Summer project

Summer is in full swing and we're having a great time.  As you know I was petrified to have them home all day everday.  Bickering is their favorite hobby and I knew I'd go apeshit by the end of June if we didn't get creative and stay busy.  So far it's actually been really great.  Lauren has changed from a smiley, sleeping baby into this smiley, sleeping toddler it seems.  She plays on the couch by herself safely, she mimics me when I brush my teeth, if I hand her a brush she'll brush her own hair, and she's calling me "Mama".  Drew and William just completed 2 weeks of swim lessons and they've made really great progress.  We attend our last music class tomorrow.  We've gone to a couple birthday parties already.  It's just been busy and fun and yes, full of kid-bickering, but I think I'm becoming immune to some of it.  I honestly thought it would kill me before I became immune to it but I was wrong.  For THAT I am grateful. 

My friend Katrina posted a picture on facebook of these slimy little larvae and the title was "Our Butterfly Garden".  I wrote to her immediately to find out where she got them.  I thought that this is what we needed this summer, a fun project like this.  I knew the kids would LOVE it and along the way it would give them things to look up on the computer, a great topic to find books about at the library etc.  Katrina wrote me right back and within minutes I had ordered our own butterfly garden.  The 10 larvae arrived on our doorstep 5 days later.  Here is a progression of what we've seen so far: 

What we found on our doorstep

Day 1

Proud daddy and mommy

Day 4

Day 7 - the chrysalides have formed, time to hang them up in our butterfly pavillion!

Creepy, right?

We're expecting the chrysalides to hatch in the next 2 days and by the looks of it we'll have 9 painted lady butterflies.  Drew can't wait to pick flowers for them and to feed them watermelon and sugar water.  The process has been so much fun and the kids have loved it.  One bonus is that everyday there has been such a visible change that it's perfect for kids this age.  Sometimes it was really different from the time they woke up to the time they went to bed.  That makes for a perfect little kid project.  And for reals, it's nice that something is being born in this house and it's not coming from me.  I'll update when the butterflies make their appearance.  I sure hope we don't miss it when it happens.

You can order them here if you're interested.  Again, big thanks to Katrina!