Butterfly Beauty

About two weeks ago we went on a nature walk and we found two beautiful caterpillars (after some research I found out that they were monarch caterpillars). Luckily we brought along a bug catcher (we are a little obsessed with catching bugs these days). We all followed along very closely during the whole transformation process and we are in awe. The pictures aren't that great because I took them through the case, but you will get the idea.

Here are the two caterpillars when we got them home. They ate milk weed leaves like no tomorrow and we actually had to go out and get more leaves from the nature trail (I wanted to get leaves from the exact plant where we found the caterpillars so I knew that they would be good for them).

After about two days the caterpillars hung from the top of the cage and then the next day they spun into their cocoons. Before one was in its cocoon, we accidentally bumped the cage and it fell to the bottom. We were all very sad and thought we killed it, but actually, while we were looking at it, Mariah and I got to see it spin into its cocoon right then! It was amazing. In the picture you can see both cocoons, one hanging from the top and one laying on the bottom. (All those little black things are TONS of caterpillar poop).

Last night, we were able to see the outline of the wings through the cocoon and then actually see orange and black. The cocoon turned black and I knew it was only a matter of hours before the butterfly would come out.

Today, the first butterfly came out of its cocoon. We didn't actually see it happen, but the butterfly is absolutely beautiful! Here is a picture right before we let the butterfly go into the wild blue yonder.

The little bit of orange liquid on the bottom are the sugars that dripped from the wings when they were still wet.

It looks like the second butterfly will come out tomorrow.

I don't know if anyone else finds this fascinating, but we did, and we were glued to the whole process. God is so amazing.

Birthday Party Bust

Mariah and I attempted to go to her friend's birthday party today. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining, and Mariah was really looking forward to going to this party for a few days. All the kids put on their swim suits for slip-n-slid fun, water games, and a water balloon toss.

Somewhere along the line, Mariah didn't get the memo that the water balloon toss had turned into a water balloon fight!

Mariah turned into a screaming dragon and exclaims, "THAT IS NOT A NICE TRICK" along with other 5 year old obscenities like "I DON'T LIKE THESE KIDS" and "I NEVER WANT TO SEE THESE KIDS AGAIN."

We had to leave the party.

Today my child was "that kid" and everyone was staring at us. Nice. I tried to hold it together to I didn't turn into a dragon either. I was fuming.

Kids.

No More Training Wheels!

We are so proud of Mariah! It only took her a few days to learn to ride a bike without training wheels. Already today she can start, stop, and turn all by herself. She only got one scraped knee during the whole learning process.

A Small Crash

What is learning to ride a bike without a few small crashes?!

Wooden Fun

We went to Imagination Station today in Grand Haven with Jerry's cousins from out of town. This place is 10,000 square feet of pure fun.

Mariah: (in the midst of a 4 day attitude) This place is NO fun. There is nothing to do. This place is only made of WOOD!

Me: No comment, trying to ignore the attitude

Jerry's Cousins: Mariah, if Imagination Station wasn't made of wood, what would you want it to be made of so it would be more fun?

Mariah: Rainbows

Wind: SE 5mph

In the still of the night, as the girls sleep peacefully, my thoughts swirl every which way in my head, keeping me awake yet lulling me to sleep.

Write, delete, delete...

There has been so many changes in our lives, emotionally, physically, spiritually, mentally, financially, socially, individually, and as a family. Positive changes as well as negative changes, up-hill battles and down-hill battles. The sun shines, yet it is cloudy, and sometimes the sunlight powers through the fog.

I am staring at the screen

Write, delete, delete...

There is a slight breeze through the windows

Good night, my Lord, thank you for those soft whispers.

Oh Crabby Face

Scrunch the nose,

Pucker the lips,

Scowl.

"No more pictures, mom, I want to go inside!"

Boring-ness: A Post about Nothing

So I have been thinking about what to write, but nothing "blog worthy" is coming to mind.

*Mariah hasn't had any fun "car conversations" or said anything out of the ordinary lately so nothing to post there.

*Ambria is the polite police. Her new thing is saying "no thank you" or "help please" all the time, but that really doesn't deserve a full blog post.

*I was thinking about writing about all my frustrations but that is a long list, anything from the terrible two's to our unknown future, but maybe later, I feel too vulnerable writing about that.

*At 2:15 last night I awoke to an unpleasant aroma engulfing our house as a skunk decided to roam the area. Again, not "blog worthy."

So, I am resorting to posting more pictures, black and white with pink accents, again. I couldn't resist taking these pics because of Mariah's outfit and she rarely lets me take pictures of her so I cherished the moment.

Cousins

Mariah and Brianna usually see each other at least two or three times a week. Brianna is only two weeks older than Mariah and she doesn't let Mariah forget that she is the older one. Not a week will go by without Mariah asking me why Brianna gets to be the older one and then she adds, "but I am the taller one." These two are like sisters--they play like sisters and they fight like sisters.

It wasn't five minutes after I took these pictures that Mariah yelled, "Brianna isn't my best friend any more!" And then Brianna ran up to me and said, "Um, Aunt Jamie, Mariah said she isn't my best friend any more." Yup, like I said, they fight like sisters too.