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6.30.2016

summer fun | birdhouse DIY

after our really fun experience with baby birds over the last couple weeks- which by the way on Sunday morning we were all sitting at the breakfast table and we happened to be in the right place at the right time because those sweet babies hopped out of the 5-gallon bucket their nest was in and took their first flight!  the mama bird was coaxing and encouraging the entire time from the patio table and it was just the coolest thing I have ever seen!  I couldn't get to my phone fast enough to snap a picture from the window.. and I wasn't about to get out on the patio to get in the middle of it all, but a fun sight for the girls to see and thats memories enough for me.  
ANYway.
Jordan has been pinning summer projects to do with the big girls since they are at the most amazing age and are the biggest helpers these days and number one on his list was a bird house.. err, houses.  I wont fool you into thinking we did this all on our own.. well, let me rephrase- JORDAN didn't do this on his own accord, but what is pinterest for, anyway?  we found these plans and they seemed easy enough, and cheap enough to build these sweet little houses for the birdies in our yard all with Parker  and Jolie's helping little hands. plus, she gleaned the plans from Ana White, and Jordan is a BIG Ana White fan.  while these wont boast to be the most beautiful and articulate, they are darn cute hanging in the trees in our backyard.  
Jordan did the handy work and cut the wood with a miter saw from cedar boards, and then used gorilla glue to hold the boards in place before using the nail gun to secure.





I was impressed at how quickly they came together and how cute they were!  remember, I am the furthest thing from a DIY'er, so my level of time expectation for these kind of things are incredibly high. he basically cut + glued+ nailed in like less than 2 hours.  
2 hours with little hands right there along the way to 'help'.
pretty good! 

Jordan stained the tops of the houses- protecting them from the weather, but also because it looked really good AND we had some left over stain from when he and his dad did the stain on our outdoor living area.  


last weekend while Jolie and I took Baker to make a grocery run, Parker went with her dad to get the supplies for these houses.  which also means she picked the colors for paint!  Jordan made sure to choose a water-based latex paint- safe for the birds and the babes.  we just painted the outside of the houses, so the inside is still raw cedar wood.  safety again for the birds and their babies!



naturally there was coral.  purple, and yellow.  Jordan kept calling it red and Parker kept correcting him that it was PINK and ya'll its really coral, if we are being picky.  purple for Jo- by far her favorite color. and yellow for baby Baker Bree.




such a FUN and easy way to DIY with your kids!  Parker + Jolie have been talking about the birds since we hung these houses in the trees.  I cant wait to watch and see how these houses are used for the rest of the season.  I know these wont be the last birdhouses we build. Jordan is already talking about the other kinds of birdhouses that we need to build to attract this bird and that bird.. 
you know what kind of bird I actually want?  
chickens.
but thats for another blog post. 

6.29.2016

baker bree | first birthday wishlist

oh my goodness.  we are in countdown mode!  our sweet girl is turning ONE in a little over 2 weeks and how in the world do I explain how fast this year has gone?!   I am loving every minute of her little growing self and cannot wait to celebrate her in a BIG way! showering her with stuff isn't what is important on her birthday, but it totally makes it that much more fun:)
its all about you Baker girl!

for my snuggle bunny // chloe the bunny is just the sweetest and softest bunny EVER!  I got this precious bunny for Baker as our gift to her from her mama and daddy.  not only is this doll uber cute, the story behind this company is amazing.  cuddle + kind is a company started simply because they wanted to make a difference.  with each doll they sell, cuddle+kind donates 10 meals to children in need through their giving partners.  each hand kit doll is made in Peru by artisans from locally grown cotton and provides women with sustainable fair-trade income.  they have donated over 200,000 meals in just over 6 months!  they have a goal of one million meals in one year and I am so excited to be apart of it!

developing her fine motor skills // we have a TON of hand me down toys from the big sister girls.  we kept nearly everything, so there isn't a lot of toys I can think of to 'need' but its amazing how much times and toys have changed in just a couple years!  looking for anything to develop her fine motor skills that seem to be thriving at this age.  she shakes nearly everything that she picks up to see if makes noise which is why the parum pum pum drum would be such a fun toy for her to play with- and I can guarantee her sisters will be playing with it, too!  she also is really into stacking and fitting toys into like spaces, so the shape sorter pull toy and the animal nesting blocks would be right up her tiny alley-o-fun.  she digs the phone and loves to have you talk, too..and while we have about a million options for pay telephones, the skip hop owl phone would be something new and fun for her to enjoy.  the little people noah's ark is something I get for every little friend that has turned a year old.  I also can appreciate that this toy doesn't sing, make noise, light up..require batteries! 

baby in style // Baker specifically requested these precious outfits (obviously).  while I am a huge advocate of the moccasin and we wear them often, my favorite shoe for the big girls has always been TOMS and when I put Baker in her first pair of tiny TOMS , I just about died!  I love them! I have also heard awesome things about native shoes, and got a couple of hand me downs from cousin Kendall, but with Baker being such a busy body these days she definitely needs to be in shoes when we go out.  old navy is basically killing it with their spring and summer collection.  I want everything!  this two piece is screaming to my boho heart + and this bubble denim romper is precious to the bone + give me every floral dress on the rack.

6.27.2016

photo every hour | lake life

seven.
 eight.
 nine.
 ten.
 eleven.
 twelve.
 one.
 two.
 three.
 four.
 five.
 six.
 seven.
 eight.
 nine.
 ten.
eleven.

6.24.2016

five on friday

one. baker bree.
we are in official countdown mode to Baker's first birthday and we had her birthday photoshoot this week.  you never know how things like this will go.  I mean, I don't mind outfit changes and CAKE, but my 11 month old might be singing a different tune.  but alas- she did so good! being her happy little self through the entire thing- sweet as can be.  I cannot believe how fast this year went!  and while I wish her to stay little, says every mama, I love every new stage with her.  
she just keeps getting better!
 two. twin cuddles.
these two.  they have been SO lovey lately with one another.  their bond has always been great, but lately its like they don't want to be apart at all.  they have only slept together a handful of times- mainly because they are both dramatic sleepers.. I cant tell you how many times I have picked up Jolie off the floor in the middle of the night!  one night this week I took a peek in on them before I went to bed and here they were.  my heart!  I just cant. 
 three. babies!!
we have a large tv hanging in our outdoor living area and a few months back we noticed a bird making a nest behind it. well, this week that nest fell.  when we came upon it there were five tiny birds snuggles together- they didnt even have feathers yet!  of course I freaked out about touching/messing with it because I definitely wanted to mother to return, but Jordan had a grand plan.  he moved the nest, fully intact to a 5 gallon bucket.. laid it on its side and strapped it to a table thats sitting up against our dinette window.  I was distraught thinking there was no way the mama bird was going to find it, but sure enough she's been back and forth all day long since we moved it.  I can hear her now chirping away in that bucket with her babies.
how sweet are they?!  
 four. homemade ice cream!
one of Jordan's favorite FAVORITE things to do during the summer is make homemade ice cream.  we bought a $20 maker from walmart years ago and make it nearly every weekend through August. this weekend we broke out the maker and made cookies and cream!  we got the recipe from Jordan's aunt Veeca, but you can find recipes all over pinterest, I'm sure!
this time we made cookie and cream, but we mix and match and have made butterfinger, strawberry, real vanilla bean, peach, banana- nearly any fruit and candy.  you name it!
its so rich and basically soupy in the 100+ degree weather, but its perfect if we let it sit in the freezer for an hour or two before serving.. if we cant wait that long sometimes that means we are making milkshakes and eating with straws:)   
 Cookies + Cream Ice Cream
    (1.5gal container)
-6 eggs
-4 cups sugar
-3/4 teaspoon salt
-1-2 tablespoons vanilla 
-large heavy whipping cream
-half & half (or whole milk)
-double stuffed oreos
--
   beat eggs seperately in a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout. after beating eggs, slowly add sugar as you continue to use mixer. then add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream. add enough half & half (or whole milk) to fill up the ice cream container. after mixing, pour into maker container. put on lid and cover with rock salt and ice. After about 20-25 minutes of running time, add the chopped/crushed oreos into ice cream!   

a few things to note.. I put the crushed Oreos into the freezer prior to them going in. we have a one gallon maker so I reduce recipe accordingly! 

five. snapchat.  
I have no idea what I am doing but I made the leap and got myself an account.  
follow along pbjbabes!  I'm still getting used to the whole thing, and half the time I'm confused but I think I am figuring it out. 
snapchat is worth it enough for the filters anyway- ha!  can my eyes always look this dreamy?! the twins have been dying over the fun face filters and we have cracked up to tears with all the silly faces.
on a completely random note.. this mama bear tee is the SOFTEST I have ever worn.  I have been living in it for four days.  don't judge me- I am wearing the unisex small.
other fun things from this week.. 
don't forget to check out my special pricing for your own POGO pass!  
read about it HERE!  we have big plans with our passes this summer!
did you see my JORD watch giveaway?  the are offering $75 to one lucky reader, but everyone gets $20 for entering the giveaway, anyway!  check it out, HERE!
AND the winner of the r+f giveaway??  Lara Brown!  yippee!  read about my experience with r+f HERE

I meal planned this morning for this next week.. want to know what we are having?
monday // chicken + wild rice casserole + roasted green beans 
tuesday // slow cooker shredded beef sandwiches + apple slaw + roasted sweet potatoes
wednesday // egg tacos (scrambled + cheese + tomato salsa) + turkey bacon
thursday // chicken pesto kabobs + grilled zucchini + squash
friday // grilled filet + shrimp + roasted sweet potatoes + brussels sprouts

happy friday, peeps!! 

6.23.2016

starting a blog + JORD giveaway

one of the biggest questions I get about blogging runs along the lines of..
"where do I start?"
"how do I make time for it?"
I've been wanting to write this post forever because it seems like this is a question I get once a week.. and hopefully I can give you the answers you want to hear without bombarding you with useless information.

for me it has become one of my favorite things to do.. its the time I make for myself and the time I spend doing something I really enjoy. the day blogging becomes a headache and not fun for me might be the day I am done. sure there have been lapses in posts here and there.  life gets busy and sometimes the blog isn't the priority.  but I love writing and I absolutely love sharing our life.. partly because I know when I have something in question I go blog hunting, and being a resource even for just ONE person about whatever makes my time here worth it, for sure.  but mostly because I want to look back at this time and remember crazy life with my three girls.  or look back at the time when we had no kids.. and what the heck we did with ourselves everyday (?!!). 
trips we take.
weekends we share with family.  
I've got nearly 10 years into this little corner of web space and I can only imagine where life goes from here- but I've surely documented where we have come from.
when thinking about where to start, I understand the overwhelming pressure in deciding what you want to share on your new blog.  when I started my blog years back I had no idea where I was going with it, just kind of posted here and there with no real purpose or theme.  then I got into nutrition + food + cooking and thought to myself.. OMG I should totally write about food!  I'm a genius.  
until I googled 'food blog' and about one million blogs popped up.  
its hilarious to look back on my mindset at the time- at 22 years old.  but I was devastated!  
the blogging world is saturated with stuff.  so, trying to write about what you think others want you to write about is pointless.  I blogged for a solid 4-5 years before really finding myself in this world of the www.
when blogging finally clicked for me was when I was pregnant with twins.  I was scouring the internet trying to find anything about twins/multiples/pregnancy.. survival! and wasn't having the greatest luck at all.  
which prompted me to write about it myself.  
..and then I pinned my own blog post. 
good old self promotion right there.. and nothing wrong with it.
traffic picked up to my blog and before I knew it, I found myself writing on a regular basis about my life as a twin mom and all the experiences that inadvertently go along with it. 
and totally loving it. 
that being said, when thinking about starting a blog, taking a leap to put yourself out there, do it for you.  find your niche.  share what you are good at! I share about things that are near and dear to my heart and it so happens that some of you like what you are reading and come back:)  you will probably never see a DIY project on this blog because, well.. I suck at DIY.  
I can throw a mean birthday party or write a yummy recipe for my family.
but, I leave the handy work to the professionals:)

..but Jordan has been pinning bird houses to my 'summer projects' pinterest board the last couple days, so, ummm.. there might be a project in our future. which means JORDAN is the professional in this case and definitely NOT me. 
I try to blog about 4-5 days a week.  I consider 4 days to be great and consistent in creating and sharing content.  being more regular keeps my readership up and engaged.  coming back for more if by chance there is a new post live on the blog.  I can alway tell the reason when my analytics are down- I haven't been as consistent or posting less.  that engagement is so important when you are looking to partner with larger (and small, too!) brands!  
thats another beast and for a separate post that I promise I will share soon!  


I've been really really blessed with some fun partnerships through this blogging journey.  small businesses are my absolute favorite and while some have started small, I have watched them explode in popularity and exposure over the years.  recently I was approached by JORD watches and while I had seen the wood watch trend all over social media, I had no idea there were so many options! at first glance I didn't think they were much my style.. but I was terribly wrong! I have worn it everyday since I got it!  talk about a unique gift for the hubby or a fun splurge for yourself! 
whats even better?? how about $75 towards any wood watch you like!  
JORD has graciously offered one lucky reader the chance to win. 
wait.  its gets better!! 
everyone that enters gets $20 towards any wood watch purchase
which means everyone is a winner:)   
the details: the contest will close 6/29 at 11:59pmthe winner's $75 coupon code will expire 7/29 and the "losers" $20 coupon code will expire 10/29.
GOOD LUCK, friends!
special thank you for the gorgeous photography by b faith photography 
Ladies Wooden Watches
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