Kids and Critters

The critters have been coming out lately (and I'm not just talking about the HUGE spider I killed the other day. When I smashed it with the shoe, it bounced off the carpet about three feet in the air onto the table. I couldn't help but squeal, even though I knew my kids would be more afraid. Fun times.).

A lot of you know about Jeff's collection of lizards. He has a few different kinds, but the African Fat Tailed Geckos are the ones that he has been trying to breed for a while now. He has harvested a lot of eggs (which he has incubated), but none had hatched until a few weeks ago. Out of habit, he checked the eggs in the incubator, and with as much excitement as he is likely to show, announced, "We have babies!" Yes, in fact, two of the eggs had hatched. Since that first hatching, four more have hatched. Here are the latest two. As you can see, there are more eggs still incubating, and we should have even more babies in the next few weeks.





He's going to let them grow for a while before he sells them to the pet store (or to any interested party--you want one?) I told him that he seemed more excited at the birth of his lizards than he was when Kyla was born. Hopefully not true, or at least I tell myself that.



Then, on Sunday as we were driving home from church, Jeff said he saw a turtle in the road. I wasn't sure if I believed him, but he turned around for a closer look. Sure enough, a little turtle was sunning itself in the middle of the road, perhaps a bit suicidal. Jeff picked it up and we brought it home to find out what it was.







Turns out it is a Florida Box Turtle, found only in Florida. All box turtles in North America are endangered, and can be covered in ticks. Needless to say, we decided not to keep it, but to release it into the "jungle" by our house. We all got to admire it, though, and wish we could keep it. I asked Jeff if I should put some clothes on Allie, or if we should photograph her as she usually is. We chose to keep it real.

Also, the bugs are eating our lawn. Or something. Jeff was hoping he would just be able to replace the one spot that was nearly a goner and revive the rest, but as soon as he made that decision, the rest of the lawn decided to die. This is majorly annoying because the grass here isn't even worth having. It's scratchy, needs a ton of water, and is always needing to be replaced. Who in the world wants to go to so much trouble for grass that you can't even play on? Here's our pathetic lawn which will, grudgingly, be replaced when the weather cools down.

So ends the segment on critters and such and begins the segment on kiddies. I love having the morning to spend with my girls. Most afternoons I have at least an hour when they are both sleeping (although today Kyla is accompanying at the computer), and it has been wonderful! I am able to get some important things done (like blogging and emailing and watching clips of ladies being asked to cover up on Southwest Airlines) and even have time for other things (like cleaning the bathrooms and taking a shower). It's fun to see Allie in the "older child" role, and she is really a lot of fun to play with (I can say that now that she is sleeping and not locking herself out of the house with a nearly empty jar of peanut butter, like she was this morning). Here is a picture of the two girls. It was a monumental occasion because Allie actually had clothes on AND her hair combed, a rarity.



And you may remember that we have another child. I may not have mentioned him much lately, but he is still a part of the family. Damon, in fact, is doing great at school. We have managed to get him riding the bus to and from school (YAY!) and he no longer sheds (many) tears about having to go. He was chosen as the boy Student of the Month, and is proudly displaying his certificate here.



From what I can gather, here is how you become Student of the Month in kindergarten:

• Attach yourself instantly to the teacher, following her everywhere possible.
• Endear yourself to her by crying about something every day.
• Do everything she asks; sit criss-cross applesauce, raise your hand before speaking, and keep your hands to yourself. Come up with other rules that you think kindergartners should follow.
• Always do your best, but cry a little more when you can't do something perfectly.

Do these things and you, too, could be student of the month.