Posted in Random Ramblings

I know it has been a really long time since I've actually blogged something about my life in general.  I have just been so busy, I really haven't had time to sit and put my thoughts together in coherent form.  LOL 

I won't guarantee this is in coherent form, but I thought I'd share some of the fun things we've been doing.  We've been blessed with several learning experiences this last month.  It started when Rachel was reading 'Frog & Toad'.  I thought it would be neat to study frogs and toads... I think I needen't explain why.  So we did.  I must admit.. I never knew the differences between frogs & toads.  We enjoyed our study.  The girls especially enjoyed dissecting a frog online. 

Well, one night Sarah Beth found a toad outside.  I thought it would be cool to keep it for a while and observe it.  The girls had a big laugh when the toad continued to pee on me when I picked it up.  They thought that was a BIG HOOT!  Ha, ha!   

In reality, I was performing a science experiment to disprove the old wives tale that you get warts when toads pee on you.   So far no strange growths or bumps have appeared on my skin.  I feel like the Myth Busters!

So, we fed Duncan, the toad, some lightning bugs.  They didn't last 2 seconds.  We got to see him eat the lightning bugs.  It was so cool.  I've never seen a toad eat before.  Their tongues are so fast.  We went to the pet store and bought him some crickets.  That was cool watching him eat those.  (Am I morbid, or what?!)

The kids watching the frog.

Jacob looking for the lightning bug.

So we enjoyed Duncan for about a week and then let him go in the back yard.  We still see him hopping out in the flower bed every now and then.

Then one Wednesday night I was talking to someone at church about dissecting owl pelets.  The next day the kids and I went on our daily walk look what we found in the back yard...

I took a picture of it next to a dime to give you an idea of how big it is.  We actually found 2 of them.  They were just laying right there on the ground in a dirt patch.  Sarah Beth and I disseted one of them.  We found lots of tiny feathers in it and a baby bird claw and leg.  We haven't disected the other one yet.  Can anyone identify this pellet?  What type of bird is it from?

We also enjoyed finding some little clams and neat rocks in the creek behind our house.

The day after we let Duncan go look what I found crossing the road.

Isn't she beautiful?  I absolutely LOVE turtles, and used to bring them home all the time when I was a kid.  But, this turtle was especially interesting.  Look at this picture of Jacob and the turtle.

In all my life, I have never seen a terrapin that big before.  She was really sweet and not afraid of us at all.  A vet told me that she was about 15-20 years old. 

Here is my gang before we took her down to the creek and let her go. 

There she goes, on her merry way...

When one takes the time to look closly at God's beautiful creation, they will find teaching moments everywhere.