by gillian claire: everyday

SOCIAL MEDIA

8.23.2014

back to school.

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Well, the first week of school has come and gone. Roman's school lets out two hours early for the first two weeks due to the heat, which is making for a nice transition. I don't want to think too much about my little boy being gone until 3:00 everyday yet! We went to Target + Old Navy last Friday to finish up our back to school shopping and it was so much fun. Well, until Asher's melt down that lasted two days over the light-up Ninja Turtle shoes he didn't get to buy, yikes...
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Roman seems very happy with his class. He miraculously picked a navy blue lunch box over all the obnoxious cartoon character ones which secretly made me happy and he told me all about trading some of his goldfish crackers at lunch with his classmates; it was, "so awesome," he says. Roman was super excited to tell me that he got a chance to be a "behavior bee" in his class, which means that he was rewarded for his good behavior by being able to sit in the bumblebee bean bag chair. His face was just lit up when he told me about it in the car. He really is just the sweetest, sweetest little boy - his teacher is pretty lucky I'd say.
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I am exhausted from my first week of school. I feel overwhelmed and stressed and a little in over my head. I really am not used to being so busy and it's just really tiring especially on Tuesdays + Thursdays where my days are 12+ long with work and school now. I'm still trying to figure things out as far as classes transferring / financial aid etc. as well so needless to say, I am super glad that it's Saturday. I don't work OR have school today because Aaron is working in the mountains and I'm hoping the boys will want to pretty much sit around and do nothing all day. Maybe I'll sort through some laundry as well since we have a new (to us) washer + dryer set!
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FabKids sent us these "back to school" outfits and oh my gosh, I am in LOVE with them. These little Fender and NPR tee shirts are just the coolest things ever and they are super soft / great quality as well. I've had these outfits waiting in the wings to be photographed for a while now but it's just been too gosh darn hot to put the boys in jeans. Last night was a super cool / rainy / fall weather kind of evening so after baths I took the boys out to the porch to do our traditional back to school sign coloring. I love how Roman went for a "color-blocking" technique and Asher was very excited and worked hard on his as well, although afterwards he ripped both of these papers to shreds in true Asher style! At least I have the photos though, right? ;)
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How is the back to school season going for you all?
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fab_kids_boy_clothes_2IMG_0319-2IMG_0321IMG_0232IMG_0294IMG_0160-2IMG_0177-2 .
on Asher - NPR shirt: c/o FabKids jeans: c/o FabKids shoes: Old Navy ( on clearance now! )
on Roman - Fender shirt: c/o FabKids jeans c/o FabKids
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And hey, if you like flashbacks like I do, here is our very similar back to school post on this same porch from last year! Time flies...
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( This post includes affiliate links to FabKids. If you use my link, you will receive your first outfit for only $15 and in return I will receive points towards free outfits for my kids. FabKids sent me these outfits to share with you all but this post and all opinions are my own. Thanks for reading along and providing my family with these awesome opportunities! )
8.17.2014

shifting gears.

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( sunset at the reservoir last night )
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This week Roman starts 1st grade in public school. I am so overjoyed and thrilled with his teacher. He attended a little summer program at his school for the past few weeks and the teacher that he had during that is the same teacher that he will have for 1st grade. She is everything you could ever dream of wanting in a teacher for your child - just perfectly sweet and wonderful. We visited Roman's classroom on Friday night and saw all the little chairs and colorful decorations and the pet turtle, "Tilda". I always wanted homeschool for my children and there is a part of me that still wants that and may do so in the future. But gosh, there is just something about public school that is so special and fun - there are parts of that experience that I want for my children as well. I loved elementary school and I'm just remembering and being able to re-experience that with Roman; buying new school clothes, going to pick out a pencil box, looking around at your classroom, choosing a lunchbox. It's all so sweet.
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I'm going back to school, as well, full time this week. I pretty much decided on this for sure just a couple days ago. I went in and talked to an advisor and brought my transcript and hashed it out a bit. She was such a nice, kind person and so helpful. Our meeting left me really inspired. Who knows how long this inspiration will last but hey, it's here for now. It felt so awesome to look at my transcript and realize how accessible my Bachelor's degree is looking especially since I feel like so many of the classes I have left are specific to my major which will be enjoyable and a breeze.
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Asher will be home with us, for now. He broke down into tears during Roman's open house, crying out, "I wannna go to schooooooooool." Oh the hardships of being a little brother. :)
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Even though things are changing and school is starting up again, I'm not considering it the end of summer. There is still plenty of time for tank tops + sitting out in the lawn while the boys chase ants and climb pine trees. Things will be busier for sure and I'm happy for that, we need a little less laziness around here. But as far as summer goes, I'm not ready to give up this season just yet.
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4.15.2014

adventure family in motion.

     last friday, i had a chance to share a guest post over at the adventure family in motion blog and i wanted to let you all know about it! adventure family in motion is such a neat blog dedicated to families who are passionate about living a life filled with adventure and a love for the outdoors! you can find my post by clicking here where i share a little bit about our family's move to colorado.
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    preparing for this post, i went through a lot of photos that i've collected since our move here. i have seriously adored being able to appreciate the gorgeous scenery where we live and to be able to capture the ones i love amongst it. you can head over to my guest post to view some more of my favorites, but i'll share a few here as well. they are repeats, but worth it i'd say. ;)
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     one thing that i touched upon in my guest post is how much we love to spend time outdoors hiking here in colorado. nothing fancy; we just pack up the kids, grab some water bottles and head out to explore. does your family spend a lot of time outside? what are your favorite kind of adventures?
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( if you enjoy my blog, click below to vote! )
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4.14.2014

rainy days.

007009     i took these photos last sunday, on a rainy day. we dropped aaron off at work in the rain and i spontaneously planned to hold a little photo shoot of both boys in their room wearing matching pajamas. they clean their room on sundays now, so it seemed like a perfect time. much to his brother's relief, asher decided to steal the show and so it turned into this. he would give me his best jumps and then run over to check the photos on the back of my camera. he was so impressed with himself and his "flying". i would give him a big smile and he would absolutely beam with pride. we had such a special, sweet time. i cannot stress enough how important these moments are to me: these are truly the photos that i live for. and yeah, i'm pretty impressed with him as well - these photos are awesome. 025-2035031070076      I have had the pleasure of getting to know a great group of ladies in the past couple months. If you are looking for some wonderful new blogs to read, check out the links below!
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"Rain" is the April writing prompt of The Mommy Blogger Collective. In addition to a monthly writing prompt, the collective hosts a monthly blogger featurette. This month we are featuring Katie of Hello, Little Bean. A few words from Katie --- Hi! I'm Katie and I write a blog called 'Hello, Little Bean.' It's about life as a new mom to my cute daughter, Lark Story. I'm California born and raised, but currently live in Michigan with my soon-to-be husband, James and my soon-to-be stepson, Brennan, as well as our little Lark and two kitties. I'm a full-time graphic designer who loves all things artistic and creative. I'm overly sensitive and sentimental, sarcastic and foul-mouthed at times, a foodie and a reality tv junkie who's completely and utterly in love with motherhood. You can also find me on instagram, facebook, pinterest and our little online boutique, Bold Threads. .
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 /// The Mommy Blogger Collective /// Christina, Courteney, Dena, Erica, Erin, Gillian, Katie, Misty, Nicole, and Renée. ///
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3.31.2014

treasure.

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     last week was stressful and i was preparing for an "outside of my box" photography job that i had scheduled this past saturday. and if any of you out there are photographers, you may know that it is less than easy to coax your littlest family members into playing model for you, especially when you really need it. this particular evening, i took roman and asher outside to practice with some new equipment and even though i had used a lollipop during asher's nap to bribe roman into standing still for me, he just about melted in drama for the camera. but asher! asher miraculously just kept saying, "ok!" and plopping down in front of me beaming with absolutely ridiculous toothy grins every time. it was just perfect. we've always said that asher's temperament is extreme in every way. when he is wild, he is wild, wild, wild as can be. but when he is sweet, he is the sugariest sweetest candy of them all. i was just about to put my camera away when i noticed that the sun was starting to set at just the perfect angle over the condo building across from ours. you know, that perfectly magical sunshiney/shimmery/golden light that i love best. so i asked asher to sit down one more time and these next photos are what followed. they are filled to the brim with so much sugary sweet candy-boy goodness. the littlest, wildest, treasure of my heart.
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3.26.2014

instagram lately.

just some favorite instagram photos of late for lack of better words. ;)
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special brother playtime // the boys' bedroom lightcomesincoloursdip2sharp
sleeping baby - never gets old. perfect eyes, nose, lips + ears.
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orange rocks // thrift store
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colorado clouds
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happy wednesday everyone!
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(( follow me on instagram @bygillianclaire ))
3.21.2014

brothers // friday things.

006i died when i got this photo - perfect representation of their personalities!
051 050 happy and free.020 roman annoyed that i'm taking a picture; asher doing "spooky face" - his fave.044 i didn't realize that they were pulling on a broken part of the fence until after i took this picture -oops!025 022(2) brother love. <3271      looking at my sons these days and looking through these photos, i'm thinking, "oh my goodness i kind of have two boys now." not babies. like real-talking-running-thinking for themselves-tiny humans. man, that went fast. it's super adorable of course being able watching these two interact and play and i know that their relationship will only continue to grow. ;)
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     a couple of side notes: thanks for all of your comments on my defined post last week! i really loved sharing my heart and truly appreciated reading your sweet words. :)
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     i have a few new sponsors up on my sidebar - be sure to check them out if you are looking for some new favorite blogs! also, i'm still open to swapping ads for *free* on my blog - so let me know if you are interested!
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happy friday everyone!

3.17.2014

flyer.

299     warmer days recently have given the boys and i the chance to walk to the park a couple of times while aaron was at work. the nearest playground is not super close but it's a perfect walk and a perfect chance to breathe the fresh air, get some exercise and spend time together. i have two little boys always grabbing at my hands and chitter-chattering away. i love the moments when they are both separately yapping about whatever it is they need to tell me and all the while i can't hear a word because they are talking at once. those moments make me smile.
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     we play at the small playground and they are both finally at the age where they can climb and run without my immediate assistance. which is so nice. i can sit in the grass and soak up the sunshine. and on the walk home there are always mountains to lead us back.
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     the day that i took these photos of asher swinging, i was relaxing while the boys played. asher was coming towards me and inside my laziness was hoping that he wouldn't want to swing again. when he reached me he said, "i wanna flyyyyyy," to insinuate that he did indeed want to swing.
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     and really, how could i say no to that?
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300-3278277301(2)282304-4282to see some photos that i adore of asher swinging at eleven months old click here :)
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