Back to School

We're a couple of weeks into school now and I'm finally posting the official "back to school" pictures.


Ellie is having a great year so far. She is very excited to have a "man" teacher this year. In addition, the classroom comes equipped with its very own pet python. Can you believe I had to write a permission slip saying it was OK for her to watch the snake being fed?

But actually, now that I think about it, I do recall back in 6th grade I was in Mr. Allen's class and Mr. Allen kept scorpions and snakes and all kinds of desert fauna in his classroom. Several times I witnessed a scorpion eating a lizard in the terrarium.

There is a big difference in how snakes and scorpions eat their prey. Snakes eat head first. That means, you cannot see the little lizard's face as it is being eaten. Presumably, it suffocates pretty quickly that way.

Scorpions, on the other hand, eat their pray tail first. At least the scorpions in Mr. Allen's class did. Watching something being eaten, when it still is alive (but paralyzed) and can look at you... ok it is making me queasy thinking about it. And being slowly eaten by something as terrifying looking as a scorpion (at least to me)...
I really think I was traumatized.

This is the same teacher who used to tell us all terrifying ghost stories in class and give us all nightmares.

Where were the permission slips back in the 70's?

But I digress.....

Here is Claire on her first day of school. She is excited to be starting Spanish this year, as well as continuing art. History begins with the Roman Empire; science is starting with the Earth's core and rock hunting; and everything else is review for a couple of weeks.

I've thoroughly checked the curriculum... there are no scorpions in it anywhere... whew.