Bye Bye Butterfly's

We got home from the dog show to see that 4 of the 5 butterfly's had come out of their chrysalis. There was 1 out before we left but they had all become pupa's on the same day, so I was pretty sure they would all hatch that day.

In all the years we have been doing this (I think this was our 15th year) I have NEVER seen one actually hatch out. I noticed that there was just one left and wandered into the kitchen to put things away. Emily called me and said "Mom, this one's shaking. I think it's going to come out."

I went to look and sure enough - it hatched. It really was quite amazing.

We released them that afternoon.
It was kind of windy, so they didn't stick around much. I should have been more patient & waited until a day with no wind to let them go, but I didn't want to have to bother with getting them food.

Jacob went first. Look at those grubby "little boy" hands.

Emily's did stay on her finger a little longer.

Poor little Janie had two attempts - but both times they flew away as soon as Rick put it on her hand.

The fifth flew away before anyone held it.

Maybe we'll do a second batch later this summer. I'll be patient & we'll let them go on a still day.

The irony is, I want them to fly away. Far, far away - so they don't lay their eggs on my plants.

No caterpillars in my garden please.

Dog Show

There is a local Dog Show held here on Memorial Day.

The handlers need to be kids. Our neighbors don't have any kids - but they do have a dog (Gavin) whom we really love. Gavin also loves Emily. So when they asked if Emily would be interested in taking him in the show we were delighted.

They have adorable categories like "Best Ears", "Best Trick" and "Most Mysterious Heritage."

Emily and Gavin were in a few categories.

But the one they were most hopeful for was "Best Trick" - Emily had been practicing with Gavin the week before.

They worked well together.

And ended up winning first place in that one!

Thanks Gavin for being our friend & for giving Emily "practice."

Roses

I know - another post about flowers. I can't help it.

I had a vision for my white picket fence in front of the house - roses intertwined down both sides of the lawn. It would be so lovely and I planted a pink rose almost as soon as we moved in.

I am not one to give up my "visions" easily - or to give up on a living thing - so I gave that little rose bush 5 years of attention. It struggled the whole time and I eventually pulled it out.

Two years ago I happened across this peace rose while at the nursery. Peace roses have always been my favorite, so I brought it home and put it in the corner by the fence. In two years it has grown much more than the pink one ever did and has many beautiful blooms on it this year.

It has issues with the sprinklers. Roses don't like to get "sprinkled", but since it's in the front flower bed and right by the lawn, I'm not sure how to prevent it. It's leaves get black marks. I am considering some sort of partition that I can put in at night to shield it from the sprinklers .....

The kids and I are planning a trip to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens soon (pre-school ends next week) and I am hoping someone there can give me good advice. They have a wonderful rose garden - complete with two varieties of rose named "Rebekah" and "Emily."

Until then, we'll turn a blind eye to the leaves and just enjoy the flowers, which are huge and can be seen all the way down the block.

Makes me so happy.

Spring, Flowers & Eyelashes

I love gardening for oh so many reasons. One of the best is that it teaches my children delayed gratification. Planting bulbs to wait for flowers a full six months later, vegetables that we will not eat for weeks or months, plants and bushes that will fill a space gradually over years.

Two years ago I planted a lilac bush outside my office window. It is usually too cold or too hot to open the windows of our house - but late spring is one of the times that we can enjoy the weather. I gleefully fling open all the windows and let the fresh air flow through the house. Planting that lilac, I knew that the fragrance would someday fill my office - and this year it has! I have enjoyed it SO much, even with allergies and a head cold in the last couple of weeks! Not only can you smell it in the office, but all over the front yard, up on the deck (where we have an Adirondack chair for quiet reading), when I'm working in the veggie garden and even in the back, if the breeze is blowing the right way.

Another reason I love gardening, is it's work that the kids and I can do together. I feel like I'm teaching them and spending time with them, while still being productive (working on that endless "to do" list.). We all get to be outside breathing fresh air and running around. It makes me feel great when we've all spent an afternoon together in the garden.

This week has been hectic but I needed to spend a little time on the front - clipping the daffodils and pulling the tulip stalks & leaves, and planting our annuals. The kids helped pull all the yellowed leaves from the crocuses and then Emily and Jane played "tiger mother & cub" on the lawn while I continued. Jacob asked if he could keep helping - so I let him use the scissors to trim back the daffodils. (I know I should let them feed the bulb for next year longer but by mid-May I'm over them and want to put in my other stuff!)

A neighbor came by and we chatted for a while about gardens, and dogs, and kids. She mentioned how adept Jacob was with scissors for being only 5 years old..... Then she went on her way and we kept working. I had just finished planting the Gerbera Daisies when Jacob said "Mom, if you cut your eyelashes off, will they grow back?" I have been a mother of a son long enough to know this means "Mom, I just cut my eyelashes."

I'm so thankful he didn't get his eye! My other neighbor was asking him why he did it. I told her I am quite sure there is no thought process involved. He's 5, he had scissors in his hands ....

Anyone know how long it takes eyelashes to grow back? Ironically, he got something in that eye the next two days when we were playing outside. A good lesson in the purpose eyelashes serve!

Four

I cannot believe my "baby" is four years old!

I'm crazy about her!

All About Jane.


Nicknames - "Janie" or "Janie Baby". 
Lately she's been protesting about the "baby" part but I'll keep trying it as long as I can.


Middle Name - Adelaide.

Favorite Color - Purple, Purple, purple. Always has been. Probably always will be!

Favorite Food - Cheese. It's actually the only thing I can count on being able to get her to eat. She's not quite as picky as Emily but would never fall into a "good eater" category!
 
Favorite Animal - Horses and dogs. Or is it dogs & horses?

Best Physical Feature - Her skin. It is fantastic. Her cheeks have that great "peaches & cream" complexion and then in the summer she turns into the most lovely deep brown color. That blond wavy / curly hair is pretty great too!

 Favorite Holiday - Her birthday. She LOVES birthdays and it kills her to wait a whole year for hers to roll around. Not a real holiday, but at our house it sure is!

Talents - Jane is a crafter! She loves to make things with play-dough, model magic or sculpey clay. She loves coloring, cutting and gluing. As soon as I start a project she's right there beside me asking me what I'm doing and if she can help. The same goes for the kitchen - she also loves to cook.

Favorite Thing To Do - Play dogs, play with horses, or go to see dogs or horses. She also loves to do anything her big brother & sisters are doing. My little Jane is following in the footsteps of her older siblings and becoming quite the swimmer. We just wouldn't be without her!

Future Career - We think she will make an excellent terrorist negotiator. She absolutely does not bend from her initial demands or her will. So stubborn. She's spending her formative years practicing wearing down the opposition (us). So far she's coming along nicely!

Favorite  Movie - Spirit. Man, we've watched that thing 6 million times!

Favorite Toys - Her dogs. They go everywhere. "Bingo" was even on the roll at pre-school. She also plays with her horses and our plastic animal collection a lot too.

Puppy Party

Jane loves 3 things the most - horses, babies and dogs.

She had a horse cake last year and I thought a baby party for a 4 year old would be strange - so we settled on dogs. Fitting, as we are getting a puppy at the end of June.

The first thing I did was contact Angie from blonde designs. I was fortunate to get to know Angie when we lived in Brooklyn, and have been continually amazed by her ever since. I knew she had to be my source for cute invitations.

They were adorable & Jane was delighted.

(the real invitation had our phone number on it - I just edited it out for the blog.)

I decided to make it be like a dog obedience school and they would all be the dogs and would have to complete a series of "dog training." I made each child a small booklet and bought a set of dog themed stamps. Each task had a page and they earned a different stamp for each one.

To start off they had to become a dog. We did face painting and they could make a collar from construction paper, stickers & glue on sequins.

Some kids loved the face painting.

Some - not so much.

Emily painted herself to look like an Entlebucher Mountain Dog - the breed we are getting.

What do you think? Does she look like one?

I think if I were to do this again, I would make them all some form of felt ears or something else to become dogs and skip the face painting. My kids LOVE to have their face painted, so I had no idea so many kids would be freaked out by it.

Fetch.

I had rolled several newspapers (one for each child) and we made three teams. Kind of like a relay each child had to run and fetch a paper and when they were back the next person could go. Once the whole team was done they sat down. First team all sitting down was the winner. They loved it - even though in the excitement, the whole concept of not going until the next person got back got a little blurred ....

Retrieving.

I know, technically the same as fetch, but I was looking for activities 3 & 4 yr old's could do so I gave it a new name! I bought a bunch of rawhide bones (we can use them for our dog later) and hid them all around the yard. Once they had found one, they could come and get that stamp in their book.

They were really into getting the little books & getting their stamps.

 

Playing at the dog park.

Which was really musical puppies. Thank goodness we own more stuffed animal dogs than any one family really should!

We walked in a circle around the dogs to music. When the music stopped - rush in and grab a dog. The person without a dog was "out." There was one less dog each time, until we were down to the "winner." It got a little crazy but they all loved it.

Housebreaking.

(I had to put it in there - the stamp set had a fire hydrant!)
OK, no pictures of this one. We took everyone to the bathroom who need to go and everyone washed their hands to eat. Which they were happy to do for another stamp!

Beg.
I had them all "beg" before they ate, which they thought was hilarious. They got a bone & dog bowl stamps in their books for this.

Angie made me water bottle labels too. They were super cute. Normally we would not use plastic bottles - but I thought that this could be an exception. Water is healthy and I probably would have used disposable cups for a party anyway .....

I tried to keep it as dog themed as possible - but made sure we had a few healthy choices. I had extra mini sugar cookies (the bones) from the goody bags to serve too.

Scooby Snacks in a dog bowl were a hit.

So were the "bone" sandwiches

and the "pup cakes."

For the cake, I copied the puppy from Angie's invite.

It turned out well (if I do say so myself!)

Jane thought it was a great puppy cake!

I'm pretty sure she wished for a real puppy. So glad it's one that can really come true.

After the food we played "Pass the Puppy." They all sat in a circle and passed the dog around, if you were holding the dog when the music stopped you were out.

Then I read them "Pretzel" by Margaret & H.A Ray while we waited for their parents to arrive.

My kids LOVE that book - and so did everyone at the party.

Goody Bags.

These were supposed to be their reward for completion of dog obedience school. If I had thought of it sooner, I would have made them all diplomas.

I made small paw print tags for each child with their name. I love personalized things!

I am in favor of simple theme centered goody bags. With that in mind we put in dog stickers, a very bouncy ball, a bag of mini dog cookies (with tags by Angie) and a Ty beanie baby dog.

They all seemed to like them and I've heard from many parents that their child is quite attached to the little puppy we put inside.

All in all it was a successful party. How do I know?

This little happy puppy told me!