Our New "Pet"

Okay, so it's not a pet exactly. We found the little guy last Friday 8/28/08 and just watched him walk around. The kids got a kick out of how fast he could move. We went into the house and the kids talked about it for quite a while. The next morning we went out to dump the recycling and who do we find...our little caterpillar friend. I told the kids to go grab one of our bug containers and we'd put him in it. They brought me a container, but the lid is missing the hole cover. I told them the caterpillar would probably climb out, but we could keep an eye on it for a while. Well, the little sucker ended up staying in the container all night. In fact...Sunday after church we went to see if it was still in there and it had spun its cocoon. It's called a chrysalis now days, but whatever, looks more like a hairball!!

So now we have the little guy inside because it gets cold at night now. I've been trying to find out what kind of caterpillar it is and if it's a moth or butterfly. Can't find a darn thing! Who says you can find anything on the internet! I did find one helpful bit of information. One site said that if the caterpillar cocoons itself during the fall that it won't come out until Spring. Plus, I'm suppose to spray his house to keep it moist/humid. Ok, I'm game! I'm sure Nick will love us keeping this thing in the house all winter. I just hope it emerges and doesn't die. Someday during the spring I may be posting a beautiful picture of our pet...moth! LOL

Sidenote: The caterpillar was the second thing we caught that day. Earlier Saturday morning the kids found a rollie pollie in the kitchen. Yes, I know, another VERY exciting pet!!! You touch him he turns into a ball!! Ethan went and got his bug container and we put the little bugger in there with some grass and a leaf. Well, we don't have any pictures of him because...well, he died. Poor Ethan, our friend Rollie didn't make it much over 3 hours, I guess he was only meant to live in the wild.

Ethan Starts Pre-School

8/26/08-Ethan started Pre-K at St. Joseph's, he'll go from 8-11am every Tuesday and Thursday. It was a VERY proud day for this mama! There were no sad looks, no pleads to take him with me, and most of all no tears...until I walked out. Then I started to get emotional and by the time I hit the car I had almost lost it. My baby boy, sensitive to almost everything, cries at the drop of a hat...didn't cry the first day of school? Sure, I had prepared him and pumped him up because everyone knows school is cool! What I had failed to do was prepare myself! Rookie mistake, I know! I was totally prepared to be upset about Madi going to school and it ended up ok.

Ethan really enjoyed his first day and was disappointed that they didn't "make" anything. They colored their September calendar, but apparently that wasn't enough. Wednesday morning, while preparing Madi's lunch, Ethan asks if he gets to go to school too. I let him down gently and told him no, he was fine with it because then he got to go the next day. I think it's going to be a really great experience for him. The third picture is of him and his teacher Mrs. Kriefels.

Madison Starts School

8/21/08-Madi started school half days for the first two days. She absolutely loved school!! She couldn't wait to go back the next day. Nick took off from work so he could go with us to see her off the first day. Afterwards, I told Madi she could pick where we ate lunch. She picked "the place with her favorite bread" (Grisanti's). The last picture is of her at Grisanti's enjoying her favorite bread.

Monday she started full days at school and then we had swimming right after. I thought she would be exhausted, but she was still going strong at bedtime. It's great to see her so excited about school. Now she's excited about having hot lunch.

Summer Lesson

Madi needed to learn to tie her shoes for school. Nothing like waiting until the last minute right? Anyway, I ordered a book this past spring that has diagrams and laces that are attached to the book. I worked with Madi before school was done, but we put the book away and it was forgotten. Last night I had Madi get the book out and had her and Nick work on it. After we had her school tour tonight we came home and worked a little bit more. Then I had her get her tennis shoes out and put them on. She put them on and tied them. I just happened to snap that last picture at the right time...I love it! She was so happy that she did it!

Cutting It Up!

Friday we went and did our school supply shopping for Madison. One of the items she needed was a pair of scissors. Ethan begged me to buy him a pair so I did. I never knew scissors could be so much fun, until I met Ethan. I remember Madison being excited to cut things, but he absolutely LOVES it!! He'll stand at the recycling bag and cut whatever is on top. Today he yelled down and asked Madi if she wanted to come up and join him cutting paper. She came up and they had a blast. I had to take pictures because a smile never left Ethan's face. LOL!!! Kids are such a blessing!

Brooke's Creation

Brooke was in town for the 4th of July and on the 5th we went to Paint Yourself Silly. These are pictures of what she painted. Her ice cream cone turned out great! We had fun even though Nick was bored. I told her we went to pick up our pieces and she wanted to see a picture so here it it! I know she'll love that's it's on the web for everyone to see!!