Warrior Boy

Yes, these pictures are still a part of the series "...but I'll post them anyway..."

This is my youngest son:


An eight year old tending the fire and preparing for the hunt.



He didn't know I was taking these pictures, but after I snapped a couple I made him go put some clothes on.

That makes me the party-pooper (yes, kids, I know).

I hope I didn't ruin his fun, but it wasn't that warm out and he didn't even have shoes on (now I really sound like the mom, don't I?).

Ack.

My oldest son got his driver's license.

Cooling Off

This is how the kids around here cool off:


The world's biggest sprinkler!



Wonder what would happen if there was a fire?

Halloween in June

Love the fingernails:

Thoughtful devil:

The one flip-flop makes this monster extra scary:

Where did her its other shoe get off to?

Lazy Pictures

(I took the picture and then uncovered his head so he could breathe.)

I have a few reasons for posting these lazy pictures:
1. I couldn't stand the Chicago River being the first thing I saw when I came over here.
2. I'm shaking my head over Dick Cheney's little joke about West Virginia and vowing not to waste my time addressing that idiot's comments. Except to say it's obvious he's not from here. Thankfully. (Okay, stopping, really.)
3. I just came in from playing in the garden and a nap sounds pretty good right now.
4. It's going to rain -again!- and that makes the nap sound even better.

Pink Shoe Puddles

"Does Gatorade stain?"
I wasn't sure how to take this question seeing as how it came from a kid who puts his shirt on backwards everyday.
"It can, yes," I answered from the driver's seat.
I wanted to say, "Does Gatorade make a puddle on the floor or does it soak into the carpet?" but I refrained. There had been worse stuff in the back seat: a flattened, oozing banana with a halo of fruit flies, moldy peanut butter sandwiches squished inside a baggie (hopefully inside), green string cheese, and the occasional dog biscuit that was overlooked in favor of something tastier - rotten-er.
We have a dog because it's easier than using the vacuum cleaner - she can really get into all the small spaces without the inconvenience of an attachment.
"Will it come out of my socks?"
It's red Gatorade.
I'm sure the socks are a lovely shade of pink.
They'll go well with the inside-out and backwards underwear.


***I wrote this last summer and never posted it.
Relevant updates:
My son doesn't put his shirt (or underwear) on backwards everyday anymore, just every once in a while; he's growing up.
By now, you've already become acquainted with the dog.

Springtime - Leaves and Weedeaters

Even with the fickle spring weather, I've been spending a lot of time outside. The leaves are coming along nicely and the hills are softening with new growth.

With the nice weather and gardening comes grass cutting season, too. I am not the most diligent lawn care provider. As a matter of fact, it gets done in the slow minutes between everything else that needs done - patchwork lawn care. One section of the lawn will be freshly cut and another, adjacent section will be shin high.
The trim is particularly neglected. I was blaming that neglect on the heavy, unwieldy string trimmer. I finally bought a lightweight Weedeater that's not so hard for me to run. It is lighter, it is easier, it will probably not be a miraculous cure for lackadaisical yard work.

The first time I ran it I was very pleased with its light weight. I was able to wander around the entire yard and trim most of the worst edges without the muscles in my forearms and shoulders screaming at me (the trimmer itself, however, screams just as loud as the older, heavier tool).

When I finally turned it off and set it down to come in for a drink of water, I was surprised to see this follow me in the door:

A walking box!
Now if I could just figure out how to make the weedeater use itself....

Good Morning - Kettlebells and Sunrise

I've been swinging kettlebells for my regular workouts. I swing at home, so I save the time -and the gas- that it takes to get to the gym. It looks deceptively easy; I am soaked with sweat about 20 minutes into it. I like it so much I'm actually thinking about cancelling my gym membership for the summer - swing and run.

This morning I got up at 5 so I could be finished by the time I wake the kids at 6. The sky is just starting to lighten up now, but in about 45 minutes the front yard will look like this:

Or not. It's supposed to rain today and these pictures were taken right before the kids walked down to the bus -7am- on one of those perfect days last week (we've had several perfect days this past week-yay!). Today it's supposed to rain and the mist has climbed into the front yard.
The mist in the valley is beautiful. This is looking out across the front yard. Just beyond these trees, the hillside falls off the cliff. If my kids were younger it would bother me -like the little pond in the backyard. I'm still aware of it when they're out playing, but we've made two trails down into the deep cool of the rhododendron where dirt still clings to the rock face and softens the slope. You've got to slide down on your butt and pull yourself back up with the spindly roots that stick their knees up, but in the heat of summer it's worth it to go down there and hop from rock to rock. The kids aren't allowed to go down without asking -most of the time I go with them, but most of the time they don't ask. When it gets hot again, we'll probably start going down in there again. There's a high rock -though lower than the level of our yard and beneath the tree canopy- that would be perfect to set a porch swing (just without the porch).

This next view is the same, just wider. The spring leaves are just now starting to win. Barely.

Alligator Attack

An unexpected alligator attack occurred at the paint counter of the home improvement store today.

Thanks to the heroic efforts of this green-shirted bystander, tragedy was averted and the young lady in orange walked away with nothing but superficial injuries.

***Check out this post over at The 123 to find out what we're doing with the paint.