ready or not, it's here!

nothing will motivate you to whip yourself into shape quite like bathing suit shopping! am i right?

...here's to getting into shape and feeling good in our suits this summer

{mind you, i say this as i sit here eating a bowl of kettle corn}

warm weather happenings

for the most part the weather's been really nice lately, so we've been taking full advantage of it. i feel like i have this ticking time bomb inside that keeps reminding me we only have 4 more months of nice weather, so we're trying live it up! 

here's some of our warm weather happenings lately...

a few weeks ago, the girls and i went to the park for a little play date with some friends. i've taken the girls to the park before, but none of them have had baby swings. thankfully this one did, so they got to try them out for the first time. 

10 month old + swing + nice weather = pure bliss and lots of giggles

they loved it from the second they got in. which then made me feel bad that i had been depriving them of this childhood experience for the first 10 months of their lives. 

 

when we first got the park i saw a woman put both of her kids in one of the swings, but facing back to back. it made sense, because then the little baby could have some support. i tried it out with the girls. it was pretty funny and cute.

it was so fun seeing the pure joy on these little girls' faces. i couldn't help but grin ear to ear too. their happiness was infectious! 

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my super sweet sister-in-law brittany (try saying that 10 times fast) picked up a plastic kiddie pool for $1 at a garage sale the other weekend. such a steal. here's some pics of the girls taking it for a test run.

 

looks like we've got some water babies on our hands. 

keep the warm weather coming because we've got lots more fun things we want to do outside!

introducing...

remember this post... when i said i was planning on starting a new blog dedicated solely to tutorials? well, i've been working away and am finally ready to share it with all of you. its still a little under construction so bear with me! 

thank you so much for all the support and encouragement i got when i first announced i was doing this. it really kept me motivated to get it done. so far its been a lot of fun and i hope you like it!

i could sit here and tell you all about it, but really it would just be quicker if you go ahead and hop on over and check it out {just click on the runs with scissors logo up above}. let me know what you think!

i'd love to know if you have any suggestions of things that i should improve. 

{also, thank you for all your ideas of what i should call it. but one day, i randomly came up with the name on my own. all of the suggestions were awesome, but for some reason this name just kept popping up to the top of my list.}

90's commercials

austin and i were feeling a little nostalgic the other night and started talking about some things we loved as kids, but aren't around anymore. namely dunkaroos and undercover bears (i actually didn't remember these, but austin enlightened me). 

it then led us to youtube where we watched some commercials from the early 90s. and once again youtube provided some good ole fashioned late night entertainment, so i thought i'd share!

the video is a little long, so here's a lineup of what's in it if you just want to skip to a certain part:
Ghostbusters, Super Golden Crisp, Pretty Cut and Grow, Saved by the Bell, Lego, Water Pets, Little Miss Dolly Surprise, Hi-C, Disney, Count Chocula, Franken Berry, Tiny Toons, Baby Uh-Oh, Gravedale High, Chef Boyardee: Sharks, WWF Wrestling Buddies, Teddy Grahams, G.I. Joe Avalanche/ Hurricane, Undercover Bears Oatmeal, MicroMachines, Cookie-Crisp, Turtles Cereal, Alphabits Cereal, Cabbage Patch Kids: Sippin Babies, McDonalds (Food Folks and Fun), Barbie Ice cream Maker

what about you? anything you remember from being a kid that you wish was still around?

perfection

well people, i finally did it. i finally discovered the perfect recipe for a yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting. 

a simple dessert, i know, yet tough to top! 

i've been working on this little recipe conundrum for a couple years now. last year i found the perfect yellow cupcake recipe (the recipe is, in fact, called the perfect yellow cupcake). and last week i finally found the perfect chocolate frosting. one word... divine! 

anyways, i thought i'd share, because if i have to put on the lbs. eating these babies, so should you (that is, if you care to take these recipes for a test drive. and trust me, you should). they were so yummy, that i had 3 the night i made them and one for breakfast the next day. i realized that if these cupcakes stuck around, i was going to be 5 lbs. heavier by the end of the day. so i did what i had to do and made austin take the rest to work with him. by the time lunch rolled around i was having cupcake withdrawals, but you gotta do what you gotta do. 

happy eating!

mother's day/austin's birthday

since today was mother's day and also austin's birthday we kind of just called a "special" day truce. basically they just cancelled each other out. although, i did manage to sneak in choc. chip banana pancakes for breakfast and a snickers pie, for desert later tonight, for austin. and he bought me a necklace that i had been wanting. its just a silver stamped necklace with the letter R and E but i love it because it keeps the girls close to my heart (cheesy i know).

my favorite thing about the whole day was just being able to catch up with family! it wasn't anything fancy but it was a fabulous first mother's day because i got to spend it with the people i love most. 

{picture from the surprise b-day pop-in that jordan, brittany and the kids did. can't you tell that austin just LOVES his b-day!}

happy 27th birthday honey bunny. even though i tell you that i love the girls more than anything in the world, its definitely a tie with the love i have for you!

also, i'm blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing mothers (and mothers to be)... my mom, mother-in-law, sister-in-laws and friends. just to name a few. happy mother's day to you all. you are truly amazing and inspire me to be a better mother every day!

duck beach is...

what is duck beach you ask?

just watch the video below and you'll find out!

ok. first off let me just start by saying that heck yes we donated! the main reason we did was because we are actually close friends with ryan. austin grew up with his family and i've known him and his family even before we started dating. we LOVE ryan. he is such an awesome guy which is why we would love it if this documentary actually happened. also, it would just be plain hilarious to watch.

anyways, this video would probably be better if you know ryan (which some of you might), but just the whole duck beach phenomenon alone is so intriguing. don't you think?

easter fun

really. could it have taken me any longer to get these pics up? i know you're just DYING to see another set of easter pics from another family's easter sunday but here we go anyways.

the day started out with easter baskets for the girls. there's not really much you can indulge a 9 month old with but the girls seemed pretty happy anyways. they got yogurt melts, a couple toys, and some darling books from grandma teri.

{to get the tutorial on how i made their easter baskets go here} 

after church we headed over to jordan and brittany's (austin's brother and wife) to have easter dinner with some friends. i wish i had gotten a picture of the food because the spread was delish! on the menu: ham, green beans, funeral potatoes, rolls, baked mac n' cheese, jello, salad, and cake. yum!

luckily the weather was actually nice for once, so after we ate we headed outside for the easter egg hunt. with the four families that were there, we had a total of 10 kids (including 3 sets of twins, well that's if you count brittany's twin boys in her preggy belly). notice the other set of twin boys posed perfectly in the front. love them!

the girls even got in on the egg hunting action. (well, as much as they could)

and we even managed to squeeze a family pic in there.

all in all, it was a great day. i'm so grateful for the great friends and of course family that made the day special. but most of all, i'm grateful for my Savior and His redeeming sacrifice and resurrection. without Him, it would all be meaningless. hope you had a wonderful easter too!