"Here lizard, lizard..!"

..at least that was the message Deren left on the answering machine last hour, taunting me. After he left for work, I put Daniel in the highchair with his crunchies, and went to do dishes. Moved a pan out of the sink to run some water, and there was a FREAKING LIZARD in the kitchen sink!! We have geckos here at the house. On a warm night you can open the blinds and see them hanging on the window screens. And they like the garage. Deren figures one got in during all the trips Joshua took in and out of the garage yesterday. The neigbor has a tree just outside our garage, a type of red bud. It leaves nice, big, crunchy leaves on the ground in the fall. Joshua is quite partial to those leaves, and tries to sneak outside at every opportunity to grab leaves then crumble them over the hood of Deren's new car (very particular about that, too). I took some of the leaves and threw them in our backyard - no dice - need a new car to crumble them over.

Anyway, back to the lizard.. I screamed bloody murder. After realizing I wasn't screaming at her, Abby laughed at me and my efforts to contain said lizard. Yes, she laughed at her momma! If Rachael were home she would commiserate with me. She's my girly girl. One time there was a lizard on the ceiling of her room. She wouldn't walk into her room for quite a while after that. We had to first go into her room and make sure the coast was clear.

So I decided to try to wash the lizard down the drain - not the best idea, I know, but I have no intention of EVER touching a lizard, if I can help it. And in the process of running hot water I guess I boiled it, because it wouldn't budge. I ended up scraping it into a bowl and throwing it outside (amidst Abby's catcalls). I called Deren up and told him about the event (see title above for his reaction).

In other news, the girls got out scissors yesterday and we clipped items from toy catalogs for Christmas lists. Abby is pretty straightforward - no dolls for her - get her cars, trucks, tractors and trains. Rachael is already sounding like a teenager. "Mommy, I want a BIG horse, not a little one." She's narrowed her list to just 2 items - at a couple hundred dollars each!