Yummy Pumpkin Muffins

It was just a normal day in the Brough house until I decided to make some muffins!!! I pull up Pinterest and search muffins and what do I find but the best pumpkin muffin recipe ever. And also, I actually had all of the ingredients for it! Woo Hoo!!

So here’s my vlog entry for the day and as an extra bonus you get a great muffin recipe to try out with your kiddos.

Also, stay tuned later this week for a triangle banner video tutorial. Yay!

 

 

Shopping With the Kids

Here’s a Vlog entry of me shopping with the kids while Zach was out of town for business. One thing I’ve learned to have while shopping with the kids are a lot of snacks. And preferably in little baggies so that it takes a little effort for them to get to it. I don’t know, it works for my kids. Also, I’ve recently converted to the Crazy8 store. They have super cute stuff and the best part is they have a tv for the kids to watch while I look around. Super helpful. Any children’s clothing stores that have kid entertainment are OKAY in my book.

Enjoy!

DIY Picture Wall

Hey Everyone!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but it looks like i still have a few visitors so I hope you enjoy something new for a change!

I decided to do a video of my picture wall process instead of writing about it. There may be more of these types of videos in the future. This video does not give much detail about my process because, let’s be honest, I really just kind of throw the frames up on the wall and hope for the best. But I hope this can help or encourage some of you to get pictures up on your walls! Happy, uplifting, thoughtful wall decor just really helps a home be a little bit happier. Enjoy!

 

P.S. If you like these types of videos or feel like following my vlog, head over to youtube and subscribe to my vlog Broughington. I only have two videos up right now, but I hope to try and get more and more up every week. Follow my little family as we have fun through the holidays, applying for grad school, dealing with family life and kid stuff, and see through the eyes of a mom who’s probably a lot like you. Go ahead! click on over and subscribe!

Easy DIY Halloween Decorations

This year I went crazy with our front yard Halloween decorations and I love it!

I combed Pinterest for the best DIY Halloween Decorations and I’m here to share it with you. These are super easy and the kids love them! Not to mention all my neighbors think they’re super cool too 😉

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Let us begin with these adorable bats. My three- year- old loves these! They are so easy and it’s been raining here for a couple days and they are still holding up. Easy and durable, can’t ask for more than that!

HGTV did it again. Check out the link here.

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I love my Halloween wreath. I made it last year and when I got it out last week it just made me happy. Tutorial for this will be up soon.

All it is is black and white yarn wrapped around a craft foam wreath. Look around your craft store for something spooky or something cute to put in the wreath and just hot glue it on! Super easy.

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These super easy friendly ghosts are my son’s favorite. Every morning he greets them with, “Hi Ghosts, nice to see you!”

Here’s the link!

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Now, this pallet I wouldn’t really call “easy” unless you like hand painting letters. There is no cool printer transfer trick for this one, just straight up paint and paint brushes.

I picked up the pallet behind a store that I knew would have some to give away. I’ve had it in my garage for like a year! constantly reminding my husband that I had big plans for it! Finally I decided what to do with it and here it is! I love it. (did you notice all of the exclamation points?)

And, BONUS, after Halloween I plan to flip it over and use it for a Thanksgiving decoration.

 

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I wrote the letters out with chalk first.

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Then I started painting. I’ve never really done anything like this. But it was way fun!

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I had a left over chalk board from a church party so I was excited to use that for the count down. You can find chalk board anywhere nowadays. I know for a fact they have them at Hobby Lobby.

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We’re loving all our decorations so far and I hope you guys like them too!

 

Happy Halloween!

 

 

 

 

Pinnable

Caitlin and Richie Stewart Wedding Video

Had a lot of fun filming this gorgeous couple’s wedding day a few weeks ago. I actually knew both of them in high school! So fun to see two amazing people get married. What a fun day!

Congratulations Richie and Caitlin!

I’m hoping to film a lot of weddings this fall and winter so please email me with your dates and information! My slots are filling up quickly though so contact me ASAP.

DIY Family Halloween Costume Ideas

Since my blog is still very young, I haven’t had the chance to share with you our cute Halloween costume ideas from the past couple of years!

I LOVE Halloween.

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I look forward to it all year long and am always saving party ideas, halloween decor, and especially Halloween costume ideas. The last couple of years I’ve been so lucky to not only come up with ideas for myself but to have an amazing husband who will let me dress him up and two amazingly adorable kiddos to dress up too.

It’s the best.

Our first Costume as a family was in 2012 when we went as Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, and Pascal the Chameleon from the Disney movie Tangled. I was excited to be Rapunzel because my hair, at that time, was the perfect length to match Rapunzel’s at the end of the movie.

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These costumes were super easy!! I got everything at D.I. and just added a couple of ribbons and claspy things and I changed some of the fabrics out of Porter’s Costume from orange to green. Goodwill and D.I. are amazing around halloween time. Always check there first before spending all your moneys somewhere else. Unless you don’t like second hand stuff which is kind of understandable. But it’s just for one night so just do as I say and go to the thrift store first!
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I think I got my crown at Hobby Lobby.

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Halloween of 2013 I was about 3 months pregnant with my second baby and didn’t have a lot of energy to do anything too crazy, so I grabbed some felt and my hot glue gun and went to work.

 

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Porter’s Buzz Lightyear jet pack is made out of foam core, which I hot glued together, and felt, which I hot glued onto the foam core. I love hot glue. And then I glued some elastic strap onto the front for his arms to go through. Sorry I didn’t get a better picture.

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For his suit I bought a white long sleeved shirt and white pants and, you guessed it, hot glued felt onto those too. To make the design for his shirt I just kind of looked at pictures of Buzz online and did my best.

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Then, for mine and Zach’s outfits, I bought green shirts from hobby lobby and glued on some eyes and drew on the mouth. (we’re supposed to be the aliens from toy story if you can’t tell. “The Claaaaaaaaaaaw”. Those ones). Super Easy!!

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I loved this Buzz lightyear costume. He’s just the cutest. Look at his cute hair!

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And now we’ve come to last year’s Halloween.

We went with a Wizard of Oz theme. I was the scarecrow, Zach was the tin man, Piper was Dorothy, and Porter was the Cowardly Lion

Oh how I wish I had documented every step of the making of these costumes because they were so fun and, yet again, super easy! However, I did not… So if you’re looking for a play by play you’ll have to do as I did and just wing it.

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I have to say that making a furry lion suit for a little kid to walk around in in October in Arizona was a risky move. Arizona is still really really hot in October. Poor little guy was very toasty.

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It was really fun to paint his face. I used some random box of halloween face crayons I found at walmart or something. His eyebrows were black for like a week after this.

I got his little fur jumper suit from goodwill, hot glued the fur onto the front and sewed some little felt covers for his tennies.

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And of course I had to make a tail.

I got the fur from Joanne’s Fabrics for super cheap. It was on sale and I was jumping for joy.

The hood really wasn’t that hard to make. I pretty much just grabbed his heavy coat and made a makeshift pattern from looking at it. I will say that working with fur can be very tricky so be sure to look up some stuff before you start hacking away.

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For baby girl’s costume I just grabbed a big men’s shirt from Goodwill that had the pattern that I wanted and made her a little apron. It’s really just squares and straps sewn/glued together. If they’re only wearing it once, why stress out trying to make it perfect?

I think it turned out great.

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For her ruby slippers I grabbed some hand-me-down shoes, coated them in glue, and put glitter all over them. As you can see it didn’t stay on super duper well. Next time I would use more glue, more glitter, and give it more time to dry. Like a week or something.

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We had such a great night! We had a party with all our close friends and had a blast seeing everyone’s costumes.

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I hope this will help any of you looking for Halloween costume ideas and please feel free to comment or contact me for more info if you want some.

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Patience and Parenting

Every night, as part of Porter’s bedtime routine, we get his PJ’s on, we brush his teeth, and he goes potty. A couple of weeks ago, while hubby was out of town on business, I had had a long and hot and exhausting day. I can’t remember exactly why I was so high strung and grumpy, probably a combination of not having my partner parent come home to relieve me after work and also because it was like 112 degrees outside. Either way, I was done with that day and just wanted my kids in bed! Is that too much to ask?

So we’re going through his bedtime routine and he is taking his sweet time getting his toothbrush going. I mean, I know I told him to not put too much tooth paste on his brush but at this rate we were going to be there all night!

So I snapped a little.

“Porter! Hurry up!”

As this impatient demand burst from me I saw, reflected in the bathroom mirror, an angry, tired, mean mommy, and a little boy who was just doing his job.

This stopped me in my tracks and time kind of froze for a second.

This is not me. What is wrong with me?! This is my precious little boy who loves me and all I can think about is hurrying him along so that I can be alone.

Seeing my face in that moment scared me. And I don’t ever want to look like that again.

How are we, as parents, supposed to always keep our cool? How can we keep from raising our voice unlovingly or demanding perfection unfairly?

I’ve been pondering these questions for the past couple of weeks since this experience and I’ve come up with a few answers.

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  1. Pray

Prayer is the answer to a lot of life’s problems for me, but especially for parenting. And not only because I believe in a God who will answer prayers and actually help me change, but because being quiet and pondering about my life and what I want to change and just taking a moment to reflect on things like this is, in itself, a really good place to start.

2. Breathe

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Since thinking about this outburst I’ve realized a good thing for me to do is to breathe. Take a moment and, even if both kids are screaming and throwing things and pulling at you, just stop, close your eyes and breathe.  Sometimes I’ll even lock myself in the bathroom or my bedroom for a second. Knowing my kids, I can trust them to not get into any trouble during those 30 seconds, but judge this move according to your own kids.

 

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3. Laugh

This is a major part of parenting for me. If the kitchen sink is overflowing with dishes, laugh it off and turn on some dance music. If your 18-month-old drew with eyeliner all over her face, laugh about it and grab a warm wash cloth and your camera. If your 3-year-old just through his giant, stuffed elephant in your face at two in the morning and then continued to crawl in your bed and ask to play with you, have a good giggle and make him a bed on the ground. Seriously though, if you want to be a happier, less grumpy, less demanding mommy or daddy, try smiling. Happy people smile. Remember that.

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4. Work it out

If you are overwhelmed and over booked, change something. Figure out what outside force is taking over your happy side and throw it in the trash. For me, I had too many projects going on. Blog posts, blog pictures, wedding videos, work videos, dishes, meal planning, grocery shopping, church callings. So many things are pulling at us! It’s no wonder we get grumpy some times. We’re human!! But if you are starting to crack, take a step back and work it out. I realized it was my projects that were piling up, so I made a calendar and a plan for how and when I was to work on each one and when I was going to set everything aside and play with my kids. I felt a lot better.

5. Say Sorry

No matter how hard I try, I really don’t think I will always and forever be the perfect polite and soft spoken and gentle mom. For one, it’s just not my personality, and for two, I’m human. And so are you so give yourself a break. If we snap at our kids or our spouses just say your sorry and give them extra love. We try to be our best selves, our strongest selves for our kids but sometimes bad parts of us will slip through the cracks. Explain to your little ones that you were wrong and that your sorry and that you’ll try to be better. Guess what will happen then? They’ll learn how to patch up their own mistakes too.

 

I hope all of us as mothers, fathers, students, professionals, bosses, employees, teachers, or whatever your title may be at this point in your life, take time to evaluate our patience with ourselves and the people we see every day. Are you perfectly patient all the time? If not, take a few seconds to ponder and make a plan for how you will be more patient today!

You won’t be alone!

Let me know what you think and how you battle your temper in the comments.

Have a great week!

  • Tara

P.S. I saw this video from Huffington Post this week and even though it’s an old Mother’s Day video, it’s amazing, and it goes really well with today’s topic. Take a look!

 

 

 

 

A Simpler Life: Taking Care of Toy Clutter

So it’s September… nuff said.

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE it when my kids get new toys. It’s like they have a babysitter for whole week! Obviously I don’t leave them all alone for a week but seriously, my 3-year-old will play with a new transformer toy for probably 5 days without even thinking about what I’m doing or asking for TV.

The problem is, every time we get a new toy, then we have a new toy. A new plastic thing floating around the house, getting under my feet, taking up all of my precious space and driving me crazy!!!!

 

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I was listening to a podcast the other day, New Moms New Babies, and they were having a great discussion on toys. How many do you have? Wood v. Plastic, organizing, batteries or not, toy swapping parties, homemade toys, and the list goes on.

One interesting part was when one mom said she keeps a little toy box in every room. You must know that this mom only had an 8-month-old. So I understand why she would want something in every room, because 8-month-olds usually have to be with you all the time, and it can get crazy trying to always keep the toys in one room.

But just the other day I learned that a friend of mine has a rule that all the toys have to stay in the toy room. No toys in bedrooms and no toys in other rooms. This mom has three kids, the youngest being four. At first I thought that was crazy, but then it seemed like a really cool idea! No toys wandering into the kitchen or into my bed. And the kids wouldn’t have any distractions at bed time. Might be nice.

However not all of us can afford a whole extra room just for toys and playing! Someday… But it’s just interesting to know that there are so so so many different ways to run your household.

As for me, I have found one thing that makes my relationship with toys a lot better!

About a year ago I decided to start rotating my toys. So I will store away about a third or a half of all the kids toys in a bin in my daughter’s closet and then I’ll switch them out a couple months later.

My original plan was to switch them out every six months right around the LDS Genereal Conference weekend. This would be pretty brilliant because the kids would then have all their old toys back and be occupied so that I could enjoy listening. But this time around I just took them out one Saturday when I was doing some major mid-summer organizing. The kids loved seeing their old toys and it was awesome. The same day, I went through the toy box, throwing away weird trash that somehow got thrown in, and deciding which toys to put away.

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It’s kind of hard deciding which toys to put away because my kids play with a lot of their toys. They don’t really favor any too much. But once I decide and a day goes by without them asking for the “put away” toys I figure that it’ll be ok.

Not only  is this a fun way to keep your kids interested in their own toys, but it also makes them get creative with the toys they have, instead of having any number of toys at their fingertips.

And of course the main thing about this toy approach is to help our homes be less cluttered and therefore more HAPPY!

Anyway, that’s what I do. I would definitely recommend it!

Let me know what you do to manage toys. I’m sure I’ll have more conversations about this in later posts.

Happy Wednesday!

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Easy Baby Clothes Tip

A couple of Saturdays ago I went crazy and decided to attack my baby girl’s closet and finally get it reorganized. I say RE-organized because I know that at some point it really did look awesome! I’m not a total slob all the time! But after a while, and after she’s gone up a few sizes in clothes (why can’t the clothes just grow with them?) her closet became the sad, dark place where old clothes got dumped. Along with old toys, old blankets, and pretty much anything that I didn’t want to look at anymore. So I jumped right in. It’s like they say, how you just have to rip off that band-aid.

Here’s the problem that I run into a lot, and that I think a lot of you do to. I hate going to walmart or target and trying to figure out what type of storage container to use. Should I get colored? Should I get square? Should I get giant or medium or big sizes? And then comes the cost that can really sneak up on you! All I need is like 5 boxes and at $8-$15 each I get discouraged thinking about spending $50 on plastic, and even though I know it’s for the sanity of my household, I just hate doing it!! (red face mad emoji) So I came up with a solution.

I always have a pile of these…

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So I grabbed all of this…

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Folded it nicely, snapped my fingers, and voila!

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MAGIC!

And the best part, is that the boxes are kind of free! I mean they cost like $35 when I get the diapers, but you know what I mean.

A big part of creating a happier home environment for you and your’s is to get organized!

I know it’s not everyone’s thing to be super organized and cute but it seriously doesn’t get much easier than this^

I hope this is helpful! Let me know how you like to organize baby clothes and toys and if this is helpful?

-Happy Thursday!

 

Baby Clothes