Roy Boy - 11 months

Little Roy is growing, growing, growing! He took his first steps last weekend! Of course, I wasn't there to see it. Jacob had been out of town all week and the minute I left he decided to walk (with three steps) to his train. I'm hoping he catches on soon; those poor knees and hands are starting to get calluses. With the weather slowing getting colder I'm so thankful we decided to put headed floors under the tile in the kitchen - it was the least we could do for our drafty old house! Roy is also starting to sign with his hands. He doesn't have it quite figured out, but he's at least trying to copy us. The Holidays are going to be especially fun this year...

May I introduce...my very own Harry Potter and Hedwig

I finally finished Roy's custom - just in time for his cousin's dress-up birthday party! The best part is that I only spent $1 (on the socks). Roy got the hat before he was born from a friend, borrows the tights from his 'girl-friend' and I had a bunch of left over felt from a previous project. I love projects like this! AND, I'm so happy with how it turned out. (OH, and Harry Potter was an afterthought, but easily accomplished - eye liner and striped cardigan)

Happy Halloween!

Altered Books

I can never pass up vintage books at flea markets and garage sales, hence, I have piles of books. I'm always looking for ways to alter them into something I'd actually use, because - let's be honest - I don't read books very often (with the exception of Brown Bear and Good Night, Moon). Here's an easy project to convert an old book into a planner:

Left Over Banner...

I had some left-over banners that I made for a wedding and decided to dress up my craft/guest room windows. Someday I'll make curtains, but for now I like how playful this looks:

News-worthly Pumpkin

Instead of the same ole pumkin carving, I decided to try something new this year. All you need is Mod Podge and newspaper. Made for perfect Fall family photos:

Handsome Pumpkins - don't you think?

Roy Boy - 10 months

Roy likes slides!

Renegade Chicago 2011 - Photobooth

FINALLY had time/made time to scan these.

Overlays

Quite genius actually. These pieces by Danika Cheryle are a great way to jazz up an old piece of furniture or boring wall. Amy came across these the other day at work (I know, but it was Friday!!). I'm going to find just the right piece to use these on. To be continued...

Chicago Renegade 2011

Back from Renegade! I think all we did was laugh and eat:

Leslie and Tiffany made me a gorgeous and delicious birthday cake, which we had for dinner and breakfast and snacks!

Best Breakfast EVER - at the Bongo Lounge.

Midnight McDonalds.

THANKS to Julie for keeping me awake on the long drive home.

So good to catch up old friends and make some new. It was especially nice to see Lelsie and hear about her adventures in Brooklyn!

Arrow Bookmarks

On Sunday I told my 1st grade Sunday School Class the story of Jonathan and David. Their favorite part was when Jonathan shot the arrows past David to warn him about King Saul. So, of course, we had to make arrow book marks!

Birthday Weekend

I've officially started my last year in my twenties. Kind of a strange feeling, but I'm going to embrace it or at least try to. On Saturday we drove 2 hours to a family reunion. Roy fell asleep almost instantly, so I used the quiet time watching the corn fields go by and working on a new altered book idea. More of that to come soon.

On Monday we had dinner with some awesome friends. I love birthday flowers.

Roy Boy - 9 months

Shhhh...he's almost asleep.

Studio Snowpuppe

Stumbled across these amazing light fixtures today while I was checking out new shop we consign with called Dots and Loops. This is an adorable little shop in Nova Scotia and it's a good thing it's in Canada, because I would spend lots of money here. And, by the way, the people are lovely to work with too.

Anyway, Studio Snowpuppe, is a cute little company based out of The Netherlands and I'm quite infatuated with these fixtures today. Thought somebody else might gain some inspiration out of them today. Happy Labor Day weekend!

Wedding/Date Night

Jacob was in Danny and Katy's Wedding on Saturday, so I got to get all dressed up and go out for some fun. My legs hurt from dancing and I'm not even a good dancer.

And Roy got to stay home with his Grandma Klapperich and play with his toys. Everybody wins!

Carrots

Roy loves carrots, so I make it a point to have carrots in my freezer at all times.

Summer Salad

Fresh Greens

Fresh Tomatos (from Amy's Garden)

Gorgonzola crumbles

Walnuts

Raspberry Balsamic Vinegarette dressing (AllSpice)

This weekend...

...we went to ALLSPICE to taste tested some amazing vinegar and oil combinations...

...and threw an East-side Party in honor of the Iowa State Fair. (Yes, that is a cake made of hoho and twinkies. And yes, those are chicken nuggets on toothpicks.)

Roy Boy - 8 months

Roy learned how to clap and say 'dadda' since my last post. He doesn't really know who dadda is, but he lights up when Jacob or I walk in the room. Our little crawler has also been very busy exploring the last few weeks. We are currently working on not crawling up the stairs and not touching the tv. Roy also loves music. I've caugh Jacob playing his harmonica while he's feeding him to keep his attention and he's facinated with our guitar so much that he'll climb on top of the guitar case when it's put away. (By the way, the sofa in the pictures is one my favorite pieces of furniture I have ever owned! I had to sell it to make room for UrbanPosture stuff. Leslie moved to Brooklyn last month and I've been busy trying to find a place for everything.)