"It was just a little snake..."

This was the first thing he said to me when he and Alan got home from the days work. I knew where they'd been (La Calandria), I knew what they'd been doing (helping with a horse adventure with a mission's group out there), and I know my son. I was not surprised; and, NO, this is not my definition of small. (Keep in mind this is without the head and the tail - dang, those rattles broke off while he was skinning it.)


YYYYYUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCKKKK. My thoughts NOT his. His were something along the lines of, "BIEN Chido!!!" (spanish for SO cool) The look on his face is PURE JOY.


He's a magnet for creatures. His mother doesn't enjoy creatures BUT I can appreciate his focus on them. He's good at making me see the amazing-ness of the design - whether or not I can appreciate the REASON they were created in the first place. :) Which leads me to the little homeschooling project he's going to start - Creature Corner in the Hayes Zoo. It will be a link with pictures and HIS commentary on the wildlife we run into here.

He killed, cut off the head (WITH dad's boot help) and his own knife, skinned, and gutted said small snake. Homeschooling - I KNOW I get to count this as science and anatomy. Look at how well he did cleaning out that snake! (his room.....another matter....) I might even give him home ec credit as he's now in the back 'yard' building a fire so he can cook it and eat it. I'm NOT that good of a mom. Once is enough for me. So stay tuned for Riley's new project. You'll be entertained, that's for sure. :)