back to school // with FabKids!

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It's FabKids time again and I'm excited to share this adorable outfit that we picked for Asher from their August back to school collection! I have to admit that I'm cringing a little bit at the sight of cold weather clothing but FabKids never lets me down and this super soft tee and black coated skinnies are truly adorable. Asher lived in FabKids skinny jeans last year and he even had this exact pair in a size down He was pretty stoked about the "skeleton shirt" and Roman has the same one in blue so naturally I will have to put them in these shirts together to fulfill my matching little boy dreams.

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Have you finished your back to school shopping yet? We shopped for clothes to get us through the still warm weeks of back to school but we don't have many outfits for fall/winter yet. My mind is starting to turn with thoughts of boots for mama and my littles in puffy vests to distract me from the cold that is to come, eek!

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     FabKids is a fun and unique subscription clothing company! Each month you have the opportunity to choose a new outfit and you are always free to skip as many months as you want. Use my link to get a free outfit with the purchase of your first outfit: HERE.

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*I received this outfit as compensation for my work as a FabKids Brand Ambassador. Thanks so much for reading along and providing these opportunities for me; I truly appreciate it.*

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Oh hey, if you enjoy my blog would you consider clicking on the button below to vote for us? Ranking on Top Baby Blogs helps my blog grow by connecting me to readers and companies! Thanks so much, friends!

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insta-june; part 2.

alright, i'm here to continue with the rest of my favorite instagram / iphone photos from june!

( see part 1: here )

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the babes + i , i am the luckiest. // our new huge garage sale wall art that we found for $15!

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target things: wasn't a fan of drinking water out of a carton... but this tank top has been perfect for summer! // i also decided that i really wanted to buy a skateboard! i've only taken it out once so far though!

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we got a fun package from pictli, a new app that lets you print + frame photos from your phone! i was so thrilled to try it out because i'm the worst at printing pictures for our home!

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my mom + littlest sister visited from ohio! of course i've already shared some photos from their trip in a previous post. it was so great to see them out here in colorado! olivia is 15 years younger than me and i'm really sad to live so far from her during this season of our lives so it was great to have her around.

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we went to casa bonita one day during their visit. have anyone else out there heard of or been to casa bonita? it's this crazy restaurant in the denver area that is full of entertainment and they even have cliff divers in the dining area! this has pretty much become a family tradition for us going back to the first time my mom went when she was 13 with my great aunt! it's definitely a unique/random place and we had a lot of fun.

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some more FabKids shots from my iphone. i had so much fun taking pictures of the boys this day! i'm trying to ease up on my photo taking with the boys a little so that it becomes more fun for them. it's a constant struggle for me because i just want to take pictures of them everyday but of course they are kids. it's hard to find a balance. any tips??

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flowers from rome! <3

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i can't believe how fast summer is going and i'm totally not okay with it! i'm thinking it might be destiny for me to just move somewhere where it's warm all the time...

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find me on instagram @bygillianclaire and leave me a comment so that i can follow you back! 

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happy friday!

( our foothills! )

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happy friday everyone!

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having said that... are the weekends longer and harder than weekdays for any other families out there? usually on friday-monday aaron and i work the entire time: him working all day and then me working at night. so the weekends are really longer and more stressful than the weekdays around here!

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our schedule is about to change up a little with my husband getting promoted at his job. i'm not sure what all will happen yet but i can't say that i usually welcome changes like this with open arms. we get in a routine and then i wonder how we will all adjust to the new one. hopefully it will be a good change.

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i'm also looking towards fall and wondering what i will do school wise. i'm still chipping away at my art degree but i'm not in any rush anymore. i'm just trying to enjoy the process and see where it takes me. taking a few classes at a time. art is always a good thing for me.

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we're all just having a lazy morning, as usual. we're out of milk and asher is distraught about this. i'm trying to decide if i want to get the boys up and out of the house. maybe head to old navy where clearance is an additional 30% off right now! what do you all have planned for your friday?

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and hey, my sister-in-law gina started a blog; check it out! she also just moved out to colorado!

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insta-june; part 1.

well, i'm going to have to spread this one out into 2 posts! we've had a busy month and a fun introduction to summer. i've been back to instagram like crazy now that i have my iphone6 which i'm in love with. i've never even had a smart phone before but i love having a nice camera phone! here are some of my fave iphone / instagram photos from june:
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playing with babies + dragons in the morning light // donuts at 7/11, a summer tradition so far 

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colorado sunsets; literally, they never get old

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we stayed in colorado springs for a week with aaron's family. i got some photos when i came for air from my constant-naptime-hibernation! hiking at the garden of the gods // a cute janky little ice cream place // view of the mountains from colo springs

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more colorado springs pics: another view from the top of pikes peak; can't get enough of these photos! // oh and this big foot sign. oh my gosh i couldn't believe my eyes! we are actually kind of obsessed with bigfoot in my family, sooo yeah, we had to get a picture of this. // cute photos of asher in front of these adorable painted walls at the playground

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two happy mail days for asher and a little sneak peak of two companies that i'll be working with this summer! ;)

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find me on instagram @bygillianclaire and leave me a comment so that i can follow back!

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to be continued ...

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little style / FabKids.

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We've been working with FabKids on my blog for over a year now and I can't believe how much my little boys are growing! I'm pretty pleased with our FabKids picks this month and they have already received a LOT of wear around our house. Well ok, besides the too-hot-for-summer long sleeved shirt that Asher insisted on, because: sharks, duh. These adorable little color blocked shorts that Asher is wearing actually made an appearance on Roman in my very first FabKids post and they are still one of my faves from their site. The green cargo shorts fit my super-hard-to-fit Roman and they are perfect for a little boy who loves to collect rocks and treasures on summer hikes.

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Be sure to check out FabKids, a fun and unique subscription clothing company for kids! Right now they are offering buy one get one free plus free shipping on your first purchase! I'm pretty in love with these pictures of my boys, I hope you enjoy them as well!

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Roman: pirate shirt + green cargo shorts: c/o FabKids, shoes: Old Navy clearance

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Asher: shark shirt + color block shorts: c/o FabKids, shoes: Old Navy

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*FabKids provides clothing for my children in exchange for my work as a Brand Ambassador. Thanks so much for supporting my blog and providing my family with these opportunities; I truly appreciate it!*

swinging.

swinging,

asher . september 2014

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aren't photographs wonderful? i took these pictures laying in the mulch at the playground but for all anyone knows maybe they were taken in a studio or maybe they were photoshopped,

or maybe they were just taken in a dream?

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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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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! )

shifting gears.

( 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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{heat} of summer.

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this is one of my favorite photos of my boys and one of my favorite photos period.
two little brothers,
two years ago
a different time, different place
same heat of summer.
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"Heat" is the July 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 Renee of oh renée. A few words from Renée --- Oh Renée started as a creative outlet for me a few years ago, a happy place to share creative and fun projects or fashion. Since then, it has evolved into one of the best things I could ever have done with my time! The last few years of blogging have become much more personal to me- more of a way to document this life of mine, with my husband, with my little boy and with the world around me. I enjoy sharing glimpses into our days and sharing in other mom’s lives as well, as part of this wonderful world of social media. Being a mother is better than anything I could have expected! Truly. I call Ohio my home, I keep the joy of traveling and exploring new places close to my heart, i spend my evenings knitting and am never without a book in my hand or in my purse. My blog is much of the same! You can find me on Instagram at instagram.com/ohreneedesign. /// The Mommy Blogger Collective /// Christina, Courteney, Dena, Erica, Erin, Gillian, Katie, Misty, Nicole, and Renée. ///