Snails and Karate

Over the past few days, we've been trying to do some work from the R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life curriculum I bought at the beginning of the summer.  I feel very mixed about it.  On one hand, it's nice having a curriculum where what you need to do is all laid out.  I like the extra reading suggestions list and the fact that they have a page listing everything you need for each lab (which is mostly household items).  On the other hand, the worksheets included are very writing intensive, and writing is not Red's strength (i.e. she can write well when she feels like it, but is quickly fatigued).  Even though the publisher says it's designed for 1st through 5th grade, I think if you intend to have the child do most of the writing it is definitely geared toward the older grades in that range.


A couple of days ago we went for a hike on a trail close to our house.  We didn't last very long because there were mosquitoes out the size of pterodactyls, but we did collect some snails for observation for the unit on mollusks.  We're planning on returning them to their home on the trail tomorrow, but in the meantime we've had fun checking out the little creatures and their slime.

Another new development in the last week is that we started Tom Thumb in karate class.  Red has been taking dance since she was two and took two years of figure skating when she was 3 and 4.  Unlike Red who is super outgoing and always wants to try something new, Tom Thumb has been a little bit more cautious.  He tried a couple of dance classes last year because there was another boy in the class for his age group.  He would last about 10 minutes in class and then would want to come sit on my lap with his blankie in the hall.  Since he's not going to preschool, I wanted to give him some more opportunities to hang out with some other kids. We decided to try a local martial arts studio that offered a deal on one month of classes including the uniform to try it out.  So far, he's gone to three classes and has loved every single one.  He spends most of the class smiling and the instructors are very encouraging and enthusiastic.  This might be a winner.  Fingers crossed...

Story of the World Ancient Times: The Earliest People, Part 1

We read Story of the World: Ancient Times chapter 1 yesterday--- The Earliest People.  It was about the nomadic life in the Fertile Crescent 7000 years ago and the nomads transition to farming.  I'm really enjoying how the book is written in a conversational style and not a typical textbook format.  Part of the story was about a seven year old girl named Tarak and her responsibility to gather food for her people.  She even caught lizards with her brother so her mother could make lizard stew.  Mmmmmm....maybe I should whip some up for dinner tonight.

Red decided she wanted to try a couple of the activities from the Story of the World activity book. One was building a hut either for you or a stuffed animal.  Because the Cobbler did such a great job cleaning up the yard this spring, there weren't a lot of branches left to construct a hut.  He did leave several large branches he had trimmed off a tree under the big pine tree so we leaned those against the tree trunk and I helped her throw some blankets and sheets up over them.  She and Tom Thumb sat out there for a good while in it eating  crackers and (it's a miracle!) not arguing!

Red also tried some map work for the first time.  Here's the map she colored of the Fertile Crescent area.

She insisted on coloring the Red Sea red. :-)  We had a good discussion about how Lebanon is part of the Fertile Crescent.  Her close friend's father grew up in Lebanon so we compared Lebanon's location on the globe to the map she colored.  We're planning on doing a couple more of the activities that go with chapter 1 so I'll do a separate post when we do those.

On a sad note, our crumpled wing butterfly died after 6 days of life.  He was looking more and more withered and tired as time went on.  Red found him dead this morning.  She was sad, but seemed to understand that it was going to happen eventually.  I know it was just an insect, but I'm a bit down about it myself.

And finally---today is my anniversary.  Eleven years of trials and bliss!  Ha ha!  The Cobbler had to go into work at 7AM this morning, but when I came downstairs I found this:

I have been coveting this mirror at Pier One.  Often on our date nights (we go out a couple of evenings each month) we just go up to the shopping plaza near our house that has stores like Target, TJMaxx, Michaels, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Pier 1 and just browse.  I had seen this mirror a few times and commented on how much I liked it, but how I didn't know where I'd put it and that I knew it wasn't really the Cobbler's taste (he is decidedly more conservative than me decorating wise).  I have no idea when he got it, but this morning there it was!  What a thoughtful husband I have...  

Because of the nature of his work this week (i.e. going into work between 6AM and 7AM and getting off between 8PM and 9PM), the Cobbler has a hotel room right up the street from our house at the Hyatt, where the event he is working is located.  The kids are DYING to go swimming in the hotel pool today so I better get ready to take them over there.

Happy Friday everyone!

The butterflies are released...sort of

 Yesterday, Red decided it was time to release the butterflies.  She took the habitat to the backyard and opened the lid.  After a few minutes, this guy came out and fluttered away.

A few minutes later, another one flew off over the fence into our neighbor's yard.  Then, our poor friend with the crumpled wings decided it was dinner time.  Commentary is courtesy of our neighbors Justine and Kara.

It was very cool to see him eat.  This was the first time we had actually seen one of them really eating and not just standing on the orange.  I found the straw apparatus that they use to eat (the blacker line that looks like a leg) simply fascinating.


Then there were two.  I had to head off to book club, but the Cobbler told me later that eventually the last butterfly with the good wings flew off too.  Since he can't fly, Red decided to let our crumpled winged friend live out his life in the habitat.  And he seems content to do that.

On the scientific side, we'll be able to observe how long its life is and whether or not it lays eggs.  Unfortunately if it does lay eggs, we have nothing for the larvae to eat.  The instructions say in order for them to lay eggs they must have "a good supply of hollyhock, malva, nettle or thistle leaves," which we do not.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.


Here are some photos from Red's kindergarten graduation and picnic.  95 degree weather couldn't keep those kids down.  They did a song and dance, ate, and then ran all over the place.  Red was disturbed by the fact that some of the little boys took their shirts off, but I wouldn't let her take off hers.  I got a lot of "But why?" and "That's not fair."  Geez---I didn't think I'd have to deal with that one for a while.

Here they are before the song and dance.  Red is far right.

Then they graduated.  The lights are off because it was so darn hot.

Pizza time!

And now summer OFFICIALLY begins!

And then there were four...

Three more butterflies emerged from the chysalides yesterday.  We even captured one coming out on camera.  Take a look at the picture above with the butterfly standing next to the empty chrysalis.  Then, check out a different little guy pushing his way out of his in the video below:

And here he is with his friends after he finally got out the rest of the way:

It was a pretty awesome sight.  I'm not sure if the fifth chrysalis is going to open or not.  They all went into their cocoons at different times so we'll see.  We'll give him until tomorrow to come out.  We don't know how the one little guy got the bent wing.  He was the first guy to come out so he was either born that way, got the 5 year old girl squish, or got  injured when the cats initially whacked the habitat off the kitchen counter.  We'll never know...


We're planning on letting them go free on Thursday or Friday so they have an opportunity to experience the great outdoors before their life cycle ends.  Right now, the butterfly habitat is on top of the Cobbler's tall bureau in our bedroom.  If you even approach the habitat, the butterflies go crazy flapping their wings which drives the cats INSANE.  Pumpkin tried so hard to get them that I had to toss her butt out into the hall and shut the door.


Today is Red's class picnic so we've been busy baking cookies this morning.  I also took the purple out of my hair.  The extensions had grown out quite a bit (who knew my hair grew that fast?) so it was starting to get a little weird looking.  I easily got out the first five.  The last one took me about ten minutes to get out.  It just wouldn't let go!


Lots to do around the house today.  It is too easy to get behind!  Here's to a lovely Tuesday!

We have a butterfly!

After being yanked out of its habitat while still in the pupa state by a bunch of 5 year old girls and then subsequently having the habitat whacked off the counter by cats, we have a butterfly!  It emerged after spending seven days in its chrysalis.  I just put a pink peony covered with sugar water into the habitat to see if it will eat.  We still have four more that we are waiting on with baited breath.  Will they make it?

The peril of being with a pack of five year olds...

Yesterday was Red's kindergarten field trip to the zoo.  We went with Tom Thumb and two of her friends and their moms in our van.  Needless to say, it was a ZOO!  The prairie dogs were out in force.

The peacocks were putting on a show.

The gorilla was posing like a GQ model.

The kids had a stare down with a meerkat.

After six hours of walking with the animals, we made it home only to host neighborhood happy hour at our house.  A good time was had by all, except the chysalides.

Notice that we now have four chysalides on the floor of the butterfly house instead of one.  Red decided it was a good idea for she and her friends at the party last night to get a closer look by plucking them off the paper on the wall of the house.  To be honest, I was pretty upset.  Red seemed unconcerned about it and her lack of empathy for the little creatures made me sad.  Hopefully, the talk she had with the Cobbler last night sunk in the need to be kind to animals.  Will they live through the trauma and still become butterflies?  They've been in their pupa state since Monday so they're due to emerge sometime between tomorrow and Wednesday.  Only time will tell...

Day 11: Transferring the Chrysalides

The furry beasties finally turned themselves into chrysalides.  I read the instructions about how to get them out of the container and then began the process.  I lifted the lid off and then had the Cobbler hold the paper they are attached to while I picked the pieces of "silk" (e.g. the cobweb like stuff they made in the cup) off of them and the paper per the instructions.  Then came the fun part---the transfer into the butterfly house.  Here are some photos pre-transfer:

The Cobbler held them up so the kids could get a closer look.  Four of the caterpillars ended up attached to the paper.  One fell off and was lying inside the cup.  First, I pinned the paper with the four chysalides to the inside of the butterfly habitat.

Then, Red moved the fifth chysalid into the house.  You're supposed to put a napkin or paper towel in the bottom of the habitat and lay any "droppers" on top of it.  

 Then, all hell broke loose.  It said in the instructions that the chysalides may shake a little in order to "ward off predators."  What it didn't say is that they would writhe like they were possessed!  That chysalid had no problem warding off me and every other living thing in the vicinity!  Here's a video the Cobbler took after I jumped out of my skin and finally stopped shrieking.  Keep in mind---the thing was thrashing about much more prior to him taking the video footage.

Don't you love the kids giggling at their terrified mother? Here we are after we (or should I say "I") calmed down.

Now we wait seven to ten days for the butterflies to emerge.  

The Caterpillars on Day 10: Upside Down!

It's hard to get a clear shot into the cup now, but four out of the five caterpillars have made it to the lid and are now hanging upside down.  Stay tuned for what happens next!

On a completely separate note (even though I shouldn't have because I have too many other projects going on), I ordered some fabric last night to reupholster the seat and back of a rocking chair.  Probably a year ago, my aunt and uncle asked if I would like this old wooden rocking chair.  The upholstered part is an ugly worn out brown tweed, but the chair itself is comfortable and has good bones so I took it.  Flash forward to now---it is still sleeping in our basement, covered with cat fur because the cats have claimed it as their bed.

See this chair?  I just bought some of the pink and red fabric that is on the arms, and I'm getting ready to buy some of the bird/floral fabric and some of the teal to recover the rocking chair's upholstery.  I am so inspired by the designer Anna Maria Horner.  Every time she launches a new line I want to buy it all!  This line is from a few years back so it's been tough putting all the pieces together (i.e. I should have bought it when it came out, but I resisted because I already have too much fabric.  Big mistake!), but it will be so awesome when it's done.  Now it I can only convince myself to work on some of the other projects I have underway. :-)

Hope everyone is having a delightful holiday so far!

The Caterpillars: Day 8

Could tomorrow be the day?  It said in our Insect Lore propaganda that the caterpillars usually build their chrysalides sometime between the 7th and 10th day after they arrive.  It said they move to the lid prior to beginning.  So far, we have two at the lid and there's one on the side.  I don't know what the other two are doing.  Maybe making some more weird webs or tab globs...

 Here's the side climber.  I think he's going to make it!

So now we wait...

The Caterpillars: Days 6 and 7

The caterpillars are getting bigger and bigger by the minute it seems!  Here are some photos from days 6 and 7:

And just for point of reference, here's how big they were on the day we received them on day #1:

Amazing and crazy, right?

We've had an interesting week.  Red had a second hearing test at school this week that I attended and they determined she has some hearing loss in her left ear.  She can't hear mid to high frequency sounds in that ear.  I was pretty stunned when I was standing across the room from her during the test and could hear the beep in her ear and she could not.  They recommended a full clinical testing with an audiologist this summer to determine the extent of the loss.  The good news is that she seems to be compensating just fine with her right ear.  Her teacher told me she has never noticed an issue and quite frankly other than her being loud sometimes (which I assume is just being a 5 year old) and the occasional "What?" when we're talking I've never noticed anything that would make me think she was having trouble hearing either.  We may never know what caused it.  It could have been a high fever (she's had quite a few of those), a head injury (she's had a couple of those that have landed her in the ER), a loud noise (the Cobbler says when she was a baby he once stood too close with her to a train when its whistle was blown at a local museum.  I told him not to worry about it), or genetics (if hearing loss runs in your family, you're more likely to have it.  My youngest sister has some partial loss in one ear).  It's one of those situations where there's nothing we can do at this point other than get more information and deal with it.  So that's what we'll do...

I've also been coping with some anxiety.  It seems like I have the jitters for most of my waking hours.  I'm hoping that it's just from all the commitments I've had over the last couple of months and I'm trying to calm down.  Lots of deep breathing.  I'm going to eliminate caffeine and alcohol today and see if that helps.  Not like I'm a big drinker of either (1-2 cups of coffee per day and maybe one drink in the evening), but at this point I'm willing to try anything to get some peace.

Today's the last day of school for the week.  I'm looking forward to a nice Memorial Day weekend at home.

What are you up to this weekend?

A dance recital and more caterpillars

Here's a photo of the caterpillars on Day #2.  They were pretty active that day and spent a lot of time near the lid.  I forgot to take a photo yesterday on Day #3, but here's what they were up to this morning on Day #4.

It's amazing.  They have gotten significantly larger since their arrival.  Two of them seem a lot less active than the others and have made this spiderweb like substance around themselves at the bottom of the cup.  I don't know what's going on there.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Saturday was Red's big dance recital.  Her jazz class danced to a hip hop version of "If You're Happy and You Know It."  Needless to say, it was adorable.  We went out for dinner and ice cream afterwards.  It was fantastic!  Here are some cute photos from that day:

Papa, Grandma, and Red

Our family

Red and Tom Thumb

Cecilia (in her Hawaiian dance costume) and Red

Me and Red being goofy

This morning we're off to Chuck E. Cheese for a couple hours to celebrate Red finishing The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  I can't say enough good things about how effective that book is!  Fifteen months (we started March 2010) and 231 lessons later, she can read words like "extraterrestrial" and "supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."  She told me this morning that her favorite lesson was #151 because she liked the song in it.

Have you seen the ghost of John?

Long, white bones with the rest all gone,

Oh wouldn't it be chilly with no skin on?

Got to love the 5 year old sense of humor.  Happy Monday!

The caterpillars are here!

We're planning on using R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey Life for summer science fun.  We're still waiting on its arrival (it's backordered at Rainbow Resource), but part of that program includes raising butterflies from caterpillars.  I ordered the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden from Amazon and redeemed our caterpillar coupon on their website (FYI if you buy the Butterfly Garden --- Insect Lore charges $5 shipping and handling when you place your caterpillar order.  This is in addition to the amount you paid for the kit).  It said it would take 1-3 weeks for the caterpillars to arrive.  I placed our order online on May 14th, and they arrived today on May 20th.  Needless to say, the kids were thrilled.  We had to open the box immediately!

There are five caterpillars inside and they all appear to have made it out alive after their FedEx transport.

Although they were initially a little sluggish, a couple of them were climbing up around the lid about 20 minutes after we opened them up.

Red decided she wants to keep a journal with her observations about the caterpillars.  They are supposed to be eating and growing for about 7-10 days before they begin building their chrysalids.

The arrival of the caterpillars was a pleasant surprise since Red had her dental work this morning.  She was sedated for it which was amusing.  Right when the sedative started kicking in, she said dreamily, "I hear music..." and started giggling.  Her behavior reminded me of when the older sister in the movie Sixteen Candles takes the muscle relaxer before her wedding.  She also had a Princess Bride moment.  Start playing the clip at 1:54 to see what I was dealing with: 

The actual procedure went well for her, but was tough for me as mom.  With sedation, they don't numb you.  I guess they figure you won't remember it anyway and since she had cavities that needed to be filled on both sides of her mouth (didn't know this until this morning) it would have taken two visits instead of one if they had numbed the area.  She cried which broke my heart, but she seems completely fine now and it's only a few hours later.  Hopefully, this will be the one and only time she needs work done on her baby teeth.  I'll be documenting the caterpillars' growth so there are more photos to come!