Anyway, last week on Sunday, the kids and I slept in like lazy heathens. Joe went to church by himself. On the way home, he called me, "Hey, I'm on my way home and I have a surprise for the kids!"
A surprise for the kids? I'm thinking that he picked up donuts. Cool! I don't have to make breakfast!
I was wrong. This is the surprise he brought home...
Yep, that's right - a big ole snapping turtle.
"Surprise!"
"Umm, does this mean there are no donuts?"
This guy was out in the road as Joe drove home from church so instead of picking him up and plunking him back in the water, Joe opted to bring him home for a little show and tell before loading up the kids and the smelly turtle and returning him to his watery home. I think I've figured out where Clay gets his curiosity about critters.
Why couldn't he bring home a cuddly, non-snapping puppy?
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that Joe went to church by himself. If I'm not the one holding the cattle prod to get everyone dressed and there on time (which rarely happens) then it doesn't happen at all.
ReplyDeleteThat's really cool! At least the part about the turtle. Believe me, I know exactly what you mean when you don't have to teach. I don't think its about not wanting to go, its just about needing a break. I go through that all the time myself. Seems like your break turned into some great family fun, and I believe God thinks that is important too! Now, if only there were donuts involved...
ReplyDeleteHey Dawn, that's a cool turtle! Did the kids even BUG you about keeping it or did they just really want to return it?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for changing the feed settings so that I can get the whole article in my Google Reader. :)
ReplyDeleteHow neat! This side of Joe reminds me of my dad. You never knew what object lesson you'd get next, but they were usually fun and real "different." Thing is, even though I've passed the milestone into true elderly status, I still remember most of them vividly! I can't remember what I planned for dinner tonight, but I can remember the baby sea turtles my dad took us to see hatching and making their way into the Gulf when I was four years old. Thanks for adding a spark to my life today! God Bless.
ReplyDeleteOur church has far too many people to fit them all in one service. So we have two Saturday night services. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the reason we started attending there in the first place.
I am always looking for an excuse to stay home & sleep in! But I feel sooo bad when DH gets that sad & disappointed look on his face. I'm on worship team as my main motivator, but it's only once a month, so not totally effective. I'm so terrible--I sneak back to the nursery to "check on Leighton" and stay in there talking to my friends who are on shift that week!
ReplyDeleteWHOA! Y'alls yankee turtles look A LOT different from our confederate turtles. First off, ours don't have a giant tail and all that extra skin around the feets. Also, our turtles have much prettier shells.
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or does anyone else think about "Over the Hedge" and how the turtle in that movie gets out of its shell. I know I'm 31 years old and that movie just came out a few years ago, but YES, i did ponder whether or not turtles could actually abandon their shells. I laughed by butt off imagining a whole bunch of naked turles running around in the woods.
So I've been a follower of your blog for YEARS now and this is the first time I've ever posted a comment. I can't believe I chose a post about a turtle to comment on rather than one of our snazzy contests!
Anyway, REALLY enjoy the blog and your entertaining stories of motherhood. Also really enjoyed your book :)
Gross! At least you got some alone time while they went to release the turtle. And that is a pretty cool thing for a dad to do. But again, gross.
ReplyDeleteThanks for altering the feed so I can get the whole post in Google Reader :)
ReplyDeleteYay, Joe! Do your kids realize what wonderful parents they have??? SURE they do, right? ;)
ReplyDeleteDonna in PA :)
Cute! My husband's a kid at heart, too. At least Joe wasn't planning on keeping it for a pet. Donuts would have been a nice touch.
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE IT!!!!!! I think it's awesome that he did this, I love it when my hubby does weird but interesting stuff like this!
ReplyDeleteHilarious! This so sounds like my life ...
ReplyDeleteOn the plus side, at least after the first bite no one asks to keep the pet Daddy brought home ;) And nature lesson isn't so bad... although donuts would have been far better!
ReplyDeleteHe's not very sugary, is he?
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! We had to stop to let a duck and her babies walk across the street yesterday ... your story is much better!
ReplyDeleteEwww..I live in Georgia and that's exactly what ours looks like! No matter which way you slice it, they are Oogly!
ReplyDeleteDidn't he know turtles eat doughnuts?
ReplyDelete