My No-Poo Doo

This is far from a beauty advice/product review blog- but I do like to post interesting experiments that I may be doing at the house.  I've talked about my new, money saving hair regime, and had a request yesterday for a progress picture.....

Per Sar's request- here's  a quick look at my no-poo hair-do.  This is 40 days of no shampoo-not too bad right?

Oh- and while you are here- take a look at my new pages up top- Murals and Nursery design, Services and I also added my most recent paintings to Current Works.

Thanks for stopping by!

We have a hatchling!!!!

I must say- this is the most excitement we've had around here in a looong time!- probably since Moses' birth:)

The day before butterfly #1 was born I took this picture of 4 beautiful green chrysali, and literally, when I woke up the next morning....

the first one to spin looked like this....

(this was also the one that I hot glued to the ceiling of the box)

Having participated in the process a few times as a child, I knew that the transformation was going to happen soon- so we kept a close eye on the box all day.  While making dinner, I reminded Z to check on the butterfly- to my surprise she said "Mom its coming out!", I quick grabbed my camera and caught it as it came out of the chrysalis- it was really cool to witness!

Notice its wings are still folded up slightly...

My little angel-baby-scientists were so excited they nearly jumped into the box with the butterfly!

I decided to hold it (maybe a little too soon, its wings were slightly damp- I would wait a few hours after hatching)

I did let both children hold it- I would now put a minimum age of 2.5 years on that- Moses was quickly banished to his high chair for observation- note him in the background in the next 3 shots

1. Contently observing

2. Reaching

3. Full-on tantrum

Z did a great job- she would have held it all day if I had let her.

then I brought it outside, and placed it on the hydrangea bush- and it flapped its wings a couple times, and flew away.

We have since had 2 more "births"- it never gets old!  We can't wait to do this again next year!

New pets!

Hi faithful friends....I feel like I have not posted in a very long time- although it's really only been about a week.  Its just been that long of a week I guess.....

Moses is 19 months old- and despite his age- sometimes, especially in the middle of the night I find myself feeling like we still have a newborn in our house.  Thank heavens for my husband- who is usually the one that gets up with the little guy in the wee-morning hours.  The other morning I got up and found them both sleeping downstairs on the couch....

On another note- we have 4 new temporary pets at our house!

My mother, being an early childhood teacher extraordinaire- has always had monarch butterfly caterpillars in her classroom in the early fall.  My dad is the designated "caterpilar finder".  I knew my little ones would love them, so Pop (my Dad) found four little chubby friends for our house!  Shuggie (my Mom) created us a very well crafted butterfly box for them to metamorphoses in- it has been a very exciting weekend over here- I highly recommend it for an at home science experiment- even if you don't have children at home- it's really fascinating!

You will need access to milkweed plants- this is also where you find the caterpillars- as the monarch butterfly lays its eggs on the plants.  As the caterpillars grow, they go through a lot of leaves!  I was on a serious hunt for milkweed plants- and thankfully found some nearby our home.  They typically grow on the borders of large, open, sunny areas, where mowers do not reach. They look like this-

You will know you found one if you break a leaf and some white, "milky" liquid oozes out.

You can purchase a butterfly box like this online.  I waited too long, so my crafty mom fashioned one for me with a cardboard box and saran wrap- it does the trick!

Inside the box, I placed a mug of water, saran on top and poked a milkweed branch through the plastic to keep it fresh, while the little guys munched.  They eventually find their way up to the top of the box (or on the underside of a leaf) to turn into a chrysalis. 

I was surprised to wake up one morning to find our first chrysalis on the ground...not good:(  One of the other hungry caterpillars had eaten through the leaf it was hanging on.  My solution (the chrysalis needs total air circulation to survive)- I hot glued it to the top of the box- and it seems to be doing well!

I got the privilege of holding the beautiful little sack- which was so delicate and amazing- I have to say it's one of the most beautiful things in nature.

I will post again when the butterflies hatch! It has been so much fun watching this miraculous process with my little ones- they are both totally enthralled by it.

A simple science experiment

The other day, while driving home from work I noticed the streets lined with Queen Anne's lace- and thought about how much fun it would be to "dye" it with Zella- as I had done as a little girl....

This was a very messy process- despite the fact that Z was the only one squirting the dye- we all had it all over us.

 Not recommended for the mess-resistant folks out there:)

We made one vase of red and one of blue- the blue definitely had a more pronounced effect- the red became more of a pink tone.

These pics are from day 1- by day 3 they were really blue and pink!  Very exciting for a little 3-year-old, and me too!  The 1-year-old was oblivious:)

Cherries and Baby Art

Two unrelated topics of blogging importance today- cherries! and baby art!

It is cherry season!!!!

and although the task of cutting out the pits for little angel babies is quite tedious and messy.....

....their sweet smiles make it all worth it!

On another note...

Yesterday I decided to conduct an experiment with the boys- it just so happened that Z was taking an (unfortunately rare) afternoon nap, so I figured I would take advantage of the 1:2 time with the little guys.

A Drawing Experiment

Subjects:

Moses 16 months

Spencer (almost) 15 months

Materials:

paper, tape, markers, crayons, lots of patience:)

Procedure:

1. Tape a large piece of paper to the floor

2. Offer them some drawing materials

3. Do a small amount of modeling

4. Let them go-to-town

Results.....

There was a little bit of drawing....

and a whole lot of tasting...

spitting of crayon particles...

...and roaming.