i'm a little sad today.  my brother is leaving minnesota.  he's going north to alaska to live out his dream.  i'm so proud of him!  a little part of me wishes his dream was a closer, but what better excuse to finally visit alaska?  :)

 

i'm so going to miss him.  send good thoughts his way for safe travels and success once he settles in.  good luck kelly!  we love you!

i finally had tucker pick a winner for my little contest.  yey!

i threw all the names in a bowl. 

tucker dug around for the winner.

and he picked mallory! 

whooohoo!  i'll be in touch with you mallory. 
thanks everyone for playing along!

oh, and i'll post about my favorite things when i get them sent off!  :)

last week i stopped by the local quilt shop to try to find some fabric.  i am not going to be sewing anything (i'll spare myself the misery).  i needed um, backgrounds.  i sometimes feel like each week i start over with photography, learning, forgetting, practicing.  sometimes things get old, too familiar.  so, i got some fabric hoping that soon i can use it to jazz things up. 

i went to 'behind the seams'.  isn't their business card cute?  and no, they are not sponsoring this blog post.  i just happen to like these ladies.  :)

i found i have an obsession.  they are called DOTS.  this is what i came home with...

i probably got a little carried away with the dots, but oh well.  there's a lot more fabric where this came from! 

i wanted to mess around with it as a background and called my little muse over.  she's always so cooperative.  and goofy.  i love this kid.

pretty cookie cutter image, but i was just messing around.  practicing.  :)

i just watched the bachelorette.  wow. 
here are my thoughts:

• wes is the biggest fricken JERKOFF ever.  i not only hope he is blacklisted from the radio, but i hope that any girl that gets within kicking distance of the creep gives him a boot in the nuts.  like, does this guy even have any brain cells?
• i'm not sure if i'm all about ed.  i think he left, missed out, and what ever happened with his job anyways?  did he work insane hours just to leave again and then when he's done he'll be mr. careerman again?  not sure.  and i don't think i care.
• kiptyn is cool.  i like him, but i don't LOVE him.  :)
• i love reid.  jillian needs to take him home, marry him and live happily ever after.  amen.

that's all i have on that subject this evening. 
i'd LOVE to hear your thoughts on tonight's episode! 

we didn't have any big plans for this weekend, so we took advantage of our time and completed phase one of 'operation fix-my-garden'.  i also managed to knock something off my list! 

i have two rock gardens in my yard that needed major overhaul.  i basically have neglected them since tucker was born.  this was the worst year by far, as i haven't touched them at all.  gardeners all over the land would cringe knowing the weeds were basically as tall as my toddler.  whoops.

on friday, we bought five yards of black dirt (REAL black dirt from the southern part of the state).  matt brought his dad's dump truck and bobcat in to help rip out the old and bring in the new.  friday night we completed the first garden.

here is the before shot (one hell of a scary sight):

here is the after shot (oh yeah baby):

on saturday morning, we got up and cleared out the second garden.  tucker LOVED riding in the bobcat with matt.  he wasn't even out of his pj's yet when we were out the door.  i threw his hat and shoes on, sprayed him with sunscreen, and out we went to work.

here is the before shot taken on friday (natalie and tucker were playing on the swingset):

here is a shot after we leveled the sucker off (there's matt and tucker in the bobcat):

and here is the final shot of it this afternoon (oh yeah baby):

i could post a ton of different shots, but really, pictures just don't do it justice. 

random thoughts about this project:

• love the two big rocks matt brought in from his parents place (thanks jamie)!  they make a great addition to each garden.
• so happy i put my birdbath in the back garden.
• praying to god the deer stay the FRICK out.  i have many plants they won't eat, but i'm sure those bastards will destroy something.
• love using the river rock i wanted to get rid of as an accent in both gardens.
• i hate ants and spiders (and most other insects).
• grateful for my husband and stepmom's help with this project.
• hoping the gardens thrive and are bigger and better next year!

i say this is phase one because i have a million other project around our yard i want to do.  i have gardens along our house that i need to revamp.  we are going to be putting in a slab patio and then using our current deck to build a small porch on the front of our house as well as a sandbox for tucker.  i need to trim all of the bushes in our yard.  i need to mow.  and weedwhip.  see, the list never ends.  :)

yesterday, i took pictures of this little lady.

that's little anna.  she gets cuter every time i see her.  when tucker found out i was taking pictures, he ran to go find his camera.  i didn't expect him to COPY EVERYTHING i did during the photo shoot.  it was SO funny.  he copied the baby talk and goofy actions and also was snapping away with his PLASTIC camera.  now, more than ever i want him to get his own real 'kid' camera. 

i happened to grab one shot of him in his element. 

i think i have a new assistant.  :)

a few weeks ago, i won a pay it forward contest over at bonbon rose (go check this blog out if you haven't yet - very stylish).  i entered only knowing that i would have to pay it forward on my blog.  i figured it would be a good jump start back into blogging since i feel like i've been such a slacker lately.

when i received my surprise in the mail, i was very excited to see what was inside.

it was a...

...rume reusable shopping bag!  as kristen pointed out, it's the same one nicole richie uses.  dude, i'm one step closer to being in style now!  :)  if you are jealous and want your own, you can find them here.

so, since i won, i need to pass on the good fortune.  contest time!  the only rule is you promise to pay this forward on your blog.  if you don't have a blog, then you just have to go buy someone an ice cream cone.  :)

ETA:  i forgot to mention something important: 
if you win, you will get a few of my favorite things!  yey!

to enter, leave me a comment on this post answering the following question:

what is the last thing you purchased? 
the last thing i purchased was lunch at the trestle while camping this weekend.

contest will end at midnight on july 4!  happy commenting!

i have a thousand things to blog about, but my time has been consumed by one little lady.  her name, berkley.  i took her pictures last week and i couldn't help but finally share one here. 

i love babies.  i have the fever.  save me.  :)

a few weeks ago, a lady from work had given me a birdhouse for tucker.  she didn't need it and i thought it would be a fun project.  we both love birds so i was excited about it.  last week i bought some paints (no idea if they are the right 'kind' of paints, but oh well). 

tonight was the night we finally painted the birdhouse. 

tucker was TOTALLY into it.

he finished his masterpiece and i snapped a few shots of his art. 
the front door is pretty colorful.

i helped with the back.  i could't let him have all the fun!

a closer view.  i'm so crafty it's insane.  :)

and a 'bird's eye view' which i think is cool.

it was a fun little project.  i think we might be doing many more this summer!

i took this shot of tucker this weekend (which i still haven't blogged about).  i'm not kidding when i tell you, this kid looks like i feel.  exhausted.  i'm trying to catch up, i swear.

matt told me that this picture reminds him of me.  tucker drools in his sleep and has crazy bed head, just like his momma.  i love it.

this is one of my new favorite shots of my little dude.