Additions to the Family

If our kids get good grades, they get to pick out
a "treat" to celebrate their hard work. 2 or 3 days
before school was finished, Jenna announced
what she would like for her treat. "I would
like a new pet." Uh Oh...Hmmm...."what kind of pet?"
"A python". Ummmm. NO! "I don't think that
is a the best pet for us. What else?" A short
pause, "a lizard". Hmm..."I think lizards are
really hard to take care of. What else?" A shorter
pause this time..." A hamster, yeah, that's what
I want!" Oh great, what excuse can I come up
with for that answer??? They are stinky?

And so, after many discussions, John, Ian and Jenna
brought China home.

I have a sneaky feeling that
a hamster was what she wanted all along and
her first two answers were just to ensure she
got what she wanted. Of course, she really might
have wanted a python. You never know with
that girl! :)


After a dozen attempts, this was the best picture
we could get of China. She received her name because
she is a Chinese Hamster. She is very cute and very
active. Jenna is so proud of her and loves taking
care of her.


Ms. Debbie, next door, had some work done on
her house and the person working on her gutters
found about 10 of these eggs tucked in the leaves
caught in the gutter. She saved two of them to
show the kids. With the light behind it, you can
see the dark spot (the shadow) where the bird
is growing. (I know...a little gross)


John decided we should see if we could incubate
them. For the past two days, they have been
under the warming lamp we used for the turtles
during the winter. Jenna was concerned that if
the eggs hatched, they would be worried about
not having a Mother. So, she brought out some
of her duck stuffed animals to keep them
company.

Once again, I find myself hoping that our
science experiment is not successful. :) What
on earth would we do if these eggs hatched
into some kind of duck or something????