These Days...

...of little boy joys.

First newt of the season...that also has gone missing in our house...or quite possibly in one of our kitty's bellies...

Every Spring, the boys and I have a "bucket list" of sorts that we want to accomplish before the summer is over...namely "critters" that we want to catch - or at the very least see - before those crazy, long days of winter are upon us once again.

First snake of the season...in which London gets a taste of what she's in for.

At the very minimum, these are the things that we want to catch at some point or another:
~ A snake.
~ A snapping turtle.
~ A painted turtle.
~ Frogs' eggs.
~ Big Daddy Tadpoles - like the bullfrog ones.
~ A bullfrog.
~ A little tree frog.
~ A toad.
~ Butterflies.
~ Salamanders.
~ A newt.
~ Crayfish.
~ Nests - for birds and hornets...
~ Leeches - this one is ALLL the boys.  I'm good with this one.  Grody.
~ Caterpillars, lightning bugs, moths, etc. etc. etc. in the bug category.
~ All sorts and sundry fish when we go on our fishing excursions.
~ And I'm sure I have missed several other things, as well....

Young snapper.  Just out of hibernation.  Very lethargic the first day.  Very "snappy" today.
Time to release the hostage, methinks.  I would like us to keep all of our fingers...

As soon as the very first of these "treasures" has been found, the boys know that Spring is really and truly indeed upon us, and almost instantaneously the flow of our days shifts from more time being inside to most of their time being outside...or a whole lot of that front door banging open and shut, back and forth - between racing inside because they forgot something or for a quick change because they fell in the brook, and then back outside again for a new adventure.

A growing collection.  With one of my "baby totes" housing our turtle right now.  Geez.

And thus, the shift in the cleanliness of my floors and the magnitude of my laundry amount changes, as well.
But, I love it.
I honestly do.

First wee butterfly.

I much prefer my boys living outside in all of their filthy glory - with the sunshine and the trees budding, the grass growing and the flowers sprouting, to those crazy, long, cold, and dreary months of Maine winter.  I am SO not a cold weather woman.  So, I will take the wet with the mud, the filth with the never ending laundry, and the dirty fingernails, with the crazy critter count any day of the week.

Nosy girls...

And usually - once they get into their full glory of all of their critter catching - I establish a "one aquarium, one critter" rule.  Otherwise, things can get really out of hand.  Like yesterday, for instance.  Yesterday, was just one of those days of little boy glory where all in the course of a single day, they found themselves frogs' eggs, a newt, a snake, and a snapper.  In the words of my Jesse:  It was the "BEST! DAY! EVER!" And since everything was just all so new and exciting, I told the boys that they could keep everything for a couple of days before we release them back to Mother Nature.

Frogs'....or maybe salamander...eggs.

Of course, they had to take things one step further and beg to have everything moved into their room - for only one night - just so we can "study" them and do "science experiments."  And me feeling oh so generous at the time, told them that that would be fine.

Long about one in the morning, however, when I had my nightly traipse downstairs to grab my cup of "calm" tea to try and keep my preggo restless legs at bay...I did experience a slight case of the heebie jeebies, wondering if there would be something "slithery" or "snappy" that might just have escaped in the night and that my bare naked feet might come into contact with in the pitch dark blackness of my normally oh so safe and cozy home.  Freaky...

So, tonight, the hostages shall be released.
It's just the way things must go, my Loves...
Both for the sake of God's little creatures...and for the sanity of yo' Mama.

Big Daddy Taddy.

And so...
Spring has indeed sprung in these here parts.
And this makes us all so VERY happy.

Tis now the time for long walks in the woods...
For bike and stroller rides...
And soon...oh so very soon...for moving just a little bit faster.

These are the days of perpetually wet feet.
Of explorations.
And of little boy imaginations running wild.

These are the days of never. ending. laundry...
And of keeping an eye out for ticks and for poison ivy.

Days of simple things.
Of making time pass so much more quickly while we wait for wee London's debut...

And these are the days where my porch looks perpetually like this:

These are the days that bring me SO. MUCH. JOY.

For the ring, dear Rachael....I thank you.
For the every day, perpetual reminder of my "joy journey...."
What a gift...