diy button ponytail holder

This little craft is a one minute wonder!! I'm not even kidding, from start--to finish--to snug in your pretty locks, this is a true quickie. Now that I am back at work and barely finding enough time to keep the floors clean and the socks folded, I am embracing instant crafts like this. Plus, not a day goes by without my hair winding up in a pony. Imagine that! Now I can sport my usual 'do with a bit of flair.
Ready, get set, go:
1. Gather up your goodies: you'll need a small scrap of your favorite fabric, an elastic ponytail holder and a metal button covering kit (any size will do--I chose a 1" diameter)
2. Following your kit instructions, trim fabric to size, place over button, press, and ta-da! You've created your custom look.3. Take your pony holder and loop+swoop it through the eye of the button. I found that using an old pony with over-stretched elastic was the perfect trick to easily advance it through the button. Of course your results will depend on the size of buttons and elastics you use, but you get the idea!
4. Admire your darling finished product, tie back your hair, and go greet the day!

a toy for the boy

'Tis the season for holiday list making and gift giving. We're attempting to stick to a slim budget this year, but want to invest in one nice toy for Mr. G. Since he'll be right around the standing age come Dec. 25, I would love for him to have a little walker. This one is awesome because it has a wagon and seat so he can cart around his favorite little stuffed friends.

All of the early bird shopping this year really prompted Jeff and I to have a conversation about being mindful of the toys we bring into our home over the years. In an age of consumerism and a nation of abundance (despite the recession, wouldn't you say that we're still doing pretty well for ourselves?) it's easy to get swept up in crazy Christmas spending and blur the lines between wants and needs. Of course we want to give generously to Graham, and in so doing, nurture a spirit of generosity and gratefulness in him, but I digress. Instead of quantity, we want to try to choose quality toys. Things that are great quality and can withstand years of bangs and busyness. Things that he can learn to value and take care of (and not throw away). Things that a Grandpa Graham could reuse and share with his grandkids. We want to get back to the basics and invest in toys that are simple, solid, and natural. Things that will spark his curiosity and challenge his big imagination. By the way, I LOVE the fact that wooden toys are making a comeback!

digging this ukulele...

Train - Hey, Soul Sister (Official Music Video) -

Am pretty much obsessed with this song right now. It's making me very happy on a gloomy weekend. :)
{and nm the little commercial at the beginning...sorry.}

to the great up north

Am finally getting around to sharing pics from our mini vacation to the great up north a few weekends ago. One of Jeff's lifelong friends tied the knot in a beautiful outdoor wedding on the shores of Lake Superior. If you know Minnesota, you know that weather-wise, Late October can be a dicey/blizzarding time of year at this latitude. In Two Harbors, the leaves had already fallen and there was a chance of snow in the forecast all weekend. Lucky lucky, the day turned out to be a crisp 40 degrees and sunshiny--am just thankful I didn't have to sport a sleeveless gown like the bride + bridesmaids! This was our first wedding this year without the pressure of playing photographer so we really kicked back and enjoyed it!!
We kicked the day off by bundling up and taking a trip to see Split Rock Lighthouse. We were a little bummed that the lighthouse itself is closed for tours in the off season--so instead we took a little hike down to the beach to get some great panoramic views. Man, what a scenic place!

And no trip to Northern Minnesota is complete without a trip to Betty's.
Seriously, her pie is legendary.
We stopped there for brunch, for a chance to warm up, and for this slice of mouthwatering raspberry rhubarb pie: Even G got a taste of its gooey goodness!

falling back

The end of Daylight Savings is perhaps one of my favorite days on the calendar. It ranks right up there with Christmas and birthdays--because for one day a year there truly are enough hours in the day. An extra hour for sleeping in, crossing off one more thing on your to-do list, or to get to where you are going. How did you spend your extra hour today?

I am sinking my spare hour into my poor, neglected blog. I'm plopped down, cozy on the couch, watching G monkey around on the floor, inching his way closer to crawling. :) October was absolutely nuts around here and I am long overdue for sharing a few good posts!

I started my new Peds ICU job 3 weeks ago. So far, so good--it feels great to get back to the nurse world, but at the same time, it's been pretty heartbreaking to be away from G. I will just be working part-time, but even that seems like too much! Right now there's just so much to get used to: commuting, pumping, juggling two schedules, and still keeping up with the rest of the world. We are so blessed that Jeff can have a flexible schedule between a restaurant job and the photo biz. We are doing our best to work opposite schedules to keep G out of daycare and home with one of us. Am hoping we don't burn out and that we can squeeze in quality time for our threesome from week to week.

And speaking of the photo biz, we are in awe of how well things are picking up, having done little to no marketing. We've had about as many photo shots as we can handle already! God is so good! In the last month, Jeff did 2 engagement sessions, 2 kiddos, 1 senior, + 1 wedding. I have been able to tag along and help out w/ all of the shoots. It has been so unbelievably fun! We're just getting caught up w/ all of the editing and orders and we'll be updating Flickr and FB this week, so stay tuned for some peeks. :)

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! I think we wore the chicken out with all of the festivities. Just can't resist sharing:

{6 months}

Mr G:
:At 6 months, you are more fun than ever. Such a little dude with such a personality! Every day is an adventure...And you aren't even on the move yet!
:On your 6 mo. b-day, almost to the minute, you amazingly began sitting up like a champ. Good thing, because you were never a fan of seeing the world belly up or belly down. You always want to be up, looking around, and taking it all in.:You've become a chunky little monkey, somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 lbs!
:You are rocking the solid food world. So far you've tasted apples, avocados, bananas, broccoli, carrots, green beans, grilled cheese sandwich, mashed potatoes, peas, peaches, pears, pumpkin and even prunes (ick)! So far, your very favorite indulgence was some of my tomato basil soup at a restaurant. The worst food experience: a lick of pickle. That's an acquired taste my son!
:Still not consistently sleeping through the night, but hey, you win some, you loose some.
:You growl. Yes, that's right, growl...During mealtime prayers, at strangers, almost on cue, and nearly all day long. Not sure what it's all about, but hey, you're a little boy, and it's definitely more entertaining than embarrassing!
:You're a big fan of fall. Despite our best efforts to snap a breathtaking photo of you playing in the leaves or in a big patch of pumpkins, you've always been too busy eating the leaves and patting the pumpkins to look up at the camera. So curious!!
:Your hobbies include: tasting everything in sight, playing extreme peekaboo (because regular peekaboo gets boring), pat-a-cake, and taking quick cat naps. :)

scrap at it.

Ahh, finally my little crafting space is unpacked, my table is cleared off, and am ready for some serious projects. This week I'm pulling out my scrapbook supplies and starting on Mr. Graham's book. It's about time...This kid has way too many pictures! After giving it some thought, I've decided to archive his 100s of pictures in a Kolo album and save the best of the best for true scrapbook pages. That way I can focus on journaling and creating around the major milestones and sentimental stuff--and not be burdened with guilt over our multitude of our family pictures. I feel like the digital age is a bit of a catch 22. Having so many pics and memories is absolutely wonderful, but maybe just a tad overwhelming? All this makes me very curious...what works for you? How do you organize your photos?

the chicken's first halloween {diy style}

We're getting a little giddy about Halloween around here. Just finished stuffing G into his chicken suit for a trial run. (And yes, he eats the feathers!) It was easy to decide on a costume theme...After all, he's been our spring chicken/early morning rooster since day 1! I just couldn't find any cute chicken costume in stores. So, I set out to make his very own and discovered that there's something very magical about a homemade Halloween costume.

This is actually pretty simple to put together: For the body I sewed together 2 long-sleeved onesies (2 sizes too big) and stuffed stuffing in between to make him extra plump. Then I took two 6' white feather boas and tacked them all around. To make the legs + feet, I sewed yellow rubber cleaning gloves to a pair of yellow pants. And the hat--Just an old white t-shirt of Jeff's plus a few chunks of felt and black buttons. :)

a few good things

on a cloudy + chilly Saturday in October:: the perfect, round, yet ugly duckling pumpkin

: one snuggly little sleepy head and a pair of fuzzy footy pajamas

: eavesdropping on jeff + graham's conversations over the baby monitor when g first wakes up and jeff goes to pick him up. those two--so adorable.

: fresh baked brownies {the kind with frosting}

: a new pair of wool socks
: our tree house view. the thing we love most about our new little place is the pretty pond and tall trees right outside of our windows.

: watching the leaves begin to change and imagining the snowflakes that will soon fall!

: cozying up to watch Away we Go from netflix. cutest movie i've seen in awhile.

: a fridge full of groceries

: and playing with the contents of the prettiest package from kt @ a little bird told me.so. it just arrived at my doorstep from half way around the world! {kt is a sweet blog friend from australia who is recently engaged and in the midst of planning her dream wedding!! i was lucky enough to win her clever giveaway--something old, something new, something crafty, and something blue...Woo-Hoo!!}

miss this place:

Just discovered Jesse Leake's stunning San Francisco engagement photo shoot via Snippet & Ink. These pics are making my heart bleed to be back there right now--Just for the afternoon! Don't get me wrong, we are so blessed to be home in the Midwest, enjoying the seasons change, but there's just something about the sea-breezy air and fog horns in SF...