Introducing our NEW family member

Meet Justin the hammy. Why the formal name, not real sure, but it was Isaac's choice. I wanted something like Sergeant Slaughter or Captain Crunch, but it's simply Justin.

When Karson turned six years old, I let her use her birthday money to purchase a hamster. I'm sure those of you that follow my blog remember Princess Sparkles. Sparkles the hamster was in our possession for a whoppin' 6-8 months before she went missing at Pap and Nana's while Matt and I were out of town. The story was that Karson didn't snap the cage shut one night and she got out. Of course, Karson said Isaac didn't snap it, and so on and so on. I have no idea what happened, but I wasn't ready for a replacement at that point. I thought I had blogged about this story but couldn't find it anywhere. SO, for those of you who thought we still HAD Sparkles, sorry to disappoint. Sparkles WAS an amazing hammy. She was a Houdini and got out of her cage on a regular basis. She went through (or GNAWED through) THREE cages. In fact she was smart enough to get out of her cage and return before morning. I would find half eaten bananas or desserts on our kitchen counter, crayons in her cage, chewed up garbage bags, etc. We used to keep her in Karson's room until she chewed through the cage and would get out at night and climb into bed with Karson. I had no idea hamsters were so crafty.

With Isaac's sixth birthday right around the corner (next Tuesday to be exact), I let him use his birthday money (via the great grandparents) to purchase a new hammy. We already had the cage, bedding and treats. All we needed was a ball, food and a clean habitat. Oh, and Isaac thought he needed a toy TV also--we spare NO expense for our pets. I spent last night cleaning the cage and preparing it for our new companion. We went to Petco after school today and picked out Justin. I would've loved to have gotten another Black Bear hamster, but they were out of them. And, on top of that, Isaac wanted a BOY hamster. So, we have a Syrian. I can't tell much of a difference and the pet store lady told us there wasn't much difference. I wonder if he'll be an escape artist like Sparkles. I imagine he'll be even harder to contain, he is a BOY hamster after all.