Tapped Out of Ideas

What do you do when you have a sick child cooped up in the house for a week and a half? (and you are sick and feel like death is looming over you as well). Any ideas? (Besides go crazy). All I have heard besides "I don't feel good" is "What's fun I can do?" This is my least favorite phrase. If I never hear it again, I will be a happy camper. Ryan has said it so much, that now the baby is repeating it.

I am all out of projects,stories,paint,glitter,and the like. It was too cold or too rainy to go out. There were no more books to read, there was nothing to be baked,cooked,mixed,fried or even mashed.

Well, I the other day, I told them to get out their crayons and find all the broken ones. Then take all the wrappers off. If we didn't have a lot, then we broke and unwrapped some more. This kept them busy for a bit.

Then, we put them in cupcake papers

You can tell Sean didn't quite get the idea. he was just throwing them into the pan.

I set the oven at 250 and put them in for only a few minutes. They melt really fast!

This is what we got:

Beautiful rainbow crayons! Circle shaped! How exciting.

They look good enough to eat! Which we had to remind Sean not to do.

Anyway, that's all I have left. I am tapped out. I want to go out. I want Ryan to go to school. The Dr says he can't go back until friday.

It's going to be a long week.

We've Got One!

Well, one out of four ain't bad! We are pretty sure that this one is "Dinky".

It looks as if the other's won't make it. We found out that there is a certain kind of aphid that is on the milkweed. If the aphids get on the caterpillar and are on him when he is inside the chrysalis, then they eat the caterpillar inside. We are just so happy that we had one come out! AND, it happened on Sunday when we had many family members here for Ryan's birthday! We all got to see it happen.

It was really neat watching him "pump up" his wings! It took quite a while. Eventually Jeff got tired of holding him, and placed him on our purple Butterfly Bush. He sat there happily for the rest of the day. When we went to bed we checked on him, and he was still there. I was worried about him. I thought something might come along and get him!

Thankfully, in the morning he was ok! We were out all day, and when we got back he was gone. Once and a while, we see one flying around, and we say "It's Dinky!" We are all so excited about being able to witness the transformation. It was something we'll never forget.

Kevin's Turn!

Well, Kevin had his turn apple picking and boy did he have fun! He is so excited to be able to do this now. Oh, how he has waited for Pre-k! He is loving every minute of it!

We picked McIntosh apples, and these green ones called Mitsu apples

They were yummy!

Oh, and I never did go apple picking with MOPS this week. Ryan has been coughing for a couple days, so I took him to the Dr on Thursday and it turns out he has Pneumonia! We're kicking off this school year with a bang! So far the others are ok, but we'll see. Sickness tends to spread pretty fast around here, so goodness knows what's ahead!

In the meantime we are doing school work that Ryan's teacher sent home for him.(he was so excited about that!) and doing extra pages in our devotion book, playing go fish, painting and watching movies, movies and more movies.

Today it is yucky and rainy outside, so it is a good day for relaxing and (hopefully) napping. We'll see how it goes!

APPLE PICKIN' TIME!

That's right! It's that time of year! We love apple picking!! It is so much fun. Today was Ryan's first Kindergarten field trip to one of our favorite orchards. It was great. The weather was perfect, and there were no bees bothering us either! After picking a bag full, we all had a snack of apple cider and donuts. Oooh, those apple cider sugar donuts. I could eat a whole bag of them! *insert drool here.*


Tomorrow Kevin gets his turn for his first Pre-k field trip to the very same orchard for even more apple picking fun, and yes-more cider and donuts!


Then on Thursday we are going apple picking with MOPS to guess where?! The same orchard! For more apples and more donuts!!


Looks like I'll soon be posting a few apple recipes! (Once I am able to get up off the couch from eating all those donuts!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYAN!!!!

My Big Ry is 6 today! I can't even believe it! He's having a good day today. we sent cupcakes into school for him. He came home with all kinds of goodies and was so excited. i think tonight I will make macaroni and cheese for him since he likes that a lot.

He was feeling a bit goofy today. Hmm, wonder why?

So this Saturday we are having just a few of his friends over for a little while. He wants a "classic car" theme. Well, I'm not going to have a big theme party for three kids, but I did go here:

Only his favorite place in the whole world, The Chatterbox Restaurant. When kids eat there, their food comes out in a car shaped box. You know, a 57 Thunderbird or a 55 Bel Air. Well, I went and picked up a few for the party to be used for "goodie bags"(boxes). He'll like that. And Jeff is getting some cd's of doo-wop 50's style music (just like we hear at the chatterbox).

Then on Sunday, we'll have some family over after church. Mom is making him a Cars cake. She found a cake pan shaped like Lightning McQueen. It is a bit on the small side, so she'll make two to make sure we have enough. Shh! Don't tell Ryan!

So Here's a Special Happy Birthday to our Big Ryan! We love you very much and we hope you enjoy your Birthday. Here's some special pictures in celebration of Ryan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIG GUY!

I Don't Think He's Gonna Make It.....

Well, today is day 9 of watching our chrysalis's well, just hang there. Bubba was the first one to make his, so he should come out any time now. Really, any time. We are worried that it might happen when we aren't home. What do we do? Do we cover the jar? Do we leave it uncovered and risk coming home to him flying through the house? Do we put the jar outside? What if it rains? What if it's too sunny? Is he going to feel any pain? Will he look for us?
We check Bubba constantly. Staring. Monitoring every.little.change.
Sometimes we think we see a change in the chrysalis, but it's our eyes playing tricks on us.
The suspense is killing me! He could be here any moment now! We don't want to miss it!
This is like having a baby!

And then there's Dopey (aka: Jasper). We think he's not going to make it after all. As you all know, he had been through a bit of a struggle early on.(that being death, and the resurrection thereof, thanks to Jeff). After that, he seemed to be a bit on the shall we say, "slow side'. Or rather to say "just not right"
Well, this morning I saw what looked like a small "drop" near the top of his chrysalis. "Hmm, that's strange. That doesn't look quite right? hmmm."
Well, after we got home from church, we checked on Dopey, and there was a definite oozing of sorts coming from where the original drop was, and at the bottom there was a "drip" that was just hanging at the tip as if ready to fall to the bottom of the jar, but it never does. *ick*
Something has gone terribly wrong.
So, we had to tell the boys that we think he is dead. What happened? Why is he dead?
Well, sometimes these things just happen, you know. Something went wrong. Maybe he was sick and we didn't know it. Maybe he was in the water too long before Daddy got to him.
We may never know.
It's quite sad. But at least we still have three others to watch. We will keep you updated on Bubba's progress. I sure hope we don't miss it. I sure hope I don't wake up in the morning and see him trying to make friends with the kids fridge magnets. Oh, well. I'll let you know!

Wordless Wednesday

Our First Praise Project!

The Beautiful Chrysalis of the Monarch Butterfly. A few weeks ago, we collected four monarch caterpillars and placed them in a very wide, tall glass jar, with plenty of milkweed. We have been watching them munch and crunch and get fatter and fatter, all the while placing fresh milkweed leaves inside to keep them going.

This past Friday night, the largest one( which we named "Bubba"), decided it was ready to get started. He hung (from his behind) at the top of the jar all night, and in the morning he made his chrysalis with all eyes watching(while our cereal got mushy).

Once they "do it" they are very quick, and it only lasts a minute. If you are not nearby to catch it, you will miss it.

So, let me see if I have all these names right....we have: Bubba(who is now a pretty green fellow), Jasper (aka "dopey". He's a little slow due to some trauma. this is explained in my hunky hubby's post about the little guys. That hubby of mine saved the day.), then Boomer and Dinky.

Jasper decided to make his chrysalis today! We were very excited to be able to see a second one happen. Ryan was especially excited to be home from school to see it! Grandma Jean got to see it too! This was a real treat!

A teacher Jeff works with said that she has been doing the caterpillar thing with her family for 24 yrs, and they didn't ever see it "happen" until yr 20! We saw two already!

Now, Boomer and Dinky are hanging from the top of the Jar, and will probably be ready to "do it" tomorrow.

All of them stay inside for around 10 days, and then come out as Beautiful Monarch Butterflies!

Of course we are taking every opportunity to marvel at God's creation and the miracle of these precious little things. That's why I'm going to call it a "Praise Project". So that we can watch this metamorphosis and Praise God throughout. It truly is amazing to see.

Of course we talked to the boys about when we have Christ in us, he changes us just like these caterpillars change into something more beautiful. I said-right guys? "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come." What's the verse? Ryan exclaimed, "2 Corinthians 5:17!" Way to go, Ry!

I wish I could find my camera to show you some of the shots I took, but I'll keep you posted. When they "come out", we'll have lots of pictures for you. I think we are going to make this a "start of school year tradition" and do this every year. The caterpillars are all making their chrysalis' at this time of year, so it's a good way to "kick off" their learning adventures!

Kevin's First Day!

It went off without a hitch. He was right at home, and was feeling great! When I picked him up he told me about his day and he had such a good time. I'm so glad. He is (what we call him) the big "pre-k-er". We're very proud of him! Good Job, Kevin!

First Day of School for Ryan

Well, here's my Kindergartner. He had a great first day! I was so proud of him. He turned into such a BIG boy today.

All the kids meet in the gym first, at 8:05. They find where their class is and then each class gets in a line. The principle comes in and says a few words and then prays with them before they are dismissed to their classrooms.

At 2:30 I went to pick him up, but instead of going in to get him, he comes out to me now. When the teacher outside sees my car in line at the curb, she lets the others inside know, and they send him out. This is what the "big kids" do.

Tomorrow, Kevin starts Pre-K. I really can't believe it. I'll be sure to bring the camera again!

Back To School!

Tomorrow will start Kindergarten for Ryan! He is so excited! Then on Thursday, Kevin will start Pre-K! He is even more excited! I'll bring the camera! Today I took them both to school for a visit to see their teachers and to find their cubbies,etc. That was fun! After that, Grandma took us to lunch and then shoe shopping. All the boys got some really cool new shoes to start school with! ( even little Seanie).

All of their supplies have been bought. The feet have new shoes. The clothes are all washed. The backpacks and clothes are laid out for the morning and the coffee pot is set. I think we are ready! It's back to school time!! Woo hoo!!!!

Now I just have to get myself up, and get all three boys fed, dressed and out the door by 7:30 to drive Ryan to school! Woo hoo.