Butterfly Project

We decided to try growing butterflies this spring.  We bought the larvae at the Education Station here in Edmonton.

There were 10 larvae in the feeding container.

Day 1

It didn't take long for the larvae to change into the caterpillars  The majority of them grew really fast and they were big in a few days, but there was a few stragglers.

Day 6

By day 14 they were ready to form in to the crystals stage and the cocoons began to hang from the top of the container. It was hard to believe that they could hold on to the paper towel on the top holding there whole bodies.

Day 14 starting to transform

We transferred them in to a butterfly habitat and on day 22 the first of the butterflies appeared.

Transferring the first batch of cocoons was an adventure as 2 of the caterpillars came over when we moved it and 2 of the caoons had fallen to floor of the container.  But with some wrangling we got the 2 misfits back into the food container and all the butterflies emerged just fine even the ones that had fallen.

Butterfly Habitat

We let 6 of them go in the backyard on the weekend.  3 are happy in the habitat for the moment and the runt caterpillar is still eating and will hopefully make its cacoon soon. The butterflies were gone and out the yard very fast but maybe they will come and visit our yard again soon.

Aubrey seemed to enjoy the caterpillars and the butterflies even though she is not a big fan of living bugs and said she wants to do it again next year.

Cardboard Box Doll Hose

I really enjoy Pinterest and all the ideas of things you can make. Particular favourites are for stuff you can make that uses things from the house I already have.  

Last year I made a cardboard camera for Aubrey that is still played with now.  Aubrey has a big imagination and loves toys that she can pretend are the real thing, and she loves this big camera that is just like moms with a big screen at the back that you can pretend shows a photo. 

We started getting a Koala Crate this year, a box of fun crafts that comes in the mail every month.  3 months in I have started collecting a few cardboard boxes and wondering what to do with them.  

With travel season coming up I decided to make Aubrey a cardboard box doll house that we could take with us to play in the car or the trailer. 

A little bit of cutting and taping of the flaps from 2 of the crates and I had four good sized rooms to fit some small figures Aubrey has.  I painted the walls and floors and then found a cute printout for the furniture on a website Vegie Smugglers.com.au. As my box is slightly different from a shoe box I cut out each item and put where they fit best. 

I also painted the cover of the box with a house and a tie to keep it closed. The rest of the box is still yellow but it could be painted as well.  It was a hit and she played with it all afternoon long until I hid it to save it for traveling.  One box now has a new use and I am very happy with it. 

ABC

Aubrey and myself have started a letter of the alphabet craft project that I found on the Crystal & Co. website.  We are doing one letter a week on the weekends.  We have been crafting for 8 weeks now and Aubrey has been having fun creating.  We have many letters to go but I wanted to share letters A-H.  The great part of this website is that it has template printouts that save a lot of time.

Kindergarten

Its a little early for kindergarten for Aubrey, but its getting closer.   She will be starting September 2016.  We decided to visit a few schools this year to see what its like.  Aubrey absolutely has loved going to visit the schools we had to pull her away she wanted to explore everything.  Well when Kindergartens are basically a large room filled with tons of toys I can see the draw.  It is good to know though that she is excited about the time when she can go to school just like her big cousin Miller.

We are on a waiting list for Aurora School a public charter school but the open house for that one is not until next year.

We went to our neighborhood Public School in Fraser and it was nice. The biggest draw for that one is that is so close to home and her current daycare.

Then we tried Virginia Park a public Arts Core school.  That was the cutest little school I have ever seen. Old and charming build originally in 1947 and very well maintained.  I really like the idea of the Arts Core but with the school being so small with only one class for each grade we may not win the draw to attend that school.

The north side of Edmonton has so many schools I'm sure we will be exploring some more in the next year.

Pink Tails

Aubrey, 3 years old, mixes up some of her words. Somethings she says are just so cute i can't bring myself to tell her she is wrong.   "Pink tails" for when I do her hair in pig tails is the current one she is doing.

Then there is the swearing she doesn't know she is doing  - Sara and Duck like to go to the "Sit Shop".  She can't quite get that word sit out right as mom and dad giggle.

A few cute little mistakes in a vocabulary that is getting bigger every day, my little word bug.