style.

if i were to take a survey about what my style is for dressing my boys and my choices were 1.) preppy 2.) punk rock 3.) sports wear...i would have to make up my own category-simple and free. or ragamuffin/orphan child. okay, that's really just their behavior ; )

for the most part, i'm pretty laid back about what my boys wear. we've been blessed with lots of hand-me downs and generous gifts from a friend the boys charmed into being their adopted aunt/grandma. tim's mom usually gives the boys a few cute outfits for their birthdays and occasionally my mom finds some really cute stuff at garage sales. i've honestly not bought anything for my boys other than a few outfits for ben when he was a baby, that honestly, we didn't even need, and socks and underpants. and their super sweet aunt/grandma even gave them socks for christmas : )

it's probably a good thing that i'm pretty low maintenance myself, otherwise i would spend all my energy trying to wrestle and battle my boys to look presentable.


sure ben-plaid with plaid covering most colors of the spectrum is very handsome.


and of course you would want a similar look for the day, max.

the winter after max was born, one of ben's cousins gave him some black snow boots that he had outgrown. ben's other shoes at the time were some really cute chuck taylor converse high tops. way cute, but a total pain in the tush to put on. so we often let him wear the easy to put on snow boots. and the habit stuck. if you saw my boys at all this winter, you would have seen them wearing their boots. bright sunny days=boys wearing snow boots. sometimes it was a little embarrassing, like at mass when their pants wouldn't stay pulled over their boots (at least making them look a little more normal) because of their constant wiggling or when they would stomp back from communion. or when strangers at the store would point them out and give me dirty looks like i was a 14 year old neglectful mom. and i would explain that they had perfectly nice non-snow boots shoes at home, but preferred to wear boots. apparently it didn't bother me enough to wrestle them into their chuckie t's or buy them other, easier to put on shoes.

but now that it's summer, ben is still suck on his boots. they're easier to put on than his sandals and he likes the fleece lining. (i think they make him feel tough. boots are more appropriate for pirate adventures than sandals.) i had max broken of his boot habit because i put his sandals on for him, but then his cousin, who he totally adores, gave him some black church shoes. now, although i'm pretty lenient about their apparel, i've always had a thing against black shoes. i let him wear them on sunday and had to admit that they were pretty cute, but when he wanted to wear them with shorts yesterday, i totally cringed. i tried to talk him into his sandals, but he was really insistent. i gave in and sent him to get some socks to wear with them and of course he came back with bright red ones. since we were just going to my sister-in-law's house, it wasn't worth the fight.


matching out the door, proud of his style victory.

as i was driving, i again cringed when i remembered i needed to stop at dillon's on the way. then i braced myself for more condescending looks about my obvious neglect and our pitiful poverty.


i had to get a picture of them both in all their glory. ben was proud of himself for matching his shirt and shorts. max's shorts he picked are actually pants that are too small and fit like capris that i rolled up. his socks, although both red, don't match. and of course, the lovely footwear. combined with their awkward prom-esque pose, maybe ragamuffin/orphan child really is the best description of our style.