Jude's "Pet"....

Man, I have been meaning to tell you this story for a while now....where does the time go? Remember when I told you we went to JenF's house for Labor Day? While we were there Jude found a toad. Now you know your kids are serious city kids when they get excited about finding a toad. Jude was thrilled. I don't think he ever found one before. So, he begged and pleaded to take it home and keep it as a pet. I refused. It is ridiculous to think of a toad as a pet. Well, my friend JenF decided to give Jude this plastic container (tonneau cover) that he could bring the toad home in. Jake & I told him that when we got home he had to let it go. He was so excited. He named the toad "da queen" (aka Lightning McQueen). When we got home it was dark so we told Jude he could let the toad go first thing in the morning but it had to stay outside. He was okay with that. The next morning - first thing, bright and early he wanted to let the toad go. So, Jake went out with him and set da queen free.

Later that day, Jude had went outside to play. I had been feeding Avery and noticed that Jude came back in and was being very quiet. I peeked in his room and saw him sitting on his bed just staring down at the carpet. I was very concerned....thinking he must have had a fight with one of his neighborhood friends or something. I asked him what was wrong and he said he couldn't find his "friend" and he missed him. He was talking about the toad! I explained to him that the toad is a wild animal and when we set him free he probably hopped away. He was very sad. Several times in the past few weeks he has even mentioned his toad.

This past weekend Jake was cleaning up the yard - getting it ready for winter- and guess what he found???? The toad. He has been living under our porch in our wood pile. Isn't that funny. Now he and Elise go out and visit him everyday. Yesterday I found them eating their snack under the porch just watching the toad sit there. My kids are odd. Oh, and I guess the toad's new name is Toady.

Her are some pics of Jude & Toady.

This is when Jude thought he wasn't allowed to bring the toad home!