Family Friday: On Saturday

I really don't think there is anything in the world cuter than this

Be still my heart x2

Sophie had a good soccer season.  She doesn't get as much practice as her teammates.  The poor girl was born into a sports deprived family.  For her level of experience she really grew a lot.  Her final game she had a lot more ball time than ever before and she really rose to the challenge.

Ben asked me to take his picture and this is what he did for the camera.  I am not sure what it is.  It was one of those moments when you think of the people all around you and try to figure out if you are supposed to laugh and say oh isn't he funny!  Or if I am supposed to pretend I am not related to him.  I am kidding of course, I will own up to being the sweet kooky boy any day, no matter what he is doing.

Jacob turned 6

Hey look I have a daughter!

The grossest cupcakes I have ever made.  We ate some because it was Jacob's birthday, but we gave the rest to the chickens.  They were totally not worth the calories.

This is how bad they were.  Noah didn't eat them.  He just played with them.

Played with an amazing level of vigor.

Aaron saw the wreckage and declared, "Thank goodness we didn't give him a pet hamster!

Hours later I went into the bathroom and found this frosting hand print.

I told you I would take more pictures of Sophie.  It is still difficult I must say.

I love this one of her doing puppy training.  I love the look of her in her ballet stuff, up on the well head, the two puppies standing at attention

Ben was standing next to the feeder when a chickadee landed.  Ben was amazed to see it so close.

He immediately grabbed some seed and stood still attempting to lure one onto his hand.

Come on birds, land!

Hello...is anyone there...please, I have seed...

Oh look a.....oh well Ben.  Maybe next time.

Remember I said it was difficult?

I kind of wish they would invent an invisible camera so I could take pictures without them knowing I am taking pictures

So there is the family this week (perhaps more than this week, but who's checking) from Craftsbury Cottage.

Reckless Recreation: Monarch Butterflies

This summer the kids found three monarch caterpillars.  It seemed like last year there weren't very many monarch butterflies and I worried that they were suffering a similar plight to bats.  Needless to say we were excited!

The first of the three that hatched (is hatched the right word?)  and you can see the other 2 chrysalis in the back

Some might think it is counter intuitive to capture the caterpillars, but since we found them in the corn field that gets harvested and chopped to pieces, I felt we were saving three monarch caterpillar's lives.

Here he is all "grown up" and ready to fly.  See, we saved his life!

It was amazing to observe the process of metamorphosis with the kiddos.  It is truly amazing that a little striped wormy thing #1 sheds it skin and become a beautiful chrysalis and #2 that wormy thing turned chrysalis becomes a butterfly.  It seems so totally unrelated to a caterpillar.  I suppose though that it is equally amazing that a sperm and an egg become a zygote and then an embryo and then an infant and then a 10 year old and a 40 year old and on an on...Life is truly amazing in all its forms.

I caught this one seconds after it hatched so I was able to photograph him minute by minute as he dried out and eventually spread his wings to fly.

 

Well there I have waxed philosophical for the day.  Now I can return to my normal diaper changing, toilet cleaning duties, and maybe, just maybe this philosophical diversion will carry me through the mundane.

L.S.N.E.D: Know When to Fold Them

I know I have a schedule, but I just read an article that said that sometimes we have to abandon schedule (hence the title.)

So, today I don't feel like posting something new I have learned or something I think you should learn.  Today I feel like posting AMAZING sunset photos, by which I mean the sunset was amazing.

Makes me feel pretty happy.