A follow up to "Barefooted on my own front porch"

I was just about to publish that last post when a paper air plain hit me in the back of my shoulder. Tucker giggled and said "there's a note on it". How sweet is he? I thought it was especially sweet because he didn't even know that  I was writing about the haircuts or that it was on my mind! I love Tucker!

Barefooted on my own front porch

Umm I had one of those moments today where I realized how ridiculous I probably look and sound. It went like this: The boys had on their "mud fightin' clothes" from yesterdays mud fight and I was fluttering around the house trying to pack up for our trip to Indiana and New York. I realized that Fynneus was scratching and then picking at a spot on his neck just at the bottom of his hair line. I leaned over him to find a GIANT TICK! ughh I think I have pulled four or five off of Fynneus already this spring so I had a little Freak out and announced that it was hair cut time! We took a stool out to the front porch, grabbed a towel and I threw on some shorts that where ridiculously stripy pink and of course I had an old grey and purple tank top on. We ran an extension cord out the window and drew names to see who was first! Fynn won, then Tuck and Then Rollin. I had the bath run for them already so it moved a little bit like an assembly line. But while I was cutting Rollins hair Our friendly Fed-ex driver pulled up the drive. I didn't really think much of it and just kept on with Rollins hair cut. When the man hopped out of the truck I jokingly shouted "free haircuts" He he laughed and said "don't tempt me" I laughed and replied "well it will look like a free haircut!" He brought a package over and tried to make nice with Rollin, who was not in the mood for chatting with strangers and some how i heard myself rambling, in my bare feet, on my front porch, while buzzing my childs hair, about how bad the ticks are this year. Then I glanced over and saw all the junk piled on the front porch!  There were piles of everything from our camping tent to one of our removable van seats. Not to mention the bright orange extension chord running out of the living room window  AND the trampoline which is in our FRONT YARD!!!  And so I feel like its official. We are definitely "that" house in the neighborhood that people raise their eyebrows at.  And the whole family has homemade haircuts and my children are filthy ninety percent of the time. And the front porch could be so cute if all our junk wasn't piled there.  But I get to be the one to teach my sons how to read and write and count and add and subtract and multiply. I get to cook them healthy meals and teach them how to do it too. They get to help us start seeds for the garden and I think they have planted more things on this little piece of earth we call ours than I have this year. And when they caught a dozen baby crawfish today I was able to spend time with them researching habitat and diet.  I mean really I think I might have my priorities right............................right?

Good Morning Fynneus

At some point in the night Fynneus snuck into our bed. I was lying awake this morning thinking of the all the things I need to do today when Fynn leaned over on top of me, nose to nose and said "someday can we get ice cream in an ice cream cone? Someday can we go to the square town and get ice cream in an ice cream cone?"  I told hime that we could definitely do that some day.

Fire

It was a lovely day here and as soon as we got school done we headed outside. I was just wandering about the two acres doing little jobs here and there. I moved some sticks and dry things to the fire pit, pick up trash, let the chickens out, and resumed the epic battle I have had going with our vintage lawn mower.  I noticed the mums that I planted last fall are growing very well but that the old growth needed trimmed back so I asked Fynn and Rollin to help and they were happy to oblige. So I showed them what needed done and they set to work. I told Rollin we could take the old dry twigs to the fire pit. Where I had been piling stuff already.  I went to help Fynn who was having a hard time making the cuts with his plastic kid scissors. He asked if I would just break the twigs off and hand them to him. So I did. I looked over and saw that Rollin had finished his work on the bush he had been working on and had taken the pile of scraps to the fire pit. Then suddenly he came running to me. With Big eyes and a giant magnifying glass in his hand he said "I started a fire".  It was a fact but he said the words more like a question.  He looked worried. So I hopped up and as we walked toward the fire he said "It's actually burnin!"  
    Now starting fires with a magnifying glass is not a new skill here at the Douglas house. In fact i think it has been at least two years, maybe three since a friend of the family taught Tucker the ease in which the power of the sun could be harnessed.  However normally they burn a hole in a leaf, or maybe a pice of paper or cook a bug so it can be eaten for a mid morning snack. The skill has never been used to start a full fledged bon fire until now!

wrens and chicks

Back in January or maybe December even I realized that I still had six dead ferns hanging all around our front porch. I went out in the dark after getting boys to sleep and started taking them down one by one. Thinking all the while about how the neighbors must be shaking their heads at the untidiness of our home. Then as I reached for the the fifth hanging basket I was startled when a bird hastily flew out and over and around my head. I quickly put the basket back. I thought well I will just leave that one. Then I went to the next one and the same thing happened!  Well neighbors or not, tidy or untidy I couldn't just take their homes out from under them. So I left two dead fern hanging baskets on the porch and never thought about it again. Then While my Dad was here for a visit he found the sweet newly hatched chicks and showed them to the boys. My Dad swore them to secrecy but Tucker was having a particularly hard time with it. He came to me and said "Poppa showed me something and I can't tell you what it is yet but I can't hardly stand it." Eventually after we Indian Pinky swore and said the promise My Dad and the boys showed the tiny things to my mom and I.   My priority was kindness and not appearance and my heart is happy.

In Their Pockets

I have a small canning jar that I keep beside my washing machine so that as I empty little pockets I can drop all the little treasures in and take inventory later. I love to see the tiny things that that they find worth hanging on to.  This is the current inventory.

4 small rocks
1 small sheet of stickers
1 crinkled up roll of caps for a cap gun
1 waving army figure
1 sunglasses lens
1 side of the butt of a toy pistol
1 plastic tip to an ice pop
1 crumpled gum wrapper
1 small sea shell
1 tiny bullet shell
1 tiny black screw
1 black and brown swirly button
2 flat glass stones
1 large piece of driftwood
1 large kid handful of tiny rocks (from the playground)
1 tiny wrench
1 glass marble
1 steel ball
1 rubber band
4 assorted coins
1 tiny rubber tire