Caterpillars

So our little caterpillar survived the attack of the two year old.  He was quite energetic for a couple of days, exploring all over the butterfly home.  I had ordered the caterpillars via the internet that were supposed to be put in the butterfly home when I thought that ours was a goner, and they got here today.  So our tubby caterpillar may be on his way out, but we have 5 cutie little caterpillars to fill the void now.  They are less than an inch long!

Another Uninvited Bug

This time we are okay that it came over uninvited.  Today we found a caterpillar by our front door on the carpet.  The little guy is lucky I didn't vacuum him up.  We happen to have gotten a butterfly home for Nicholas' birthday, so we put the caterpillar in there.  Unfortunately, Kyle decided the home needed to be shaken and now our caterpillar is not moving anymore.  We shall see if the poor guy survived the attack of the 2 year old.

 

Plus our ants are starting to dig their own tunnels!

Build a Bear

Nicholas used his birthday money from Uncle Phill, Auntie Molly, and JT at Build a Bear Workshop today.  He has been dying to go there and make his own bear! 
It was a special trip with just him and Mom.  He looked at all the bears and picked out a white one.  Then he picked out a Spider-man outfit for his bear.  When the woman who was helping him stuff his bear told him they also had a Batman outfit, Nicholas changed his mind on the clothes for his bear. 
And so today, Fluffy the Batman Bear was born and he and his little beating bear heart belong to Nicholas.  (It actually does have a little heart that beats when you hug him!)
When we got home, Nicholas told Connor they have a Darth Vader outfit, so of course now Connor desperately wants to go build a bear as well.

Fluffy was not so fluffy when we picked him out.

 the Spider-man outfit

 Nicholas had to kiss the heart before putting it in his bear.

 

 Fluffy has been fluffed and sewn!

 Time to give Fluffy and air bath to remove any loose fluff.

 Fluffy is all dressed up and ready to go!

 

By day, Fluffy will don his Batman costume and by night he will be his normal fluffy self so he can be hugged by Nicholas. 

Super Star

Today Nicholas was the Super Star in his classroom.  He got presented his award in front of the whole school at morning assembly.  He was very excited! 

 

 

 Connor came to say hi after the presentation.

  

In further exciting news, his harvester ants finally arrived in the mail.  They are now in their new home and we can't wait to see them dig their tunnels.  We just have to keep them from Kyle who is likely to release them from their habitat.  He knows where their lid is located and how to take it off!  Scary!

 The little blue vial containing the ants.

 The gel home for the ants

  We had to build some starter tunnels for them.

 

We had to put the ants in the fridge for 15 minutes to put them to sleep so they would be easier to put in their new home.

 The gel has lights to help you see them better.

Nicholas had to do a project for the 100th day of school.  We threw this together quickly using some of the insect stickers we had left-over from the birthday party.  

Birthday Boy (and apologies)

Today Nicholas turned 6 years old.  It is so amazing how fast time flies.
We had his party this previous weekend and we all had fun.  It was a bug themed party and it seems that some unforeseen bugs made an appearance there.  Sunday night and Monday morning, most of us were sick with a stomach bug.  Unfortunately, many of our guests also became ill.  We feel so horrible about that!  Little did we know how far our 'bug' theme would go.  :(  I hope everyone is finally all better.  We are so terribly, unbelievably sorry we sent you home with a stomach bug.
Here is the birthday boy today!  He chose a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake and we had Floretine's for dinner because Nicholas wanted Italian food (particularly spaghetti and meatballs).

 The day of the party, we had butterfly stickers on the ceiling.

We had puzzles, games, coloring, insect rubbings, insect stencils, crayons, markers, insect crowns, and an insect bingo.

 

 

 Here was our spread for food.

 The buggy cake!

 

 The butterfly pull-string pinata

 

 

 More cake pictures

 

 Presents!

Memories

Last night, I was driving home from the grocery store and I had the radio on.  They started playing a song I'd never heard and once I took in the lyrics, I started weeping.  It was about a dad fishing with his daughter and talking about all the memories they were making.  All the memories of fishing with my own Dad came pouring forward and I was so happy to have those memories to cherish.  Of course, I called him this morning and told him about it.  Now he has our fishing trips on his mind too.  :)

Here's the video on youtube, if you are interested in listening to it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IheODRwalEw

Usborne Books

I recently became an independent consultant for Usborne books.  These are fabulous, beautifully illustrated, and educational books.  The company started in 1975 with the goal of making books that engaged children and made them want to read and learn, and not just sit on the couch watching television.  These books are sold all over the world and I'm so excited to be a part of it.  My own boys and I love the books and can't wait to own more of them.  If you have a moment, please peruse my link below so that you may also fall in love with Usborne books.  After all, a love of reading is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children.
You can purchase from my website and have them shipped to you, wherever you live.  Happy browsing!
https://u3593.myubam.com/14013