Always Halloween...

Ever since I can remember, Lawyer has LOVED to be in costume. I never considered that boys like to dress up, since I only thought of princesses and fairies but Lawyer has literally enjoyed his many costumes he owns. I first realized how awesome it would be to stock up on after-Halloween costume sales since I thought I would get something for "next year". It became an instant hit with Lawyer being able to be Bob the Builder or dressed in a NASCAR jumpsuit at the age of 2.



Now at almost 5 years old, this kid literally is in some sort of costume at some point in his day. He found a dragon costume at The Children's Place yesterday (thanks Auntie, we finally used his gift card!) and he.would.not.leave.without.it. Period.



It is the cutest costume and seeing how he is really into dinosaurs, crocodiles and knights...he can pretend until his hearts content.

Oh and he did not take this costume off from lunch-time until bed-time. I think tomorrow I might dress up like Glenda the Good Witch!

Quick! Change the subject!

Um, yeah. So anyway. (avoiding the subject of my blog absence)

I've found myself in a wonderful place of busy-ness. The kind of busy that at the end of the day, you too, want to just curl up next to your 4 year old at 8:30 to go to bed and blissfully dream. I thrive on being busy....I have my work busy-ness and my downtime business. In my downtime, I sew, knit, read, learn (always learning), watch documentaries, cook, play, take pics of the randomness around me, try something new (I've been embroidering!) and live in the moment with my boys.

"The busy" has required my absence here on my little blog but I hope to be back at it after the weekend.

But something to share....hmmm. Oh yes, I have another half-a** project that still needs completion after a year. I love it and have yet to wear it due to incompletion. I so would have gotten an "I" on my report card for this.

It's a cute, mod-looking dress that I sewed last year. The ONLY thing that I lack is sewing the hem. You can see the random strings and the lining showing but once I hem it up (and iron, blech), it will be ready for a night on the town. Isn't the blue so lovely? It reminds me of peacocks and I have an infatuation with peacocks. And the shoes! Aren't they ridiculous? I love them so!

Child-Like

Oh to be a child. How wonderful those moments are when you can capture it to enjoy forever. Someone needs to learn to bottle it up and sell it...I know so many that would benefit from that youthful innocence.

Being an only child has its advantages, even though all you seem to hear are negative opinions. Lawyer and I have a close bond and I let him enjoy being a child. I strive to have "good ideas" after school that allow him to use his imagination, creativity and spontaneity. Allowing him to do those things, allows me to do them as well.

Coming home from school is always fun. It's a special time of both our days where we can be excited about the day's doings and look forward to what we get to do at home. Wednesday was one such day. We made homemade chocolate cookies (we do this only so we can eat the raw dough...that's our favorite, forget the baked cookies!), put up the tent and watched Peter Pan inside it.

Oh and we were supposed to be "bug explorers" (thus the utility belt with tools). Check out his "planters" he made out of my spent tulips and his dump trucks. He wanted to cheer up the place.

More creativity followed with outdoor chalk drawings. Nothing is more refreshing and puts a smile on my face when I look outside and see our concrete covered in all sorts of drawings.

Lawyer is learning to write and putting his name on everything is out of necessity.

Oh and Texas is pretty special to him too. (Sidenote: Lawyer likes to use "wet" chalk...it makes the chalk's color way more vibrant...kind of like using oil pastels only it cleans up well!)

Revel in a child's wonder. Enjoy each precious, fleeting day. Sing their praises. Learn to be child-like yourself.

We will be enjoying Lawyer's uncle's company this weekend. "Nano" is a special person in Lawyer's life and he can't wait to play with him all weekend. Have a blessed weekend with your loved ones!

When All Else Fails...

Pull out the paper bags.

I'm Batman

Well, not me (although I am coerced into putting on the batman mask by my ever-enthusiastic 3 year old)...I've seen him lurking about. I managed to catch Batman in all his glory late this afternoon.

Monkeying Around

Today was lovely. And it was spontaneous, something we lack in our lives a lot. Lawyer saw a playground on the way home from the library and asked if we could go to it and instead of saying "Maybe later" or "How about tomorrow?", I pulled my car off to the side of the road, grabbed my camera and we played in the 100 degree hot Texas sun. And it was fun!

These were my favorite images from the day. Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed getting to see them when I put them onto my computer!And in the spirit of trying to be edgy, gritty and cool in the abstract photography arena (I have no clue what I'm talking about), here is a picture of the stairs at the playground and I love it.Until next time...over and out.

Ice Man

Funny title since my 3 year old actually loves Top Gun and you better believe that he knows who Ice Man is. My husband likes to think he's Maverick or Ice Man but don't let him fool you, he is Goose all the way, and that's the way I like him!

Anyhow, I had visited this mom's blog that has lots of great ideas to engage your small children. Well, she had posted about this ice excavating activity where she froze layers of water filled with finds. I knew Lawyer, being as OCD as he is and with being a very hands-on child, would love this so I actually bought a bag of "value" beads and just threw them in a container of water and froze each layer, adding more beads and water and freezing.

Well, this was a huge hit and it ate up at least 1 hour and 15 minutes. I gave Lawyer several choices of "tools" and he got to pick and choose and decide which was going to work best for him. I do have to say though that my collection of toothpicks, a toy screwdriver, and a wooden hammer didn't exactly blow his socks off. He announced that he would be right back and for me to not move. Lawyer came back out with his real child's-sized hammer and that would work better. Duh, mom.The hammer ended up being his favorite tool (big surprise there!).Of course, to really get the job done, he needed to get down and dirty on the ground.And here's what we ended up with...Oh and these are some great pics of Lawyer, his favorite part was eating the small bits of ice that broke off the big ice block.Who knew that ice chips were such an indulgence to be had and enjoy?

A Painting for Granny...

One would think that a title like that would make you want to be so proud as a parent that your child is being so thoughtful to think of someone else, especially their granny, when deciding to paint. I certainly did. Shoot yeah, that sounds like a great idea! It will eat up at least an hour of our day too!Nice technique, my child.He's so thoughtful when deciding where his next stroke should go.Hey Lawyer, why don't you smile for the camera for mommy?Never mind.

Here we're getting fancy with the artsy/photo techniques. If you know more than me about photography (which I assume is most people) then look away now.He definitely follows after his dad in the OCD department (see post below on Dad). Look at him lining up his brushes AND they are color coded for the paint that he will use for each one.See? What'd I tell ya? Blue brush must go with blue paint...no exceptions.Beautiful technique.Lawyer, say cheese!Fun side note about the container used for Lawyer's paints...it was the egg container that came with my fridge. Pretty smart of me, don't you think?Don't you just love grubby little 3 year old boy hands? I especially like the dirty, chewed up nails.Look at the seriousness in this kid's face. He means business when he paints a picture for Granny!Check out ol' OCD child's right hand straightening out the brush...he is OCD dad's kid all the way.Coming back to where I started with the joy that exudes out of me when my child wants to share such beautiful art with others. When asked what he called this painting, he looked at me with mischief in his eyes and said...The Gun! Nice, I've raised my boy right...guns and paint. Redneck and refined.

Lawyer...Say Cheeseburger...Gloom and Doom, people, gloom and doom. The End.