A mess of photos - Early Summer

Late nights in the hammock, under the stars and twinkle lights.











Radishes, lettuce & strawberries from the garden.





Russian sage, lavender, peonies, and yucca around the yard.



colorful pots...



...tiny ants on my sunflowers,



and cannas outside my kitchen window.



My hens&chicks from last Summer. I brought my pot inside during the cold months and ended up with a new school of plants.







Some of my wildflowers, in the flower garden.



Watering the garden, a little spider and it's web that I didn't see until they got wet.



Two leaves of catnip - one for each cat, Fig & Olive. I bring them inside for them at night, and I like to tell myself that they know I planted that catnip, just for them.





A drowning in the backyard.

Inside a rain-filled hole dug for hammock posts, this little mouse was no more.



A baby so precious, to erase mental images of drowned mice.



I dream about these evenings, all day long.







An old photo.

Uncle Zabi, Grandma, and the cousins. The little peanut with the cinnamon roll bellybutton is me. My sister is standing next to us with her wild hair in her face.







Cousins.



A gift for a friend.



and Grandma & Grandpa's house. Clothes lines, tiny hand-made greenhouses over the garden...



...Grandma feeding the birds bits of bread tucked into her shirt, a kitchen window mango, and Grandpa....being Grandpa.



How was your weekend, friends? Anything exciting happen?

Mine is just beginning, and today is day one of three to relax, clean, work in the yard, and warm up that hammock.

Last week Leigh from Marvelous Kiddo announced our round one assignments for the styleathon. How becoming a Mother has affected our style.
I was just going to scrap the 350 word requirement and post a picture of me in sweat pants with no make up and dried breast milk in my hair, but I figured that wasn't exactly what they were looking for :) The truth is, I don't feel nearly as fancy as I used to, and time spent getting ready doesn't feel quite the same since E came around. In the mornings, I love to pick out her outfits, fix her hair, and make her laugh. Those sweet moments take up a lot of the time I used to spend getting myself ready - but there are still little bits of me lost somewhere in here. Last week I wrote my 350 words about how becoming a Mother has changed my style, so look for that post later on this week.

I feel so grateful and newly inspired to be part of this styleathon. I am taken back to the creative writing class I took 4 times in high school when I was first learning how much I loved to piece together words and sentences to form something powerful. Writing from my heart has always been something I come back to, beginning with the days of my childhood where I wrote my very first book....about puppies and kittens :) My Mom still has it, almost 25 years later. To this day I still dream of writing my book, but for now, this space is my absolute outlet of that dream.
I know the styleathon is a competition, but I am not in the least bit competitive by nature and I am just excited to be along for this ride with the handful of other talented Mama's involved - Elizabeth, Joanna, Danielle, Natalie, James, Jen, Sharmadean, and Melisa.



Leigh is also hosting a giveaway (ending tonight) for a Sakura Bloom Sling and $250 Lilla P gift card.


I hope you all enjoy your sleepy Sunday, and the start to this (already) hot Summer.