Week 24 Summary

Another great week!  The kids had VBS all week and Doug was out of town for work, so I had some much-needed time to myself.  For a few days anyway since I helped out at VBS on Thursday and Friday.  Everyone is home today and things are semi-normal.  The kids have been getting along so far today.  Here's hoping it lasts.

This morning I chose to go for a bike ride (instead of a run) on the bike trail.  (It was a little too warm to run by the time I rolled out of bed.)  :)  Nick decided he needed to go with me.  While there, I concluded that I will leave him at home the next time.  :)  He needs to stop way too much.

Anyway, here's my week in pictures ...

12 - Pretty little butterfly on milkweed flowers.  We frequently look for Monarch caterpillars anytime we come across some milkweed.

13 - Nick enjoying a fresh-picked strawberry from our neighbor's greenhouse.

14 - Took the kids fishing at a different lake and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

15 - Random purple flower growing on our hillside.

16 - We finally got some rain and my lilies were very happy.

17 - Gold Rush VBS decoration painted by an incredibly talented lady from our church.

18 - Saw a mama turkey and her two babies on our bike ride this morning.

And if you happen to be stopping by from Inspire Happiness Daily, here's the photo that Tracey chose as one of her top 5 this week ...

It is our first teeny, tiny baby Monarch caterpillar of the year next to a grain of rice to show how small it is (was - he's grown quite considerably since then).  This photo isn't in this week's collage because it is from last Saturday.  My weekly summaries run from Sunday to Saturday.





To answer your question/comment Tracey (and anyone else who is interested), if Monarch butterflies live where you live, they lay their eggs on milkweed because that's what the caterpillars eat.  My kids can spot milkweed from a mile away now, so we stop and inspect them for eggs and/or caterpillars.  If we find one, we pluck the whole leaf and bring it home and place it into our bug box.  We give them a fresh leaf to eat every day or two, depending on how big the caterpillar is and how much they eat.  We also clean the container out every day because all caterpillars do is eat and poop and shed their skin.  :)  (We just wipe it out with a dry paper towel).


Here's the website Glorious-Butterfly to read all about how to raise them.  It is incredibly easy or else we wouldn't do it.  :)  We successfully raised 34 butterflies last summer and would like to raise more than that this summer, which I believe we will do since we started earlier.  It was like an ongoing science experiment for my kids.  They loved it!


Oh and as of today, we have 4 small caterpillars happily munching and 3 eggs awaiting to hatch.  :)  Can't wait to post butterfly photos!


Have a fabulous week!