Spanky was our pet spider. It all started over a year ago while we were still living at Rian's parent's house. I was cleaning the boys room one day and found a furry spider in the corner. I, of course, went and got Rian to 'take care' of it, but he had a different idea. Rian said this was a good spider (a jumping spider) and that they caught lots of other bugs. So, instead of getting rid of it, Rian caught the spider in a cup, put it in Mason jar which he poked wholes in the top of and showed it to Isaac and Ian. They decided that it would be a fun pet. So they got 
some leaves, twigs and grass to put inside the jar and decided to name him Spanky. Not only did Rian and the boys catch flies (I helped once) and other bugs, (they had to be alive, too) but their favorite part was to sit and watch for Spanky to jump on and catch the bugs. Amazingly, we were able to keep Spanky alive for over a year (I'm not even sure how long spiders usually live). He finally died this last weekend so Rian, Isaac and Ian buried him in our front yard and put flowers on the grave. Don't worry, because the next day Rian found another jumping spider and put it in the Mason jar. Isaac named this one Charlotte. We'll just have to see if this one lives as long as Spanky.Now some of you might be grossed out by having a spider for a pet, but here are a few reasons why I would highly recommend one:
-they are CHEAP, they don't take up much space, you don't have to clean up after it, they don't smell up your house, you don't have to worry about it when you go out of town because they can go for days/weeks without eating and they are easy to replace. My favorite reason is that I didn't have to do anything!
