Fav Photo: June 2009

Ripsey

Our new kitty cat...

adopted from a shelter at 2 1/2 months old.

Fav Photo - April 2009

Our Whitty Cat

(Whitney)

Whitney's been missing now for a full week. Our hearts are broken. We've contacted Animal Control, visited animal shelters, filled out missing pet reports, posted Internet ads, made posters and flyer's, talked to all our neighbors, driven around for hours, taken walks...

and most importantly prayed.

He hasn't come home yet...but I haven't quit praying either.

A Mouse in My House!!

Once again, we're taking a scheduled break from school. This one is supposed to last 2 full weeks but that sounds too long to me. This time next month I'll be singing a different tune I'm sure!

So, we've watched several movies and played the Wii a lot. We've had some quiet time but mostly the boys are playing a lot together.

In other exciting (horrifying) news, I found this little guy (see pic below not above) in my kitchen a couple of days ago! I couldn't believe it. I have two cats who are avid and very skilled hunters. Almost every day I see dead squirrels, chipmunks, mice, birds or rabbits in my yard, and yet there is a live mouse in my house!!! I couldn't kill it myself so the boys and I trapped it and put it outside. (Note the high tech trap.)

Hubby says it probably just ran right back into the house and he's probably right. So we went and got some traps. I have to admit my frustration...I mean this really is part of the reason we got the cats in the first place. Don't get me wrong, I love them. I just want them to earn their keep.

Hope you're having a wonderful Tuesday and that no rodents are disturbing your peaceful home.

:)

Learning a Bit About Frogs (and how to keep one as a pet)

This little unit is for J, who adores frogs and has one captive in a 5 gallon aquarium on our kitchen table. There are so many resources at the library on this topic, this is just a start. If J is still interested and would like to learn more we will continue on and check out more materials. (By the way, I haven't previewed any of these books or movies. They're just the ones that looked intersting, informational and appropriate for a 1st grader.)

Informational videos and dvds

Magic me [videorecording] by National Geographic Television

Getting started with frogs [juvenile videotape] by GCG Productions

Magic school bus hops home [videorecording] by Cole, Joanna

Books

A tadpole grows up by Zollman, Pam

Pet frog by Nelson, Robin

They walk the earth : the extraordinary travels of animals on land by Simon, Seymour

Printables

Frog coloring page

Life Cycle of a frog coloring page

Jumping Frog origami

Our Wonderful Hunters

Warning: This post contains photos of my cat "playing" with a snake.

Two indoor/outdoor cats share our living space, and we love them very much. Whitney was a stray with a wonderful story of how he came to us...maybe I'll post on that later but I'll tell you the story involves a full year of J praying and then a scenario that only God could have orchestrated. Here is a pic of Whitney. Isn't he precious!

And here are pictures I took yesterday of Cheyenne killing a snake. (She came to us from my dad's farm.) I know that the snake she's "playing with" is a garter snake and not harmful to humans but I can't help thanking her for ridding us of yet another one. (We have about 10 in our back yard!)

Having an indoor/outdoor pet is usually frowned upon in the suburbs but I appreciate that these two earn their keep. I would guess that they kill dozens of mice every year, along with other rodents who want to eat my vegetables. To be honest it makes me love them even more!

a sad day for W

As W began his school work this morning his curiosity about Star (his pet spider) prompted him to look for her in her aquarium turned spider home. Search as he may he was unable to locate her until he turned the aquarium around and found her hiding and unfortunately, dead. We're not sure what happened to her but there was definitely an injury, she had yellow stuff oozing from her spinnerets.

W is VERY sad. I guess I knew she would die and so was very prepared for it but he had high hopes. He had been wanting a spider (or a lizard, or a frog, or a snake) as a pet for some time.

Death is a part of living in a fallen world. Eventually we'll have a discussion with him about that but for now I'm just letting him work it out. He wrote in his journal about it and I held him for a while. Now he's just having some alone time in his room.

Anyway I guess that's all for now. Hopefully tomorrows post will be more cheerful.

Our Pet Argiope Spider

Just thought I'd show off my biggest boys new pet!

He's finally captured a spider and is thrilled. Each day he catches a fly or a cricket to feed her and he's decided to name her Star.

She is not venomous enough to worry about.

Her bite would affect a human much the same most other insect bites would...itching and such.

So don't worry Grandma.

I'll share more later.