These are my cute, but rather shaggy children.
Or, rather, these were my cute, but rather shaggy children.
Well, they still are my children. And cute. But the shagginess is no more.
And no, I have no idea why Julia is making that face. She’s six. That’s all the explanation I’ve got.
So yesterday, after Natalie and I baked the pound cake, we trekked down to my sister’s house to return Natalie and her share of pound cake, to bring snacks to the chickens, and to tame the crazy hair on my kids’ heads.
As always, it was entertaining.
Alex and Julia brought their pan of goodies (bird seed, cooked corn, and diced apples) outside and before they even got to the back gate, the security patrol was ready and waiting.
Left to right, that’s Legs (the neighbor chicken and BBF4EVA with my sisters chickens), Marge, Jayne, and Veruca. Apparently Jayne is molting, so her tail isn’t as proud and erect as usual.
The only way the girls (joined above by…um…General Tso and Big Mama, I believe) would allow Alex and Julia to enter the yard was if they offered food, so Alex threw a handful of seed onto the path.
That worked. And pretty soon Wynona joined the party.
Last to appear was Nugget. She paused for a moment, so everyone could admire her plumage.
Alex stood in the thick of things, scattering seed and occasionally offering some food to the hens by hand.
Any time he did this, one of the chickens bit his finger.
My sister said it was The General. (General Tso.)
Alex had his revenge. That night we ordered Chinese food for dinner.
Guess what he had.
Julia ended up tossing the corn and apples to the chickens, and then they just all hung around outside, the chickens eating…and the kids watching the chickens eating.
And then it was time for haircuts.
Julia was easy – her bangs needed a trim and that was all. Quick and easy.
Yay, she can see!
Alex, on the other hand…
He asked for a haircut. This was his idea. Just had to mention that. Because to look at ANY of the pictures I took while my sister VERY PATIENTLY cut his hair, you’d think she was yanking it out by the roots.
Honestly. He wails in pain, screws up his face, wriggles like an earthworm. Then he was itchy. Then he hair got in his mouth (“I really need to SPIT!”), or he’d play with all the hair that was falling from his head, and I can’t even tell you the bizarre things he was doing with it or saying about it, but suffice to say, he is looking forward to being a MAN. And then something would itch again. Or tickle. Or hair went up his nose. Or OW!!! THAT HURTS!!! YES IT DOES!!!
And so on and so on.
Oh, and during all this, Julia, who was coloring pictures of chickens, suddenly asked where the bathroom was because “I really gotta take a wazz!”
I have no explanation for that one.
So guess what – I have no good pictures of him from this point on. He wouldn’t hold still. Even when my sister was finished, and he took a look at himself in the mirror (after oh, twelve hours of her trying to get the job done) and he said “It’s horrible!” And, of course, it wasn’t.
He looks just fine.
Very manly.
