated-outfit version of us, at least}. The photos – every single one –…
how we do christmas gifts in our family
Last year we tried something different with our gift-giving. Usually, we call Christmas an excuse to buy our kids a whole load of things they want and things we want them to have. We don’t go completely overboard, but with four kids and a handful of gifts each, our tree is usually overflowing with festively-wrapped…
what we’ll wear for family photos
We’re having family photos taken this week for the first time in way too long. We’ll use one for our Christmas card, but we also just hope to capture us being us during this slightly chaotic, but also really fun time in our family’s life. What it means for me is that I get to…
the happiest place on earth
They claim it’s the happiest place on earth. They are so right. Our family plus my mom & sugar-daddy {that’s code for the best stepdad ever} spent a few days in disneyland two weeks ago. I just love everything about disneyland and could not wait to experience it through the eyes of my own children….