The boys broke out the watercolors this morning. Cousin Dan is showing Harrison the perfect technique for getting paint all over your body.
The boys needed a little assistance from me with the paint lids.
Now how do I get this off my hands?!
A group of masterpieces (including the deck).
I'm starting to become obsessed with gardens and gardening. Maybe because we never had a yard before last October but I can't go anywhere without looking at one. Here's a picture of my inlaw's veggie beds. The tomatoes are almost getting out of control.
Design Sponge is part of my favorite blogs bookmark. Every Thursday, they post BEFORE and AFTER of projects ranging from a simple desk to an entire room. Check it out, the images are great.
As our garden grows, we're starting to wonder if we should have placed the veggies farther apart. I suppose it's a learning process. We found some worms who love our garden as much as we do.
Remember our popper? Well, he has a little brother now.
Hydrangeas were part of my wedding bouquet and they are one of my favorite flowers. Not only, do they have beautiful blooms, but also, the leaves are just as stunning.
Harrison was the proud recipient of his first medal today at Little Gym. He loves going there and running WILD.
Richard Scarry's Busiest People Ever is an awesome children's book. My aunt found a box of old books and pass this one along to us. The illustrations are wonderful.
In Busytown, every character has a job to do. This fox happens to be the town's "nail spiller."
What do you want to do when you grow up? I wish I knew some of these options when I was little . . . I might have been a professional banana eater.
One of Harrison's favorite games is to find Lowly Worm throughout the book. That worm can do it all!
I was invited to tag along on a girls trip today. We began at the Farmer's Market with the sweet smell of fresh produce. I'm really drawn to booth with handmade signs. I love the imperfections on the fruits and veggies that show they were grown with love from local farmers.
Next we stopped at the Presidential Library to see the "Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection" which was fabulous. Did you know she never held a public position until she was 39 years old. It just shows you're never too old (or too young) to try something new.
Holy cow, talk about a Martin House or should I say Martin Palace. It's been open for business for a few weeks now and I have yet to see a bird there. Maybe they used the wrong kind of wood?
Mark your calendars, June 30th is the opening day of Love Ranch the movie. My sister designed the costumes and we're so proud of her!
Now the waiting starts. The three plants in the back are Encore Azaleas (Autumn Twist) which should bloom through three seasons and have a pink flower with a purple "twist" in the middle. The next row consists of Autumn Ferns that give off a purplish/orange hue. The brighter green plants in the front are Lime Sweetgrass and Wintergreen Boxwood Shrubs in the corners. In a couple of weeks, I'll try to shape the boxwoods in cones.
Do you see what I see? Our first jalapeno baby. It's so cute, I almost don't want it to grow up. Although I did find a new salsa recipe last night . . .
The other day, Ryan was checking out the city's website and noticed they sell mulch from the yard waste collections. So he drove to the landfill to check it out. He pulled up this evening with 600 lbs. of mulch for 8 bucks! I'm so impressed. You can't bet that price AND we're using local resources.
It's raining, it's pouring . . . at last a break from it all. H was eager to put on his rain boots and finish the job. He's become quite the gardener.
As Harrison says, "lotta dirt." The bed is cleared and we're adding the dirt and edging. It's already making the house look better. BTW, does anyone know a good way to clean brick? It just has the dirty look since it hasn't seen the sun in about 20 years.
I'm so proud of our little garden. It's exciting to look out the window every morning and see new growth. I can't wait until we have veggies.
We purchased several boxwoods for the front yard but we might have to change plans and keep some of them back here. 
Ryan built this compost bin with left over lumber from the old flower bed. Harrison has been on the lookout for raccoons in it. None yet.
Since we've moved in, I've been wanting to paint the bottom ledge of our windows. I don't understand why gray (or do you spell it grey) was chosen. I had about a half hour to spare so I grabbed a brush.
It looks so much better but now I'm wondering if it matches the brick too much? Maybe I should have gone a little darker? I blame this on my color theory class when we had to match colors exactly.
Go ahead and call me strange, but this year for Mother's Day I really wanted a manual edger. I pictured myself pushing it along the walkway then admiring my straight edges. Harrison (and Ryan) presented me with this lovely tool. Unfortunately, I tried it for about a minute and man, it was SO hard and took all my muscles to make it move an inch! Ryan was nice enough to finish the front yard for me. I don't think it's ever been edged, so next time I'll be able to conquer it . . . maybe.
Chris Olsen was dishing out FREE advice today for his Open House at the nursery! We were able to show him photos of our front yard and he came up with a fabulous design. We requested low maintenance (not much extra time with a youngin) yet something that fit with our neighborhood and style of house.
We're concentrating on this side first. The nandina bushes are completely out of control. First step is to rip out this entire flower bed. Wish us luck!
Here's the final product of the paper boxes covered in fabric. Because I chose a design that has a vertical layout, it took a yard and a half per box and lid. I have a few more boxes so I think I'll get a gingham pattern instead. I'll be able to get all of it covered in less than a yard. It's an extremely easy project. Just think of it as wrapping a present only using glue instead of tape.
I saw this gadget and had to snap a picture. It's a butter dispenser. I started laughing b/c I pictured someone bringing it to the movie theater to add real butter to their popcorn.
I saw this organization idea in Martha a couple of years ago. Find empty paper boxes then cover them with fabric. I'll posted the completed boxes once they are finished.
There's been a recall on children and infant tylenol, motrin, zyrtec and benadryl. Click HERE to find out more. Unfortunately, ours was part of the recall. Harrison has been running a fever so we purchased the generic brand. All other ones have been taken off the shelves.
Here's my latest bargain from a local flea market. The total came to 15 bucks. I have makeovers planned for all of them. Stay tuned . . .
We were exploring our neighborhood shops and Harrison started yanking on this fence saying "let me out, let me out." He's quite the little monkey.
This morning, Casey was nice enough to accompany me on a tour of Chris Olsen's home and garden. We had a blast and it was great to hang out with her again. Here's a view of his garage doors with a "rusty" type look. The vines growing on his house are grown so his home blends into the landscape.
I'm going to add "find metal chairs" on my To Do List. The bright blue is fantastic.
I could spend all day lounging and reading a book by this pool. 
I would like to add some pea gravel for our backyard. This looks like a secret garden.
I thought this was a cool shot of the bamboo stalk.
One is nearer to God's heart in a garden than anywhere else on Earth. Amen!
