Goodbye Butterflies!

Sunday afternoon marked a difficult day for my kids.

We let our butterflies go into the wild blue yonder.

It was time.

They had hatched from their chrysalis on August 11th and had not laid any eggs for us.

My kids were so very sad.

I warned them, when the last orange slice was gone, we needed to bid them farewell and let them experience the world.

Good or bad.

So Sunday came.

We first took the opportunity to hold a butterfly.

I took the kids into their bedroom and shut the door.

I carefully pulled out Butsen and placed him on Monkey's hand.

Monkey stayed so very still while he held the butterfly he had named.

Then I pulled out Rapunzel for Princess to hold.

Rapunzel was more interested in the window than she was on staying put on Princess' hand.

Above: Rapunzel taking flight from Princess' hand

Princess cried.

I wanted to cry for her.

I took out Wilson.

I actually was able to hold him.

He has NEVER let me hold him.

But it was for only a moment, and then he REFUSED to hold still so I could put him back into the cage.

Princess was able to hold Butsen, but not as long as she'd wanted.

He would not stay put as well.

I had to try and get Rapunzel down from near the ceiling, when she was done fluttering around, she landed on Princess' bright yellow dress.

It was precious!

I wish I could have taken a photo!

Finally after about 20 minutes, we had all 3 back in the cage.

We then headed to the park near our home.

It's where I got leaves for the caterpillars to eat.

It has a nature area, and so I thought it'd be the best place for them.

On the 3 minute car ride over Princess BAWLED because she didn't want to let her butterflies go.

It broke my heart.

She was able to fake a smile for me though.

Wilson immediately started fluttering around in the cage once we got outside, so when Monkey unzipped the top, it was no surprise to us that Wilson launched himself straight up into the air about 20 feet and then flew off over the trees.

When we turned around Butsen had made his way outside the cage and was sitting on top.

Monkey said goodbye and then Butsen just left.

In much less dramatic of a fashion than Wilson.

Or a different kind of dramatic fashion.

It still brought me tears.

Lastly, Rapunzel was the only one left in the cage.

Princess opened the top, and put her sweet hand inside to nudge the butterfly out.

Crying the entire time.

We then said our goodbyes as loud as we could to our sweet friends.

Then had a good cry right there on the path.

Well, they cried and I held them close.

We walked to the car talking about Wilson's drama works, Butsen saying goodbye and Rapunzel being oh so scared.

It was an amazing experience to raise caterpillars, and then see them become an amazing creation, the butterfly.

If you ever get the opportunity to raise caterpillars, please do!

It was so much fun for me, and for my kids.

Melissa was able to get her caterpillars from Insect Lore.

Thank you Melissa for giving us caterpillars too!

You can see the rest of my posts about our butterflies here.

Thanks for joining me through this journey!

It was....Amazing!

Butterfly Adventure: Hatching Day

This post is late.

Story of my life.

But let me just tell you, last week, I found out that Wilson was ALIVE!

Additionally, he has a couple friends too.

Let me back up.

A couple weeks back, my sweet friend Melissa {that gave me the caterpillars to begin with} texted me telling me her hubby left the chrysalis' outside when he left.

She was gone camping.

I didn't realize he was leaving to get her.

Until 3 days later.

So I drove over to her place and picked up the jar by their door, and the 2 Chrysalis that was in it.

They looked like toast.

They were shriveled looking.

I thought that being in the heat {but NOT the sun} had killed them.

They were NOWHERE near the size of Wilson's chrysalis.

But I took them home and hung them up in the cage.

Only because my kids were going to cry if I threw them out.

I didn't even take pictures, I seriously put zero hope in them.

But we waited.

Then August 11th we woke to find that the two shriveled chrysalis' had produced two small butterflies!

So we enjoyed looking at them while we ate our breakfast.

Then out the door we went to drop Princess at day camp and Hubby at work.

Monkey and I swung into the store to buy oranges and scooted home.

As I was putting orange slices into the cage, we watched as Wilson emerged from his Chrysalis!

It was amazing!

We watched him as his wings unfolded and he gave his new legs a test run!

It was amazing to watch God's new creation in my kitchen!

So now I have 3 butterflies.

Wilson, Rapunzel, and Butsin.

You could probably guess which one each of the kids named.

They're pretty fun.

Hopefully we get some eggs soon.

If ya know what I mean!

Trixie Scraps Sale!

Hey gang!

Good news!

Wilson made it!

I'll update you on Sunday.

It's been crazy around here.

But what I came by to tell you is that Trixie Scraps is having a SALE!

This is a great opportunity to get what you've got on your wish list!

Also, if you head over to Trixie Scraps blog TOMORROW, I'll have a freebie up for you!

That's right!

Here are some recent layouts I've done using Trixie Scraps Designs!

Using Riding with Girls


Using Mr. & Mrs. Mouse


Using Lovely in Lilac

I hope you can take advantage of the sale!

Have a great weekend!

Long Overdue: Butterfly Update

Wilson lives!!!

Well, as far as I know.

Last Monday, August 1st, Wilson decided to hang himself upside down.

He formed into a chrysalis a few short hours later and there he hung.

Monkey picked up to show his Gramma the chrysalis, and Wilson fell.

He had only been in there a few hours.

Tears flowed forth.

{mostly from the monkey who thought I was mad}

I have hope that Wilson lives.

It's been over a week.

There is no change yet.

I have photos that I have not yet put on the computer {because I'm lazy like that}.

So you'll just have to take my word for it.

I seriously hope he makes "the change" soon.

We are all getting a little antsy.

Not that ants have anything to do with this post.

I make myself laugh.

Yup.

Have a good week!

The 2011 Caterpillar Massacre.

Last Friday was the wedding I'd been helping out with.

I knew that my dear caterpillars would need some fresh leaves before I left town.

I totally forgot.

I got home Saturday afternoon, and all but 1 died.

The children were devastated.

I was so upset.

How could I have let this happen?

So I got a clean jar and some fresh leaves and I moved my remaining caterpillar.

That was on day 16.

Wilson {as we've started calling him} was tired, weak and I honestly didn't think he'd make it.

Day 19

Wilson was showing much more activity and eating a lot more!

Today.

Day 22.

Wilson is getting so big.

He's been showing more interest on moving up the side of the jar, so I've put a coffee filter up there to hang and create his chrysalis.

This will allow me to move him to the Butterfly cage where he'll emerge from the chrysalis in due time.

We're all pretty excited.

I just feel bad I won't be able to have any butterfly eggs.

I won't get to do this all over again.

But I've learned a lot.

The kids have learned more than me.

It reminds me daily that life is fragile.

And that I'd never want to live in a glass jar.

Recuperation & Butterflies

Who knew that a busy girls weekend would take it out of me.

I did not expect it at all.

I really was planning on posting an update for butterflies today.

I didn't take photos of them Saturday through Monday.

So you get today's picture only.

But you can see the difference between them on Friday and today.

It's amazing to me!!!!

They are getting sooo big!

To actually be able to notice their legs and see them moving around more is fantastic!!

As for this weekend, we had a BLAST!

Saturday night was camping and then a hike on Sunday morning up to Donut Falls.

Excellent hike, if you're ever in the Big Cottonwood Canyon area of Salt Lake City, I would totally recommend it!

It's about an hour round trip if you don't stay at the top too long.

But you'll want to.

So plan on 90 minutes.

Then Sunday was a cocktail birthday party for one of my friends.

We all were "dressed to impress" and had fancy drinks.

Another wonderful {busy} day.

So you can understand how I just crashed yesterday.

Blogging did not get done.

Dishes did not get done.

Dinner did not get done.

I was wasted.

The kids and I watched movies all afternoon.

I'd totally repeat this weekend in a heartbeat!

Gotta go finish working on wedding details!

See you tomorrow for my Wishful Wednesday post!

Butterflies: Day 7

Hi everyone!

I know you've been waiting for an update on the caterpillars we inherited almost a week ago!

Day #1

Day #3

Today is day 7!

I cannot believe how fast some of them are growing!

Day 4: you can see the caterpillar in the hole on the leaf.

They are eating just enough of it to clear the hole, but leave a thin layer to keep them there.

It's amazing!

Day 5: Same leaf, I'm assuming same caterpillar, different day.

Day 6: I changed out the leaves last night, so they could have some fresher food.

These are my biggest ones.

Jar A.

Day 7: This morning I woke up and the leaf in Jar C had started to mold.

I was shocked.

Those caterpillars are my smaller ones to begin with.

So I moved them in with Jar A.

I hope I don't regret that.

We went to the park to get new leaves, and I let the kids play at the playground.

I realized once I got home, I had forgotten the leaves.

The kids refused to return to the park.

It's so hot out!

I'm just waiting for them to get cooled down and we'll head back over.

Makes me so mad that I forgot them!!!

Other than that small setback, I feel it's going well.

This has been a lot of fun to watch them grow.

Lesson learned however: change out the leaves daily, whether it needs it or not!

I'm heading out this weekend to go camping!

Huzzah!

It's a girls only trip, and it's only for one night, but man am I excited!

I don't plan on setting up any posts over this weekend.

So I'll see you all Monday!

Butterfly update: Day 3

Today is our 3rd day of having caterpillars!

They are getting noticeably bigger and it's pretty exciting!

I love looking at the day 1 photo when the caterpillars were just hours old {if that}!

And today, where I can see they've gotten much bigger and are moving and eating like caterpillars should!

I can even see their legs now!

Day 1:

We got our eggs at church Saturday night.

When we got home we had 4 caterpillars!

Day 2:

I woke up to 15 caterpillars!

Day 3:

We moved them to 3 separate jars {yesterday} so that they could grow without becoming too crowded, but also so I could put bigger leaves in with them.

This is jar B.

So there is our update for the last couple days!

I'm pretty sure this is a pace I can handle.

I plan on coming back on Thursday to update you more.

Have a great day!

Butterfly Adventure: Day #1

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly."
R. Buckminster Fuller

Last night my friend gave us 20 butterfly eggs.

Her daughter was the recipient about a month ago of caterpillars.

Of course they watched the entire circle of a butterfly's life and the butterflies laid eggs before they set them free today.

She had so many eggs {300+} that she knew taking care of them would be a nightmare, so she gave them out like bags of Amish Friendship Bread starters.

I gladly and enthusiastically signed up!

She'd been posting the pictures of her sweet daughter with the babies for days and weeks!

When we got home after church we had several baby caterpillars crawling around in our tiny glad container.

{All photos are from Saturday night}

We are really excited to watch God's process through next few weeks.

Creation.

Growth.

Change.

Beauty.

Here is the leaf from our bowl.

On the right bottom of the leaf is a caterpillar.

On the far left halfway down is a blue dot.

That's an egg that isn't ready yet.

The black dots near the top middle are eggs that will probably be more babies by morning.

I'll keep you posted on how it's going!

I'm sure the kids won't let me forget!

See ya soon!

Linked to Sunday Citar at Fresh Mommy