Thankful for...

My family and Jeff's are a bit too spread out for my tastes. You will find us in 6 different states and two different (soon-to-be three) countries. We just don't see family as often as we would like!

With Thanksgiving coming up: Today I am thankful for the visit from my brother Steve. He stayed with us for 2 days before heading out for training and then on to Iraq.

We love you Steve!

grOw

(photo from 2009)

Finding the caterpillars which become Monarch butterflies is a favorite September activity for our kids. We put the caterpillars in a little cage and over the next 3 weeks we watch them eat away at milkweed leaves, form their chrysalis, and emerge as a butterfly.

This year Erik found just one caterpillar and named it Catty. One morning Erik decided to clean out the cage. He carefully put Catty, and the leaf she was having for breakfast, on a plate to keep her safe. Megan wanted to get a better look and moved the plate to the floor (a bad idea). Well, Jeff came walking around the corner (from here it goes from bad to worse) and accidentally stepped on Erik's beloved caterpillar.

Squashed. Dead. The End.

Over the next 2 days when the kids got home from school I drove them around as they searched for milkweed plants and inspected them for caterpillars. We never found any, but Erik and Claire did collect milkweed seeds to plant on the south side of our house.

Here is the plan: It is to convince Monarch butterflies that our yard would be a wonderful place to raise a family. Just think; all sorts of perennials and flowering shrubs for mom and dad, and milkweed for the kids. They will love it here. Okay, maybe not. We will just have to wait and see if the seeds actually grow!

(another 2009 photo)

Onto other plant news...our annual Christmas Amaryllis planting project is under way. This year Jeff and the kids planted 20.

I'm saying it is always a good time to grOw.