D.I.R.T.

Last Sunday, Mike took the boys out to the backyard so they could play while he burned some old receipts in our new fire pit (which, by the way, is awesome and I can't wait to try roasting marshmallows and hotdogs!). I meant to head out right after them but was distracted by, ohhh, I dunno....maybe simply by the fact that all was quiet in the home. ;o) I finally headed out maybe 20 or 30 minutes later. Luckily, I grabbed my camera on the way out.

Now, I expected Sullivan to be dirty. Make no mistake--this child knows how to get messy!! I wasn't quite expecting the extent of the mess, however.

You may notice in the first photo that the knees on his jeans are pretty dirty...

...then scroll to the second pic and you'll see the shadow of dirt on his face...and then....

Hello dirt!!
Yep. It is always bath night around here! lol.

Keats was just being a silly boy for the camera. He can be so serious that I love it when he goofs off like this!

Sully see's climbing possibilities everywhere...even when the tree is literally years away from being big enough to climb. At least the little tree can take it this year--I usually have to shoo the boys away but it has grown quite a bit this year. My only concern is that it may be a filbert/hazelnut tree, in which case Sully's nut allergy may determine if the tree gets to grow any larger.

I'm pretty sure Keats was acting like the tree was this difficult to climb...

Sully reminds me of, well, a little brother! Like Dennis the Menace or something. A kid who will have a slingshot in his back pocket...but is still sweet and cuddly.

Can I just say how much I love these three trees? I do. I love them. I received them as saplings three years ago. Literally, they were nothing more than small sticks with some roots. We went to an agriculture festival and people were allowed to take one sapling. I asked if I could take several since we have such a large yard; all I had to do was promise to plant them and they were mine! I planted them right away and wasn't sure if they'd survive the winter. They did. Then last winter they survived allll that snow and ice. I didn't help them out by removing the ice or anything. I figured that they needed to learn to survive on their own. And they did. I hadn't been in the far reaches of the backyard since October so I was absolutely shocked to see how big they are getting! Wow. Don't get me wrong, they are still tiny, itty bitty trees, but they really look like trees now. Keats was even very excited. The boys have been warned ad nauseum that these are MAMA'S TREES and that they cannot mess with them. Keats helps me look after them. Anyhoo, maybe I am a nerd but I LOVE these little guys!

Difficult to tell what this is, but it is proof that a creature is coming in to our backyard. Not far (maybe four feet) from the fence is Glen Creek. There are beavers, skunk, squirrels, and nutria that hang out back there. I heard that a coyote may have been spotted there last year as well. Probably racoons and possum visit the area as well. I have no idea what critter visits but I'm sure glad our kitties are inside all the time!

A year ago, Keats would have been much too scared to cross this chain bridge. He's gaining confidence with heights all the time.

Mike and I took the boys on a very chilly walk around the world (ha ha).