A Boy and His Pool

We filled up our turtle sandbox/pool and Baby B is in love with it already! This is a post of nothing but pictures of Baby B in the pool, so don't say I didn't warn you. But also know, if you bear with me you will see a picture that is well worth it. :)

 At first he refused to get in....

 When I gave him an empty berry carton to play with he started to warm up.

Hmmm... water is fun!

 "Maybe I should get in?"

 Getting closer....

One foot in!

 "Holy moly that's cold!"

Yes, that was the money shot.

 

 "Wait, it's not that bad. I may have overreacted."

 Rocking the swim-shirt!

 Finally in for a dip!

Now we've added swimming to our daily playing-in-the-dirt afternoon routine.

And that's how a boy slowly falls in love with his pool. :)

P.S. I know I've been lagging on the post front lately! We've been spending our time enjoying this beautiful weather and (slowly) working on several projects! So although this is all I have for now, I have a several posts in the works for you in the next few days, so stay tuned!:)

It's Giveaway Day!

*****This giveaway is now closed. Thanks to all who entered!*****

And the winners via Random.org are....

Comment # 29 - atabanana29 who chose set #1

Comment # 71 - mimicita who chose set #3

Comment #24 - designcamppdx who chose set #2

You all got your first choice! Woohoo! Unfortunately atabanana29 I don't have any contact info for you. Please email me at morelikehome(at)gmail(dot)com ASAP so I can get you your prize! If I don't hear from you by Tuesday I will pick a new winner. 

It's Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew! Okay, technically yesterday was giveaway day, but the giveaways are going on all week. I'm just fashionably late... right? :) The good news is that I used this as an opportunity to sort through a bunch of finished projects and make a nice little pile of things that could use a new home! Let's get started!

For my giveaway, I will be choosing THREE lucky winners to receive a made-by-me prize package!! Let's see what's up for grabs....

Prize Set #1:
This set has three items, and includes a short infinity scarf made from a vintage orange & green floral sheet:

A pretty light caramel necklace made with four strands and a white button accent:

And a clutch in a floral print with a handle on the back:

Prize Set #2:
This set has two prizes and includes a longer scarf made from another vintage sheet, this one in a pink floral. It's long enough to be wrapped twice, and even pulled up as a hood!

And, a three-strand green necklace with a red flower and black button accent.

Prize Set #3:

This set has two prizes, and includes a medium length infinity scarf, made from new fabric in a springy floral & bird print. This one is also long enough to be wrapped twice, but fits more snugly when it is. 

And a longer style light green necklace with a purple flower. This one is a different closure style. The three long strands slip through a loop behind the flower which make the necklace super adjustable! The leaves hang down adding more fun to the design. The second picture below is a similar necklace and shows how it is worn, but IS NOT the necklace being given away. You will be entering for the purple flower one. :)

The Details:

• To enter, just leave a comment telling me which set you want if you win! (and which would be your second and third choices if you are interested. I will do my best to get you the set you want. The first winner gets their first choice, the second gets their top remaining choice, and third winner gets the remaining set. If you do not have a second choice listed, a new winner will be chosen.) Please leave an email address on your comment if you want to be contacted if you win. :)
• Followers get a bonus entry, just leave a separate comment saying you follow!
• I will randomly choose one winner for each set! .
• Giveaway is open to US shipping addresses only (sorry!)
• The giveaway will close Friday, May 25th sometime after 5:00pm. Whenever I draw a winner, so probably after Baby B is in bed. :)
• Check out Sew Mama Sew to see the rest of the giveaways (and submit your own if you want!) and be sure to enter my mom's giveaway to win an amazing, hand painted, wooden pendant necklace my sister made!

 Happy entering, and may the odds be ever in your favor! (too much? Sorry, just finished the Hunger Games books. :) Feel free to comment on if you have read them/liked them in your entry as well!)

planty plants

We were able to go to my parents house last weekend (and spend mother's day with my momma!) and I came home with a bounty of transplants from my dad's garden! Hostas, tomatoes, dill, bleeding hearts, rhubarb, some kind of vines, a pile of bricks, and a woven grape vine garland. Woot! On Monday I tackled the hostas and I've been working on the beginnings of my veggie garden! But more on that later.

 I wanted the hostas for a nice shady spot along the side of the garage. You can see I had two little guys planted there last year.

 Here's a farther back shot of the space. We still have quite a few plans for over here. Here are some of the things we have in mind:

• First, that black thing is the composter we bought off a friend for $10. I still need to get worms for it, but once it gets going we'll have lots of free compost!
• Buying (or more likely building) a shed for bikes and the lawnmower. We just don't have room for them in the garage! It will probably go just on this side of the composter to keep it out of sight.
• Make a rain barrel we can use to water all these plants. It will go on the other side of the composter, under the downspout. 
• Fill in the rest of the area with hostas or other shade plants.

We'll keep you updated on those and any other backyard projects this summer (maybe a pergola or grilling station?).

But back to the hostas. After my little helper was all napped up we got to work!

 I started by digging up the plants that were there before. Since I don't know how big our future shed will be, I only got four hostas and dug up a spot just big enough for them.

  I loosened up all the soil  with a shovel so I could get the plants out with the roots. (When I pulled the plants I shook all the dirt off the roots so I wouldn't be left with a huge hole.)

 Before I actually did any planting, I slid my hostas over (still in their pots) to find an arrangement I liked.

Once I found a layout I liked, I dug holes and planted these guys. I started with the biggest ones so I didn't have to worry about disturbing the smaller guys while I dug such big holes. Then I tucked the smaller ones in between.

Ta-da! I think this looks a lot tidier and more intentional than what was there before. And hostas are my favorite. :) These should all fill in quite a bit next year so then I'll have a better idea of how my spacing works and be able to fill in any weird gaps.

 Baby B was an excellent helper, as always. And he discovered mud. Which, along with brooms, now tops his list of favorite things. Fortunately he also loves baths. :)

What have you planted lately?

Just a Day

This one's for the grandparents. And great grandparents. And anyone else who needs a healthy dose of Baby B! I'll tell you know, this whole post is just a lot of pictures from a day or two at home with Baby B....

Baking a cake for his momma! How sweet! And wearing my necklace, but I promise I didn't do it. He put it on himself.

 Even without sand or water, he's already having fun with his new summer spot!

 Wowza. That is a curl.

 Is this enough green for you, Anna? :)

 "Momma, this pillow will go better over here. Trust me."

 "I know there is supposed to be water in here. I wasn't born yesterday."

 This stick should be big enough....

 Lunch break! He was eating a pear. When he was done I found the stem (in his hand) and the seeds. He is nothing if not thorough.

Not Baby B. Just my sad attempt at cinnamon rolls. But they were pretty yummy anyway. Interesting Baby B fact, though: He has started sleeping through most of the night, only waking up once around 4am. This is great, but has resulted in few naps and waking for the day around 5:30-6:00am. I decided I might as well use that otherwise unhappy time of day to make delicious breakfasts, such as these cinnamon rolls.

 New outfit (maybe a new day... I don't remember) and playing in the dirt. He kept climbing in the pot and perching like a little chicken, but once I got the camera he didn't do it again! Stinker.

 Brooms = the greatest thing ever. He passes a lot of time sweeping or watching me sweep.

Enjoying the emergency granola bar from the diaper bag. We have different ideas of what constitutes and "emergency." And yes, often his outfits clash this badly.

And that is a day in the life of Baby B. Along with intermittent napping & diaper changes, of course. Anyone else have/had an emergency granola bar? :)