a visit to a new park

this past weekend michael was sick with a stomach bug and the hubby was nursing two broken ribs. the weather was really nice - bright, sunny and temperatures in the 60s, so blake and i decided to leave the sickies at home and head out for some fresh air. a new park opened late last summer near our house and i'd been wanting to check it out...so off we went.

the land on which the park sits used to be a working farm in the 1940s and a cattle pasture in the 1990s. today the park consists of some restored farm buildings, a grove of hugh pecan trees, a pond, plenty of open meadows, 3 miles of walking trails and a beautiful stone ribbon wall.

first we checked out the pond...



and then the grove of pecan trees. look how big they are...



and i love the stone wall...



but all blake wanted to do was look for a stick to shoot imaginary bad guys with...



he found one he was really excited about...



and headed straight to the stone wall for cover.



here he is explaining to me that if i put him in the tree he can see more bad guys...



so up he went to "save us".



he was having so much fun - 100% boy and all imagination...





and then when he got shot himself i decided it might be time to go. he agreed only after i told him yes, he could bring the "stick-gun" home too...



it was a really great park and is now definitely on my list of favorites. i bet it is gorgeous in the spring and summer with everything in full bloom...definitely a be-back!!

gobble, gobble

now how about that for some cute thanksgiving holiday art....

and the little artist is only three years old!

hope everyone has a happy, happy thanksgiving!!

boys and their grandpas

my boys and i paid a visit to my parents this weekend. they live about 2.5 hours away so we just went for one night - a quick visit but the boys and the grandparents had fun. good family time.

sometime on saturday after our arrival i snapped this photo of blake sitting in his grandpa's lap. i love how blake has his head on my dad's shoulder and is just so comfortable sitting right where he is. they are discussing the wonders of a recent hot wheels purchase and grandpa is trying to fix a piece that snapped off. an innocent moment captured because i happened to have my camara beside me and decided to pick it up.

then when i saw the image on my computer last night the first thing that popped into my head was a picture i have of my dad and his grandfather. another innocent, everyday moment between a boy and his grandfather captured with a camera. and now a special connection to my past perfectly linked to my present.....

ten things about blake right now

today marks my third week of blogging and i've realized that for the past two thursdays i've posted a "ten things" list - you can view them here and here. since i've always been a hugh fan of making lists, i've decided that every thursday will be "ten things thursday" here at just words + photos. (try to say that fast five times - ten things thursday, ten things thursday, ten things thursday...). every thursday my blog post will be a list of ten items about a given topic. doesn't that sound fun! i know, i know....just humor me! and if you have any ideas for a ten things list let me know!

so having said all that, my ten things thursday list this week will be in honor of my littlest one who will be turning three years old on the 19th - ten things about blake right now. happy birthday wild man!! i love you! and i can't believe that you are 3!

1. you are a very picky eater. so its a good thing is that you can apparently thrive on apples, bananas, madarian oranges, french fries and chicken nuggets because that is all you eat.

2. you hate having to go to bed at night.

3. you like to brush your teeth.

4. you love to watch wonder pets, dora and diego. as a matter of fact you told me you wanted "wonder pet cupcakes" for your birthday.

5. you are very polite and say thank you every chance you get. example - you sneezed the other day and i said "bless you buddy" and you said "tank you mommy" (as you wiped your nose with the bottom of your shirt).

6. daddy calls you his "little wild man" and you call daddy your "punk".

7. you love the mexican restaurant we go to all the time even though all you eat are the chips. you say "i go mexicoat and eat chips!".

8. you are still wearing pull ups and i think it will still be awhile before you are completely potty trained.

9. you insist on wearing your backpack to daycare even though you don't have anything to carry to school. you want to wear yours because michael takes his to kindergarten.

10. you love making a mess of the playroom but you hate helping clean it up. you cross your arms over your chest and say in your mad voice "no my not!"

nature walk art

blake's preschool class went on a nature walk around their school earlier this week. during the walk everyone was given a brown paper bag to fill with all the nature goodies they could find - rocks, sticks, leaves, etc. upon returning to their room they talked about what they had collected and then made art collages out of their findings. blake was very proud of his and i think the "biggest rock" was his favorite part. now i know the all the masking tape takes away from the natural-ness of this specific piece of art, but that rock is the size of his little fist! and it's hard to tell (again because of the masking tape), but there are also two acorns on that thing! two year old art projects - gotta love 'um....