Live Butterfly Garden!

OH.MY.  Has it really been a week since I last blogged?  So many people think that I have "SO MUCH time on [my] hands" now that the kids are in school, but, the way that I look at it, is I ONLY HAVE 8 hours to get my job done and prepare for my children's arrival home.  I literally don't sit still and I am sweating before my kids even wake up, ha ha.  I didn't realize that I even had much to blog about until I started going through my camera.  

In March, YES MARCH, I purchased Jax a live butterfly garden for his birthday.  My goal was NEVER to wait 5 months to actually do this "experiment", but rather to do it in the beginning of the Summer, giving us something fun to do.  Well... life got busy, hectic, AND FUN, and I just forgot.  

I applied, online, for the "FREE" caterpillars, the week before school started.  I "quoted" the word free because you do have to purchase the kit, but the price of the caterpillars ARE included in the kit.  FYI, I purchased this kit at Toys R Us.  A small shipping and handling charge of $4.95 to have the caterpillars shipped to you is also required.

When we got back from our last vacation, of the Summer, (which I have yet to blog about), the live caterpillars were in our mailbox.  They arrived looking like this!  They almost seemed  dead to me.  I thought maybe they suffocated in the box, he he, but they are just VERY slow moving.  

They are to live in this cup and feast off of this really horrible looking food as they shed several sets of exoskeletons BEFORE becoming chrysalides.

The caterpillars were very small, but tripped in size fast.  

I'm sad that I used my iPhone to capture the majority of these photos.  I really wanted to be detailed and photograph this experiment to the fullest because I LOVE photographing nature and I thought it would be helpful for anyone interested in possibly doing this insect lore.  Oh well...

Once the caterpillars turn into chrysalides, we had to leave the cup alone as to not disturb their transformation process, for 3-4 days. Then, we had to remove a thin layer of paper, that the chrysalides attached to and remove any excess webbing.  The butterflies, after emerging, could get tangled into it.  This was kind of nerve wracking and gross, just because I am not normally someone who handles bugs well, but I did it.  

Then, I had to pin the thin paper lining onto the side of the butterfly garden habitat.  Then, we were instructed to wait about 7-10 days for the butterflies to emerge.  I REALLLY wanted to capture the LIVE transformation on camera, so I was watching this new setup like a HAWK.

I came home one day and was sitting in my dining room, while talking to a friend on the phone, and I just happened to glance into the butterfly habitat and BAM, just like that, I spotted 3 butterflies. BOO!! I knew it couldn't be LONG before the rest of them would emerge.  Their was a small amount of meconium at the bottom of the habitat.  It's kind of gross to see because it looks or resembles blood.  It's perfectly normal.  It's just part of chrysalides that is no longer needed for the butterfly. 

I watched the chrysalides move like crazy in their cocoon, but never did I see the butterflies emerge.  It was almost as if they sense me being near them, because I would leave the room to do something, come back and BAM, another one would have emerged.  Below you can see the thin lining of paper and the empty cocoons.  

For four days, we fed the butterflies and enjoyed their beauty.  They eat fresh slices of oranges, watermelon, flowers, and sugar water. The directions state to release them within a few days otherwise you will have a plethora of caterpillars eggs, starting all over.  This was an amazing experience, but I didn't prefer to do this again x 100.

So on day four, we were ready to release the butterflies.  It all happened SOOOO fast because the butterflies seemed so ready to fly away!

It was NOT planned for Lilah to wear her butterfly shirt, but HOW perfect was that shirt for the occasion?  LOL!

Jax's butterflies basically got off of his hand "faster than a speeding bullet", so I wasn't able to get the best pics.

The cool thing is we have a butterfly bush in our side yard, so maybe we will see them flying around over there. Bye-Bye butterflies!!  

I FOUND A GOLD MIND on my VERY OLD and VERY embarrassing BLOG.  I say embarrassing because I was a NEWBY and I clearly was still learning the ropes about blogging, BUT, you can also see I've come a long way baby!!!! LOL!!!! ANYWAY, view the gold mind here and here.  We did the live butterfly garden with Ty in 2009.  Listen to his sweet voice.

Meeting The Virginia Tech Men's Basketball Team

Working out at the YMCA, provides many other opportunities than just the potential of a fit body!! Your membership grants you special perks, such as childcare, discounts on children events, such as sports/dance, indoor pools, saunas and so much more.  Often times, they even advertise for "date nights".  Mommy and daddy go out on the town and the YMCA employees watch your children. That's what I'm talking about. LOL! IF you are an employee at the YMCA, you are even granted a free membership.  I cannot wait for that to take place; that will add $80, a month, back into our pockets!!! This weekend, we had the honor of meeting the Virginia Tech, men's basketball team aka #vtmbb, at the YMCA. Although this event was actually opened to the public, advertisement was very minimal, so being a member came in handy because we were given the inside scoop. 

The team was very humble and I feel confident I can attribute that to their new coach, "Coach Buzz William!".  He, too, was very humble and kind. As a matter of fact, the team arrived in a normal, "cheese" colored school bus.  I asked Will Johnston, one of the players, on the way out of the YMCA, WHY they rode a standard bus, to the YMCA, and he said, "Coach Buzz wants us to earn everything that we have/receive!" WOW! You don't see that or hear that very often.  We live in a world where people think the hard working people should pave the way for those lazy people that don't do anything. You know, the "everyone should get a trophy" mentality!

As we waited for the players/coaches to arrive, the kids' snacked on some yummy food.  Virginia Tech provided Papa John's Pizza and Buffalo Wild Wings for the guests.  We ate dinner, right before arriving, but that didn't stop the kids form digging into that pizza. 

Tyson enjoyed receiving autographs from each of the players, up close and personal. The players were giving posters and were willing sign them. Tyson also had them sign his VT basketball jersey!  A little boys' dream for sure...okay, a BIG boys' dream too. Darren was on cloud 9.

Can you tell from the smiles, that Darren may have enjoyed this experience MORE than the kids?!?!

Ty waited patiently while each player signed the back of his jersey!

While Darren made certain to shake each players' hand and make small talk!

Check out how tall Satchel compared to Ty.  He's 7'1".

Lilah was able to meet the cheerleaders, as well as, the Hokie Bird.  Jax chose spending the evening celebrating a special occasion with Cohen over meeting "celebrities".  Lilah was blessed with some Hokie colored pom-poms.  

This was our first opportunity to meet the Hokie Bird in person!

Lilah decided at the last minute to have some of the players sign her cheerleading outfit too!

And then she took it ONE step further...she began modeling with the team.  LOL! How cute would it be for the team to have a young spokesperson for the team!

The team of coaches arrived one hour after the players.  As soon as Coach Buzz Williams arrived, he greeted Lilah and Ty immediately.  It was so funny.  We weren't the ONLY ones there, but he just gravitated to our children.  

He spoke to Lilah about her "darling bun", which Lilah cried about me doing, to her, before we left our house.  He spoke to her about how her daughter doesn't like buns either.  

Then, Coach Buzz took out his phone and ask me to take a picture of Ty and Lilah with HIS phone.  Today, their photo appeared on his twitter account.  So cooooool!!!!! The photo below was snagged off of Coach Buzz's account.

After all of their autographs were given out, the team got on the court for a few minutes to play with their fans. 

We were then formally introduced to each player, managers, and coaches of the team.  Coach Buzz spoke to all of the local kids about how "You can't have everything you want.  You can only have anything you DESERVE!"  We used the example with our children, if you "want" a nice body, but you digest nothing but bad food, you don't deserve a good figure. BUT, if you want a nice figure, eat healthy and work out, then you deserve a nice figure! Makes perfect sense to me. Our kids definitely understood it...even LILAH!

We are thankful to the YMCA for hosting this event and for the VA Tech Basketball players and coaches to give up their weekend to serve the community.

Enoy the recap video, from our night, at the Salem Family YMCA.  The first video footage was captured from the VA Tech's videography staff.  Lilah and Jax made it to the FIRST part of the video, screaming, "GO HOKIES!"

*Disclaimer: I prefer to keep my instagram posts and my blog posts totally separate from each other. If I duplicate efforts, I realize, it's quite possible that you, my reader, may become bored. However lately, my instagram posts are "memories" I desire to document and have as a permanent memory, that is why I am putting many duplicate things on my blog. If you follow me on instagram and blogger, then I apologize if you are seeing things twice. I promise I will try not to make a habit of it.  

My First PUBLISHED Work!

It's official... I was contacted two Fridays ago, by an editor, of "TheStir", and asked if one of my blog posts could be shared on their 10 million viewer website. The blog post they were interested in was on a College Care Package, I had done for my sister, before she headed off to College. It was an email that I never thought I would get, but it arrived and it really blessed my day, HOWEVER, it did NOT bless my day more than actually seeing not just ONE of my posts, but TWO of my posts get published TODAY! AND it's directly under one of America's Headline News topics...Adrian Peterson's family dilemmas  I had been stalking "TheStir's" website, for the last two weeks, just incase the editor forgot to tell me that my ideas had actually been published, but Judy didn't forget her promise to me. After returning home from Bible Study, I was excited to find an email from Judy, which said...

Hello! Cafemom's "Best College Care Packages" post with your amazing care package is up. We'd be thrilled if you shared with your friends, family and social network, and we will do the same on our end! 

http://thestir.cafemom.com/teen/176933/college_care_package_ideas_homemade

Thank you so much for your brilliant ideas! 

This is truly like a dream come true for any blogger, in my opinion.  One of my favorite bloggers, Jill Dubien, well known for her artistic ability with food and often featured in the Family Fun Magazine, as well as, in many other well known resources, wrote to me and said, 

"VERY exciting Kristin!  This is how it all starts.  In the beginning you will want to say "yes" to almost every opportunity that comes your way - provided it's legit, etc.  Getting your blog out there and noticed by other people is the only way to get more followers.... Congrats!!!"

Her email was a tad more elaborate than that, but I did NOT ask permission for our conversation to be shared, in it's entirety, so I will leave it at that!

And now, I introduce to you, my FIRST debut.  LOL!  

TheStir posted 11 DIY Care Packages to Send a Little Bit of Home to Your Kid at College and 2/11 ideas came from BollingWith5 blog!!!! Score!!!!!!!!!!

The first published idea was called:

"Clean It Up" (click on the words "Clean It Up" to see it on TheStir's website, but Judy writes:

"To prevent your teen from ending up in a pigsty, send them a bag of cleaning supplies like this one by BollingWith5.  She's thought of everything!"

The second published idea was called:

"Doctor Mom In A Box" (click on the words "Doctor Mom In A Box" to see the published post on TheStir's website, but this time, Judy writes:

"Kids in college are bound to catch something at some point, and without mom to nurse them back to health, they're going to need this medicine box from BollingWith5."

I have been so excited about this for weeks.  I have shared it with those closest to me and anyone who reads my blog daily, via my blog. Thank you to all, who have taken the time to personally rejoice with me, showing enthusiasm and excitement for this unique achievement. This is definitely something that could just be a ONE time thing or it could be something that turns my hobby into a full time, FUN career.  GOD TO YOU BE ALL THE GLORY for giving me this passion/talent.