Three Caterpillars

So on Monday we finally had some Monarch success! We found a caterpillar on a leaf! I didn't see him at first, but noticed some spots on a few leaves that looked like little caterpillars had been eating. I only found one little guy, so we brought him in. Then we looked around more and also found 3 eggs, yay! Two of them turned dark yesterday, and then the little miracles emerged.

So so incredibly small, it's amazing. These little things might demonstrate why I'm pro-life. If I'm gonna worry to help and defend these tiny little bugs, you better believe I feel even stronger for tiny humans, no matter how small. I mean, would you intentionally snuff out this little bug life? Sure, it's just a 21 day commitment vs. 9 months, but give them a chance (if you don't want it, give it up for adoption) A human child has a lot more to offer the world than the monarchs, and I'd say most people think their 3 month lifespan has value, so let's value our own race. When Mel and I see these tiny caterpillars, we start talking like we're speaking to an adorable 3 month old baby or something... "Oh! You teeny tiny thing, you're so cute!" Here are the ones that hatched yesterday next to my thumbnail.

That one has a little bit of frass on his back, but we might squish him if we tried to get it off, or we'd blow him away if we tried to blow it off. So he's just gotta deal with it on his back, no biggie other than messing up my pic. We took a little video of him chewing away. Can't see it with the naked eye, but if I zoom in 400% with my phone camera, there he is!

Here's the same finger next to our big guy. I'm guessing he hatched 4 or 5 days ago.

I still have only seen one monarch butterfly in our yard this year (Mel and I also saw one at Disneyland in May enjoying the flowers at It's a Bugs World, cute!) but it's nice to find the eggs and know they've been around. It's hasn't been the great butterfly year like last year, but it's restored my hope that the Monarch population is still alive, I'm glad they made it to our home. I found more milkweed seeds that I had stored from last fall, I'm going to plant them in Sept or October to try and keep these creatures fed. Save the monarchs!

What else is going on - Abi had an orthodontist appointment this morning, Joseph checked in briefly, and it's been a day at home. I would do something with the GetOut Pass, but the older kids don't care to go cause they're busy with their own stuff, and it's like pulling teeth to get the little girls to clean their room. So they don't and they go play legos. Part of me is glad that they are so content at home, makes my life easier. I'm glad that Corey feels driven to give them experiences most of the time. Last night he took most of them down town to see Wesley's band performance, and I watched Captain America for the first time so I could learn about Steve Rogers (since he's my son) haha. While I watched that I finished folding ALL the laundry, almost every last sock, and I tossed most of the rest of the unmatched ones into the trash, I think we'll survive without them. Gearing up for the school year to start next Monday.