You might be an [instinctive parenting] redneck if . . . . .

When a car drives by your house they see your pantless, long haired, 4 yr old boy doing this . . .

Ever shooting a BB gun . . . pantless

 And then when they walk up on your porch, they see this . . .

Baby in a box.  And notice that blur behind him, a cage of chickens . . . yes, on the front porch!!

 Of course those who know me know that I am not a redneck (though I have some family members who would proudly claim that title!!).  At least, I don't *think* I am, LOL!!

This was just the scene from our house this evening.  The kids were wanting to shoot the BB gun so I set up a box as a target for them.  They were shooting when a car drove by (we are in a fairly secluded area so cars don't drive by too often).  That is when I noticed the scene in front of me and what I can only imagine those people (who were obviously sight seeing on the mountain) must have thought.  For me, parenting by instincts often means I usually just go with the flow, which I am sure may look a bit odd to some.

I had 2 long haired boys shooting a bb gun . . . and I had to tell them to stop so they wouldn't hit the car driving by.  One of them had no pants on (they had gotten wet, and he can't stand wet clothes).  Another long haired boy with the water hose spraying it towards the road.  I had to holler for him to stop too as he totally would have soaked them inside their car . . . as their windows were down (hey, just noticed I used the word "holler" . . . very redneck of me).  I also had a toddler running around the yard butt naked.  His clothing of choice is no clothing at all.  He is ALWAYS naked, and he likes to run down the yard when cars drive by yelling "car, car, car, car, car", oh and of course there was a baby sitting on the porch in a box.

Dagyn, my box baby, 5mo old.

Yes I put him in the box with toys (I was doing lots of bending over picking stuff up which is hard on my body when wearing him, and he was happy to sit and play).   We are always putting Dagyn in boxes and various other containers to play and the kids love to push him around in them.   I have no clue where Piper was, but she was not interested in the gun (surprisingly since when she was younger she expressed an interest in hunting, which is interesting as we have never hunted).

more bb gun fun

 Hey, we were having fun which is what matters.  And I was really proud of 4 yr old Ever.  It was his first time shooting the bb gun and he was able to hit the box after about his 5th try.  I showed him how to aim and he maneuvered his little body to line up the sight!  Actually, they were all really good at aiming. 

It was quite the humorous scene.  I felt better though when I recalled events from earlier in the day. It was calm and peaceful.  All the kids sitting on the screen porch eating 'dang quesadillas', chips and salsa. That isn't quite as 'redneck' is it? (though I still had 1 naked and 1 without pants ;0) 

Where in the world is . . . . ??

Oh wait . . .here I am!!  

Sorry I have been MIA.  

I blame these people

Can I say that having 6 kids has kicked my butt?  I mean seriously.  I have started maybe 1/2 dozen blog posts (and have like another couple dozen topics I want to cover) and I get online to work on one and I either have e-mails I have to answer or some child is hungry, or needs to nurse, or needs to be wiped or is hurt (or is hurting someone else) or is standing on the counter (sometimes standing on the counter AND needing to be wiped) or is getting in to the fridge . . . or getting into the fridge and dumping food on the floor, and often it is multiples of these happening at the same time!

I know I don't have to tell you, anyone with little ones knows what I am talking about.  And then in the evening after they are asleep (which is actually when I usually get any real computer stuff done) I often have stuff to clean, or I get called back to bed by a crying baby or dh wants my attention (that is our "alone" time ya know) or I am just mentally ready to veg out infront of some mindless show with ice cream!  Yes I love my ice cream!!  I love it so much I try to spend some time with it every evening!  And we had been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer recently (it is amazing how much you can forget it 10 yrs) and now that we finished it, we are rewatching Angel.  Fun times!!  Ice cream and Vampires . . . does it get better than that . . . maybe zombies?  (actually I just really like watching Spike . . . those of you who have seen Buffy know what I am talking about ;0)  And for those who don't . . . . here is a photo . . .

Yes, I just put a photo of Spike from Buffy on my blog, LOL!!

 So our summer this year was not nearly as busy as our summer last year (when we went to the BW conference in Idaho and to the beach in FL and OBX).  And last year I had morning sickness most of the summer . . . but I still think having baby #6 here has made it a bit harder to keep up.  Since I last checked in here we have
 ............................made a trip to Hershey Park in May, made a trip to GA to see my gorgeous niece Olive who was born (in a natural hospital waterbirth) to my little sister Karla in June (her first baby).

Me and newborn Olive

Olive and 12 wk old Dagyn

We also got some baby chicks, painted the front porch (yes, the kids and I spent 2 wks painting all the railings, it was a bit crazy but it turned out great) we had a big birthday party, we had some pets pass away, We got a trampoline . .

In the morning (as you see they are in their PJ's).  They couldn't wait, this is right after we put it up, before we could level it and put up the net and padding

 . . .we had a fun long weekend with family in Lynchburg, built and tiled a shower in the upstairs bathroom (that actually used to be a closet, we are just finishing it up now, just a bit more grouting to do) we got more baby chicks and have spent several days at the lake and with friends.  But I don't think anyone has been doing as much work this summer as this little guy . . .

Dagyn 5mo . . . growing, and growing, and growing . . .

 But I promise.  I am going to try desperately to get back to the habit of blogging, because I always have so much on my mind to share.