Live Creatures... Open Immediately (but not before you refrigerate them)...

Wade and Henry got an ant farm for their birthday from my brother and sister-in-law.

(Don't worry... they asked if it was OK before subjecting me 

to this craziness that comes with having 2 boys.  *sigh*) <-- don't let me fool you, 

I love every minute of being the mommy to 2 boys.

So, being the mommy of 2 boys should have prepared me for what came in the mail the other day.

It sent chills up my spine.  weird.  

Although, I knew what was inside, it just really made me shiver.

But, it didn't even phase Wade.  Here he is holding the test tubed ants.

So, the directions say to place them in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to make them "calm."  Have you ever seen a calm ant??  me either.   And in this test tube, they looked pretty calm... so I decided (and I'm always right) to forego that direction and put them straight into the habitat.  Bad.Idea.  REALLY BAD.

I had ants all over my counter... and BIG ants no less.  

They are what I would call a perfect picnic ant- HUGE.

And no, I didn't pick up my camera to document that part of this story. Sorry.

But, I was relieved to know that it is illegal to send a QUEEN ant, so there is NO possible way these ants can reproduce in my house. (I'd like to know whose job it is to make sure there are no queens?!?!)

So, thankfully Wade came to my rescue and told me to "calm down mommy, I'll get them."

And "get them" he did.  He's a regular ant wrangler.

And here is their new home:

The booklet says the typical ant will live 2-3 months, but some can live up to 1 year.  Wade and Henry are curious and investigative with these little fellas.  They love looking at them, and they even found out that if you blow across their air holes the ants go CRAZY because they smell food on your breath.

All in all, it was a great gift for the boys to get.  They love it.  Me, not so much, but I'm loving the curiosity that has grown out of my boys because of it.