Participating in the process

A few weeks ago Laine found a monarch caterpillar in the butterfly garden at school.  She played with it for a while and then insisted that we bring it home to keep as a pet.

I was extremely skeptical but figured I'd play along and let the caterpillar live in a jar until it died.

Laine put leaves in the jar for food, and by the next day the caterpillar made itself a chrysalis, hanging down from the lid.

We waited the appropriate two weeks (thanks to The Very Hungry Caterpillar) and on day 15 the butterfly suddenly came out of his chrysalis.  It was amazing!  I checked on the jar at one point, and the next time I looked a few minutes later the butterfly appeared!

After convincing Laine that we had to release the butterfly we took it outside to enjoy our new mum.

Very cool to participate in the caterpillar-to-butterfly process!

The remnants of the chrysalis.  We saved the jar for the next caterpillar we find.

Granparents Day at CCS

Last Friday was Grandparents Day at Laine's school.  Since her grandparents live far away I went as the family representative and got to see all the things she's been working on this year.

First, a visit in the classroom.  Love this picture of Laine working hard on writing her letters.

She made this letter "n" in a sign that read "Welcome Grandparents."

Laine and her classmate, Maggie, have gotten to be good friends.

Last year Laine was hesitant to participate in the songs on the platform, but this year she jumped in enthusiastically.

Mead and Mary, in Little Pelicans, got to watch from the balcony.  Next year they'll get a turn singing on the platform.

Cole and I were sitting in the second row, and Laine got tickled watching her brother chew on a rubber cow toy during one of her songs.  Such sweet smiles.

So encouraging to she Laine thriving at school this year!

Fall Festival

The fall festival at the girls' school is a highlight every year.  The school does a great job providing a number of fun activities, and the families all bring yummy food for a nice dinner and time of fellowship with one another.

By far the favorite activity of the afternoon was the hay ride.  This year seemed even more exciting because both girls have friends from school with whom they enjoyed hanging out.

Cole wasn't sure about the "truck" at first, but once he went on a hay ride behind the tractor he couldn't get enough.  He even started calling the tractor the right thing by the end of the night.

Backyard fun

We've been spending lots of time outside on these beautiful fall days. 

And occasionally I even remember to pull out the camera!

Watching Volleyball

I recently took the girls to watch our friend, Rachel, play volleyball a couple times.  She is on the 7th grade team and is doing a great job, overhand serves and all!

My girls had fun watching the "big girls" play.  It's fun to think about what sports they may be interested in as they get older.

Oranges

We've been encouraging our kids to eat healthier snacks lately, and oranges have been a big hit.

Whether it's orange slices, a.k.a "orange smiles," or mandarin oranges, they love them.

Part of the fun of mandarin oranges (and clementines) is getting to peel them by themselves.

Cute kids... even with food in their mouths!

Fire pit fun

Now that the weather is a bit cooler we've been able to pull out our fire pit again.

With each year the kids seem to enjoy it more and more, even helping build the fire.

Cole was mesmerized, and he did a great job of keeping his distance from the flames.

Roasted hot dogs, followed by marshmallows - a very fun way to cook dinner!