Bugs and other perspectives...

Today at our co-op, one of the students brought this praying mantis for their presentation (each kid does one every week). It was AWESOME! Apparently this family has plenty of them all over their property so... we came home with it! It is really cool. It is more than 3 inches long and stands a full 2 inches tall when walking. It does not jump but apparently flies although we have not seen that. Currently he resides in a 2 gallon glass pitcher with various sticks and rocks that the kids collected. I went out and caught some june bugs (at least that is what I think they are) and at first, it did not show any interest at all. But suddenly it reached out and caught it and, well, did what they do to bugs. It wasnt pretty. But the boys thought it was cool. Erica wasnt in the room at the time and it was probably a good thing...

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Nate got ahold of the camera and took some shots - This is what the stove looks like from his perspective...

And I really love this one he took of Manda... Love the look on her face!And our dear friend Greta came to visit - she LOVES the kids and they love her. Nate took quite a few pictures of her but this one is the best.
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And in case anyone is wondering.... this (or something like it) is what I want for Christmas! I couldn't get my dumb camera to focus on that Praying Mantis for the life of me!! Contributions of all denominations are welcome... :)