Metamorphasis, It is Amazing!

Several weeks ago a dear friend's mother passed away.  Kevin and I had only met her a few times, but she seemed like quite a lovely person.  I didn't know before her passing, but she was a great lover of nature and monarch butterflies.  (Now it makes perfect sense that she gave Benny and Claire the book "The Lorax" and this neat ladybug that shines stars and the moon in the dark.)  Each year, she liked to order caterpillars and watch them become butterflies.  Turns out she ordered the caterpillars before her passing.  Our friend was kind enough to give Benny a few caterpillars and a few milkweed plants to plant in our backyard.

3 very hungry caterpillars munching on their milkweed...

Benny the butterfly farmer

When the caterpillars are reading to make their chrysalis, they hang upside down in this "J" shape

Making its chrysalis

The chrysalis stayed green until day 10.  Then, it became a purplish/black color.

A butterfly emerges!  This happens fast.  I was keeping a close eye on it all morning.  I went to put Claire down for her nap.  When I came back downstairs, we had a butterfly!

Getting ready to release our butterfly a day later.

Beautiful.

So sweet.

We had so much fun watching our caterpillar turn into a butterfly.  Benny already loves the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" so he was thrilled to feed our caterpillars new leaves everyday.  The transformation from egg, to caterpillar, to butterfly really is amazing.  A testament to the beauty of God's creation and the intricacy in which He made all things.

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the skies,

For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies,

Lord of all, to thee we raise

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Down on the Farm

A trip to my parent's house is always an adventure and an event which Benny loves.  All the outdoor, animal- loving fun he can have in a day.  These pics are from a visit in July, and we plan to go again this weekend.  He's already telling me about how he wants to hold the chickens :)

My parents most recently acquired a goat.  It is ridiculously tame and affection.  The goat and Benny seemed to be good friends.

Feeding the goat some corn...

Future goat herder. 

Cute chicks :)

Benny and his beloved Stevie checking out the Oliver tractor

Of all the animals, the chickens are his favorite.  He checks every 3 minutes to make sure there are no knew eggs he needs to gather.

Gator rides.

Just cause she's beautiful

Just cause I couldn't decide which pose I liked best.

Daddy's Birthday

About a month ago, Daddy turned the big 31.  Luckily, he married a much younger woman :)  Below are a few pics that captured the fun of the celebration!

Daddy needed help opening gifts and blowing out his candles.

Daddy's favorite kids!

His favorite girls.

Kevin is lucky to have a wonderful wife who made him an oreo cake for his birthday this year.  Sort of difficult to make.  It kind of fell apart and had to be glued together with frosting.  Nevertheless, quite delicious.

5 months old

 Its hard to believe, my little lady is 5 months old.  She got a few more vaccinations last week.  The doctor said she is happy and healthy weighing in at 15 pounds 13 ounces---the 80th percentile.  About a week and a half ago, she rolled over for the first time.  In honor of her 5 month birthday, she got to eat her first 'real' dinner.  Carrots.  Yum.

Benny quickly took over the responsibility of feeding Claire.  "I will do it.  I will feed her the baby food."  Clearly, I am not needed.

Mommy's happy little carrot eater.

Currently, one of my favorite parts of the day is when Benny and I get Claire out of bed in the morning.  One of the most precious things about 2 year-olds is how they 'mispronounce' words.  Benny's 'L' sounds, particularly at the beginning of words, come out as a 'Y' sound.  Every morning, he says "I will hold the little lady."  But, it comes out as 'yittle yady.'  Precious.  He rocks her and sings Twinkle Twinkle.

Mama's beautiful baby.   I just love this little girl!

A Day Out with Thomas

In late spring, Grammie and Grampie mentioned to Kevin and I that Thomas was coming to town.  They asked us if they thought Benny might like to go.  We said we would think about it.  A certain little boy must have overheard this conversation.  Each day from then on, he inquired about when he would be going to see Thomas.  Ironic, since I wouldn't consider him an avid Thomas fan.  But, Benny has learned the value of being persistent.  With enough inquiries about the timing of this Thomas event, he scored himself a Thomas ticket along with tickets for Mom, Dad, Grammie, and Grampie.  It ended up being a perfect day for this outing, and we had quite a good time.

We're on our way!

They had all these great bounce houses to crawl through.

Thomas!

All aboard!

Don't worry.  I've got the tickets.

Somebody is excited for their ride on Thomas.

I think Benny enjoyed playing with all of the train tables the best.

Summer Trip #1

 A few weeks ago, Kevin had a conference to attend in Indianapolis.  Kevin's aunt and uncle happen to live nearby.  The kids and I tagged along for the few days and stayed at their house.  We had a blast!  The first night Benny was a little nervous about sleeping on the cot Marian had set up for him.  I tucked him in and sang him some songs.  He seemed fine and pretty drowsy, so I kissed him goodnight.  Claire was already asleep and Kevin was finished showering.  I told Kevin I was going to take a shower, but he should listen for Benny in case he woke up.  Kevin claims he didn't hear anything.  (Do all men have trouble hearing children?)  Later that night, Marian found Benny fast asleep on the nice hard floor outside of their kitchen.  He escaped out of their basement!

This is what happens when we leave Daddy in charge :)

The next day we went to their children's museum.  Benny is digging for dinosaur bones.

Being a future paleontologist is hard work.

Getting a little help with the dinosaur bones.

Daddy was pleased with this picture.

The following day we went to the zoo.  We ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and watched a dolphin show.

Claire's first zoo trip!

We had lots of fun just hanging out at Marian and John's house too.

Claire loves her little activity mat.

Fun on the slide.

Peek-a-boo!

Matthew and Brooke were excellent playmates.

Thanks so much for the fun Marian, John, Holly, Matthew, and Brooke!