All Creatures Great and Small

First off are a couple of layouts I have done this week. Loving this Scenic Route stuff and have used it for both layouts.




Now at the end of my last post I said I would come back to talk about our temporary addition to the family....well....let's say things got a little dramatic from then on. Jarred's class is doing a rat breeding program looking at life cycles, conception, birth etc and have bred rats as part of the unit. Now Jarred and his frind are partners and 'own' a rat between them called Eminem (the boys are 12...they love the name LOL). Now Eminem came for a one night stay last Wednesday and we put him in the recommended box with a shadecloth cover, food, water etc. All good right? Until 5am when Jarred woke up to check on our little friend and he had vanished!! Gone, kaput, finito, disappeared!! I was beside myself with worry for the rat, worry for Jarred's teacher's reaction and worried that I would have it living in my house for the next year (they only live for a year)...ewwwwwww.
We hunted until school time but he was well and truly gone. We went to school, braved the teacher and told him. He sent me home with some humane rat traps and instructions to lightly saute some bacon for our furry friend in the bid to trap him. Long story short was that he just never turned up. After turning the house upside down for days, we never saw a glimpse of him again....until today! Jarred went into his room to get something from his lockbox. He has a lockable toolbox for his special gadgets to keep them from his little brothers. He opened the lid of the box and Eminem sprung out and took off across the room! He settled under Jarred's bookshelf and huddled in the corner. Being the awesome mother I am I shut Jarred in his room and told him to stay there until he caught the rat....stuffing towels under the door while I fetched the biggest plastic box I could find to trap him in! With some intervention from Dad who wandered in during the middle of it all, I took off to drop the little ones to Grandmas...arriving home to find Eminem safely impounded in his plastic palace!! The little rodent had been trapped in the metal lock box for 3 nights with no food (except for Jarred's plastic case for his camping utensils!). Talk about survival skills.
Unfortunately we can not return him until Tuesday as it is a pupil free day here on Monday so I am keeping a very close eye on him!! Here is the little trouble maker....
Another little wildlife experience this week was the arrival of a mass of ladybugs in our garden. Here are the kids enjoying these cute little yellow bugs....also a great excuse to use my new lens...