my littlest boys

and the boy who made them possible (heh)

p.s. those blazers are featured in our Christmas card, this year. My kiddos luhluhlooove them.

Sigh. I should be putting up a photo of a very close girl friend or someone I gush to about teenage vampire novels. Alas, I…am girlfriend-less. Close-girlfriend-less, at least. It’s sad, but I have a hard time making those sorts of connections.

But I do adore this guy. His support is unparalleled. He’s [Read More...]]]>

Sigh. I should be putting up a photo of a very close girl friend or someone I gush to about teenage vampire novels. Alas, I…am girlfriend-less. Close-girlfriend-less, at least. It’s sad, but I have a hard time making those sorts of connections.

But I do adore this guy. His support is unparalleled. He’s a cool dad and he makes a mean chicken sandwich. He lets the kids climb all over him, lets them take long baths, plays hide and seek, supports my weird obsessions & doesn’t scoff [too much] when my sister and I kick him out so we can watch The Vampire Diaries, and he’s super adorable with a scruffy beard.

Happy Halloween, friends! We (I) carved this Jack-O’-Lantern on Friday night. My son helped me find a design on google. He wanted it to be scary and he chose this face. I am so very thankful for the straight lines. It’s been a very long time since I carved a pumpkin, so I wasn’t [Read More...]]]>

Happy Halloween, friends! We (I) carved this Jack-O’-Lantern on Friday night. My son helped me find a design on google. He wanted it to be scary and he chose this face. I am so very thankful for the straight lines. It’s been a very long time since I carved a pumpkin, so I wasn’t prepared for the blister I’d get on my finger. It’s all better now, thankfully.

It’s also my husband’s birthday, so I’ve spent the day getting a yummy dinner ready and trying to tidy up the place a bit. I’m pretty beat and I still have quite a bit left to do, but I wanted to pop in and share some of my favorite photos from the past few Halloweens. Caution: Much adorable below.

This photo was taken in 2006. I had one baby and he was radical. He was also 1 and so very into Halloween. He was a red dragon with bodacious hips, but THIS polaroid is my favorite photo of the night. His smile, his ‘I love my mummy!’ shirt, his missing arm warmer…he was just so jazzed to be there.

Last year, he was an Incredible. We found his costume at a thrift store for under $3. I made his mask out of felt. WIN. ALSO–notice the similar pose to the Polaroid above? GUSH.

The baby’s past 3 Halloweens have gone like this: peanut, lion, pumpkin. He always brings the cute.

This year, they’ll be dressed as Iron Man and a police officer.

After daddy’s birthday dinner and dessert, the boys will head out with him for treats and I’ll stick around to pass some out to visiting ghouls and goblins.

Stay safe, everyone! Enjoy this very last night of October. And wish this guy a happy birthday if you see him:

This t-shirt by the amazing Sammy Kaye. Sammy has been an internet friend for almost 10 years. She was one of the first people I gushed about Jason to. She’s a Michiginian, transplanted to Chicago, who just recently returned to the United States from a [Read More...]]]> I only gave Jason one thing for Father’s Day…

This t-shirt by the amazing Sammy Kaye. Sammy has been an internet friend for almost 10 years. She was one of the first people I gushed about Jason to. She’s a Michiginian, transplanted to Chicago, who just recently returned to the United States from a couple-month-stay in South Korea where she worked in a school with some freakin’ adorable kids. She blogged about her stay, complete with gorrrrrrrgeous photos, here.

ANYWAY, I love me some Sammy art, so I snagged up one of her Buschemi-giraffe t-shirts the first day she put them on Etsy. Jason likes golden yellow shirts, so it was perfect! We also have a Bill Murray shirt in white, but I’m thinking I may need a blue one soon. Go check out her shop and give her some loooove!

He’s growing up fast! Because I knew he’d hate the long drive and then the long ceremony, I [Read More...]]]> I should probably stop calling him my baby. He’s the youngest, though, so he might be stuck with the “baby” nickname for all eternity. Or until I’m brave enough to get pregnant again (oh, the VOMIT!).

He’s growing up fast! Because I knew he’d hate the long drive and then the long ceremony, I timidly suggested he stay with grandma while I went out of town. Afterall, daddy was going to take Nathan to his first baseball game and I knew Andy wouldn’t really like that.

It took a bit, but we solidified our plans and I kissed his sleeping face goodbye, early Saturday morning. Later that afternoon, he got dropped off at grandma’s.

And we never heard from him again.

I KID! To my complete and utter surprise, he did wonderfully! Nary a fuss! In fact, when we went over early Sunday afternoon, he was happily riding a bike in the driveway. I asked if he wanted to go and he kinda pulled back. As if to say, “no way, Jose. I’m at Grandma’s!” Alas, we had plans to go to Grandpa’s, so we had to head out pronto. With promises of a prompt return, I buckled him up and off we went for a few hours.

I’ll have you note, it was now over 24 hours since he last nursed! Pretty amazing. We spent a few hours at Jason’s dad’s, where I smelled a magnolia for the first time.

[1] & [2]

My father-in-law got a ladder out and plucked this from his tree. It smelled amazing! A clean, lemony, floral scent.

We headed back to grandma’s in the early evening. We had dinner, opened gifts, played, etc.

and the newly minted “big boy” himself:

It was a pretty swell weekend.

That boy right there has found his courage. He tried to climb anything with a rung for him to hang on to. Ladders, slides, jungle gyms, etc. When he couldn’t quite climb the jungle gym (blame the short arms and legs), he started eating it…

I might not be around the interwebs, tomorrow. My hubs leaves for a convention in Las Vegas (a men’s fashion convention–ha!), on Monday, so we’ll be spending Valentine’s Day packing [Read More...]]]>
Heart knit from pattern found in Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Workshop. It’s the back of the “Heart Hat” knit with Lion Brand’s Thick and Quick

I might not be around the interwebs, tomorrow. My hubs leaves for a convention in Las Vegas (a men’s fashion convention–ha!), on Monday, so we’ll be spending Valentine’s Day packing and dealing with the emotions (mine. anxiety, hello!) of his departure. I’m trying my best to focus on the positives like:

-Andy & I get the bed to ourselves.
-I don’t have to practically beat him up to get him to wake in the mornings.
-I can practice taking photos with my brand-new Lensbaby.
-I can fart whenever I please.
-I can knit after the kids go to sleep without feeling like I’m neglecting someone.

But I’m finding my mind settling on the things I’ll miss. Like his help with evening meltdowns. His laugh. The way his hair smells. And his middle-of-the-night cuddles. It’s only 4 days. Only. Only. Only.

he likes to be inverted! his arms usually shoot to the sides of his head, so he looks like a crazy muscle-man. ]]>

he likes to be inverted! his arms usually shoot to the sides of his head, so he looks like a crazy muscle-man.