A Pet Butterfly

A couple years ago, my mom got Sonya a Butterfly Garden like this one for her birthday.  Basically, it's a place to house caterpillars who have gone into their chrysalis and are about to turn into butterflies.  You order the caterpillars from the same place you get the Butterfly Garden.  When you get the caterpillars, they are in a little cup with a lid.  They are so tiny when they arrive that you can barely find them, but they all become "the very hungry caterpillar", and in a week they are ginormous.  Then they climb to the top of the cup and form a chrysalis around themselves.  At this point you open the cup and move them to the Butterfly Garden, where you wait for them to come out as beautiful butterflies.  This is something we've done at least 3 or 4 times, since my mom got this for us.  I just order new caterpillars when the weather starts getting warmer so we can watch it all over again.  It's inexpensive, and educational for the girls and they LOVE it.  In all the times we've been doing it, we have have always ended up with five perfect butterflies.  That is, until this time.


I thought things were going fine, until I noticed three of the five caterpillars had formed their chrysalis on the bottom of the cup.  I've never seen this happen before.  They always hang upside down from the top, so already I was a bit weary of how these guys were going to turn out.  Then about a week ago, they started to come out of their pupal stage.  The first one I found was perfect and flying around.  The second one came out and he appeared to have his wings folded down, but I figured when they dried out a little more he'd be okay.  Then over the next day the other three opened up and also seemed perfectly fine.  I did notice however, that the one who had the folded down wings, did NOT get better.  He stayed on the bottom of the garden and would open his folded wings every now and then, but it was clear he was not in good shape.


This spawned a discussion about how the butterfly had something wrong with him.  I told the girls he was born handicapped.  He was just as important as the other butterflies, but he was not going to be able to do as much, like fly for example.  I was worried about what was going to happen when we released him, but unfortunately(or perhaps fortunately), he died before he got that far.


The other four butterflies were anxious to leave and get out into the world to party with their other butterfly friends, so on Saturday we released them.  The first couple took off as soon as we opened up the garden. Sonya wanted to hold the other ones before we let them go, so I allowed her.  She gently took out one placed it on her hand, and he quickly flew away.  Then she took the last one, who I noticed, had one wing that looked a little funky.  She put him on her hand, but when he tried to fly away he quickly fell to the ground.  Turns out he was a bit handicapped too.  I told the girls to carefully pick him up and place him on some flowers in our backyard.  It was at this point that they decided he was theirs to keep.


The rest of the day the butterfly was walked around the yard on Sonya's hand, with Lana and Georgia getting a turn every now and then.  He would flutter his wings, but he couldn't go anywhere.  Sonya was walking around yelling,


"This butterfly REALLY likes me! He just keeps sitting on my hand! He's not even trying to go anywhere!"


I didn't have the heart to tell her, that if he tried to fly away he would nose dive into the grass, so for survival sake, he was staying put on her hand.   By the end of the day the girls had named him, "Butterscotch".  Great, now we HAD to keep him.  They put him back in the flowers for the night, where I was sure he would meet his demise.


The next day, the first thing the girls did when they got up was go outside to look for Butterscotch.  Damned if that butterfly wasn't still there.  Again, he was carried around all day by Sonya, and at one point they made a table full of flowers as a sort of buffet for him, and let him sit on top.  They would put him back in the flower bed from time to time and then check on him again, carrying him around the yard.  When night came, he went back to the same spot.


Then yesterday morning, they ran outside again to check on good ol' Butterscotch.  This time, unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.  We have cats that wander our neighborhood at night as well as the occasional rat and opossum so who knows what creature found Butterscotch that night, but there was no sign of him.  The girls were upset and walking around the yard calling his name.


"BUTTERSCOOOOTTTTCHHH!!  BUTTTTTTEEERRRSCCOOOTTCCHHH!!!"


I'm not kidding.  This went on for at least thirty minutes.  At one point, another butterfly flew by the area where Butterscotch had been living and Lana decided that was probably him.  He could probably just fly now.  Sure, that sounds good.  Better than the thought of him being eaten by a rat.  Although, I can assure you, there was no way he could all of a sudden fly.  But my girls are still young, and  I see no reason to crush their hope of Butterscotch flying around. Perhaps he's hanging out with his butterfly friends now, instead of being digested in some critter.  They have plenty of time to find out that life can be more sucky and less hopeful like that.  No reason to make them jaded now.  Besides, I guess there is that hopeful piece of me that wonders if maybe, just maybe he didn't magically get better and fly away.  Unfortunately, the logical side knows that isn't possible, and life IS just sucky like that. 


R.I.P. Butterscotch





PS-I had to add this.  As I was finishing up this post, the girls were outside having a snack.  Then I heard Lana yell,


"Look!  A butterfly!"


Sonya said, "Awww, it must be Butterscotch, because he's not flying very well."


Life really is better when you're young and naive.

School's Out for the (Spring)Summer!

Today was Sonya's last day of first grade.  Yes, it was today.  I just heard all of you yell "but it's May!" You have to remember though, she went back to school in the middle of August.  Still, I can't believe a whole school year has gone by already.  And I can't believe my first baby is now out of first grade.


I know I say it a lot on here, how I feel like time is just going way too fast, but it really is.  It makes me sad when I think about it too much.  At least I still have two who haven't even started school yet, but in the blink of an eye they will be right there with Sonya.  So, I had to fight back tears this morning as she left for her last day of school, because I am sad she is growing up.  Also, because now I have ten weeks with her at home.  All day. Every day.  I know, I'm conflicted.


As it turns out my daughter is just as sensitive as I am, if not more.  Most kids are thrilled with the last day of school.  They usually count down the days until it comes.  When I went to pick Sonya up from school today, I watched as all the kids ran out of the school with big smiles on their faces.  They were ready to face the next six weeks of no school and no homework, with happiness and excitement.  Then I saw Sonya.  She walked down the steps of the school in tears.


"What happened girlie?" I asked as I put my arm around her shoulders.


"I'm going to miss Mrs. Mckenna!!!" she wailed between sobs.


Sonya gets just a tad bit attached to people.  So far she's loved every teacher she's had since preschool and has cried leaving every one of them.  I told her to calm down, and if she stopped crying we would take a picture with her and her teacher.  We took the picture and said our goodbyes.  Then the girls ran around outside with the other school kids for about 20 minutes.  Sonya forgot about being sad and leaving her beloved teacher.  Then we started walking to the car, and she started to get upset again.  She cried in the car the entire way to In-N-Out.  She's a sensitive soul, that one.


Luckily cheeseburgers, french fries and lemonade, make everything better.  

Messy Art 2

Today I took Georgia to the second round of messy art class.  It's also the last one we are going to.  There is one on Thursday, but I have set that day aside as my grocery shopping day since I just have Georgia in the mornings.  Not so sure when the hell I'm going to grocery shop once Sonya and Lana are out of school, which is next week, but we'll deal with it then.  I just wanted to share with you a couple more cool ideas for art to do with or give to your kids during the summer.


Now, as I said in the last post about this, I think it best if you do these projects outside.  Sure you can do them in your house, but who wants to clean up that mess?  This way the mess is outside where you can't see it and where the hose or rain can clean it up for you!  Win win!  Or maybe just winning.  I'll check with Mr. Sheen on that one.  Anyway, today we did a good deal of painting, which doesn't seem all that different, but it's what the kids painted with that made it fun.  Instead of the same ol' paintbrush technique, they had trays of paint (one color per tray), with different things to use to put the color on the paper.  Things like little toy cars that you roll in the paint and then roll across he paper, loofahs, hairbrushes, kitchen utensils, plastic squeaky toys,  and just about anything else you can think of.  The kids love using something other than paintbrushes, and the pictures come out with a more textured look.  Plus it's a good way to put all those old Happy Meal toys to good use! 

Another painting project involved using salad spinners.  Get an old salad spinner, or perhaps just the one you don't use at home, like I have.  Then get some paper plates and paint.  Place the paper plate inside the salad spinner and drip different color paint onto the plate.  Then put the lid on the spinner and spin away!  The result is a "spin art" picture.  

The last thing I will share with you is probably my favorite one we did.  We made our own silly putty!  This one is super easy, but keep in mind also a bit messy.  You need, 1/4 cup white Elmer's glue, 1/4 cup liquid starch and paper or plastic cups.  Mix the glue and starch in the cup together.  Stir it until it starts to form a more solid consistency.  Then take it out and squish together with your hands.  It will eventually become a putty like substance that the kids can play with and reuse.  I believe it's best to put it in an air tight container when they are done playing with it.  You may also be able to add some food coloring to this one so it's not just boring white, but not I'm not positive about that, so do it at your own risk. 


Well, this concludes Kristi's Messy Art for Summer.  If I run across any other good ideas, I will certainly send then along.  In the meantime I hope this help all of you, as well as myself, to keep some sanity this summer!  Good luck! 

Vying For Attention

This week has been crazy for me.  First Sonya had a fever last weekend, and all this week Georgia has had it.  My kids love to get high fevers for long periods of time.  It makes going places and doing things so much more enjoyable.  Not to mention that since it's the end of the school year, we've had every kind of assembly, pot luck or meeting to attend.  As a result, Lana has been a bit neglected.  The attention hasn't been on her, and she showed it by attracting negative attention ALL DAY on Thursday.


I think it was around time out number five that I realized maybe that was why she was acting out.  Still, it's hard to give attention to the non-sick kid when the sick one needs you constantly.  It culminated to Mommy getting a tiny bit angry and yelling just a bit on Thursday night. It was directed at her and Sonya, who had developed quite a 13 year old attitude since getting over her fever.  Not sure what THAT is all about.


After I took a shot of vodka deep breath and calmed down, I talked to each of the girls about their behavior and how we could all better handle ourselves the next day.  At the end of my chat with Lana she asked if we could paint her fingernails the next day.  I told her that of course we could, figuring it would be perfect one on one time with her, and something fun and easy to do.  She was excited for her mani/pedi, and I told her the sooner she went to sleep the sooner we could wake up and do it.  


Thursday night was a terrible nights sleep for me, like the past few nights had been. Since the girls have been sick it's like I have a newborn again.  I've been up every two hours or so to calm feverish children or put them in the bathtub for a bit when it got to high.  Needless to say, it's been a bit hard to get up in the morning.  Thankfully, I didn't have anything pressing to do Friday morning besides getting Sonya and Andy out of the house.   I decided not to get up to work out that morning and sleep in a bit.  Around 7:15 I heard footsteps heading toward my room.  Then I felt someone climb onto the bed and on top of me.  I opened my eyes to Lana staring me in the face.


"Good morning mommy!" She said all smiles.  At least she was in a good mood.


"Good morning, Lana," I answered yawning.


"Can we go paint my nails now?"


Really?  Right now? I'm in bed, still half asleep, and not moving and she really thinks I'm going to get up and paint her nails? Even though I did say the next day, I didn't really mean the moment she got out of bed.  Next time I will have to be more specific.  

A Cure For the Summer Doldrums

Yesterday I took Georgia to a class in the morning called "messy art".  Oh and it was!

When I first walked into the class and saw the table with whatever that was on it, my first instinct was to keep her away from that particular art project.  Of course her first instinct was to go to that table first. Turned out that was the same instinct every three year old had walking in there.  I mean it looked like fun, but it also looked like a total mess.  I eventually let her instinct win because the clothes she was wearing were already ruined clothes and hell, I didn't have to clean up the mess afterward, so why not?  She had a ton of fun with it, as you can see.  

I'm sure you are wondering just what it is that is all over her.  Well, that is the point of this post today.  As she was playing with it and I was thinking I would NEVER do this at home, I  then thought to myself, wait why not?  That mess that you see is shaving cream mixed with a liquid food coloring that doesn't stain.  Now while I would not do this INSIDE my house, there is no reason I can't set up this fun little project outside on the girls plastic picnic table.  Afterward, I can hose down the table and the girls.   I'm pretty sure they would play with this for at least an hour outside.  This is a perfect thing to give them to do this summer when I'm ready to ship them off to another continent.  They get out of the house to play, and I get a little peace inside to clean, write or even poop.  

I just wanted to share this with all of you so you too can give this to your kids to do.  Get the cheapest cans of shaving cream you can find and liquid food coloring.  I think you can find that at an art supply store like Michael's.  I believe it says on the outside of the bottle that it won't stain most clothing.  

The other art room we went to  had a different sensory project that was also easy and just as fun.  Something else to put outside on the picnic table!  They filled containers with corn starch, water and food coloring.  The corn starch and water make this kind of quicksand type substance.  It feels solid and liquidy all at the same time.  It's really fun to squish through your fingers too.  I could have played with that for hours!

So there you are my friends.  A couple very simple although very messy things for your kids to play with to help out with the "I'm bored" whines this summer.  I would suggest putting them in messy clothes, and for sure doing these outside.  Otherwise it defeats the purpose of making your life easier.  

We have another class we are going to next Tuesday, so if they have any more good, fun easy ideas I will pass them along!  Here's to hoping we all make it through the summer alive.

Dinnertime Fun

We don't get to have dinner together as a family every night, like most families do.  Unfortunately, Andy's work schedule means he gets home right before or right after the girls go to bed, so dinner is long since over.  Therefore on the weekends, we try to sit down and have as many meals as possible together  as a family.  The dinners have become more pleasant as the girls have gotten older and less of a pain to feed.  They have also become more entertaining because Andy likes to joke around a lot, and they love it.  We end up having a pretty good time most meals.  It makes me sad that we don't get to do it all the time, but I guess I'll be grateful for what we do have.  


This past weekend, on Saturday night, we were sitting around the dinner table, toward the end of our meal. Andy was joking with the girls and we were all laughing.  He got up to refill his drink, and Georgia decided to continue the antics.  She turned around in her seat, her back facing me.  Then I heard her say,


"I can't bweath!"


I got nervous for a minute thinking she was having a hard time breathing for some reason.  I thought maybe it was the way she was turned and perhaps she was pushed up too close to the table.  


"Georgia, baby, turn around and relax for a minute."  Then I pushed her back from the table a bit to help her get her breath back.  When she turned around toward me I saw the reason she could't breath and she said to me again,


"I can't bweath!" She said  as she was holding her nose closed with her fingers.  


Huh. Perhaps we don't need a college savings account for that one.  

Preparing To Be Scared

Yesterday I had to take all three girls to the dermatologist for various different reasons.  Nothing serious, but they just all had some kind of skin rash here or itchy scalp there.  Our pediatrician had given me a referral to a dermatologist to get a more specified opinion on what was going on with their skin. 


When we got to the office,  I was given paperwork to fill out on ALL THREE girls.  We were new to this particular office so they needed all the information you usually fill out when you go to a doctor for the first time.  Times three.  Yeah, that took a while.  


The girls were actually behaving fairly well, thankfully. Then I noticed why. I looked up to see a TV mounted on the wall and playing on it was Pirates of the Caribbean.  Don't ask me which one, because I think I've only seen the first two, and those only once.  Not to mention the part of the movie they were watching there was nothing but fighting going on.  Wait-isn't that pretty much the whole movie?  Whatever. 


 The girls had their eyes glued to the screen.  Having watched not much more than Mickey Mouse and Sesame Street at this point in their lives, they were intrigued.  They have seen Star Wars, but even that is not as shoot 'em up as Pirates.  I looked over at Georgia and she was obviously a little uncomfortable.  I asked if she was scared and she told me yes.  I asked Lana if she was scared and she said she was fine.  I reminded them all that this was pretend and these were just actors telling a story.  Nobody was really getting shot or dying.  Then I looked at Sonya who was going back and forth between trying to concentrate on her coloring and being captured by what was going on in the movie.  She is the one who was afraid of watching movies for so long.  She is the one who will probably never watch a scary movie in her life, at least not on purpose.  So I said to her,


"Sonya, you okay?  Are you scared?"


She looked over at me and said, "No, I'm fine."


 Then after a pause she said very matter of fact, "I'll just have nightmares tonight."


Oh, well as long as you're not scared NOW.