A Friend Has Gone

I had the privilege of knowing Joan Keith for about 11 years. She passed away this past Saturday morning, very unexpectedly. I wish that everyone could have known her. She was a special lady, friendly and loving and she had a great sense of humor. She touched my heart, as I am very sure she did to so many other people. I will miss her so much. I keep looking in my inbox at old emails she sent me. What a great person to have leave this earth. The world will not be the same place without her.

This is What Happens When Parents Aren't Watching

These are interesting pictures, for me at least. The boys were supposed to be outside playing nicely. It was not hot outside, this was last Fall (2008). I can't be sure, but I think my hose mysteriously turned on. Because, I know I didn't turn it on. One second my kids are playing on the swing set, and they are dry. I turn my back for a few seconds and this is what happens.

To my amazement, and mom's you know what I am talking about here, my boys were laughing and sounding like all was well in the universe. This was a sign that I needed to check on them. Sure enough, as I came out of my kitchen into the back yard, I hear water and splashing. We do not have a pool and there was no reason for the water to be on. I round the corner to where the noise was coming from and this is the sight that I see. My oldest son playing in 3" of water on the side of our house.

I hear this statement all the time, "Mom, we are bored". I guess this day that boredom won out and my grass needed to meet its maker. In just minutes this 8'x10' area became a huge mud puddle. Oh, what joy! I have to tell you that I was very close to jumping in myself, it just looked fun. After their time of frolicking in the mud, they got the coldest spray down possible. I asked them later as they were crying about how cold they were if the mud bath was worth it, "Oh yes mom!".

There are just some times in our lives as mom's that we just need to step back and let them have fun. I have great pictures to put in their scrap books and they have this play time to remember, and they still bring it up.

The Venus Fly Trap

Saturday, grocery day, I was at Kroger's and just happened to look at the flowers behind me in the floral department. I was curious to see if some Fall flowers were available. As I was looking at the different flowers, I noticed a set up on the counter with Venus Fly Traps. The package is what caught my eye. A very cute cylindrical tube with comical flies and mosquitoes buzzing around.

The kid in me pulled me urgently and relentlessly to the counter. I grabbed what seemed to be the healthiest plant to me. I quickly looked for the care instructions, read them vaguely and headed for the check out. In my mind if I had to reinvent the wheel, I'd still buy it for the enjoyment of my kids. I had a brainstorm of some great ideas for the early demise of insects around our home.

When I walked in the door, it wasn't the groceries that I brought in. It was the Venus Fly Trap, the ice cream could wait. I yelled out for my kids to come into the kitchen to see what I had. "What is it mom?" I explained to the little buggers what the plant was and how they work. Well, they couldn't wait to drop a poor, unsuspecting insect into the open mouths of the Venus fly trap.

We went in the back yard, plant in hand, searching for the "one". Now, let me just state here that I was somewhat frustrated. This was a hot, August day, the middle of the summer. We've had rain several days in the last two weeks. The mosquitoes have been showing up in droves. But, we could not find one bug. Luckily, as I was walking into the house, I noticed a lone spider. A spider was of course, not my first choice. I didn't want it to get away inside our house. I happen to have a husband that completely disapproves of spiders as pets. This guy had to perish though. What better way to go, while being watched by humans.

I dropped the spider into the "Open" cylinder. It straightway made for the opening, which was at our faces. I quickly grabbed a toothpick. Let me just take a moment here to let you know that if you are trying to keep a very nimble spider somewhere it doesn't want to be, the choice of tool is not a toothpick. Today we have a pencil nearby. So began the drop, roll, poke and prod of the job to keep that spider inside the plants home. The spider is a wonderfully agile creature. It can spin a web out in seconds. So was the case with this spider. About 20 minutes later, we finally coaxed the little guy to his death, and not too soon for me.

The spider has to touch the inside fingers of the Venus fly trap twice. Either it touches one twice or two different fingers one time each. The fly trap closes within a second, it is a very quick process. My kids and myself broke out in high fives, whooping and hollering at the success of our fly traps catch. Each night since the purchase of our new "toy", we have been introducing new insects to the den of death. So far we have come up with two spiders, one ant and a small bug we call a pincher bug. Watching the fly trap catch its prey is truly a fun and patience building time to spend with your kids. I hope that our fly trap will last a very long time.