my stretch marks say i have no business wearing a two piece.

(urban outfitters)

and the winner is....

(anthropologie)

I know you are all gonna check the reference and roll your eyes at another blogger who acts like dropping 170 bucks on a swimsuit is no big thang...but if i add in my birthday gift card (thanks dad) and divide the rest out over all the years that i could have been buying a new suit but was still wearing my "tankini"  from 1998 (back when tankinis were cool)...it comes out to about 9 dollars. And it was worth every penny! (if you still wear a tankini, i'll still think your cool. especially if you're wearing it right now)

team Boo ♥'s you


p.s. we still sleep on a mattress on the floor, but at least i won't have disintegrated elastic (aka. see through) beach wear.


p.p.s. yes that is me in the picture. did i mention the suit has magical powers?


p.p.p.s. today i had to answer my door with sonny's throw up on my shirt, so i earned it anyway.

paper heart

With a busy birthday weekend (elyott) and a sick sick baby, I don't think i have even one shirt without snot/vomit/drool on it. Needless to say, i haven't had much time to implement any of the fancy ideas i had for this week. However, Elyott and i ordered this cute book online with her birthday gift cert (we are similar in that we like to make stuff, but we need major start up support to get our wheels turning)...

Here are a few paper projects that have inspired me lately.

paper:
sail
props
 dolls
shadow puppets

garland
flags

team Boo ♥'s you

simpler times

One of my Illustrator to do lists this year is to make a paper doll set of my sweet Elyott. The only problem is I am an extremely frustrated Adobe Illustrator user. And by the way, why don't little girls play with them anymore!? Maybe if it has HER face she will be more motivated to make all my old fashioned dreams come truuuuuuue! (also i covet a few of these outfits in real life...ok, mostly the giant bunny suit)

these are killing me. dead. 

[thanks geri]

{9000}

team Boo ♥'s you

p.s. more printables like these can be found here 

(by raise of hands, how much do you want to be a paper doll right now? don't lie.)

Happy Dikefest Holidays 2010!

(my scanner is lame...sorry TP)
 
They're here, They're here!!

(ok they came two weeks ago, but don't rush me)

My Tiny Prints holiday cards! I love them! and technology! and all of you!! They are truly (truly truly)...outrageous. I wish I had enough to send to every person I have ever known in my whole life. 

Wanna hear a funny story about their very helpful customer service?...

click here to read more...

team Boo ♥'s you

always something there to entice me.

It's that time again.

No Dikefest christmas season is complete without more nesting dolls (see here, here and here) Every year for christmas i seek out a new set, but this year i hit the mother load of cuteness. I want them allllllllll!!

p.s. find them here. But hurry, I've heard nesting doll demand is cyclical...like technology (ie. beepers)

(ten points if you know what that's from)


team Boo ♥'s you

juuuust chill.

**

Pretty sure i'd like a couple of these for my porch where my lover and i could eat popsicles and watch the kids tear up the yard. 

He might be mad at first for buying them, but then he'd thank me for such a stylish afternoon (no he wouldn't)

team boo ♥'s you

(...and online shopping)

lets hear it for the boy.

Is it just me, or is everyone having girls??

It seems there are so many sweet little dresses and dollies online meant to inspire

but what about the boys!

 Over at this cute little site they are putting all things little boy at the top of their to do list...

look at these little pants!!

I must make some.

join me :)

or these little shirts .
So nerdy that they're cute.

team boo ♥'s you

meet Barney...

he's so full of love....

 {from the delightful mind of Andrew Bannecker }

team boo ♥'s you

nesting.

{lola's room prints }

{a christmas present for Elyott}

With a roughly a month to go and 2 cm dilated... doctor says I need to "take it easy"

ha :)

All things considered, that may be tricky.

Now housework is not only bad for morale (?),

but also a crime against my uterus.

(...yet a longer pregnancy = a crime against my thighs)

unfortunately, I think uterus always trumps thighs.

I am crossing my fingers for two more weeks of pregnancy.

(as backward as that sounds with all this frigging heartburn)

between his gimp arm and his catheter arm, Adam can't lift over ten pounds.

...that makes for a lame new-baby-helper.

(wa wah wah, i know)

Wish us luck!

team boo ♥'s you

children's books....in hopes that my kids will be at least a little smarter than me ;)

Since this is Baby #3, this time around, I have asked only for hardcover books for our library stash [yes, I'm a bit of a paperback snob] In this economy, i'd feel like a total jackhole if I were to indulge in buying all the books i covet [and i would be] but here are a few authors always on the tippy top of my wishlist...plus a few others I think your should have ;)

Amy Krouse Rosenthal

also Little Pea (which i have), and Little Oink.

Audrey Wood

...author of napping house (have it) and King Bedgood (want it)

Judi Barrett

...another classic my library has failed to accumulate is Alexander and the Very Bad no Good Horrible Day (by the same author)

Lauren Child

...cause we all need a good british accent in our reading

Jamie Lee Curtis

all of her books are so good, but oddly illustrated for too young of an audience.

Crockett Johnson

(plus you are automatically awesome if your first name is "crockett")

These ones we have, and I absolutely love.

...a childhood favorite that is extremely hard to find in good condition...my book is on its last leg

(i maybe don't even let my kids hold it :)

Mo Willems

...about being a friend.

Dallas Clayton

...about hopes and dreams!!

(Mo? Dallas?...again with the cute names.)

Besides the obvious classics...what are some of your uncommon finds?

and as always....team boo ♥'s you

good old fashioned lover boy

Remember Stacie and Geoff?? (aka "Steoffrey ")

well....just when you thought they couldn't be any cuter....here is another reason to envy their love .  They drew us in with their yellow balloons and wedding headbands and now vow to keep us enchanted by their suspenders and innocent vintage picnic togetherness! It is no secret that I am in love with loving the love of these two...lovers. Or that my mind is (clearly) running on mere fumes every time I sit down to blog, and that the fusion of those two ingredients (not to mention my savage jealousy of all things un-pregnant) makes my brain feel swollen and tired.

Of course neither photo op would have been half as amazing if it weren't for Matt and Angie Sloan, the visionaries that make up Sloan photography (aka "Mangie") whose behind the scenes adorableness is enough to make me want to kick puppies.  And their talent....oh the TALENT!!  Hey Mangie...if you ever have any artistic vision for an out-of-breath-resentful-chubby-girl-in-maternity-pants photo shoot, you know where to find me ;) Or if you just have some advice on how to convince my husband to dress in something other than basketball clothes for the sake of a old world lovers photo shoot, that would work too. Here are a couple gems of inspiration to get to get your ball rolling...

you're welcome.

And Steoffrey...if you ever want to like...hang out, or even just let me sit on your couch while I watch you giggle and make frozen pizzas together...Mangie knows where to find me.

cause we've got our own boobs to look at.

A few months ago I was at the splash park with some friends where there was a lady who had her new baby in a sling. he was obviously hungry (as babies tend to unremittingly be) and much to this baby's delight...he had a vip ticket to "perma snack" which co-incided with his mommy's giant (and i mean giant) lady lumps being slung out for all to see. for the entire two hours we played! (including when the baby slept) Now maybe i was being prejudiced...because I have a very low tolerance for adults who sport pigtails (which she was)...so just to be clear that i am not one of those people who will stare you down in a restaurant if your kid so much as sneezes, I will list off a few things she might validly use in her defense:

-nursing is a wonderful natural part of life

-it's possible her chafed nips were having a cotton aversion

-it was hotttttt

-maybe she likes tan boobs (and tan babies)

-she couldn't care less what the judgmental mom groups were saying ;)

I nurse...my boobs get out of control ginormous. I nurse in public. (As a rule babies eat and have poop explosions at the most inopportune times) But I also know there is usually a way to be a little more discrete. Please ladies continue to nurse...and not only locked away in some 1950's mothers lounge, don't let any yuppy boob snob tell you any otherwise. But please, for the love of all ten year old boys wandering eyes...the wonder of your lactating miracles should stay shrouded in mystery.

and here is where i tell you how...really, this was just my very round about way of telling

nursing or soon to be nursing mothers that:

Udder Covers will work wonders for those pesky water park scenarios. One comfy strap over your piggy tailed head and voila!...you are all set to keep those puppies in check.

(oh, also resist the urge to wear pigtails)

take me away...

{via cache & lindsey }

i always dream about having an old awesome car that i could drive around with the windows down.

but then i remember how much i love air conditioning.

and non musty smelling cars. 

with cozy interiors...

and automatic windows :)

but i reeeeallly wouldn't mind having one of these.

Have an amazing weekend!

(Project Boo deadline is MONDAY)

butta face.

Look how cute these plates are! 

I just bought them from here 

(...but was a little dissapointed cause they are glass. 

What dum dum makes a kid plate out of glass??)

anyway, cross your fingers that they will make a difference.

for, my kids are the biggest food snobs.

and while I'm at it, so is my husband.

i try to make them dinners

{well, not recently}

but they basically always end up eating cereal

and i end up eating leftovers for seven meals straight.

but then it got me thinking...

...my 6 year old still pees her pants everyday, refuses to learn to ride a bike and can't tie her shoes. My 3 year old still would rather poop in the driveway than our toilet, gets up at least 20 times every night after we put him to bed and may or may not know all of his colors consistently (i think he purposely torments me with this one).

why do i suck so hard at teaching my kids stuff?!?

Am i in some alternate universe where down is up, and bodily waste is sanitary?? Don't get me wrong it does freak me out when i see babies wearing underwear...who eat greenbeans and brocolli cause their mom just dropped it on their tray. But that's probably only because mine scale my cabinets to the ceiling to devour the stale chocolate i forgot i hid from myself...and pee on the floor in front of the fridge while looking for a snack. 

All things considered, I am proud of my little barbarian family.  It recently donned on me one night, during bedtime stories, that someday they won't want to read all the sweet little books we've collected over the years...christmas will be all about gift certificates and gaming systems, and i will yearn for the days of sleeping with PB & jelly smears on the edges of my bed, listening to my kids laugh at Looney Tunes re-runs, fights over who gets to sit by me, crawling itsy bitsy spider up their tummies, drawing little faces on each of their tootsies, and all the random presents they make me throughout the day (a homemade mailbox, a tiny leprechaun hat, a bowl of mushy cut up fruit so my "tummy feels better").

My kids are thoughtful and funny....and have the affection and sweetness enough to make a Carebear puke. So despite their heavy resistance to bathroom progress, i wouldn't trade these moments in my life for anything.

cause as luck would have it, 

God has provided us various genius ways of coping with motherhood: 

I choose love!

...and stockholm syndrome ;)

ya right.

BUN IN THE OVEN?

each pregnancy sick time I have a game of choice. 

Last time it was SIMS...

...but then I started to dream in emoticons and stress out about my fun and bathroom levels {since I was too busy cleaning grandma's fly infested garbage piles after she stopped flushing the toilet}. Then my person would refuse to go to work cause she didn't have time to shower after she wet herself. She'd scream at me in jibberish that she wanted to play basketball, but before i could let her, she'd start to sway back and forth until she fell face down on the floor to sleep. 

Basically, it was too much real life stress for a game.

This time I a relying on the computer to keep me entertained...here are a few things I've come up with:

these have been around for a while..so i'm sure you've seen them by now.  

But that doesn't make them any less awesome...

pregnant paper dolls  

fashion origami  

*Also, i am a total spaz to think i could really manage two blogs.  Plus i am not feeling very "fun" lately, and finding two things to blog about all week was a major deal breaker.  Therefore "Fun with Team Boo" will just have to be a segment on my regular blog...and all will be well in internet land for me :)

wrap it up.

One of the easiest ways to personalize a party is to re-package your own candy.  Cellophane bags with cute paper stapled at the top is one of the fastest and cutest party favors.  Or, if you don't happen to live in the butthole of America like we do {ie. the temperature is reasonable where you live} you can use Chocolate bars! 

Images via Lovely Package by this charming family cocoa company.

speaking of purge...

I'm sick as a dog. And since i can't clean my insides... I am cleaning up my site, and purging all the clutter...bear with me  {oh ya, and i'm stuck in bed with nothing to do}

If I have disappeared from your follower list, don't fret. I am still watching you ;)

To make it easier to navigate my site I am taking these clips off the bottom.  If you haven't watched them yet...do it now.  You won't regret it.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

...and a little metric for good measure.

Oh Tim!...you so crazy.

Look how amazing this is gonna be...

{unfortunately it will, without a doubt, give my kids nightmares}

{images found here}