Backyard

On Sunday it didn't rain and the sun was kind of showing through so I got the girls dressed in bright colors, to prove to myself that Spring really is here.

Those adorable boots were $6 at Kohl's!!! Such a steal.

Yay for warmer weather (upper 50's!)

 This week is Spring Break in Oregon but since we don't have grade school aged kids it's just another normal week for us. No vacations planned, just the usual shenanigans.
The girls and I spent the whole morning outside on Monday because it was absolutely perfect weather.

The obligatory cheese face

Playing in their house, notice the "artwork" on the walls

Bria got this fun little chalk set for her birthday so we whipped it out.

I think I had more fun than the girls haha!

It came with tattoos you put on the ground and then color in, I was loving it

"What can I get you Mam?"

I am currently going through a little nesting phase. I want to decorate/redecorate every room in our house. I think part of it is that we are signing another year long lease on this house so I know we are going to be here for a long time and I want to make it feel more like home. The challenge with renting is that it doesn't ever completely feel like your own, at least in my opinion. There are so many little and even some big projects that I would love to do to this house if it was our own. The kitchen for starters. It's all white. With some white and then a little white. Also, there is some white.
Do you get my drift?
I would love to put dark hard wood floors in and some granite counters. I wouldn't mind leaving the cabinets white because I do like the feel of bright white, just not all over. Plus, all white in a kitchen with 2 kids? Yeah, it's nearly impossible to keep clean.
And painting. Oh how I would love to paint our rooms and bathrooms. Nothing crazy, just calming, neutral colors. I think paint makes such a huge difference and just completes a room. So the past 2 years (we have been in this house for 2 years!!) our rooms have felt unfinished to me.
Brian of course thinks I'm crazy and doesn't get it. He would be happy with blackout curtains in our room and that's it (I joke he is a vampire because he literally wants it pitch black when he's sleeping, while I prefer to wake up with the sun shining in).
How long do we plan on being in this house? Do we want to buy again?
First, we want to stay in this house as long as possible. The owner is on a special work assignment and we have no idea how much longer it will last (well, I guess we know another year at least).
Second, we do want to buy again, but the market in Portland is crazy expensive. Nothing like California, but it's up there. So we are waiting until we can start saving for a down payment and save for a house we really like, not just settling. We are hoping the next house we purchase will be our long-term home so we want it to be in a good area and all that stuff...which means it's even more expensive.
I would LOVE if the owner of our current house decided to sell it to us, then I could do all the projects I dream about and pin on pinterest. But Brian isn't sold on this house. He likes it but wants a bigger garage for all his manly projects.
Anyway, all that to basically say I've been trying to brainstorm creative ways to decorate without painting. It's challenging to say the least!

Did you know?

Incredibly random facts about us:

•  Reese loves to twirl hair. Normally she does it right before we put her down to sleep, I think it soothes her. She will twirl my hair around and around until I put her down. Recently she started twirling her own hair since it's getting longer and I think it's pretty dang cute.
• My favorite article of clothing is jeans. I love me a good pair of jeans, they are my comfort and go-to in my closet. 

 

• Most people assume every man wants a son, Brian differs from that norm. He adores his girls and has never been bummed about not having a boy, he prefers spoiling his little princesses.
• Bria asks more question than any child I have ever met. All day long she is asking questions, and they are good questions...which means they are usually hard to answer. Most require lots and lots of answers and subsequent questions from her. I'm proud of her for being curious but I am completely exhausted answering her all day!

• A lot of people ask where in the heck we got two blond haired girls from...both Brian and I had very light hair as little kids.
• I love being surprised, I love knowing someone has been planning something and keeping it a secret.
• Brian does not like surprises, I learned this after I threw Brian a 30th surprise party 7 years ago. 
• Bria is a very imaginative child, her favorite thing to do is imaginary play...same as me when I was a child. I'm thinking we should get her into theatre because she is incredibly dramatic.

• Reese seems to be a book worm but also loves being outside, it will be interesting to see her little personality develop. 
• My girls and I are cereal fanatics, dare I tell you that we eat it for dinner at least once a week?

Trot trot to Boston

Aunt Heather found a cute place called Once Upon a Horse that was offering a little class for kids to learn about horses, feed them, brush them, and ride them.

We knew Bria would be excited to see horses since her favorite princesses (Merida and Rapunzel) ride horses.

All of us had the thought that she might be a little timid and scared though, since they are big animals. But she proved us all wrong. 

She was absolutely thrilled and did not want to get off the horse.

Testing out the waters on a fake horse

A pretty sweet horse swing

Reese giving it a go

 The lady who ran it, Suzy, was an absolute sweetheart. She was so good with the kids. First they got to brush the horse and Bria jumped right in. The horses name was Blue and he was so incredibly calm, such a good horse.

Bria and Blue

Brushing the horse

 Then they got to put on their riding helmets and I about died. They all looked too cute.

 In my head I started thinking, "Why are we getting her interested in horses? That is like the most expensive hobby ever!"

But look how cute!

Walking out to saddle up

In heaven!

Blue gave her cuddles and she loved it

Each child got 2 turns on the horse and Bria could've rode all day long, despite the frigid temperature inside the barn.

Reese was tired of it being about her sister, so Aunt Heather showed her all the ducks which she loved

 Once everyone got a turn riding Blue, they got to feed her carrots as a thank you. This was the only part that Bria was a little timid about, but once she did it she realized it didn't hurt. I think she thought he might bite her or something.

Feeding old Blue

It was an incredible day, one that we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Let's hope Bria will be content with lessons and not actually wanting her own horse.

We didn't start the fire...

...it was always burning since the world was turning.

You are welcome for getting that song stuck in your head.

Yesterday was field trip day at school and it was to the fire station we went! We carpool all the kiddos over and I was lucky enough to be teacher helper :) We got all the kids ready and headed out to the cars.

Bria has made such a sweet friend at school named Ella. So of course we wanted her in our car. I got them buckled in, started the car, and was waiting for my turn to pull out when I heard Bria sweetly say, "Can I hold your hand Ella?" and I turned around to see this:

 I mean, right?! So sweet.
They were inseparable during the whole field trip and didn't stop holding hands.
I was impressed by how well Bria paid attention to the firefighters, guess she likes a man in uniform like her Mom does ;)

Bria and Ella watching in awe

He told them to stomp on his steal toed boot, Bria didn't hesitate

More stomping

 The kids had a good time and I learned the difference between a Fire truck and a Fire Engine. Basically a fire truck is for reaching high places and the engine has the water and hoses. You may have already known that, I did not and now I feel much smarter.
The firefighters were all incredibly sweet, it was a fun field trip.

They all sang cheese for a good 30 seconds while we took pictures!

Can I get a hell yes for friends?!

We adore our friends, really we do :) I'm not who is more excited when friends come over, me or Bria.

Erin and the kids drove up for the day on Wednesday and we did a little Easter egg hunt inside for them. After they found all the eggs they spent the next half hour hiding them over and over. Once they were egg hunted out they threw on their raincoats and stomped outside in the mud. They made mud pie in Bria's little house and lots of other mud things.   

Lucy and Reese played indoors where it was warmer

 Erin and I got to catch up on each other's lives and talked about how big the kids are getting. Also, how kids increase your anxiety by ten fold.

All this Easter egg hunting is getting Bria and Reese very prepared for the big day. So when Easter finally comes they will either by professionals at it or tired of searching for eggs. I'm thinking the former :)

Just two thanks :)

We started doing a Holcomb family movie night once a week. It's usually on Friday, but if Brian and I do a date night or we all go to a friends' house then we move it. We get in our pj's and the girls get a fun little snack/treat and we lay out a blanket and get pillows. The girls look forward to it so much. 

Peter Pan movie night

 Reese will usually sit there for about half hour which is impressive. It's nice and relaxing and perfect family time for us.

 We have been having typical Oregon weather, it's pouring one minute and the next it's sunny. We quickly run outside when the sun is shining and soak it all up. When we see the gray skies we go back in...although yesterday Bria stayed out in her coat and rainboots and played in the backyard. I wonder what age we don't like playing in the rain anymore? Maybe I'm alone in that.

During Reese's nap Bria watches the iPad and I watch tv, such a perfect compromise ;)

Bria has started to become a lot more independent and most the time it's awesome. Just little things like getting her own drink of water, snacks, getting in the car by herself, getting dressed, cleaning up her toys (and putting them in the right spot!), and helping her sister. It makes such a huge difference for me when she is so helpful. The good thing is that she still asks permission most the time. She will ask if she can have a snack before going and raiding the cupboard which I appreciate. Then she'll go get the stool and find what she wants to eat then puts it all away. Yay for independence!
Reese also wants to be independent but a 1.5 year old is a little more frustrating. She has started throwing massive fits. Massive. Not very cool. She is cementing the fact that we are done having kids!
She is just in that hard phase where she knows what she wants but can't communicate it very well. She can say some things but not enough to convey her point to us and then she just flips out. I read this article about how to deal with them and it was saying make them feel like you understand. Think about how you want others to treat you when you are frustrated and no one is understanding you, time out or yelling would not make you feel better.
I thought, "Holy cow, I feel horrible, I should be more understanding!"
Yeah, I tried that and it did NOT help. Seriously, I tried to tell her I understood and that I also wanted to eat cookies all the time but that's not okay. And then I just felt silly because she was screaming so loudly and snot was dripping out her nose and I was almost positive she couldn't even hear me over her screaming. Maybe when she is older that advice will help, but right now it's not doing a whole lot. Plus I think it frustrates me more. I think staying calm and patient just makes my blood boil even more so when she doesn't calm down then I get all annoyed, like, "Hey, I just exhibited an immense amount of patience and you can't even stop screaming?! That is not fair." I sound incredibly mature don't I? If you're a Mom I trust you have been there.
Of course, moments like today at nap time when I read to her and then she fell asleep while I rocked her make me want to gobble up her cuteness. They also make her tantrums manageable...also bubble baths and an awesome hubby make her tantrums manageable too.

It's not raining in Arizona

It is storming out right now. Rainy, windy, cold, gray, absolutely miserable. I need the sunshine people. I was telling Brian how badly I wanted sunshine and he told me to go to Arizona and see my Grandma, he was dead serious, not being sarcastic.

So I'm going to Arizona! 

All by myself, sans kids. What?! I'm hoping my friend Erin will join me and we can have a fabulous little girls weekend in Zona. I booked my tickets yesterday so it's official. In a month I will be laying by the pool in 90 degree weather, yay!! I will be gone for 4 days, 3 nights so it's the longest I've left both girls. The crazy part is I'm not having anxiety about it. I know it's because they will be with their Dad and that is incredibly comforting for me. They love him and he's got the whole Dad thing down pat. I know I will miss them like crazy though.

 Yesterday Bria went to preschool, after a week long break due to her sickness. It was nice to get some stuff done while she was in school, although I think Reese was bored.

 I was in a cleaning mood yesterday so I got out some rainy day activities for the girls to keep them busy. Bria's favorite game is what she calls the fizzy game: baking soda and colored vinegar.

It takes intense concentration ;)

Last night we had an impromptu Peter Pan and PJ night with Bennett and Weston. They came over after B's T-ball practice and the girls were thrilled.

Today we have no plans and since it's absolutely hideous outside I'm thinking I will need to brainstorm more rainy day activities, to pinterest I go!

I will leave you with this adorable photo to get you through the day:

Pigtail cuteness!

Just skip it

Shortly after I wrote the last post I caught the dreaded virus. I don't want to go into details because chances are, you have had it too and you don't need to hear my account of it.
I will just say that for the next 4 days Brian took care of his girls like no husband/father ever has. He held hair back while girls puked and cleaned up messes and did a monumental amount of laundry.

Fortunately this little girl did not get quite as sick as Bria and I

Now that we are recovered (my appetite has still not returned and the nausea is still there, sooo annoying) we are going to get our Spring on.
Yesterday we went to our friends house for an Easter egg hunt and the kids had such a good time running all over outside and jumping on the trampoline. I have a few pictures of that but my friend Amanda is the photographer of our little group so I'll get more from her.

All the adorable kiddos appeasing their Moms and letting us snap 100 photos while they look directly into the sun

Goofy faces! I love how the boys are looking at Bria and Presleigh like they are crazy, too funny!

Finding eggs

The egg hunt is on!

Me and Reese...and really just a picture of their gorgeous property...perfect for egg hunting

I know what you're thinking, "Is this picture real?!" It totally is, it is totally real and totally adorable...totally.

She also found an egg back there

My baby girls and me (I have red hair!)

They each got a healthy amount of eggs and had an absolute blast. Then Brian lit off some rockets which the kids loved, particularly the part where it sailed down slowly with a parachute and they would all run after it. And of course, Brian was like a little kid all giddy with excitement to shoot his rocket off...did that sound dirty? It wasn't meant to, I'm just natural at it ;)

Today was kind of a catch up day for me since last week I was out of commission. I scheduled doctors and dentist appointments, returned books at the library, got new books at the library, bought the girls' Easter dresses & shoes, fed the ducks at the park, and filed away bills and such. All this with only half a cup of coffee...my sickness last week might have cured my little coffee addiction, I'm just not feeling the coffee like I use to.
Now I need to finish laundry, well finish is a funny word when it comes to laundry since it's never finished. But I need to catch up on it, you understand.