fall for fun

fall came in with a bang for us. temps were in the low thirties this morning but quickly warmed up as the day went. since it started out brisk i thought the best thing to do for the boy was layer his clothing. that way as the day went he could shed a layer or two as the weather warmed up. i'm tempted to pack up his shorts but i'll wait til we get deep into the season. i myself have packed up the summer wardrobe because i don't foresee the weather getting about 80 again this year. and that's where my shorts-wearing gauge starts. adiós summer!

shirt:  carters (similar)  ||  vest: gap (similar)  ||  jeans:  osh kosh 

shoes:  vans  ||  hat:  gap

best buds

here's little man spending a little quality time with his cousin, bella, this summer. they are finally getting to the age where they enjoy each others company. yes, i'm using the phrase "enjoy" very loosely here, it was more like tolerate each others company. there were occasional squabbles but for the most part they got along. not bad, considering they are both two and we all know how terrible they can be. ;)

shirt:  gap (similar)  ||  pants:  mini boden
shoes:  vans  ||  hat:  diy

little rugby

lately the boy is fanatical when it comes to a subject. mind you it's not one subject but all subjects. he's all in. last week it was music, woke up wanting to karaoke to music videos, listen to music on our phones, singing in the tub, etc. this week it's trains. wanting to hit up every train table he's ever come in contact with, turning my candles into a train and actually using his own train table. well, a mom can only take so much choo-chooing at the top of his lungs so i was happy when he said yes to playing in his sandbox. now if i can just get him to keep the sand in the box.

shirt:  carters  ||  cargos:  carters  ||  shoes:  vans  ||  hat:  born to love

* hat was bought through babysteals

a happy dance

first full day of school. both mom and boy are doing a happy dance. it's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have a kid in tow. errands, exercise and even blogging. have i mentioned the boy no longer takes naps. so any mommy time i did have has been non-existant the last few months. hopefully i'll get some crafting done. already started with the boys new big boy room. i'll hopefully be sharing the transformation going on in there in some upcoming posts.

off to pick him up and hear how his day went. i'm super excited to hear how much he liked it. at least that's what i'm hoping.

shirt:  crewcuts  ||  jeans:  gap (similar)  ||  shoes:  converse  ||  hat:  born to love

* shoes were bought used through ebay and hat was bought through babysteals

first day ever

yes, i'm still around. busy as always. i thought i'd take a minute and give you a picture update of the boy. he's growing up way too fast, so i've got to take pics to capture all these milestone moments.

today he started school. although the sign gives the impression he's starting pre-k, he actually started pre-pre-pre-k. today was an ease-in day and he only went for a little over an hour. he did great. even got a sticker for using the bathroom on his own. love this little guy!!

well equipped

a good biker needs some fabulous accessories. i usually don't splurge on anything. most of what the boy has/wears is bought secondhand, on sale or a gift. for instance, shirt, helmet and bike all gifts.

when the boy first started riding his bike he would occasionally stop and pretend he was getting a drink from a camelbak. one, i was surprised he was pretending to do anything and two, i couldn't believe he remembered drinking out of one once as opposed the millions of times he's drunk out of a sippy cup. so when i saw this little camelbak at REI this past weekend i couldn't resist. the boy was very excited when we pulled it out for him. he immediately put it on and was off. i have to say it was a perfect gift for him!

shirt: gap  ||  shorts: carters  ||  shoes:  vans 

helmet: bell  ||  bike: chicco  ||  backpack: camelbak

swim fan

i'm pretty sure i've gone swimming more this year then i have any summer of my life. i'm just not a fan of the pool, the sun, etc. i was a weird kid. the boy on the other hand has become a great big fan of the water. pretty big change from earlier this summer. i'll have to post some pool shots but here's the boy after a day at the pool.

t-shirt:  american apparel  ||  cover-up: circo  ||  shorts:  mini boden  ||  shoes:  gap

i wanna be sedated

i got this onesie a while ago at tj maxx, i'm pretty sure it was before the boy was born. i'm not quite sure why it's a onesie since it's made for a 2-year-old. and for some odd reason it's made for a child with a huge head. if he didn't have an undershirt, he would be sporting an eighties off-the-shoulder look. the boy hasn't worn a onesie since pretty much birth, so he wasn't a fan of the snap crotch. he did allow me to tuck the back in so he wasn't sporting a butt-flap. i may somehow modify this to make it more like a tee. but it doesn't look too bad in it's current condition.

sweatshirt:  joah love (similar)  ||  onesie:  sourpuss (similar) 

cut-offs:  osh-kosh  ||  socks:  diy  ||  shoes:  converse

* shoes were bought used through ebay

hotter than you know what

all i've got to say, it's good to be home. we survived 10 days of vacation together. ;) 7 days at the beach, 1 family reunion and 2 days at grandpa's. we've been on planes, trains and automobiles. ok, no trains but we'll count the shuttles as our trains. we endured 100+ temps in the midwest. i have no clue how i ever lived there. i'm sweating just thinking about it.

wondering where tuesday's post went? yeah, i'm pretty sure the boy wasn't wearing anything due to the wicked heat. we are completely spoiled in the mountains and i love it. today's high in boone: 84, carbondale's high: 106. thanks but no thanks.

shirt:  old navy (similar) ||  shorts:  polo (similar)  ||  shoes:  gap

rolling with the fishes

spent the day at the nc aquarium. loved the new playground equipment. the fish were cool too! ;)

t-shirt: zulily (similar) || shorts: carters (similar) shoes: converse || hat: new era

* shirt was bought through zulily

b is for bob

we are on vacation! connecting to the internet is hit or miss. so i'll keep this short and let the pictures do the talking.

tshirt:  gift (found here)  ||  swimsuit:  h&m sunglasses:  julbo  ||  hat:  coolibar

district 12

yesterday, the boy and i traveled down to hickory, nc to do a little shopping. although we have most amenities on the mountain we do lack some staples. a target being one. and i definitely need a target fix every couple of months.

in order to get some cooperation from the boy, i.e. you behave and you’ll get rewarded kinda thing, i decided to take him to a playground when we were done shopping. when searching for a nearby playground, i remembered a friend recently posted a pic of one of his boys at a nearby movie location. i did a quick search and found it to be less than five minutes away. what movie you ask? yeah, the hunger games! i will admit that i have not yet jumped on the tribute bandwagon so all the buildings and references have little bearing on me. but i know i will eventually get around to reading the books and seeing the movies. and i certainly know A LOT of my friends have read the books and seen the movie so i thought this would be a great location to take some blog photos. (here is a link if you’d like to see a few pictures of the location from the movie.) all the boy cared about was throwing his frisbee around so he was quite happy.

and yes he is sporting the socks i mentioned making. i ended up using and old pair of socks, masking tape and some fabric paint i had on hand. they aren’t perfect but they give me the effect i wanted. i don’t think a tutorial is necessary but if you’re interested i’d be glad to make one.

*i reblogged this from my mybabykins site. it's been two whole months and this poor site hasn't seen an ounce of love. i've got some projects to share. and now that i know that i can stick to a schedule i should be getting better at posting. 

stopping to see "the guys"

yes, the boy has a love affair with the dog at old navy. i shouldn't post this because you'll now know how often we are there. (not necessarily old navy but the mall.) but any trip to the mall involves a stop to say hi to the dog and "the guys." i refrained from taking a pic this afternoon but we did stop to say hi.

it's february and we're doing what!

hello bloggy-blog, i've neglected you long enough.

we are having such a mild winter here in the mountains that we really don't know what to do with ourselves. i have to admit keeping the boy occupied has been somewhat easier with outdoor activities still an option. just this morning we blew bubbles on the deck and played in his sandbox among other things. but it's freaking february and i was really hoping we'd get to do some winter activities. especially now that the boy's at an age where he can enjoy them. fingers crossed we get some snow. yes, i'm one of the crazy ones who loves the white stuff.

a shirt for a buck

holy cow what a busy, busy holiday season it's been. lots of overdue posts but thought i'd start with an easy/fast one.

rarely do i find anything cute and adorable for the boy. i saw this and knew he had to have it. right when i was about to click on the "buy me" button it dawned on me that i could possibly make something similar at a fraction of the price.

i found and modified a deer silhouette. used this technique from a few years ago. made a quick bowtie and done.


and here it is on the boy. spiffy huh?

wired wednesday

first facetime

wordless wednesday

boy and his new hat

the aviator

this will be the first of many posts about our halloween holiday. i thought i'd start with the little man's costume. or i should say one of his three costumes. yes, my parents and aaron's dad both sent costumes for him. and since he had two to choose from i decided there really was no reason for me to worry about making him a costume. both were adorable and warm. (see above photos) but while out searching for bits and pieces for our costumes, i found a little bomber jacket for $2. and *ding, ding* i knew i'd be making him a costume now. especially since it would sorta tie into our costumes.


i was able to find a generic pattern to make an aviator cap. i lined the ear flaps and headband with fleece to make it a little more comfortable for him to wear. i also knew he probably would not wear goggles, so i made a pair using black felt, gold paint and clear plastic all of which i happened to have lying around. i attached them to his hat and used a piece of crepe paper to to make the strap. (i would probably modify this part since it was pretty much shredded after the second wear. but it served its purpose for the most part.) his scarf is actually part of the slip from my costume. the slip was too long for what i wanted to use it for so i cut it down and used the excess to make his scarf. his pants are his normal pants. and the last thing i made were his spats. i found a pattern on the internet to give me a general idea of what i needed to do. of course i had to modify them to fit a much smaller person. i also made these using the fast a furious method meaning i used velcro for the closure and instead of real buttons i used paint. i didn't finish the edges either, i decided painting those would seal them and save me a lot of time.


finally the last thing i made was his candy bag. i knew he'd be using this more than once so i didn't want it to be costume specific. right now i'm all about monsters, the cute and adorable kind, so i just went with it.

ave did great wearing his costume. i was a bit worried he'd refuse to wear the hat since we're just now transitioning from the summer to the winter hat but it wasn't an issue at all. his costume was a big hit and i'm glad i did decide to make it in the end. i'm already thinking about next year...well that is if he lets me pick his costume again. fingers crossed.

way back wednesday

@ 4 months

@ 21 months.

time is definitely flying by! as you can see, he's a little less prone to letting mommy have her way. i'm sure it's a sign of what's yet to come.

wordless wednesday

"boys being boys"

ok, not so wordless. thought i'd ease myself back into blogdom.

here is the first i hope of more to come.