Making a Cocoon

Our caterpillars have made rapid changes in the eight days that we have had them. They've gone from tiny little, almost cute, caterpillars to big, ugly caterpillars. Lots of words have been used to describe our critters in the last few days--words like gross, disgusting, and yucky. We've had them sitting on our kitchen counter so that we could easily watch them and not forget about them; however, in hind sight, maybe watching butterfly larvae while you are attempting to make a delicious dinner or prepare yourself an afternoon snack was not the best plan.

Here are our caterpillars on day six. They were making their way to the lid of the container they are kept in.

Here they are today--day eight. One little fellow is not a rule follower as you can see he made his cocoon in the middle of the container. They are supposed to make their cocoons on the lid for easy removal to the butterfly pavilion later.

Mmm... I can see that some brave soul may actually have to touch him to get him in the right place. We are also waiting for another caterpillar to finish making his cocoon before they can be transferred to their new home in the butterfly pavilion. Even though the larvae grossed us out, I have to say that new words are being used to describe the larvae in their cocoons. Cool! Neat! Wow! We are looking forward to the last stage in the butterfly life cycle!

Fat Painted Ladies

Painted Ladies

I am NOT an insect lover. I like nature until it comes to bugs. But, I do like butterflies. Clothed in so many different colors and patterns, butterflies are another display of God's glory. So, I decided to go for it. We bought a butterfly habitat and sent off for our larvae. They came today!

The beauty of this kit is that I don't even have to touch them in their larva stage. They arrived in this cup complete with air holes and food for their first stage of life.

Looking for signs of life

I think the day our Painted Ladies hatch from their chrysalis, the process will have been worth the effort on our part.

The Dandelion

"A weed is just a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We love dandelions at our house. What's not fun about blowing the seeds of a dandelion all over the front yard? I decided to find out about this common wild flower, and was surprised at how little I knew. For instance, I never knew that the flower head changes into the white seed head and can do so overnight!

We are always on the look-out for something unusual when we are outside. Chloe won this time by finding this dandelion seed head. Look how fat its stem is!

I have pictures of all my kids when they are little blowing dandelion seeds. I was almost too late getting a picture of little Chloe! We took care of that today.

Signs of Spring Bonus Challenge

The weather here has alternated between snow and spring for several weeks now, but today was one of those "spring is coming" kind of days. We decided to combine cleaning up the backyard with The Handbook of Nature Study's latest nature challenge. Living in a desert climate, we weren't too hopeful we would see much color, but we did find these dandelions growing!

And, we discovered that the trees are indeed beginning to bud.

The sun was bright and warm, and Grant learned the value of hard work!

As did Abby!

Way to go kids, and thanks for the help!

We did not record in our nature journals today as we are too tired! But check out the Handbook of Nature Study blog for a great journal page for this challenge.

Also, Barb, who blogs at The Handbook of Nature Study has just put together an e-book for spring nature studies that you might check if you are interested in a little guidance to spending time with your kids outdoors this spring. Check it out for yourself here.

More Signs of Spring

Robins are visiting more often! And, we can see the buds on the tree behind this one.

I love the robin's eye as well as the fact that robins don't seem to mind me outside taking a few pictures of them.

The temperature reached around 70 degrees outside today. The sun's warmth felt great!

Isn't Spring Here Yet?

A little snowbird

Winter time has been a hard time for us to stay motivated to observe God's creation as a part of our school day. It's too cold! Just this week after a week of warming temperatures, we woke up to more snow on the ground. Sigh. I have to admit, as much as I want spring here and the snow gone, the snow was beautiful!



Grant took this picture of his feet/tracks and places in the snow where bird seed had dropped.
Snow in Albuquerque doesn't stay around long. You can see it already starting to melt in this picture.
I found a great site that I've been reading through to help me get motivated about nature studies again. Jimmie's blog is wonderful, and her Squidoo lens on nature study is fabulous as well. Be sure and check it out!