today and yesterday

(just because i started to keep track yesterday, then got too dang busy somewhere around noon, and forgot the rest of the day -- and because i still have enough of my mind this evening to remember Today's Happenings.....)

watching Walking with Prehistoric Beasts

playing Elmo's Reading Adventure

cleaning

building with wooden 1" cubes

zoo tycoon extinct animals

watching Monsters, Inc. again. (One of Daddy's favorites)

jumpin

playin'

and chasin'.

again.

Sheriffing. complete with holster, shiny silver capgun, vest, Outlaw Hat (which doubles as the Indiana Jones hat), giant (5") Sheriff's star) - er, and as long as we're disclosing - Little Else - actually only underwear.

chasing and catching and baiting. (Little Miss does all the baiting.)

swingin' on the tree swing out front.

Black Widow!! "Hey. What the heck kinda spider is that?" Mama mumbles. "Huh. Well, it's black, and it certainly isna a friendly Jumping Spider....."
Danger!, I thought.
I had never seen one. Never.
jmmm. uhhh.... "Should we vaccuum it?"
"Does vaccuuming hurt bugs?" Little Son wants to know.
er... thinking of all the ants i've vaccuumed up....
"Well, how bout we put it in this bug catcher, right here, and save it 'til Daddy gets home?"
she calls her husband. "Hey. I have this spider..... it is black, and it's abdomen is huge.... and round, and shiny... it's not terribly fast..."
"It's not a Black Widow, is it?"
"I don't know. I've never seen one. It's________ (all the stuff I've mentioned)?"
"Could be."
"I don't see a red hour glass."
"They don't always have them. There are different varieties. Or they have them on their undersides."
my toes started curling.
bug catcher has one side that's a screen, and eventually Miss Spider starts crawling up it - flashing her hour-glassed shape red light on her tummy.
"oof." shiver.
"Uh - here's the thing, guys.... it's a Black Widow. They kill people! I just really need to protect my family."
"We understand, Mom." says Little Son, but I'm not All That Certain that he did....
He proceeded to ask me questions about perishment, vanishing, and Ceasing To Exist for the next hour.
sigh.

on a happier note, Frogs!!
We (being the Pirates that we are) still have our frogs. We -meaning Eric and the Babes- tried to return them to their happy wild habitat on Saturday, but that was several hundred dollars and a new water pump ago.
So they're in there (the 10 gallon tank) with their native plants, river snails, aquatic worms, a log, rocks, and mud - and every couple of days we add fridge-cold spring water, worms from our pond, and ants.
Today they came alive when we added ants!
Usually they're shy when all three of us have our noses fogging up the sides of their glass, or dripping our hair low into their cage, but today they were so enthusiastic!
I won't bore you with the way they discriminately eat, and how, but it's fascinating! Studying this pond ecosystem is so cool.

rope swing.

even more catching and chasing.

books.

Lego Star Wars.

cleaning.

redecorating Trev's room. woohoo!

cleaning the den. (which we all helped with, as we are expecting friends tomorrow.)

computer play

pbs kids

new vocabulary words (it seems every day Trev comes up with new words, and wants to either tell me what they mean, or asks -- in order to get it exactly right.

oof- that's all i can think of at the moment.

oh - besides another discussion last night about Barack Obama - via David Letterman - and about how Trev thinks the whole world wants him to be our president, and how he likes him because he believes in Peace and Gentleness. we're Pacifist Pirates, you know.

i'll not be spoiling for an arguement here, though i will say we'll be painting and stickering our Pinwheels for Peace to be displayed brightly and rightly in a few days.

peace and love to you, then.