Wild Kingdom

It was like something off the Discovery Channel on our porch yesterday. First, the girls spotted a tarantua. We caught it and kept it in a jar for the day and learned all about tarantula anatomy, behavior, and feeding habits. Did you know that there is a species of wasps that preys on tarantulas? They sting the poor critter to paralyze it, drag it back to their lair, and lay an egg on the still-living spider. The tarantula stays alive, but the developing larva feeds off it, finally sucking the life out of it just as the wasp reaches maturity. Apparently this is a popular activity in the wasp world, because there is a species that does the exact same thing with cockroaches. Speaking of cockroaches, something, no idea what, appears to be disassembling cockroaches under out bed every night. We constantly sweet up antennae, wings, and legs. I suspect ants, but whatever it is isn't bothering me, so I'm actually quite pleased about it.

Anyway, after photographing and studying our arachnid friend, the girls turned it loose out in the yard a little ways from our house, only to return to the porch to find one of the higantor cockroaches that occasionally show up around here. Unlike the tarantula, this one had to die, but not before a picture with Guildy's hand for size comparison. We moved the toy box to kill the roach, and who should we find but a crab. They are pretty harmless as well, so it got swept off the porch along with the remains of the roach. Hopefully the former made a good meal out of the latter. I swear I do things other than wrangle kids and manage the wildlife population in and around my house....but these make for the best blogging!

Talby: Almost 10 Months

Talby is almost 10 months old! She's still quite petite, and in true Browning fashion, she eats like a show steer with not much to show for it. She isn't quite walking, but she crawls, climbs, walks around the furniture, and stands alone for long periods of time. She is a diaper Houdini, able to escape her bottom covering even with a t-shirt buttoned over it. And she's a rummaging force to be reckoned with. Nothing below the 3' mark is safe in the house:o)

The Fort

The girls had a great time last week building a fort out of palm leaves against a trailer that was parked in the yard. Below are Reina, Guildy, Hadley, and Keily.

The Caterpillar

For her Language class, Guildy memorized the poem "The Caterpillar" and we made a fun picture to go with it

The Caterpillar

By Christina G. Rosetti

Brown and furry

Caterpillar in a hurry.

Take your walk

To a shady leaf or stalk.

May no toad spy you.

May the little birds pass by you.

Spin and die

to live again a butterfly.

September is a big month in Honduras. First comes Dia Del Ninos (Kid's Day), followed by the 15th of September (Independence Day), and Cultural Day on the 28th, which is the day the paperwork for Honduras' independence arrived from Mexico. Dia del Ninos is sort of like a birthday party for every Honduran kid all on the same day, but without gifts. They have pinatas and a special meal and cake. Below are the medium age group of kids from the Children's Centre before they demolished their pinata. Luis, Manuel, Guildy, Karla, Yesenia, Jasmin, Keily, and Nora, who works at the Children's Centre and made the pinatas. Guildy got to take her turn....The 3 and 4 year olds got their own pinata. Enjoying the loot after they finally managed to get their pinata open.

Home Again

Since arriving back in Honduras last week, we've finally gotten our house cleaned up to a respectable level and are pretty much back into our normal routine of life. Our return home involved significant hand-to-hand combat with our robust cockroach population, as well as a ton of cleaning. And while human beings are always the minority in any tropical home, we seem to have successfully re-established our presence among the critter population. Oh, and while we were getting our house cleaned up, we stayed with the Yost's in Balfate, and our shoes got stolen off their porch, along with their car battery and the radios out of the car. Dang. My only consolation is that there are virtually no Honduran women with size 11 feet, so they shouldn't fetch much of a price.

This year I will be teaching math and science classes all day Mondays and pretty much be home the rest of the week. The girls are with their beloved babysitter Dianny on Mondays, which they love. Plus it gives them some time with an adult Spanish speaker to add to and refine the vocabulary they pick up playing with the kids from the Children's Centre.

Guildy is doing 1st grade this year, and Hadley is doing a few preschool things. Hadley currently has about a 90-second attention span for drawing and coloring activities, so I am always looking for hands-on project ideas to keep her happy and entertained during the blocks of Guildy's school that need all of my attention. Today's activity was a bowl of soapy water with a little food coloring and a wire whisk to make bubbles. Seemed safe enough. While Guildy and I did math, I could hear what I thought were reasonable sloshing and splashing sounds on the front porch, but when I went out to check on her, she said, "Look, I turned the porch into a skate place! And I dyed my dress!" That's my very kinesthetic Hadley:o)No hand-me-down clothes coming from this one!

The Wilsey Walk

Our last activity before we left CA was The Wilsey Walk, a fund raising walk for Hospital Loma de Luz led by Linda's (Josh's Mom) very hairy sheep dog named Wisley. It was lots of fun. Josh's cousing Brett and her boyfriend, Nic, were in town that week, as was Auntie Cooper. Josh and Coops
Nic, Hadley, Guildy, Brette, and Wilsey, who was actually much furrier earlier in the summer before her annual shave.
Cute cousins! Owen and Oatus, Guildy and Hadley