Even here in sunny SoCal, it rains on occasion. Like today, for instance. It rained all day. But then you're faced with the interesting quandary of what to do
after the rain. Wait for days on end for it to dry? Take a walk around the block while carefully avoiding contact with all standing water? High tail it out to the mountains to see if there's snow? Or to the desert to see if the wildflowers are in full bloom yet? Or, just wait to see what the kids come up with?
Well, let's just see what the kids can come up with. Because I'm busy doing laundry, cooking, cleaning, teaching, sitting in my rocking chair with a glazed over look on my face...you know, normal mom things. It's always nice when the kids can get outside for a little bit of...well, just
what were they doing outside??
Oh, yes, well there you have it. The boys were outside using the tiki torches to dig to China from my garden. Well, that's a perfectly normal boy activity, isn't it? And apparently, some days you just need to ditch your pants in favor of more fresh air. Or something like that. I never did figure out why Mighty Man took off his pants. Something about keeping them dry or clean or whatever.
Um, yes, and those are brand new shirts that had only just been worn for the first time ever. One should
always break those things in the first opportunity one gets. Right? Good thing my washing machine has a way with dirt and mud. Ew!
And here we have the saddest, most pathetic face on the surface of planet earth. Can't you see the poor boy is crying
real mud tears? He was highly distressed that I had the gall to stand there at the door, taking pictures and
not allowing him free reign in the house. Moms are so misguided sometimes. Especially when it comes to a guy's need to put muddy finger and foot prints far and wide inside. The nerve! Ha! All right. I admit, he was also cold and really mad that I wouldn't pick him up and cuddle him right away.
Anyway, needless to say, the hour I had kid-free to do all the mom-things I needed to do, was quickly erased by the hour+ that it took to strip off clothes, rinse clothes with a hose, do laundry, bathe kids, redress kids and
then I could start dinner. Which is why we just hit the drive thru. Heh.
A brief side note: I'm catching up on pictures and posts I could have/should have done earlier...say December or January, but haven't. I also
should be doing my Christmas cards, but haven't found the motivation to finish those. The cards are printed (have been since November) and the letters are done (have been since well before Christmas) but the envelopes aren't addressed. A pretty sad state of affairs, no? Ah, well. Life goes on!
Next was Monkey Boy, who is trying very hard to emulate his big sister. :o)
Then Mighty Man decided to give it a whirl all by himself. He proved to be quite the horseman!
And last but not least, was Little Dude. He absolutely refused to be left out on this opportunity. His giggles were terribly contagious!
For some unknown reason, Monkey Boy decided to take a pair of scissors to his head and that of his youngest brother. I was thrilled. Overjoyed, even. Or perhaps I was just a smidgen steamed that they had chosen to whack off hair just days before Christmas and all of the family stuff (and pictures) that goes along with that.
This picture does not paint an accurate picture of just how hideous the hack job was. The entire top of his head was a patchwork of exceptionally short hair. It was awful.
And here we have Mighty Man, in all of his glory. He did a superb job. Hacked it off down to the roots. Not even a 1/4" guard could make it look right. Oh well. I did my best.
As you might imagine, all 3 boys got buzzed that afternoon. It wasn't on the schedule, but it certainly needed to be done. Fortunately, as my grandfather used to say, "the only difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut is 3 days." Thankfully, we had 5 days until Christmas. By then, the scalping of December, 2007 was just a distant memory to my little monkeys. Not even the threat of Santa leaving them lumps of coal could coax them into angelic behavior. What can I say...they're definitely all boy(s)!
Oh, yes, well there you have it. The boys were outside using the tiki torches to dig to China from my garden. Well, that's a perfectly normal boy activity, isn't it? And apparently, some days you just need to ditch your pants in favor of more fresh air. Or something like that. I never did figure out why Mighty Man took off his pants. Something about keeping them dry or clean or whatever. 
Um, yes, and those are brand new shirts that had only just been worn for the first time ever. One should always break those things in the first opportunity one gets. Right? Good thing my washing machine has a way with dirt and mud. Ew!
And here we have the saddest, most pathetic face on the surface of planet earth. Can't you see the poor boy is crying real mud tears? He was highly distressed that I had the gall to stand there at the door, taking pictures and not allowing him free reign in the house. Moms are so misguided sometimes. Especially when it comes to a guy's need to put muddy finger and foot prints far and wide inside. The nerve! Ha! All right. I admit, he was also cold and really mad that I wouldn't pick him up and cuddle him right away. 
It was just so beautiful to see this dew ridden spider web, alight with the early morning sun. We have orb weaver spiders who come and go around here. While I don't much care for the sight of one of those bad boys (and oh, my, they're HUGE!), nor do I particularly relish doing the spiderweb flail when encountering one unexpectedly, I do really enjoy the beauty and intricacy of their webs. Even more so when they are adorned with tiny droplets of water and highlighted by the cool rays of sun on a crisp, clear morning. 
And just so you can be jealous, our tangerines are just getting ripe. This spider had particularly good taste when it came to choosing his tree.
Here's part of the other truck, which was loaded with fresh vegetables. There were heads of lettuce everywhere, plus parsnips, cabbage and other assorted veggies I couldn't readily identify.
Here's one of the trucks. See, it really is broken! Although you can't really see it from this shot, the nose of the truck was bent down to the pavement. I just don't know how they managed to break it. Whatever they did, they did a good job of it.
And just as we were sitting in traffic, inching our way forward, we saw this front end loader coming south on I-5 toward us. I thought it was a little odd, until I saw it whip a U-turn and trundle up the side of the road toward the wreckage. Admittedly, I thought that was a little odd, too, until I saw the extent of the produce and cases of drink scattered over a mile of freeway. Then it all became clear.
Honestly, I'm just thankful that during all of our traveling this month, we managed to keep our noses clean, our trucks out of the ditch and our family safe. Because that's really what matters. :o)
So here is Mount Shasta, in all its snow covered glory. It is a magnificent mountain, covered in glaciers and usually shrouded by a stray cloud or two. Sometimes, it is completely obscured by the cloud cover, but not the day we drove up. 
Here's Mount Shasta from a slightly different angle...a really artistic shot, if you ask me. You have the standing water from recent rain storms in the foreground and a snippet of the rumble strips in the lower right corner. 
And one last shot. Really, you'd never know these were taken out the truck window while speeding down the freeway...by our four year old, would you? I think we have a budding photographer in our midst. :o)
