The Ozmerican Life

Tuesday...it all started out so well. I actually remembered to turn my alarm on this morning so I got in my morning workout, did some cleaning and laundry before my nest full of little ones awoke.

We had breakfast, started school and finished school for the day in a timely manner. Then Keira shot into my office like a bullet.

"Care Me! Care Me! Care me!"

"Did Quaid scare you again? Oh, you're alright..." Off she went.

Quaid is into being a monster lately and thrives off the reaction that he gets from Keira. Lucky little sister, isn't she!

Did I mention that we got a new pet awhile back?

We did. It's a Leopard Gecko. Nathan got it from a friend of ours, who needed to get rid of it and surprised me with it one day. What a guy! What a friend!

Don't you love when the kids get a hold of your camera...it's always a surprise what you'll find while downloading pictures. This was the very green scissors that was used by Keira to cut her own hair this morning (don't worry...it's not noticeable). At just 2 years old...how talented...she's destined for greatness, I know.
And turns out we have a red pencil too. Exhilarating isn't it?
Anyway, this Gecko, affectionately named Buddy, is one lucky guy. If you'll notice in the background...he's got an ocean view. How many desert animals can say that?
Oops....sorry...kids again.

So anyway at first we gave Buddy live crickets to eat. They somehow ended up in a box on my kitchen counter. Live crickets right next to the dinner prep area....yummm.....how appetizing.

On a trip to the once faithful Petland brought about a different delicacy for our little guy. They were all out of "good" crickets. What exactly made one live cricket better than another, I'm not real sure but nonetheless, Nathan took advice from the self proclaimed animal expert and brought home these:
Eeeewwwww, Grrroooosssss, Yuuuuucccckkkkk! Worms...Meal Worms to be exact. What a fitting name for the little grubs. I do not like worms! I do not like them Sam I Am, I do not like them on a boat, I do not like them in my coat. I do not like them in the grass, I do not like them near my.....oops...that's not going to work. I do not like them out the door, I do not like them on the floor! Which just so happens brings us back to...

"Care Me! Care Me!" from my dear little Keira.

Which was shortly followed by, "Mom!! Buddy's worms are all over the floor!!!!"

Pardon me for no picture of this, I was in a smidge of a panic. But you could imagine. Squrimy, Squiggly worms all over the floor in a pile with that sawdust stuff they keep them in. Yep, that would scare me too!! So just before I was ready to scream, yell, and jump up on top of the kitchen table...I calmed myself. Come, on...pull yourself together. You are the most senior in this house...BE AN EXAMPLE!!! So I gathered myself and responded in the following way...

"Oh, Gross!!! Yuck!! I hate worms!!! Someone do something!!!"

I looked up and had 8 little eyes staring at me sort of strangely. At that very moment I actually considered if I could just leave them there until Nathan got home. Ummmm...no, that wouldn't work. But the fact that I even considered that should give you a bit of insight as to my mental state.

"Quaid! You pick them up!!!"

"Well I guess I've picked up other worms before..." he said fairly calmly.

He reached down grabbed one, and threw it in the container...and then another...and then ran away screaming...."They're slimy, YUCK! I'm NOT DOING IT!!!"

(He just may have picked up a teensy bit of grossed outness from one of the adults in the house....maybe.)

Great! Now what?!?!

"Mom, they're getting away!!"

Sure enough worms don't tend to just hang out and enjoy the scenery in one spot. They were starting to spread. So I thought about grabbing a set of tongs to clip them up....but flash forward to half mushed worms squirming around.

Plan B. Spoons. Two Spoons. I scooped them all up, had to fish one out from underneath the table even. But I got them safely back into their container.

So I thought....forward on 2 more hours.

"Mom!! There's a Buddy worm on the floor!!!"

Sure enough. An escapee. Quaid handled the spoons and took care of the little Squirmy McWormy.
At the current moment, I may or may not be prancing around the house on my tiptoes, avoiding the kitchen like the plague.

And I may or may not have hog tied Keira's hands!