Caterpillars and Butterflies

A couple months ago the girls found a caterpillar in the basement.  Who knows how he got there, or how long he had been there.  We put it in our bug cage with fresh leaves.  He was picked up, knocked over, and even spent a few hours "lost" on our front room rug.  He didn't live very long.

A few days later they found another one in the backyard toy box - that has a lid on it.  Once again, not sure how long he had been in there, without food.  We put him in the bug cage with fresh leaves and this time placed very strict rules on how the cage was handled.  He also didn't live very long.

Grandma and Grandpa K bought them the Butterfly Garden for their birthday.  They couldn't wait to send off for the larva so they could hopefully see the complete transformation take place.  Well, we have been out of town a lot so I haven't sent away for them yet.  I couldn't bear to see another caterpillar suffer by being left in the mailbox too long.

Last week the girls found three fat, healthy caterpillars in the front flower bed.  We brought them in and placed them in the butterfly garden.  We put fresh leaves, sticks, and drops of water along the bottom.  Every day for a while they woke up and raced to make sure the caterpillars were still alive.  I have to admit, I had my doubts, as well.

It only took a few days for one start his cocoon.  It really was amazing.  He hung upside and stabilized himself with silk.  He pushed out all his hairs and within hours had completed his chrysalis.  About 5 days later another one did the same.  One is still wandering around the cage - I don't think he's going to make it.

Two days ago, tragedy struck.  While rough housing, the cage got knocked over.  The cocoons fell.  Emma was heartbroken.  She was very worried that she had killed them.

Yesterday though, the miracle happened.  A butterfly emerged.  It was exciting for us all!  One is still in his cocoon.  Hopefully he will be able to make it out alive!

Branson

I'm having a hard time keeping up with everything I want to blog about!  This summer is super busy - way busier than the school year, which doesn't make sense because my kids aren't even in school yet!  Anyway...a few weeks ago we took a trip to Branson, Missouri with our nephew Sam, and Grandma and Grandpa H. We all had a great time.  Here are the highlights from our trip.

This is the first time the girls were old enough to ride any rides at Silver Dollar City.  They started out cautiously by riding with Will and me.

They got brave later and tried it themselves.  They were very proud.  Emma waved to anyone with a camera, whether she knew them or not.

Father's Day

In case some of you have missed it, here is quick reminder - tomorrow is Father's Day.  I thought I'd take a minute to share some of the things I love about my Dad!

My dad was tough, but when it came to his girls, he was a big softy.  I guess that's true of most dads with daughters, though.  We could pretty much talk him into anything.

My dad was fun.  All of my favorite pictures of him are action pictures.  Ones were we are being thrown in the air, chased from under the coffee table, riding on his back, etc. 

My dad cared about other people.  He often says that my mom was the reason we helped so many people out, but my dad was a big reason too.  He fixed cars for single women, gave away pieces of furniture to people who needed them.  One of his nephews even lived with us for a couple years.

My dad is great with people.  My dad makes anyone feel like they are part of the family and like they've know each other for years, even if they've just met.  He can also talk people into just about anything.  I had friends who would bring him slushes when they came over, just because my dad told them they should!

My dad cares deeply for his family.  He would do anything and everything to help in a time of need and would do anything at all to keep his kids, grandkids, and wife from being hurt.

God has done amazing things in my dad's life and has softened his heart a lot over the years.  Sure, we all were embarassed at times and felt unfairly punished, but that's part of growing up.  My dad is great and I am so glad that he has impacted my life, and so many others, in such a positive way.

I love you, Dad!

Tangled Birthday Party

 A few weekends ago we celebrated the girls' fourth birthday by having a "Tangled" party.  In case you are unfamiliar, that is the new Disney movie based on Rapunzel.

There are tons of marketed items for this very event, but being on a limited budget, I chose to make the items myself.  I did splurge on Tangled napkins.  I scoured the internet for ideas and found quite a few that were inexpensive and very doable for a non-crafty person like me.

 This is Rapunzel's tower cake that I made.  Most websites used cupcakes or doughnuts, but we used ding dongs.  Will screwed a dowel rod into a piece of plywood to hold them in place.  It sure is nice having a handy husband.  I have to give him credit, the ding dongs were his idea, too.

 These are the "royal flags" with the "golden royal sun" that was displayed in the movie.  I just drew these free hand and stapled them to some ribbon.

A funny joke in the movie is that Flynn's nose is never right on the wanted poster, so we played "pin the nose on Flynn".  Taylor cried for quite a while because she didn't put it where she wanted it.  Everyone kept telling me to let her try again, but being the mean mom that I am, I didn't.  What would that have taught her?



We concluded the party by watching Tangled and eating pizza.  Most of their friends were there (we missed you, Max and Lincoln) and a few family members were able to come.  All in all, it was a very nice party.  These girls are incredibly blessed by the many people who love them, and we all are blessed by these girls as well.  I can't believe they are four years old - the time truly does fly.  We love you, Emma and Taylor!

A Penny Saved

Any time we go to Walmart the girls ask if they can look in the princess aisle.  We always peruse and they are happy with just looking and pushing all the buttons.  A couple months ago Taylor found a new Tangled Rapunzel doll.  It sang and had glowing hair.  She declared that she wanted it.  It was $21.00.  I told her she could save up her money to buy it.  She said okay and we went on our way.

The next time we returned she asked why I wasn't getting it for her.  I reminded her that she didn't have enough money saved yet.  This made her very sad, but gave her a new motivation to save her money. 

A couple people asked for birthday gift ideas and I told them about Rapunzel.  I didn't want anyone to buy it for her, I wanted her to save and buy it - I wanted to her to learn from it.  She was given $9.00 in birthday money to add to her Rapunzel fund.  (Emma, of course, received the same amount.)

We counted the money in her piggy bank and added her new money and she was $3.00 short of what she needed.  Amazingly, Emma had the same amount.  I later found out Will had been adding equal amounts of coins to the banks when no one was looking.  The girls each earned $3.00 by helping me clean out the van.

We first took a trip to the bank to change their coins into bills.  I wish that I'd had my camera.  They were so proud carrying their little banks in.

Then, it was on to Walmart.  Taylor immediately went to the doll.  I showed her other options, but she never wavered.  Emma used her money to buy two things.  I was afraid Taylor would be sad when she got home and only had one thing, but she wasn't.  She loves that singing Rapunzel and we are all singing her song in our heads.

Cake Batter Thieves

The girls were helping me make their birthday cake this afternoon and as always, I let them lick the batter off the beaters.  The oven wasn't quite hot enough so I left them on the kitchen floor licking their utensils.  Looking back, I should have noticed that it was taking them a long time.  I walked back in the kitchen and caught them sticking their clean beaters back into the cake batter.  Ingenious.

***I apologize ahead of time to those of you who will eat the cake and are afraid of germs.  Those bake out in the oven right? 

Impatient Teacher

We have two tricycles that the girls have tried repeatedly to ride.  Emma has tried really hard, with very little progress.  Taylor has refused to try.  The girls are almost 4, so I thought maybe they were already too big for them.  I found a small bike with training wheels at a garage for $5.00 and we took it to the park today.  (I know, a great deal, right!)

Emma struggled for a minute, but then was riding with no problem at all.  I was so excited and so were Taylor and Emma!  Taylor couldn't wait to give it a try...until she got on the bike.  She went no where.  I pushed and showed her how to move her feet.  Still no progress.  It didn't take long for her to decide to quit. 

I know that I shouldn't have, but I got frustrated.  I said things like, "All your friends will know how to ride a bike and you won't", and "We'll all be able to go on a bike ride and you won't get to go with us."  I know, you don't have to tell me.  I feel like a terrible mother.  I need to apologize and ask her forgiveness.  I suppose someday she'll learn how to ride a bike.  That is exactly the reason I could not homeschool my children.

On a side note:  I have changed the settings so you can leave comments without having to set up any kind of account.  Let me know if you have any questions about it.  Since I have closed Facebook down for the summer, feel free to visit often, leave comments, and follow publicly if you'd like.  I love hearing from you!