*sniff*

If you love somebody (or five), set them free...

I'm too sad. Here's how it went.

They were ready! You know they were crazy caterpillars. Well, they were even crazier butterflies.

Here they are enjoying the last of the sugar water I set out for them.

He's totally enjoying the nectar from the flower I'm holding.

See his proboscis? (You can totally click on the images to biggen them) It's acting as a straw to retrieve the nectar from the center of the flower.

On the sugar soaked cotton ball, she was not ready to leave.

She stayed there for a good 10 minutes before she flew the coop and joined her four other friends in the great big world.

I was so sad letting them go. I didn't want to do it.
But Fa was ready and I knew if I showed her that I was hesitant, she might get worried. So, I told her I was sad but it was what we had to do. They deserved to live a free life and since we raised them, it was now time to set them off.

Besides, I wasn't dealing with 5 butterfly corpses by the end of this week. That would have thrown me over the edge.

Thank you for joining us on this amazing journey. We'll do it again next year!

Day 18 and we have a winner.

Whew! The one that I thought was most kaput. Is here.

See how dark that right guy (Earl) is compared to the guy on the left?
I thought he was a goner.

Well,

Heeeeeeerrrrre's Earl!!!!

Fa discovered him right before we left for school on Friday.
She wanted to go say goodbye to them and she saw the guy above.

Turns out, I didn't remember from last year, but the darker the chrysalis gets, the closer they are to emerging. You can even see their wings underneath the layer of the chrysalis. Too cool.

Here he is about 4pm on Friday. Day 18.

Smile for the camera!

Whew! Now I can breathe.

And now Fa (not me) is wondering, "What's taking the others so long, Mom?"

The one that was getting bullied the most, was the biggest caterpillar and the first butterfly to emerge a winner. Yay for the underdog! We shall overcome!

***

And because I love you all and couldn't keep you all hanging over the weekend....

Day 19 in the morning.

This is what we all woke up to:

And then there was one...

The guy on the leaf!

"New Born"

See the red colored droplet underneath him?
It's from his chrysalis. It's not blood. It's from his wet wings.

Awww, how cuuuute.

We are waiting for the last guy/gal to emerge, then we will set them free in the garden.

Stay tuned.

Sigh 'ku

I have no corpses?
I pray that is not the case
How sad we'll all be!

Nothing has happened
to my little chrysalis
Or 'tis chrysali?

Waiting patiently
to see what emerges here
five painted ladies.

I had five 'pillars
I have five chrysalises
just laying quiet

It's all too peaceful
Not a creature is stirring
I want some action!

***

Go here or here for Mr.Linky (these 'kuers rock)...to add your own piece of artful writing.

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky at the above link with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). We will delete your link if it doesn’t go to a haiku. If you need help with this, contact Christina.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.

Nothing so far

It's been a few days since 'day ten' and they are just hanging in their pupa. pupas, pupi?

We had a little accident on Friday and Fa slipped off her chair and made the netting go plop. One guy projectiled fell off the cover and is now laying on a leaf. Not sure if anyone is mortally wounded or just in shock.


Fa was collecting leaves and flowers for them and when she was putting them inside the netting...slap, drop, roll...

It is officially, day 16 but really, nothing has happened. So I have nothing to report just yet.

I don't remember it taking this long from 'pupa to wings' last year. But what does my memory serve me anyway? Nada.

Ten

How fast they are changing.

This first picture is 'day ten' in the morning. Notice, they are all up top but not all of them are enveloped in the chrysalis.


Here's 'day ten' after school.
Now, we have four chrysalis and one ready to make hers.

I'm amazed at how fast things start to move in the chrysalis weaving stage.

Here, they are all warm and cozy pupa. Or is it pupas, pupi?


I removed them from the container and taped the cover to the netting of the Butterfly Garden.
Since they ate all the paper, I had to keep them on the plastic cover as well.


Enjoy your new home for a while guys.

Ode to Rabble Rousers in Haiku

Meanies and Bullies
Never saw such hellions
change to that beauty

Earl is a good guy
Why are you pickin' on him?
What'd he do to you?


Where did you come from?
Pupa Penitentiary?
Butterfly Bullies!

You were so tiny
Every day you got bigger
Now, you're just so mean!

Like a bad movie
You are outgrowing your cup
Butterfly Zombies?

These sucka's are total hellions. Meanies and hellions, I tell you.

There's paper underneath the lid of the cup so they can attach themselves to it and I can then take the paper and move it to the Butterfly Netting. There is where they emerge from their pupa.

"Oooh, this paper is yummy. Plus it makes Earl twitch. Let's bust chops."

"Loogit him he's loosening up....Get 'em Bobbie!"

"Hey, leave me be, can't you see I'm working on my pupa here?"

"Hee hee, he said Poopa...Snort."

"C'mon guys can't you let me be...hey, hey, wait don't do .....ahhhhhhhhhh."

Look at what they did to Earl. They totally loosened him from his perch on the paper and now he's hanging by a literal thread.

AND

They ate all the paper!

What the hell?

Poor Earl.

***

Go here or here for Mr.Linky (these 'kuers rock)...to add your own piece of artful writing.

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky at the above link with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). We will delete your link if it doesn’t go to a haiku. If you need help with this, contact Christina.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.

On the eighth day of growing...

They're beginning to hang. Once they attach themselves to the top of the container they don't move. They form a little "j" and just veg. This one must be Earl because he was always the biggest and the first to do every thing...plus don't all guys named "Earl" get beat up?

They really treat him poorly. I'll explain more tomorrow. (Don't forget I'm a day behind from reality here)

These guys are on their way!

"It's been One Week"

It's starting to get good now. They are fat and juicy and crawling to the top of the container...You'll see they get to the top then start to 'rest'....It's the coolest thing ever.


Here they are checking things out. "Hmmm. Does this spot suit me or should I stay here?"
"Hey Bobbie, where do you wanna 'rest'?

Yup, that's what we imagine them saying...

Wait 'till you hear tomorrow's conversation. I told you they were wily.

Day Six

'C' is for Caterpillar

Looks like a science fiction movie.

For some reason, they spun a lot of 'silk' this time around. They truly are a wily bunch.

Day Three, Day Four and Day Five

My plan was to post each day separately! With the weekend and with the fact that they are getting huger by the second, I wanted to show you the differences in only three days.

And they are an ornery bunch too. They fight with each other. Either that, or they are making more baby caterpillars.

They eat so much. I've never seen caterpillars eat and poop before. This years batch it wild! They actually poop. And we watched it. I know! Who gets excited about that? *Raises hand*...

Day Three

They seem to be doing nothing. But I assure you they are working very hard to get plump.



They officially have names too! I'd like to introduce you to:

Day Fur Four

Ooooh, they sure are getting furrier and furrier.

Look at the one under the lid!

It's a little blurry because of the plastic container they are in...but that's them hangin' out.

They sure do seem to like in in there.

Day Five

Can you stand it?

According to Fa, this is Earl and Bobbie.

And this is Patapilla, Sarah and Margin (pronounced Marvin...with a 'G')

Yeah, she likes to name them. And I believe she truly can tell each of them apart. She is an animal lover of the big and teeny. I adore her for that.

Haiku Day Two

Already plumping
Looking forward to the day
We can set you free

Love you already
Bring us joy and teach us too
mystery of life

From caterpillars
to watch you change is unreal
into butterflies

You are showing us
from something small, beauty grows
that change can be good

Look at how big they get. And so fast too! This literally is 24 hours since they arrived.

Plumping up.

They are hairy too. The lid is sealed so don't get grossed out. They can't escape. You can pull the lid off later when they create their pupa to the top. There's a protective sheet under the lid. And once they are in that stage, they can't get you. Ew.

***

Go here or here for Mr.Linky (these 'kuers rock)...to add your own piece of artful writing.

To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:

1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.

2. Sign the Mister Linky at the above link with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). We will delete your link if it doesn’t go to a haiku. If you need help with this, contact Christina.

3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.

New Arrivals

Day one was amazing! They are eating like pigs. Do caterpillars eat like pigs? As you might have guessed, Fa is beside herself with joy.

They start out small and just get juicier and juicier as the seconds pass.

Some of you may remember us doing this last year. I can't link back. It's on a blog that I have locked.

We're doing it again this year, and I must say, with Fa a year older it just gets better and better. She is having a blast. Plus they are doing this in her pre-school class too...so she's getting it in two places.

She already has her magnifying glass sitting next to the container ready to go. She checks on them regularly and is amazed by how quickly they change.

This is where I purchased them. You can buy a wide range of projects like ladybugs, frogs and even these. I had those as a class pet when I actually had a classroom. I'm thinking of getting one for here too.

The site comes with plenty of research information and activities to enhance the observations...We just have fun and watch. She's still too little to keep a journal and track their changes on paper. So for now..we'll just keep watching.

Hope you come along for the ride!

They're Here!

Can you feel the excitement?