What's Up With Keats

See the teeny, tiny figure in the background? Wearing a red jacket? That would be Keats. Why is he back there?? Because....because he is Keaton. *sigh* He has been such a pill lately--and that is putting it as mildly as I can-- and is just soooooo mean to Sullivan. We stopped by a park towards the end of a day just to let the guys run around a bit. Keats immediately ran to the far part of the park and refused to a) have any fun or b) play with his little brother.

He has been driving us batty since December when he decided he cannot be anywhere near Sully if Sully is eating. Because Sully smacks like a typical three-year-old. We've been able to go out to eat twice since December because of Keaton's issues. We have also canceled plans to go to the movies because when we've told Keats we're all headed to the theater his immediate response was "but I will have to plug my ears" when Sully has popcorn. You wouldn't believe the rift this has caused around here. Today, Keats didn't eat a thing until just a few minutes ago (it is after 2 pm) because he couldn't cooperate in regards to Sullivan. I'm not sure what exactly is going on nor am I sure how we should try to fix this.

One thing we did is to have Keats start an after-school program five days a week. He is picked up from kindergarten and taken to the new facility. We just have to pick him up by 5:30 pm. We figure this will give him some space from Sully and give us some space from all the fighting!!

Wish us luck in this...we are all stressed out of our heads around here. Aunt Debbie & Uncle Vince are taking Keats for the night tonight (yay!!) so that is a wonderful thing!

No Gun Rule?

Having a "rule" of no guns around here doesn't mean much of anything. Keats can make a "gun" out of absolutely anything. Sully is also getting pretty crafty at making guns. Here the boys are outside, playing war (or something like that) with sticks.

See the stick jutting out from the roof of the play structure? That would be a rifle. That would be Keaton's idea. He may have a future as a crazy guy that shoots people from a bell tower.

Sully's idea of how you shoot a gun is adorable. The above pose, smile and all, is how he says you shoot a gun. ;o)

A Brave Mom and Valentines

I made puffy-paint using Elmer's glue, shaving cream, and some acrylic paint, and let the boys make some special Valentines...which, with any luck, will be sent out later today.

What a mess, huh?

Gym Party

Our neighbors invited us to help celebrate their baby girl's first birthday on Saturday. The party was at the Courthouse Athletic Club, which has been newly renovated. The party was inside this gigantic room that is used for all the classes the gym offers. On Saturday, it was just a big, open space filled with about fifty little bouncy balls. Perfect for the kids!

Above, Keats rubs his tush after a particularly hard fall. He's trying not to smile as he is telling me that his butt hurts.

Lots of room to run and play.

This is my favorite shot of the day. I think Sullivan was making sure Daddy wasn't going to steal some of his ice cream!

Drip, Drop

I obsessed ever-so-slightly, subtly on all the water drops hanging around me on a walk last week...and have the photos to prove my obsession. ;o) Skip through it if you want, or click to enlarge and then zoom on the drops. In some of them you can see a cool reflection. Oh, and I threw in some moss just for fun!

Keats

Keats let me take a gazillion pictures of him just a couple of days ago. Here are my favorites...

Costumes & Cutie Pies

Notice the black tattoo of dots that Sully gave himself on his hand. Yeah, took days & days to wear off!

Here Keats is wearing a jet pack. His contraption is made from two extra-large Santa pens and a Star Wars backpack. Oh, and a lot of imagination!

Giving us a view of the back...

...and off he goes!!

Keats is Iron Man and a knight above...

...and he added a Hulk mask (that lights up glowing green in the eyes, no less!) and Sully has a Buzz Lightyear costume, vampire cape, Spiderman mask, Iron Man glove....and his Baby ;o)

Born To Rock

Keats set up a very elaborate piano space the other day. He pretended that the cusions on the side were drums and I saw him try to use them as wind instruments as well. ;o)

Sully got in on the action and they both rocked out to a band called Morphine. Lots of sax and very moody music.

Old Stuff

I'm not sure if I posted these photos on my blog. They were taken back in November and I just stumbled upon them today. The boys & Daddy were rockin' out to Devo and I caught some cute shots!

Kenna RAWKS!

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).