The Short Sad Life of Sparklenose Stott

 First we're going to start out with a story, then we'll share some pictures, m'kay?

Despite my anti-social tendencies of late, I have made a lovely new friend in our new ward at church.  We decided to do a "Kid Swap" once a week.  The first two weeks have been going great, even though Ezzie has a horrified fascination with Hannah The Bulldog.  (He wants to be right next to her, but at the same time is completely terrified of her).  We're working on our dog issues.  But that's not the point.  The point is, that Gretchen went with them to the park.  While she was there, they found about 3 billion frogs!  But she only brought the best one home.  She named her Sparklenose.  "She's a STOTT!"

Before we go any further, I would like to just put it out there.  I am an idiot.  Everyone got that?  Ok.

The mom had tried to call & warn me that Sparklenose Stott was coming home, but living in a dead zone sometimes makes cell phones extra exciting and random.  So I didn't get the message.  But it's ok, I was delighted to meet Sparklenose.  This is what Gretchen told me about her:
-Sparklenose is a Girl Teenager
-She found her in the grass
-Sparklenose really loves her
-When you pull out her leg, it's cool.  (Please don't do that anymore honey!!!!)

We looked online & found out about frogs.  They do not make good pets.  They need to live in the wild.  Please don't hold them to much, or they will die.  If they stay at your house, they will die.  No, seriously, they will die.  So we decided we'd get some crickets of meal worms from the pet store, keep her for a few days & then release her back to her family.

I scrubbed out a jar and put some water conditioner and some big rocks for Sparklenose to sit on.  She revived a bit once she was in the water.  We packed her and Hannah into the car to pick up Ella from school and then run to the pet store.  Gretchen wanted to carry Sparklenose to show Ella.  I held Hannah's leash.  Hannah was wearing her new hat.  Gretchen was carrying her new pet frog.  We were oh-so-cute.

Until Gretchen dropped the jar.

And it completely broke.

On the sidewalk.

In front of Ella's school.

As school got out and dozens of kids were walking by.

The frog was laying on her teenage girl back amidst broken glass, large rocks, and a puddle of water looking as dead as you'd expect her to be.  Gretchen found her, picked her up and said, "Mom!  She's moving!"  It was a miracle.

So of course Gretchen immediately dropped her.  On the concrete sidewalk.

Luckily my friend Christina walked up and said, "Um....can I...help you with something here?"  (Motions to the hot mess she sees in front of her...)

She held Hannah's leash while I gathered up the glass pieces.  (Who gives a glass jar full of water and rocks to a four year old to carry?  Yeah, that was me...)  Luckily it didn't SHATTER, just sort of broke into 7 large pieces.  I piled them up and ran them to the dumpster, tucked them into a cardboard box so no one would go blind from flying glass when the dumpster got emptied, and grabbed Ella on my way back to The Scene.  

As you might expect, Sparklenose didn't make it.  There will be an official memorial, details to follow.

The moral of the story is:  LEAVE THE FROGS AT THE PARK.  And don't give four year olds glass jars filled with water and rocks. 

The End.

 Does anyone one want some itty bitty baby plumbs?  They're oh-so-cute.  And we've got oh-so-many...

 The girls grew so much this summer, we had to get new school shoes AGAIN!  I swear, we do this every 3 months!  Gretchen picked out the most horrible white velcro tennis shoes.  They were the only ones in her size that light up.  My friend Jaime saw her wearing them & asked if she was going to the Early Bird Special at Red Lobster with the Senior Bus.  They look almost cute in the photo below.  The photo LIES.  When she picked them out, I said, "Colby, can we really let her get these?  They're so U-G-L-Y!!!!"

Gretchen heard me & asked so sweetly, "Mom, did you just spell 'PRETTY'?"

That made me laugh so hard, I had to buy them.

Awkward Segue:  Another reason Reno is amazing is the Reno Hot Air Balloon Races!!!!  Ella's class had a field trip to the Balloons on Friday.  We woke up at the crack of dawn to watch all the balloons fill up and take off from the field.  It was MAGICAL!  Seriously, so so so cool!

All the kids in her class (who weren't too scared) went up in a balloon.  Ella held on super tight to Gretchen so she wouldn't fall out.  Awwww, good big sister!

 The class tables all made their own tissue paper balloons!  Volunteers helped them fill them up with hot air so that they could fly.

Anticipation....

Success!!!!

THERE IT GOES!!!!  It was amazing, it went so high!  Good job, little engineers!

Speaking of Engineers, Ella tried out for the Jr. Lego Robotics League at school and MADE IT!!!!  This is amazing for many reasons, one of them being that:
-She doesn't actually, you know, PLAY with legos...
-She decided the night before she wanted to try out for the club
-There were about 40 kids who tried out, and only 20 made it.

We're proud of her nonetheless & now know what to get her for Christmas.

And, finally, Gretchen had her first day of Dance Class this week.  It's nice that we had the summer off, because now we REALLY appreciate it again.  It's so freakin' cute!  We went out for muffins afterwards.  And, you know, to do some sidewalk dancing.

Now I'm going to finish my apple-pie Second Breakfast and get ready for church.  (Anyone want to help me set out the Super Saturday display?  Sigh....)

xo

And So It Begins....

Pizza Picnic after the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!!

 The fact that summer is over is so bittersweet.  I honestly don't think we could have crammed anything else into our summer (well, at least not without mommy going crazy and ending up in the closet crying hysterically).  We had a GOOD SUMMER.  I know I keep saying this, but we had just ONE MORE TRIP to Tahoe before it got too cold (though I may try & go next Saturday too.  We'll see....)

This little boy you see pictured above is Gretchen's New True Love.  She already talking marriage.  He's kind of a hot item in the 4-6 year old crowd and it sounds like she's got some competition.  It's ok though, her back-up suitor is ready, waiting in the wings.  (Back-Up-Suitor is desperately in love with her.  The other day he cried before church because he was afraid Gretchen wouldn't like his outfit.  That is a lot of power to give to my temperamental little child.  I'm hoping he won't get his heart broken.  Poor kid. )

We ended the afternoon at Red Robin.  Or, as it's also know, Red Robin Hood.  Endless fries and Fun were had by all.  Also, just in case you were planning going to a restaurant after going to the beach, make sure you really REALLY have clothes for everyone.  You can't go in your swim suit to a restaurant.  You know that "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service" thing?  Because our car is a depository for All Things Random, we just happened to be able to pull together THREE little girl outfits before we walked in.  A small miracle.  But since I just cleaned out the car, that won't be happening again any time soon (I just drove for the first field trip of 3rd grade & cleaned it out before that so people wouldn't see the level of filth we live in.  It looked like a circus had been back there.  Gretchen had spilled a cup of peanut shells over the layers of junk.  Shoes.  Books. Dried up food.  Literally.  A circus.  A nasty, dirty circus.  NO MORE EATING IN MY CAR.  Also, KIDS ARE DISGUSTING!)