New Nate and Kelly

 Meet the New Nate

And here's the New Kelly

Yes, I've set up a Toad Tank in Mrs. Henderson's class again.  This is the third year in a row, now.  I'm still pretty partial to Poison and Toxanne, the toads from the year that Nate was in Mrs. Henderson's class...

And I never really bonded with Toady and Superman, the toads from last year's class, even though they were more robust than Poison and Toxanne, and even were happy with being handled (occasionally)

(That's Superman, because the spots on his back over his right shoulder make an S)
But I have high hopes for this year's pair.  Kelly helped me pick them out, and was told that this year, the toads would be named after her and Nate.  So when she was picking out the toads, she decided that the big one that was MUCH prettier would be her namesake.
(apparently, the hourglass-lines that the spots make on Kelly-the-toad's back are VERY attractive.)

Also, Kelly-the-Toad is a bit of a climber.  We've had to put a weight on the screen lid of the toad tank, to ensure that Kelly doesn't escape and shrivel up and die on the arid desert that is the classroom carpet.
Nate-the-Toad, on the other hand, is smaller ("of course, because he's YOUNGER, mom!  Man!"), and Kelly thinks that Nate-the-Toad just doesn't have the inherent toad-like beauty that Kelly-the-toad has in spades.

I don't know.  Nate-the-toad looks pretty fetching in this bathing-beauty shot, if you ask me.
But what do I know?