Mark discovered he could easy see in our open windows this year with a little help from a rock.
Author: Joyce
Butterflies
We have discovered a few butterflies in our backyard. They are so much fun to watch flittering about!
Today’s Smile
This is beautiful princess Megan. The writing on the side says “You are the best Mommy in the world. I love you. Love, Megan.”
I am so glad that I can read three year old writing! It helps a lot that she is willing to help me read what I can not.
Andrea
Andrea asked if I could take some pictures for her last week. She had an idea that she wanted to try. After trying her idea, we had fun experimenting.
She is growing into a beautiful young lady. Not only is Andrea sweet and helpful around the house, but she is strong and willing to work hard. She is not afraid to get dirty working with the alpacas or to surprise us with new recipes she found and decides to try.
She is working hard on her reading and is improving. She loves to read the Lord of the Ring Books or Chronicles of Narnia. She often snuggles with Megan, reading Dr. Suess books.
I am so thankful that God gave us the gift of Andrea!
Spring’s First Bouquet
Adrian brought me my first wild flower bouquet of the year! He will keep me supplied with beautiful flowers through the fall.
Megan is starting to find me bouquets also!
Princess and the Frog
Hummingbird
We saw our first hummingbird! We quickly made some sugar water and put our feeders up. Now to relax and watch them enjoy their free meal.
Butterfly
For the last few years, we have been raising butterflies. We started out with some Painted Ladies that we had ordered. They were fun, but the caterpillar’s food was premade and they were supposed to stay in the little container they came in until they formed chrysalises.
We learned how to raise monarchs and have raised them from eggs for years. Some years we have raised over a hundred while last year we only raised a few because we could not find eggs or caterpillars.
Audrey decided it was time to do more. Last year she collected any caterpillar she could find and learned what she could about it. She discovered the Eastern Black Swallowtail.
We learned more than expected. Ichneumon Wasps will lay their eggs in the caterpillar. They are parasites and will feed on the caterpillar. You will not discover the problem until you have a wasp emerge instead of a butterfly from the chrysalis.
A much more fun lesson is that these butterflies overwinter. If put in a safe place during the winter, they will emerge in early spring. Audrey put some in the garage this winter. After bringing them inside in April, they are starting to emerge!
Easter
We had a wonderful Easter this year. We had invited family and friends to come celebrate and enjoy the day with us. Thirty people showed up!
At church we were reminded that it does not matter how you celebrate Easter. Easter is about Christ’s redemption of our sins! He died on a cross and come back to life for my sins, and that is why we celebrate!
Praise and Request
Last night my niece, Esther, and her fiancée were in a motorcycle accident. They are okay, but got beat up pretty badly. Alan’s motorcycle does not look so nice anymore either.
Please pray for them. They have been saving money for their wedding, but now have hospital bills and a bike that needs to get fixed up. They will both miss some work too. Pray that they heal quickly and that there were no hidden injuries. The praise though, is that both of them are all right and neither got hurt worse.