Giant Water Bug "Toe Biter"

I was walking back from lunch today and saw one of the biggest bugs I have ever seen in my life. Naturally I had to bring it back to my office to ask people what it was (of course I knew it would scare the daylights out of people... that's part of the fun).

Nobody seemed to know what it was. I did a quick search and found out that it is called the "Giant Water Bug" or "Toe Biter" sometimes it is even referred to as a "Water Scorpion". Apparently they can deliver one of the most painful bites of any insect. I had no idea of this when I picked it up with my bare hands.

Burt is now living in a plastic container on my desk (at least until it is time to go home). Below is some of the info I found online.

The Giant Water Bug is one of the largest insects in the U.S. and Canada. Giant water bugs are approximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) in length. Some species grow as long as 4 inches (10 cm). Because it often turns up under street lights and porch lights, it is also one of the most asked about insects. It is commonly mistaken for a beetle or even a cockroach. Alternate names include toe biter because they can deliver a nasty bite, and electric light bug because they are attracted to lights.

Their bite is considered one of the most painful that can be inflicted by any insect, the longer the bug is allowed to inject its saliva, the worse the resulting bite, and as the saliva liquefies muscle tissue, it can in rare instances do permanent damage. Adults cannot breathe under water, and must surface periodically for air. Occasionally when encountered by a larger predator, such as a human, they have been known to "play dead" and emit a fluid from their anus. Due to this they are assumed dead by humans and others species only to later "come alive" with painful results.

Happy Birthday Whiskers

Our cat, Whiskers celebrated his 3rd birthday last month. Pierce had a full blown party for him with cake and party favors. You have to admit, he is pretty cute!

Even the ducks can't wait for Summer

I looked outside the other day and saw something out of the ordinary. We had 2 ducks taking a dip in our pool. The ice has finally melted leaving a big puddle of water on top of the pool cover. Even the ducks can't wait for Summer to come...

Hiking with the Scouts

Today we experienced a true Spring day. Since the kids are all on Spring Break, we rounded up all the Scouts from the branch and headed out to Bennington, New York for a bit of hiking and advancement requirments. Bennington is a beautiful area East of Buffalo. It is very rural with some of the oldest still growing apple orchards on the East Coast. The boys hiked along Cayuga Creek, learned how to start fires with flint and steel and cooked their lunch wrapped in foil on the fires they started. Since Tania is at school and I couldn't leave Pierce and Brendon behind, they tagged along and had a great time.

Tania has started her clinicals for her anesthesia program. She really enjoys it so far. The pictures are of some of the people in her group in the lab at school. Just under 2 more years to go!!

More snow....

So we got a little more snow over the past couple of days. The storm started on Friday where we got 9 inches, Saturday came and with it another 9.5 inches with ice this time. Over night, we got another 4 inches. I know there are others in our family who have received more snow, but to us, and especially the boys, this is a novelty. They have never really had a complete winter. I am sure that one day will come when I will stop taking pictures of our snow covered deck and cars covered with snow... but until then... ENJOY!!

Buffalo Bandits

Pierce and I found a sport we both really enjoy. We went to see the Buffalo Bandits play last night. They are a pro Lacrosse team. We did not know anything about the sport prior to last night. We found it is a lot like hockey in some regards. There were lots of great fights, the crowd is VERY rowdy, the music is very loud... over all it was a ton of fun and we will be returning as much as possible. I added a video below for those of you who have never seen a Lacrosse game.

Pierce turns 10!

Well, our little man has turned 10. It is really hard to believe. Pierce has always been a special little guy and he is more amazing each and everyday. For his birthday, we took him to a place called Paradise Island in Cheektowaga (just down the road from us). It is like a tropical version of Chucky Cheese (without the hoardes of demon children). He had a great time. We had to cut it a bit short as we were getting slammed pretty hard with lake effect snow. By the next morning we had nearly 2 feet! Unfortunately, all the pictures from his party and the snow are somewhere on our memory card for the camera and I cannot get them off. I think it is time for a new memory card.

LET'S GO SABRES!!

Pierce and I had a great experience tonight. I won tickets to the Fisher-Price suite at the HSBC Arena in downtown Buffalo to see the Buffalo Sabres play the Ottawa Senators. This was the first professional hockey game we were able to attend and what an experience. Since moving to Buffalo, we have fast become huge hockey fans, especially the Sabres! Although the Sabres lost (5 -3), it was a great game with two great fights. Pierce said it was one of the coolest things he has ever seen. I wish I could have taken the other 2, but I only had 2 tickets so we held a drawing and Pierce won. Whenever the Sabres would make a goal, smoke would come out of the buffalo's nose on the jumbo tron.

Christmas 2007

We had a great Christmas this year. The boys got everything (almost) they wanted. We had a great dinner consisting of smoked ham, sweet potatoe casserole, green bean casserole, croisants, salad and shrimp cocktail. We spent the rest of the day having a Guitar Hero Marathon, and yes... Dad does ROCK!

Welcome to Buffalo!!

We had heard that there was a little snow in Buffalo... Until today, we were not too sure the stories were for real!

I put a yard stick in the ground last night before the snow started. We had 3 inches on the ground as of last night. We woke-up to lot's of white stuff. I have been taking pictures throughout the day of the accumulation. At 4:00, we had close to 9 inches on the ground and the storm is just getting started.

The roads were covered with a sheet of freezing rain before the snow started which shut everything down (including Church). The boys and Tania had a great time playing in the snow. Tania even tried her hand at shoveling the sidewalk. I know this is not a ton of snow, but for us, for not having seen more than a couple of inches for the past 10 years, it is incredible! I will take one more picture tomorrow morning once the storm is over to show the total accumulation.

UPDATE: We got a few more inches over night. a total of 13 inches fell yesterday. Amazing.

2 little monkeys

Pierce and Brendon got into trouble the other night. We sent them to bed early. I guess we needed to be more specific. They ended up in our bed. We couldn't decide to be mad or snuggle with them.

Temple Trip

Austin had the opportunity to go to the Palmyra Temple for baptisms for the dead this morning. For those of you who do not know, the Temple sits on the original site of the Smith Family Farm and is directly across from the Sacred Grove and Hill Cummorah. This was the first time he was able to participate. He said it was a "special experience" and that the Temple was "all nice and the font room was very nice". He added that he "felt good while he was in there". The pictures are of the Alden Branch (our Branch) Deacon's and the Young Men/Young Women from the Branch.