Black Swallowtail Caterpillars

For just ages I have been wanting to raise butterflies with the kids, but I haven't screwed myself up to order one of those kits with the caterpillars. It just seemed like kind of a big commitment, requiring a chunk of time and attention (and money). It also seemed a bit ridiculous to spend $30 for bug larvae that can be found crawling all over the green earth. So I've just kind of waited around for God to grace us with some caterpillars...and today He did.

The kids all came running in from the garden shouting ,"Mom! Mom! Caterpillars!" And there on our overgrown and bolting dill plant were two very fat black, orange, and white caterpillars. Upon closer inspection I found a third smaller one. We cut off the dill stalks with the caterpillars and placed them in a Ball jar with a coffee filter to cover it. Out came the nature notebooks, followed by about a half hour of drawing and writing about the caterpillars. They were promptly named: Bippy, Snippy, and Nippy.

I've just been online trying to find out what kind of caterpillar we've got. At first glance I thought they looked like Monarchs, but Monarchs only lay their eggs on milkweed, not dill. Also, ours have orange spots, not just stripes. Then I found this picture on What's That Bug:


Apparently they are Black Swallowtail caterpillars, which makes sense, since I have seen the butterflies in our yard. They feed on members of the carrot family: carrots, parsley, fennel, Queen Anne's Lace...and dill.

So tonight we are constructing something like this:


(Ideal, since we just replaced the screen to the back door and had a scrap. The top and bottom are round cake pans.)

Here are the most helpful links I found on raising caterpillars:

Butterfly School
Science News for Kids: Raising Caterpillars
Bug Guide: Black Swallowtails
Bug Guide: Raising Caterpillars

Geocaching

This sounds like fun. Maybe someday I'll try it if I can get my hands on a GPS unit.

Homeschooling by the Seasons

It's spring, the sun is shining, and the wind is blowing -- and yet here I am dreaming up sewing projects and art lessons and cooking activities to do with my children. Last night I went outdoors in the early evening to turn off the sprinkler, spied a bird I'd never seen before, and wondered why we weren't sitting outdoors on these nice spring evenings...oh, that's right, we're sitting indoors listening to Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings on CD. And yet all winter long I brooded that we weren't doing nature study. Somehow I got out of step with the seasons. Winter is for cozy, cooped up in the house kinds of things like knitting, cooking and crafting, kitchen science experiments, extra academic lessons, and evenings spent listening to stories and playing games. Spring and summer are for gardening and sunflower houses and nature study and long afternoons playing outdoors. Press flowers in summer but save them for making notecards on snowy days.

So I'd better start a list now of all those indoor types of things that will keep us from having cabin fever next winter when it keeps snowing on into March!

The Wearin' O' the Green

This week I enjoyed a big St. Patrick's Day treat...going to see Riverdance perform live with my SIL! (Maybe I'll blog about that later.)

But here's what we did at home: We read about the life of St. Patrick (more here), and the kids each made a St. Patrick mini book, with The Breastplate of St. Patrick (below) as copywork. Then they learned to make shamrocks by tracing/drawing three hearts and adding a stem, and talked about why the shamrock is associated with St. Patrick. Later, we made these (very cute and easy) shamrock pins, and we've been busy learning to sing LSB #604, which is a musical setting of the Breastplate. (John Michael Talbot has also done one.)

For dinner it was corned beef and cabbage in the crock pot, chocolate Irish creme cheesecake, shamrock cookies (kid-made), and (for the adults) our favorite Irish beverages.

Readings

I came to the Irish people to preach the Gospel and endure the taunts of unbelievers, putting up with reproaches about my earthly pilgrimage, suffering many persecutions, even bondage, and losing my birthright of freedom for the benefit of others.

If I am worthy, I am ready also to give up my life, without hesitation and most willingly, for Christ's name. I want to spend myself for that country, even in death, if the Lord should grant me this favor.

It is among that people that I want to wait for the promise made by him, who assuredly never tells a lie. He makes this promise in the Gospel: "They shall come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." This is our faith: believers are to come from the whole world.

from the Confession of Saint Patrick

Christ shield me this day:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every person who thinks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me

Saint Patrick, from his breastplate