Orange-Tipped Oakworm

A couple of days ago Boo rushed in and asked me to come out and see what he had found.  It was a caterpillar that looked like it might sting so we collected it and put it into a jar so that we could examine it more closely.  A few minutes later LouLou rushed in and said, "Come see what I found."  I went out and it was the same type of caterpillar.


So we discovered that this was an Orange-Tipped Oakworm.  We checked the oak tree in the yard and sure enough there were lots of caterpillars on the tree and on the ground underneath.

Here are the leaves being eaten by the caterpillars...

Bo wasn't happy...this was his tree that was being eaten.

We examined the caterpillars.  Bo noticed the suction cups on the bottom of the caterpillars legs.  They were sticking to his fingers. 

We all noticed the spines because we were afraid to touch it at first.

We drew a picture of the caterpillars in out nature journals.

 I was soo excited to have Miss LouLou participate today.  She turned four in July and she has her very own nature journal now.

Here is her very first entry...She did a fabulous job with a little guidance from mommy!

Family Pictures

We attended a wedding last weekend and we were able to get some great family pictures while we were waiting for the reception to begin.  The time of day was perfect for a quick photo shoot...

Quick Family August 2011

There's a blur...I know...but this one was my favorite

Bo...7 years

Boo...6 years

Miss LouLou...4 years

Little Bitty...2 years

Sweet Baby Girl...6 months

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy

This sweet boy turns six today...

We started the day with a birthday treasure hunt...

Daddy left a trail of clues before leaving for work...

Oh what fun it was...

Big brother helped read the clues...

The last clue led to just what you had wished for...

A new bicycle!

Six Things I Love About You...

I love the way you always ask if you can help me with whatever I am cooking.

I love to watch you fix things.

I love that you still sit in my lap and give lots of hugs.

I love to watch you play with your little sisters.

I love to see your excitement when you recognize a word you know in new places.

I love smell the top of your head when we hug.

Train Depot Fun

After Earlyworks we headed over to the train depot.  We took a tour of the building itself.  The building was captured by Union forces during the Civil War and the top floor was made into a prison.  There is still graffiti that the confederate soldiers left while in the prison on the top floor.


After the tour we took a trolley ride, looked inside a locomotive, passenger car, boxcar and a caboose.  We also played at the Little Toot's Depot and explored a garage with old cars and a fire engine.  We loved our time at the depot and we will definitely be going back on a cooler day so the littles have lots of time to play outside.

exploring the locomotive...lots of things to push and pull...makes real train sounds too

Earlyworks....Fun...Fun...Fun

This year we decided to visit some places around home when Chris was off of work for vacation.  I had heard about Earlyworks when I taught school but I had never visited before, so we decided to take the littles one day. We bought a year membership because it would have been more for our large family to just visit for the day.
We went back for our second trip Saturday and we had so much fun!  Chris and I love love love these museums and so do the littles.  Here are some pictures of our fun time...

There is dressing up...log cabins...a wagon...boat...dollies

tree house...water play...general store

Daddy did a great job with the pictures...the black and white shots were perfect

and finally....

School Pictures 2011-2012

Bo...2nd Grade...7 1/2 years

Boo...Kindergarten...6 years

Fun On A Hot Afternoon

It is has been so hot.

So,daddy called on his way home from work

with instructions to ready the troops.

I was in the middle of canning and cooking supper...

We kicked it into high gear.

Because we knew what was coming...

A trip to the creek..a new spot we've found

The creek is fed by a spring, so the water is COLD!

So armed with life jackets...goggles...and a fishing pole...we headed out.

See how Boo is holding his breath...you can even see his ribs.

The water is so cold it will take your breath away...So I prefer wading.

And that's O.K.

because this girl won't stay in her seat for long.

The littles fished, collected pretty rocks, watched a snake swim down the creek and crawl into the rock dam

The next day the littles painted the rocks while I cooked supper...

Everyone is waiting in anticipation for the next trip to the creek.