Frogs and bugs and kittens, OH MY!!

Since we've been at our new house, we've been lucky enough to be graced with the presence of such wonderful things!!!

First of all - the FROG.

We were driving the back way home after a family trip to Target. Part of this road is dirt (Matt is forbidden to drive this again while I am pregnant, not pleasant I tell ya!) and as we were coming up to the paved part, Matt says, "Did you see that?? That was a huge frog!" He backed up and HOLY HECK!! That was the BIGGEST hop-toad I'd EVER seen!!!! I told him to be a good dad and get out and catch it for his kids! ;) I just about peed my pants laughing! Here is this guy, still dressed in his nice work clothing, trying to catch this giganto frog and keep it from jumping into the thorny bushes. Frog #1 got away, so we kept driving and there was ANOTHER one a few yards down!!!!! Matt jumps out of the car and actually caught the thing!! It was in a plastic Target bag and I threatened him he better not let it go while I was driving!! When we got it home, Matt put it in a big box and let the kids have a peek at it. We were going to keep it overnight, but Matt felt bad with all the trauma it had been through, so we let it go. I did get some pictures, but seriously, they do NOT do this thing justice!!! It was HUGE!!!
Next, the PRAYING MANTIS.

I don't know that I've ever actually seen one of these things up close!!! Matt and my brother-in-law Taylor were working out in the backyard and they saw a praying mantis climbing up the wall. I told Matt to catch it so the kids could see it. We brought it inside for a bit and even let it go so I could get some decent pictures. Those suckers run FAST!!!! I don't think it looks like it's praying, more like prepping for a kung-fu battle!!! LOL!
And last, KITTENS.

I have to preface this one by saying that I am NOT a cat lover. Sorry if you are, I am NOT. Blake was helping out in the backyard on Saturday night and came in saying there was a cat out there but it was gone now. Cool, whatever. I ventured outside to see what he was talking about and there are two KITTENS, not cats, attempting to sneak under our side gate and apparently, Matt had given Blake the job to keep them out! Haha! I didn't want to make any sort of contact with these rascals so they wouldn't mistake our efforts with friendliness. Needless to say, my efforts were soon thwarted when Brooklyn carried one into the HOUSE!!!!!!! Then they were hiding in our garage and I couldn't shoo them out. Matt tried to and said he got them, but an hour later, I heard a sound - it was one of the kittens MEOWING in the garage! I had to get the blasted thing out. Some couple rang our doorbell later that night, asking if this kitten was ours because it was hanging out around our yard. Uh gee, I wonder WHY!!! I think the kits were a little too young to be wandering around on their own, but I don't know who they belonged too and we haven't seen them again.