Poor parenting and snakes shouldn’t mix.

We’ve had a ton of rain, and a lot of bad storms, this April. They’ve had a ton of rain farther north along the Mississippi River corridor as well, and by the time all that water gets to Natchez, it’s going to be devastating. The previously recorded high for the river at Natchez (from 1937) is 57’ and it’s predicted to crest at 65’! It won’t affect us here in Ridgeland, but Ferriday is right in the path…

In the meantime, nature put on quite a show for us several times in April, and as long as there’s no actual damage, we love sitting on the back porch watching a storm blow while the warning sirens go off.

 

 

 

And all those April showers bring…. flowers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

In mid-April Rachel had a brand-new experience: she went to a doctor for the very first time. Not that she’s never been sick, but it’s always been minor stuff that doesn’t require more than a Tylenol. Can you see her nervous expression in this picture? No? I’m telling you… poker face. (You should be able to click on the picture to expand it.) Caroline got a rash of raised bumps like canker sores on her tongue, like 20 or so at once, that only seemed to pop out at night. Very painful, but by morning she’d swear they were all gone, so I never took her to a doctor for it (only lasted about 2 nights anyway). I thought it was an allergic reaction to something she must’ve put in her mouth outside, but when Rachel got the same thing a few days later, I had to know what was going on. The doctor hadn’t seen this before, although since it was daytime her tongue was absolutely normal, but he said that canker sores are viral. He thought this was probably viral, since it was going away then coming back in the evening, and said it would probably clear up within a week. And it did. He gave me a prescription for a numbing mouthwash that we only needed to use once. Pretty simple, but weird.

The weather has been so great we decided to give our cars their bi-annual washings. (Yes, I know that means once every 2 years, not twice a year!) Washing a car with 7 people helping was, um, chaotic. Chris or I had to actually go over every spot ourselves anyway, but the kids didn’t realize we were doing that and they had a blast. Getting the top of the car washed has never been so easy! Then we cleaned and vacuumed both cars. I should do that more often! :-) I love my clean car – and I’m an absolute meany about it these days. NOTHING goes into the back of the car except warm bodies. It probably won’t last, but I’m going to enjoy it for as long as I can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katherine loves catching these little brown snakes we have in our backyard. The one on the left is actually the same one I posted pictures of with all the girls about a month ago. How can I tell, you ask. Can’t you tell by his sweet little face? No seriously, he has a scar along his side, so this is at least the 2nd time she’s caught this little guy. I guess they just don’t travel far from home.

 

Speaking of snakes, I have a great example of poor parenting to show you – what not to do. I also posted these on facebook, but here’s the scoop. Elizabeth saw a garter snake on our back porch and yelled for Katherine, around 8ish one morning last week. It dives under the hydrangea bush and they work to find it. This actually takes some time because those little guys are thin and terrific hiders. Fortunately, we had enough hunters to surround the bush. Katherine is holding a red bucket because she’s planning to trap the snake under the bucket, not grab it or anything stupid. I have taught her, of course, a few common sense things. Anyway, she’s having trouble finding the slippery guy and getting the bucket over him, so I tell her, “Hey look, those things don’t have fangs, you know. You should just grab him.” No way was MY hand getting anywhere near him, but you go ahead, Katherine. So she finally reaches out and carefully picks him up near his head, and he instantly swirls around and bites her! Surprise! And no, they don’t have fangs, but they DO have little side teeth that pull the food into their throats. And these DO puncture skin. So, no, it really didn’t hurt much, but it was a big surprise. Whoops! My bad, sweetie. Maybe you should use the bucket next time, OK?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this last picture, you can see two little puncture marks on her hand. And yes, I had her clean them well and put antibiotic ointment on them immediately. She considers this whole thing a fantastic experience!