Beautiful butterflies

I purchased a live butterfly garden for $5.00 (75% off) at Target last year and decided to order the live caterpillars recently for an extra $3.00 (for shipping and handling with coupon code). Five caterpillars in a vented cup showed up and grew very quickly. The kids loved to look at them and watched them pupate.

Around seven days later the painted lady butterflies hatched one by one. We released them after a few hours of observation. The last one did not seem like it wanted to go. We opened the netting several times and it would not fly away. I think it was smart and realized it had it good with flowers, sugar water and oranges to feed on.

This was fun learning experience for all.

Logan's success

I am so proud of my little smartie pants! A while back I bought the Hooked on Phonics set for K-1st grade and also the second grade set. Logan finished the kindergarten set in a day and so we quickly moved onto the 1st grade program. We did a couple of the lessons and he just didn't seem that into it.

Yesterday I decided we were starting summer break by trying the 1st grade Hooked on Phonics set. Logan saw it sitting on the kitchen table and was all excited to go through the program. He read book after book. Today all he wanted to do all day was read books to me. He did so great! He is such a good reader and was able to read all of the books with no problem. I swear I was not pushing him. He really enjoys the achievement chart where you can put a sticker on each book title as you complete each item. I gave him lots of praise and by the afternoon he had finished the 1st grade program!!!

Now we are moving onto the second grade program and I am hoping that this one will be a little more challenging and will last longer than two days. Logan has his difficult behavior problems like any 5 year old but he has a definite love of learning. He is self-motivated and has a long attention span. He is a quick learner and is always enthusiastic. Logan really enjoys reading and learning about the English language. He is a great speller and loves to do math problems. He does not enjoy coloring or crafts. He will participate in a group setting but my large supply of craft projects goes largely unused.

Logan is so sociable and will speak to any child or adult. He frequently has conversations with any stranger we run into at the grocery store or employees. Logan will tell whoever is around all about our family....all of our names, ages, birth dates, address, phone number etc. I am not sure what to do about his friendliness but it is a nice personality trait to have. He is a special boy and we are so thankful to have him in our lives.