This is the front page from a local newspaper, Jackson County Advocat, talking about this program. Teah and Sophie are in the picture! Kids were wearing bugs costumes.
Our local library started a summer reading program today, called “Catch the reading bug”. There was an opening party, with some face painting, tattoos, story telling, live Madagascar cockroach and tarantula display.
The younger kids will read 100 books, Teah – 50 chapter books to get the prize at the end, plus 5 books of their choice. I am already amazed how motivated they are, reading ferociously.
Today was the day when we turned our AC on. 85 F and soooo humid. Usually, it would be at least 2-3 weeks earlier, but the spring came later. No complains. I would rather have spring/fall all year long. I can’t stay humidity.
To inaugurate the summer season, my American husband took the 2 older kids for a bike riding. Little did they know, it would be a 20 mile stroll… They made it, had a blast and a sunburn to prove it.
The kids found this wondering dog in our street. It looked so pitiful. Sophie was taking care of it and begging me to keep it. It was obvious the dog couldn’t see. The kids gave it some food and water, held it and tried to brush his hair. Our living room changed into an animal hostel.
After 2h My American husband took the dog with the kids to the animal shelter, where they said, the dog was blind, deaf, had no teeth and was probably 15 years old. We left it there.
It’s warm finally. The kids are staying outside a lot, running, playing and exploring. The other day my American husband was clearing some bushes on the back of our yard, and behind the piece of wood, he found a lined snake. Kevin and Sophie immediately grabbed it and played with it for a while. Sophie had an idea to keep it as a pet and put it in the bucket INSIDE THE HOUSE. I insisted that the bucket would stay outside (wise decision). The snake disappeared 1 h later, thankfully not into our bedrooms, but into his natural habitat, our own yard that is.
Sophie has graduated from her Awana Cubbies club (Bible club)! She was very proud getting her certificate and standing on the steps of sanctuary for all to admire. She looked quite comfortable being in the center spot (the stage) and showing off her diploma.
I felt like my kids grow up finally, and the next stage of life is about to happen.
The best you can get. Fire fighters lecturing on fire safety, sharing rescue missions stories, demonstrating the full gear. Everything at the local Red Bridge Mid-Continent Library.
Thanks to my friend from California, Lois, this spring we are observing the butterflies cycle in our home.
After getting the butterfly tent, the kids had few days of crawling in and out of it.
We’ve ordered Painted Lady caterpillars. They came in 2 glass jars, loaded with food covering the bottom of the jars. Each jar had 5 tiny caterpillars, closed by a lid with small holes (caterpillars need oxygen too).
The jars arrived early in the morning, we unpacked them and we just looked at the small crawlies for quite some time, sitting on my bed. Right from the beginning we could tell, that one of them wasn’t very lively. 2 or 3 days later it died.
The remaining 9 of them started to eat and produced some silky canopies to hold onto. They were growing every day. After 5 days they became really much bigger and they grew poky hair on their bodies.
After about 10 days, one morning, after we woke up, we saw the first chrysalis in the making. The caterpillar tries to find a comfortable place on the lid, hangs upside down, pushing her head toward it’s belly.
Then the process of producing chrysalis starts.
During this process we’ve observed caterpillars bothering others, already in a state of chrysalis:
All of the caterpillars were done with the whole process within the next 2 days. Then we waited…and waited…and waited.
After about 8 days, in the morning we saw the first 2 Painted Lady butterflies. They’ve must just emerged, because their wings were still not expanded and dry. The kids screamed.
I’ve put the butterfly tent in the living room, and slowly moved the lids with the butterflies and chrysalises to the tent. I should of done it after they were all in chrysalis stage, but…).
This day we had the first 4 butterflies. After few hours, some of them tried to fly. We’ve put some flowers inside and a plate with a napkin soaked with a sugar water.
We enjoyed their beauty for about a week. Finally we were ready to release them into their natural habitat (our yard), knowing that they have only 1-2 weeks of life left.
This was the funnest part of all. The kids were gently uplifting each butterfly, and releasing them.
It is a wonderful way for the kids to learn and experience nature’s wonders. Metamorphosis is a great concept to talk about, in the nature’s design and in our spiritual life.
That happened some time ago. My American husband took Teah out for “father-daughter” day. Think about very “girly”, sweet time: “Skillet” concert. Teah is playing violin, and there was a violinist there, inspiring my sweet daughter to explore hard-core side of her beloved instrument.
Tornado season started. Last night we had a tornado watch for few hours and eventually a tornado alert for about 30 minutes. The kids got scared, I did not pay to much attention at the beginning, writing another blog post, but when we heard a siren go on, I looked outside.
10 minutes earlier there was a terrible storm hauling, lightning, thunders etc. But after the siren, everything kind of stopped, became very calm, just slightly raining. It felt like the air pressure was changing slightly. The kids got the flashlight, kerosene lamp, their money, bunnies and 3 bandages with them to the basement.
I looked on the alert weather on the computer. It was flashing red ward ALERT. I started to think, maybe there is something going on, really. I told my American husband to get out of the bathroom and get to the basement. Teah cried, Kevin prayed, Sophie asked if we gonna die. American husband finally came to the basement. Teah was upset that she left her violin, Kevin was upset about his Lego. I’ve heard the strange sound like thumping on the ground, Keith though it was just a train (but we never hear the trains).
My friend told me today that this is exactly how you hear a tornado. I’ve read some comments posted in KC news, and few people said that that was not only a severe storm, that the sounds of whistling and hauling were heard.
Click on the picture above to read more news and watch a video.
We are alive. 20 minutes in a basement gave my kids an idea, what is really important in life.
sites I found
who said what about it