sleet and a giant peach

mad on
clifford's wall















in a sub


















em's
glass
masterpiece















super
spy











mad as
a spy












em and
her spy
card










em and
miss
ladybug












em and the
giant peach


















mad
refuses to
admit she
had fun







yesterday we ventured into the rain, sleet and snow to the children's museum. em dug for dino bones while mad (who refuses to go by the dinos b/c of the realistic storm that blows through) went to see clifford, the big red dog. she sat on a stone wall making angry faces at clifford. mad nearly smiled at the huge doll house in playscape until another child walked to close to her and it. they both enoyed becoming super spies and the theatrical production of james and the giant peach by roald dahl. ok mad denies enjoying any of it, but we caught her smiling a couple of times.

the happy and not so happy

the happy
















the not so happy

in need of disability insurance

the second of the two
acrea moths emerged
from the cocoon a couple
of days ago. however, his
wings did not develop
correctly.















i think it just
has its underwings
and they are crumpled













mad holding the
injured moth

















here's em holding
the first moth























our two etymologists

our new arrivals

as many of you know the girls love insects!
so last fall we caught, housed and fed many caterpillars. several died, but two survived, made cocoons and lived in a salad container in our kitchen window all winter long.
here are the results:



in this picture you
can barely see the
white tuft, but
that's one of our
moths.












here you can see
the one completely
out and the other
still working on it.















still working















here's what
it looks like out
of the cocoon.





they were red, furry caterpillars. the cocoon (see above) is made from that fur.
the girls are thrilled! wish you were here, camera man!

first if the season 2

our first caterpillar
of the spring!

chalk - $1.00






laundry soap - $11.99 (costco's huge tub)









the view from our patio:

priceless

first of the season

i swept sand off the kitchen floor today.
millions more to go until next winter.
yeah for spring (or spring like weather)!