It Was a Swimmingly Good Time!

Every year for H&H's birthday the hubs and I take off of work and try to do something fun as a family.  This year we were debating what to do when my hubby had the brilliant idea to finally take the plunge and join the Y so we could take them swimming.  Getting to take the kiddos swimming on their birthday in February was the greatest idea!  They had an absolute blast.  The best part is they pretty much had the entire kiddie pool to themselves and we all got a much needed relief from the insanely cold cabin fever winter we have been having here. Splashing around in a pool helped ease some of those winter blues. While they splashed and played with daddy, mommy got to steal away for a few delightful minutes and soak in the hot tub.  What? I was cold!   I'm thinking this too might also become a birthday tradition in the B household! 

      

              

              

How are you beating the winter blues?

Lots of love,
 

Try it Out Tuesday - Cake Batter Pancakes

Last week the twins turned 3!  I know I can't believe it either!  This year I really wanted to start making some birthday traditions.  Starting with the birthday morning. They aren't quite old enough for the whole wake up to balloons filling your room, so I decided to do a special birthday breakfast instead. I made them birthday cake batter pancakes.  Can we just pause for a moment and say YUM!?  They were incredibly easy to make and tasted so yummy.  It is definitely safe to say I found our first birthday tradition with this easy delicious recipe.

I used this recipe that I found at Betty Cocker.  There was another recipe I had pinned from How Sweet Eats that I wanted to try, but since it was my first time making them I wanted to use a simple recipe.

Do you have any birthday traditions?  Let us know!

Lots of love,
 

Christmas 2013

I realize this is pretty late, but I wanted to make sure I captured our Christmas before moving onto the new year. So here we go!

We kicked off the Christmas season by heading out to find our Christmas tree. Picking out our Christmas tree has been one of my favorite things to do ever since I was a little girl. I love everything about it! This Christmas, we went with the very first tree we picked out (which was a first) and it was perfect!

Wrenn had a blast decorating the tree! She started with her Buckeye necklace, then added her Christmas socks before moving onto the real ornaments. Ha! 

 This Christmas we did a couple Christmas art projects. We made crayon hearts to give as gifts and a paper Christmas tree for the fridge. Wrenn was so excited to hold the glue stick all by herself. It's the little things! 

We had to wake Wrennie Pooh up on Christmas morning since she was still sleeping at 9:00 am. Parker Buddy had been up since 6:00 am and wanted to see what all the fuss was about!

 

 Waiting to go see what Santa brought! 

We had a very blessed Christmas! 

Lots of Love,

-Jessica

Be Still in 2014

I rang in the new year sitting on the couch in my comfys with my mom and dad.  The hubby fell asleep before midnight and the kids were snoozing (for once) in their room. Sadly, I didn't even see the ball drop because I was too busy trying to post a Happy New Year! message on Facebook.  It made me stop and realize that I spend too much time not enjoying moments. With all of the at-your-hands electronics its hard to truly be in the moment anymore. There is always something to distract us.  I remember before I had the twins someone advising me to have my phone nearby when I was nursing so I would have something to do. I followed the advice and I almost always had something to distract me during those moments. But why?  Why did I need to be distracted and removed from the moment?  Why wasn't it enough to just be there with the twins and enjoy the moments I had with them? To smell their sweet baby smell, to hear their sweet baby sounds, to feel their soft baby skin.  Why did I have to play a game on my phone to block out the two miracles with me?  Why couldn't I just be still?  To set things straight I started a new kind of resolution list for myself this year. I wanted to push my limits to think outside of my normal "exercise more, eat healthier" annual vows and set goals that I really truly want to achieve. I also wanted a cute reminder of what I promised myself to do for the year, so I made this print to hang in my office and at home. 

 

 

What are your new year's resolutions? Let us know! Want a reminder for your home or office?  Download the New Year's Resolution image, right click and save the file.  Then simply insert the image into a word document (or your favorite design software) and add a text box to type your own list. 

 

 

Happy New Year!  Let's make 2014 a great one!

 

 

Lots of love,
 

Go with the flow - Holiday Photo Shoot

We did a holiday shoot with my very talented friend - owner and photographer of Coley & Co. Photography.  She is truly one of the most talented people I know.  Let me tell you, I'm not very good at the whole family photo shoot thing.  I wait to the last minute to do these things and half the time I forget small things like planning outfits and big things like making sure my husband is in the photos. When I did my pregnancy photos and the twins' first photo shoot my hubby wasn't even home for either of the shoots! I barely even brushed my hair the day of the twins photo shoot because it never occurred to me that maybe just maybe we might have wanted a picture of all of us...because I mean why in the world would we want to capture that moment!?  Thankfully my photographer was wiser than me and had me sit in for a few of the photos at least.  But no picture of Joey with the newborn twins.  Worst. Wife. Ever.
This year sadly wasn't any different.  Last minute we were rushing around trying to get dressed - no pre-planning for this group to make sure we matched. Nope, we just grabbed what was clean and what we thought might look nice in a photo and hoped for the best. Thanks to the talent of our friend I couldn't have asked for better photos.  I love them so much I cried when I saw them. The photos are actually a great reminder that we all need to take a step back and just go with the flow sometimes.  We don't always have to plan every part of our lives because sometimes letting things happen naturally really does make for the best memories and photos!

PS on the flip side of not planning, I do highly recommend trying to order your holiday cards in a timely manner so you aren't sitting around praying that they get here in time to send before Christmas like I am currently doing!!!

Lots of Love,

The Brehl Family

Favorite Things Vol. 4 - Gifts for the Creative Girl

1. Stella and Dot leona pendant necklace (This particular necklace is sold out but they have a ton of great options! Or check out a similar version at Shopbop)

2. Madewell sweatshirt dress (unfortunately this dress seems to be sold out online, but follow the link to get the number to a sales representative that will help you track it down in stores.  Or check out this similar version

3. Antropologie capri blue mercury glass jar candle

4. Hunter original tall rain boots in new green

5. OPI nailpolish in an affair in red square

6. Threshold gold dot jewelry box (this cute little jewelry box comes in various sizes, I have the small version which is perfect to hold my earrings on my nightstand)

7. Canon EOS Rebel t3i digital SLR camera with 18-55mm IS lens

8. Burberry small check strap watch 

Lots of love,
 

Favorite Things Vol. 3 - Gift Ideas for the Girl on the Go

1. Starbucks reusable cup (These are only $1 and make great stocking stuffers! Sold in stores)

2. JCrew factory puffer coat (looks like they just sold out of this coat online during  Black Friday/Cyber Monday, but the long version is great too!) 

3. Tory Burch aviator sunglasses

4. Tom's washed camo canvas women's classic 

5. Bobbi Brown's lip balm

6. iPad 2 (or iPad Air for those that need the latest and greatest

7. Kut from the Kloth Dianna skinny jeans 

Lots of love,