Barbies and Butterflies

The jar contains caterpillars that have made their cocoons. We got a butterfly kit about a week & a half ago. It came w/the caterpillars, food, and a cage for them. The caterpillars came very tiny and then grew so fat. Four of the five have gone to the top and made their cocoons. The fifth one had gotten stuck and wasn't eating. He has since gotten big, but is a few days behind the others. I'm hoping he will attach himself soon so I can take the top off and put it in the net area. Linda has been very excited about this process and has enjoyed seeing them get big, and now just in the last two days form a cocoon. She can't wait until they turn into butterflies, b/c she has a net she plans on using to catch them. too cute.

The other pics are the new barbie jeep we found at a yard sale. I got a great deal on it. They run $250 new. This one is only two years old and I got it for $25. Most of the time if you get it that low the battery needs to be replaced. This one the battery is running fine. It really was a great deal! Linda tried it out and didn't like it much. It jerked her unexpectedly the first time and then she was leary of it. The picture of me in there is how I am showing her it's so fun to ride, and not to be weary of the jerk. The battery is quite powerful as it drove me around w/no problem. I'll give her a couple weeks to warm up to it. If she doesn't like it then we'll sell it to someone else for $25.

Homeschool Fire Safety Day

Most of you know we are probably going to homeschool little Linda. Since we are leaning toward that direction, I decided to try to find some support groups and homeschool playgroups since the current playgroups Linda are in won't be appropriate for her as she gets older. I found a homeschool group that organizes field trips. Several of the field trips we aren't able to attend b/c they are at around 1pm. This field trip was early in the morning. It was organized thru the city, and I must say I'm impressed. They went all out for these kids. They had a fire truck, an ambulance, a monster fire truck. They had a fire safety trailer the kids went thru. It had three little rooms and the kids went into each room and identified problem areas (pot holder on burner, newspaper near fire place, etc) Then they practiced climbing out a window. The kids were told over and over not to hide when there is a fire. They were told to stop drop and roll if their clothes caught on fire. They were told to crawl on the floor when there is smoke. They even had a room set up they filled w/smoke and the kids crawled thru and climbed out a window! Linda knows her phone number and address so I had her practice saying it to the fireman. I thought this was very important instead of her just saying it to us all the time. Have I mentioned how grateful I am to live in this area? I am excited to take such a large part in Linda's education. These are the types of things she will be doing all the time to learn. I suspect at least 1/2 her education will be outside or going somewhere doing different things. I think it has really made her well rounded so far.

My Little Farmer Girl

As you know Linda is a very active little girl. She enjoys all sorts of activities that really enrich her life. We are fortunate to have a nice balance, and usually a couple times a week we make sure to just stay home and relax. I have never seen her get as excited as she does when she finds out she is going to the farm. Oh my goodness. The child lights right up. We packed up the bike trailer today and headed down to the farm. When we got there, we asked if there were any field trips we could jump in with. We got lucky, and there was another preschool coming in for a field trip a few minutes after we arrived. Linda had a real nice time. They learned about bees, peacocks (did you know the peacock can lose ALL it's tail feathers at once if faced w/grave danger?), ducks, llamas, donkeys, birds, plants, worms, bugs, tadpoles, & chickens. I didn't realize Linda knew so much about birds. The girl was showing several different types of birds and Linda was able to identify each one. they got to dig for worms, and plant a sunflower. They took a peacock feather home. It didn't take Linda long to catch a chicken! I don't even know how many "look I caught a chicken" pictures I have, lol. She also fed the goats today. They had little baby goats that were so cute. Overall, Linda had such a great time. Again, we are so blessed to live in an area w/these types of activies for her to enjoy.

All Things Bugs

Have I mentioned the child LOVES bugs? Today she found a cricket. She has no fear of bugs. She is not allowed to pick up spiders or touch bees, but everything else is fair game. I love that she has no fear. The other day she said as she was picking up an unknown bug, "It might bite me." Then she picked it up. She has gotten pinched before by those huge black beatles, but still she will pick them up. I would say bugs are her greatest love. We got her a little necklace where she can put her bugs in and carry them around and look at them. She loves it. I don't care for bugs, but I tried my best not to influence her when she was little (screaming when I saw one, etc). She is just the coolest kid and I love that she is so adventurous.

The other pic is just a cute one of Copper. Tom got me a new camera for Mother's Day and we were trying it out. Our old camera was 3.1 megapixals. This one is 12! I'm excited b/c the other camera was great, but when I blew up a picture, you could really tell it was low megapixal. I'm happy to have a new one.

A Great Day

Linda and I had so much fun after nap today. I had bought some sunflower seeds to plant w/her so out we went. She was so excited to plant them. They are the 12 ft ones. That should be so fun to watch them grow. We also planted the plants that her and Grandpa Mc started from seeds. She was interested to learn about the roots and see the seed and how it opened, etc.

I had checked out a My First Little House book from the library a while ago and Linda loved it so much. I LOVE Little House on the Prairie, so I began searching for the entire set to buy (at very discounted rates, lol) I couldn't find anything on Craig's list, freecycle, or Ebay. I had joined a homeschooling on line flea market site and saw them on there. I bought them all. They arrived today. I was so excited to share these books w/Linda. She has loved reading them today. It's just one of those days I am so happy to have a daughter. She is such a blessing in my life.

the other pic is of the duck we had for a day. I had the summer safety cover off for the initial vac of the pool. all of a sudden this duck came and was visiting us for the day. The dogs chased him away, and now the cover is on, so it wouldn't be comfy for the duck.

playgroup painting

We went to playgroup this morning and the kids painted pots for their moms. Linda loves crafts and enjoyed painting.

The Gardens

We had a lovely day at the gardens today. It had been so long since we went. I missed all the tulips blooming, which was so disappointing. But the azaleas are in full bloom and they were so pretty. The water fountains are on for the kids to play in now. Linda had a great time. She climbed right up the tree. It was an easy tree to climb, but she had no fear about getting up in it. She is so curious about everything. We had a great time today.