day at the zoo



 

 

On a whim we took a trip to our local (little) zoo this weekend with the kids. It was fun to watch the kids squeal at the animals and zoom on to the next. It was fun spending sometime together enjoying the beautiful weather. Look forward to another family outing soon.

nephew

Back in September (consider this a #latergram-ish) my sister and her husband welcomed a handsome little guy to their family. Before he made his grand arrival there were a few false alarms and visits to the hospital hoping it was a "today's the day" visit. The first couple weren't but I felt so lucky to be able to come sit with them as they waited for their little guy to decide what was up.

I brought my camera down on one of their false alarm hospital stays and snapped a few images around the room as we patiently waited and waited.

black & white

"To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world."  -Dr. Seuss 

weekend

I just discovered that you can embed your Instagram videos onto your blog. I was making it much more difficult, saving then emailing and then saving, then uploading.... Anywho Alissa at Rags to Stitches Blog shows you how to do it here.

I thought it would be fun to share my IG vids from this weekend instead of just snapshots (and mainly because I only took 1 photo all weekend!)

Happy Monday!!

family // dad is the best

This past weekend we got to spend the day at my mom's while visiting with some of her friends. 

It was also nice to have the full day with my Hubby around (crazy busy work schedule lately).

The kids both got to enjoy some special alone time with their amazing Dad, and I think they were over the moon about it too.

They are so luck to have such an amazing Dad like him, I am so thankful for it too- Proof that great dads do exist.

“While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about.” 

― Angela Schwindt

                                     

a reminder // why i love being a mom

Before becoming a mom, my life consisted of working- 2 jobs sometimes. 

Get together's with my girlfriends every Thursday for Bingo or a movie here and there.

Get away's with my Husband (then boyfriend) happened somewhat regularly if there was somewhere we wanted to go.

Of course when you now have kids in the mix, seems thing to change a bit.

Bingo is no more, movies seem to only happen once a year, and what are get away's??

But don't take this as me complaining, I really am not. I love my life now.

My life prior to kids seemed somewhat less exciting than it is now. They make my days more enjoyable and fun. They are spunky little alarm clocks that help me start my mornings off bright an early, followed by morning snuggles on the couch watching Mickey Mouse. I seem to always be busy which is kind of nice, either making meals, painting silly pictures, or watching them run through the sprinklers- each day is never dull. 

By the end of the day, I am usually exhausted- while they are still running around like silly monkeys. (I would like to bottle up their energy). And by night we are all snuggles again as we tuck them into their beds to sleep. Their sweet little kisses warm my heart and reassure me that each day is well worth it. 

My nights aren't spent out with friends, but rather picking up the house and preparing for the next day of fun craziness. Some days are more exhausting than others, but it comes with the territory as they say. And don't get me wrong- I do miss having adult conversations and fun outings on a regular basis, but when they do happen they are definitely enjoyed!

I would love to sit here and tell you that everyday is perfect and wonderful, but then I would be lying. Some days bedtime can't come fast enough. Screaming, fighting, crying on repeat happen regularly too. On those days I just drink a little more coffee and pull out all reserves to make it through the day. And as crazy as a day might be, it still ends the same as every other day- lots of love and sweet kisses

I love being a mom, wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

oatmeal krispie cookie

I have been having so much fun baking lately. Mainly because I have been using family (my Hubby's family) recipes. It's so awesome to see the name next to the recipe, and think about how all those years ago, they were making these cookies, or frosting that cake. 

I love history!

christmas joy 2012

It's safe to say we survived the holidays! 

Still running on large amounts of caffeine and little sleep, but for good reason.

Christmas came far to fast for me to even realize it was here.

(I have to confess, I kind of felt like Scrooge at times.)

But all in all, I have to say now, it was a perfect Christmas! Especially with the kids being a little older and able to get the idea (or somewhat the idea) of what Christmas is all about.

Watching their little faces light up as they run into a room filled with new toys displayed on the floor, ready to be loved and played with for hours beyond hours. Yes, I said displayed, I didn't wrap one gift this year... How horrible is that. Although, in a way it was kind of genius, because there was no screaming that we weren't assembling the parts fast enough, everything was good to go!

(I apologize in advance at the poor quality iPhone pictures, I didn't even pick up my DSLR camera and I am completely kicking myself for it!!)

My hubby and I decided to not go crazy this year with gifts, knowing that our family would be spoiling them with plenty. I think they scored pretty well. They loads of toys, clothes and of course LOVE!

I tried not only to make a lot of the gifts I was giving, I also bought handmade too. I got this super cute Whale-Unicorn, as she calls it, from Kelsey Bang's Etsy Store. And I bought my Hubby's Grandpa this amazingly beautiful Family Tree print from Kimmie at Sugar & Dots. I made a few sets of Superhero Kits for cousins, and Lavender Warmers for some lovely family members too. I also made some super cute Snow Globes too, they were quite a hit!

On Christmas we had my family over and devoured mounds and mounds of food! Hubs did the turkey, which was AMAZING! I think the best part about large amounts of food, is all the leftovers! My mom brought some yummy Mexican food, from a delicious market in town. Those tamales were BOMB! 

Of course the food coma set in and we could barley move, which meant sleepy time!

Watching moments like this, melt my heart! She was so excited and so thankful for everything. 

They bring the best Christmas Joy!

Of course then you have to figure out where it all goes afterwards! 

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones! 

I am getting back into the swing of things in these next few days, with some exciting posts to share with you!

{UPDATE}

I totally forgot to share our visit with Santa!!

How could I forget! Santa came and visited us at a Family Christmas get together. Lil Miss was beyond excited! She had a new dress and shoes just for him, actually I had to bribe her with the fact that she might see Santa so she would put the dress on! Of course when it came time for the big moment when Santa made his surprise visit... She wanted nothing to do with him! It was quite hilarious!! And Lil Man was such a cool cat about it all, no cares or worries about it, just go with the flow kind guy. 

Harvesting Memories

 

This weekend we packed the kids up in the car for a trip to a local pumpkin patch.

We decided on Chesebrough Farms. 

They are based out of Templeton California, down an old dirt road (for reals!)

I love their whole set up, and that they aren't one of those crazy LARGE pumpkin patches where you have to go out an pick your own... That's totally cool if that's your thing, with toddlers though, the less surface area for them to escape the better!

We had perfect weather too.

The kids enjoyed a wagon ride around the patch and picked out their pumpkins. Okay, I actually picked them out, they could really care less which one they took home.

We even managed to squeeze in a quick family photo op.

Although I am not happy with how I look in them, they came out pretty cute.

We came home with not only pumpkins, but some great memories!

Have you taken a trip to the pumpkin patch yet??

{Preview} Pumpkin Patch Fun

We traveled to the Pumpkin Patch today as a family of 4...

We didn't go last year, horrible I know!

Thought I would share with you a little bit of our fun day!

Attempted some quick family pictures...Realized it's almost nearly impossible to get 

a picture with all four of  looking at the same time.

And, I am okay with that!

Stay tuned for more pictures later in the week!!

Fourth of July...2012

July 4, 1776... The day our beautiful country declared it's Independence!

And here we are, 236 years later...still Independent. Although it hasn't been the easiest... 

We've fought battles, witnessed disasters, and experienced tragedies.

But we still stand as One United Country.

A country that I am so proud to call HOME!

I am PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!!

Every year, My AMAZING friends Karen & Stephen, put on a fabulous BBQ. They invite all their friends and family to celebrate the Fourth of July and also to show their Gratitude to our awesome Veterans & Active Service Men & Women. (Their son is currently serving in the Marines).

 There are fun games, GIANT water slides and kiddie pools, an abundance of ICE cold refreshments and the yummiest food (all homemade might I add). And ending the day by taking drive down the road, all the Polaris' decked out in their Red White & Blue parked on top of a vacant lot, watching the lights explode in the Sky! Oohs and Aahs!!

 And  remembering why we are all here... To remember those who have lost their lives, those who have fought for our Freedom, and all that continue fight so that we can sit on top of this hill and feel so safe and loved surrounded by family and friends.

This year to add to the fun festivities of the day, I offered up doing a Vintage Red White & Blue Themed Photo Booth. It took many {DIY} projects and a few thrifty purchases, but I think that it came together better than I could have imagined!!

I took some burlap, some white lace that I dyed with Tea and stapled them to 2in x 1in x 6ft piece of wood and hung it up on to a shed. Hung up my Fabric Fourth of July Banner. Made some of those fun Tissue Balls (definitely need to perfect making those). And set up a fun vintage chair that I found on Craigslist. I was pretty proud of myself for pulling this together!

Now it was time to get this show started!! Everyone seemed to enjoy it, and even got a little silly and dressed up with the photo props that I made and bought (I purchased a bunch of Fourth of July items from Michael's when they had everything at 50% off!)

I definitely want to do this again and try out different themes and find more funky photo props to add to the silliness!!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that were taken, hope you enjoy!!

This little guy was my BIGGEST FAN!! You will see why as you continue...

I actually took a picture!! This is one of my AWESOME Friends Jen!!

This was one of my favorite pictures of the day...

If you would like to see more of these fun pictures, check out my photography page on
 Facebook, Heidi Toevs Photography.
I will also try to get these up on my photography blog soon too,
Heidi Toevs Photography.

Thanks!!