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!