Butterflies

Last year Allie got a butterfly kit for her birthday.  We sent away for the caterpillars a few weeks ago and we all had fun watching them eat and eat and get bigger and bigger.  Before long, they had formed their chrysalis and were ready to emerge as butterflies. 

 One of the chrysalis fell from the top and we worried that the butterfly wouldn't survive, but to our surprise, it did.  It didn't come away from the incident unscathed though.  It had a bent wing and couldn't fly very well.  Allie and Lily took it upon themselves to teach it how to fly.  They named her Dansa.

That poor butterfly endured 2 days of being bounced on the trampoline, flung off of high places, and countless recaptures.  It never learned how to fly.  Mike told me he was surprised that PETA allowed this sort of thing.  I'd have to agree.  We decided that we had our fun and it was time to let them go.  Allie kept them one more day.  She said that she wanted to make sure they remembered her face.  I figured her hands would be hard to forget.  As far as the 4 healthy butterflies knew, they'd see that hand and pretty soon Dansa would leave for a time only to come back battered, dazed, and confused with strange tales of things that bounce and hard concrete.  I think they lived in fear of the day they'd be chosen.  They got lucky and had freedom at last.

 I think it was hard for her to let them go...she caught one again for a last goodbye.

It was a fun thing for all of us (except Dansa).  I think we'll try ants next.  I have a friend who did lady bugs too.  That sounds fun.  We'll never have pets, so this counts right?

Last day of school for Jake

Jake loved school this year.  He has enjoyed being home all day, but I know he loved being at school with Mrs. Miller too.  She really did love all the kids in her class and was a great teacher.  He learned a lot this year, lost 2 teeth, and grew several inches.  I guess that's just how it goes.

Allie, Nate, and I went to his field day to help with the games.  It was fun to see some of the other 1st graders that I know and watch them all cheer each other on.  They really are cute at this age.  Pretty kind to each other and happy kids.

 Allie and Nate played at the playground and had fun watching the big kids.

Jake got to have a picnic and movie on the lunch room floor.  They all thought that was pretty great.

I am so glad I was able to help out in the classroom a bit this year.  It was fun to get to know some of the kids in Jake's class and see that they are good kids.  Jake is a friend to all of them and they are all nice to him.  Next year brings a whole new group of kids and a new teacher to get to love.  Jake's ready for it all...after he's spent a few months loving the freedom.

Conversation in the car

Allie:  I wish that baby in your belly could be twins.

Me:  Wouldn't that be fun?

Allie:  Yeah.  It would be so fun if there were two girl babies.  Then Lily could use one, and I could use one and we could send them down the slide and catch them at the bottom.

A couch or a vent...both are comfy.

I haven't been too sick with this pregnancy, but I did/do get a little yucky feeling in the evenings.  The couch was my friend and favorite place for a little while.  So, as I hung out on the couch, Nate looked for fun things to do near me.  He does like to pull all the wires from behind the tv and try to eject games from the wii.  Then, he plays with the VCR and tosses all the movies into a pile.  The latest though is this...his new favorite place.

He thinks he's pretty cool.

Paper Airplanes

The latest thing around our house is paper airplanes.  Jake will make an airplane out of any scrap of paper he can find.  Mike started the whole thing years ago by making them with the church program in Sacrament meeting...really reverent.  Now Jake can make his own.
A few weeks ago, our neighbor Stockton climbed a hill on the way up the canyon and was able to fly an airplane an obscene distance.  It got all the kids on fire to break the record for the longest paper airplane flight. 
Here they are getting folding instructions from the master.

It is now weeks later and Jake is still very into it.  He probably has 100 planes in the designated paper airplane bag.  They used to be strewn about his room like some crazy paper airplane graveyard.  Last weekend, Grandpa Joe bought them some light wood airplanes.  Those things can fly!  They've been fun to play with too.  Don't these kids have a fun life?

June 4th

My dad died on this day 9 years ago.  It was a really crappy day.  I was planting flowers in the back yard and my neighbor was installing our air conditioner when the call came.  Mike wasn't home yet and I remember sitting on the grass holding the phone in my hands in complete shock. 
I don't really want to drag up the sad memories of that day because it happened and it's lame, but I'd rather remember my dad for the fun things.  I'd rather remember his cheerful smile or his funny stories. 
The other day, we introduced Nate to ketchup.  I know he's had it before, but this was the first time he was eating it by his own volition.  He had a hot dog and he started dunking the pieces.  His eyes lit up and the hot dog became the tool to get more ketchup in his mouth.  I know lots of kids like ketchup and eat more of it than the food they are supposed to be eating, but it made me laugh and I thought that my dad would have been proud.  Our family is a ketchup family.  We didn't eat meat if it wasn't smothered in ketchup.  We went as a family to visit my brother's mission president and he cooked us steak.  My dad asked for ketchup and we used up his entire bottle.  Warren was embarrassed and the mission president was wondering if his steak was so terrible that we had to mask the flavor with ketchup.  My dad let him know that it wasn't that at all.  He says that it is actually a compliment for him to use ketchup on steak.  If the steak wasn't good, he wouldn't waste the precious ketchup on it.
And just so you know...he was partial to Heinz ketchup too.  None of the other stuff will completely satisfy. 

I miss you dad.  I think we'll have steak tonight.  With lots of ketchup.  Here's the next generation of ketchup lovers.  I wish you could have met them here.  Love you dad!

Access to the forbidden cupboard

When Jake was a baby, we were on board with the whole "baby proofing the house" thing.  We put little covers over the electrical outlets and put things on the doors to make it difficult to escape to the outside.  I tried to install things on the cupboards so they were off limit too.  Mike was helping and without more of a story than you wanted to know...we only got one "lock" on one cupboard.  It happens to be to the lazy susan.  You know, where we keep all the dangerous things like cereal.  If only we had started with the one under the kitchen sink, then I wouldn't have to worry about the poisons that Nate could ingest. 
Anyway, Nate has always wondered about that cupboard.  It's the only one he hasn't had access to.  Not only that, but he watches the other kids get tasty treats from there and can only whimper in sad rejection when the door is closed in front of his face.  He has tried to open it...even tried to wedge his hand into the 3 inch gap before the lock engages.  It's sort of like a raccoon trap. 

Well, as you can imagine, the point of this post is that one of the kids didn't close the door all the way and Nate found himself staring at the treasure trove within.  His "oh wow!" was enough to melt me and let him look in there for a little while before I dragged him away and off to his chair to eat.  He dropped a few cans and made a small mess, but he loved it.

The somewhat sad part of the story though, is that now he couldn't care less about the cupboard.  He no longer comes running when he sees that it is about to be opened.  He doesn't wedge his way in front of the kids and have a crying fit when the door is closed before he can get a good look.  He saw what was behind the mysterious door and was left un-impressed.  I wish I could say the same thing for all the naughty places he frequents.

Rocks for Sale!

Warm weather means rock selling days for the kids.  Allie and Lily learned from Carson and Jake that selling rocks can be lucrative.  They got started before the other kids got home from school and made a pretty good pile of cash.  Check out Allie stacking her coins...

 Here they are showing their wares.

The boys got home and saw that they were rolling in the dough, so they decided to join them. 
Nate was an interested customer, but didn't bring his money so he walked away empty handed. 

 Before long, they decided to move the operation to a busier corner.  It paid off in minutes.

...Another happy customer...

We've got some pretty great neighbors to help these guys out.  I wonder what they do with the rocks they buy? 
Next time it's a lazy afternoon and you decide you need a rock to complete your garden, come on by!  They'll hook you up with the best rocks you've ever seen.

Author's Fair

Jake's class did a little Author's fair to show the things they have been working on this year.  It was so fun to walk into his classroom and see him sitting at his little desk with all of his work around him.  He was proud of it and I was so proud of him.  It was fun to see how much he has grown from the beginning of the year.  His spelling is so much better, as is his content.  How do these little people learn so much in just one year?  I have been going into the classroom to help when I can and have grown to love the kids in his class.  They are a fun bunch and his teacher has been awesome.  The whole school is amazing.  We are lucky to be able to go there.

It was cute to me that he said he wants to go on a mission when he gets older. 

Jake showed Allie and me his best work and then served us cookies.  We wandered around the school a bit and Allie's excitement to start school there herself was amplified. 
I'd post some of his work, but we didn't get to take home his books yet.  I'll scan in some of my favorite pages later.

Our backyard friends

We discovered a nest next to our tire swing a few weeks ago.  I watched as that brave bird held her ground when the kids came to swing on the swing.  Our environmentally kind neighbor suggested that I make the kids stop using the swing for a few weeks so the bird could do her thing in peace.  That just isn't possible.  So the bird has just adjusted.


Last week, Allie noticed that there were three babies in the nest.  She promptly named them Chickadee, Kayna, and Ashley.  (Chickadee is the lone boy).  She has gone out to check on them frequently (like every 10 minutes). 
Allie noticed that the momma bird flies off any time she goes near the nest.  She worried that the mom would forget to feed the babies and decided that she would toss food up to the hungry babies.  I squelched that plan and told her the mom would take care of them on her own. 
Later, she and Lily were able to see the mom give the babies a worm.  They acted it out for me and everything.  Their new plan was to gather a bunch of worms and then leave them on the deck and hide so the mom will come and get them and feed them to the babies.  "That way, they won't have to share.  They can each have their own worm." 
I guess they thought it was gross that the mom spit the food into their mouths rather than let them each just eat their own worm. 
She said "I just hope those babies don't get so excited that they hop down out of the tree to eat the worms.  They just need to be patient and let the mom feed them.  Do you think the worms will look so juicy that they'll come out for them?"
I reassured her that the babies won't hop out of the nest till they were ready to fly.
Jake told her that the mom could just find worms on her own and that they'd all be okay. 
Allie said "I know, but I don't want that momma to have to get tired from going too far.  If she can just look down and find worms she won't even get her little wings tired."

So here are a few of the worms they collected.  The collection has grown to fill the bottom of the toy dump truck.  Those birds won't ever go hungry.
It has been fun to hear Allie's excitement about their every move.  I hope that mom decides to come back year after year.  I'm a little worried that she'll want a little more peace and quiet though and that's just not happening around here.