PINK, KHAKI, GREEN, and BLUE
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Have you ever watched a caterpillar eat a leaf? I mean really up close? I hadn't until today, right alongside my kids.
I caught a tiger moth caterpillar for Isaac yesterday and placed it in his bug box so I could show him when we came outside. (Unfortunately, I actually forgot about it until today.) Upon seeing the box, I asked Isaac if he wanted to see the cool caterpillar I caught for him. Isaac responded positively and I pulled a branch off a black cherry tree to entice the caterpillar out of the box. The caterpillar seemed to be in quite a rush. I can't imagine why. I mean, it hadn't eaten in over 24 hours. (Ooooops.) So the fuzzy insect made a mad dash for the leaves on the branch and immediately began eating devouring his lunch. :)
We watched him for a solid 15 minutes eating a portion of a leaf. Not only did we watch, but we listened too. He smacked--and let me tell you he was LOUD. :)
He had half of the black cherry leaf consumed in a mere 15 minutes. He was hungry I tell you! After that he was full I suppose because he turned around and headed back down the branch. Talking about a very hungry caterpillar triggered Isaac's memory of his beloved book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and he ran inside to retrieve it. Isaac then proceeded to read to his new fuzzy friend.
After being read to and sure of having a full belly we released "Racer" (To be so little this caterpillar could move!) onto the black cherry tree, bid him "farewell," and watched as he climbed out of sight.
After returning inside Olivia, Isaac, and I drew "Racer" in our sketch books.
Watching a tiger moth caterpillar up close and personal was fascinating, as well as entertaining. I'm so thankful I had the privilege to be a part of this amazing experience with my children today.
The Cowboy by Isaac
A Princess Finds Her Prince by Olivia
Lesson I learned today: Roly Polies are not actually insects. They are instead terrestrial crustaceans.
The roly poly has been a part of of my life for as long as I can remember, possibly as young as 3 or 4. I have always been fascinated with nature and love being in it. As a child my cousin, Brandi, and I would collect roly polies each summer every time I visited my grandmother's. I have such fond memories of watching the cute little ones ball up and then try to run away before we scooped them up again to see them ball up again. We always called them roly poly bugs, but as of today, I know they aren't really bugs.
Isaac recently has become interested in learning different types of bugs and he was calling the bug he found today a beetle. When I realized it was a roly poly I went to my National Audubon Society Insect and Spider Field Guide to help him with the scientific name (I was a biology major in college after all!). After not being able to locate it in my field guide, I turned to my Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock. Again I was unsuccessful. So I turned to the internet where Wikipedia informed me the tiny roly poly was definitely not a beetle. In fact, it is not even a bug at all, but a crustacean. And all these years I thought they were bugs. I even took entomology in college for goodness sake! :)
The new things my kids teach me and point out to me intentionally or not are on a daily basis. :) Thanks to Isaac I now know all about the roly poly, or Armadillidiidae.
Isaac with Mr. Roly Poly The Crustacean
I also learned that they can be kept as pets. Let's not tell Isaac though because he definitely would want to keep the next roly poly he finds. He had a very difficult time letting his Mr. Roly Poly go today, even after handling him for 2 hours. :)
On your mark! Get ready! Set! Go!
The boys had fun using the leftover skyscrapers from Isaac's birthday party. :) Repurposing always makes me happy, too!
Isaac's 5th birthday party was on Saturday and we celebrated in a SUPER way!
We had 4 Supermans (Supermen/Superboys?), Ironman, Spiderman, and Batman present. Two Supergirls, Wonderwoman, and Wondergirl came, too. I felt very protected. :)
The boys really enjoyed testing each of their superpowers. To test their super strength they lifted a very large dumbbell. For agility, crawling through a tunnel was the challenge at hand. Shooting villains with a nerf gun was the next test to determine combat skills. Tossing kryptonite far away to another planet was to test their throwing ability. And of course they had to leap over tall buildings in a single bound to test those very important and necessary flying skills. Before the party was done they also webbed villains with silly string, knocked down a Spiderman pinata full of goodies, and made their own personal, custom-made superhero control panel with extra superpowers that are accessible with the touch of a button.
But before much of the superhero testing could even take place it was necessary to store up extra superhero power with the proper nutrition. There were grapes for building super strength, broccoli for improving laser vision, blueberries to boost invisibility, carrots for enhancing agility, and red bell pepper to boost speed. Hero subs on sticks and candy kryptonite were also on the menu.
For dessert a three layered chocolate chocolate chip cake was decorated by Michael. Mint chocolate chip (Isaac's favorite) and vanilla ice cream were served alongside.
We had a grand time preparing and celebrating Superhero style. Special thanks to Michael, my Mom and Dad, and Olivia helping me in countless ways completing numerous details.
HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO OUR SUPER ISAAC!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!
Check out more pictures from Isaac's party. See "Isaac's 5th Birthday" in the right hand column under Photo Albums.
RED, BLUE, and GOLD
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BLUE and RED
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with my soon-to-be Birthday Boy
RED, YELLOW, and GREEN
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This February weekend:
1) by Olivia
2) by Isaac
3) by Joshua
Because some days you just need to paint . . .
This is what we heard as we witnessed the final space launch this morning from our living room. What a great lesson for the day and I wanted my kids to have the opportunity to remember "the day of the final space launch." The kids and I were all captivated by the whole experience-the kids because it's not everyday you get to watch a space shuttle launch into space and me because it's sadly the end of an era.
Prior to the launch, Isaac located his toy launching pad, booster rockets, and space shuttle to play with while watching the "real deal." We all listened and watched intently as the countdown took place and then as Atlantis made its way into space.
I would be lying if I didn't say I was left melancholy after viewing the historic event. I have been watching shuttle launches my whole life and am always awestruck. The earliest memory I have was when I was home sick from school in the 6th grade. The launch was a huge deal because a school teacher was being sent into space. I remember sitting by my mom as we watched on that day as the Challenger had it's tragic ending. I have watched Discovery and Columbia launches through the years. I watched as John Glenn returned to space in 1998. I was watching the day Columbia made it's decent into earth's atmosphere and desentigrated. After watching the horrible fate, I was left numb. So, watching the final space launch this morning was bittersweet, for watching space shuttle launches has been exciting for me over the years and I am sad to see it coming to an end.
But then, when I was left feeling so melancholy and sad, I heard Isaac playing.
"ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE. COMMISSION!"
And the shuttle lifted.
And then I felt all better. :)
Last week we were learning about the artist Wayne Thiebaud and specifically focusing on his work, Cakes. All of my children LOVE cake, like their daddy, and I would be willing to bet would eat it everyday if given the option. They talk about cake often . . . about what types (as in color) of frosting they like, what decorations they like best, etc.
Going with the lead of Thiebaud who is an artist who enjoys painting sweets, I decided to let Olivia and Isaac color their own cupcakes representing their favorite dreamt up creations.
They had a great time coloring chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes, and yellow cakes with white, chocolate, pink, and blue frostings. Then finally decorating with cherries, strawberries, gum drops, jimmies, marshmallows, and even a flag. The only problem is, now they have been asking to "cook" their creations almost daily. :)
Fortunately for us, we now live near a town with many trains passing through each day. My boys love trains. And I really do, too. Because of Isaac's love of them, I knew we must have a train party in celebration of him turning 4.
A train museum was the setting for his fun party. Trains are truly nostalgic and I wanted to create a vintage atmosphere of times gone by.
I used red, yellow, and blue for the color scheme. Part of the way I incorporated nostalgia through the party was the use my Dad's childhood electric train (that I remember playing with as a child) and some old suitcases, one being my grandmothers. I also made use of the old train station luggage carts.
When children arrived they decorated painted boxes to create a boxcar. Later the kids lined up with their boxcars forming a train behind the birthday boy engineer. Next, each child received a Train Passport that led them on a scavenger hunt through the museum searching for a conductor, a steam engine coal poker, a waiting area bench, railroad tracks, railroad lanterns, and lastly, a ticket window. After the hunt, we made trains out of candy, toured an old caboose, rode on a miniature train, and played a coal toss game.
One of the most fun and challenging parts of the party was the making of the train cake. Michael and I worked collaboratively creating a chocolate covered chocolate train cake for our little "chocolate lover." :) We had such an exciting time looking for the perfect candies, cookies, and chocolates for the edible train.
Another highlight for the kids was being able to watch not one, but two trains pass by while gathered near the train tracks during the party. They were so cute observing the different colors of cars.
We had such a wonderful time celebrating Isaac turning 4 with his grandparents and friends, both old and new. HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY ISAAC!!!
Check out more pictures from Isaac's party. See "Isaac's 4th Birthday" in the left hand column under Photo Albums. Check back tomorrow for additional photographs.
