Tadpoles, Baseball & Flaming Arrows

The last of the creatures arrived last week - the leopard tadpoles that Paxton has been waiting for with bated breath. They too lived on our kitchen counter for a few days until a space was cleared and a permanent spot was made for them in the boys' bedroom.

Floating in their bottles so they get could acclimated to the water's temperature:


All set up and ready to go:


Tonight Mike helped the boys get their cocoons situated in their new habitat, where they will hatch into butterflies. It involved using a safety pin to attach the paper disc to the mesh on the side of the structure. Strangely enough - especially given my fondness for office supplies - but we couldn't find a single safety pin the house. Thankfully, there is a revolving door when it comes to borrowing from the next door neighbors (which goes both ways), and they came through in the clutch.





Here they are all settled in on Everett's dresser.


I wish there was sound with this picture, because after they were disturbed during the whole pinning process, a few of them started to shake violently, a natural instinct to protect against predators. It was one of the eeriest things I've seen, and heard, in awhile, and it made a rat-tat-tat sound like a spinning roulette wheel on the wall of the habitat. I don't know how long it continued because I left the room before it stopped (and might not return again until morning!)

In non-creature news, this Saturday was Paxton's baseball tryouts for the spring season. He did very well, especially at fielding, and he barely resembled the unsure child who just started playing this past fall! We'll find out who his coach is and what team he'll be playing on next week, and practices start in earnest the second week of February. Spencer is finishing up his final weeks of being a Cub Scout, and just received his Citizenship and Traveler pins. On February 28th he'll be getting his Arrow of Light at a fancy dinner banquet and ceremony, where he and the other boys in his den will get to shoot an actual flaming arrow. Cool!