life at the farm

Spencer & Sawyer took a quick trip to Gma & Gpa Beals' farm in Arizona. Sawyer loved the farm. The farm loved him.



Special thanks to Gma Janice for taking these sweet photos of Sawyer's visit.

where the wild things are

We took Sawyer to the wild...

where he could splash in a stream

where he could play in the dirt

where he could try to get dirt on us

where he would find sticks and rocks and bugs

where he could do some deep thinking

where he could look up at tall trees

where he was carefree

POST EDIT: I know Sawyer's hair is long and he is looking a little raggamuffin-esque at times. Especially in that last photo. Hello, dirty orphan child, do you need a new mother? It's the hot look for fall, we're just a step ahead of the trends.

Speaking of fall, I am putting together a post (for all 3 of the people who occasionally read this) of my wish list of what I'd like in my closet for the upcoming fall/winter. I like to make wish lists.

summer with sawyer

You know what rules? A whole summer with Sawyer [and Spencer]. We are having a lot of fun. Now we just need to go somewhere fun [out of town].

In the mean time...here's how it's gone down so far...

grandma janice came for a quick visit.
outdoor movies
2 peas in a pod. Lots of time with the cousins.
My Papa turned 80!
4th of July party @ church. Sawyer was drunk on cotton candy.
early birthday staycation sans sawyer @ gv ranch. heaven.
ready for fireworks. the louder, the better. papa jim did not disappoint.
the audience
who's a firecracker?

she's a yankee doodle dandy

Sawyer, 20 months, waterparkin' it up

It is now 3/4's of the way through the month of June and life is good. Lots of swimming, eating, and playing. Hopefully in July we'll have a few trips going on. My baby's feet gotta get to the beach. And the farm. And the woods. And my mind needs to get out there on the road.

Summer feels like the movie groundhog day to me. And I love it. My whole mentality changes. Every day has wide open potential for ANYTHING, and yet a lot of the days run together and feel like repeats [in a good way]. Maybe it comes from having Spencer off from work all summer. Maybe it comes from having little to no obligations. Maybe it's all the chlorine from the swimming pool. Whatever it is...keep it comin'

Maybe it's because my b-day is coming up. All those fireworks? You've got me to thank, America. Independence, schmindependence.

friday favorites

Sometimes I feel like having this blog is maybe a bit self-indulgent, because when I do post, it's nothing profound or purposeful, really. I don't think anyone is hanging on my every typed-word, waiting to see what I'll post next(you'd probably be waiting a couple months). And that's ok. A little self-indulgence never hurt anyone, right?

So I'm dedicating this post to a few of my favorite things right now. Because I can and because it's Friday. And we are just a few days away from 3 months of summer break bliss.


Simple Vera @ Kohls. Some of it is not for me, but most of it I love. And I've been lucky enough to find some amazing pieces at deep discount prices. I love a sale.


Don't get your feathers ruffled, but I love Katy Perry's new song. Poppy, cheesy, summer anthem. I'm not sold on her swim top, though...


This picture serves as two favorites in one shot. I want to make these placemats this summer. I found the tutorial on craftzine. Add this to my summer sewing list.
And Trader Joe's is more and more becoming my favorite grocery store. Almost every snack I love comes from this store. My current favs: organic tomatillo & roasted chili salsa, avocado salsa verde, vanana yogurt, vanilla almond granola. Now I'm hungry.


My new swimsuit. Only I got it in a coral-orangish color. And I'm not a swimsuit model so I pale in comparison. Literally.


And of course this dude is on my list of from now until forever-favorite things. He's talking a ton. It's really great to see their little brains learn and grow and discover. His first real sentence so far is "I go ride", which of course means he wants to go for a ride on my beach cruiser.

Despite the sweltering temperatures, summers going to be good. Really good.

new season. new scene.

I am a slacker on blogging these days. I have two good reasons for it:
1. I've been taking care of a sick kid, a busy husband, a house, and everything inbetween.
and
2. Although I make myself sound busy, there's not much happening that's worth reporting to the blog.

And I've been in a rut lately. (guess that makes 3 reasons)

I'm trying to figure out why I am always trying to fit in where I don't.

Time to get over it. Onward and upward.

here's someone I can relate to. literally.

hand me downs

I've blogged about my increasing love for thrift stores before, but a night of thrifting success like I had last weekend can only be explained in pictures.

These are just a sampling of items I dug out of the recesses of metal-hanger-smelling racks of questionable clothes. It isn't always pretty, but it's worth it. My only hangup is that it is getting harder and harder to find any fun vintage stuff worth buying. I always prefer nice, vintage stuff but I won't turn down a nice Gap dress for $9 or anything.

note: I was not about to iron all of these clothes just for a blog post. embrace the wrinkles.
springtime dress, CHECK.
creme brulee, my new favorite color palette
jcrew on a budget, my transition from winter to spring outfit. borders on old lady, i know, i love it.
i didn't show you but the black sleeve cuffs on this dress have the most adorable gold buttons on the backside of them. makes for a mean sunday dress.
summah, summah, summah time

Not pictured are the perfect dark denim bermuda shorts, a grey ruffle top, another summer dress and 2 more cardigans I bought during my secondhand splurge.

4 dresses
3 cardigans
3 tops
1 pair of shorts
=
Fifty bones!

(Ok, so it should have cost me $66, but I encountered a dishonest DI employee who cut me some weird deal. See previous post.)