Everything's Coming Up

The Iris, . . . it salutes



and it bows.



Tulips among pansies

with more coming soon.

only one yellow



Daffodils, lacey and fine



Josiah is Seven!

This picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Oriental Fire Bellied Toads

We have added a bit of nature to our schoolroom. In addition to our 5 gallon aquarium which houses 5 neon tetras, two African Dwarf frogs, and one catfish, we now have a 10 gallon tank with a little water, a log, and two Oriental Fire Bellied Toads. The toads eat live crickets and the kids enjoy watching this.

There has been quite a bit of observation going on and for Hannah's art lesson she drew her toad.

"Lucky"

Even though they are called toads, because of their bumpy skin, they are semi-aquatic and more like frogs. They like to stay partially in the water most of the time.


Josiah's frog taking a dip



"Brown frog" and "Lucky" hanging out on the log

Josiah hasn't named his yet.

We are still learning about them, but we think both are probably males, because they have both been observed "singing". They make a cute little sound that is soft like the cooing of a dove and a faint chirping sound. They are young, so the brown ones color may turn to green also, according to the Pet Store associate. But for now, it is an easy way to tell them apart.

A Mouse, A Mole, A Shrew!

Just before supper, Josiah came running into the house (after returning a snail to it's home) yelling excitedly, "You would not believe what I just saw!"
We waited calmly while he explained that he saw a "mouse" run under the green thing in the back yard.
"What green thing?", we ask.
He waves his arms emphatically, "You just have to come see!"
We race outside, curious to know what all this could be about.
The following video is what we saw, once the lid of the "green thing" aka "doggy doolie" (which by the way we have not used in a long time, except to dump the contents of the RAINBOW) was lifted. Some say it is a mole, some say a shrew. What do you think?