A Bug's Life

 A few months ago when we discovered we were having a boy, I panicked a little.  

I don't really do boys.  

They play in the mud.  They eat buggers.  They catch bugs.  They carry frogs around in their pockets.  They never get tired.  

Well, a little while ago, I came to a stark realization.  

I pretty much already have two boys! 

These girls are unlike any girls I know.  

Exhibit A: Frogs.  

If  you know anything about this family, you know that my kids can and will and do catch frogs almost everyday.

Exhibit B: Dirt. 

My kids are dirty.  All the time.  I've threatened and pleaded and bribed and begged and it's all been to no avail. 

They just really enjoy dirt. 

Exhibit C: Bugs. 

This one is a kind of recent development.  And it has turned into quite an obsession. 

This girl will catch ANY and EVERY thing!  So far, her resume includes (but is not limited to): 

-Fireflies

-Butterflies

-Moths

-Ladybugs

-Crickets

-Grasshoppers

-Baby spiders

-Beetles

-Some funky yellow bug that I've only seen in Iowa

-And one more (that we will get to in a second...)

 Aubrey has a special place in her heart for butterflies.  She has been trying desperately hard all summer to catch one, and finally succeeded a few weeks ago.  

She talked about nothing else for days.

 (Side note: She totally reminds me of the dogs in the movie "Up" that every now and then become distracted in the middle of a sentence and blurt out, "SQUIRREL!"  She totally does this with butterflies.  She'll be in the middle of a deep thought or busy with some project and all of a sudden, she'll blurt out, "BUTTERFLY!!" and off she goes.)

Well, this week, the obsession reached new heights (and lengths).  

She informed us that there was a preying mantis on our screen and indeed - there was.  

I planned on leaving it there as long as necessary and using alternate means of exit from the house to avoid it.  She, however, thought that is was completely appropriate to walk out the door and pick it up like it was a stick.  

Somehow, it made it's way into the house (I've OUTLAWED - with severe penalties - that any bugs are brought into the house.  It happened one too many times...).  It spent most of the evening on her arm (only getting lost in her hair once), and she could not have been more thrilled.  

Luke, however, screamed like a little girl when it suddenly jumped from Aubrey's hand onto his pants.  

Lucky for you, it was on video. 

And lucky for you, I will be posting it soon. 

 She is thoroughly convinced that it thinks she is it's mother.

(If you look closely at this picture, it totally looks like it is trying to slap her.)

For all my Iowa friends, if you would like to employ Aubrey's services as your household bug catcher, I would be happy to loan her out.  

But I'll just warn you - you won't want to give her back.