I found a use for the empty Snowman Cookie Box

In all honesty, I should admit that I have several empty boxes. But not to worry, I also have several full ones.

Unofortunately, this first box- in all honesty, this was NOT the first box. More like the 3rd or fourth.anyway, we had another death in the family. This time our pet Bearded Dragon, Beardie. He was a good lizard. Not much trouble. Didn't eat much towards the end. Didn't move much either. Finally, he just went stiff. Shane and I discovered him first. I thought it better to let the kids get a good night's sleep. Then let them discover him in the morning. Shane thought it best to get it over with. All four kids slept in our room that night. OK. Maybe I was thinking about me, not the kids. But I seriously thought they would cope better on a full nights rest.

 We looked for something to package him up in that night, but could not find a suitable coffin for him. Then I thought of the boxes. We cut a little fleece blanket for him. Lit a candle. Read some edited prayers for the deceased and went to bed. In the morning they went out bury him in the woods. Next to the other 3 lizards we've lost. Real estate is getting scarce out there. The last one we lost to a hunger strike. We're not sure what her " cause" was as she also gave up talking. And apparently drinking because she looked really dehydrated. We even had Father Joe give her a special blessing when he was here for house blessings. So far she was the only lizard who was baptized before she died. We told the kids that was what she was waiting for, as we found her dead later that night.

So, our track record for keeping pets alive is not stellar. I'm wondering when the pet store will stop selling them to us. Although, really. These are things considered pests in some places. They might even try to exterminate them. And we spend lots of money to get special cages, have lights and terrain to mimic their particular habitat, dust their crickets with calcium, sometimes tear off the legs to make them easier to catch-the crickets-, hand warm the little worms so they will wiggle to get the stalkers attention. And then we are crushed when all our efforts fail and the poor things die. Shane said it was worth the risk. Kids need to go through it. I suppose so. But three times in as many months seems a little extreme.

I did feel better when the store told us baby geckos are prone to  dying. I wish we had known that before. Shane had told the kids the crested gecko was the last pet this year. Never dreaming we would lose two in two weeks. Needless to say, he is already telling the kids to research what we should fill the empty cage with. I'm thinking maybe a turtle.

In other news, Kateri pulled off a stunning outifit, combining her love for ballet, shooting things, and sparkly shoes in one look.  She was actually on her way to her performance rehearsal. Shane made me tame her hair a bit before he took her. It sort of worked.

And speaking of hair, Pippin decided to take the matter of his bangs into his own hands. I will buzz the rest soon. When I get some time.