7.28.2008

Max is Dead, Max is Alive

It was a sad day yesterday. Kaitlin came into my room and said, "I think Max is dead, he's not moving and he looks really pale". Max is the hermit crab that she has had for almost a year now and, may I say, has done an outstanding job taking care of him - feeding, watering, and cleaning his crabitat.

I am sure Max is not dead. After all, we have had scares with him before, like, "Mom! Max is missing!" and after trying to figure out how he could have Houdinied himself out of his crabitat, sure enough we had found him under his water dish where he had burrowed into the sand.

So, I followed teary-eyed Kaitlin to her room to see this "dead" crab for myself. Sure enough, I pick him up and he does look pale and he's not moving. So we called out to Bill (he IS the MAN of the house so he's in charge of the dead-pet department). Bill picked the little hermit crab up and when one of Max's little crab legs fell off, all hope was lost. Being the Chief Coroner in charge of the Dead-Pet department, Bill made the official announcement:

"He's Dead"

Kaitlin started sobbing. I started sobbing. We were sad.

It was decided that Max would need a memorial service with a proper burial, so we found an old watch tin to use. Kaitlin wanted him to have a blanket so we went through some fabric and sewed a small blanket together for him. Kaitlin attached a red heart button with her new-found button-sewing skills. The tin was filled with sand from his crabitat, topped by his blanket, and finally, the remains of Max. Not to be buried alone, Kaitlin wrote him a note, added a picture of herself, a flower petal, a small penguin from dad, a note from mom, a shiny rock from brother, and a bit of food in case he got hungry on his trip, and finally, we set up the viewing:


















After the viewing and Kaitlin and Bill had scouted out the proper burial spot in the flower bed, Kaitlin decided she needed a few pictures. So we arranged everything around Max's tin, and we started taking pictures.

We were so sad.

Then, Kaitlin says to me, "MOM! HE'S MOVING".

"Um, no honey, he's dead" (didn't I mention that We were sad???)

"MOM! I SAW HIS LEGS MOVE"

Poor Kaitlin, she must be in denial. I must have bumped into his tin and moved him.

However, on closer inspection, he WAS moving.

There were small bright orange legs coming out of Max's shell and the nasty, pale, cold, dead legs were falling out of the shell. Being the brilliant marine biologist that I am, I put 2 and 2 together and sure enough, Max was MOLTING!

The sadness left our little household and the crabitat was prepared for Max's joyous return.

Who could have known we would have a dead Max but then he would be alive again?









5.06.2008

Today's suggested reading


One of my favorite books growing up was a Weekly Reader book called "Andrew Henry's Meadow" written and illustrated by Doris Burns. It's about a kid who loves to "invent" things but his inventions make his family crazy, so one day he runs away and finds a meadow where he builds himself a house (fort) and where he can work on his inventions. He is soon joined by other children whose families also do not understand their hobbies and Andrew welcomes them to his meadow and helps build each of them their own house where they can enjoy their hobbies. And, yes, there is a happy ending to the story!
This makes a great gift for young readers. All kids go through the "not fitting in" stage and will relate to Andrew Henry. Amazon had this for awhile when the 40th anniversary edition was released. You can also purchase directly from the publisher: San Juan Publishing.


4.04.2008

My Niece! My Grand-Niece! ? My ?




This is my niece's daughter. What does that make me? What does that make her? Am I a grand aunt or????


No matter the logistics, she is boootiful!

2.08.2008

February 2008 Daddy Daughter Dance

Finally! A couple of shots I'm happy with. Now, if I could only get Ian to let me photograph him. Anyone know how to get a teenager to cooperate with pictures???

1.31.2008

Canine Character


She looks a little scary - she did a lobotomy on her hedgehog afterall - but Mabel is really just a character, not unlike every other greyhound out there!

1.02.2008

Foster Failure: Meet Our Latest Greyhound - Connor!

Figs Cansano Racing Data What a HANDSOME guy!

Dogs, chocolate, and vomiting

I walked into my office this afternoon and found Mabel and Connor, two very innocent looking greyhounds, with an empty bag of Hershey Kisses on the floor.

I grabbed a turkey baster and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, and called for Mabel and Connor to go outside. Bill held Mabel while I administered the hydrogen peroxide...she was the one who looked the most guilty and I was sure she was acting lethargic. Then Connor stepped right up for his turn (!). I was feeling guilty for leaving the chocolate where they could get it and for shoving hydrogen peroxide down their throats. Never had to do this before...when do they start vomiting? Why are they looking so miserable with their heads hanging low? Soon enough we've got greyhounds upchucking all over the yard, so I asked Bill to look and see which dog ate the Hershey's Kisses. Sure enough, it was Connor, our 3-year-old red fawn pup that we adopted a few weeks ago. He's a naughty boy and always getting into things.

However, it was soon clear that it wouldn't be just Mabel and Connor tossing their cookies. I turn around to find Bill bent over, right in there with the pups giving the ol' heave ho. Where is my camera when I need it? :)