random things for friday!

this week, i just haven't felt the push to finish up any posts of substance. 

so for now, a random post full of random things to share with you all:

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i'm finally trying to buy some sandals for my boys! i got a great deal on these for asher today at old navy (where i'm working now!) and i'm thinking about grabbing these for roman. i have such a hard time finding boys' sandals. i think that this style of sandal is just so ugly really but i want my boys to have shoes that protect their feet when they are playing! last summer, the boys had a rough time hiking in the mountains with flimsy sandals so i am trying to find something a little more durable. i really like keens but they are just too expensive! any suggestions on cute, quality, affordable boys sandals?

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speaking of clothing, i am happy that asher has branched out in what he will wear. during the winter, he would basically only wear two different pairs of sweatpants and two long sleeve shirts that he would rotate through. he had a very hard time adjusting to shorts this spring because he is very sensitive and particular. miraculously though, lately he has branched out and become less selective about what he wears! this makes things so much easier and honestly i enjoy it as well because i love dressing my little boys! he is still very picky and wears some ridiculous things, (currently he is wearing hiking boots two sizes too big) but i'm glad that it is less of a battle. 

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have any of you signed up with Moms Affiliate? it's a new referral marketing network designed just for mommy bloggers! there are different sections for bloggers to look through and sign up to write articles or advertise products on your blog. i recently signed up with them and have been periodically checking in to see what they are offering. if you are interested in making money from your blog, it's worth checking out!
(bonus: if you sign up i will get a cash incentive and you can too when you refer others!)

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i finally purchased american blogger and hope to watch it in the next few days! have any of you seen it? it's SO weird seeing some bloggers that i've followed forever, like melissa and bridget actually speaking!

( hey look rachael, i wrote about it on my blog! )

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we just finished parks and recreation on netflix and have moved onto watching finding bigfoot. at first i didn't think a show about hunting for bigfoot would interest me, but we are hooked! watching tv and eating junk food is what we do here every night when the boys are sleeping.

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i haven't been on instagram lately because i'm having trouble connecting my ipod to the internet! i've missed it but it's always nice to get a little break from some of my "electronics," as roman would say!
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i've started doing "fun friday" with the boys. i got this idea from a church moms' group that i went to with my friend. basically every friday i have a fun little surprise for the boys. this is way out of my comfort zone because it's one of those "pinteresty" kind of things that i never do but i think it will be fun and roman is super excited! last week i gave them bubbles and jump ropes to play with on the the 4th of july and today i have some really adorable inexpensive little camping themed toys for them which will make them crazy thrilled!
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well, that's all the randomness that i have for today. happy friday everyone!
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if you're feeling bored / generous feel free to vote for my blog!

( I used my affiliate links for FabKids and Moms Affiliate in this post.  )

photographing flowers.

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mostly, i enjoy photographing my children and the ideas for perfect photo shoots in my head usually involve a boy or two.
but photographing flowers can really be wonderful. they just sit there patiently while i click and click away. they are always agreeable and patient. they sit perfectly still while i put my aperture nice and wide
 and focus in on each petal as i please.
so yeah, every once in a while it's nice to find a field of daisies to spend some time with.
it's been done a million times over: making flowers into art that is,
but it really never gets old or goes out of style.
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it's freeing and refreshing. but of course, in the end i usually try to
  corral one of my little guys into the field as well. can you blame me??
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umbrella.

no words today, just a few photos that i like from a rainy day in indiana a couple weeks ago.
little boys under a big umbrella. :)

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this boy...

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i've been looking for a chance to share both of these photos so, here ya go.

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this boy.

he is the sweetest sort of sweet. he is the boy who at six years of age, still loves to talk about how he came into the world. how he was a winter baby and how he had "milkies" for three years and has the softest skin to prove it.

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even though i used to be a very touchy sort of mother and person in general, having a rather high needs toddler now leaves me feeling extremely touched out a lot of the time.

but this boy, is all about touch and love and every night on our walks he tries to hold my hand the whole time. sometimes i say that i want to take a little break from holding hands but when i do the "good mom" thing and hold his back, he tells me, 

"squeeze tighter, mom."

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i can hardly even talk about the piece of love that this one is without getting crazy, and i mean crazy, emotional.

it's out of control the sort of desperate love i have watching roman come into his own.

or rather just grow as the one he has always, always been...

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"i was made for love," he told me once.

these are the things that drive me to just plain crazy madness.

love is a dangerous thing.

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(p.s. thanks for your wonderful comments on my last post about motherhood. i love reading your comments so much!)
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friday thoughts on motherhood.

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     it's been a pretty busy week for us. my husband has been working up in the mountains at a different location this week. that means longer hours for him and jealousy of his awesome scenery on my part especially when he saw baby big horn sheep - ugh! also, i started a new job this week as well! we are feeling super thankful that things might start settling financially a little bit for us the rest of the summer. it's a good feeling for sure.

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     today, aaron will be at work and my plan is to take the boys to the park. we had been walking to the park pretty often in the beginning of spring but it's a bit far and i kind of stared losing the ambition. we usually go for a short walk while aaron's at work and every night we talk a long neighborhood walk as a family. i'm trying to step up my game though and strive to do a little more with the boys. currently in my life, i am just not that mom that religiously takes my kids to the library and park dates and splash pads etc. etc. i've never really been that mom and i don't think i really have to either but i also know that a small gesture such as taking my kids to the playground or for ice cream can feel like a big, fun event to them. 

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     this year has been stress on top of stress on top of tragedy for me and often i'm left kind of going though the motions and wondering, "what kind of mom am i?" i've always felt so convicted and passionate about the way that i intended to be as a mother. i have always been super laid back when it comes to routine and rules but at the same time super devoted to ideas of how my boys would be raised. right now i just feel sort of lost between still being drawn to the attached and natural ideals that i've always held to - homeschooling and organic foods, sleeping with my babies + breastfeeding my toddlers; but also feeling drained by outside circumstances in my life and figuring out that things like public school, tv shows and spaghetti o's can be a necessity and a life saver. 

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     this is certainly a struggle for my right now, one that often causes rapid feelings of confusion and even guilt. but thinking and writing through some of these thoughts, i'm left with the impression that as far as my children go; they really don't care about all of these "things" and "principals" and "ideals", all they really need and want is love. sure i'd like to feel like i'm doing the best always for my children. i'd like to say that they spend their days listening to classical music and having picnics by the stream. i'd like to know that i'm working hard on reading with roman and striving to figure out if asher has allergies. but really, as far as what "kind" of mom i am, right now i'm just being the mom that i can be. my kids are watching tv while i laze around this morning and shower and drink coffee. but later, we'll go to the park - and hopefully they will have a good day for their bank of childhood memories. today is just one day filled with promise for them and for me as well. perfection and ideals can be pushed aside until tomorrow.

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happy friday, guys. thanks for reading along. :)

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june so far.

just a little update on what we've been up to this past month :)roman had his last day of kindergarten! ( water day ) i died with sadness at how big he is getting. :(
// we headed out to ohio that very same day after some car troubles that turned out to just be a drained battery. kansas sunsets are amazing! we took turns driving and drove straight through, 20 hours, without stopping for anything besides gas + food.i didn't take many instagram photos in the midwest, but this is one of my favorite pictures: my littlest sister + my namaw and papaw in front of their house! i'm so glad that we got to spend 2 different days visiting with them; i love and miss them so much.
// after a couple weeks in ohio / indiana, we headed back. this photo is of asher sleeping somewhere on the road trip home. sleeping babies are by far the best kind of road tripping babies...on the way to ohio we drove through some pretty scary storms. on the way back, however, the storms in kansas were way too big of a deal to drive through. we saw the craziest lightening ever and threatening storm warnings were all over the radio. we stopped at a few hotels which were all booked and were told that all of the hotels were filled up until we found ONE room left in this crappy motel!
i was so thankful that we could get off the road but it was kind of a bummer having to shell out money for one bed in a smoky scented room only to stay up super late watching for tornadoes.
( ok, i was the only one staying awake, but seriously how could i sleep? )
// i love the colors of this truck wash in salina, ks. this is at my favorite  little stop on the drive - we have good memories here from our many road trips. :)gas station break! // stocking up at target for essentials when we got home.our first visit to the big playground near our house this season. i love taking my kids to the park and getting this view! living here is awesome.  we have been taking lots of neighborhood walks! also, we found a nice free stroller on the side of the road which has been a nice addition since we didn't bring ours out to colorado when we moved.
quick story: we had this stroller sitting outside of our condo one day and it disappeared. turns out that our neighbor took it thinking we were "getting rid of it" for some reason. still not sure of the logic behind that, but he returned it after thoroughly cleaning it so i guess we win in the end!
 // little boys checking the mail.playing on the balcony one evening. both of my boys love dressing up, they are so much fun! they've been... dare i say playing together a little better lately??
// roman's new FabKids outfit came in the mail! always a happy day when that happens. :)
(affiliate link used) i definitely missed these mountains while we were away. these are the foothills behind our house at sunset. i have never actually been homesick for a place until i moved here.
love, love, love colorado. <3 <3
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( photos from instagram: are you following me?? @bygillianclaire )
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would you vote for my blog today??
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brothers // style.

FabKids sent these matching outfits for my boys in April and I'm finally getting around to sharing these photos with you all! If you aren't familiar with FabKids yet, they are an awesome new subscription clothing company for kids! We have truly enjoyed the opportunity to work with this fun brand; my boys love picking new outfits each month!

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     One of our favorite places to walk near our house turned out to be PERFECT for this shoot because it is so lush right now. Unfortunately, lush brings mosquitoes like crazy out here and we were fighting through swarms of them to quickly get these photos!

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     I'll let the pictures speak for themselves this time, but if you'd like to learn more about FabKids, check out their site: here!

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You can also see my boys looking adorable in their other FabKids outfits here + here!

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*FabKids provided me with the clothing featured in this post in exchange for these photographs + this review. 

This post also includes affiliate links. Thank you so much for supporting my family and providing us with these fun opportunities! We truly appreciate it!*