"Many plans are in a man's mind, but it is the Lord's purpose for him that will stand."

Proverbs 19:21

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

lermy and the year's first field trip


Yesterday, while playing at my parents' house, Jordan caught a baby lizard. He named him Lermy. Not Wormy, but Lermy. Lermy.

Jordan caught Lermy while playing outside with his cousins and his brother. He fell instantly in love with this little lizard. He ran inside and convinced my mother to part with one of her plastic bowls, then put Lermy safely inside with some grass and a few leaves.

On the way back home shortly after, Jordan dropped Lermy in the car. I do not like things such as lizards and bugs (or most anything else little boys like to catch while playing outdoors), but I gritted my teeth and scooped Lermy up from the backseat before he could scamper away and be lost inside my car forever. Just thinking about it makes me shiver. I must love that kid an awful lot.

Later that night, just before bed, the Hubs suggested to Jordan that he might want to let Lermy go. We were all quite surprised when Jordan burst into big alligator tears and wailed, "No! Not Lermy! He's my best friend. How could you say that, Dad? He's my best friend!"

So we let it go. Lermy spent the night in his bowl on the entertainment center. He was still alive this morning, but I had no idea how to make him drink water. Or where we would find a container small enough for his water. Lermy was tiny! Shaun had a field trip today at Smithgall Woods. The kids and I had a nice day together. Over lunch, I asked Jordan how he thought Lermy was doing. Since Jordan was still sleeping as we left the house this morning, he had no idea. He made the comment that he hoped Lermy was still alive. That's when I began my spill about how we really didn't need to keep Lermy because we didn't know what he needed to eat or how to make him drink water. I said that he would really be much happier safer out in the wild.

When we returned home, Jordan picked up Lermy's container and gave it (the container) a kiss goodbye. He then went out to the front porch and let Lermy go. It was a quiet, peaceful affair. We now have an agreement that whenever we catch an animal, we'll release it back the next day.

I thought this was a cute story. I always want to remember how sweet and loving Jordan was toward this little lizard. He was even willing to put Lermy's well-being above his own happiness. It still makes me smile.

Here's a picture of Jordan and Lermy, taken a few minutes after Jordan caught him.



Also, here's a picture from Shaun's Georgia Studies field trip today. This was our first field trip of the year and he had a really good time. He's still kind of finding his way around our new co-op and wasn't too excited about the outing today, but he wound up having fun and learning a lot about the early inhabitants of our state and how they lived. He was especially interested in how the Native Americans used flowers and black walnuts to make the colors of their dyes. Ha ha!

He's kind of hard to see... those are his black Chuckies behind the girl in the black hoodie... it was the best picture I could get. Jordan sat still for about 15 minutes of the class and then got wiggly.


Today was a good day.



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